May 20th, Wangjiazhuang.
On this day, Wangjiazhuang was decorated with lights and colorful decorations inside and outside, and the people in the fort rushed to tell each other, thinking that today, Liu Yan, a team officer, was going to get married.
At this time, the wedding process of the Ming Dynasty was very particular, divided into three books and six rituals, even for ordinary people's homes:
The six rites are Nacai, Xiangming, Naji, Nazheng, request for date, and personal welcome. Letter of appointment, letter of gift, and letter of welcome are three letters.
Going through this entire process is estimated to take more than half a year, but it is necessary and indispensable. Even though the world is in turmoil at this time, as long as the people have some wealth, they still have to go through this process.
Because in the Ming Dynasty at this time, if someone did not complete the "Three Letters and Six Etiquettes" when getting married, it would not be considered a formal marriage by a Ming matchmaker, no matter how much the expenses were, and the eight-carriage sedan chair would not be considered a formal marriage by a Ming matchmaker. It will make the outside world suspicious, send out wrong signals, and cause unnecessary trouble.
That's why Liu Yan proposed marriage to Wang Jing a few months ago, and only now does he marry Wang Yunhe.
Early that morning, the streets and alleys of Wangjiazhuang were crowded and lively. Almost all men, women, and children in Wangjiazhuang gathered on the street, wanting to see Liu Yan welcoming his bride. There were even many civilians from military households from other places who came over, especially those from Dapanbao.
At this time, Liu Yan was chatting and laughing with Chen Xun, Wang Yue, Shen Tuo, Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Miao Shao, Xu Ming, Yue Ming and others in the Baihu official hall. Zhao Min, as the deacon, was leading a group of people. While the flag officers were busy, Tan Xiaoda, Qian Zao, Chu Yunfei, Chen Jiangshi and other principals were also nearby, and they all came to congratulate Liu Yan.
After a while, the guests and friends invited by Liu Yan for the banquet arrived one after another. Deputy Thousand Household Wang Wenzhen and Ancient Town Inspector Song Gongming came in person. Jia Hongyu and Song Guan were also dressed in official uniforms. As soon as they entered the door, they smiled and clasped their fists to congratulate Liu Yan. .
In addition, many commanders and garrison officers from Wangjiazhuang came to congratulate him and kept fawning over Liu Yan.
At this moment, Zhao Min, the deacon in the yard, was heard singing loudly in the front yard: "Master Zhang, the defense official of the Thousand Household Station in front of Xiahe Village, sent a congratulatory gift! Dai Jingbin, a hundred households in the Qianhu Station, came to congratulate him in person and congratulated the management team. Happy wedding, my lord!”
With just this singing, hundreds of people in the whole courtyard fell into silence. All the guests and guests looked at Liu Yan with shocked expressions. They never expected that even the defense officer Zhang Hailin sent people to congratulate him, and even specially sent people to congratulate him. A hundred households were sent over.
"Master Liu from the team management team actually has such a great reputation!"
"It's said that Liu Baihu is the popular figure next to Master Defensive. It seems that's true today. It's incredible to think about it!"
Liu Yan quickly led a group of subordinates to the front yard gate to greet him. After all, Dai Jingbin represented the defense officer Zhang Hailin, so etiquette must be sufficient. Wang Wenzhen, Song Gongming and others also followed.
At this time, Liu Yan looked at Dai Jingbin who came to congratulate him, laughed and walked forward quickly.
Dai Jingbin first conveyed Zhang Hailin's congratulations according to the script, and then he clasped his fists with a smile and said: "Liu Baihu is very happy today. Dai came to congratulate you by guarding the master's east wind, and asked for a glass of wedding wine by the way. I don't know. What do you think of Liu Baihu?"
After saying that, Dai Jingbin took out another gift list. This was the congratulatory gift sent by Dai Jingbin himself.
This time Dai Baihu changed his cold face before, and was so enthusiastic towards Liu Yan that he was full of compliments in his words. Liu Yan naturally greeted him with a smile and did not mention his previous unhappiness at all.
"Haha, Dai Baihu can come, my place is very prosperous, please come inside, please forgive me for the poor reception!"
Zhao Min on the side hurriedly invited Dai Jingbin in, and Liu Yan also led everyone into the Hundred Household Official Hall.
Many people are still whispering that Liu Yan's face is really great if the defense officer Zhang Hailin can send someone to congratulate him.
Wang Wenzhen and Song Gongming were both quite envious. Liu Yan had secured his position as the most popular defensive officer Zhang Hailin.
However, Jia Hongyu whispered from the side: "Sir, hasn't Dai Jingbin always been at odds with Liu Baihu? What happened today? He suddenly changed his gender?"
Wang Wenzhen said: "When Liu Yan got married, even the defense officer Zhang had to prepare a congratulatory gift. Don't you understand the meaning of this? Although Dai Jingbin is a villain, he is not an idiot. How can he dare to continue with him? Liu Yan is in a dilemma. Taking advantage of this good day, Dai Jingbin naturally wants to curry favor with Liu Yan in order to repair the relationship between the two."
"Oh, so that's it."
Jia Hongyu looked understanding, and then said with a smile: "Looking inside and outside, Liu Baihu spent a lot of money. The entire Baihu official hall seems to have been re-decorated."
At this time, the main hall was already overcrowded with guests coming from all over to congratulate them. Liu Yan was busy greeting everyone and was already extremely busy.
At this time, the flag officer Lu Ying squeezed through the crowd and walked over quickly, saying: "Sir, the auspicious time is coming, it's time to change into the wedding robe."
Liu Yan nodded and confessed to the guests and friends around him. Then, accompanied by Chen Xun, Wang Yue, Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Miao Shao, Xu Ming, and Shen Tuo, he returned to the backyard room to change clothes. After dressing up, only the flag officer Yue Mingdai was left to entertain the guests and friends in the lobby.
And the flag officer Lu Ying rushed to the middle courtyard again and worked with everyone on the wedding banquet in the evening.
In the backyard, Liu Yan was putting on her wedding robe in her new house. Chen Xun and Wang Yue helped arrange it, and then helped Liu Yan put it on in front of the mirror.
Then Wang Yue looked at Liu Yan, who was wearing a bright red wedding robe, and couldn't help but admired: "I saw you in your wedding robe today, and I felt like you are like a fairy in a play. You are really energetic. I think you will have a prosperous official career in the future." , we can follow suit and rise step by step."
Everyone burst into laughter when they heard this, and inevitably mocked Wang Yue.
After a while, Liu Yan led Wang Yue, Chen Xun, Shen Tuo and others into the main hall. The guests in the hall knew a lot of people, but they still couldn't help but let out a burst of exclamation. I didn't expect Liu Yan to be so radiant and extraordinary. , even Dai Jingbin looked sideways at it and marveled.
Originally, everyone thought that Liu Yan was just a warrior who could lead troops to fight, but looking at it today, he actually had some official power!
I saw the heroic Liu Yan standing energetically in the main hall. His bright red dress was reflected in the sunlight, and the entire main hall was illuminated red.
Next, Liu Yan, surrounded by everyone, began the process of welcoming the bride. The first thing was to bow to his parents.
Since Liu Yan had no living parents, the memorial tablets of Liu Yan's parents were placed on the altar. The names on them were naturally those of Liu Yan's parents in his previous life.
When the deacon Zhao Min saw that the groom had arrived, he sang loudly: "In the high hall, I salute and congratulate you. My parents are traveling to heaven, and they are burning incense and worshiping from afar! Bow, worship, worship, and be flat."
Under the singing of the deacon, Liu Yan bowed and bowed to the memorial tablets of his parents.
After the ceremony, the deacon handed over a glass of Shaoguo wine produced in Dapanbao. Liu Yan stood up and took the wine glass. He offered a small amount of wine to honor the gods, then took a sip and handed the wine glass to Chen Xun who was standing aside.
After that, Liu Yan bowed his hands and apologized to the guests in the hall, leaving the flag officer Yue Ming to take care of the guests and friends, and then he took Wang Yue, Chen Xun, Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Miao Shao, Xu Seven people, Ming and Shen Tuo, went to welcome the bride.
At this time, someone had already arrived at Wanfu Oil Factory early to take a stand for Liu Yan in advance.
Liu Yan and others then exited the main hall and came to the door. They saw a wedding team composed of more than a hundred cavalry sentries on the long street outside the door, already ready to go.
Each of these more than 100 soldiers were wearing brand new red military uniforms and armor. They were riding majestic horses. The people watching all around applauded and praised them.
The streets in front of the door were crowded with people watching the excitement, all vying to see Liu Yan's style. At this time, seeing the groom come out, the people watching suddenly became excited, and the crowd kept moving forward. The sentry troops maintaining order on both sides of the street tried their best to stop the crowd, and finally stopped the crowd's surge, but they could not stop the crowd's enthusiasm.
"Groom Officer!"
"Master Liu is very happy."
"Congratulations, Mr. Liu."
Liu Yan laughed loudly listening to the congratulations, his face was red, as if he was drunk. Today was the happiest day since he came to the end of Ming Dynasty.
So Liu Yan raised his hands and thanked the people around him: "Thank you, fellow villagers, thank you, fellow villagers!"
Liu Yan has been an orphan since he was a child, and has never experienced the warmth of home. Now that he married Wang Yunhe, his heart was already warm, and he felt a sense of happiness that he had never experienced before.
At this time, Wang Yue and Chen Xun greeted people with smiles and scattered wedding candies and sealed red envelopes to the crowd, and the people became excited again.
Taking advantage of this moment, Liu Yan looked at the wedding team:
At the front of the team were fifty drummers in red; followed by Wang Yue, Chen Xun, and Shen Tuo. Among them, Wang Yue was holding a wild goose, and Chen Xun and Shen Tuo were guarding the wedding carriage on the left and right. to the side; further behind, there are ten coachmen driving ten large carts, all of which are filled with betrothal gifts; finally, there are more than a hundred cavalry sentries led by Miao Shao who serve as escorts for the wedding.
The remaining Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, and Xu Ming were guarding Liu Yan and accompanying him around.
At this time, Zhao Min, the deacon who was following Liu Yan, saw that the auspicious time had come, and sang loudly: "The dragon colt is riding up, the phoenix is used to ask for the phoenix, the new king is riding on the palace, to welcome the bride!"
Liu Yan, with the deacon singing the harmony, first got on the carriage that was welcoming the bride, drove the carriage symbolically, raised his whip three times to drive the horses, waited for the wheels to turn three times, then stopped, then got off the horse and got ready to set off. , the wedding carriage is handed over to the driver to drive.
"The auspicious time has come, it's time to welcome the bride!" the master of ceremonies sang.
Fifty drummers in the wedding procession played joyful music. Amidst the auspicious music, the wedding procession set off towards the Guo family.
The people around him suddenly burst into cheers.
Wang Wenzhen and Song Gongming also took advantage of the excitement and followed them out. Watching the large group of people setting off to welcome the bride, their faces were also full of smiles.
However, Song Guan next to him had a hint of deep thought on his face. When Wang Wenzhen returned to the main hall with a smile, Song Guan quietly approached Song Gongming and whispered: "Uncle, have you seen those more than a hundred armored knights?" ?”
Song Gongming nodded. At this time, the smile on his face was reduced a bit, but he was more shocked.
"Liu Yan didn't have such a large armored knight before. How long has passed, Liu Yan has become so powerful. He is also an official of hundreds of households!"
Song Gongming sighed, with a hint of fear in his heart.
Song Guan said: "That's why I said that Liu Yan is not an ordinary person. If these soldiers and horses in Liu Yan's hands were placed in the peaceful years, it would be the crime of beheading and annihilating the clan, but now is not a peaceful age, and the world is now big. Change is imminent, and only those who have soldiers have power, uncle must follow Liu Yan closely and must not antagonize him!"
Song Gongming nodded again, thinking it was true.
"I just don't know where Liu Yan will go in the future. Let's wait and see."
Some people died, but not completely...
