First, the groom's family submits the engagement letter, and then the gift letter is handed over to the bride's family by the matchmaker.
The letter of engagement is a letter of engagement and is the proof that both men and women formally enter into a marriage contract. The letter of gift is a book of gifts and a list of gifts, which details the type and amount of the betrothal gift.
After watching, the girl's parents nodded in agreement and signaled their servants to submit to the matchmaker the names of the three generations of their grandparents, their official titles, the woman's name, her mother's surname, the amount of the dowry, etc., and write them on the post, which is called a 'draft post'. The matchmaker then forwards the girl’s post to the boy’s family.
The boy's parents nodded in agreement after reading it, and also submitted the boy's family's draft message to the matchmaker to hand it over to the girl's family.
After seeing that the girl's family also agreed, Wang Po began to perform divination through the information posted by the two families.
Divination horoscopes show - good luck!
Wang Zhi almost couldn't help laughing when he saw this. He had enough reasons to suspect that there was no winning ticket in Wang Po's hexagram bucket.
Seeing the warning look in his father's eyes, Wang Zhi sat up straight again, put away his playful smile, and watched the next process.
A servant of the Wang family came to Wang Zhi carrying a tray, and placed an object on the tray - a golden hairpin.
Wang Zhi stood up and walked to Mrs. Cao.
At this time, Miss Cao slightly raised her head and looked at him. There was no smile on her face, and there was no affection in her eyes like the previous few days. Instead, there was an indescribable and complicated look in her eyes.
Wang Zhi took a deep breath, looked at the gold hairpin in the tray, and expressed his gratitude to his parents. The hairpin is the closest material to his parents, and it has the connotation of emotional sustenance.
Lady Cao lowered her head slightly, and Wang Zhi picked up the gold hairpin from the tray and gently inserted it into her bun.
The servants of the Wang family took back the tray and stepped back. Another servant of the Cao family came forward with a tray. There was also an object in the tray - a jade pendant.
A gentleman is as noble as jade. A gentleman will not take off jade for no reason. A gentleman is more virtuous than jade. He gives his jade to his beloved, which symbolizes his willingness to form a good relationship with him.
Lady Cao stood up and picked up the jade pendant. Wang Zhi lowered his head in response, and Lady Cao slowly tied it around his neck.
Wang Zhi raised his head and met each other's eyes. The two of them were surprisingly silent and expressionless, but their eyes intertwined and they didn't come back to their senses for a long time.
Gold hairpins and jade pendants are tokens of engagement and love.
Exchange with each other and complete the ceremony.
From then on, they were an unmarried couple in the true sense, not just a couple in name.
Wang Po interrupted the eye contact between the two people at the right time and directed them to salute in front of each other's parents.
The parents of the two families naturally prepared red envelopes and handed them to their son-in-law and daughter-in-law respectively.
After thanking each other, the two returned to their respective seats and sat down.
In fact, there are six rites for a normal engagement, from the proposal to the engagement. The process is much more complicated than today, and it takes a long time. The process is not completed by the two families sitting together in one day, but only by Wang and Cao. But the two families already have relatives, and the process is just a formality, so we went through it in one day. The most important thing today is the next discussion about the wedding date, which is called the wedding date.
"Brother, when will the Northern Expedition start?"
Cao Jixian asked, and everyone put away their smiles and turned to sad faces after hearing this.
Wang Zhen answered seriously, "Ten days later."
"Ten days from now..."
Cao Ji murmured that he was just a junior civil servant from the seventh rank and knew that the imperial court was preparing for the Northern Expedition, but he could not know when the Northern Expedition would take place.
Cao Ji asked again, "Brother, do you know when you will return from this Northern Expedition?"
Under the gaze of everyone, Wang Zhen slowly shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I don't know."
The close relatives and elders of the Cao family looked at each other a few times. Although they had expected it before, they were still a little at a loss when they got the answer.
The two children are the same age. Wang Zhi is a few months older, but he is still only seventeen. If the age is too young to get married within ten days, although the Song Dynasty has allowed marriage at this age, the general age of marriage during this period is over twenty years old. Besides, these ten days are too short for two wealthy nobles, and they don't even have enough time to prepare.
Seeing everyone's expressions, Wang Zhen hurriedly said: "The in-laws don't need to worry about me. The marriage of the two children is important. Let's set a date. If I don't return by then, my wife will do it for me."
"This..." Cao Ji looked troubled and hesitated to speak.
"Hey, in-laws, both of you and I are military commanders, so why bother paying too much attention to the common etiquette."
"If I haven't returned home for ten years, will I still have two children who have not been married for ten years?"
Wang Zhen made a small joke, which finally made the atmosphere in the hall more relaxed.
Cao Ji did not hesitate on this issue and instead asked, "Brother, have you heard that Zhi'er is also going on an expedition this time?"
Wang Xun waved his hand and said: "It's okay for my son. He is going to the northwest to garrison. There are no troops in the northwest, and Xixia cannot attack. If the deadline is not over, just take a long vacation. The military affairs in the northwest are all decided by the Yue family, so this matter is easy." .”
The Cao family became a little happy when they heard this.
Wang Zhen added: "According to the predictions of the princes of Xifu, the Northern Expedition will be fully victorious in about one year, and it will not take more than two years at most. Let's set the wedding date more loosely. I think it should be enough."
"That's fine."
Cao Ji nodded and asked, "Do you have a crush on my brother-in-law?"
Wang Xun thought for a moment and said, "Let's set the year in three years. By then, all the wars will have stopped, and the two children will be in their twenties, which is a good age to get married."
"good."
Cao Ji and Wu looked at each other in agreement, "What date will it be exactly three years from now?"
"What do the in-laws think?" Wang Zhen replied, meaning that the date would be decided by the Cao family.
For a while, all the elders of the Cao family in the hall made suggestions, but no one asked the two puppet children for their opinions. After all, they had no say in this kind of thing.
Two quarters of an hour later, the discussion in the hall finally came to a conclusion: the eighth day of October.
The first reason is that this day is the Double Ninth Festival, symbolizing reunion and happiness, which is very consistent with the theme of getting married. At the same time, this day is also regarded as an auspicious day, which can bring good luck and a bright future to the couple.
What's more important is that the weather in October has become colder. Even if there is a war, it will wait until the spring of next year to start the war again. Since ancient times, there has been a saying that "there is no army in six months". This is the most suitable time to get married.
The eighth day of the tenth month of the seventh year of Xuanhe.
This was the final date, which was written on the appointment letter. For some reason, Wang Zhi always had an ominous premonition lingering in his heart when he heard this date, but when he thought about it carefully, he couldn't find the clue.
"Madam, tell us to have a banquet."
Cao Ji turned his head and gave instructions. Wu stood up to make arrangements. After a while, he came to lead everyone to the dining hall to sit down.
Wang Erlang couldn't move his eyes away when he saw the table full of fine wine and delicacies. There was no sense of foreboding, it was simply not too fragrant.
His stomach was already growling as he had barely eaten two bites of breakfast. He had been sitting awkwardly in the lobby and hadn't noticed it, but when he saw the delicious food, he felt that his chest was already touching his back.
After Xia Shou sat down, he stopped talking and started eating without any image.
After just two bites, he felt a pain in his foot. Wang Zhi turned his head and looked into Mrs. Cao's fierce eyes.
Wang Erlang smiled and understood what she meant. After toasting with the elders, he continued to work hard.
Wang Erlang is a good drinker, but he is not good at drinking with his elders. Drinking depends on the person. Three kilograms of wine can be drunk together, and half a glass of wine is enough.
After they had finished drinking and eating, an elder suggested that the two children go out and chat alone.
Wang Erlang was very happy, but he didn't show it to his face, especially Mrs. Cao.
Because of these two people, one always said never to marry, and the other said every day that he would never marry, so what if they suddenly became passionate, and they didn't want to face each other.
So Wang Erlang said "Oh" and bowed and left. Mrs. Cao nodded slightly and left the table with Xiao Ru's support.
In the pavilion in the back garden, Xiao Ru left in a hurry, leaving the two of them alone sitting on the bench with the spring breeze, talking about their worries.
This was the first time for the two of them to be alone in such a quiet and undisturbed way. Wang Erlang was unusually at a loss.
"Well, when I gave you a hairpin, you seemed unhappy..."
Wang Erlang spoke first, his voice was very soft and cautious.
"I'm not unhappy, I just feel a little emotional when I think that after wearing the gold hairpin, I will have an additional identity, and I will no longer be alone in the future."
Miss Cao explained generously, then turned to him and asked, "What about you? I saw that you didn't look very happy when I brought you the jade."
"me…"
Wang Erlang said with unprecedented embarrassment: "I'm very happy, but I can't laugh. I also want to cry. I don't know why."
Seeing his embarrassment, Mrs. Cao laughed out loud, and then said angrily: "I think you just don't want to marry me, that's why you want to cry."
"No, no, absolutely not."
Wang Erlang hurriedly waved his hand and explained: "I swear on my sister's lifelong happiness, absolutely not, I am really happy."
"Hmph, Xiao Ling'er will be in trouble for eight lifetimes if she has a brother like you."
"Then what you said is not false at all. I love and protect her the most, and I have found a good family for her, so I can send her to live happily ever after."
"How old is Xiao Ling'er? You are so eager to sell her. You really have the most poisonous heart..."
In this small pavilion, the two of them talked from Xiao Ling'er to Bianjing City, and from Bianjing City to outer space, and finally talked about the things she cared about most.
"when are you leaving……"
"tomorrow."
"Ah, so soon? Didn't your father say there are still ten days?"
"I'm going to find someone."
"who?"
"A man who is about to stand at the pinnacle of Chinese history."
"Only what has happened is called history, and what has not happened is unknown."
Wang Erlang's eyes lit up, and he wanted to hold the person in front of him and kiss him. Yes, since it has not happened, it is the unknown, and the unknown can be changed.
If you go looking for that person yourself, wouldn't you be changing history?
"What do you want to do?"
Seeing his appearance, Miss Cao subconsciously protected herself.
Wang Zhi smiled coquettishly, and moved his hand up in mid-air to pluck the peonies from his head.
