Although the Cao family did not have any dazzling talents after that, there were still many members of the clan who held important positions in the military and political affairs of the Song Dynasty, and each generation was married to the royal family, making it a serious family of relatives.
It was Mrs. Cao's deceased grandmother who was also the princess of Yan'an from the Zhao Song clan, and there was also a Cao Cairen in the harem of the current emperor.
The difference between the Wang and Cao families is that the Cao family is mainly engaged in politics, so it is powerful and famous in Bianjing, while the Wang family's main business is business. King Langya can be seen throughout the Song Dynasty and even in many surrounding countries. However, in Bianjing City, there are only a few larger shops and the small house of Wang Erlang's family, which is extremely low-key.
In the eyes of uninformed outsiders, this daughter of the Cao family marrying the son of the Wang family is not a high-ranking marriage, but a completely low-level marriage.
Nowadays, that is obviously different. After repeated visits to the entire Zhending Cao family, there is no one with a higher official position than Wang Erlang.
Now that the legitimate daughter of the Cao family is getting married, her son-in-law is the third prince of the dynasty. Every one of the prominent figures in the Cao family is present. The entire mansion is filled with dignitaries wearing scented sleeves. There are cars parked outside the door. The sedan chairs were lined up all the way to Guangji Street, and the people passing by were stunned.
"Please be aware that our unfilial descendant, Cao Zhou, will marry into the royal family of Langya from today on. Her husband's surname is Wang Mingzhi. I would like to bid farewell to my ancestors and ask for their blessings."
In the rising smoke, a young woman wearing light makeup and white clothes knelt down in front of the Cao family's ancestral tablet, respectfully kowtowed and prayed for blessings.
Although the status of women in the Song Dynasty has been improved to a certain extent, most women will not enter the ancestral hall on weekdays. They only need to enter the ancestral hall to report to their ancestors and pray for their blessings before getting married.
The personal maid Xiaoru could only wait outside the ancestral hall. After Miss Cao came out, the two of them entered the boudoir together.
Mrs. Cao's sisters-in-law are already waiting here. They are all "whole-life people" whose parents and in-laws are still alive, as well as their children and their husbands.
Several beautiful women took Miss Cao to sit down facing north and south, and repeatedly praised Miss Cao for her good birth.
An aunt took the powder from the maid's hand and sat in front of Mrs. Cao. She patted her hand and comforted her: "Congee, this 'open face' is a little painful. It will pass if you bear it."
Miss Cao nodded and said, "Auntie, come on, I can bear it."
Aunt Cao's family smiled and took the powder and applied it little by little on Miss Cao's face and temples. "This powder is a good thing. It will relieve a lot of pain. My aunt didn't have such a good thing back then." , it hurt so much that I almost burst into tears."
It was okay if the aunt didn't say anything, but Miss Cao became nervous when she said this.
After the fragrant powder was evenly applied, Aunt Cao's family put down the fragrant powder, took the silk thread, tied the two ends together and tied a knot, crossed it several times to form a "scissors" shape, flicked it up, middle and down three times, and murmured, "Up I respect my parents in heaven and earth, and I wish my husband and wife peace and prosperity, and I wish them a happy family."
Then play the left, middle and right three times, and say, "The left shot will give birth to a son early, the middle shot will be diligent and thrifty, and the right shot will grow old."
With the silk thread on her face, Miss Cao grabbed the corner of her clothes, pursed her lips, and clenched her fists.
Aunt Cao's aunt tightened the index finger and thumb of both hands, bit one end of the thread with her teeth, put the thread close to Mrs. Cao's face, stretched her hands and mouth outward at the same time, and pulled the hairs off her face while pulling back and forth. .
Miss Cao closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, enduring the pain on her face. She didn't dare to think about how the aunts could endure it in the era when there was no powder. Now she just wants to cry.
The "face-opening" ceremony finally passed. My aunt took the towel and wiped Mrs. Cao's face. She held her chin and looked around, and said with a smile: "My congee is no longer a yellow-haired girl."
After holding back the tears in her eyes, Miss Cao opened her eyes. Looking at herself in the mirror, which was much brighter than before, she felt that no matter how much pain she suffered, it was worth it.
The sister-in-law on the other side took over the power of Mrs. Cao from her aunt, loosened her hairpin, and joked: "It's really easy for that Wang family boy to marry the apple of our family's eye."
Miss Cao blushed in embarrassment, "Oh, sister-in-law."
The Cao family's sister-in-law chuckled lightly, took the wooden comb handed over by the maid, and started combing it with two gestures: "One comb will make your hair smooth; two combs will make you grow old; three combs will lead to more children and grandchildren; four combs will bring harmony between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law; five combs will make your mother-in-law and daughter-in-law harmonious. There is enough food and drink to comb…”
There are ten auspicious words in total, which are perfect together and are called "Shangshang".
At the end of the top, the sister-in-law tied a few small pieces of cypress leaves on Miss Cao's hair with a red silk rope, "This is called eternal youth."
As he spoke, he wrapped a few more thin and long strands of purple, yellow, green, blue and black multicolored threads, "This is called longevity and longevity."
The happy look on the charming face in the mirror is about to overflow the mirror.
The Cao family's sister-in-law was not very good at holding her hair back. After finishing the above process, she handed it over to a professional maid to formally dress her up.
At this time, the sound of gongs and drums could be heard outside the door, and Miss Cao suddenly became nervous when she heard it.
"Don't worry, sister." Cao's sister-in-law smiled upon seeing this, "Your brothers won't let him get in so easily."
…
"Abba, why do I feel a little panicked?"
When Qin Abacus saw a whole long street of cars and sedans, he panicked a little. When the wedding team walked to the gate of Cao Mansion and saw all young nobles blocking the door, he panicked completely.
Wang Erlang got off his horse, gave him a reassuring look, walked towards Cao Mansion and laughed, "Hahahaha... brothers, long time no see."
It's a pity that Wang Erlang flirted with the blind man. The nobles who blocked the door seemed to be well-trained thugs. Everyone had their hands folded on their chests, their eyes were raised above their heads, and their nostrils were pointed down, as if they were enemies meeting each other.
Some of the female relatives of the Cao Mansion were eating melon seeds and watching the show with great interest, and the surrounding people were also attracted to watch and boo.
There were also some children chasing and fighting around the sedan, completely unaware of what the adults were doing.
"Wang Zhi, before you step through this door, you are not the son-in-law of my Cao family. If you want to marry my sister, you must get through me first."
A young man in rich clothes was the first to attack, standing in front of the red flower gate with a fierce momentum.
Wang Erlang didn't give up. He puffed up his chest and said, "Use whatever tricks you have. I, Wang Erlang, will follow."
"Okay!" The boy from the Cao family jumped out, pointed at Wang Zhi and shouted, "Let me ask you, there are a total of forty-eight birds falling on the three trees in the forest. If eight birds fly away from the first tree and land on the third On two trees; six flew away from the second tree and landed on the third tree. At this time, the number of birds on the three trees was equal. Ask: How many birds originally fell on each tree?"
As soon as the question came up, everyone was stunned. Why were all the children's arithmetic problems within a hundred?
But after a while, they couldn't laugh anymore, because these colorful numbers made them dizzy. Everyone frowned and thought hard, only the young man from the Cao family looked at Wang Erlang with contentment.
Wang Erlang laughed loudly and put his hands away, "What's the problem? I'll come back to you. There were twenty-four birds in the first tree, fourteen in the second tree, and ten in the third tree. Right?" Or not?”
Everyone looked at the boy from the Cao family and saw his frowning face with shock. They knew that the husband of the Wang family had answered correctly, so they all cheered.
Wang Erlang accepted the compliments with a cheerful face, but the hand behind his back gave a thumbs up.
It's just that the back was covered by the two groomsmen on the left and right, so outsiders couldn't see it.
Qin Abacus retracted his fingers and hummed. These arithmetic problems were nothing more than pediatrics to him.
The young man from the Cao family was still dissatisfied and shouted again, "I have eighteen thousand taels of silver. I won three times at the gambling table, and was borrowed 20% from my friend. I won another two times five times, and was borrowed another sixty-five percent. Ask, how much money do I still have?"
As soon as this question came up, everyone was stunned. It's not because of how difficult this question is. This question is not even as difficult as the bird in the tree just now. As long as there is an abacus, most people can type it out. But the problem is that there is no abacus now. This question Isn't it difficult to calculate tens of thousands of dollars by mental arithmetic?
Wang Erlang shook his head. Just when everyone thought he couldn't calculate, he spit out a number, "Twenty-two thousand six hundred and eighty taels."
"Right or not?"
Faced with Wang Erlang's question, the young man from the Cao family was completely dumbfounded. This was a question he had prepared in advance, and he naturally knew the answer. Just because he knew the answer, he was dumbfounded. Originally, he wanted to use these two arithmetic questions to suppress this question. Unexpectedly, the cheap brother-in-law's arrogance ended up adding fuel to the fire.
Everyone looked at him dumbfounded. Knowing that Wang Zhi got the answer right again, they laughed and drove him off.
"I come!"
At this time, a slightly elegant Cao family member jumped out and bowed politely to Wang Zhi and others: "Brother Wang knows everything about heaven and man. As soon as the "Dictionary" came out, everyone in the world became a scholar, and he was crowned as a scholar. As a new sage, I must be familiar with the classics of hundreds of sages. I have three questions, and I hope Brother Wang can answer them."
Wang Zhi was still confident and said: "Brother, please ask."
"Okay, Brother Wang, please listen." The Cao family member cupped his hands and said, "Excuse me, where does 'A gentleman does not say that small kindnesses are not worth doing, but he abandons them.' Where does it come from?"
Ghost Horse knows where it comes from!
If you ask me about the passages in the Four Books and Five Classics, I can still guess. If you ask me about this stuff, who knows who wrote it.
Wang Erlang was slandering in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. He just smiled slightly and shook his head in silence.
"Brother Wang, don't you know?" the Cao family disciple asked.
"Brother, that's right." Wang Zhi didn't reply, but Chen Dong took a step forward and bowed, "How could you know that my teacher is well-versed in ancient times? I just feel that the questions given by my brother are too simple, and my teacher is a little bit difficult to explain, so I will leave it to you." Let me answer your questions for Master Wang."
Chen Dong's meaning is very clear. If you ask an adult what one plus one equals, this is not a question, but an insult.
As the groom's groomsmen, Chen Dong and others had the intention of preventing disasters for the groom, so it was in line with the custom for him to step in for Wang Zhi.
