"Tuberculosis?" Queen Mother Chen was woken up by the palace maid in the middle of the night. She came to the palace unhappily. After listening to Huang Mengyu's narration, she finally woke up.
Seeing that Queen Mother Chen looked a little shocked, Huang Mengyu lowered his head, but said with certainty: "The Queen Mother Hui Rensheng is indeed tuberculosis."
"Hiss..." Empress Dowager Chen gasped: "How did Chen Hong do it, tuberculosis was not diagnosed? Does Cining Palace know the news?"
"The Empress Dowager Cisheng may not know for the time being, but Minister Gao, uh, Minister Gao has asked my servant to send someone to notify Chen Yuma. I think the emperor will also ask about it later."
Empress Dowager Chen breathed a sigh of relief, but before she had time to relax, she suddenly sat up straight again and said in surprise: "That's not right. Even if the emperor knows about it now, I'm afraid it's too late. Yesterday Yao Lao and the man named Liang He has been ordained and consecrated one after another, and the emperor has presided over Yao's wedding ceremony this morning, and the man surnamed Liang must also have completed the wedding ceremony at home, this matter has been decided!"
It turns out that the reason why Zhu Yijun went to see Xinzhai this afternoon was because he had to hold a ritual ceremony for his sister in the morning.
I have to say a few words here. Different from the simplicity of weddings in later generations, weddings in the Ming Dynasty were much more complicated, and the processes required could not be completed in one day.
I won’t go into details about the wedding process of ordinary people (because Baidu is convenient). I will only talk about some key differences between princess weddings and ordinary people’s weddings.
In ancient China, when a daughter got married, her father had to preside over the wedding. However, due to the special nature of the princess, her father was the emperor and could not do these things in person, so he had to ask the highest-status "gong" of the same surname to officiate the wedding. Therefore, such a woman is called a "princess". In other words, the earliest meaning of the word princess is actually "the princess will preside over the marriage."
After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang personally formulated a lot of etiquette. Among them, there are some regulations regarding the "level" of princesses: "The emperor's aunt is called the eldest princess, the emperor's sister is called the eldest princess, the emperor's daughter is called the princess, and the prince's daughter is called Princess, the daughter of the princess is called the county princess, the granddaughter of the county prince is called the county prince, the great-granddaughter of the county prince is called the county prince, the great-great-granddaughter of the county prince is called the county prince... Everyone from the princess level up is given the title, and everyone from the princess level down is given the title."
Zhu Yaonao is Zhu Yijun's sister, so she is the eldest princess and needs to be conferred. The conferment of the title was completed yesterday, and Gao Jingshi had already known the title two months ago: "The Princess of Yongning." In fact, her title has been decided a long time ago. The inner court and some people who can talk to the inner court, such as Gao Pragmatic, have already called her "Princess Yongning" in advance. However, it must be emphasized that the title is Gui, but Only after the canonization was completed yesterday, the Princess Yongning was "recognized by the state."
As mentioned just now, the origin of the term "princess" is "to marry a princess", but this system later changed.
"In ancient times, when the emperor married a daughter, he did not marry his own daughter. Instead, the princes and princes with the same surname presided over her, so she was called a princess. In the Tang Dynasty, the prince still presided over the marriage. In the Song Dynasty, it was not used. Instead, the person in charge of the marriage was asked to accept the petition from the inner east gate, and then the emperor took charge of it himself. .Ming the reason."
In other words, until the Tang Dynasty, they were still serious "princesses", but starting from the Song Dynasty, the emperor began to conduct weddings in person, and the Ming Dynasty followed suit.
As I said just now, apart from its special aspects, a princess's wedding is consistent with the procedures of a folk wedding. It also has to go through the steps of accepting, asking for the name, accepting the wedding, asking for a date, and welcoming in person.
It is recorded in the "Da Ming Huidian" compiled by Gao Jingshi that when a princess comes out of surrender (pronounced "jiang", four tones), she performs the greetings and greetings, and the husband's family prepares gifts to express their gratitude to the family, and then bows to the palace again. The person in charge of the wedding was brought to the inner east gate, and the envoy went to the inner envoy and said: "The son of a certain official is in the imperial court, and he has learned the etiquette of his ancestors. The envoy please accept it." This shows that the envoy kneels down to confer the gift.
The inner envoy knelt down to accept the gift and presented it into the inner hall. Those holding the goose and gifts entered. The person in charge of the marriage knelt down, and the person in charge of the marriage said, "Who is the emperor's daughter?" , make a certain princess." The person in charge of the wedding fell down and was happy. As soon as you enter, you will be given a banquet.
Of course, Zhu Yaoniao is the eldest princess, so the emissary the day before yesterday should have been Xuan: "The emperor's fourth sister, the eldest princess Yongning."
The subsequent Naji ceremony is roughly the same as that of Nacai. The person in charge of the marriage made a speech and said: "Add all the divination tools to predict the auspiciousness, and I would like to envoy a certain minister who dares to report to accept the levy." The son-in-law's furniture is made of black paper, jade and silk, a horse, and the writing is as formal as possible.
The person in charge of the marriage made a speech and said: "The imperial concubine is the son of a certain official. With the courtesy of the ancestors, the envoy will bundle silk and ride a horse to accept the expedition." .”
If you can get married on an auspicious day, to a certain extent, it can be said to be a good sign for your marriage. The royal family will naturally attach great importance to it and will not neglect it at all.
In addition, they are also very concerned about the birth date of the prince-in-law. Of course, for those who are actually selected, the impact of this factor may not be as great as in theory, and will be affected by factors such as the recommendation of an important minister.
Then there is the wedding ceremony. The wedding ceremony is held separately for the prince-in-law and the princess, but on the same day.
The prince-in-law put on his official uniform and announced to the temple: "The country's favor is in the house of so-and-so, and I will welcome you personally on a certain day. I dare to tell you." His father laid a memorial ceremony in the hall and gave the precept at will. The prince consort bowed again and went to the inner east gate. The inner envoys came in, and those who held the geese and presented the gifts were placed in the court.
As for the princess, she left the Emperor's Palace in formal attire, bowed four times before the emperor, and received her title. The emperor and empress gave instructions at will. After receiving the order, I bowed four more times. After being demoted, the concubine was sent to the door of the inner palace, and the princess ascended the chariot. Arrive at the inner east gate and descend the chariot. The son-in-law lifts the curtain and the princess ascends the sedan chair. The son-in-law came out for the second time. The person holding the goose kneels with the goose to teach his son-in-law, and the son-in-law receives the goose and kneels down to the inner envoy. The inner envoy knelt down to receive instructions. The son-in-law bows again, goes out first, and returns on horseback.
It can be seen from this process that at this point, the "wedding" has actually been completed for more than half, and only the wedding ceremony on the last day is left - in layman's terms, it is the consummation of the wedding at the Princess Mansion.
Empress Dowager Chen's so-called "this matter has been decided" is what she is talking about: now, except for the final formalities of consummating the marriage, all other parts of the marriage have been completed.
In terms of etiquette, Princess Yongning and the tuberculosis man named "Liang" are already a legal couple!
Of course Huang Mengyu also knew this truth, but he didn't dare to speak-did Dongchang neglect his duty in this matter? This depends on the final characterization of this matter. In other words, it depends on how the royal family defines this matter: recognition of marriage? Don't recognize the marriage? Is Dongchang successful in finding out the truth? Dongchang found out after the fact that it was purely incompetent?
Who knows what the result will be! It all depends on who among the gods above wins in the end!
At a time like this, how could a man like him, Huang Mengyu, be willing to talk to him? Naturally, he was pretending to be stupid.
Empress Dowager Chen didn't think much about it. Instead, she stood up suddenly and said anxiously: "What nonsense! Chen Hong is not doing things well, damn it! Gao Pragmatic is also nonsense. Things have come to this point. He still comes to see the emperor because he wants to say What? Are you asking the emperor to regret his marriage! What will Cining Palace think of it? What will all the people in the world think of Tianjia? Huh?"
