My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

When the group led by Chang An was leading the bride Gu Li towards Chang's residence, halfway through the journey, Chang An saw some female relatives suddenly rushing out in front of him. He knew that they were going to "block the carriage", so he pulled the horse and raised his hand to signal the group behind to stop for the time being.

"Groom, please dismount and have two glasses of wine before leaving?" A female attendant in the lead said loudly, and next to her was a maid holding a plate with a wine pot and a wine glass on it.

Chang An smiled, dismounted from his horse and bowed to the women in front of him.

"Groom, our bride has told us not to embarrass you, so we will not do anything more. As long as you drink a cup with all of us here, we will let you go."

"Okay." Chang An picked up the wine glass on the plate, and a maid picked up the wine pot and poured him wine.

In this way, Chang An held the wine glass and drank one cup after another until all the women had their turn, and everyone made way.

"Don't forget, groom, you have to ride your horse around your sedan chair three times before you can really leave."

"Of course I understand."

Chang An bowed and raised his hand, then he got on his horse, turned his horse's head, came to the front of the sedan chair, circled three times, and returned to the front of the team. The end of the barrier car meant that there were no more obstacles on the road.

They came to the gate of Chang's house. From the gate, they saw that the guests were standing in two rows. There seemed to be quite a lot of people. Chang'an and others dismounted and waited in front of the gate. After the sedan chair was put down by the sedan bearer, Zhen'er, who had been accompanying them, stepped aside, opened the curtain of the sedan chair, and led Gu Li down from the sedan chair. Then she took her arm across the brazier and came to Chang'an's side.

When matchmaker Wang saw this, she shouted, "Welcome the new bride in!"

At this moment, Chang An straightened his clothes and walked into the gate with Gu Li. But when they came to the steps leading down, they stopped again. The maids on both sides each held a lantern and walked out together, standing in two rows on both sides of the aisle.

After the maids stood in position, two women came to the two men, each holding a large plate, and threw the grains in the plate in front of their feet. There was a red cloth in front of their feet, so the scattered grains fell into the cloth. Then, two more maids came forward, folded the cloth, wrapped it up with the grains inside, and took it away.

After this series of actions were completed, another ten maids holding red carpets came out and stood in two rows, five on each side. Then they spread the carpets in their hands on the ground. Only then did Chang An and Gu Li slowly step onto the carpets and walk towards the main hall.

However, the mat was short and the road was long, so the bride's feet could not touch the ground, so the maids had to take turns to spread the mat under her feet. In front of the mat and Chang'an Guli, a pair of boys and girls walked backwards holding a bronze mirror; maids on both sides scattered grains to them.

When they arrived at the main hall, there was a basin of water on the low table at their feet, with a red towel on it. At this time, Matchmaker Wang shouted, "Take the bow and arrow, and decide the outcome!"

At this time Huaiqin came to Chang'an with a bow and arrow and handed it to him.

"The first arrow, shoot to the sky! God-given marriage!"

Chang An drew his bow, turned around and shot an arrow into the sky, and everyone present cheered.

"The second arrow, shoot the ground! The ground deserves a pair!"

Chang An drew the bow again and shot towards the ground outside the gate, and everyone applauded and cheered again.

"Third arrow, shoot at Qinglu! Bring your lover in!"

Chang An drew the bow for the third time and shot the arrow into the Qinglu.

After shooting three arrows, Huaiqin took the bow and arrow back from Chang'an. At this time, two more maids came up, took the towel, put it in the basin and wet it, and then washed the hands and faces of the two people, but because Gu Li had a veil on his head, they only washed Chang'an's face, and Gu Li only had to wash his hands.

After the ritual of washing hands, the first step was to bow in front of the mirror. Two maids came over and handed the red and green ropes with red hydrangeas to Chang An and Gu Li. The basin on the table in front of them had been removed and replaced with a bronze mirror. Then Chang An knelt down, while Gu Li stood and bowed in front of the mirror.

After the exhibition of worship, it is time to worship in the hall.

"Worship heaven and earth!"

The two men turned around and bowed for the first time to the heaven and earth outside the gate.

"Two thanks to the high hall!"

The two men turned around and bowed for the second time to Chang Wenmeng who was standing in the lobby.

"Couple greetings!"

This time, the two of them turned left and right respectively, faced each other, and performed the third bow.

"Enter Qinglu!"

Chang An and Gu Li switched positions, still standing face to face. Chang An backed away, holding Gu Li's hand with a red string, and walked into the Qinglu. After they both entered the Qinglu and sat down, a maid took away the red string. After the maid left, a woman came in, holding a scale tied with red silk, and handed it to Chang An.

Chang An took the scale, stood up, and gently tapped Gu Li's head with the scale through the veil, and then took off the veil. But after the veil was removed, Gu Li still held the fan in his hand, covering his face.

"Why are you still standing there, groom? The bride is shy. Why don't you show your sincerity?" Matchmaker Wang, who was standing nearby, said with a smile, hinting Chang An to recite the fan poem.

Chang An smiled, handed the scale back to the woman, and said aloud: "Don't let the painted fan come out of the curtain, hiding the spring mountain and the talent. If reunion is like the bright moon, then the sweet osmanthus must be blooming in it."

At the same time, in my heart I was frantically apologizing to the unborn Li Shangyin: I'm sorry, Mr. Li, please lend me this.

"The groom is so talented in writing!" The guests outside the Qinglu couldn't help but admire after hearing the poem.

After Chang An finished reading the poem, Gu Li slowly moved the fan away from in front of him, revealing his face. His eyes met Chang An's, and Chang An couldn't help but be mesmerized:

Her red lips are well-defined, full and rosy, with slightly upturned corners; her eyes are bright and shining, her eyebrows are long and slender, like a crescent moon, and her beautiful eyes turn slightly, flowing with star-like sparkling light; her skin is whiter than snow, and against the backdrop of the two long strands of hair hanging on her shoulders, it looks even whiter; her face is lightly powdered, with a light pink flower ornament on her forehead and green lip balm, and a fresh and elegant breath comes to her face.

"Look, the groom is fascinated by the bride's appearance," said Matchmaker Wang cheerfully, "You two newlyweds should rest here, and when the auspicious time comes, you can hold the rest of the ceremony."

"Um...ok, ok."

After seeing that they were the only two people left in Qinglu, Chang An sat down on the chair, took a long breath, picked up the hot water that had been prepared long ago, poured a cup for Gu Li sitting opposite him first, and then poured it into the cup in front of him.

"I'm so tired. I didn't expect getting married to be so tiring." Chang An blew two sips of the hot water in the cup, took a sip and continued, "By the way, I didn't shake you when I was riding in the sedan just now, did I?"

"No," Gu Li shook his head, "This is what you ordered."

"You know it all?"

"Well, the sedan bearer told me when you were blocking the carriage, so I know." Gu Li lowered his head, holding a fan in his hand, not knowing whether he was shy or nervous.

"It's good that I didn't shake you," Chang An said with a dry snort, "Drink some water. You must have been very tired outside just now."

"Okay..." Gu Li secretly glanced at Chang An, then picked up the cup and drank a sip of the hot water. After drinking it, she bit her lip, thought for a while, and asked as if she had made up her mind:

"I heard someone say that you hate business. Is that true?"

"It's fake," Chang An answered without hesitation, "I usually stay at home, and when I go out, I ride in a carriage without even opening the curtains. Besides, except for my days off, I have to go to the Imperial College every day, and study after I come back. I don't have many opportunities to see them, and I don't see many merchants on the street on weekdays."

"Could it be that, not having spoken to businessmen... also means being anti-business?" Chang An said, and looked at Gu Li again. At this moment, his eyes met Gu Li's. Gu Li blushed involuntarily and quickly turned his head back.

"Then...some people say that you were forced to marry me by Dr. Chang, and you actually don't want to marry me..." As he spoke, Gu Li's voice became lower.

"It's true that I was forced to discuss marriage with you," Chang An said, and found that the woman's ears, which had originally pricked up, fell back, "but I am naturally very willing to marry you."

Gu Li, who was already somewhat frustrated, regained his attention and continued to listen to what Chang An said:

"It is not only said that I, Chang An, am a man of great talent and both civil and military skills, but also that you are beautiful, so beautiful that many men are attracted to you." Chang An put the empty cup back on the table and continued:

"Besides, after that marriage proposal, didn't you and I meet several times? At that time, I felt that there was such a wonderful woman in the world, so beautiful, and she could understand my poetry and was well-educated. What more could a husband ask for if I could marry you?"

After being praised by Chang An, Gu Li couldn't help but blush a little more.

"And think about it, if I really don't want to marry you as others say, then what does today's five poems urging you to get ready mean?" Having said that, Chang An retracted his gaze and let out a long breath.

"Yes... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask that..." Gu Li heard the noise from Chang An and thought that Chang An was a little unhappy, so he quickly turned around and explained, "I just often hear people say that, so I asked..."

"Have you got the answer now?" Chang An looked at Gu Li and met her eyes again.

"Hmm..." Gu Li began to feel embarrassed again when being stared at, but he just lowered his eyes slightly and did not lower his head.

Chang An looked at her like this, his eyebrows drooped slightly, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, as if he was amused by her. Then he changed the subject, not wanting her to be so restrained. "You and I are already husband and wife. Isn't it a bit strange to call each other you and me when we meet on weekdays?"

"That's right..." After hearing what he said, Gu Li also thought seriously, and then said: "Shouldn't couples generally call each other husband and wife?"

"So many people call each other husband and wife, it's too vulgar," Chang An shook his head, but suddenly his eyes lit up, and he said, "Before I called you Niangzi, and you called me Langjun, why don't we remove one character each, and you call me Lang, and I call you Niang?"

Gu Li listened, thought for a while, and murmured: "Lang... Chang Lang... Chang Lang."

"Hey."

Chang An responded at this time, which caused Gu Li to turn his head away, looking quite shy.

"Mrs. Gu?"

After hearing this, Gu Li felt his cheeks burning, lowered his head and looked away. He bit his lip and finally replied:

"Hey......"