The wind is gentle and the fun is endless

Marriage has its own set of complicated etiquette. According to the highest standards of etiquette, the Xu family invited three matchmakers from Shanghuai to perform the "Nacai" ceremony.

After that, the Xu family invited Mr. Du, who had worked at the Imperial Astronomical Bureau and now retired to his hometown, to personally ask for the name. After comparing the horoscopes of Xu Qu and Feng Huanhuan on the Engagement Letter, Mr. Du immediately congratulated Mrs. Xie, saying that they were a match made in heaven, with a "good marriage and a good marriage".

This made Mrs. Xie of the Xu family very happy, because it not only gave her confidence, but also gave her a reason to explain in front of her relatives why she arranged such a humble marriage for her stepson who was her legitimate son.

The next thing was to "accept the good news". The Xu family quickly sent good news to the Feng family, and then quickly arranged for "accepting the betrothal gifts".

The Feng family said they had no requirements for the betrothal gifts, but the Xu family meant that Xu Qu was the only legitimate son or even the only son of the second branch of the Xu family, so they still had to go through the formalities. Then, on a sunny day, 58 boxes of betrothal gifts of various sizes were delivered from Shanghuai City. Just to store these boxes, nearly half of the rooms in the Feng family were used.

Led by Mrs. Jiang, Feng's sister-in-law Pei, Huanhuan and Xiaoyu opened the betrothal gifts box by box. There were calligraphy and paintings by great calligraphers and painters of the past and present dynasties; rolls of fine brocade, boxes of silk and satin, and silk from the south; a delicate and elegant Suzhou embroidery of narcissus, a colorful Guangdong embroidery of birds; fine tea leaves that would emit a fragrant aroma as soon as the tea can was opened; and gold, silver, jade, porcelain, pottery, lacquer and wood wares.

The maid Xiaoyu picked up a black lacquer box inlaid with koi carp patterns from a box and said, "This box is so beautiful."

Sister-in-law Pei took the box from Xiaoyu's hand and said, "This is mother-of-pearl craft, a technique of making thin slices of snail shells or seashells, assembling or carving them into patterns of people, flowers, birds and animals, and inlaying them on the surface of wooden objects such as lacquerware. The decorations look ordinary at first glance, but once they are exposed to light, they become colorful." After saying this, she turned the covered bowl towards the light shining into the room, and the koi immediately shone with colorful light, which made people marvel.

There was also a box of jewellery filled with pearls, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, gold and silver hairpins, etc. Any item you took out was an exquisite masterpiece. Mrs. Xie was always a thoughtful person. Not only did she have all the hair accessories, crowns, and earrings, she was also very thoughtful and prepared the black ink board and black ink grinding tools.

Seeing this, Mr. Feng felt a little hesitant. The Xu family's grand display made him feel that the Feng family was marrying up. Although Mr. Xu was the only son of the second branch of the Xu family, he was not interested in fame. If he was a businessman who did not read the books of sages and only pursued profits, how could he be worthy of his smart and clever daughter? For a moment, he was unsure whether it was right to arrange this marriage for his daughter.

Mrs. Feng was very happy. After seeing the betrothal gifts, she kept holding her daughter-in-law's hand and said, "Xiushan, thanks to the invitation you brought back from your parents' home, Huanhuan went to Shanghuai City and was able to meet her lover so smoothly."

Mrs. Pei, who was pregnant, was also very happy and said, "Congratulations to my younger sister for finding a good man this time. As her sister-in-law, I am also happy for her."

The wind at the end of February was not as harsh as that in midwinter, and the sun at noon was hot enough to make people in cotton-padded jackets sweat on their foreheads. The warm sunlight was shining through the window sashes onto Huanhuan, who was staring at the wedding scarf she was embroidering in the room with her needle and thread in her hands. She didn't expect that the marriage proposal would be successful this time, and she was still a little nervous.

The maid Xiaoyu shook her arm and said, "Miss, your marriage has been decided, and it's to a wealthy family. Why are you so worried lately?"

Slowly coming back to his senses, he said to Xiaoyu, "Xiaoyu, you don't know that although Shanghuai City and our Heyang belong to the same Yizhou Prefecture, and can be regarded as the richest and most prosperous area in Yizhou Prefecture, it is on the other side of the mountain after all, far away from my mother's home, and the customs are also quite different from our Heyang. The one who proposed marriage this time is still a wealthy family, and our Feng family is just an ordinary family that can just be considered to have no worries about food and clothing. We have a little property passed down from our ancestors, and there are three or five servants in the family. In the eyes of those wealthy families, these are probably no different from the poor family. Moreover, unlike ordinary families with simple populations, the personnel relations in those large courtyards are more complicated to handle. In comparison, I have no foundation, and I am afraid that I am treading on thin ice. Whenever I think of this, I can't help but feel uneasy."

Xiaoyu said, "Miss, don't be afraid. The master and the young master have already inquired about the Xu family and Mr. Xu. The Xu family has a good reputation, and Mr. Xu has never been heard of having any bad habits. I think he will be fine."

"Hmm," Xiaoyu responded slowly, and fell into his own thoughts again.

************

The Xu family soon sent their butler Li Shi and a matchmaker to deliver a letter of invitation. The man was very active and set the date for the wedding on the 20th of next month.

Mr. Feng and Mrs. Feng stared at the gift book hesitantly, and said to the butler Li Shi, "Butler Li, isn't this date set too soon? It's hard for us to prepare. Why don't we ask someone to see if there is a later date, so that we have time to prepare."

Butler Li had received advice from Mrs. Xie before coming here, and had prepared a response to this question in advance. He said, "This date was calculated by the Xu family, who had worked in the Imperial Observatory. It is the most auspicious date this year. The other suitable dates are October and December, which are too late." The matchmaker who came with him also persuaded him, "Since it was calculated by a man who had worked in the Imperial Observatory, it must be correct. It should be a rare auspicious day. It is worth spending more time and effort to prepare more intensively."

After hearing this, the Feng family didn't say anything more and agreed.

Huanhuan thought it was easy, "There's nothing to prepare anyway." She picked out some of the fabrics sent by the Xu family, and made her own clothes with the servants at home. She prepared several sets for the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. From time to time, she took Xiaoyu to the street to see if she liked anything, such as red tableware, vases with beautiful meanings, etc. Of course, she didn't forget to go to Qiaoji to buy some facial cream and lip balm and secretly hid them in the dowry box, intending to take them to Shanghuai City. In addition, she also carefully selected some books. After all, the reason why she could decorate the appearance of her wealthy husband's family was that she came from a scholarly family.

The day of the wedding procession soon arrived. Normally, one could take a very short mountain road from Heyang to Shanghuai. But now, as the wedding procession was large in number and they were carrying luggage, they had to go around the mountain, and the journey became longer. In order to hold the wedding at an auspicious time, the wedding procession came to pick up the bride before dawn.

At that time, Huanhuan was having a reunion dinner with her parents and brothers. However, her sister-in-law was pregnant and did not show up for fear of causing trouble according to the custom. In order to take care of his wife, Huanhuan's brother Feng Shunqing only showed up for a moment during the reunion dinner and was not present during the wedding reception.

After the meal, Huanhuan bowed to her parents. Huanhuan's father, Mr. Feng, was always very methodical in his work. He advised her earnestly: "Xuanhuan, when you enter your husband's family in the future, you must put your husband's family first in everything. You must be filial to your elders, respect your husband, be friendly to your relatives, remember the teachings of saints, and never forget that you are a girl from a scholarly family." Huanhuan lowered her head and replied "yes".

Huanhuan, who was wearing a long skirt with large sleeves and a scarf, put on a wide-sleeved top. After being helped into the sedan by her aunt, Huanhuan wiped her wet eyes with the embroidered handkerchief in her hand. Then, according to the custom, she threw the handkerchief out from the sedan, which meant that she would throw away her tears and live a happy life with laughter. Xu Qu, who came to pick up the bride, watched this series of steps quietly, letting the housekeeper and servants take care of everything while he rode on his horse without making a sound.

Of course, Huanhuan could not have a dowry of land deeds, land, shops, and manors. Fortunately, her parents asked her to take all the betrothal gifts from the Xu family back as her dowry, and together with the five boxes they put together, the scene was still acceptable.

Huanhuan didn't agree to bring a betrothal gift at first. She said that since the Xu family had said that they could accept her not having a dowry when they proposed marriage, there was no need to pretend to have a large amount. She wanted to leave those properties to her parents, but her father, Master Feng, got angry and yelled at Huanhuan, "We are not selling our daughter. Our daughter is going to be a wife who is married in a formal way. If I embezzle the betrothal gift, I can't prepare a dowry of equal value for you. How can you still have a foothold in your husband's family in the future! Huanhuan, are you scolding me, your father, for not preparing a dowry for you?" After saying that, he lowered his head and said nothing, looking dejected. Seeing this situation, Huanhuan didn't dare to mention it again.

Afterwards, Xiaoyu once asked Huanhuan why her sister-in-law's family received so many betrothal gifts but did not bring them all back. Huanhuan tapped her forehead and said, "You don't understand. It is a great blessing for our Feng family that my sister-in-law's father favored my brother and married my sister-in-law to our Feng family. But for a wealthy family like my sister-in-law's family, it is absolutely inappropriate and a down-marriage. You can ask around. Not to mention ordinary families, even those new noble families who are not in the eyes of the aristocratic families need so much money to marry the daughters of the aristocratic families. Our Feng family's contribution is just enough to prevent my sister-in-law from being laughed at in her natal family. Moreover, although my sister-in-law only brought back part of the betrothal gifts, she brought other dowries that are much more valuable than the betrothal gifts. These wealthy families will not let their daughters live in poverty in their husband's family."

Thinking of this, she slowly opened a gap, took a look at the long line of porters carrying the dowry, and saw her parents standing beside them, with mixed feelings in her heart.

Watching his daughter getting married, Mr. Feng was filled with emotion and his eyes were a little moist.

Mrs. Feng was very happy. This wedding was her first time to see her son-in-law. Although it was still dark, she could still see that he was tall and thin, with a graceful demeanor and elegant temperament.

She said to her aunt Huanhuan who was standing beside her, "The Book of Songs says, 'There is a gentleman who has jade-like ears and a hat as bright as stars. He is so beautiful and so handsome, and he is not a gentleman. He can never be deceived.' Have you heard of it?"

My aunt knew she was happy, so she followed her words and said, "Oh? What do you mean?"

Mrs. Feng said happily, "It means an elegant gentleman. The hat he wears is inlaid with gems that sparkle like stars, and the beautiful jade hangs down to his ears, shining brightly. He has a solemn demeanor and a broad mind, and he is prominent in status and majestic. An elegant gentleman is unforgettable and will be remembered in people's hearts at first sight. Look, isn't this talking about my son-in-law?"

My aunt smiled and said, "Yes, yes."

"Start the sedan!" Along with the command, a warm breeze blew, mixed with the fragrance of the earth and flowers. In the dim morning light, he slowly and officially left his home, left his parents, and embarked on the unknown road to the Xu family.