In the Northern Song Dynasty, he started by marrying the eighth daughter of the Su family.

On the third day after their wedding, the day for the door-to-door ceremony arrived. Han Zhi and Su Zhen both got up very early and then washed up.

At this moment, Su Zhen sat in front of her dressing table, tidying her hair and makeup with the help of Yue Ping and another maid. As for Han Zhi, he sat leisurely to the side, watching Su Zhen.

"Eighth Sister?" Han Zhi suddenly called out.

"My lord," Su Zhen replied.

"When should we go to pay our respects?" Han Zhi asked.

"It will probably be after the adults send over the 'three-day gift' that we will need to prepare some gifts to send as a formal greeting gift," Su Zhen said.

"It will be quite a lively scene. The Su family will also hold a grand banquet to entertain their son-in-law, the official. When he leaves, there will be musicians to escort him back."

As she spoke, Su Zhen smiled slightly. Han Zhi scratched his head and said, "Then I'll have to prepare some good gifts, so as not to embarrass you, Eighth Sister."

"What does this have to do with my face?" Su Zhen found it somewhat amusing and asked in return.

Han Zhi stood up and stood by the dressing table, saying, "I am Ba Niang's husband. If the gift I choose this time is not good, I'm afraid the neighbors will think that I have mistreated Ba Niang."

"Isn't saying this a loss of face for Eighth Sister?"

Su Zhen was amused and scolded, "My dear husband, how can you say such things without shame? The wedding procession was already more than enough to give you face. As long as you went, how could anyone say you lost face?"

"Tsk, they really went all out with this," Han Zhi said.

"Let's go and choose one later, otherwise when we get home, some people with ulterior motives might say that I've mistreated Eighth Sister, and that would cause trouble."

Su Zhen began to think about it seriously, and two names popped into his mind—

Cheng Jun.

Cheng Xu.

The two of them were very concerned about their reputations and had wanted to arrange a marriage between them from the beginning, but Han Zhi "intercepted" them... well, it can't really be called interception, since they were rejected in the first place.

However, they felt they had lost face and dignity by doing so. When Han Zhi went to pay his respects, Cheng Jun's family would inevitably attend the banquet as in-laws, and they might use this to their advantage, ridiculing their elders.

After thinking for a moment, Su Zhen nodded slightly and said, "Your Excellency is very thoughtful. In that case, let's do as you say and go find some good things."

……

However, by 9:00 AM, the Su family's "gifts for the third day of mourning" had already arrived at the Marquis of Fuping's residence. These gifts consisted of jewelry, silks, geese, and sheep—all very standard and proper.

Su Zhen stood beside Han Zhoushi, helping her count the gifts. At this moment, Han Zhoushi looked up, not seeing Han Zhi, and asked with some confusion:

"Eighth Sister, where is Zhi'er?"

“Mother, my husband said he wants to prepare some nice gifts, and I guess he’s still choosing them,” Su Zhen said.

At this moment, Han Zhi walked over, and Su Zhen smiled and said, "Mother, my husband has arrived."

Han Zhi smiled and kissed Su Zhen on the lips, then waved behind him and said, "Bring everything up! We should get ready to leave."

Immediately afterwards, Su Zhen saw Yue Ping arrive with a group of men, carrying several boxes. The boxes were placed in front of Su Zhen, and then opened one by one. The contents inside surprised her:

The golden beast-shaped ornament is mostly made of gold leaf; then there are various colorful silks and brocades, with tassels hanging from them; plus a lot of gold and silver ornaments and the Four Treasures of the Study.

The rest were geese, sheep, and other live poultry.

"My lord, this..." Su Zhen looked at these things and felt a pang of heartache.

"Isn't this too much? Even though we want to save face, this is a bit extravagant."

Han Zhi held her hand and said, "It's nothing."

"Where did all these things come from? They look expensive." Su Zhen asked again. If she heard Han Zhi say that he had collected them himself, she would definitely push them all back.

Han Zhi scratched his head, looking rather embarrassed, and said, "I don't know if these things count as valuable..."

"This golden beast was a gift from a former classmate who asked me to tutor him in his studies and writing. These colorful silks were given to me by a classmate whose family ran a business and whom I had helped. These decorations are quite valuable; I bought them when I had some free time and thought they looked nice."

Su Zhen was stunned for a moment, then pinched him and said, "Even if your family is wealthy, you shouldn't be so extravagant."

“How can this be considered extravagance?” Han Zhi said at this moment. “These things are to prove that Ba Niang did not marry me and was not the one who was wronged. Ba Niang is much more important to me than these things.”

Su Zhen blushed, then simply let go of her hand, turned away, and scolded, "Mother is still here, you shameless brat."

After she finished speaking, she glanced at Han Zhoushi, but Han Zhoushi pretended not to hear and was having her maid blow into her ear.

Han Zhi quickly pulled her closer and whispered, "I'm not lying, every word is true, it's true."

"If you have the energy to joke around, you might as well think about going to see my lord and saying some respectful words."

Han Zhi pulled her hand and gently shook it, saying, "Alright, alright, let's get ready to leave."

Only then did the two of them stop their affectionate behavior. Zhou Hanshi then stepped forward and asked, "The carriage at home is ready, and you two can set off now."

Han Zhi and Su Zhen bowed and watched as the servants loaded the gifts into the carriage before boarding together and heading to the Su family home.

……

The Su family was also preparing for the "meeting of the groom." Tables and chairs were already prepared at home, and even musicians were ready.

Su Xun sat in the main hall, while Madam Cheng was giving instructions on preparing tea. Just then, eleven-year-old Su Zhe ran in, excitedly saying:

"My lord! Mother! My brother and brother-in-law have arrived!"

Upon hearing this, Su Xun immediately perked up and stood up. He was about to go out to greet them when his son-in-law and daughter had already approached.

"My lord, my mother."

"Father-in-law, mother-in-law."

The couple bowed simultaneously to their two elders. At this moment, Madam Cheng also stepped forward, took Su Zhen's hand, and said with satisfaction in her eyes, "My Eighth Aunt is a daughter-in-law now."

"Mother."

At this moment, Han Zhi began directing the servants to bring in the gifts they had brought. Just like at the Marquis of Fuping's residence, Yueping had the servants lay the items on the ground and open them.

"Good son-in-law, this is..." Su Xun was shocked by the luxurious gift and asked, pointing at it.

"My lord, this is a gift personally selected by my master."

Madam Cheng smiled and said, "You've come, so what's the harm in bringing a gift? You've already shown your good intentions."

Su Zhen smiled and explained, "My husband prepared these because he was afraid that someone might come and upset Mother and you. Please accept them, Mother and I. After all, they are a token of my husband's goodwill."