Traveling to Daliang Kingdom starts from falling into the water

Chapter 655: Clearing up after the Snow
It was a rare day after the snow, and the good weather made people particularly happy. The manor was bustling with activity, and everyone's face was filled with joy.

Although Gu Wenxuan got up late this morning, he still accompanied Zhou Banxia to the main courtyard to pay their respects to Old Lady Gu and Gu Erzhu and his wife before going to the outer courtyard.

In the outer courtyard, his three brothers-in-law and the three young masters of the Qi family had all gotten up early, and after going out for a walk, they returned less than an incense stick's time later.

Perhaps because of the harmonious conversation they had when they first met last night, when they met again, Gu Wenxuan found that the third young master of the Qi family was obviously much more relaxed in front of him.

Within an hour or so, this guy started to disregard etiquette and rules. Not only did he interrupt him, he even dared to physically drag him to the racecourse.

To be honest, he is not afraid of riding horses, shooting arrows, or even fighting, as long as he doesn't do it casually and composes a poem on the spot.

Although his wife collected quite a few poems for him, they were not used in this way.

Moreover, the styles of poetry vary.

Some are ornate in words, some are simple in emotions, some are grand and vigorous in momentum, and some are fresh, subtle, gentle and affectionate. It can be said that we have everything you can think of.

But no matter how talented a person is, it is impossible for him to be omnipotent and to be proficient in all aspects of literature, right?
Being a plagiarist also depends on the occasion.

There is still a long way to go for writers. It is still very useful for them to write good poems based on what they see, objects and events. If they memorize one poem at a time, it will be one less poem.

What a pity.

As for asking him to compose poems and essays based on his real talent and knowledge on the spot, forget it. He is not Cao Zhi who can compose a poem in seven steps. It would be too damaging to his image.

This is great!
This person can be handed over.

The so-called racecourse is actually on the east side not far from the manor. It is a very open space including the planned paper mill to be built next year.

Before, we might have had to worry about the several large pits that had been dug, but now even the riverbed was frozen solid, and it had become a racecourse for the guards to practice equestrianism and archery.

There are martial arts training grounds in the manor, both in the outer and back yards, the only difference is in size.

For example, in a backyard martial arts training ground, only family members are allowed to exercise nearby.

The outer courtyard martial arts training ground is more like a place for the guards to do morning exercises or gather when they are not training in the back mountain on weekdays, and it is more like a place for sparring.

Only two horses are allowed to run. If there are more, they will inevitably be unable to turn.

Therefore, when Qi San said he wanted to go to the racecourse, Gu Wenxuan was not surprised at all.

After all, except for a few places that outsiders cannot enter, the entire area around his house is open to the public, so there is nothing wrong with people asking around.

Here is the racecourse.

The snow that had accumulated since the beginning of winter had been piled up into snow walls along the way intentionally or unintentionally by the guards. Someone even built two snowmen to guard the entrance and exit.

If you don’t know, even in broad daylight, from a distance it looks like there are two people standing guard there.

It's really fun.

When the group arrived, Gu Wenxuan took a special look at the two standing snowmen. From all indications, it was undoubtedly Xiaohe's idea.

Little Smart met the gaze of his third brother-in-law and grinned. Suddenly, as if he remembered something, he covered his mouth with his hands, and suddenly a burst of laughter came to his ears.

Poor him, he just lost his teeth.

Inside the manor, Zhou Banxia chatted with Old Lady Gu, went to the bathroom, and then came out to the courtyard where chairs were already set up to bask in the sun. Because Old Lady Gu and the elders such as Liu had repeatedly said that her family did not have the customary etiquette of greeting, at this time, not to mention Qi Wenhui and the other three girls, even Ma Shan had not arrived yet.

The sunlight is not strong enough to melt the snow, so the ground is not wet. It is much more comfortable to stay in the open-air courtyard than in the warm room.

No one disturbed him, so Zhou Banxia closed his eyes and wondered if it would be too late to buy some items for the betrothal gift before sending Gu Dahua out after the New Year.

Generally speaking, when a wealthy family discusses marriage, it is not easy to complete the three letters and six ceremonies all at once. They pay the gifts today, arrange the date tomorrow, and get the bride together within a month or so.

You have to bring gifts to propose marriage, wait for the woman's consent, and then choose a good day and ask a matchmaker to go to the woman's house with the Geng Tie to ask for the woman's horoscope.

Only if there is no conflict between the eight characters can you choose a date to discuss the marriage. After that you can have the betrothal ceremony and get engaged. There should be enough time to prepare the betrothal gifts.

Although there are six gifts and twelve gifts at the beginning of proposing marriage, it is not a big deal to prepare twelve gifts in order to show respect and love for the woman.

When it comes to a matter of face, she doesn't care about being laughed at by others about who she marries, but Hui Jie'er can't. I don't know if Hui Jie'er likes Dajiang or not.

If these two children could see eye to eye, it would be a good match. Since Uncle Qi and the others allowed Hui Jie'er to come here, it shows that they have great sincerity, and there will be no problem passing the elders' test.

Even her father and her mother, yes!

Zhou Banxia suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to ask Gu Wenxuan whether he had discussed this with her father in private before.

Fortunately, there is a difference between boys and girls, and the two children have never met each other yet. It will not be too late to listen to their parents' opinions in person when the two children are interested in each other.

Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, Dajiang will be 15 after the Chinese New Year, and he is about to reach the age of engagement, so he can slowly start preparing some things for the betrothal gifts.

Things produced in Jiangnan are much cheaper than here. Otherwise, the cost of last-minute purchases would definitely be much higher. I'm afraid that even 20,000 taels of silver wouldn't be enough to buy much.

However, it is not necessary to use a betrothal gift of ten thousand taels of silver.

Even if Dajiang is treated as the fourth young master of the Zhou family, it is not easy to bypass his elder brother.

As for the betrothal gift for my second brother, what was the plan when my aunt mentioned the date?

Zhou Banxia was trying hard to recall when he heard Ma Shan, her mother and her two sons coming.

With the arrival of Ma Shan and her son, except for Mrs. Liu who was still busy inside, Old Lady Gu also came out of the warm room and everyone came to the courtyard to bask in the sun.

For a moment, Zhou Banxia had no time to think about anything else, especially when the Zhao family arrived.

Quite a few people came, including Mr. Zhao Erye and his family, including his wife and children.

With the arrival of Mrs. Zhao Er, her two daughters-in-law, her unmarried daughter, and her little grandchildren, the place became lively again.

Soon after, Li and Zhou Daya, mother and daughter, accompanied by Zhou Xiucai's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, their unmarried granddaughter, and Gu Yangqing's wife Gu Zhou also arrived one after another.

Then, the third and fourth rooms of the Gu family, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the Gu clan leader, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the second master Gu, the granddaughters-in-law of their two families, the village head's family, the Ma family...

Seeing so many female relatives arriving in groups of three or five, there were so many people that Zhou Banxia had to be thankful that her manor had a decent area.

Not to mention how many male guests have arrived in the outer courtyard at this time, the number of female guests who came today alone does not seem to be much less than the number on the day of the house-warming banquet.

If the courtyard where her parents-in-law lived was small, there wouldn't be enough room for everyone to stand there, let alone for them all to enter the main hall and greet each other noisily.