Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 66 Marriage
Emperor Yongli returned to Guilin, and the city suddenly became lively.

Danchu had no choice but to station his troops outside the city and set up camp near Daxu. This place was a commercial port, which was convenient for the army to buy food and vegetables. After three months of wandering outside, the soldiers had become thinner and really needed to supplement their nutrition.

The matter of marrying Qu Xuanhui was also put on the agenda. Hearing that Danchu took a concubine, Qu Shisi was somewhat annoyed. But Zhu Shulu was the adopted daughter of the empress dowager, and how could Cen Danchu disobey the empress dowager's order? Thinking that Qu Xuanhui was still his legal wife, Qu Shisi was relieved.

The wedding date had been delayed, and it should be completed as soon as possible. Qu Shisi attached great importance to etiquette, and wrote to Jiao Lian to agree on the 12th as the wedding date.

This is the last of the six festivals in a folk wedding: welcoming the bride and groom.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the folk wedding ceremony mainly consisted of four ceremonies: accepting the bride price, accepting the bride price, asking for the date, and welcoming the bride. As the commodity economy was in its infancy, extravagance became popular among the people, and weddings and funerals were highly competitive.

The Qu family could not afford, nor did they have the desire to be extravagant. Most of Qu Shisi's wealth was in his hometown of Changshu, and was inherited by his eldest son Qu Xuanxi.

Qu Xuanxi surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, shaved his head, and managed his ancestral property in the village. For this reason, Qu Shisi also wrote a letter to his family, denouncing his eldest son for betraying his country. In the middle of the letter, there was a sentence "Reputation is at stake, so we cannot act expediently", which was widely praised at the time. The second son was Qu Xuanxiao, who was engaged in business. After the fall of the Hongguang Dynasty, he returned to his hometown and lived in seclusion. The third son, Qu Haoyang, was born a scholar, and he was passive and avoided the world, living in seclusion in the mountains.

Danchu had no parents and did not like extravagance, so the wedding was kept simple.

Jiao Lian was stationed in Quanzhou and it was inconvenient for him to travel to Guilin. Despite this, he still rushed back to Guilin to attend Danchu's wedding.

On the morning of the 12th, the sun was shining brightly and the breeze was gentle, adding a lot of joy to the wedding. Danchu, wearing golden armor and riding a snowy red warhorse, was full of confidence and high spirits. Accompanied by a team of personal soldiers, he went into the city to welcome the bride.

The drummers played music and fired cannons from time to time, and the soldiers scattered copper coins, attracting many children to pick them up. The merchants and civilians along the way saw this and were all envious.

There are many legends about Danchu in and around Guilin: seizing the flag and beheading the general, eliminating harm for the people, loyally and bravely protecting his teacher, beating the eunuch, and subduing the foreign soldiers with his wisdom...

His marriage naturally attracted much attention. The man was a young and promising general who had made many outstanding achievements, and the woman was a well-educated, polite and elegant lady from a noble family. They were a match made in heaven.

At si, Danchu arrived at the garrison. The house was lightly decorated, with red paper posted on the gate and lobby, and lanterns hung.

Zhai Shisi had a wide circle of friends, and many court officials lived in his mansion. At this moment, they all came to watch and observe Dan Chu's style.

Danchu passed through the gate, dismounted, and walked through the hall into the main hall. Qu Shisi and Shao Shi were both wearing new clothes, smiling broadly, and were very satisfied with Danchu wearing golden armor.

After paying respects to his parents-in-law, Danchu went to welcome his new bride.

Qu Xuanhui was covered with red silk, revealing only a wisp of her hair. Her scarlet shawl was made of silk, with a gold-lined hem. It was embroidered with a pattern of mandarin ducks playing in the water, which shone softly in the sun. She was wearing a bright red wedding dress, like a burning flame. Her long skirt dragged on the ground, and her top was tight and fitted, embroidered with flowers and birds singing in harmony, which was lifelike and seemed to dance with the wind at any time. She was tied with a gold belt around her waist, outlining her graceful figure. She was wearing red embroidered shoes, with butterflies embroidered on the uppers and crystals in the center of their wings, which were crystal clear.

In the Ming Dynasty, there was a custom of "beating the groom" and "playing with the bride" during marriages, which was probably practiced in the Tang Dynasty. In the late Ming Dynasty, Feng Menglong compiled "A Brief History of Love", which recorded that "when a girl in Wuzhong got married for the first time, she must have a bridesmaid, who was responsible for teaching the bride how to wear a hat."

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, professional bridesmaids had appeared in various provinces, "those with beautiful looks and elegant singing skills."

The Qu family also hired a bridesmaid, who, together with Shao, helped the bride sit in the sedan chair.

Look at this large sedan chair carried by four people. It has a bright red sedan chair with gold embroidery on the front, a large mirror at the back, and several small mirrors on the top. Peach-red hydrangeas are hung on the four corners. It is the wedding sedan chair that was popular in the late Chongzhen period.

Firecrackers were set off inside and outside the residence, adding to the festive atmosphere.

The bridegroom lifted the sedan chair and went out. The dowry was not rich, but it included gold, jade, silver, money, dowry ornaments, tents, bedding, pillows, pigs, sheep, chickens, fish, bonuses, cloth, tea, wine, etc.

In ancient times, when wealthy families married off their daughters, they would often start preparing dowries when the daughters were young. The Qu family must have spent a lot of effort to raise the dowry when marrying off their daughter.

The bodyguard handed a bag of nuts and candies to the bridesmaid, who went out and scattered them, attracting many children and civilians to grab them.

Danchu picked up his bride and rode in front of him back to Daxu. He had already greeted all the gates of the city, so he could travel smoothly. At noon, the team arrived at Daxu. Danchu stayed in a herbal medicine shop, which was the property of his colleague Zhu Minru.

Jiao Lian had been waiting at the door for a long time.

Danchu quickly dismounted and greeted, "Marshal, I'm back."

Jiao Lian personally led the warhorse over and told Dan Chu, "Quickly remove the saddle."

According to northern customs, when the bride first gets out of the sedan chair, her husband will put the saddle on the ground and ask the bride to step over it, which means "peace".

Danchu was already very skilled at this and easily took off the saddle and placed it on the ground.

The four sedan bearers had received tips, so they worked extra hard and parked the sedan steadily in front of the saddle.

The bridesmaid lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and said, "When the bride and groom get out of the sedan chair, be careful with the saddle."

She took the bride's hand and led her across the saddle. Everyone could see clearly that Miss Qu's feet were indeed natural.

Firecrackers were set off in the herbal medicine shop, and various operas were played to welcome the bride into the new house.

A hermaphrodite sings a poem to urge the bride to get ready in the bridal chamber and scatters fruits all over the bridal chamber. This is called "scattering the tent", which means "getting a son". In the Ming Dynasty, whether it was a folk wedding or the emperor's wedding, the ritual of scattering the tent was indispensable.

After that, the hermaphrodite left. A maid from the Qu family came over and led Qu Xuanhui to sit down and rest for a while.

Since last night, the master and the servant had not slept much, half because of excitement and half because of preparing makeup. Now that they were in the bridal chamber, everything went smoothly, and both of them felt relieved. The maid looked around the room curiously. Qu Xuanhui was still wearing red silk, and she could distinguish the outlines of the surroundings through the red silk.

This is a bedroom, and there is a main hall outside the door, probably for receiving guests. Thinking that tonight is the wedding night, Qu Xuanhui's heart beats faster.

"Master... Marshal." The maid greeted Dan Chu as soon as she saw him come in.

Qu Xuanhui stood up quickly and saw Dan Chu getting closer through the red silk.

"Thank you for your hard work, madam." Danchu said as he couldn't wait to lift her red veil.

But she was wearing a phoenix crown and a bridal gown, as bright as the full moon and as gorgeous as summer flowers. Under the phoenix crown, her hair was tied up high, surrounded by pearls and jade, and her gold hairpins sparkled. Her skin was as white as cream, her face was as red as peach blossoms, her lips were as red as red, her eyes were as clear as autumn water, and she looked around with a variety of manners.

Qu Xuanhui's steps were light and her demeanor was like a swimming dragon. There seemed to be a subtle fragrance floating in the air as she moved gracefully. She opened her red lips and said, "Thank you for your hard work, my husband."

The sound is like an oriole singing in a valley, clear and pleasant to the ear, just like the spring breeze blowing through the willows, gentle and natural.

Looking more closely, Miss Qu is really like a lotus emerging from the water, untainted by dust, or like the bright moon between the pines, sheer light shining down.

She is so beautiful that one would think she is a fairy from the Yaochi Lake who has mistakenly entered the mortal world.

As graceful as a startled swan, and like the goddess of Luo River, she has come to the world.

Danchu was stunned and said to himself: "Madam is so beautiful!"

(End of this chapter)