Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 251, The Wedding Day

Before they knew it, their wedding day arrived.

In the morning, the imperial court held a formal ceremony to confer titles upon the kings.

The ceremony of bestowing the title of king was held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and all the officials and ministers were present.

The official in charge of proclaiming the imperial edict read it aloud.

According to custom, those who receive the title should perform the grand ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows, kneeling to listen to the imperial edict.

However, Fang Yong only bowed slightly to show respect.

With a livid face, the Longqing Emperor ordered Dai Quan to produce the imperial robes, the gold seal, and the books and maps recording Fang Yong's fiefdom.

Regarding Fang Yong's fiefdom, the only publicly known fiefdoms are the two prefectures of Su and Hui, plus Huzhou and Jiaxing in Zhejiang.

However, in reality, Shandong and Zhili are also under Fang Yong's control, as is Shanxi. Yesterday, the governor of Shanxi, Su Guangxiong, just sent back news that he had agreed to return to Beijing to report on his duties. In other words, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Fang Yong will soon be able to take over all of Shanxi and further strengthen his power.

After the seals and registers were conferred, the officials began to submit memorials praising Fang Yong's virtues.

Emperor Longqing could only reluctantly praise Fang Yong, and then reward him with gold, silver, treasures, palace maids, and so on.

Finally, the group went to the Altar of Earth and Grain to offer sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, praying to the heavens about Fang Yong's enfeoffment as king.

Furthermore, if thunderstorms or strong winds happen at this time, the coronation ceremony will be postponed, because that would represent the wrath of Heaven and Heaven's displeasure.

Therefore, when Emperor Longqing was carrying out this step, he hoped that Heaven would send down such an unusual phenomenon to postpone the time when Fang Ze was conferred the title of king.

Unfortunately, the strange phenomenon never materialized in the end.

Emperor Longqing watched helplessly as the traitor Fang was successfully enfeoffed as a king, and all the officials celebrated with great joy.

He couldn't find any trace of the turning point the retired emperor had mentioned.

Has Dae Hee's destiny truly come to an end?
Fang Yong's investiture ceremony and wedding were held on the same day.

He quickly changed into new clothes and led the wedding procession to the Lin residence.

The Lin Mansion was the residence that Fang Yong arranged for Lin Ruhai in the capital, second only to the Prince's Mansion in terms of scale.

However, Lin Ruhai does not actually live here often.

On ordinary days, Lin Ruhai mostly lived in the Hanlin Academy or Wuying Hall, working tirelessly with others to revise books.

Fang Yong had also worried about his health, after all, Lin Ruhai died young in the original novel.

However, he sent imperial physicians to examine him several times, but they couldn't find anything wrong. Lin Ruhai's health wasn't bad; he was just a little tired.

Despite his doubts, Fang Yong let the situation go as it was.

On the eve of their wedding, Fang Yong sent Daiyu back to the Lin family mansion.

Lin Ruhai was also invited back to the Lin residence.

This is to ensure the smooth completion of the wedding ceremony.

The wedding procession proceeded in a grand and impressive manner.

The largest part of the wedding procession was the honor guard, mostly composed of Fang Yong's personal guards. They wore specially made festive armor, which not only displayed a majestic aura but also possessed a certain defensive capability, allowing them to promptly control any potential assassins.

Secondly, there are the numerous flag bearers, musicians, drummers, and so on in the honor guard.

The journey was filled with celebration and music, and everyone was in high spirits.

Then there were also special officials to escort the bride, as well as matchmakers.

In a general sense, Daiyu was snatched away by Fang Yong without a matchmaker.

However, sometimes you can't say things like that.

The word "rob" is inappropriate.

Fang Yong felt that he shouldn't call it robbery, but rather rescue.

Who asked him to save her?

Jia Yucun!
Therefore, Fang Yong appointed Jia Yucun as the matchmaker and specially brought him over from the rear.

Jia Yucun's career has also risen dramatically, transforming him from a dismissed scholar into one of the most prominent ministers in the country. He, who was once forced to join Fang Yong's rebellion, is now so powerful that even beatings won't stop him.

Behind them were some attendants.

They carried the bridal sedan chair, led the horses, and carried gifts, etc.

The gifts here are just ordinary presents, not betrothal gifts.

The betrothal gifts were already given in advance during the previous preparations, so there is no need to prepare additional betrothal gifts now.

The wedding procession arrived at the Lin residence.

After entering the mansion, the wedding ceremony will be held, and various rituals will be performed.

One of the steps involved rushing people to get ready.

As the name suggests, it's to urge the bride to finish her makeup quickly.

Of course, this step isn't really about urging people to put on makeup; it's more about expressing anticipation for the wedding and creating a romantic atmosphere.

According to ancient custom, Fang Yong composed a poem to urge Daiyu to get ready for her wedding.

The incense burner is warm and fragrant, the embroidered curtains are drawn back, and the sound of the water clock urges the dawn to the mirror stand.

Do not wait for the spring breeze to break the willow branches, for the jade flute plays until the moon rises in the west.

They also sent a piece of jade willow, as willows are good at reproducing, and even a small piece can grow into a towering tree, thus symbolizing a long and happy marriage and many children.

Not long after, Daiyu wrote a reply poem.

The water chestnut blossoms smile, reflecting the rosy hue; the half-rolled bamboo curtain shivers in the evening breeze.

I borrowed a few peach petals, and let them fly into the painted screen with spring.

They also presented her with a jade peach blossom hairpin, the peach blossoms being exceptionally vibrant and unparalleled, symbolizing a happy and fulfilling marriage.

Soon after, Daiyu emerged, dressed in a phoenix coronet and embroidered robe, a red silk veil, a robe with cloud and dragon patterns on her chest, a jade flower sash, white jade cloud-shaped earrings, and gold-patterned red shoes, with three pearls on each side.

Daiyu then bid farewell to Lin Ruhai and boarded the bridal sedan chair with Fang Yong.

The wedding procession set off again, accompanied by the sounds of gongs and drums.

Lin Ruhai prepared an extremely generous dowry for Daiyu.

A total of 256 loads.

The term "lifting" refers to placing the prepared dowry on a carrying frame, which is then carried by two to eight people, depending on its weight and size.

Since dowries are usually wrapped in red wooden boxes or red cloth, the saying "ten miles of red dowry" arose when there were a particularly large number of people carrying the dowry.

Two hundred and fifty-six loads is an extremely large number.

Let's not even talk about ordinary people.

Back then, Fang Yong prepared a peck of rice, which was already considered generous. As for a return gift, forget about it. At most, it would be a bed sheet. Some poor people would just make a pillow to get by. It could barely be considered a gift.

Even wealthy families typically only had a few loads.

Some families of officials, or those with ordinary backgrounds, only have about twenty taels of silver.

Those of particularly high status, such as Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xue, would generally be carried by sixty-four loads, which is considered the standard.

If there are many, and if there is some special significance, such as a marriage between people from different places, for example, when Tan Chun married as a princess, plus the need for the marriage alliance, then there would be 128 loads.

This gives us an idea of ​​the quality of the 256 units that Lin Ruhai prepared.

Moreover, none of Lin Ruhai's more than two hundred loads of dowry were just for show; they were all genuine materials. Those boxes of gold and silver bricks were so heavy that even eight people had to carry them.

The procession stretched for several streets, truly becoming a ten-mile-long red bridal procession.

Lin Ruhai was not a corrupt official, but he was certainly not a forthright minister like Hai Rui. He served as the Salt Commissioner in Yangzhou for more than ten years and was quite wealthy.

(PS: I originally intended to write about the last ten years, but due to some reasons, I changed it to more than ten years.)
When Fang Yong was in Yangzhou, he confiscated some of the assets of officials. At that time, Lin Ruhai offered to donate these assets, but Fang Yong did not agree. He was not interested in his father-in-law's money. So he jokingly said that Lin Ruhai should give it to him as Daiyu's dowry in the future. Unexpectedly, the other party took it seriously.

The procession continued along the way, distributing wedding candy and money as they passed Ningrong Street...

(End of this chapter)