Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World.

Chapter 35 Entering the Genealogy

The main courtyard of the Jiang residence.

Jiang Zhong and Hai Xirui occupied the main seats, while Jiang Zhao and Sheng Hualan occupied the left and right seats respectively. Below them were their two younger brothers, Jiang Xiao and Jiang Xu.

Besides, my second and third uncles were seated at the right head and right second seats, respectively.

Jiang Zhao's second and third uncles are his father Jiang Zhong's two younger brothers.

My father Jiang Zhong's generation had three sons and five daughters, some of whom married into other families, and others went on to take the imperial examinations.

My second uncle was a scholar who passed the imperial examinations. He was a judge, one of the deputy prefects, and held the rank of seventh grade. He was a low-ranking official but had great power.

My third uncle was also a scholar who passed the imperial examinations. He served as the magistrate of a county, a seventh-rank official, and a very powerful county magistrate.

However, due to the issue of official titles and ranks in the imperial examinations, the upper limit for the two of them was only a sixth-rank official position. The fifth-rank official position was a major hurdle, and it was very difficult for someone who had not passed the imperial examinations to climb up to that level.

Besides the two uncles, there were nearly ten elderly men below, all around fifty years old.

Among these dozen or so elderly men, some were Jiang Zhao's uncles, and others were his great-uncles.

In terms of kinship, some of them were passed down from the generation of my grandfather, Jiang Zhi.

My grandfather, Jiang Zhi, had several brothers, and these brothers had children. These children were of the same generation as my father, Jiang Zhong, and were cousins.

Some of them were passed down from the area of ​​his great-grandfather Jiang Yuan. Jiang Yuan's brothers all had children, and these children were cousins ​​of his grandfather Jiang Zhi. Several of his grandfather's cousins ​​also had children, who were of the same generation as his father Jiang Zhong.

In terms of kinship, it is still within three generations.

However, it is relatively far away.

More than ten respected, capable, and virtuous elders were selected from the older generation of the Jiang clan from the same branch of the family. They are the so-called clan elders.

The Jiang clan of Huaizuo is a large clan with a well-established lineage.

These dozen or so elderly men all held official positions to varying degrees, with most being eighth-rank officials and a few ninth-rank officials. They were all of the type who held low positions but high power.

This time, more than ten elders gathered together, but it was to meet Sheng Hualan.

Jiang Zhao is the eldest son, and Sheng Hualan is the matriarch of the clan; she cannot be ignored.

The advantage of being a shrewd person is that they can recognize their own position.

The ten elders were all very clear that Jiang Zhao was the key figure in the prosperity of the Jiang family, so they all kept a very humble attitude.

In the second seat on the left, Sheng Hualan sat upright, looking somewhat nervous for no apparent reason.

In fact, the Sheng family also has clan elders.

However, compared to the Jiang family, where clan elders held real power and each performed their duties, the Sheng family's clan elders rarely held real power, and the Sheng family's business was not particularly extensive. Whether the family prospered or not depended entirely on the father, Sheng Hong, supporting it single-handedly. As a result, those clan elders inevitably felt like they were just going through the motions without doing any real work.

Jiang Zhong nodded to the head of the table.

"let's start!"

After she finished speaking, a maid brought over two cups of tea. Sheng Hualan took the tea from the maid, walked to Hai Xirui's side, and respectfully handed the tea to her.

"Daughter-in-law greets Mother!"

Hai Xirui smiled gently and gladly accepted the tea.

Sheng Hualan was a daughter-in-law that she specially chose for her son.

Previously, she had had several conversations and contacts with Sheng Hualan under the guise of hosting banquets.

They have examined his character, conduct, and upbringing.

However, Sheng Hualan herself was unaware of this.

Jiang Zhao stood up, took the remaining cup of tea from the plate, and presented it to his father.

Jiang Zhong stroked his beard and smiled, nodding in satisfaction.

If the bride's tea ceremony for her mother-in-law shows signs of changing its meaning, then the son's tea ceremony for his father is purely a formality, meant to keep the bride from feeling lonely and anxious.

Father and son see each other all the time, so who would be short of a cup of tea?

Therefore, even when both husband and wife are serving tea together, the actual protagonist is the bride, not the husband.

Jiang Zhong and Hai Xirui took a symbolic sip of tea, exchanged a glance, and Hai Xirui spoke first.

“Hua Lan, the Sheng family is a scholarly family. Your mother, Madam Wang, came from the Wang family of Lanxi. You were raised by the only daughter of the Marquis of Yongyi since childhood, so your upbringing is excellent.”

“In the future, Zhao’er will serve as an official in various places, and you will have to work hard to manage him and not slack off.”

Upon hearing those words, Sheng Hualan breathed a sigh of relief, and her tension instantly subsided by seventy percent.

Whether the mother-in-law intends to make things difficult can be easily discerned from a single sentence.

"Kua" means "to praise" or "to compliment," and it means "to be satisfied."

Conversely, whether it's half praise and half blame, or entirely blame, it's still unsatisfactory.

Hai Xirui's words were mainly praise, with instruction but no admonition, which was a very "clean" temple greeting.

In other words, one should not take the opportunity to smuggle in personal agendas, nor should one use the opportunity to suppress the new bride or display one's own power. "As the matriarch, you must remember to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring the continuation of the family line," Hai Xirui added.

"I will remember Mother's teachings!" Sheng Hualan replied respectfully with dignified bearing.

To ensure the continuation of the family line, this was the primary responsibility of the matriarch.

"Husband and wife are one, each should perform their own duties!" Jiang Zhong symbolically went through the temple audience ceremony.

Unless it's a power struggle between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, there's not much to admonish about in this kind of situation.

"Your daughter-in-law will keep this in mind." Sheng Hualan felt relieved and bowed again.

She never expected her in-laws to be so easy to talk to, and they managed to get through the temple visit ceremony in just a few words.

As far as she knows, some less-than-ideal in-laws can even lecture her for an entire morning.

Is this the Jiang family tradition?

After the newlyweds offered tea and the elders accepted it and gave their instructions, the temple visit ceremony was officially completed.

Jiang Zhao and Sheng Hualan sat down again.

Jiang Zhong, the head of the group, stroked his beard, nodded, and stood up, saying, "Let's go to the ancestral hall!"

Before the words were finished, more than ten elders stood up one after another.

Jiang Zhong and Hai Xirui exchanged a glance and strode out, with Jiang Zhao and Sheng Hualan following closely behind.

Following them were Jiang Xiao, Jiang Xu, and more than ten other elders, arranged in order.

A group of more than ten people headed to the ancestral hall together.

The Jiang Clan Ancestral Hall has an exquisitely carved plaque inscribed with the four characters "Ancestral Virtue Endures".

The candles burned, and the ancestral tablets were arranged one by one.

The memorial tablet was clean and bright, clearly indicating that it was frequently wiped down.

In fact, this is indeed the case.

These memorial tablets are usually wiped clean every few days. Elders often come to wipe them on their own initiative, and occasionally Jiang Zhong, Hai Xirui, Jiang Xiao and Jiang Xu will wipe them.

The smoke from the incense mingled, and the incense burning brightly, never ceasing.

The ancestral halls of any large clan are never short of incense offerings, let alone the one where Jiang Zhao recently passed the imperial examination with top honors, making the incense burning even more intensely in the ancestral hall.

Inside the ancestral hall, a nanmu wood offering table had already been set up, with an incense burner and a book with the four characters "Jiang Clan Genealogy" written on it.

This genealogy is as thick as five fingers, and it records all the male members of the Jiang family within five degrees of kinship.

Because the Jiang family has continued to this day without any descendants beyond the fifth degree of kinship, all men from the Huaizuo Jiang family have their names recorded in the family genealogy.

I burned incense and kowtowed three times.

Jiang Zhong stood up, holding a pen with his wrist suspended, and looked at the two characters "Jiang Zhao" on a separate page of the family genealogy.

Originally, Jiang Zhao's name was below his father Jiang Zhong's, that is, "Zi-Jiang Zhao".

However, since Jiang Zhao became the top scholar in the imperial examination, his status has changed dramatically. After discussion among the clan elders, he was given a separate post.

Besides Jiang Zhao, his great-grandfather Jiang Yuan and grandfather Jiang Zhi were both prominent figures, one a founder and the other a developer and expander.

In fact, several elders hoped that Jiang Zhong would have his own page dedicated to him, but Jiang Zhong was self-aware and believed that his virtue and contributions were insufficient, so he did not dedicate his own page to him.

Of course, this does not mean that Jiang Zhong can no longer have his own page in the family genealogy.

Jiang Zhao is Jiang Zhong's son. If Jiang Zhao becomes particularly successful in the future, then Jiang Zhong, as his father, will have accomplished a great feat. In addition, with his experience as a clan leader, he can also make a name for himself.

"Pei-Sheng Shi, the eldest daughter of Sheng Hong of Youyang!"

After a few strokes, Jiang Zhong looked at the group and said, "Elders of the clan bear witness!"

After speaking, there were no objections. Jiang Zhong took out the clan seal and stamped it on.

Done!

After offering tea, paying respects to the ancestors, and recording the family genealogy, the important ceremonies were basically completed.

After that, it's time for the bride to return to her parents' home.

However, compared to a meaningful ceremony like being included in the family genealogy, the bride's homecoming is simply a meal.

After the ceremony was completed, Jiang Zhao stepped forward and introduced the clan elders to Sheng Hualan.

"This is Uncle Jiang Xiantang."

"This is Uncle Jiang Litang."

Sheng Hualan recognized each person with dignified manners.

(End of this chapter)