Wanqingsi

Chapter 168
The first day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of Tianzhao Yuanjing was a big day for the Yun family.On this day, An Yuanxi, the second grandson who has been separated from Yonglehou for more than 20 years, will hold a formal ceremony in Yonglehou's mansion in the capital to recognize his ancestor and return to his clan.The old man was not prepared to deal with this matter in a low-key manner. In addition to Chen Qing, he also invited relatives and friends to the Hou Mansion to watch the ceremony, making it clear that he attaches great importance to this second grandson.As the news spread, gift givers formed a long line regardless of whether they were friends with the Yun family or had nothing to do with it.

Get up early in the morning and go to greet the old man.The old man drank tea, handed me and Yunzheng a red envelope each, and said with a smile: "It should have been given to you two last night, but girl Ye is not feeling well, and I didn't let anyone bother you, it's better today ?”

"Much better, thank you Grandpa." I nodded.The old man smiled and said: "That's good, the ancestor recognition ceremony will be held in Yuanxi later, and you can participate together when you are healthy."

I nodded in agreement, went back to the room with Yunzheng, and changed into the official crown uniform.I originally thought that women were not allowed to participate in An Yuanxi's ancestor recognition ceremony, so I didn't make any preparations at all. I didn't expect the old man to let me go to watch the ceremony. Could it be that the old man was afraid of holding such a big fanfare for An Yuanxi's ancestor recognition ceremony? The ceremony will make Yun Zheng suspicious, so I, a woman, will be allowed to participate, so as to show that his importance to Yun Zheng will not be changed because of An Yuanxi?I can't help but feel a little emotional, the old man's thoughts are really too many twists and turns, in fact, it's his own overthinking, Yun Zheng won't be overthinking, I even hope that Yun Zheng can take care of things and take good care of his body.

Seeing that I was puzzled by the old man asking me to participate in the ceremony, Yun Zheng smiled and said: "You forgot, you are a first-class Ronghua lady personally appointed by the emperor, and all kinds of grand ceremonies such as the royal family's pilgrimages and sacrificial offerings must be attended by married women, let alone such a Clan activities." Then suddenly, I really forgot that my identity as a first-class Ronghua lady, "seal, ribbon, and adornment, is like her husband", and my identity is higher than that of Yun Zheng, an unofficial son, so naturally the old man will not miss it I.

My heart skipped a beat.If I didn't have the highest status as a married woman, how could I, a woman with no money, no power, no power, and humble background, be able to live in such a wealthy family as "deep as the sea" like the Yun family?Although Yunzheng loves me very much, others may not treat me like Yunzheng, just like the old man who I used to think looked at me differently, but in the end he was just using me.I always thought that the emperor granted me this title just to show that I was the Yun family's honored favor, but is that all?Your majesty, you are worried about my situation, afraid that I will be bullied in the Yun family, so you grant me this title and enjoy the imperial salary, so that no one can bully me at will?

Ning'er and Xin'er changed into a dress and a flower crown for me.I was in a daze, if, if this is the real intention of the emperor, then I have been misunderstood him some time ago?Thinking of the previous few times that made him furious, but he never did any real harm to me... My heart was filled with mixed feelings, and the emperor's angry expressions flashed in my mind, and I was stunned for a moment .

"Young Madam, it's all over." Ning'er helped me tidy up.I regained my senses, suppressed those chaotic thoughts that made me palpitate, and rushed to the ancestral hall with Yun Zheng.In the courtyard outside the ancestral hall, lion dancers and bands with gongs and drums are waiting.After a while, in addition to the relatives and friends of the Yun family, there were many officials in plain clothes that I didn't know. When they saw Yun Zheng, they greeted him one after another. Yun Zheng smiled lightly and maintained proper etiquette.

When the auspicious time came, the old man brought An Yuanxi into the ancestral hall, and the ceremony and music played together.Uncle Yun Chongling was the emcee of the ceremony. When he saw them coming in, he asked Yun Zheng to bring a bowl of sweet tea to An Yuanxi. After he took a sip, he said, "The No. The eldest son, Yuanxi, recognizes the ancestor and returns to the clan, the ceremony begins, and the sacrificer takes his place."

An Yuanxi stood in front of the sacrificial table in the middle of the ancestral hall, and when Yun Chongling gave the order to "wash", Uncle Chang brought out a silver washbasin, An Yuanxi washed his face and hands in the washbasin, and took the water Uncle wiped off the towel in his hand, and then stood back to his original position.Then there are "Welcome to the ancestors" and "Shangxiang". Uncle Chang handed the lit incense to An Yuanxi, and asked him to kneel down with the incense and worship the ancestors of heaven and earth three times.After the incense was served, Uncle Hai served the libation as ordered, and "filled the ground" with An Yuanxi.After the libation was sprinkled three times, it was time to offer sacrifices. Uncle Chang brought all kinds of sacrifices to An Yuanxi kneeling down to worship, and then brought them back to the sacrificial table, which is called "fufu".Then came the two most important items, "reciting the sacrificial text" and "worshiping the ancestors". , and then "send the ancestors to drive", after completing this series of matters, the tedious and rigorous ceremony of recognizing the ancestors and returning to the clan is completed.Hearing Yun Chongling's loud announcement of "Licheng", the ritual music outside was played again.

After the rites and music were played, the old man sitting at the head of the side seat of the ancestral hall stood up and announced: "Yun's No. 11 eldest grandson, Yuanxi, today recognizes his ancestor and returns to his clan, and officially changed his name to Yunqian, with the word Yuanxi. "As soon as the words fell, the sound of congratulations was endless.But I heard my uncle continue to say: "Yun Qian, the No. 11 eldest son of the Yun family, serve tea to the elder!"

Yunde came over with a tray, An Yuanxi picked up the teacup, knelt down in front of the old man and said, "Grandpa drink tea!"

"Okay, good boy..." The old man took the teacup with a smile and took a sip.Then he picked up the red box held by the servants behind him, opened it and handed it to An Yuanxi, and said with a smile: "Qian'er, this jadeite Ruyi is a token of our Yun family males, every male has one, you put it away .”

Inside the box was a jade Ruyi of excellent quality, green and green, only half a foot long, with the family totem of the Yun family engraved on the jade Ruyi. I have seen Yunzheng also have one.An Yuanxi took the box, handed it to Yun Yi who was beside him, and said in a low voice, "Thank you, Grandpa!"

"Okay, go serve tea to your eldest brother and sister-in-law!" The old man smiled.An Yuanxi stood up obediently, walked straight in front of Yun Zheng, picked up the teacup on the tray Yun De was holding, and knelt down: "Brother, drink tea!"

My scalp went numb, and I looked at the old man in astonishment, didn't I?Will An Yuanxi still serve me tea later?This is too embarrassing, right?Turning around, seeing that Yunzheng had already drank tea, he smiled at An Yuanxi and said, "Second brother has been suffering outside these years, and I have always been in poor health. When the second brother comes back, he wants to help grandfather manage more of the Yun family's business. Big brother can feel at ease." It's gone." With that, he took a jade ring from his finger and handed it to An Yuanxi.The ring is a seal for Yunzheng to handle affairs, engraved with the totem of the Yun family, although it is not the jade totem decree of the old man in charge of family affairs, but with this jade seal, it is equivalent to having obtained the power to handle family affairs.Looking up, I saw that Uncle Tang, Uncle Hai, and Uncle Chang all had a bit of surprise in their eyes, but the old man's face was expressionless and unpredictable.I smiled slightly, the deacons probably felt a little dissatisfied with letting An Yuanxi get in touch with the Yun family's business just after he came back?I don't even think that the old man has recognized An Yuanxi for a long time, and he has made some arrangements in secret, maybe he has already started to help the old man in the Yun family's affairs in secret.An Yuanxi didn't know if he knew the function of this ring, so he accepted the jade ring calmly: "Thank you, brother."

Yunde came up to me with a tray, I bit my lip, saw An Yuanxi walking away, stood in front of me with lowered eyelids, knelt down with a teacup in his hand, and said without a trace of turmoil in his tone, "Sister-in-law drinks tea!"

The teacup held in the air was held steady, An Yuanxi lowered his head, I couldn't see his expression.Taking a breath, I took the teacup, took a sip, and took the gift box from Yunze, which contained a set of bride's jewelry, and handed it to An Yuanxi: "I hope my uncle can get married as soon as possible. The family spreads its branches and leaves."

An Yuanxi raised his head, with no expression on his face, but a sneer flashed in his eyes.I was startled, and seeing that the sarcasm in his eyes had disappeared, he took the gift box and said flatly, "Thank you, sister-in-law."

I feel a little uncomfortable.An Yuanxi, I asked myself that I have nothing to say sorry to you, why do you keep showing me face?Suppressing the unhappiness in my heart, I heard the old man laughing: "Okay, the tea is over, let's go outside to watch the lion dance together!"

The rites and music outside sounded again, and the lion dance jumped into the courtyard. The high wooden stakes for the lion dance performance had already been set up in the courtyard. On the morning of the first day of the new year, the lion dance team will be invited to worship ancestors, promote family traditions, pray for safety, and drive away evil spirits.Everyone stepped out of the ancestral hall to watch the lion dance, and saw one person and one lion flying up the high wooden stakes, flying and jumping happily with the sound of drums and gongs from the band.The lion is dressed up festively and auspiciously, with gorgeous colors, mighty form, and exquisite examination and control. "It" sometimes jumps on the stakes, sometimes stands and howls, sometimes salutes and bows to the crowd, sometimes bends down to listen, sometimes He made a naive gesture of scratching, and the sound of exclamation and applause suddenly came and went.

The lion danced on the high stake for a while, and then began to grab the lion ball in the hand of the man on the high stake. One person and one lion rolled, jumped, and fell on the high stake in a thrilling way, up and down, and fast Slowly, the wonderful scene immediately set off the climax of the live performance. After three advances and three retreats, the lion pounced on the lion ball and swallowed the lion ball. It rang.The lion jumped up and down triumphantly on the high wooden stake, and spit out a piece of red silk from its mouth, which read "Flowers bloom rich and noble, descendants are full". "Okay!" The old man shouted happily, the lion jumped down to the ground, the old man asked Yunde to send the happy money, the lion suddenly took off the lion's head, revealed a swarthy face, and said with a smile: "Mr. Overjoyed, Xiaoxiang presents this gift, how dare he accept the money from the Marquis?"

"General Yan?" Everyone was stunned, and Yun Zheng called out in surprise and joy.The old man was also startled, and then he said happily: "When did General Yan return to Beijing? You actually made such a joke with this old man!"

The officials who were present at the moment also spoke out one after another, with mostly surprised expressions. It seems that most of General Yan knew him.That General Yan escaped from the lion dance, walked up to the old man, bowed his hands and saluted, "Xiaoxiang has met Lord Hou and Prince Yun!"

It was only then that I could clearly see the general's figure. He was not particularly burly and tall, but lean. He was about thirty years old, and he was still wearing bright red trousers for lion dance. High spirits.

"General Yan doesn't need to be polite." The old man smiled, "When did the general return to Beijing?"

"Xiaoxiang just returned to Beijing this morning. I know that Lord Hou has a happy event at home today, so I came here to congratulate you!" General Yan took the towel brought up by the servants of Yun's family, wiped his sweat casually, and said with a smile.

"The general has a heart." The old man nodded, seeing the attitude of the old man and Yun Zheng towards him, this general probably has a lot of friendship with the Yun family.At this moment, Yun Yi rushed over and said to the old man: "Master Hou, the emperor has an imperial decree."

When the old man heard this, he rushed out to greet him, we followed up and walked to the main hall, it was not the eunuch who came to announce the decree, but Ji Jingyun.The imperial decree only had a few sentences, to the effect that he congratulated Marquis Yongle on finding his grandson, reunited his family, and sent a bunch of congratulatory gifts.The old man received the imperial edict, stood up and said with a smile: "General Ji has worked hard, how about going to the Flower Hall with all the guests for a banquet?"

Ji Jingyun hurriedly said: "Master Hou, Jingyun still has to enter the palace to answer the emperor, so don't bother me." Then he raised his eyes to look at General Yan who was standing beside Yun Zheng, and said with a smile: "The emperor knows that you are back , enter the palace with me."

"Okay, I'll go back to the mansion first and change my clothes." General Yan smiled, and said to the old man: "Master Hou, Mr. Yun, Xiaoxiang will visit you some other day."

The two generals left, and the old man asked the stewards to take the guests to a banquet. It looked like he was going to introduce those court officials to An Yuanxi at the banquet.I sat in the ancestral hall all morning and was exhausted, so Yun Zheng resigned from the banquet and accompanied me back to my room to rest.

"Yun Zheng, who is this General Yan?" I changed my clothes, took off my crown, sat on the soft couch, leaned against Yun Zheng, and asked curiously, "I see that you and the old man treat him well." His attitude seems to be different from ordinary people.”

"General Yan?" Yun Zheng smiled, "He is a well-known anti-Japanese general in our Tianzhao country. He once led the East China Sea anti-Japanese army and defeated the attacks of the Red Sun country many times. Now he is stationed along the East China Sea all year round. A pirate from the Red Sun Kingdom, like General Ji, he is the emperor's right-hand man."

There is still this crop?If this General Yan, like Ji Jingyun, is the emperor's confidant, how come he doesn't avoid suspicion at all with the Yun family?Ji Jingyun was very polite to the Yun family.I laughed and said, "Is he on good terms with the Yun family? When you return to Beijing, instead of going to see the emperor first, you come to the Hou's mansion, and even perform a lion dance for the old man yourself?"

"I also heard that there was a happy event in the Yun family, so I came here first. General Yan has a straightforward personality." Yun Zheng smiled, "The war against the Japanese was fierce. After several months of fighting, the court met again. The severe drought that has never happened in a century, allocated a lot of money for disaster relief, and the army was very nervous, it was the Yun family who helped the East China Sea Anti-Japanese Army gather enough army, so General Yan has always been grateful to the Yun family."

I see.In this way, this General Yan can be regarded as an upright man with clear grievances and grievances.However, with such a character, if he is an official in the court, he might suffer some disadvantages, right?Fortunately, the emperor knew his temperament and was willing to use him again, so he would definitely make some arrangements for him.I thought of the thought that the emperor had conferred on me in the morning, and my heart was a little sore, and I couldn't help feeling dazed again.

——2007, September, 3
(End of this chapter)