Has the Han Dynasty been restored today?

December of the twelfth year of Jianxing was an unusual month for high-ranking officials and prominent families in Chengdu.

Firstly, when the emperor moved his capital to Hanzhong, in addition to officials having to leave their homes and travel north to accompany him, and in addition to selecting talented individuals from the powerful families of Yizhou to accompany him, the official positions in the Ministry of Personnel were also being reorganized, with some people inevitably becoming restless due to the question of who would be promoted, demoted, superior, or inferior.

Secondly, with the New Year holidays over and the departure imminent, the officials in the court still harbored various thoughts and urgently needed an opportunity to exchange information and gather intelligence.

Chen Zhi's marriage happened to fall at this time.

On the 23rd, the Grand Chamberlain of Empress Wu's palace, together with Liu Yin, the best man invited by Chen Zhi, and Xu You, Chen Zhi's younger brother, set off from the Xu residence, bringing with them a bundle of black and red silk, sheep, one hundred catties of gold, two hundred bolts of Shu brocade, and six pure-colored fine horses as betrothal gifts, and delivered them to the Fei residence.

On the same day, Da Changqiu and Fei Yi also agreed to set their wedding date for December 28th.

The so-called six rites refer to the six steps of a wedding ceremony: betrothal, asking the name, accepting auspicious gifts, presenting betrothal gifts, setting the wedding date, and the wedding ceremony itself. Five of these steps have already been completed, leaving only the wedding ceremony itself.

In other words, once Chen Zhi and the others go to the Fei residence on December 28th to welcome Fei Zhen into the Xu residence, and in front of many guests, they pay respects to the parents and complete the wedding ceremony, the Fei family girl will be officially married into Chen Zhi's family, and the marriage will be completed.

Although the procedures were clear, aristocratic weddings were still extremely complicated and cumbersome, especially since Chen Zhi's family was extremely wealthy and Fei Yi was powerful and influential, and the marriage was personally approved by the emperor. As a result, the wedding inevitably became more and more complicated...

The most direct response is the guest list.

Since there were no male elders in Chen Zhi's family, Liu Shan appointed Du Qiong, the Grand Master of Ceremonies, to manage everything for Chen Zhi. Du Qiong would not neglect etiquette when serving the emperor, nor would he try to save money for Chen Zhi. As a result, the guest list included almost everyone who should be invited.

The families of various high-ranking officials were invited, as were the ministers and their colleagues in the Ministry of Personnel, and even the junior officials. With Du Qiong's intervention, many scholars and prominent families from Yizhou in Chengdu were also invited, and the number of guests at the wedding swelled to more than six hundred.

Chen Zhi once asked Du Qiong if they had invited too many people and were being too extravagant, lest they attract too much attention.

Du Qiong smiled and said that six hundred guests were not many. This wedding was personally arranged by His Majesty, with Empress Dowager Wu as the matchmaker and the Grand Master of Ceremonies as the officiant. If the number of guests was too small, it would be a loss of the court's decorum. Chen Zhi could only listen to what was said.

Although the wedding ceremony itself was not complicated, the preparations for each step were extremely tedious. Chen Zhi simply didn't have the energy to manage all of this, so he had to leave it to Du Qiong to direct.

Invitations were sent out three days in advance, and those who received them gladly accepted and prepared gifts. Suddenly, Chengdu's elites were asking each other if they had received an invitation to Chen Zhi's wedding, as if receiving an invitation had become a dividing line between political triumph and defeat.

The hardships and excitement of the journey need not be elaborated upon. At dusk on the 28th day of the 12th month of the 12th year of Jianxing, Chen Zhi and Fei Zhen "shared a meal and drank from the same cup." After eating pork and drinking bitter wine served in a gourd, they left the wedding banquet under the direction of Du Qiong, the Grand Master of Ceremonies, and went to the bridal chamber.

At this moment, as the groom and bride left, the atmosphere in the Xu residence shifted from the joy of the wedding to the merriment of the banquet. In particular, when Madam Fei watched the newlyweds leave, she burst into tears, her face streaked with tears, which made everyone laugh.

Although the guests were not divided into different ranks, most of those seated at the front of the inner courtyard were important officials of the court. Liu Shan had expressed his desire to attend Chen Zhi's wedding to Du Qiong, but Du Qiong strongly dissuaded him, saying it was against etiquette, so he had to give up and invited the Attendants-in-Ordinary Dong Yun and Guo Youzhi to attend. Therefore, the most important guest at the wedding was naturally the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Jiang Wan.

Jiang Wan was the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat and the Governor of Yizhou. With the Imperial Secretariat becoming increasingly centralized, Jiang Wan, in theory, was like Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, and became the superior of almost all officials.

At this moment, Jiang Wan, unusually, abandoned her composed demeanor, pointed at the weeping Madam Fei, and said to Fei Yi with a smile:

"Wenwei's daughter's wedding is a joyous occasion, why is Madam crying so sadly? Wenwei, you should go and comfort her, but don't start crying along with her!"

The guests burst into laughter again.

"Don't laugh, don't laugh!" Fei Yi said somewhat awkwardly, bowing repeatedly to the crowd. "I'll go and try to persuade my wife. Please enjoy your drinks!"

"Go ahead, go ahead," Jiang Wan nodded with a smile. "It's a joyous occasion today, don't cry and ruin your health."

Fei Yi bowed again, then led Madam Fei to a secluded side hall where the two sat down.

"You didn't cry this much when you came to pick me up today. Why are you crying so much now?" Fei Yi said, wiping his wife's tears with a handkerchief. "Alright, alright, today is a joyous occasion. Don't cry."

Madam Fei's eyes were red and slightly swollen. Seeing that no one was around, she punched Fei Yi's shoulder hard with her hand: "You betrothed your daughter to Fengzong when you were in Hanzhong, but you didn't tell me before. Thinking about it today makes me even more sad... Husband, what kind of person is Fengzong?"

Fei Yi frowned: "Didn't I tell you all about it in detail a few days ago? I told you everything about Feng Zong's hometown, his resume, and what he did in Hanzhong. Today, you and I both received Feng Zong's bow in the hall, how could you not know?"

"It's not about these things," Madam Fei said, her voice choked with emotion. "Of course I know about Fengzong's affairs, and I know he has a bright future. But the more I think about what you've said, the more uneasy I feel."

"What's there to be nervous about?" Fei Yi asked, somewhat bewildered. "I've found such a wonderful husband for my daughter. I'm the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works in Hanzhong, and he's a trusted confidant of His Majesty. Why would I be nervous?"

Lady Fei burst into tears again: "It's precisely because he's intelligent, highly valued, and has a bright future that I'm crying. Look at all those high-ranking officials in the court, how many of them have good lives? Marquis Yi, so highly valued and successful, Prime Minister Zhuge, so brilliant—didn't they all die in their forties or fifties? On the contrary, it's those like Lord Lai and Lord Xiang, who have nothing to do but hold high positions, who live long lives!"

"You know how to feast and have fun, but Fengzong is clearly the kind of person who only cares about his work. He's even more dedicated to official duties than you. I'm really worried about him, and also about our daughter! If our daughter married into an ordinary family, wouldn't we have less to worry about?"

"How absurd!" Fei Yi shook her head and replied, "People worry about their husbands' incompetence, not about their husbands' dedication to their duties. On this joyous occasion, we shouldn't talk about such things. Come back with me!"

"Fengzong said I could be a prime minister, but I think Fengzong could also be like Zhang Liang or Chen Ping! My daughter marrying Fengzong would be the best match!"