I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 307 Marriage
Yang Ci was a bachelor, but he not only came by himself, he also brought Yang Biao with him. The gifts he brought included [two hundred taels of gold, one thousand taels of silver, and a number of pearl and jade ornaments], which was a perfect display for a family of three officials of the second generation.

Yuan Shu didn't like Yang Ci anyway, but for the sake of money, he had to greet him with a smile. After all, he had no grudge against money.

As for Yang Biao, with whom he had a relatively good relationship, he welcomed him sincerely.

At least there seems to be no need for conflict between him and Yang Biao at the moment, so they can smile at each other, which is of course better.

As for the other guests, there were some that Yuan Shu didn't like, but he had to put on a smile. It was just one day, and he couldn't ruin the festive atmosphere.

The brothers Duan Xing and Duan Wei were considered important guests. They generously presented a gift [five hundred taels of gold], which shocked the guests who read the gift list. They wondered where the brothers got so much gold.

However, since the other party was willing to give it, Yuan Shu was of course willing to accept it. After all, he now needed to support the troops and needed a lot of subsidies. He had to pay for many things himself. In the future, if he wanted to increase the troops and develop Bingzhou, he would obviously also have to pay for it himself.

Every bit of money you can earn now is worth it, there will be plenty of places to spend money in the future!
Yuan Shu has already started calculating these gifts and is thinking about how many more soldiers he can feed.

From noon to noon, a full two hours, when his face was almost frozen, the endless stream of guests finally arrived, and Yuan Shu, who was about to faint from hunger, could finally eat.

Of course, this does not mean that all those who want to come are here, but that all those who have received the invitation and are allowed to come are here.

If the invitations were really extended to everyone, the number of people who wanted to come would fill up the entire Luoyang City. Even if Liu Kui lent the entire imperial palace to Yuan Shu, it would probably still be far from enough.

But anyway, at least I could have a meal.

Yuan Shu worked hard to make meat patties and meat sauce as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. After that, he had to chat and socialize with some important guests in the afternoon, which consumed a lot of energy talking about boring topics, which made him unable to help but complain to Lu Zhi.

After finally making it to dusk, Yuan Shu took advantage of the time to eat two steamed meat patties to fill his stomach, and set out on time at the auspicious time calculated by professionals to meet his wife.

Before welcoming his wife in person, the first five pre-wedding steps had already been handled by others on Yuan Shu's behalf. The only thing that Yuan Shu needed to handle was the sixth step, which was to go to his wife's home in person to pick her up.

At this point, there are actually two more ceremonies, one is the wedding ceremony, and the other is the wild goose laying ceremony.

The wedding ceremony is a part of some interesting games. The bride's relatives and friends often set up games such as flying flowers and pitching pots to test the groom. He needs to answer poems or complete the etiquette before he is allowed to enter.

This was not difficult for a famous master of classics like Yuan Shu. Poetry and prose were his forte. As for the game of pitching a pot, he was also very accurate in every throw and passed the test easily.

Of course, no one would want to make things difficult for Yuan Shu.

Finally, after the goose laying ceremony is over, the formal wedding reception will begin.

Given Yuan Shu's status, the wedding reception was also very grand, and the wedding guard he brought was also quite impressive.

Because he had made military achievements and obtained the title of marquis, the wedding vehicle was a carriage drawn by four horses, the curtains of the carriage were decorated with vermilion cloud patterns, the guards held spears to lead the way, and grains and copper coins were scattered along the way. It was lively and grand.

However, at this stage, Yuan Shu still could not see his wife's true face.

Although there is no such thing as a red veil these days, the bride will cover her face with a round fan according to ancient customs to prevent outsiders from seeing her face. Only after both parties return to the groom's house and complete the fan removal ceremony can Yuan Shu see the bride's real face.

Under Yuan Shu's gaze, in a peaceful and lively atmosphere, Yuan Shu saw his bride Du Ning, wearing a step-shaking crown, a purple deep gown, and a knee-high shield embroidered with algae and fire patterns, symbolizing "yin follows yang virtue". With the help of the maid beside her, she covered her face with a round fan, lowered her head and walked quickly towards the wedding car.

It doesn’t really matter whether he sees her real face or not, because Yuan Shu had already seen Du Ning’s appearance.

When choosing a wife, it was Yuan Shu who made the decision himself. If Du Ning was not pretty enough, he would not have chosen her. Of course, her appearance was impeccable, but the most important thing was that she had very strong capital.

This made Yuan Shu feel that he and his children would be able to eat well in the future.

After not seeing each other for more than two years, Yuan Shu found that Du Ning's figure was better than before, and her posture was more upright. So he thought that the food quality would have to be improved in the future. With such dirty thoughts that he could not tell others, Yuan Shu rode on a tall horse after Du Ning boarded the wedding carriage and led the team back to his mansion.

When he arrived, the streets were full of Luoyang residents watching the excitement. It was obvious that everyone's daily life was very boring, and since it was a rare big happy event, many people wanted to join in the fun.

Therefore, the curfew in Luoyang City was postponed for one hour today, allowing Luoyang residents to watch the entire process of Yuan Shu's wedding procession and return trip, and allowing Luoyang civilians to take all the copper coins and grains scattered along the way back home, which was considered a small benefit.

When Yuan Shu returned, the amount of copper coins and grains scattered was even greater, the scene was even more lively, cheers were heard one after another, and even the number of troops maintaining order had increased significantly.

Yuan Shu didn't have any special feelings about this. He was a man who had seen the world and was very accustomed to big scenes and was familiar with them.

But for Du Ning, it was completely different.

Yuan Shu had seen what she looked like, but she had never seen what Yuan Shu looked like. For almost two and a half years, although they were in Luoyang, she and Yuan Shu seemed to be living in parallel time and space, like two parallel lines that would never intersect, with no intersection.

After much difficulty, he took the opportunity to let Du Yue get close to find out important information about Yuan Shu, but Du Yue ended up losing his soul in Yuan Shu's bathhouse, and the only news he brought back was "The general is so majestic and mighty."

When asked what Yuan Shu looked like, her eyes were dazed. When asked what Yuan Shu's personality was like, her eyes were filled with tears and she looked like she was broken.

This made Du Ning feel itchy and anxious, so she could only take advantage of the brief moment when she got on the wedding car to steal a glance at Yuan Shu.

I saw some of it, but not everything.

It was dark, the firelight flickered, and she could only vaguely see the outline of a sturdy young man, but could not see clearly what he looked like.

Sitting in the wedding car, listening to the hustle and bustle outside, Du Ning felt the urge to lift the car curtain and look outside.

But after thinking it over again and again, I decided not to do so.

In this enclosed space, there were only her and her maid Du Yue. Ever since Du Yue got on the wedding car, she had the same dazed expression as last night, as if she had been poisoned.

Du Ning rolled her eyes and ignored her.

It turned out like this after just one meeting and serving her. She is really useless. This girl is probably useless.

However, this also proves from the side that Yuan Shu may really have some qualities that make girls fascinated by him.

I just don't know whether he himself is as fascinating as the ideas he wrote in his book.

Besides feeling nervous, Du Ning also felt a little melancholy.

Yuan Shu had no such emotions at all. He just wanted to finish the wedding quickly so that he could have a good sleep with his bride, have a good meal, and then face new challenges in the future.

However, due to the necessity of the ceremony, this short journey took quite a bit of time. When we set out to greet them, the sun had not yet completely set, and when we returned to the General's Mansion, it was already completely dark.

However, the General's Mansion was still brightly lit, even brighter than when he arrived, and it was crowded and bustling.

As Yuan Shu's team appeared in their sight, the people standing outside the mansion gate waiting became excited and ran around to tell everyone that Yuan Shu had returned victoriously.

At this point, Yuan Shu completed all the procedures for welcoming the bride and entered the formal process of the wedding.

(End of this chapter)