A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 138 Ice and Fire

The wedding ceremony is to unite the two families, to serve the ancestral temple and to continue the family line.

early morning,

Li Yi got up, and Yu Shu first helped him bathe and burn incense. The Silla maid was particularly serious today, without any jokes, and scrubbed him clean from head to toe.

Ji Lingyi had already prepared the wedding dress for today.

When common people in the Tang Dynasty got married, the wedding dresses were red for men and green for women. Common men could wear crimson official uniforms, which were the official uniforms of low-ranking officials. These were called fake clothes, also called borrowed items.

Marriage is the most special day in life, so it is allowed to borrow official uniforms from higher-ranking officials. Common people can wear the red official uniforms of lower-ranking officials.

Officials of the third rank or above who have the rank of duke can use a silk crown for their legitimate son when he gets married.

Grandsons of the fifth rank and above, sons of the ninth rank and above, and those who marry with the fifth rank of nobility are all granted the official attire of the nobility.

When people in the Tang Dynasty got married, there were three levels of wedding attire for men: gauze crown, noble cape and crimson official attire.

Li Yi is a viscount and can wear the robes of a viscount.

The formal attire for court officials during private sacrifices and weddings was: for ranks one to five, it was a crown robe; for ranks six to nine, it was a jue bean robe.

The 絺冠 (絺冠) was the formal attire worn by officials of the fourth rank, with six tassels and three emblems on the garment. The 爵輁 (爵輁) was the formal attire worn by officials of the fifth rank and below, made of coarse silk, with no tassels on the crown, a black hatband, and a ox-horn hairpin.

The clothes are a green top, a light red skirt, a white gauze inner garment, and a green collar, cuffs, hem, and front.

The leather belt is hooked and woven, and the waist belt and the outer garment are all black. The pattern on the knee guard is a sparrow pattern.
Red shoes with white socks.

Li Yi originally thought that when he got married, it would be a wedding with a young man and a young woman, but who knew he would come up with such a combination of green, red and white.

"Commoners only wear official robes in false attire. You are a founding county magistrate, so naturally you should wear a noble cape."

Li Yi thought that fortunately these official uniforms, casual clothes, and formal wear were all produced and distributed uniformly by the court, otherwise he would not have been able to make such a set in such a hurry.

Ji prepared this set of noble robes for him in the middle of the night.

This set of clothes is a bit similar to the one Li Yi remembered the emperor wore when he ascended the throne, except that the crown on the head does not have the strings of small beads hanging down, which is only available to crowns of the fifth rank and above.

There aren't even any emblems. The emperor has twelve emblems, the first rank has nine emblems, and the fifth rank has one.

When it comes to him, there is not a single emblem.

But this dress still looks very formal.
Looking at myself in the bronze mirror, if I had a few strings of beads hanging from my crown,

It seemed like he was about to ascend the throne, or at least become a king of a certain region.

However, those below the fifth rank did not have ivory scepters, gold-decorated swords, or even jade pendants.

Compared to the usual round-necked official robe, this dress is indeed a bit more complicated, but it elevates the whole person.

Ji helped Li Yi put on the clothes, her eyes a little dazed, as if she was thinking of the time when her husband came to marry her in the same clothes on her wedding day.

After calming herself down, she quickly checked it carefully inside and out, fearing that she had missed something or made any mistakes.

"What to do next?" Li Yi asked.

Although this was his second marriage, the first time was not in the Tang Dynasty, so he still had no experience.

"We need to worship the heavens and our ancestors."

"Then we need to decorate the Qinglu and hold the bed-setting ceremony."

"Can we not offer sacrifices to our ancestors?" Li Yi asked. He had no good feelings towards the family that had abandoned him. Poor people who couldn't make ends meet had their reasons for selling their children, but why couldn't you, a noble, even afford to have a baby?

"Even if Alang doesn't know his parents, the proper ceremony must be performed."

The offerings are ready.
Li Yi's rank was not high enough to establish a family temple, so he just worshipped at home like everyone else. He didn't know who his parents were, so he simply offered sacrifices to heaven and earth.

Pig's head, chicken and fish were used to replace the three kinds of animals, and wine, rice and steamed buns were offered.
This is the highest level of sacrificial ritual available to the common people, and is called a Shaolao.

"Ah Lang, the hired carriage has arrived,"

In the early Tang Dynasty, there were no sedan chairs, and weddings were all carried out in horse-drawn carriages. Wedding carriages were also very particular and would be decorated in advance.

On the morning of the wedding day, the carriage must be placed at the door early in the day. This is called "showing off the carriage" to show it to the neighbors. When the auspicious time arrives, the groom will ride a tall horse, lead the wedding procession, and drive the festively decorated carriage to pick up the newlyweds.

"Alang, the qinglu has been decorated. According to custom, you still have to go and pay respects to the bed mother." Xiuzhi said with a smile. She came here today specifically to celebrate Li Yi's marriage and help with the decoration.

After not seeing each other for a long time, Xiuzhi has transformed from the maid into the somewhat noble third-rank Chongyi Lady and the tutor of the Sixth Prince. Wherever she goes, she is followed by palace maids and eunuchs.

"Thank you, Sister, for coming today."

"You are my brother."

In the auspicious position in the southwest corner of the inner courtyard of the house, brand new bedding and festive red candles have been prepared in the green tent. Lotus seeds, red dates, longans and other things are also scattered on the bed, which symbolizes early birth of many children and grandchildren.
Under the guidance of Xiuzhi and others, Li Yi worshipped the bed mother according to his horoscope and the direction of the house, praying for the wedding to go smoothly.

Those who help make the bed today are all carefully selected. They are all women whose parents are healthy, brothers and sisters are healthy, husbands and wives are harmonious, and there are many children and grandchildren. This means that the newlyweds can also have a happy family.

The Li residence in Pingkangfang is already full of guests.

According to custom, the wedding should be held at dusk.

Luo Er, Luo San, as well as Wang Dalang, Guo Erlang, Dong Qilang, Li Erlang and others all actively played the role of receptionists and managers today, helping Li Yi entertain guests and arrange things.

The kitchen was already bustling with activity, with people chopping bones and cutting meat.

We are having a buffet today.

Eat eight bowls.

At eight or nine o'clock, the banquet officially begins.
There are still quite a few guests.
Li Yi invited all the villagers of Luojiabao, including village chief Guo, Feng Xiangzuo, village chief Wang, Lizheng, Dong Xiucai, and other familiar people.
In Chang'an City, there are Wang Lingshi, Wang Fazuo, Li Jing's family, and senior brother Sun Fujia as the matchmaker.

Even the team leader Qiu Shenyan, whom I knew before, came with a few brothers to show his support.
Even several military colleagues whom he had met in the camp before, Su Xu and Yang Cong, came, and Chu Suiliang, who lived in Pingkangfang, also came today.

Many guests came uninvited.

Li Yi is still quite famous now, and many people come to congratulate him and give him gifts.
Li Yi also had to go out to the Du family to pick up the bride. Although the custom was to bring people back at dusk, there were still many tests to go through in order to pick up the bride.

Liu Heizi specially selected a chestnut horse for him and replaced the saddle with a beautiful new one.

The rented carriage was also decorated very luxuriously.

A group of young people followed Li Yi to welcome the bride.

Anminfang, Du’s house.

Du Li hardly slept last night, she was too excited to fall asleep.

It's not even daylight yet.
Shi Niang then prepared to try on her wedding dress.

According to custom, when the daughter of a Tang Dynasty official got married, she could wear the clothing that matched her mother's status and position. If her mother did not have an imperial decree, the daughter of an official of the ninth rank or above could wear a blue long-sleeved skirt.

If a commoner woman got married, she could also borrow clothes, decorate her hairpins with gold, silver and colored glaze, and match them with a green skirt, green shoes and green socks.

Shi Niang's father was a third-rank official in the Luoyang court, and her mother was a county lady conferred by the Luoyang court.

Her grandfather was a county marquis, and her grandmother was also a county lady. Logically, Shi Niang could wear the attire of a county lady when she got married.
That is the flower hairpin and phoenix robe of the Seven Flower Tree.
Seven-flowered tree, two bo-hair,

She wore a long shirt and skirt with wide sleeves and a green phoenix pattern, and a shawl on her arm.

Shi Niang's wedding dress had already been prepared.

So even though this engagement and wedding was very hasty, the wedding dress was still complete.

Shi Niang opened the door with great joy.

The inner courtyard was quiet, without a single person in sight.

"Shuying?"

I called a few times but no one responded.

She frowned and walked along the corridor to the main hall. There was no wedding decoration at all in the house.

At the entrance of the central hall,

A maid blocked my way.
"Shi Niang, the old lady is not feeling well today and is resting. She has ordered that no one should disturb her."

"A-Zu is not feeling well. I want to go and see him."

"The old lady ordered that no one should disturb her, including Shi Niang."

Du Shiniang was stunned.

"Where's my third aunt?"

"The third lady went out for something."

"What about my third uncle?"

"I'm out on some business, too."

"Where's Shuying?"

"I don't know, old slave."

"What about me, Am?"

The Ammu that Shi Niang was talking about was the woman who had taught her since she was a child, but it turned out that Ammu was not at home either.

"I'm getting married today. Where are my wedding dress and hairpin?"

"The wedding dress will be delivered to Shi Niang later."

Du Shiniang wanted to go to the east courtyard to find her second sister-in-law. Since the old lady took her in, Du Ruhui and his wife moved to the east wing courtyard, letting the grandparents and grandchildren live in the middle courtyard.

But the strong woman stopped her at the door and wouldn't let her go out.

Du Shiniang was so angry that she was shaking all over. Being so smart, she knew that her grandmother did it on purpose.

She demanded a million as compensation and a million as a betrothal gift, but didn't give any dowry. Now the wedding day is also so cold and deserted.

She returned to her house,
There's no one around to talk to.

Eminem is not here, Shuying is not here either,

On a big day, the bride would eat sweet-filled glutinous rice balls in the morning, symbolizing a happy reunion. After eating, the family would dress the bride up.
Before changing into wedding clothes, the bride must apply crabapple powder and use thread to open her face. When combing her hair, she must tie her hair with red and green threads and say auspicious words while combing her hair.

Comb once to the end, comb twice to the eyebrows, comb three times to have a large house with descendants.

There were no sugar-filled dumplings, no one came to make her face or comb her hair, and no words of blessing.

It's so cold and deserted.

Du Shiniang felt very aggrieved.
Finally, I lay down on the dressing table and burst into tears, with no one to vent my endless grievances.

She used to be the apple of the old lady's eye and the daughter of the Du family, but now no one cares about her.

Seeing that it was already getting late,

Then a maid brought the wedding dress.

But Du Shiniang saw that this was not the seven-tree hairpin ceremonial dress for a lady of the third rank that she had prepared before.

It was just a blue dress, blue shoes and socks, a leather belt, and hairpins decorated with gold and silver, which were worn by common people's girls when they got married.

Flower hairpins and clothes,

It is not the seven-flower tree hairpin, nor the blue phoenix pattern ceremonial dress,
It wasn't even the wide-sleeved dresses and flowery hairpins that ordinary officials' wives wore.

(End of this chapter)