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

Chapter 140 Three Lives Three Worlds Three Lives Stone

"Here comes the bride,"

From the southeast of Pingkangfang, festive music could be heard all the way, and Luo San, who had been waiting at the street corner, shouted happily.

The villagers of Luojiabao had already blocked the alley entrance tightly. Seeing Li Yi wearing a big red flower and riding a tall horse coming towards them, with a wedding carriage beside him, they shouted,

"The bride, the bride."

Du Shiniang sat in the flower car, listening to the noisy cheers outside, and almost burst into tears.

The bride arrived at the groom's house.
According to custom, when the groom arrives at the bride's house, the female guests from the bride's family will hit the groom with sticks. This is to tell the groom that he must not bully the bride in the future because she has people from her family.

But today,
Du Shiniang got married alone, without even a maid as a dowry, let alone a wet nurse, a nanny, etc., and she didn't have any relatives or friends to see her off.

Ji came out and asked the servants to quickly spread a red felt mat in front of the gate.

From the time the bride gets off the car to the time she enters the bridal chamber, her shoes must not touch the ground directly.

Xiao Shisan came to the door and waved to Yu Youniang, "Today's situation is a bit special. The Du family didn't arrange anyone to escort the bride.

You call some women together, pretend to be the bride's family's female guests, and beat the groom with sticks."

Yu Youniang was surprised as to why this happened, but she didn't bother to ask and immediately nodded to greet people.

Soon, Yu Youniang called Luo Sanniang, as well as Sun Fujia's wife, Wang Lingshi, Wang Fazuo's wives, etc.

We temporarily formed the bride's family female guests,

A man took a stick and blocked the gate.

Li Yi dismounted,
Yu Youniang and the others came up with sticks in their hands, laughing, and surrounded them to give them a beating. Not only Li Yi was beaten, but Li Dejiang and the other groomsmen were also beaten.

This was supposed to be a ceremony when the bride was picked up at the bride's home, called "xiaxu". Basically, all the female guests had to hit the groom to reduce his dignity.
In fact, in addition to being the bridegroom, the groom was also required to write poems, including poems urging him to get ready.

Yu Youniang and the others looked scary with sticks, but they were just pretending to hit him lightly. Luo Sanniang walked up to Li Yi with a stick.
I looked at the floats.
He raised his stick and hit Li Yi's shoulder hard, "You must treat your new wife well."

Li Yi nodded.

Sanniang put away her stick and turned away.

Each person hit once or twice symbolically, and they passed the level.

If it's at the girl's home, it's not so easy to pass this stage, and people often end up in a mess.

Luo San then brought a bow and three arrows.

"Wuyi, according to custom, you have to shoot three arrows at the top of the bride's carriage with a bow and arrow, and then the bride will get off the carriage."

Li Yi took the willow wood bow and peach wood arrows used specially for the ceremony. The arrowheads had been removed. These three arrows not only represent the man's martial spirit, but also serve to drive away evil spirits that may be picked up by the bride on the way.

Li Yi draws his bow,
Shoot three arrows at the sky above the float.

Everyone cheers,

Then they all shouted "bride" to the floats,
I came out after a thousand calls,
Amid the cheers of the crowd, Du Shiniang finally got off the flower car. She was wearing a green dress and a gold and silver hairpin. In her hand, she held a round fan that looked like the bright moon to cover her face.

Sanniang and Lanxiang stepped forward to support and greet them.

"The bride, the bride,"

Guodong, Guoliang, Guoqiang, and Guosheng were the little kids who were shouting the loudest and leading a group of children to jump up and down. Li Yi smiled and asked the groomsmen to scatter malt sugar, red dates, lotus seeds, copper coins, etc.

The kids were so excited that they scrambled for it.
Shi Niang walked forward on the red felt mat.

The road is long and the seats are short,

There were also people who were specifically responsible for turning the mats. When someone walked past, they would immediately bring the mats at the back to the front to spread them out.

Passing Wutou Gate,

Arrived at the gate,

There is a saddle here, and the bride will perform the saddle-sitting ceremony here.

"When a bride sits on the saddle, it symbolizes peace and good fortune, implying a harmonious and peaceful married life."

With the help of Lanxiang and Sanniang, Shi Niang sat on the saddle and completed the ceremony.

The brazier is already burning,
No one knew who it was, but the fire was burning fiercely. Ji quickly asked the woman from Agui's family to add some firewood to suppress the flames.
This allowed Shi Niang to step over the brazier smoothly.

The woman in green passed on a felt mattress with a slanting piece of brocade on it.

Shi Niang walked on the felt mat all the way to the green tent in the auspicious spot in the southwest corner of the inner courtyard.
Senior Brother Sun Fujia smiled and asked the couple to bow to each other and perform the wedding ceremony.

On the wedding day of the Tang people, there was no need to bow to heaven and earth first and then to parents. The couple would bow to each other directly, and the bride would go to pay her respects to her aunts and uncles the next day.

The green tent is spacious.
The decoration inside is festive and warm, with bright red wedding quilts, large flower-shaped candles, and boxes and cabinets all with bright red wedding characters on them.

"Couple greetings!"

Li Yi smiled at Shi Niang and said softly, "You are very beautiful today."

Shi Niang smiled,

The husband and wife bow to each other, wash their hands, and tie the knot together.

"Husband and wife eat from the same cup, drink from the same cup!"

As Sun Fujia finished speaking, Ji Lingyi served mutton, pork, and sacrificial animals. The couple ate the animal together and drank a glass of wine together.

Li Yi and Shi Niang each picked up their chopsticks and took three bites each.
This mutton was used to offer sacrifices to the ancestors of heaven and earth yesterday. It was made into cold cut mutton and tasted pretty good.

After the two put down their chopsticks, Yu Shu presented them with a wine pot, a wine cup, a gourd and a red rope.

Drunk, rinse your mouth with wine or drink a little.

The first two times they drank, they used a cup, and Li Yi and Shi Niang rinsed their mouths with wine.

The third time, a gourd is split in half to make a ladle, and two cups are connected with a colored thread, and the two people drink from the cups together.

After drinking the wedding wine,
Du Shiniang took the red string handed by Yu Shu and put the two halves of the gourd together to form a wedding.

The husband and wife eat from the same pot and drink from the same cup, which means they are tied together, sharing joys and sorrows, and also represents the completion of the wedding ceremony.

After the ceremony, Ji suggested that Shi Niang put the two halves of the gourd for the wedding ceremony under the bed, which is said to be a good omen.

"The ceremony is over!" Sun Fujia announced loudly.

"But fan, but fan!"

Everyone shouted at the bride to fan herself, and from the moment she entered the room until the end of the ceremony, Du Shiniang kept fanning herself.

Yu Youyu said with a smile, "If you want the bride to repel the fan, then the groom must first write a poem to repel the fan. Our groom is a great talent who wrote the Three Character Classic and is famous in Chang'an. Not only must this poem be written, but it must also be good enough."

After she said this, everyone shouted at Li Yi to write a poem to express their dissatisfaction.

In general, if the groom cannot write poetry at a wedding, he will ask someone to prepare the wedding gown and compose a few poems in advance, or simply ask someone who can write poetry to be the best man.

Li Yi was well prepared.
He then smiled and recited a poem: "Don't let the painted fan out of the curtain, it will block my talent by obscuring the spring mountains. If reunion is like the bright moon, then sweet osmanthus flowers must bloom here."

There were quite a few people among the crowd who were educated and understood poetry, but when this poem came out, everyone was amazed. It was definitely a good poem.

They all praised loudly,

Some people even called for another song.

However, the bride Du Shiniang, fearing that Li Yi would be embarrassed, did not make things difficult for him and took the initiative to put down the round fan in her hand.

At this time, everyone had a glimpse of the bride's true appearance.

"The bride is so beautiful," Shitou shouted.

In the early Tang Dynasty, women only covered their faces with fans at their weddings, but they did not wear red veils. Du Shiniang, who put down her fan, was indeed very beautiful.

Of course, there are also many folk legends about brides fanning their grooms on their wedding day. Even Ji Xiaolan of the Qing Dynasty wrote in his notes that an official in Bazhou married a new bride. As soon as the bride fanned her, the groom ran out screaming.

I guess the groom was quite shocked and found it difficult to accept the bride's appearance.

Stone took the lead in shouting that he wanted to disturb the bride in the bridal chamber.

Li Yi simply scattered all kinds of dried fruits, snacks, malt sugar, and more than a dozen copper coins, and the children were satisfied.

It's getting dark,

Each of them took his seat.

Finally, there were only two people left in Qinglu.
The red candle is burning,

"I'm sorry for wronging you today,"

"I'm not wronged to be able to marry the one I love." Shi Niang said with tears in her eyes. After holding it in for a whole day, she finally couldn't control herself anymore.

Li Yi wiped her tears, but the more he wiped, the more tears flowed.

"Ah Lang, there's another ceremony," Shi Niang removed her hairpin, untied her bun, let down her long black hair, and picked out a lock of it, "Tie the hair."

Li Yi also took off his crown, let his hair down, and picked out a strand of it.

Shi Niang tied two strands of hair together.
"Ah Lang, husband and wife are married and will be together forever."

"Well, I will hold your hand and grow old with you."

Shi Niang cut off the tangled strands of hair and put them into a brocade box for safekeeping.

"I didn't expect the Du family to be so dishonorable and treat you so badly." Li Yi looked at her dress. "The Du family refused to give you a formal dress with flowers, hairpins, and ornaments. I will earn an imperial decree for you in the future and give you a formal dress with flowers, hairpins, and ornaments."

Du Shiniang threw herself into Li Yi's arms,
"Shall I remove my wife's makeup?"

There were people to help entertain the guests outside. Li Yi just wanted to accompany Shi Niang in the green tent tonight. He gently helped her remove her makeup, washing off the rouge and lead powder on her face.
She also changed out of the wedding dress that was not suitable for her status and put on a more comfortable nightgown.

"I'm not hungry, the mutton is still here."

Li Yi looked at the cold-cut mutton and said, "I'd better get some hot food." Ji, Yu Shu, Hong Xiao and others were waiting outside. They came over as soon as Li Yi called them.

"Bring us some hot food,"

"OK,"

"You two should go eat quickly, and only two of you will be left here tonight."

After a while, Ji brought hot meals, which were quite rich. The couple took turns eating and fed each other, and their mood gradually improved.

During such a festive occasion, there is no need to keep thinking about unhappy things.

For Li Yi, since Guo was so ruthless, the worst that could happen was that he would just visit her less frequently in the future.

The red candles are shining brightly,

After dinner,

The young couple snuggled together and chatted slowly.

For Du Shiniang, it was difficult for her to get used to being hugged so intimately by Li Yi and she felt very shy. However, Li Yi was experienced and teased her on purpose, making her blush with embarrassment.

"I heard that before every daughter gets married, her family will prepare a picture album for her to learn about marriage and relationship. Do you have such a picture album? Let's review it together."

Shi Niang blushed and said, "My marriage to A Lang was hastily arranged, and my grandmother didn't support it, so how could I care about these things?"

"Ah, then you are completely clueless and don't understand anything?"

Shi Niang nodded.

"Ah Lang, please bear with me."

"It's getting late, let's hurry up. I'll explain it to you right now, and we'll teach you by example!"

"Wait a minute," Du Shiniang stopped him.
Then he took out a white towel and said, "I heard Eminem say that on wedding night, you must put a white towel under your wedding night!"

(End of this chapter)