There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 124 Bridal Chamber Flowers and Candles
(Water Chapter)
More than half a month passed, and Nie Yu's wedding date arrived.

As a general of the Han army, Nie Yu's wedding ceremony naturally could not be held according to the wedding customs of the Qing Dynasty. This was also due to political considerations. The Ministry of Rites spent more than a month preparing for it, specifically referring to the wedding customs and etiquette of the former Ming Dynasty.

The Three Books and Six Rites are wedding customs and etiquette followed in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and there is no need to change them.

The three books are the engagement letter, the gift letter, and the welcoming letter, and the six ceremonies are proposing marriage, asking for the name, accepting the good news, sending the betrothal gifts, asking for the date, and welcoming the bride.

The previous procedures of accepting the bride's proposal, asking for the bride's name, accepting the marriage proposal, accepting the betrothal gift, and asking for the bride's date had been prepared a month in advance by officials arranged by the Ministry of Rites. The bride's family did not live in the General's Mansion for the time being, but were specially placed in an unused courtyard in the east of the city as a temporary residence for the bride's family.

Nie Yu's future father-in-law and mother-in-law, as well as his father, all took a boat to Yuezhou City to preside over the wedding as elders.

On the wedding day, Nie Yu put on his new clothes, and his father Nie Jieren also put on his suit and sat down in the main room.

A tablet of Nie's ancestors was placed in the main house for burning incense and worshiping.

Gu Jing, the head of the Department of Rites, temporarily served as the master of ceremonies. He first stepped forward to pray and light incense to worship the God of Joy, then told Nie Yu to go into the main hall and burn incense to the ancestors of the Nie family (the master of ceremonies was an outsider and could not worship the ancestors of the newlyweds, so many people would make the mistake).

After burning incense and offering sacrifices to the ancestors, which was equivalent to completing the report, Nie Jieren sat in the main hall waiting for his son to come and bow.

The etiquette here has been simplified a lot, because the Ming Dynasty wedding customs can simplify unnecessary procedures according to the situation. It was only in the Qing Dynasty that they began to become more serious and rigid.

According to the simplified process, the father and son exchanged a few words, mostly instructions from the old father, and then bowed again and left before officially preparing to take people to the "bride's house" to pick up the bride.

The wedding procession consisted of a large number of people, including the matchmaker and sponsors leading the way in the front row, a band playing drums and music in the back, bearers of the wedding sedan, porters carrying the betrothal gifts and wild geese, as well as officials and guests who came to offer congratulations.

The procession set out at an auspicious time, passing through the streets of the city, with the wedding band playing festive music.

Along the way, there were onlookers who came to join in the fun, and Han troops were dispatched to maintain order.

"Grandpa, why are those people carrying ducks?"

"Oh, yes, they also sent duck yesterday. Does the wife the general is going to marry like duck?"

"Haha, father-in-law, that's not a duck, that's a wild goose. It's a gift given to the bride's family, representing the fidelity of both parties."

"Oh! I see. This great general is quite down-to-earth. He actually uses ducks called wild geese as a betrothal gift. We ordinary people should be able to live a good life for a little longer."

"Um... Father-in-law, this wild goose isn't a duck, so it can't really be considered a betrothal gift. Those are the ones picked out by the laborers later. But you're right, the general's betrothal gift is truly simple, clearly intentional. This is in line with the new law that was introduced a while ago, setting an example and encouraging ordinary people to marry without exorbitant betrothal gifts!"

"Is that so? That's good."

"..."

The betrothal gift from the General's Mansion was indeed not much. Just as what the scholar said, it was not that they were reluctant to spend money. Why would they be reluctant to spend money? They just did it purely for the people to see.

Since a new law has been enacted stipulating that the public is not allowed to engage in vicious competition by charging exorbitant bride prices, then as a general he must certainly set an example himself.

When the wedding procession arrived at the bride's house, Gu Jing stepped forward and bowed, explaining his purpose: "The general has come to your house to welcome the bride!"

The porters followed the instructions of the accompanying matchmaker and presented betrothal gifts, wild geese and other gifts.

Gu Jing was welcomed into the inner room by the girl's family, and then the old head of the Chen family also burned incense to offer sacrifices to the ancestors of the Chen family.

The entire process is similar to that of the groom's family. The bride's sister-in-law will comb the bride's hair. If there is no sister-in-law, other familiar married women can be invited.

Afterwards, Gu Jing, as the master of ceremonies, guided Nie Yu into the house to meet his future father-in-law. Then the bride came out, bowed and said goodbye to her parents, expressing gratitude for their upbringing.

According to etiquette, the old man Chen gave his daughter a dowry, and Chen's mother gave her new clothes and told her to be filial to her parents-in-law and live in harmony with her husband.

At this point, the wedding reception process was completed. The bride got into the sedan chair, and her brother-in-law Chen Xingye, who came with her as the representative of the wedding, escorted the bride (sister) to the groom's home, along with a large group of wedding processions.

The dowry and betrothal gifts are arranged by the Ministry of Rites, so they don’t look like much.

Chen Huilan sat in the bridal sedan. Although her head was covered with a red veil, she still felt dizzy and dreamy when she heard the music outside the sedan.

After getting off the bridal sedan, according to the Qing Dynasty wedding customs, the bride and groom would have to jump over a fire basin to ward off evil spirits. However, this is a Ming Dynasty wedding custom, which does not have so many requirements.

The newlyweds perform the customary three bows. The parents may or may not come on stage. There are many omissions in the Ming Dynasty wedding customs, so we will simply skip them all here.

Then the bride pays respect to her parents-in-law. The father-in-law is the only one present, so the bride needs to bow and serve him tea.

"Father-in-law, please have tea!"

"Good good!"

Nie Jieren was very happy. He said "good" three times and gave the gift money.

After paying respects to the father-in-law, the next step is to choose the red veil for the bride. The bridesmaid is the one who chooses the veil. Although it is generally believed that the groom chooses the veil during the wedding night, there are also many cases where the bridesmaid or a female relative of the groom's family chooses the veil.

Here, Nie Yu agreed that the bridesmaid should choose the veil. If the veil is not chosen, the bride will not be able to eat or drink water, and the feeling of being hungry is not pleasant.

After the veil was lifted, Nie Yu saw the bride's appearance. She was not as gorgeous as in the painting, but she was also elegant and dignified. Especially after the veil was lifted, her almond-shaped eyes drooped and her face blushed, which made her even more lovable.

"Bride and groom, bow three times and give way three times!" Gu Jing shouted.

The three bows and three yields are a major ritual in Zhou Li. The bride and groom need to bow to each other three times in return to show respect and humility.

Nie Yu was the first to bow and salute: "Madam."

"Husband!" Chen Huilan bowed in return.

Gu Jing shouted again: "Perform the ritual of washing hands and washing hands!"

This "Wojianli" means washing hands, and is also an important prefix ceremony for subsequent etiquette. A waiter brings a basin of water, and the two people symbolically wash their hands.

"Eat from the same cell!"

Gonglao means placing three dishes on the sacrificial table, namely millet, sorghum and meat dishes, as well as sauces, gravy and other ingredients, with each portion for the bride and groom.

Nie Yu and Chen Huilan first paid homage to their ancestors, and then the waiter served them dishes to taste. After all three dishes were tasted in front of the guests, the ceremony of sharing the sacrifice was completed.

The subsequent etiquette was very simple, similar to the wedding customs of later generations. The newlyweds held wine glasses and went with the father-in-law to toast and entertain the guests. The guests were all officials of the Han army and some gentry and wealthy families in the city.

After greeting everyone, it was almost time, so Nie Yu took Chen Xilan into the bridal chamber.

In the bridal chamber, there are also the ceremonies of tying the hair, matching the ribbons (exchanging tokens of love), and drinking the wedding wine from the same cup. These are all ancient ceremonies and may or may not be performed, depending on the family circumstances of the newlyweds.

After all, it was his first marriage, and he had married a wife, so many people came into the house, said auspicious words, interacted and played games, and made a lot of noise in the bridal chamber for a while before leaving with smiles on their faces.

Outside, guests and officials were still toasting each other, while inside the bridal chamber, red candles flickered and a beautiful woman lay on the bed.

Nie Yu had been busy for a long time, drinking nothing but food. He had only taken a few bites of the lao lao (a traditional Chinese meal), but the food wasn't very good. He was feeling incredibly hungry, so he went to the small table in the bridal chamber and began to eat with his food and wine.

"Let's eat together! You won't have the energy if you're hungry." Nie Yu waved with a smile.

Chen Huilan didn't seem to understand the deeper meaning. She just picked up a mouthful of vegetarian food with chopsticks and chewed it slowly.

Nie Yu said, "Don't be so reserved. There's no one else here. Relax a little. It's not good to go hungry."

As he said this, he took off the groom's hat on his head. He had grown long hair like in ancient times, and now he was running around with the hat on, which made him feel really uncomfortable.

After taking off the hat, he still felt uncomfortable, so he unbuttoned his wedding dress, and it was indeed much more comfortable.

"Forget it, let me help you."

Chen Huilan was still a little hesitant and confused, but when she saw Nie Yu was about to start, she hurriedly unbuttoned her outer clothes, kept her inner clothes on, and started eating with chopsticks.

I couldn't stop eating this. After all, I didn't eat much at home. After coming here, I just symbolically ate three mouthfuls of the shared dishes. I was already dizzy with hunger.

"Well, that's right!"

Nie Yu smiled and said, "Want a drink?"

"Husband, do you want to drink?" Chen Xilan swallowed a mouthful of food and was about to stand up to pour wine for Nie Yu.

Nie Yu, as if performing a magic trick, took out a small green bottle with the simplified Chinese characters "Sprite" written on it and poured a glass.

Chen Huilan was a little curious. What kind of wine was this? It was bubbling.

I picked up the cup and took a sip. I felt a tingling sensation on my tongue. Just as I was about to spit it out, I had already swallowed it. A sweet taste followed in my throat.

So sweet and delicious.

Nie Yu also poured himself a glass and raised his hand to make a toast.

Upon seeing this, Chen Xilan finally stopped being so reserved and relaxed completely. She thought that her husband, the general, was not as ferocious as she had imagined, but a handsome and interesting man.

They drank Sprite as the wedding wine and ate food together. This was their wedding night.

(End of this chapter)