Di Ming

Chapter 191 You dare to stop me?

Amidst the crackling of firecrackers, the old year departs.

The spring breeze sent warmth into Tu Su.

The sun shines brightly on thousands of households.
They always replace the old peachwood charms with new ones.

...

The 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, Lunar New Year's Eve.

On New Year's Eve, the sound of firecrackers rose and fell like popping beans, and the smell of gunpowder carried a festive air. Drums and gongs resounded throughout the village, and children ran around shouting, playing and laughing without restraint.

"It's driving away the evil spirits! It's driving away the evil spirits!"

"Get out of my way, God of Fortune!"

Regardless of wealth, every household in the village had a black basin in front of their door, with pine firewood burning brightly inside and firecrackers lit to drive away evil spirits from their homes.

Several days ago, relatives and neighbors began exchanging New Year's food, a practice known as "giving gifts".

This is an ancient custom that has lasted for thousands of years.

Smoke from the New Year's Eve feast rose everywhere, mingling with the ashes from burning paper money for ancestor worship, like clouds and mist. The village and its neighbors were filled with the warmth and vitality of everyday life.

On the doors of every household, Shen Tu is pasted on the left and Yu Lei on the right, the two door gods guarding the house together and driving away evil spirits.

After the ancestral worship ceremony, the whole family would have a few drinks together in the evening, and in their tipsy state, they would happily stay up all night to welcome the new year, and then the year would be over.

The Zhu family mansion in Beili is so large and prosperous that the New Year atmosphere is even more grand.

Of course, it wasn't just the Zhu family; other wealthy families also observed a solemn and dignified atmosphere.

The servants in the courtyard were all busy putting up couplets, door gods, lanterns, and paper-cut window decorations, and everyone was beaming with joy.

Even the livestock in the stables and cattle pens were washed and had cinnabar dots applied to their foreheads.

The young lady said that once you come to the Zhu family, you're one of them. After you finish your work, you can enjoy a nice New Year's bath, change into the new clothes you've been given as a reward, and attend the New Year's Eve banquet.

In the evening, there are even more lucky money to be given as New Year's gifts.

A master who is so considerate of his servants is hard to find even with a lantern.

Ning Caiwei, along with Jin Yunniang and the others, was busy arranging things for New Year's Eve, including the sacrificial rites, the banquet, and staying up all night. To outsiders, it seemed quite a challenge for someone so young to be acting like a head wife.

However, she arranged everything in a very orderly manner, assigning hundreds of people to their respective roles perfectly.

Guanyin Tong Ning Qingchen, dressed like a fluffy ball, was accompanied by Xiao Hei and carrying a small hand warmer as she went around the house to watch the maids busy at work.

Braving the swirling snowflakes, she trudged through the places, occasionally saying in her childish voice:

"Those paper-cut window decorations are pasted a little crooked!"

"Hey, sister who's standing on a stool to hang a lantern, be careful not to fall!"

"The snow has piled up too high here, someone come and sweep it up!"

"It smells delicious! What's being steamed in the kitchen?"

"Hehe, so much firewood, is it all for heating bath water? The maid who tends the fire is so lucky, she's not cold at all."

The busy maids, upon seeing the chubby little Guanyin child, all stood still, stopped what they were doing, and greeted her with smiles as "Second Mistress".

Don't underestimate Second Sister just because she's young. She's known for her cleverness and intelligence. In the household of five hundred people, who would dare to look down on her?

Ning Qingchen waved her little hand, "Don't worry about me, you guys go about your business!"

When he's happy, he'll even pull out a few candies from his pocket and say, "Here, have some candy!"

Little Black lazily followed behind Guanyin Tong, then suddenly sniffed the air and looked towards the kitchen.

"Little Black, what are you looking at? Are you hungry?" Ning Qingchen laughed, reaching out her little hand to stroke the thick, smooth fur of the dog. "You can eat your fill today."

After saying that, he touched his belly.

These past few days, she's been clinging to Xiao Hei (the dog), wanting to take it everywhere she goes. Her reason is that Xiao Hei's fluffy fur gives her a warm feeling, like a plush toy.

Little Black shook its head and looked at a house by the pool.

It could smell that its owner was in that room.

That's an ancestral hall.

"The little tiger is over there." Ning Qingchen strode forward. "Let's go see the little tiger."

Zhu Yin temporarily converted a hall north of the pond into an ancestral hall. This was because there must be water to the south of the ancestral hall, representing the family's fortune and prosperity, and this hall was the only place in the house that could be used as a temporary ancestral hall.

Inside the temporary ancestral hall, more than a dozen people were bustling about. They were the Zhu family's etiquette team, specifically responsible for ceremonies.

At this time, the housekeepers (servants) of the etiquette group, dressed in solemn robes, carried sacrificial vessels and offerings in turn, and set up the ancestral shrine of the Zhu family, incense burner, sacrificial vessels, and offerings.

Although the official sacrificial ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow, New Year's Day, it actually begins on New Year's Eve.

Because Zhu Yin was a Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations) and belonged to the Shi (a scholar-official class), the most important sacrificial vessels were three Ding (tripod cauldrons). In addition to the three Ding, there were also Jue (a type of wine vessel), Zun (a type of wine vessel), and porcelain bowls and plates that replaced Gui (a type of food vessel), Bian (a type of food vessel), Xing (a type of food vessel), Zu (a type of food vessel), and Fei (a type of

During the Ming Dynasty, ritual vessels were primarily made of porcelain, not bronze, and these vessels were all exquisite porcelain pieces. Bowls and plates were also used instead of bronze for the gui, bian, xing, zu, and fei.

The sacrificial offerings, such as pigs, sheep, and fish, were all cooked and placed on the sacrificial platter, still steaming hot.

According to ancient rites, the sacrifice involves slaughtering the animal, and then offering its raw flesh and blood on the altar. The chief priest must also personally preside over the slaughtering ceremony.

However, by the Ming Dynasty, cooked meat had long been used. The chief officiant no longer needed to preside over the slaughtering ceremony.

However, as the unique chief officiant, Zhu Yin was required to personally inspect the quality of the offerings.

In reality, due to the hasty preparations, there wasn't even a proper ancestral hall, and the rituals were incomplete. The Zhu family's ancestral worship this year would definitely have to be done hastily.

Especially for tomorrow's New Year's Day gift, I can only do a perfunctory job.

Compared to the grand celebrations of other wealthy families, the Zhu family's ancestral worship this year was merely a formality.

Zhu Yin, wearing an otter fur cloak and holding a hand warmer, stood in the thatched hut of the ancestral hall, gazing at the shrine with a deep, enigmatic look.

His ancestors' ancestral tablets should be in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, not in this temporary ancestral hall!
The altar originally held the positions of four deities: the great-great-grandfather, the great-great-grandfather, the grandfather, and the father.

However, the names of the four ancestral tablets on the Zhu family shrine were all blank. It looked somewhat incongruous.

It only lists the ancestors and their generational names, but does not include the names of the ancestral tablets.

It's quite pitiful, really, because Zhu Yin was the only male heir.

Now, he is the only one truly qualified to perform ancestral rites.

During the Ming Dynasty, most women were allowed to participate in ancestral worship in ancestral halls. The rule that women were not allowed to enter ancestral halls only applied to certain regions.

However, Ning Caiwei was still not allowed to participate in the sacrificial ceremony. This was because she had not yet married Zhu Yin; her status was that of a child bride in the Zhu family. They had not yet consummated their marriage, and according to etiquette, she was not yet considered a member of the Zhu family, so of course she could not enter the Zhu family ancestral hall.

Otherwise, it would be considered impolite and a disregard for etiquette.

Not to mention the scholar-official class, even farmers would discuss this.

If Zhu Yin allows Ning Caiwei to participate in the sacrificial ceremony, it will spread negative rumors and be detrimental to Ning Caiwei.

However, since only Zhu Yin, a member of the clan, participated in the sacrificial ceremony, many rituals could be omitted, making it much simpler.

All the rituals like watering the ground, praising the gods, singing hymns, reciting eulogies, bidding farewell to the gods, and clearing away the food can be skipped.

In the case of a solitary offering, the ritual can be kept simple, and no one can find fault with it.

He lit the incense himself, placed it in the incense burner, knelt down and bowed three times, offered a cup of wine, and that was the completion of the first offering.

At this moment, all the servants had also left, leaving only Zhu Yin, a member of the Zhu family, in the temporary ancestral hall.

These servants, of course, could not participate in the sacrifices.

Zhu Yin knelt on the kneeling mat, silently looking at the nameless ancestral tablet.

"Little Tiger," Ning Qingchen called out in a childish voice as she stood at the door with Xiao Hei, "Are you performing ancestral rites?"

After saying that, he was about to step inside.

A steward quickly stopped her and said respectfully, "Second Madam, you cannot enter. The head of the family is burning incense and offering sacrifices."

"Let me in!" Ning Qingchen shouted angrily in her childish voice. "Can't I go in to observe the ceremony instead of to perform the ritual? Move aside!"

The head of the etiquette team could only kneel down and report, "Second Madam, according to etiquette, only members of the Zhu family are allowed to enter during the sacrificial ceremony."

Ning Qingchen's eyes widened. "I'm not a member of the Zhu family? How dare you, a mere retainer, interfere with me!"

The steward bowed his head to the ground. "You may enter at other times, but not now. Once the eldest daughter-in-law and the head of the family get married, she will be the mistress of the Zhu family, and then the second daughter-in-law will be allowed to enter."

"Second Mistress, the head of the household is a scholar who has passed the imperial examinations; proper etiquette cannot be disregarded."

"You dare stop me!" Ning Qingchen was truly angry. "I refuse to believe that a mere retainer can boss me around! Get out of my way!"

P.S.: I can only post a short chapter today, and I'll have to update less for the next two days as well. I'll definitely try to update more once I feel better. Thank you for your understanding and concern.

(End of this chapter)