The Empire will continue to win

According to custom, on the third day after the wedding, the newlyweds should return to the bride's family home with gifts, a custom known as "returning to the bride's family home".

Shen Moqing was naturally no exception.

Early in the morning, Madam Wang personally prepared a total of thirty-six different gifts.

Busy right now~

The bride, Du Wenlan, has arrived.

"Greetings, Mother."

Madam Wang looked her over and saw that her daughter-in-law had changed out of her bright wedding gown and was now wearing a brocade jacket with gold embroidery, an outer layer of colorful silver blouse, and a pleated Suzhou embroidered skirt. She looked rich but not ostentatious.

Her hair was tied up in a high bun, with a gold hairpin swaying in the breeze.

With red lips and white teeth, she was slender and charming.

In ancient times, women could wear their hair loose or in a casual updo before marriage. However, after marriage, they had to style their hair into a high bun.

"Good, good, she's a real beauty in the making, my son is so lucky!"

"Mother, you flatter me." Du Yulan lowered her head shyly, her cheeks flushed, adding to her beauty.

"Mo Qing, are you still not up?"

"Please forgive me, Mother; it is all my fault."

"How can you blame yourself? My son has always been carefree since he was a child. Besides, it's only the honeymoon phase, so it's inevitable that he'll want to stay in bed longer." Madam Wang smiled broadly, as if she were an experienced person.

The maids and servants around them laughed heartily, delighted by the sight.

The ancients were both traditional and open-minded.

Take the Grand Mansion Gate as an example.

In the inner courtyard, the women's speech, behavior, and attire were quite unrestrained. But in the outer courtyard, they became dignified. Once outside the vermilion gate, they resembled noble ladies.

.........

Half an hour later~

Shen Moqing came out yawning.

Three carriages were already prepared, and a group of servants and maids stood respectfully beside them.

"May the Second Young Master be blessed."

Let's go~

"Keep up close!" Li Gui shouted, then jogged to catch up with the carriage. In Shen Moqing's courtyard, he was the head of the servants.

Jiao Da, the gatekeeper, dared not delay and quickly opened the middle gate.

The convoy slowly drove out.

The master sat in the first carriage, the maidservant in the second, and the third carriage was full of gifts, with male servants running alongside.

Two factory security guards were at the front to clear the way.

Under the emperor's nose, one cannot travel ostentatiously, but not having armed bodyguards is certainly not reassuring. Therefore, both team members had revolvers tucked into their boots.

Protecting the supervisors is protecting the factory.

Chongwenmen Inner Street was 20 zhang wide, spacious and clean. The convoy headed south, and once it passed through Chongwenmen, the street scene changed instantly.

Houses stand side by side, and pedestrians are as dense as hedgehogs. There's haphazard construction, shouting and cursing, swindling and cheating—a diverse array of human nature. It's a bit chaotic, but full of life and vibrancy.

This is the South City.

A city where all sorts of people mingle, a melting pot of all walks of life.

Shen Moqing opened the car window and quietly looked out. For some reason, a name suddenly came to mind—Kowloon Town.

.........

Fifteen minutes later~

The convoy arrived at a large courtyard house located in Shoupa Hutong.

A tenement, as the name suggests.

First, it's large; second, it's complex.

Chinese characters are profound and complex. "大" refers to area, "杂" refers to tenants, and "院" refers to a courtyard house with its own entrance.

A hundred years ago, a courtyard house was inhabited by a family or clan.

Later, the number of people migrating to Beijing increased dramatically, to the point that several or even a dozen families rented the same courtyard house, seeing each other all the time.

Such mixed living conditions and overcrowding will inevitably lead to a large number of illegal and haphazard constructions.

Shen Moqing looked at the sewage flowing on the ground, the shirtless, snotty-nosed children around her, and the stench that filled her nostrils, and was filled with mixed feelings.

This moment feels just like that moment back then.

Before the time travel, the alleyways of Shanghai and the hutongs of Beijing were just like this.

History is like a thick book, with each page like a ring in a tree. But this book is too thick, and reading it all in detail takes too much time. What to do?

Find a sharp awl and stab it hard into the cover.

Repeat the injections several times.

Then, you'll be shocked to discover that pages X, XX, and XXX contain the exact same content!

This is the right way to read.

.........

A middle-aged man walked towards us. He was slightly overweight, had a long beard, and was of medium build. He was neither arrogant nor humble, and was very polite. His long gown was clean and slightly worn.

He is Du Fengzhi.

"My dear son-in-law, please come in."

"Your son-in-law pays his respects to your father-in-law." Shen Moqing quickly stepped forward and bowed deeply.

"Greetings, Father." Du Yulan stepped back a step and gave a graceful bow.

However, the old man had no eyes for his daughter; his eyes were only for his son-in-law.

"Please come, son-in-law~"

"Please come, Mount Tai!"

After exchanging polite exchanges several times, Du Fengzhi finally lifted the corner of his robe and walked ahead, but only half a step ahead, showing great courtesy.

Li Gui hurriedly instructed his servants to take down the gifts and file in.

"This is just a small gift; please accept it, Father-in-law."

"You've gone to so much trouble, son-in-law. There's no need to go to such lengths."

.........

The courtyard was already cramped, but several friends had gathered there. Judging from their shabby clothes, they were probably all struggling scholars from the north. Among them was even a blond, blue-eyed guy in a long gown.

"Father-in-law, who are these gentlemen?"

"Zhang Chuanning, Master Zhang, ranked 12th in the Jiangsu provincial examination in the 5th year of Xianning."

"Nice to meet you."

"Liu Guangdi, Master Liu, ranked 6th in the Sichuan provincial examination in the 3rd year of Xuanwu."

"Nice to meet you."

"This is Tesla, Mr. Tesla, ranked 2nd on the North American test list in Guangzhou."

With blond hair and blue eyes, yet dressed in a faded gray cloth robe, Shen Moqing was about to ask, "Are you from Citizens?" when suddenly his foot slipped, and he slid towards the outhouse not far away.

"Watch out!"

The crowd around them shouted in unison.

Du Fengzhi turned pale. Later, he recalled that time countless times, lamenting that he was only one step away from death.

Imagine a new son-in-law returning to his wife's home for the first time and accidentally falling into the open-air dry toilet shared by dozens of people in a large courtyard!

Oh my gosh~

Oh my gosh~

I can't even imagine what that scene would be like.

Where is the Zhou rites?

Where is the civility?

Where is my dignity, Lao Du's dignity?

In any case, if the tragedy of falling into the toilet really happens, I can only atone for it with my death.

.........

No sooner said than done.

Shen Moqing was young and reacted quickly. He raised his arm and steadied himself. At this moment, his toes were only three feet away from the outhouse.

"Husband?", "Young Master!", "Good son-in-law~", "Yes!"

The crowd rushed over and surrounded Shen Moqing. Still shaken, Shen dared not take a deep breath or look directly at the outhouse, and decisively took two steps back.

Look down and take a closer look.

Huo.

The brick she was standing on had a layer of green moss on its surface, and she almost slipped and fell.

Seeing his father-in-law's extremely embarrassed expression, he couldn't bear it and decisively recited a line: "Mossy traces climb the steps, green grass enters the curtain."

Du Fengzhi quickly replied, "This is a humble abode, but your virtuous son-in-law is truly noble."

Tesla retorted, "We associate with learned scholars and have no dealings with the uncultured."

"Okay~"

Everyone cheered.

"I've made a fool of myself."

"Old Te, your studies have improved again. You'll definitely pass the imperial examination next time," the aged and hunched-over scholar Zhang Chuanning praised.

"No, no, not at all~"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, let's go inside. Today we're making friends over drinks, and we won't leave until we're drunk." As the host, Du Fengzhi quickly interrupted the inappropriate poetry gathering held in the dry toilet.

"Go, go, go."