Chapter 237: Chapter 236 Return
The Ye family was putting on quite a show for their daughter’s wedding this ti, setting up 100 tables, and even inviting people with the sa last na from the village.
After the wedding party that included Hongji returned, their family also arrived at the ancestral hall around noon to eat, and this al was rather elaborate.
The closest relatives sat at the main table, and the luncheon was very rich. Before eating, the relatives all sat at the table chatting, with sunflower seeds, peanuts, and candies placed on the table,
The children didn’t care as much and started stuffing these snacks into their pockets first.
Ye Shiqi and her four sisters, along with two maids, sat together since their parents and family were busy attending to the relatives.
In the crowd, a young man had been fixing his gaze on Ye Luoqi from the mont the five sisters entered the ancestral hall.
Ye Luoqi was taller than other girls her age and also had fair and radiant skin, making her the most beautiful among village girls of similar age.
The person who was staring at Ye Luoqi was Gou Dan. Ever since the firm words of his youth, he had been paying close attention to Ye Luoqi over the years.
However, his enthusiastic words never won the favor of this young girl.
Gou Dan actually felt sowhat inferior. He knew he was not worthy of Ye Luoqi, not just in looks but maybe in family background too; he was now just a worker in their household.
He liked to listen to stories about workers and young ladies, hoping that one day, he would be fortunate enough to catch the eye of Miss Ye.
“Big brother, stop looking. Do you really think soone of her status would consider you? Stop daydreaming; it’s ti to wake up!”
One of Gou Dan’s brothers, who always called him ‘Big brother,’ though Gou Dan actually had a na. However, children from poor families were often given simpler nas to make raising them easier.
Gou Dan’s formal na was Ye Jiaxing, sharing the sa last na as the Ye sisters. In this village, having the sa surna did not prevent marriage.
Officially, they were cousins and might celebrate the Qingming Festival at their ancestors’ grave together, but they were still eligible to marry each other.
The Ye family’s uncle was an example of this, preserving the option for so local n to find brides easily, keeping the girls from marrying out of the village, and reducing the number of unmarried young n in the village.
“You cheeky brat, what are you saying? Am I not good enough for her? Can’t I even think about it? I’ll keep thinking about it!”
Ye Jiaxing angrily glared at his brother. His intentions were known to all his siblings, ever since they were children’s words, and it seed like so local gossips had spread it around the village.
He knew he wasn’t worthy by status, but he disliked others pointing it out, especially when his own siblings undermined him.
“Let’s drink, big brother. I hope next ti we can drink at your wedding, and it will be an even grander affair.”
Another brother lowered his head as Ye Jiaxing scolded the other, trying to ease the situation. They unceremoniously poured themselves drinks from the bottles of baijiu on the table.
Every table had liquor, whether the table was for the elderly or children, featuring this strong baijiu and another type of liquor made from plums that even the elderly and children could drink, a common liquor cherished by many people here.
The thod of making the liquor was quite ordinary, brewed from plums and rock sugar, which reportedly could relieve rheumatism. It tasted sour and sweet, was delicious, and could also stimulate the appetite.
Ye Jiaxing was drinking boldly with his brothers, then took big bites of the dishes and at. Such young n drinking in this manner, their parents were bound to admonish them, not wanting them to get drunk, since they were only boys of about eleven or twelve years old.
Like her sisters, Ye Shiqi was wearing a particularly festive red dress today.
She had not attended such a feast for the first ti; sotis when relatives hosted at her house, her family would sit and eat whatever was served like everyone else.
Perhaps it was because the fruits and vegetables produced by her own family were tastier, the chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs sent by the groom, which had been caught in his pig farm just yesterday morning, were rely a gesture like “borrowing flowers to worship Buddha”, and the transaction money was, of course, calculated separately.
In this era, an era she had grown accustod to in books, she had to constantly enrich herself no matter what the future held.
Ye Shiqi actually imagined, like so rich families’ boys, that she could attend an academy.
But that was just a thought; her family would not agree while she was young, and they might agree when she was older, but the academy might not accept her because in ancient tis, the rigid traditions allowed only boys to pursue the imperial examination, and girls attending academy could affect so boys’ emotions.
Teachers did not wish to take in soone ineligible for the imperial examination; the sa teachings were in vain no matter how intelligent a girl was; it would be better for a rich family to hire a teacher at ho to teach so literacy and female virtues, while girls could also learn needlework, qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
The education of n was not limited to the culture of the imperial examinations; they had to learn both civil and military skills.
…
It didn’t take long for a married woman to return to her parental ho, and on this day, Shuzhen and her husband rode in a carriage back to her parental ho, where she had already dressed in a married woman’s attire.
Her head was adorned with grand jewelry, and her clothes were those of the affluent, though they were made of expensive fabric, happiness was evident on her face.
Shuzhen had transford from a girl into a woman, having married into her husband’s house, whose husband, although a worker at the Tang Family, had bought a large mansion in the county.
Her husband’s family also lived in the mansion; her husband and father-in-law worked at the Tang Family and returned to the mansion in the evenings; her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law also resided there.
Although her husband and father-in-law were workers at the Tang Family, perhaps it was because her husband had been an attendant student for the Eldest Young Master as a child, both her father-in-law and husband were valued by the Tang Family people, both working as housekeepers, high-level workers indeed, earning a substantial annual inco in silver.
This was also why her husband could afford to buy lands and fields, marry into the mansion and even hire servants. From a status akin to Miss, she had now beco the young madam of the mansion.
She definitely didn’t have to do laundry or cook, and she was living a comfortable life.
In their affectionate days as a married couple, although her in-laws were not too kind to her, as they say, “Easy to et, hard to live with,” getting along was already good enough; after all, they only beca a family for her husband’s sake.
Shuzhen, from the way her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law treated her, learned that the treatnt she used to receive from her elder sister and parents was much better than this family’s.
That day, in the marriage carriage, accompanied by the matchmaker, she felt a bit bored and picked up a book to read.
During her reading, the experienced matchmaker covered her mouth and laughed.
Her face flushed, she explained that her mother had given her the book, and the matchmaker, covering her flushed lips, said,
“Mrs. Tang, you don’t need to explain, we won understand each other, your mother gave you this book, it’s usually taught by family before getting married.”
After hearing the matchmaker’s words, Shuzhen blushed and shyly glanced out of the carriage window at her husband riding a horse.
Through the dim light of the red bridal veil, she saw her handso husband seemingly feel her gaze and smile back at her.
After getting married, Shuzhen lived a very nourishing life; the anticipation and apprehension before marriage dissolved into a harmonious and beautiful marriage, making her feel incredibly blessed.
Reviews
All reviews (0)