Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 1211 Postscript 67 · Wedding Banquet

The son was carefree and happy, while the parents were busy.

Xie Yiqin followed the son-in-law Li Chang to welcome the distinguished guests.

Many important officials of the cabinet and the ministry arrived one after another. He usually had difficulty meeting any of these big men, but today they all showed up to pack gifts.

But Xie Yiqin couldn't remember their faces clearly, because there were too many people and the time left for him to remember them was too short.

"Congratulations!"

"This is..."

As the Minister of Zongzheng Temple, the son-in-law Li Chang knew all about this and kept introducing Xie Yiqin.

The fourth uncle and the fifth uncle who were responsible for sending the wild geese into the palace were named Xie Yilian and Xie Yixin respectively.

After Xie Yan bowed to the princess outside the inner east gate, he had to return to the house alone in advance to make preparations. The fourth uncle and the fifth uncle had to take on the important task of welcoming the bride, leading the welcoming team to lead the princess's carriage.

"Brother, we are back."

"Brother, is there anything else I can help you with?"

Xie Yiqin said, "You have walked back and forth, you must be tired, go in and sit down and rest."

The men of the Xie family sat alone at a table, and naturally there were some vacancies, which were filled by four county horses.

A county horse is the husband of a county lady and the son-in-law of a prince.

This kind of unlucky guy is even worse than a son-in-law. They have all the restrictions imposed by the court on sons-in-law, but they still cannot enjoy the same high treatment as sons-in-law.

Wang Yitong and her daughter Xie Wan, with the women of the powerful families, ate in the women and children area in the courtyard.

The women who can marry the princess also need to be carefully selected. Not everyone is qualified, and there is an age limit. They can enter the palace to have a feast today.

The remaining women of the powerful and noble families came to the princess's place to have a feast.

Of course, there are children.

Generally, only one legitimate son is brought, and even legitimate daughters are rare, because there are only so many places.

As soon as Xie Wan sat down, she felt like she was surrounded by stars. Except for her, the table was full of little boys!

A little brat of twelve or thirteen years old stood up and bowed like an adult: "My humble name is Hou Jizhi. I don't have a courtesy name yet, so I dare not ask your name."

Xie Wan was usually crazy at home, but now she was polite and bowed: "My name is Xie Wan. Today's groom is my sixth brother."

"So you are the sister of Mr. Xie," another little brat also stood up and bowed, "I am Ge Xiangzu. The current vice prime minister is my grandfather."

Xie Wan hurriedly returned the greeting, feeling a little unhappy, always feeling that the other party was using his power to pressure others.

Your grandfather is the vice prime minister, so what's so great?

My sister-in-law is a princess!

The other brats also introduced themselves. The specifications of this table are quite high. Except for Xie Wan, the seven boys are all grandsons and great-grandsons of cabinet ministers.

Little boys are also men, and they also have an inexplicable desire to win or lose.

Xie Wan inherited excellent genes for appearance, and was considered extremely beautiful among young girls. Moreover, she was the only girl at the table, but she attracted the descendants of seven cabinet ministers to show off.

Some tried to get close to her, some told jokes, some were naughty, and some pretended to be cool, all trying to attract Xie Wan's attention.

Xie Shisanmei suddenly ushered in the highlight of her life.

The little brat named Hou Jizhi said proudly: "I started learning at the age of five, and it only took me three years to complete the four-year primary school curriculum, and two years to complete the three-year middle school curriculum. Don't look at me as only twelve years old, but I have already studied two years of university (actually high school) courses!"

"Hou's brother is really amazing!" Xie Wan praised sincerely.

Ge Xiangzu thought Hou Jizhi had stolen his limelight, so he said sourly: "You are so good, why don't you go to the Prodigy House of the Imperial College? Did you fail the exam?"

Hou Jizhi sneered: "In order to prevent cheating in the Prodigy Examination, the late emperor strictly prohibited the close relatives of the ministers of the cabinet and the court from studying in the Prodigy House of the Imperial College. Brother Ge, as the grandson of the vice prime minister, don't you even know this?"

"I... I know, I was just joking just now." Ge Xiangzu's face turned red.

Among the little brats at this table, the youngest is only eight years old. He slapped the table and played mischievously, and found that he couldn't attract the little sister's attention, so he took out the toys and played by himself.

Another nine-year-old kid boasted, "I've learned five sets of tricks in playing inflatable ball!"

This immediately drew the disdain of his roommate, "I already knew more than ten sets of tricks."

Xie Wan found it very interesting and pretended to be surprised, "Wow, Brother Yuan is really good at playing football."

After being praised by Xie Wan, the grandson of cabinet minister Yuan Huaiyi (the one sleeping in the cabinet) looked like a victorious rooster, holding his head high and saying, "I'm already practicing archery. Don't look at me as only eleven years old, I can already shoot a three-bucket bow. Grandpa also said that I will practice fire guns when I'm thirteen!"

Xie Wan asked, "Will Brother Yuan be a general when he grows up?"

The kid patted his chest hard, "I want to learn from my grandfather, kill bandits and serve the country, and enter the cabinet as a prime minister with military merits!"

"Brother Yuan is so ambitious." Xie Wan admired.

Now it was Hou Jizhi's turn to be unhappy: "I want to take the top exam and become the prime minister when I grow up!"

Xie Wan said: "Hou's brother is good at studying, he will definitely pass the top exam."

Ge Xiangzu said: "What's so proud? His grandfather was ranked third in the cabinet, and my grandfather was ranked second in the cabinet!"

Xie Wan was not a real green tea after all, she couldn't stand this Ge Xiangzu: "What's the point of comparing the official positions of elders? If you are good, you can compete with Hou's brother in studying and with Yuan's brother in martial arts."

"That's right!"

"Xie's sister is right!"

Hou and Yuan, the two little brats, agreed, feeling that Xie Wan had hit the nail on the head.

"Humph!"

Ge Xiangzu didn't know how to deal with it, so he could only get angry and show his face.

When he showed his face at home, someone would immediately come to comfort him. But at this table, he was ridiculed.

The eight-year-old kid also handed him a toy: "Do you want to play with the Rubik's Cube?"

Ge Xiangzu threw the Rubik's Cube away.

Xie Wan immediately accused: "You bully a child!"

As soon as this was said, everyone glared at Ge Xiangzu.

Ge Xiangzu felt that he couldn't make it anymore, so he got up and ran to the next table and pulled up a seven or eight-year-old child: "Change seats. You go over there, I'll sit here!"

"Hahaha!" Everyone laughed.

...

"I am Xie Yixin, with the courtesy name Decheng. This is my brother Xie Yilian, with the courtesy name Deqing." Fifth uncle Xie Yixin bowed to greet him, "May I ask your names?"

The four county horses reported their names one after another.

Their status was extremely low in such an occasion, and they didn't dare to be arrogant at all, but they could chat with Xie Yiqin's two brothers.

Upon inquiry, it turned out that three of them were descendants of founding nobles, namely Bai Sheng, Yang Zhi, and Hua Rong.

The Bai and Hua families were extremely poor, and they relied on their descendants to regain their titles and titles, and barely kept the lowest-ranking titles of the direct line. The rich family business established by their ancestors was also gradually shrinking due to several divisions.

But the descendants of Yang Zhi were a noble family in Kaifeng, and because of their merits in the Dingtai Dynasty, they had restored the title of marquis at that time.

Four years ago, Lord Yang, who had lost his military power, responded to the king's call and made another contribution with the Kaifeng general. Although he was not promoted to a county duke, he was given a fief and a real fief, and regained military power. If he made merits again, he would definitely be promoted to a county duke.

The fourth uncle, the fifth uncle, and the four county horses were chatting enthusiastically, and Xie Shizhang came in with a cane, like a hermit who suddenly appeared in the world.

Everyone stood up to greet them. Xie Shizhang nodded and smiled: "Please sit down."

The original text can be read in Liu # 9 @shu/bar!

The guests have arrived and dishes have been served one after another.

Xie Yiqin finally returned to his seat. He had been bowing to the guests before, and his waist was sore. He quickly took a break, and then he had to drag his fourth and fifth brothers to toast.

The night gradually fell, and the lights on the stage were bright.

The Ming Dynasty abolished the Jiaofang Division, and all the top musicians were thrown into the Hanlin Academy. In addition to playing for the royal family, they were also responsible for the music of important occasions such as court meetings and sacrifices.

The musicians seemed to have a high status and often came into contact with the emperor and important officials. But today, they came to the wedding banquet, and they were not even qualified to sit at the table. They could only open a few tables after the performance.

The people that Xie Shizhang used to dislike were actually not very powerful!

The guests ate and drank, and the stage had already started to perform Yan music.

Yang Linzhi sat in the center of the stage with a guzheng in front of him. There were more than a dozen musicians around, playing other instruments.

The sound of the zither sounded, and the guests looked at the stage.

The song was called "Phoenix Flying", and the zither played the phoenix and the phoenix flying in love, while other instruments played the birds following.

This is a festive Yan music that praises love and blesses marriage. It was created by Yang Linzhi more than ten years ago and has now become a must-play song for wedding banquets.

Yang Linzhi likes this kind of lively work, which is often despised as tacky. But the royal family likes it, the powerful like it, the rich like it, and the common people like it.

So, he is now the boss of the mainstream music industry, and important large-scale events are always inseparable from him!

As soon as the song was played, it was lively and lively, and instantly made the wedding banquet more atmospheric.

"Pa pa pa pa!"

After "Phoenix Flying" was played, all the guests put down their chopsticks, applauding the musicians and celebrating today's wedding.

Next was another festive Yan music, and the number of instruments played increased to more than 30.

The third program turned into an opera, which was also a lively comedy.

The actors on the stage made jokes, and the dignitaries in the audience laughed loudly, even Prime Minister Deng Gongwu laughed continuously.

It's rare to have some free time, why bother thinking about troubles?

Taking advantage of the excitement, the son-in-law Li Chang took the three brothers Xie Yiqin to toast everywhere.

When the guests were slightly drunk, an official from the Zongzheng Temple who was organizing the wedding banquet came over and said, "It's time for the old man to play the piano."

Xie Shizhang was also drunk and staggered when he walked. The official from the Zongzheng Temple hurried to help him and began to worry that the old man would mess up.

The stage had become quiet, but the guests in the audience were even more lively.

Some were talking loudly, some were guessing numbers and drinking, and some even ran to vomit after drinking too much.

There were no guests who cared about what was being played on the stage.

Many musicians retreated to the backstage, most of them took the opportunity to rest, and some were preparing for the next show.

"Dong Dong..."

The sound of the zither sounded, but it did not cause any reaction in the noisy wedding banquet. Most of the guests were drinking happily and did not even know that the performer had changed.

But the musicians who were resting in the backstage all turned their heads to look over.

They were experts and could tell something from just a few notes.

"Who is this?" asked a Hanlin zither player.

Yang Linzhi said: "Grandfather of Prince Consort Xie, the last zither player entertained by Prince Tao during his lifetime. If I remember correctly, this zither should be the Spring Thunder presented by Prince Tao."

Spring Thunder, a treasure collected by Emperor Huizong of Song, was known as the best in Wanqin Hall and was later taken to Wangchuan Valley by Li Qingzhao.

The musicians listened to the sound of the zither with different expressions, some were intoxicated, and some were full of disdain. .

Xie Shizhang played "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix". No matter how Sima Xiangru was evaluated by later generations, the ancients sang praises to this love.

Xie Shizhang had already entered a drunken state, and he seemed to be recalling a certain relationship of his. Not only did his skills reach the peak, but the music of the piano was full of emotions.

Seven cabinet ministers, the chief and deputy privy councilors, the chief and deputy envoys of the Tongzhengyuan, the left and right censors, as well as the princes, dukes, and princes-in-law, were sitting closest to the stage at this moment.

Most of them were still feasting and having fun, but a few of them looked at the stage because of the sound of the piano. Then they closed their eyes and listened. The sound of the piano seemed to penetrate the hustle and bustle of the wedding banquet, reaching the ears of the listeners and touching their souls.

"Is this the new musician in the Hanlin Academy?" Deng Gongwu asked.

Cabinet minister Yuan Huaiyi was drinking heavily, and asked in a daze: "What?"

Deng Gongwu said: "It's okay, your Excellency, continue drinking."

"Come on, guess the number, today is the princess' wedding, no one is allowed to avoid drinking!" Yuan Huaiyi laughed heartily, he had no interest in listening to the piano.

Moreover, he was listless and sleepy during the cabinet meeting, but now he was full of energy at the banquet, as if he was determined to get all the other cabinet ministers drunk.

Cabinet minister Zhang Yu waved his hand to Yuan Huaiyi: "I will guess with you after listening to this song."

Yuan Huaiyi felt quite bored and could only turn around and look at the stage, watching the silly old man playing the piano.

Xie Yiqin had followed the son-in-law Li Chang and toasted everyone in the audience.

When he returned to the table, he saw his old father playing. And one-third of the dignitaries at the tables near the stage stopped drinking and were listening attentively.

At this moment, the old father who made him resentful seemed to be shining brightly.