Chapter 94 You Can Only Marry Me
The tiger fell to the ground, struggled a few times and then became motionless.
After waiting for a while and confirming that the tiger was dead, Mingzhao still jumped down.
Tianfeng and Tianyu also quickly came down from the tree and kicked the tiger a few times.
When Shi Jianli was about to climb down, Mingzhao took off his bow and threw it aside, opening his arms towards her, "Jump down, I'll catch you."
Shi Jianli was leaning against a branch, and she also threw down her bow and arrow. After weighing the position, she jumped into his arms.
Her arms felt soft, but Mingzhao still caught her steadily. He carried her out of the blood-stained area on the ground and put her down. When he looked down, he saw her energetic expression.
He patted her back and said with a smile, "It seems you are not afraid at all."
"Of course I'm not afraid as long as you are here." Shi Jianli looked up at him.
Mingzhao couldn't help but pinch her face, then looked at Tianfeng and Tianyu, "Tianfeng, you stay and watch. We'll go back first and have someone come up to help you carry the prey."
"This tiger can be used for ancestral worship tomorrow."
"Yes." Tianfeng responded.
Tianyu put on the backpack and easily carried a roe deer on his shoulder, then walked ahead and went down the mountain.
Mingzhao also put the bow and arrow that Shi Jianli brought on his back and took her hand. "Let's go, let's go down the mountain too."
Shi Jianli followed him quietly.
After walking for a quarter of an hour, he lowered his head and said, "Are you tired? If so, I'll carry you down."
Shi Jianli shook her head and whispered back to him: "I'm not tired after going down the mountain."
When they reached the foot of the mountain, Mingzhao let go of her hand and walked back with her side by side.
Tianyu was walking fast, and the people he called met them at the foot of the mountain.
The weather in August was still hot. When they arrived at the gate of the ancestral home, they saw the old lady, the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law, as well as several respected elders from the Ming family, sitting under a century-old locust tree to enjoy the cool air. Seven or eight of them were chatting and laughing. Seeing them come back, they couldn't help but take a few more glances at them.
Shi Jianli followed Mingzhao forward and called people one by one.
As is customary in Rome, the old lady dressed simply and fanned herself with a palm-leaf fan. She surveyed them and asked, "I just asked Tianyu, and he said you encountered a tiger. Are you unharmed?"
"No, don't worry, grandma."
"Where's Li'er? Are you scared?"
"Me neither. I climbed up the tree. My cousin is here, so there's nothing to be afraid of." Shi Jianli walked in front of them and turned around to show that she was fine.
"Grandma, the elders have been in the mountains for a long time and are a little tired, so I'll take Cousin Li back first."
"good."
After returning to the room, Shi Jianli simply washed herself, changed her clothes, and climbed into bed to sleep.
…
The next day, the Ming family held a ceremony to worship their ancestors early in the morning.
The ancestral hall was bustling with incense. On the altar were placed double portions of horses, cows, sheep, chickens, dogs, and pigs, as well as the deer, roe deer, and tigers that Mingzhao and Shijianli had hunted yesterday.
The Ming clan members lined up in the ancestral hall according to their generation and branches.
Shi Jianli took a quick look and saw that there were quite a lot of people. The tribesmen who had moved to other places had also come. Excluding the daughters who had married out, there were about a thousand men and women.
Even though the ancestral hall was renovated to be large and spacious enough, there were still many people queuing outside the hall.
As the clan leader, Ming Chuanchuan took out the book of ancestral worship written by Ming Zhouheng and the elders of the clan and read it, recalling the migration process of the Ming clan's ancestors, recounting the achievements of the ancestors in the past, singing the deeds of the present people, listing where the current branches live, and reciting the current descendants of each branch.
The ancestral worship poems written by Ming Zhouheng are elegant and detailed, and they sound rhythmic when sung.
Shi Jianli was only engaged to Ming Zhao and had not yet married him, so she was not considered a member of the Ming family. Therefore, she was just sitting on the swing outside the ancestral hall today. Lanxing and Xianyue brought a small stool and sat beside her, cracking hazelnuts.
In fact, she had sneaked in to take a look before sitting outside, but she had to admit that listening to the chanting was a bit boring, and she didn't want to listen anymore after a while.
Outside the ancestral hall, many idle members of the Li family, especially children, were peeking in to watch the fun.
After sitting on the swing for a while, I saw Li sitting on the long trunk under the tree with her face in her hands.
The long tree trunk was trimmed very smoothly, and there were many aunts and uncles from the village chatting about gossip nearby, so Shi Jianli didn't feel bored listening to them.
After listening to gossip for the whole morning, around noon, Shi Jianli heard a series of firecrackers. After the firecrackers, she saw Mingzhao coming out of the ancestral hall. After looking around, he locked his eyes with her.
Mingzhao still looked down at her and said with a smile, "It's time for lunch. Come with me."
Tokimi Riri stood up and followed him.
"Will you feel bored outside?"
"It's quite interesting to listen to those aunts gossiping."
"That's good."
There were many large round tables placed inside and outside the ancestral hall, each table could seat more than a dozen people. Mingzhao even took her around to the table of the current direct line of the Anguo Mansion.
This table was almost in front of the altar, and at the round tables next to it sat the Ming Chuan family and the side branches of the Anguogong Mansion.
Mingzhao brought her in, and there were many curious looks along the way. Shi Jianli was the center of attention.
There were two seats left at the table, adjacent to each other, and it was obvious that they were reserved for them.
Shi Jianli met their gazes and called out to several elders one by one.
The old lady nodded with a smile, "Sit down. Please sit next to Zhao Huan and Zhou Qing."
"yes."
Mingzhao at the table would occasionally use the serving chopsticks to pick up food for her. When Shi Jianli looked at him, he just smiled at her gently and signaled her to eat with his eyes.
The special treatment was not concealed at all, and she suddenly felt as if she was being taken care of by him during their post-wedding meals.
In the countryside, there is no custom of not talking while eating or sleeping. Except for the branch of the Anguo Duke's Mansion, laughter and chatter could be heard from other tables.
After the meal, the old lady said something at the table, the food was cleared away, the table was cleared, and the ancestor worship continued.
When Shi Jianli was about to leave, the old lady grabbed her hand and said, "Li'er, since you're already here, let's light some incense. You can follow along. You don't have to wait long. We're at the front of the line."
Shi Jianli glanced at Ming Zhaohuan and gave the old lady a slightly shy smile, "Okay."
Before the incense burning ceremony begins, the Mingchuan person will still recite the incense burning words, and then start calling out names according to the family tree.
This branch of the Anguo Duke's Mansion was the first branch of the eldest house, and the third branch of the eldest house. After waiting for a while, it was their turn.
The invited gong and drummers beat the drums for a while after Mingchuan read out his name.
The old lady took three incense sticks, walked forward alone, bowed three times, and inserted the incense into the incense burner.
The message was read again, and the gongs and drums sounded again.
Then Ming Weisu and Yuan Yuhe came forward and also bowed and lit incense.
"The twenty-third great-great-grandsons of the eldest branch, Ming Zhaohuan, Ming Zhuqing, Ming Zhuwu, and Ming Zhuqi, and their great-great-granddaughters Ming Yuelin and Ming Yuewu, stepped forward to bow to their ancestors and burn incense!"
"Dongqiangdongqiangdongdongqiang——"
Mingzhao also fetched three lit incense sticks for Shi Jianli, leaned over and handed them to her, lowered his head and said in a low voice: "Yaoyao, worship our ancestors with me, and you have no choice but to marry me."
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