Everyone knows that the old marquis Gu Xuan had been dead for fourteen years. In the Gu clan ancestral hall, there is a tablet for the old marquis.
How can a dead person make decisions for Gu Yunzhen? !
Gu Jian frowned, thinking that this brother and sister were simply incomprehensible.
Gu Yuan actually didn’t understand what his sister meant, but that didn’t stop him from listening to her.
When facing outsiders, Gu Yuan is a lonely and arrogant wolf, with a sharpness that is enough to tear people's hearts apart.
But when he faces Gu Yanfei, he will retract his claws and become her most gentle and reliable brother.
He lowered his eyes and smiled gently at Gu Yanfei, with doting and tolerance.
My sister never speaks without a purpose. She must have her reasons for saying that.
The room was quiet for a while, and the air became more oppressive and heavy, so heavy that it seemed like water was about to drip out.
A maid swallowed her saliva, took a cautious step towards Madam Gu, and said, "Madam, Lord, the auspicious time has arrived."
The old woman didn't dare to look directly at Madam Gu and Gu Jian's faces.
Madam Gu turned her gaze away from Gu Yuan and Gu Yanfei with a gloomy face. There were extremely intense emotions in her eyes, including anger, depression, shame and embarrassment, which were surging and difficult to control, but she finally suppressed them.
She cleared her throat, pretended to be serious, and said calmly, "My Lord, let's go."
She took the lead and walked slowly towards the sacrificial hall.
At first glance, he looks majestic and inviolable.
Everyone suppressed the complicated emotions in their hearts and followed closely.
But after the little episode just now, several people were a little restless and upset, and they kept glancing at Gu Yuan and Gu Yanfei from time to time.
Soon, everyone surrounded the lady and Gu Jian and walked through the front hall and entered the sacrificial hall at the back. The ancestor worship procession was huge.
As for the concubines, nannies, maids, and old women who were not qualified to enter the Gu family's main ancestral hall, they all stood quietly outside waiting with their heads lowered and their eyes submissive.
In the previous dynasty, men were superior to women and their status was clearly defined. Women were not allowed to enter the ancestral hall. Whenever offering sacrifices to ancestors, the women in the family could only kowtow and perform rituals outside the ancestral hall. Only men could enter the ancestral hall to offer sacrifices to ancestors and burn incense.
It was not until the beginning of this dynasty that the phenomenon of male superiority and female inferiority was slightly improved. Emperor Taizu believed that women were not necessarily inferior to men, and insisted on changing the status of women. Not only were women allowed to set up female households and open girls' schools, they were also allowed to enter ancestral halls, and their names were recorded in family trees, etc.
Everyone quickly stood in the sacrificial hall according to their seniority and age. Gu Yanfei stood in the last row, looking up at the many tablets standing tall in front of him.
Unlike last night when only one candle was lit, at this moment all the candles on the two rows of candlesticks on the east and west sides of the sacrificial hall were lit. The flickering candlelight illuminated the entire tall, wide and spacious room brightly and transparently.
The air was filled with the faint scent of sandalwood, and the atmosphere was solemn, which gradually calmed the restless hearts.
Gu Jian, who was at the front, knelt on the cushion holding three incense sticks in his left hand, and began to burn incense and pray in front of the ancestral tablets. He talked about everything that had happened in the mansion during the year, looked forward to the future, and then begged the ancestors to bless them, their descendants.
On the stepped incense table, the tablets cast heavy shadows on each other, and the shadows were hazy amid the lingering sandalwood.
After a moment, Gu Jian respectfully inserted the incense stick into the three-legged incense burner.
This action represents the end of the sacrificial ceremony.
Everyone stood up from their cushions and surrounded Madam Gu and Gu Jian and his mother as they walked out.
The atmosphere relaxed and the sound of laughter echoed.
The younger generations gathered in groups of three or four, chatting in whispers, and had already started planning their outing for tomorrow.
As Madam Gu walked, she called Yan and Gu Yunzhen to her side and said in a casual tone, "Sister Zhen, Madam Murong is not feeling well. The Murong family asked Shangqing Zhenren to calculate and the wedding date must be moved up."
"Once the Murong family has calculated an auspicious time, they will come to pick up the bride. You should get ready quickly."
Her expression was as calm as water, as if this was just a trivial matter and she just asked Gu Yunzhen to change into new clothes.
The others in the back also heard it and were all shocked.
The third wife, Mrs. Yan, widened her eyes in disbelief. She couldn't believe her ears and didn't even notice the handkerchief in her hand falling to the ground.
Yan has been a widow for many years, and her only concern is her daughter.
She endured it again and again, thinking that after her daughter married into the Murong family in the future, the Murong family would remember her kindness and would not treat her badly. But now, can this be called getting married? !
Even if other families took concubines, it would be more respectable than this! Yan's heart ached, and she turned her head with difficulty to look at Gu Yunzhen beside her.
The candlelight cast a layer of bright glow on the girl's face, her skin was as white as porcelain and jade, and her expression was incredibly calm.
Faced with the Murong family's almost humiliating behavior, even he himself found it difficult to let it go, let alone his daughter, who was only sixteen years old, but was forced to have the calmness that only a sixty-year-old could have... and his heart was dead.
Her daughter shouldn't be like this!
The daughter she raised like a treasure shouldn't be treated like this! This thought was like a dagger stabbing into Yan's heart, making her feel even more painful.
Yan's eyes were sore and she blurted out, "Zhen Jie'er, if you really don't want to, then don't get married."
After she uttered the words, she realized that her voice was choked with sobs and a little hoarse due to the emotion she couldn't help.
Besides being shocked, I was more moved and happy.
Clearly, yesterday, my mother helped my grandmother persuade her to have a happy wedding...
But now, my mother chose to stand on my side. The reason why she was willing to confront my grandmother was naturally for me! The mother and daughter looked at each other, with tears in their eyes.
The other people around subconsciously held their breath, and a few soft-tempered girls didn't even dare to look at Madam Gu's expression.
Madam Gu's face suddenly became very ugly, blue turned to white, white turned to purple, purple turned to black, and all kinds of colors appeared.
The anger in his heart surged out again, and even his graceful face was slightly distorted.
"That's enough!" Madam Gu said sternly, her voice very low and deep.
"If she doesn't marry, she will become a nun."
She looked straight at Yan with cold eyes, and every word and sentence she spoke was so cold that it seemed like ice chips might fall out of it.
Her daughter was Yan's lifeblood. Her face turned pale immediately and she wilted like an eggplant hit by frost. She was unable to utter a word.
Based on Yan's understanding of Madam Gu, she dared to say it and do it.
How could Yan dare to risk her daughter's future, and how could she bear to see her daughter become a nun at such a young age.
Yan's body was trembling slightly, but Gu Yunzhen beside her was as tall and straight as a bamboo in the cold wind. She didn't care about Madam Gu's threats and her expression remained calm.
With the support of her mother, elder brother and second sister, and her relatives by her side, what does she have to fear? "Mom, I..." Gu Yunzhen opened her lips slightly, wanting to say that she would not marry even if she became a nun, but she felt her sleeves tighten.
She looked down and saw Gu Yanfei quietly pulling her sleeve and shaking it. Gu Yunlan in front of her just blocked Gu Yanfei's little movement.
"Madam, didn't I just say that?" Gu Yanfei walked to Gu Yunzhen with a smile, "Grandfather will decide on my elder sister's marriage."
The others nearby subconsciously took a step to the sides to make way for her.
"Grandfather is here, so let's ask him what he thinks."
Gu Yanfei's voice was cold and low in pitch, but it echoed throughout the entire sacrificial hall and was clearly heard by everyone present.
Gu Yanfei looked up at the tablet in front of her with the name of the old Marquis Gu Xuan written on it, and said solemnly: "Grandfather, I am your granddaughter Yanfei. I greeted you last night."
"The Madam and the Marquis want to let my eldest sister bring good luck to someone. Grandfather, do you agree?" Gu Yanfei asked seriously.
"Nonsense." Gu Jian couldn't help but scold.
“Knock knock…”
As soon as he finished speaking, a strange sound came from the front, as if refuting Gu Jian's words.
“Knock, knock, knock…”
The noise continued and became louder.
Everyone fell silent, their eyes flooded over like a tide, looking towards the tablet of old Dingyuan Marquis Gu Xuan in the second row of the incense table.
In the heavy candlelight, the dark red tablet on the incense table was shaking like sifting chaff, making repeated "thump thump" sounds that became louder and louder.
In this sacrificial hall filled with tablets, the sound seemed extremely strange.
Gu Yanfei sighed quietly, spread his hands, and said with a sigh: "See, I was right, grandfather is here to make the decision for big sister."
After she said this, everyone felt uneasy and subconsciously looked around.
Several younger girls looked around, the hair on their necks standing on end, as if the old marquis was secretly watching all of them in another way.
Gu Yuan and Gu Yanfei tacitly agreed and said, "I think Grandfather must be angry!"
"That's right. They snatched my job and gave it to Murong Yong. That's fine, but they also want to give Zhen Jie'er to their family to bring good luck!"
"No wonder Grandfather is angry."
While Gu Yuan was speaking, the sound of "knock knock knock" continued to be heard.
The tablet of the old marquis Gu Xuan continued to make sounds and sway back and forth, with the rhythm becoming increasingly rapid, forming a sharp contrast with the other tablets around it that remained motionless.
There was clearly no wind in the room, but the candle flames on the candlesticks on both sides were swaying slightly, with light and shadows interweaving.
This scene is really too ghostly.
Gu Jian's face turned pale, his facial features flickered in the candlelight, and he looked uneasy. He couldn't help but have a thought in his mind: Could it be that his father was in heaven and wanted to say something to them? "The tablet moved without wind." Gu Yanfei sighed, and the quiet voice was like the autumn wind with a hint of coolness.
"Grandfather disagrees."
There will be additional updates today, the third update will be at 12:00 (end of this chapter)
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