The Cui family started arranging a marriage for Cui Fei in May, and now they have finally made some progress.
Shen Cui had known about this for a long time, so she was not surprised.
The others only knew about this matter after hearing what he said. They first congratulated Cui Fei together, and then rushed to ask questions.
"Why are you getting married? I didn't hear you talk about it before."
"Yes, why didn't you inform us in advance about such a happy event as marriage? When is the wedding date?"
Firstly, they were concerned about Cui Fei, and secondly, they were worried that if the wedding date was set too close, they would not have enough time to prepare decent gifts.
Cui Fei blushed as he talked about this. "My sister told the headmaster in May, and I told him not to inform everyone yet. Hanshan was still taking exams at that time, so there was no need to distract everyone because of my affairs... It's not time to set a wedding date yet."
The family that the Cui family was visiting was named Sun. Their family ran a silk and satin shop in the provincial capital and also had their own dyeing workshop. The overall scale of their business was slightly smaller than that of the Cui family, but they were also a well-off family.
Cui Fei had told Chen Cui before that dating a wealthy family like theirs involves several steps.
Now that the matchmaker had helped to pass on the message, Mr. Cui also took Cui Fei to visit the Sun family and let the Sun family's daughter meet him through the screen.
Cui Fei was worried that the girl would look down on him at first, but he was under pressure from his family elders. He later revealed some of his concerns to Cui Wuniang.
So after this step, Cui Wu Niang asked Old Master Cui for help, and Old Master Cui went to discuss it with the Sun family.
The Sun family loved Miss Sun very much, so they were naturally worried that she would put her trust in the wrong person, so they suggested that Cui Fei could communicate with Miss Sun.
This kind of correspondence tacitly agreed upon by both families has to pass through the eyes of the elders, so it is usually just polite greetings and regards.
But the handwriting reflects the person. Miss Sun's handwriting is elegant and beautiful, and her tone of voice is particularly warm and gentle. Cui Fei has already imagined her gentle and beautiful appearance.
Of course, it doesn’t matter if Miss Sun herself is not that beautiful. Cui Fei feels that the beauty of the heart is more valuable than the beauty of the appearance.
Now the only step left is for the two families to create an opportunity for the two parties to meet, talk, and get to know each other before marriage.
This step is usually just a formality at this time. Unless anything particularly unexpected happens, the younger generation cannot disobey the wishes of their elders.
The Cui and Sun families intended to complete this last step before the New Year and start the process of three books and six ceremonies in the spring.
"It was said that Brother Afei used to go home once every ten days or half a month, but in recent months he has only been home every few days. After he came back, he would write something while grinning foolishly. When I asked him what he wrote, he wouldn't let me see it."
Mu Erpang suddenly realized something and spoke in a sour tone, which made Cui Fei blush!
Shen Cui immediately glanced at Mu Erpang and said, "You too, are a little housekeeper who wants to see everything. When you come back to propose marriage, I'll see if you are embarrassed or not."
Mu Erpang chuckled, "There's nothing to be ashamed of. When I propose marriage, I will definitely tell everyone in our academy and let everyone help me with the advice!"
He was totally clueless in this area, so he said it so frankly. Chen Cui, Lao Buyu and other people in the academy couldn't help but laugh.
Mu Erpang was confused by their laughter. He scratched his head and didn't care about anything else. He just asked Cui Fei whether he would leave his own academy after getting married?
Although if Cui Fei left, they would still be able to see each other in the prefectural school during the day, but it would definitely be different from the current situation where they are inseparable.
Cui Fei naturally said no, "It's already been agreed upon. After marriage, I will only return home on the days when the prefecture school is closed. The rest will not change."
…………
After Laba Festival, the provincial school was on holiday.
Because of the heavy snow this year, many people gave up the trek back home.
They were all scholars with the title of scholar, who did not have to attend classes in the provincial school. Later, no one knew who took the lead, but some of them jointly organized a poetry meeting with a local poetry society, inviting a group of talented scholars to go out to appreciate the snow, write poetry, and communicate with each other.
On Cuiwei's side, Mei Ruochu and others also received the post. The location was set at Shuxiang Temple outside the city.
It was the first time that Mu Erpang received such an invitation and he wanted to go. Moreover, in the invitation to Cuiwei, Mei Ruochu was ranked first and he was ranked second. The two of them seemed to be the representatives of the old and new students in the minds of others.
I was also afraid that I would waste a day's study time after I went there - after all, the provincial school was on holiday, but Cuiwei was not closed, and Lao Buyu led them to class every day.
Chen Cui saw his dilemma and encouraged him, "I've heard of this kind of literary gathering before. If you turn it down the first time, others will think it's embarrassing and won't invite you next time. Besides, it's a poetry gathering. It will be beneficial for you to go and see and listen to others write poems. Even if you don't learn anything, just think of it as a day of relaxation. You will only have this opportunity to relax in the next two years. Next year, you should start preparing for the provincial examination again."
Lao Buyu also agreed that they should go. They were all teenagers, so how could they not love to play? They just suppressed their nature in order to pass the imperial examination, and this kind of poetry gathering was not just for fun.
So on the day of the poetry gathering, Chen Cui and Lao Buyu were given a day off, while the others were invited to the Shuxiang Temple outside the city.
They set out early in the morning after breakfast, and when they arrived at the destination, there were already crowds of people outside Shuxiang Temple.
Not only scholars and literati, but also some ordinary people came with their families.
After asking someone, I found out that all the plum blossoms in Shuxiang Temple had bloomed overnight.
People have little entertainment at that time, and it is even more so in winter when it is inconvenient to travel. Therefore, many people come here to appreciate the plum blossoms at this time.
After quite a bit of squeezing, Mei Ruochu, Mu Erpang and the others finally found the room where the poetry reading was held.
Many people had already come to the side rooms, some of them were classmates from the academy, and the others were strangers to them.
The owner of the poetry society is surnamed Zhao, and this Mr. Zhao is also the organizer of this poetry meeting.
He looked to be in his early twenties, and was quite adept at socializing. He first greeted everyone and then introduced them to each other.
"This is Brother Mei Ruochu, a child prodigy who could compose poems at the age of seven. He wasted a few years due to some accidents, but he won first place in both the provincial and imperial examinations. Let me say that Master Mei's talent is not inferior to that of the one in the capital."
"This is Brother Mu, he is even more amazing. The one in Beijing is his elder brother. He himself also won the first place in the imperial examination at the age of thirteen. I heard that he started to learn at home when he was ten years old."
"Brother Shen, you ranked first in the county exam, and second in both the prefectural and imperial exams. You let our brother Mu beat you, but you have no grudges against him. You are as close to brother Mu as if he were one person. Such a broad mind is rare in the world."
"These two Wei brothers are also two outstanding people from the same family..."
It was obvious that Master Zhao attached great importance to the people of Cuiwei and knew their background very well.
After the introduction, many people immediately came to chat and make friends with Mu Erpang and his friends.
As for Cui Fei, Master Zhao was a little vague when talking about him.
After all, to be honest, Cui Fei's resume is nothing special compared to others.
Cui Fei became the one who was left out, but he didn't mind. He just felt proud of it.
But Mu Erpang and the others would definitely not leave him alone, so they tried hard to bring him into the topic.
Unfortunately, other people were much more interested in them than Cui Fei. Cui Fei saw that they were working hard to take care of him, so he said he wanted to go to the yard to see the plum blossoms first.
Mr. Zhao felt a little embarrassed about this situation, so he said, "We will write poems soon. Brother Cui, go and read and reflect on it first. I'm sure you will be able to write better poems later."
As he said that, he sent a little boy to accompany Cui Fei.
After leaving the wing room, Cui Fei arrived in the courtyard.
The plum blossoms blooming proudly against the white snow are breathtakingly beautiful.
Unfortunately, this place, like other places in the temple, is already overcrowded. In the noisy situation, the beauty was greatly reduced.
Cui Fei found a corner, admired the scenery from afar for a while and was about to go back when he seemed to hear someone calling his name.
Looking back, he saw that it was indeed an acquaintance, Li Rufeng was standing behind him.
"Why are you here?" In the provincial school, Li Rufeng was like a mouse seeing a cat when he saw Cui Fei. But it doesn't mean that after the last lesson, he has really changed his ways. He just feels ashamed. Outside the provincial school, he is much more confident. At this moment, he has a strange look on his face.
Cui Fei said: "I came here to participate in the poetry meeting."
"Didn't this poetry gathering only invite the top-ranking students in the prefectural academy and other talented people outside the prefectural academy?"
Cui Fei really didn’t know this, because his name was indeed on the post to Cui Wei.
But when I think about it carefully, it seems that the classmates I saw in the side room just now all seemed to have passed the annual examination with first place.
"Then why are you here too?" Cui Fei asked back.
Before Li Rufeng could answer, another little boy ran over and said, "Young Master Cousin is finally here. Our young master was just asking about you. He was afraid that you couldn't find the place, so he asked me to come and greet you."
Cui Fei raised his eyebrows at the little boy, and he roughly understood. Master Zhao sent him the invitation, probably intending to invite all the students in Cuiwei. It would be a bit unreasonable to not invite him alone.
The reason why Li Rufeng was invited is that the two families are relatives!
Before he could say anything, Li Rufeng saw his understanding expression, his face flushed, and he said viciously: "I did come here in an improper way. I didn't know you were coming, so I can't let you go. But Cui Fei, you should also know that you can participate in this kind of elegant gathering only because of others' help. Do you deserve it?"
After saying that, he turned around and walked away. Before he took two steps, Cui Fei saw him tripped by someone.
The one who stretched out her leg to trip him was a young girl, accompanied by two maids and several servants. When she saw him fall, she pretended to be surprised and said, "Why don't you look at the road when you walk? You stepped on my shoes and made them dirty."
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