Chen Ziyue wanted Xu Zitao to come for another reason. His elder brother Chen Zijing had gone to fight in the war with his father, so he would go to pick up the bride on his behalf.
Welcoming the bride on behalf of others? How can Xu Zitao be absent from such a fun event?
Sure enough, when Xu Zitao saw Chen Ziyue, who was as slender as a bamboo pole, he laughed loudly and said, "Since your eldest brother is not at home, you can also get married to bring good luck. What's the point of marrying on behalf of others?"
Chen Ziyue snorted: "My eldest brother hasn't married yet, how could it be my turn?"
Besides, even if it was his turn, he didn’t want to get married!
My eldest brother’s maternal family is the county lieutenant of a county town outside Beijing.
With Chen Zijing's character and future, there would be no problem for him to marry a princess.
I don't know how this ninth-rank official got the chance to marry into the Chen family. The Ye family, who are particular about family background, didn't object to it.
Xu Zitao recognized the words and said, "Oh, so who are you interested in?"
Chen Ziyue shrugged: "Is it a fancy? Not really."
Xu Zitao was very interested: "Tell me about it, or take me to see it!"
Chen Ziyue said excitedly: "After we pick up the bride tomorrow, I will take you out of the city!"
Xu Zitao was itching to say, "Hey, let me reveal a little bit first! I'll leave it to tomorrow!"
Chen Ziyue was not shy about hiding his thoughts in front of his good brother. "Hey, do you remember when the teacher asked me to say whether the word 'que' or 'you' was better for 'Flower Shadow'? In her garden, I think the word 'que' is more suitable."
"You're already having a secret meeting under the moon!" Xu Zitao clapped his hands and laughed, "Tsk tsk, you're worthy of being called the Flying Thief!"
Chen Ziyue threw a punch: "I've seen the flowers she grows, but I've never seen her in person!"
Probably because there were two extremely ferocious wolfhounds in the villa, which were tall and strong. If he hadn't run very fast and could climb trees, he would have been bitten on the butt. Well, he didn't even need to be cut when he went to work in the palace.
If you want to go again, you must bring a few pounds of meat, all soaked and scattered on the ground.
While everyone in the mansion was busy arranging the wedding, Chen Ziyue and Xu Zitao were discussing how to take down the two dogs.
…
Before dawn the next day, the wedding procession, consisting of a tall horse, a sedan chair carried by four people, and four or five cousins who followed to pick up the bride, riding their own horses and accompanied by a drum and music band, marched out in a grand procession.
Under normal circumstances, a twenty-mile journey would take less than half an hour on horseback.
Now, with the sedan bearers playing music and beating drums, we can only let go of the reins and move slowly.
Chen Ziyue was in a very good mood at the thought of being able to sneak out and have a good time at night. As soon as he went out, he started to make plans with his brothers about going out for drinking, riding, shooting and hunting.
We walked until noon and finally entered Jiangdong County.
The county magistrate Jiang Chang is going to marry off his daughter, which is a big event in the county.
It’s not because the one getting married is the eldest daughter of the county magistrate, but because the one getting married today is the “Flower Goddess” of Jiangdong County.
Jiang Yufen, the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, is nicknamed "Flower Goddess".
The various exotic flowers and plants grown in her "Strange Flowers Garden" are unique in Jiangdong County.
Every mid-spring, the garden is in full bloom with hundreds of flowers, and the "Qi Ba Xiu Garden" becomes a popular place for scholars and officials in the city to linger.
It’s a pity that everyone only sees the flowers competing for beauty, but has never seen Miss Jiang.
This is probably because Miss Jiang's father, Jiang Chang, is a typical nerd. He strictly requires his wives and concubines to abide by the virtues of women and it is best not to go out of the house. Even Jiang Chang's servants cannot describe what Miss Jiang looks like.
So, the literati and poets who had visited the Jiang family and witnessed the beautiful scenery in the garden, when they had nothing to do, after a few drinks, began to speculate about what Miss Jiang looked like.
What’s interesting is that Jiang Chang was very patient. No matter what others said, he insisted on not letting his daughter show up, using both soft and hard tactics. He simply said that his daughter was weak and sick in bed and could not see the light of day.
Some say that Miss Jiang is the goddess of flowers and must be more beautiful than flowers and have a beauty that can rival the moon. She only appears in the yard on full moon nights to worship the moon goddess.
Some people said that Miss Jiang was extremely ugly and never appeared in public, which was a gimmick deliberately created by the Jiang family to find a good family for their daughter. As for the rare flowers, they were just planted by someone else.
There are many different opinions and it is difficult to tell the truth.
In fact, the real reason why Miss Jiang did not show up was that she did not live in the county town at all.
Only Jiang Chang himself knows this secret.
Jiang Chang's first wife, Zhu, suffered a difficult labor when giving birth to their daughter and developed a chronic illness. With Jiang Chang's meager monthly salary as a minor official in the county government at the time, he had just bought two rooms in the most remote corner of the county. It was really difficult for him to hire a maid to take care of his crying little girl and provide medicine for his wife.
At this time, her maternal family extended a helping hand and brought Miss Jiang and her daughter back to her maternal family to be raised.
Jiang Chang's maternal father was an old prime minister who had retired and owned a farm of about a hundred acres of land on the outskirts of Yuecheng. He was self-sufficient and lived a happy life.
Jiang Chang did not want to disappoint his father-in-law, so he worked in the county government while studying hard.
A few years later, Jiang Chang passed the provincial examination and was gradually promoted to county magistrate. He bought two shops on the street and had extra money, so he finally bought a three-story courtyard in the county town.
It just so happened that Miss Jiang was eleven or twelve years old and was ready to get married, so Jiang Chang took the opportunity to bring both Zhu and Miss Jiang back to live in the county town.
It’s a pity that during the years she lived in the manor, Miss Jiang traveled with her grandfather, trekking through the nearby hills and finding many beautiful flowers and plants.
The grandparents and granddaughter spend their days appreciating flowers, reciting poems, drinking tea and playing chess. Miss Jiang is simply reluctant to leave the free and easy home of her grandparents.
Flipping through the "Commandments for Women" that her father asked her to read, Miss Jiang felt extremely depressed.
Fortunately, I brought a lot of flower seeds when I came back from my grandparents' house. After a few visits, I managed to plant a garden full of spring flowers for her.
Anyone who has seen these flowers at the Jiang family would pay a large sum of money to buy them.
There are also people who, having heard of the flower's fame, want to pick it from the beams.
To prevent flower thieves from stealing her precious flowers, Jiang Yufen raised two wolfhounds...
"Mother, I'm getting married soon. You must take care of these flowers and plants for me!" Jiang Yufen repeatedly reminded her, "My father is a soft-hearted man. When my aunt and sister came to ask for flowers and plants, you couldn't give them a single one! Lai Fu and Lai Gui will stay at home. Remember to feed them for me. Don't miss out on the meat and bones every day!"
She wished she could take all her precious flowers and plants and the two wolfhounds as her dowry.
Unfortunately, Jiang Chang refused.
Zhu agreed kindly: "My dear daughter, I've remembered! I'll wait for you to come back in three days, and I promise not to lose a single petal! Put on your veil quickly, there's already the sound of gongs and drums outside!"
…
When he heard Xu Zitao, who had run into the city to explore the way and then came back to report the news, tell him that the Jiang family had two wolf-like vicious dogs that were half a man's height, he felt something was wrong.
Arriving at the Jiang family's gate, Chen Ziyue walked up the steps and knocked on the door. When he saw the wolfhound following the bride in a red wedding dress, he was stunned.
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