Translator – Xiao He Lian
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Chapter 109
Although the emperor’s marriage granting can exempt the step of “visiting the relatives”, the three letters and six ceremonies still have to be performed step by step.
The so-called six rites[mfn](名the six ceremonies of betrothal and marriage; six steps leading to a feudal marriage：1）纳采 visit to the lady’s family to formally seek a marriage alliance after the lady’s parents agreed to consider a matchmaker’s proposal 2）问名 asking for the full name and time of birth of the lady through the matchmaker 3）纳吉 engagement upon approval of the lady’s family on propitious signs obtained through diving by the man’s family according to birthdays 4）纳征或纳币 presentation of betrothal gifts to the bride’s family 5）请期 seeking approval by the bride’s family of a wedding date selected by the bridegroom’s family 6）亲迎 the bridegroom’s going to the bride’s to meet her for the wedding) [/mfn]refer to the marriage proposal, exchanging horoscope, engagement, the betrothal gift, setting the date of marriage, and the wedding. The Duke of Zhenguo’s mansion acted quickly and found the most famous matchmaker in the capital to come the next day.
If it was an ordinary family proposing marriage, it might still be a bit difficult, but this was a marriage arranged by the Emperor and all this was now just a matter of following the rules.
The matchmaker knocked on the door holding a wild goose, entered the Shen Mansion, asked for the names, and then wrote the birth dates on the Geng Tie[mfn](written marriage proposal noting hour, day, month and year of one’s birth)[/mfn]. The matchmaker then went back to calculate whether the birth dates of the two children conflicted with each other.
Everything else was just a formality. Only for the horoscope Grand Princess herself found someone to calculate.
Shen Zhen, Year of Bingxu[mfn](Bingxu Year is a year in the lunar calendar, such as 2006, 1946, 1886, etc. (a cycle of 60 years). It is also called the Year of the Dog.)[/mfn], twenty sixth of the fourth month, Gengwu[mfn](The seventh year of a cycle in the traditional Chinese calendar of the heavenly stems and earthly branches is called the Gengwu Year.7th year of the Sexagenary Cycle (1870, 1930, 1990 etc.) ).[/mfn]
Lu Yan, Ji Mao year[mfn](Year of the Rabbit)[/mfn], twenty fifth of the tenth month, Xin Si[mfn](18th year of the Sexagenary Cycle (1881, 1941, 2001 etc.))[/mfn].
The old Taoist raised his head and smiled at the Grand Princess, “Don’t worry, Your Highness. These two horoscopes are auspicious and a perfect match.”
The Grand Princess’ eyes curved, “Really?”
The old Taoist nodded and said, “How dare I fool your Highness?”
After matching the horoscopes, according to the rules, the Duke of Zhenguo’s Mansion had to choose two men with official positions from the same clan to serve as “messengers” to deliver the marriage certificate and betrothal gifts to the Shen family.
These two people were naturally Lu Yan’s two elder brothers – Lu Ting and Lu Ye.
The Duke of Zhenguo’s Mansion was very powerful. Lu Ting and Lu Ye led a long team and arrived at Baoning Lane early in the morning, attracting the attention of the local residents.
After this, the presentation of betrothal gifts to the bride’s family was considered completed.
Shen Wenqi looked at the nanmu([mfn]A type of wood. This wood is hard and expensive, and is often used in shipbuilding and palaces.) [/mfn]boxes of different sizes tied with colorful threads in front of him, as well as the imperial edict of promotion, and suddenly thought of what Eunuch Sheng said when he delivered the imperial edict – “Since Minister Shen has been seriously injured, you do not need to attend court these days. Just rest at home for a while.”
Now thinking about it, asking him to rest for a few more days at home, wasn’t it just so that he can welcome his nephew?
Shen Wenqi felt a lump in his stomach, unable to either let it out or get rid of it.
In the past few days, the only thing that made Shen Wenqi feel relieved was that Princess Jing’an came to the Shen Mansion in person.
Princess Jing’an was a member of the royal family and had a noble status, so there was no need to say much. If she doesn’t come, the Shen family couldn’t complain, but if she comes, it would give the Shen family enough face.
During the conversation, Shen Wenqi could see that the Grand Princess was somewhat fond of Shen Zhen.
Shen Wenqi rubbed his brows and said, “An momo, call Zhen’er for me.”
An momo responded and went out.
After a while, Shen Zhen opened the door, walked into the hall, and whispered, “Father.”
Shen Wenqi patted the round stool in front of him and said, “Come here and sit down.”
Shen Zhen sat down obediently with her hands folded on her knees.
Shen Wenqi looked at her and couldn’t help but take a long breath.
Why was it the Duke Zhenguo’s Mansion?
Why was it Lu Yan?
Although Shen Wenqi and Lu Yan were quite different in age, they had served in the same court for many years, so Shen Wenqi was not actually a stranger to his future son-in-law.
There are two exact intersections in total.
The first time, it was because of official business.
The Ministry of Works always took up the most money and effort, so whenever a major project came up, the Emperor would assign an official of the fourth rank or above to be responsible for supervising it, including the prime minister, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Chief Supervisor[mfn](is the name of an ancient official office, in charge of the construction of palaces , the production of gold, jade, pearls, rhinoceros, elephants, and treasures, exquisite utensils, the embroidery of gauze and satin, and the making of various unusual utensils.)[/mfn] , the Governor of Jingzhao, the junior magistrate of Jingzhao, and so on.
In the spring of the 14th year of Yuanqing, the emperor ordered Shen Wenqi to build the royal mausoleum. Lu Yan was still the Junior Supervisor of the Ministry of Revenue that year, and the emperor happened to order him to supervise the construction. The two worked together for several months.
In Shen Wenqi’s opinion at that time, although the heir apparent of the Duke of Zhenguo’s Mansion had a somewhat indifferent temperament, he was both talented and handsome, and he was serious and responsible in doing things.
At least he was not like Xu Bolin, who knows nothing but was good at giving pointers.
Up to this point, Shen Wenqi’s impression of him could be described as “good”.
Speaking of this, about the second time….
The second time was around autumn of the fourteenth year of Qingyuan, when Shen Zhen came of age.
Tang Lu, the only son of the Marquis of Chunnan, went to the Yunyang Marquis’s Mansion to propose marriage but was rejected. He was unwilling to accept this and sneaked into the Shen Mansion under the bright moonlight, intending to cook raw rice[mfn](The raw rice is already cooked.; the rice is cooked—what’s done can’t be undone)[/mfn] and force the Shen family to marry a daughter. In a fit of anger, Shen Wenqi almost beat Tang Lu to death.
The Tang and Shen families turned against each other and went to court in Jingzhao Prefecture.
This case was also Lu Yan’s first case as junior magistrate of Jingzhao prefecture.
Logically speaking, both families were well-known and prominent families in the capital. This matter involves the innocence of their daughter. The government should at least take the Shen family’s reputation into consideration when judging the case. But what about Junior magistrate Lu?
Not only did he hold an open court trial, he even sent someone to invite Shen Zhen to confront him in court.
Shen Wenqi would never let Shen Zhen confront Tang Lu, so he had no choice but to meet with then Governor Zheng in advance.
Two days later, Shen Wenqi and Xuanping Maquis went out for a drink and accidentally overheard the conversation between Govenor Zheng and Lu Yan.
Governor Zheng said, “Lord Lu, how could you send someone to the Marquis’ Mansion to invite his daughter? The daughter of the Marquis of Yunyang almost lost her innocence. Even if the Marquis was a bit harsh, you should at least show some mercy.”
Governor Zheng himself had a daughter who was still unmarried, so he naturally understood Shen Wenqi’s anger.
Lu Yan remained calm and said, “According to the law, the Heir Apparent of Marquis Chunnan attempted to commit a crime, but the Marquis of Yunyang beat someone so hard that he almost lost his life. In my opinion, both of them are not innocent.”
Governor Zheng patted his chest.
Sun Xu said from the side: “According to what you said, Lord Lu, is Third Young Lady Shen wrong in this matter?”
Lu Yan said calmly, “As a matter of fact, she is innocent, and the Tang family is also at fault. But Yunyang Marquis knew that her face was attractive, but he didn’t ask anyone to protect her, and actually let someone break into the girl’s boudoir. This is also the Shen family’s negligence. Fortunately, the son of Chunnan Marquis was seriously injured this time.What if he lost his life because of this? Will the people’s words let Third Young Lady Shen off…”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Governor Zheng bowed and said to Sun Xu, “You can take over the Tang family’s case later. Both families are well-respected families in the capital. It’s best to suppress it. “
Shen Wenqi couldn’t help feeling upset when he thought about Lu Yan’s suffocating words even now.
That kind of temperament with the temperament of the one in his family, can they really live in harmony?
He was deeply skeptical.
Thinking of this, Shen Wenqi sighed again.
Shen Zhen blinked, “Father, you’ve sighed several times… What on earth do you want to say to your daughter…”
Shen Wenqi said earnestly: “Tell the truth to Father, has he bullied you?”
Shen Zhen shook his head, “No.”
Shen Wenqi looked at her clear and bright eyes, and couldn’t finish the words that were on his lips.
That’s it.
Things have come to this, one wants to get married and the other wants to be married, can he still stop them?
“You are getting married. Father has hired a nanny for you. Zhang momo once served the late Empress. She will teach you the rules. You must study hard.”
Shen Zhen nodded, “This daughter understands.”
Shen Wenqi also nodded, “Okay, you can go back.”
Shen Zhen stood up and said, “Then Father should also go to bed early and don’t forget to take your medicine.”
Shen Wenqi looked at her back and his nose became sore.
He suddenly remembered the night before Shen Shu and Shen Yao got married…
——
At the morning court session on Tenth of the tenth month, Emperor Chengyuan proposed expanding the capital and renovating the nine gates. Nine gates, namely the east, west, and south gates of Chang’an City.[mfn](The Nine Gates of Beijing refers to the nine city gates of the inner city of Beijing in the Ming and Qing dynasties, namely Deshengmen and Andingmen in the north ; Dongzhimen and Chaoyangmen in the east ; Chongwenmen , Zhengyangmen , and Xuanwumen , also known as the front three gates , in the south; and Xizhimen and Fuchengmen in the west .)[/mfn]
These were the responsibilities of the Ministry of Works and they had to be done every year, so there was nothing surprising about it.
What everyone was concerned about was who will be the supervisor.
After all, Minister Shen has a new son-in-law.
When the Minister of Revenue received the Crown Prince’s gaze, he quickly did a favor and pushed the matter onto the Governor of Jingzhao on the grounds that there were a lot of things going on recently.
Sure enough, Emperor Chengyuan nodded.
After the court session, Lu Yan took a step and walked to Shen Wenqi’s side, “Lord Shen, please stay.”
Shen Wenqi paused and looked back at him, “Is there a problem, Governor Lu?”
“In repairing the city gates this time, Jingzhao Prefecture will definitely do its best to cooperate with the Ministry of Works. If Lord Shen has anything to say, please tell me.”
Tsk, look at that tone.
As a matter of fact, the Governor of Jingzhao and the Minister of Works were of the same rank.
“Governor Lu has always been rigorous in his work, so just do it impartially.” Shen Wenqi looked at him and said.
Lu Yan replied: “Lord Shen is absolutely right.”
Shen Wenqi nodded and got on the carriage.
Lu Yan savored the meaning behind Shen Wenqi’s words, and it was the first time he felt a gust of cold wind under his feet.
After a moment, Sui Yu floated behind him and patted him, “Got knocked down a bit?”
Lu Yan closed his eyes and said nothing.
Sui Yu said, “Who told you to seek the Emperor to grant you a marriage? If you had proposed marriage normally, why would Lord Shen have given you such a cold shoulder?”
Lu Yan said: “It’s not about this.”
Sui Yu asked, “What else is there? Could it be that the Third Sister is so stupid that she told him everything?”
“Who is your third sister?”
“She will be your wife only after you marry her.”
Lu Yan whispered, “Do you still remember the incident with the Tang family? Tang Lu.”
As soon as these words came out, Sui Yu nodded. As if he suddenly understood something, “I remember now.”
Lu Yan raised his hand and pinched his throbbing temple.
Sui Yu smiled and said, “Today I finally believed that saying.”
Lu Yan didn’t respond.
Sui Yu said to himself: “The cycle of cause and effect, karma, is very wonderful.”
Lu Yan glanced at him.
Sui Yu put away the smile on his face and continued, “If you ask me, you don’t have to worry too much. After all, you and Third Sister have even exchanged engagement letters, so there is still a long way to go! Besides, Lord Shen is not the kind of person who would make things difficult for others.”
Hearing this, Lu Yan raised his eyebrows and looked at him.
Sui Yu said: “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Lu Yan asked sincerely, “How did you pass Lord Shen’s test back then?”
Sui Yujun’s face turned completely dark in an instant.
These words were really heart wrenching.
Sui Yu gritted his teeth and said earnestly: “I should have stood far away and watched you make a fool of yourself!”
As he spoke, Lu Yan’s gaze suddenly changed direction.
In front of him was Li Di’s back.
Sui Yu’s eyes flashed with anger, and he said directly: “I don’t know why Shen Shu is so reluctant to divorce him. How can a man like Li Di be worthy of her?”
Lu Yan’s eyes turned cold, and he suddenly asked Sui Yu, “When will you return to Shu State?”
“I have received the additional silver from the court, and I have to set off tomorrow.”
Lu Yan said: “Before you leave, please help me get a copy of the Ministry of Revenue’s documents.”
Sui Yu asked: “Which one?”
“Can we still find out what happened before Li Di came to the Capital?”
Sui Yu shook his head, “Do you think I haven’t checked it? It’s clean and clear. It must have been done by the Xu family. There’s nothing we can find out from those documents.”
Lu Yan was thinking about it when he heard Sui Yu say, “Even if we can’t report what Li Di did before to the Ministry of Justice, we can still get a divorce on the grounds of marital discord. I always feel that Shen Shu is hiding something.”
