Kofi sponcored~On the sixth day, it was suitable for the crown ceremony, sacrifices*, or banquet friends. It was early in the morning that Shen Yanbei got up to prepare for the ceremony.
*jìsì: old and customary offerings salute to gods, buddhas, or ancestors to show respect and blessings.
The crown ceremony was quite tedious. First, you had to do divination at the gate of the ancestral hall, chose an auspicious day as the day of the crown ceremony, and made a list for the guests to be invited to the ceremony. Later, the father and brother led him to bow to heaven and earth at the ancestral temple to respect the ancestors. Before the crown ceremony, the participants in the crown ceremony must bathe and fast. On the day of the ceremony, the recipient of the crown should prepare a washstand, crown clothes, toiletry items, and wine for rituals that needed during the crown ceremony, and greeted the guests...
The crowning ceremony was held in the ancestral temple. The crowned person's hair would be comb, rolled into a bun, and wrapped with a black ribbon. The guests gave a congratulatory speech to the crowned person and then crowned them three times. Not only that, they would give three different materials hat with three meaning to the crowned person. Every crowned, the guests had to express different wishes to the crowned person. Then the crowned person must go back to the room and put on clothes of different colors before accepting the next crowning.
After the ceremony, a banquet would be held. There were many small details on the banquet. For example, the crowned person did a ceremony to express respect to the ancestors by serving food and wine, used the etiquette for adults to meet the guest, paid respect to the parents, picked up the character, and many more.
The original owner's parents were no longer there, and he was not a noble child, so this crown ceremony was held simply.
The staffs were not much, and the relations were not that much too.
The sun was shining, the breeze was gentle, and the willow shoots were whistling. In front of the ancestral hall of the Shen's Family in Shenjia Village, all villagers came to watch the ceremony. Several tables and chairs were placed in the open space on the west side of the ancestral hall. Village Chief Shen Dezhong who sat on the third chair frowned.
The sand in the hourglass poured little by little, but the guest they invited still hadn't come yet. It made Shen Dezhong couldn't help but feel anxious.
Today was Shen Yanbei's crown ceremony. He had already greeted the borough chief and the village chiefs of several nearby villages before. The auspicious hour was almost past, but no one came!
"Village chief!" A man ran to Shen Dezhong's side, panting and whispering in his ear.
"The borough chief is not at home. His family said that Li Juren from Lijia Village sent someone over early in the morning to call the borough chief away!"
"What?" Shen Dezhong opened his eyes slightly, blue veins on the forehead throbbing.
Another teenager also hurried over. "Chief, the village chief of Liujia Village is not at home. The neighbor next door said that he saw people from Lijia Village invite him over to Lijia Village!"
One after another, all the villagers sent out by Shen Dezhong to invite people came back but no one guest followed behind. It turned out that all guests were called to Lijia Village without exception!
"Unreasonable!" Shen Dezhong slapped the armrest fiercely, gritted his teeth, and said, "It's really bullying!"
On the day of the incident, Shen Yanbei directly sent the thief to the government. That thief's crime really slapped Li Yi's face. Since was already worried that Li Yi wouldn't come, he didn't hope for him to come. Who had thought that he would take all the guests over? Really such a narrow-minded person! Such a very cruel-hearted person!
What to do then? Shen Dezhong looked at the empty table beside him, his expression was unreadable.
"Why hasn't anyone come yet?"
"That's right! The time has already arrived, right?"
The villagers talked to each other, looking at these empty seats strangely.
Shen Dezhong suppressed the anger in his heart and hurriedly got up to find Shen Yanbei.
Shen Yanbei, who was changing his clothes, opened his hands and smiled at Gu Changfeng, who lowered his head in front of him to tie his shirt and belt.
The man lowered his eyes. He clumsily moved his hand to tie a knot in the belt. His slightly trembling fingers exposed his uneasy heart.
This crown ceremony was to celebrate for someone to indicate adulthood. His husband would be a real man after the ceremony. The frail scholar who was still lying in the bed yesterday turned into a gentleman who was as gentle as jade. His body gesture and temperament were constantly changing, but the young man's eyes never changed since the first time he saw it. Just as the young man said at the beginning that he would always like him and treat him well, now he could know the feeling of being loved and cherished all the time. The young man used his not generous chest to build a warm harbor for himself and used his weak warms to hold a sky for himself...
"Shen Yan!"
An angry voice interrupted Gu Changfeng's thoughts. As soon as the two turned their heads, they saw Shen Dezhong walking closer with an angry face.
"What's wrong, Uncle Zhong?" Shen Yanbei asked.
Shen Dezhong said indignantly. "All the guests are being called away by Li Juren! As a result, no one of the invited guests come!"
"Too despicable and shameless!" Zhou Yu exclaimed in anger.
Gu Changfeng pressed his lips tightly, his fists clenched, and his black eyes sparkled with anger.
Shen Yanbei frowned slightly. He pondered for a while and said, "The guest's seat cannot be left vacant. Uncle Lao Zhong, please helps me to invite all the senior elders in the village." The original host's direct line elders had been passed away, so they could only invite Li Yi, the borough chief, and village chiefs of other villages. Now since that these people were not coming, he could only invite the elders in the village.
Shen Dezhong sighed. "It can only be so." After that, he hurriedly asked someone to invite them.
Seeing Gu Changfeng's eyes turned to be cold and his face was tense, Shen Yanbei took his hand and comforted him. "Don't be angry. Whatever if they want to come or not. I really don't care about that though."
Gu Changfeng's voice sounded bitter. "How can he!" The crown ceremony was held only once in a lifetime, how dared he insulted his husband like this!
Shen Yanbei kissed him dearly, "It's okay. I can afford to lose!"
"What is going on?" Su Qingze, who noticed that the atmosphere suddenly became weird, asked Zhou Yu. After listening to the whole story, Su Qingze was also shocked by Li Yi's methods.
"This... is too vicious, right?"
"Because Li Juren can't protect his villagers, he came with a grudge. That's how he settled the account to our Gōngzǐ!"
"Why is this Li Juren again?" Ming An snorted, his eyes full of disgust. "Young Master, we can't let him succeed!"
Su Qingze nodded. Last time he was humiliated by the two rascals in the restaurant because this Li Juren supporting them. He had stayed in Shenjia Village quite long, so he already heard that a lot of people of Lijia Village oppressed the villagers of Shenjia Village. It was all because Li Juren did not stop the wrong behavior and help to cover it up.
Gu Dàgē and Shen Dàgē were his friends, so he must not let this Li Juren arbitrarily bullied them!
There was a lot of noise in front of the ancestral hall.
"How can the list guest change?"
"Yes, why are there no other guests here?"
"Could it be that no one wants to come?"
Seeing that the elders of Shenjia Village were invited to the seats, the people watching the ceremony were full of discussions.
"Xiǎo gōngzǐ of Qinghe Qīngzhōu Su's Family is here!" Suddenly someone shouted loudly, made everyone stunned.
Someone asked, "Qingzhou Qinghe? What is this?"
A villager who knew a little bit replied, "Qingzou is the capital of Qinghe County!"
"Then the Su's Family?"
"The Su's Family is a well-known family in Qinghe County. The prime minister Su of the previous dynasty came from the Su's Family in Qinghe..."
Unbelievable. This was a big shot! Everyone was stunned and hurriedly cast their gazes on the path. They saw he wore a gold-stranded shoe, dressed in a brocade robe with auspicious clouds outlined in gold and silver threads, with a white jade pendant on the waist, holding a folding fan of incense sandalwood. He raised his hands and moved his feet*... This young fat man, in the eyes of every one's astonishment, sat calmly in the guest's seat.
*jǔ shǒu tóu zú: showing a kind of graceful demeanor.
Shen Qikui, who was also watching the ceremony, stared at him in disbelief. My goodness! Such a precious xiǎo gōngzǐ actually lived in his house!
Shen Dezhong was also stunned.
"Su... Su Xiǎo Gōngzǐ?"
Su Qingze tried his best to show the courtesy of the gōngzǐ of the aristocratic family. He nodded gently. "Village Chief, I think the time is about to come, right? Should we start the salute rituals now?"
"Of...of course!" Shen Dezhong was greatly relieved. He was about to ask Zhou Yu to led Shen Yanbei to come out. Unexpectedly, a middle-aged man holding a brocade box appeared in front of everyone.
The person who came was not someone else, but it was the steward who came with Su Qingze last time. The steward looked a little anxious. When he found the ceremony didn't start yet, his tense loosened up a little bit.
Seeing the steward, Su Qingze's eyes lit up. "Housekeeper Li!"
Guan Shi hurriedly stepped forward and greeted, "Su Gōngzǐ."
Su Qingze glanced at the brocade box in his hand and asked, "What is this?"
The steward smiled and said, "Unfortunately Dàrén can't come, so he especially ordered this servant to come to congratulate Shen Xiucai. The carriage broke down on the road, so I'm a bit late."
Housekeeper? Dàrén?
After hearing the conversation between the two, everyone was dumbfounded. Shen Dezhong was also at a loss. "Your Dàrén is?"
"My Dàrén is the newly appointed magistrate Li." The manager smiled lightly.
Everyone was shocked again! The county magistrate actually sent his housekeeper to congratulate Shen Yanbei? Li Juren even didn't enjoy this such treatment back then!
Shen Dezhong was surprised and delighted. He quickly got up and asked the housekeeper to sit down.
"The good time is coming--" Zhou Yu sang loudly, everyone was quiet.
A thin young man dressed in white silk slowly walked out and kneeled under the steps. Su Qingze immediately stood by his side and combed the young man's hair in a bun. After Su Qingze wrapped the hair bun with ribbon, Shen Dezhong took the cloth crown from Zhou Yu and put it on the young man...
After wearing a crown and changing the clothes, at the third crowning, the young man went back to the room to change clothes.
"Go out toast with me later?" Shen Yanbei leaned forward and asked Gu Changfeng, who dressed him in a light cyan shirt.
"Alright." The heat sprayed to his ears made Gu Changfeng involuntarily shrink back. When he raised his head, he couldn't help but be stunned. The young man who wore many layers of brocade clothes looked different from the usual gentle scholars. The young man in front of him looked very noble and influential as if he should have been like this. But when the corner of the young man's mouth was curled, his temperament changed to be careless and undisciplined...
"Does it look good?" Shen Yanbei chuckled lightly.
Gu Changfeng nodded blankly. "It looks good..."
Shen Yanbei hooked his lips with satisfaction. "Then shall we go out now?"
"……Okay."
When everyone saw Shen Yanbei again, the young man in a beautiful dress was standing tall and straight like bamboo on the stairs. Although the eyebrows were still those eyebrows, there was an inexplicable momentum in the young man's eyes, which made people afraid to take a peek. The man standing beside him had a calm face, as peaceful as Mount Tai. Although the two of them were slightly different in body shape, they stood together as harmonious as green hills and blue waters. Especially between the eye contact of the two, it seemed like flowing water around the green hills, showing that they could understand each other without saying a word.
Everyone was in a daze for a moment. Shen Dezhong coughed lightly and let Shen Yanbei sit in.
The original owner's parents had died and he had no brothers and sisters, so had no other direct blood relatives. So Shen Dezhong immediately let Shen Yanbei spoke a word to greet. Shen Yanbei thanked the guests one by one. As the host, he invited everyone to have a drink.
Then the crown ceremony had ended smoothly.
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