Prime Minister

Chapter 269 Matchmaker
The next day was also the day when the list was originally scheduled to be released.

But in Bianjing, it started to rain in the middle of the night.

The rain was not heavy, but it was the first rain in Bianjing after the beginning of spring.

The continuous rain fell silently, and the ground was not even a little wet. People in Bianjing didn't realize that there was a spring rain last night until they left the house.

But soon the rain became heavier and heavier, and there was a rushing sound in my ears, and the tinkling of roof tiles made a pleasant sound of rain, while the people went from house to house to announce the good news one by one.

With this spring rain, the spring drought far and near Bianjing can finally be slightly alleviated.

Many attributed this spring rain to the emperor praying for rain in the Taiyi Palace, and some people inexplicably attributed this merit to the joy of the provincial examination.

The new Jinshi on the list made the Lord of Heaven happy, so this spring rain was sent to congratulate him.

Now in front of Zhang Shi's house, there is a different scene.

Because I lived in a narrow alley, the car stopped far away, and then many people came to the door with umbrellas, most of them were women with yellow ribbons tied on their hair buns.

This attire is a matchmaker.

Early in the morning, several matchmakers came to Zhang Shi's house.

At the top of the list, Jiang Yan is already married in his hometown.

Wang Kui, the third on the list, is the nephew and son-in-law of Prime Minister Fu Bi, and it was rumored earlier that he had hooked up with a woman from a good family.

In this way, Zhang Yue, the second on the list, has become the gold in the eyes of the matchmaker, even though the Zhang family has confided to them that Zhang Yue has a marriage contract.

One is young, only 17 years old, the other is good-looking, and the third is poor.

The first two are easy to say, why did the underprivileged become an advantage?

The poor man explained that his family background was not high before, so it was difficult to have a good match for the so-called marriage contract.If she was a girl from a small family before, but now Zhang Yue is the second in the provincial examination, and she is also a future Jinshi, then it is the time when the status is different.

That's why many matchmakers come here to have a try because they are greedy for the bonus and thank you gift.

Zhang Shi pushed that Zhang Yue had a marriage contract, so they asked which girl it was, and did she have a Geng post?

Zhang Shi refused to say which girl, and said that there was no Geng post, so they believed that Zhang Shi was using words to evade, so they refused to leave.

But Zhang Shi is hard to say, although there is a marriage contract, but it is just a verbal agreement, after all, this has not yet been posted.

When Zhang Shi came to Bianjing, Zhang Yue repeatedly explained that he could not tell outsiders.

Zhang Yue knew that Zhang really had the temperament to show off, he reckoned that if he didn't tell him, the whole city of Bianjing would know about this marriage, so he reminded him again and again.Zhang Shi didn't cheat his younger brother. Although he wanted to say it, he kept his mouth shut in the end.

Now the matchmaker came to ask which girl it was, Zhang Shi remembered Zhang Yue's words, and couldn't say it bluntly for a while, and was immediately regarded by the matchmakers as a non-existent marriage contract.

So Zhang Shi's trouble came when he was blocked at the door by a group of matchmakers.

After finally sending away all the matchmakers, Zhang Shi turned around and saw an ordinary-looking woman in her thirties, but very smart and capable, sitting in the hall.

When Zhang Shi saw the other party, he hurriedly said: "My lady, as I said just now, my brother-in-law has really engaged in a marriage contract, and it is really unbearable to be loved. Please come back, lady."

But seeing the other party smiled and said: "This official has misunderstood, I am not a matchmaker, I am a matchmaker for you."

"A matchmaker for us?" Zhang Shi was taken aback.

But seeing the other party holding a round fan, he patted Zhang Shi on the shoulder and said: "Just now you said that you have made a marriage contract, but you haven't handed over the Geng Tie, so if that's the case, why don't you invite a matchmaker to come to your door to make a kiss? Can you let the slave family do it for you?" ?”

Zhang Shi was taken aback for a moment, Zhang Yueji stayed up all night in ecstasy yesterday, and today a matchmaker came to block the door, so he really didn't expect this for a while.

But when Zhang Shi saw the other party, he couldn't help being suspicious. Can you do this matter of proposing marriage?
Then the matchmaker shook the round fan lightly and said: "My family's surname is Zhuang, and it was also a side branch of the common surname at the beginning, but now it is also in decline, and I have started to manage this business. However, in Bianjing City, there are high-ranking officials and noble families. I usually walk around a lot, even if I haven't been there. , I also know that the door opens to that side. I dare not say that it is a rumor, but most of the mistresses and women in the boudoirs of the major families in Bianjing City have heard of my reputation as Mrs. Zhuang."

"Although I don't know what kind of marriage contract your Zhang family has made, there is a saying in the beginning, if it is a merchant's family, then it's fine, please don't say anything, so as not to damage my reputation in the future."

Zhang Shi couldn't help asking: "Why is this? Many of our officials marry merchants."

Mrs. Zhuang said with a smile: "Others can, but your husband can't."

"Why?"

Mrs. Zhuang said: "Your husband is the second in the provincial examination. He must have excellent writing skills. He will definitely enter the pavilion in the future, but it is best not to marry a woman from a merchant family if he wants to enter the pavilion."

Zhang Shi and Zhang Qiu looked at each other, Zhang Qiu said: "It seems that there is such a thing, but I don't know where it came from."

Mrs. Zhuang said with a smile: "You don't know, this is still the rule set by Scholar Ouyang."

It turned out that there was indeed a fact. Officials in the early Song Dynasty were greedy for money from merchants, and they married many of them. There were even two prime ministers competing to marry a rich widow, and the lawsuit was brought before the emperor.

Because of this, the officialdom is somewhat corrupted.

In the third year of the Qingli period, when an examination was called for the pavilion, an official named Ling Jingyang passed the examination, but Ouyang Xiu stood up and said that you were not allowed to enter the pavilion.

The reason is that Ling Jingyang married Sun, a hotelier in Beijing.Ouyang Xiu said in the memorandum that "by pushing this section, others can be known, and the theory of things is noisy, and we all think it is ugly".

It means that you, the marriage partner, will know that your character is not very good.

This matter was picked up for a while later. In order to ask Sun to marry him, Ling Jingyang was afraid that the other party would think he was old, so he lied about his age and concealed himself as five years old.

It wasn't until Ling Jingyang got married to the Sun family that she learned that the woman had lied about her age, and the woman went even further, hiding ten years old.

This incident was passed on as a joke by the people of Bianjing, and even Song Renzong laughed out loud.

After listening to Mrs. Zhuang's detailed explanation, Zhang Shi and Zhang Qiu became very knowledgeable.

Immediately, Mrs. Zhuang took her leave and left.

Zhang Shi and Zhang Qiu went back to the inner room and talked with Yu about the marriage proposal.

Zhang Shidao: "At the beginning, it was agreed that we would get married after winning the Jinshi, but the third brother hasn't had the palace test yet? But I think this matter should be settled early. If not, I think the matchmakers in Bianjing these days It will break through the threshold of our family, and the Wu family thought we had other thoughts when it spread like this, and finally complained."

"To be honest, our family is all honest people. We can't do things like eating from a bowl and looking at the pot, and looking at the height of this mountain. I think this Mrs. Zhuang is pretty good. Why don't we ask her to be a big matchmaker for us? Come to the Wu residence and say goodbye."

Mrs. Yu was also happy for Zhang Yuezhong Jinshi, and now she heard Zhang Shi's words and said: "Ms. Zhuang is a careful person, but we can't make up our minds about this matter, we should ask the second aunt before making a decision. Ask your uncle what he means."

Zhang Shi said: "Hey, the third brother has always listened to me, so let's make a decision on this matter."

Yu Shi said: "It was easy to talk about in my hometown before, but the third brother went all the way to Bianjing, and he took the second place in the third provincial test. Now this knowledge must be much better than the two of us. How can we make decisions for him? Or ask him what he means."

Zhang Shi said: "No matter what, he was brought up by me alone. The eldest brother is like a father and the elder sister-in-law is like a mother. This can't be changed, but let's wait for him to come back. Why doesn't Xi'er see your third uncle coming back?"

Zhang Qiu said: "Third Uncle is second in the Provincial Examination, the students in the Taixue must have a good congratulations. Guess where to drink."

Zhang Shi said: "Hey, it's too early to go home, and I have to send someone to announce the good news to my ancestral hall. I think that because my family belongs to the Han family, the second brother and the third brother were not even allowed to enter the ethnology. Now both brothers As a Jinshi, which of the same clan dares to look at us like this? The news spread to my hometown, not to mention the old neighbors and relatives of the same clan. The ancestors of our Zhang family are proud of themselves! It’s a pity that we can’t go home in person .”

Yu scolded: "Forget about it. Fortunately, you are in Bianjing. If you were in your hometown, you don't know how much money you would have to spend, and how many people would come to benefit from our family. Think about when our family left Pucheng, there were How many people you helped at the beginning thought of you. If you hadn’t squandered all the family’s wealth, would our family have come to Bianjing to live with others? If it hadn’t been for the third brother’s nomination on the yellow list, it’s not easy to make a fortune. Our family, our family... ..."

As he spoke, Yu began to cry.

After hearing this, Zhang Shi felt a little guilty and said: "The lady is very happy today, the third brother is the second in the provincial test, so he should be happy, how can you blame me?"

"Is it okay if you don't say it? Thanks to you, you still have the face to say something to take care of the third brother, and you also brought up the old kindness and repeatedly said that the family has been ruined. In the future..."

Zhang Shi immediately withdrew and said, "Xi'er will go shopping with me, and buy some things to share with the neighbors."

Zhangqiu's expression changed and he said, "Father, you're still here."

"It's not worth a lot of money. Anyway, I don't care about the affairs of this family, and let your mother take care of it."

"So what if I care?" Yu Shi said, "Uncle has won us such a great honor, so it's nothing if we do something for him. If you ask someone to prepare the car, I'll go to Second Aunt to discuss it."

Zhang Shi and Zhang Qiu were overjoyed when they heard the words.

Immediately, Mrs. Yu went to Zhangfu to meet Mrs. Yang in a carriage.

When Yang saw Yu, he smiled and cried, "Ancestor bless you, ancestor bless you!"

Yu accompanied her with tears and said: "Yes, I know that my third brother came in second in the provincial exam, and I was so happy that I didn't sleep all night."

Yang smiled and said with tears: "This eldest sister-in-law is like a mother, isn't she happy? Now that Brother Yue has come out of his head, I am also happy for my sister and brother-in-law. The two sons have won Jinshi. If they know it, they don't know what to do." What a joy, what a pity, what a pity."

Yu Shi thought to himself, didn't you just take one away?

But Yu Shi hastily persuaded: "Second Aunt, you are not in good health, don't cry more."

Yang wiped her tears and said: "It's okay to be happy, but I didn't close my eyes last night. If it wasn't for my poor health, I would have gone to your house to sit and sit. You come to the door today and tell me something important."

Yu nodded.

Immediately, the two sat down, and Yu Shi helped Yang Shi beat his shoulders, Yang Shi smiled and said that your skills have not been mastered.

While helping Yang to hang her shoulders, Mrs. Yu told about the fact that more than a dozen matchmakers came to inquire about Zhang Yue's marriage early in the morning. She was worried that if this continued, the Wu family would think that the Zhang family had made a fortune and wanted to renegotiate marriage. Ask Yang to make up his mind.

Yang said with a smile: "Brother Yue is the second in the provincial examination, no matter how high the imperial examination is. In the future, let alone the official of the Beijing Dynasty, he can be a post in the library. The most important thing is that Brother Yue is only 17 years old. This official career has been so long for decades. Chang, no wonder you said you have a marriage contract, but you can't push these matchmakers away. Unless you move the Wu family out, no one will believe it."

"But I'm also blaming me. I'm not in good health recently. Otherwise, I should have come forward to make arrangements for this matter. I think since there are so many matchmakers coming to the door, our family will not make an explanation. Not only Wu's side, but also the Baoshan Ouyang scholar. I can't explain it. But we should be more careful about talking about our relationship..."

Yu Shi said: "Second Aunt has worried so much about our family. Our whole family is grateful to you, but we are from a small place. We don't know anything about marriages between officials and eunuchs in Bianjing. If there is any negligence, we will make a joke. ...Now you still have to make up your mind about Brother Yue's matter..."

Yang smiled and said, "Are you worried about my brother Yue's marriage and won't help? So you came forward to beg me?"

Yu hesitated and said, "Where do I have..."

Yang said: "Brother Yue is a child of the Zhang family. No matter how he and Brother Dun are, they are blood brothers. It doesn't matter even if they don't know each other. We, our Zhang family and the whole family can follow suit, let alone I owe your family a debt."

Yu Shi breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the words: "Second Aunt, what are you talking about, you don't owe us anything."

Yang said: "It's not that I don't care, but now I don't worry about it. You're right, Bianjing officials and eunuchs have a lot of rules when they get married, and it's common to even discuss marriage for two or three years."

"Not to mention anything else, just the amount of dowry and the amount of dowry. There are not a few cases where the two families collapsed because of this. And our Zhang family is about to make a fortune now, but the Wu family is even more dignified, and they are still the prime minister's family. Although The Wu family first took a fancy to our brother Yue, but when we marry a man and a woman, after all, we are going to come forward to ask for the girl of the family, so the etiquette cannot be wrong at all. If there is anything wrong, it will be easy for others to choose the ceremony. "

Yu said again and again: "Yes, Second Aunt, I'm just so worried, I'm afraid that if I don't do well, I'm not letting Brother Yue down?"

Yang said with a smile: "It's okay, after all, the Wu family really value Brother Yue. They know exactly what kind of family we are, and even if we do something bad, they won't do anything. But let's do it for Brother Yue. But don’t think about it that way. You think that the two families are good friends of Qin and Jin, a match made in heaven. The master of the Wu family appreciates Brother Yue Yu Hanwei, and Brother Yue lived up to his expectations and became a Jinshi. If something went wrong, it will be our fault that the two of them will have a grudge in their hearts in the future."

Yu Shi said: "Second Aunt's words hit my heart, it's not easy to be a housewife."

Yang said: "Don't worry, if I can handle it, I will help you handle it, but there is only one thing, and that is the matchmaker who comes to the door to talk about marriage. I have been uncertain about the candidate."

Thinking of this, Mrs. Yu told the story of Mrs. Zhuang.

Mrs. Yang said with a smile: "Madam Zhuang, I have heard of her reputation. Although she asks for a lot of bonuses and gifts, there are quite a lot of marriages that she talked about. I was worried before. She, now is really a coincidence."

(End of this chapter)