Start with the humble bridegroom

Chapter 14
The Yunliu River flows through the six counties under the jurisdiction of Wuling County, and pours into two lakes in Wuling County.The larger one is Liuye Lake, which is divided into east and west parts, connected by an artificial canal. The big lake is 86 miles wide from north to north, and more than 50 miles long from east to west, all under the administration of Wuling County; It is in Taolin County, twelve miles wide from north to south, and seven miles long from east to west. It was renamed West Lake by Taolin County last year.

Another smaller lake in Wuling County is Zhantian Lake, which is [-] miles wide from north to south and [-] miles long from east to west, all within the territory of Taolin County.There is an island bay on the west side of Zhantian Lake, named Taoshan Island, which is only five or six feet away from the land on the west bank of Zhantian Lake.

An ancient stone bridge two feet wide and seven feet long connects the mainland with Taoshan Island. There is a village on the island called Taowan Village in the island bay. Most of the villagers make a living from farming and fishing.

Zhang Zhe's home in this time and space is at the east end of Taowan Village.

The terrain at the east end of Taowan Village is getting higher and higher, and on a bluestone rock formation, stands a small courtyard.Three and a half old tile-roofed houses, glowing with green grass.The fence made of yellow bamboo is covered with green vines, and the pink vine roses are covered with the fence.

There is an old pine in front of the house, a thin campanula is wrapped around the branch of the pine tree, and several big red campanulas hang down from the pine tree, swaying in the wind.

Not far behind the small courtyard, there is a faint low house with a chimney, which seems to be a row of low old houses made of loess.

A mountain spring flew down from the rocks more than ten feet behind the courtyard, and a small waterfall hung out, falling into a small pool three or four feet wide.The gurgling pond water was divided into two streams by a stone canal. The large stream merged into the agricultural canal between the ten mu of cultivated land behind the rocks, while the small pool water flowed under the east fence of the small courtyard and meandered all the way to the south. Into Zhantian Lake.

This place is really nice!Zhang Zhe looked at his "own" home in front of him, feeling satisfied.It turned out that my father was an elegant man, and I heard from Zhang Wuliu that these arrangements were all arranged by the old man in front of him.

After Meng Xiaowan got out of the car, her eyes were attracted by the three tile-roofed courtyards.She originally thought that Zhang's family was dilapidated, and the three tile-roofed houses should be dilapidated.Unexpectedly, the layout of the father-in-law was preserved so well.

It was the first time for her to visit the Zhang family, and she discovered that the small courtyard of the Zhang family lived far away from the lake, and also had a pine spring and a small waterfall.Although there is no color of wealth and honor, it has a taste of farming and reading out of thin air.It doesn't seem to be bad, and there are some small surprises.

Chen's mother looked carefully at the side, slightly relieved, and said to her girl in a low voice: "Zhang Wuliu's family servants seem to be diligent, and the yard seems to be tidy. The girl looked at Zhang Wuliu Parents and sons are treated as normal, but this five-six-year-old woman is my uncle's nanny, and the girl needs to be more careful."

Meng Xiaowan nodded, raised her round fan again to cover her face, her face was slightly red.

Because she only saw Zhang Zhe's magnificent clothes at this moment.Compared with the 16-year-old Maotou boy, he is much more stable and outstanding.

Mother Chen looked around with some doubts, only a few children from a distance were secretly looking at this place, and there was no excitement and intimacy of the neighbors holding weddings here.

When Zhang Zhe walked into the courtyard, his expression sank slightly.

There are three round tables in the courtyard, with different styles, which should be borrowed from neighbors.There are seven or eight dishes on each round table, three meat and five vegetables should be considered good in the countryside.

But there were only two people sitting at the three big tables. Zhang Zhe looked at the footprints and chair leg marks all over the courtyard. It should be a group of people who moved their chairs and ran away without eating a bite of food.

Apparently, the news of the Meng family's lawsuit reached the village one step ahead of them, and only two of the fearful relatives, friends and neighbors ran away.

The two remaining are probably a father and son, and the old Zhang Zhe still knows each other.It was on the way to get married that he met the "old man" who claimed to be his cousin.

"What do you see?" Seeing Zhang Zhe looking over, the old man took another bite of food angrily, "If your father wasn't my uncle, we would have left long ago."

Zhang Zhe cupped his hands at him with a smile: "Brother, eat and drink as much as you want, and show me the greetings when you're done eating."

The old man threw the chopsticks away, and then slapped the fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy beside him who was eating and drinking: "Hungry ghost reincarnated, didn't you see your uncle married a wife and came back, why didn't you call me?! "

The boy hurriedly wiped his mouth and sang a big song to Zhang Zhe.

"Don't eat, see your gift soon, we'll go home too!" The old man got up and took the lead to walk into the room, which meant that he was going to preside over Zhang Zhe's wedding.

At this time, from the kitchen in the backyard, a woman stuck her head out with greasy hair, brandished a spatula and yelled at the window.

"Zhang Xiukan, you bastard, what makes you dare to be the master of your uncle (cousin)? The newcomers have already entered the house, so you can let them eat a few bites before you get busy. Why are you leaving? Our two families have not yet delivered three clothes. Can you break it apart? I want to eat as much as I want! Ergu sit down and continue eating, don’t imitate the unpromising efforts of other families, why run away? If you have a feast on a happy event, you can eat a bedbug!"

This scolding made the old man's face pale and uncertain, and he wanted to shrink his head and was a little unconvinced, but seeing the fierceness of his wife, he still muttered a few words submissively: "I'll just talk, what are you shouting about?"

Zhang Zhe was a little uncomfortable to leave without saying goodbye to his neighbors and friends in the village, but the yelling and scolding of his wife made him feel much more at ease. He clearly heard the closing sound of several houses not far away. The effect of sister-in-law yelling and scolding.It is false to scold my cousin, but it is true to scold those who left.

"Sister-in-law, what are you busy with? There are only a few of us, and we can't finish these dishes." Zhang Zhe greeted the kitchen, and the sister-in-law just replied him with a spatula, and continued to cook.

A woman with a kind face came out of the kitchen with a bowl of soup, Zhang Sanqi rushed to greet her: "Mother, be careful, this soup is hot, let me do it!"

"Lang Jun is back, let's go in quickly. Mrs. Lin and I have one last dish to finish. Each table has nine dishes, no matter whether people eat or not, this number is indispensable."

This woman is probably Zhang Zhe's wet nurse, Qin Shi. She looked at the girl from the Meng family who was holding a fan, and her face was full of smiles, and she couldn't close her mouth from ear to ear.

Mrs. Qin wiped her hands, took out a piece of red silk tied with a big wedding knot from the back room, let Zhang Zhe and Meng Xiaowan each hold one end, and shouted: "The newcomer has entered!"

Er Guzi, the cousin's son, jumped up from the mat in a hurry, and threw a pile of selected bamboos into a fire plate. After a while, the sound of bamboo bursting was heard.

Zhang Zhe led Meng Xiaowan into the room.

Entering the door, there are two tablets covered with red silk.One reads "Xian Kao Zhang Gongbo Nan's position", and the other reads "Xian Concubine Lu Taijun's position."

There were two festive red cloth cattails in front of the coffin. Zhang Zhe led Meng Xiaowan to the coffin, and then they all turned around to face the open door.

Zhang Xiukan yelled: "Bow to heaven and earth!"

The two knelt down facing the door on the red cloth and tuanpu, and kowtowed; then got up, turned to the spiritual seat, Zhang Xiukan called "two bows to the high hall", knelt again and then kowtowed; finally the two bowed to each other, Zhang Xiukan Shouting "husband and wife worship" at the top of their voices~~, "Li Cheng~~!"

The last sentence of "Licheng" was uttered by all the people watching the ceremony, and half the village heard it.

Mother Chen and Bailu took the food and sent it to the main room, where they ate with Meng Xiaowan.And Zhang Zhe took Zhang Wuliu and his son, his wet nurse and cousin's family to eat and drink in the yard. Although the taste of the food was mediocre, the atmosphere gradually became lively.

"Erlang~!" Suddenly there was a call from the door, and an old man with yellow teeth came in leading three men who were afraid to look at others.

"The patriarch is here, please take a seat!" Zhang Xiukan was drinking happily, and when he saw someone coming, he thought he was here for a banquet, and hurriedly gave way enthusiastically.

"A certain person didn't come to eat," the old man calmly found a clean stool and sat down, and the three men squeezed behind him.

Zhang Zhe looked at the old man with a half-smile. It seemed that the patriarch was not kind to those who came, and those who were kind would not come.

"Erlang, I shouldn't have come here today. It's just that these two matters are too important, so I'll ask you to explain them today, so as not to miss the matter, and you will blame me in the future!"

Zhang Zhe said respectfully: "Patriarch, please tell me, I'm listening."

The yellow-toothed old man was very satisfied with Zhang Zhe's attitude. He glanced at the people behind him and taught him a lesson in a "distressed" tone: "Erlang, you shouldn't have made this kiss! I heard that you actually In front of the official family, you also recognized the Meng family's marriage. You are confused, you are confused! That's a big official fault."

The yellow-toothed old man almost spit on Zhang Zhe's face with a tone of regret and hatred.

"I'm half a cup of tea late, but you and the Meng girl have worshiped together! Forget it, forget it," he pointed to the three men who were laughing behind him, "you know these guys, they are all You are a brother who has not paid five clothes. You still have ten acres of land in your family. Quickly transfer it to their names, lest the princes come to confiscate it. They are all guaranteed by me, so you can rest assured. Otherwise, if the land is returned to the official family, what face do you have to face your parents under the spring?"

It's a pity that these words had to be coaxed by fools, and everyone at the table was so angry that they lifted their chopsticks.

Zhang Xiukan's beard trembled wildly: "Grandpa, did you drink too much today? The family's ancestral property can also be moved at will!?"

Zhang Zhe chuckled, but he didn't put down his chopsticks. Instead, he picked up another vegetable and chewed it beautifully.

These people might have been waiting outside the door a long time ago, waiting for Zhang Zhe and the girl from the Meng family to finish their ceremony, and then they jumped out to intimidate people and seek property, but this calculation was too straightforward.

(End of this chapter)