Official Road Hongyan

Lujiazhuang is a very simple and typical northwestern courtyard that retains many ancient courtyards. There are hundreds of households with the surname Lu living here, and there is not a single outdoor household or miscellaneous surname.

Lu Nianzi introduced to Ye Ming in the car: the ancestor of the Lujiazhuang family moved here from other places during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty.After hundreds of years of reproduction, many descendants of the Lu surname went to Huguang, went to Sichuan, and went to Xikou, and moved away many branches.Only Secretary Lu's ancestor's lineage has been thriving in Lujiazhuang without moving away, and has developed into the current Lu family with thousands of people and hundreds of families.

As for the lineage of Secretary Lu's family, the ancestor Chongyuangong was once the Hanlin of the Xianfeng Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, and later became the right servant of the Ministry of Rites.Up to Secretary Lu's father's generation, their lineage has always been a farming and studying heir, and it is also the only scholarly family in Lujiazhuang.

It's just that, starting from Secretary Lu's grandfather, their lineage has been sparsely populated, and by the time Secretary Lu arrived, it had already been a single lineage of two generations.

However, because Secretary Lu and the others have been kind to others for generations, they often help the poor clansmen, and they have a very good relationship with the clansmen, and they have also won the unanimous support and admiration of the clansmen.Therefore, Secretary Lu's great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather, and father are all patriarchs elected by the Lu family members with the surname Lu.Originally, the people in Lujiazhuang also wanted to recommend Secretary Lu as the patriarch, but because he has been an official in the capital and rarely has the opportunity to return to his hometown, they chose another one who is closest to the lineage of Secretary Lu. An old man served as the patriarch.

Because Secretary Lu is the largest official from Lujiazhuang for hundreds of years, even bigger than his ancestor, the right servant of the Ministry of Rites, Chongyuan Gong.Therefore, the people in Lujiazhuang are proud of him. The people in the clan attach great importance to Secretary Lu's father's [-]th birthday this time, and they have made preparations for sacrifices and grave visits early.

Therefore, when Ye Ming and the others walked to the entrance of the village of Lujiazhuang, the folk band from the village had already been waiting there.The moment Ye Ming and the others stepped into Lujiazhuang, drums and music blared, and firecrackers were deafening.The cadres of the village and the elders of the clan came out to greet them, bowed to Secretary Li, Ye Ming and others, and welcomed them into the village according to traditional customs.

The old house in Secretary Lu's house was built by his grandfather. It is a courtyard house with blue bricks, gray tiles and white walls, antique and elegant.A pair of mighty bluestone lions squatted at the gate of the courtyard. On a black lacquered plaque hanging high in the middle of the gate, three gilt characters were engraved: "Rongyi Hall".There is a couplet under the plaque: "Loyalty is passed on to the family far away, and poems and books will last forever", and the horizontal inscription is four big characters: "Cultivate goodness and morality".

After entering the courtyard, there is a small garden inside, and there is a stone corridor leading to the main room at the back.This hall is now actually the ancestral hall of Secretary Lu and his clan.There is also a couplet at the door: "Don't forget that filial friends are housekeepers, and I also hope to write poems and books about the ancestral whip."

Lu Nianzi told Ye Ming: These couplets were all inscribed by my grandfather, and the central meaning is one: I hope that my children and grandchildren will pass on poems and books to the world, and don't fall into the vulgar way, and don't forget the fundamentals of farming and reading.

When Ye Ming entered this ancient courtyard house, he had a very strange feeling in his heart. He always felt as if he had been to this place before, and he always felt that the things in this courtyard were very familiar to him.It's like the feeling of a wanderer who has been away from his hometown for many years and comes back to pay homage to his ancestral ancestral hall—this kind of familiar feeling surprised him, but he didn't understand why.

So, he secretly said to Lu Nianzi: "Sister, why do I feel as if I have been to this big mansion? Many things in it seem familiar to me, as if I have seen them in a dream. Same thing. What's going on here?"

Lu Nianzi was startled when he heard such shocking words suddenly appeared, and thought, could this be the legendary telepathy?

So, she quickly put on a disguised smile and said, "Xiao Yezi, our big house has similar houses in many movies and TV shows. So, I guess you think of the scenes in movies and TV shows, It feels like you have been here before. Don't think about it, go into the main room quickly!"

Then, she took his hand and came to the main room, pointed to the photo of her grandfather on the shrine in front of the main room, and said, "Look, that's my grandfather. You go to kneel down to worship his old man first, kowtow to him, let him First recognize your grandson!"

Ye Ming saw that a large offering table had been set up in the center of the main room, and it was full of various offerings: a whole pig, a whole sheep, a chicken, a liter of rice, a plate of glutinous rice cakes, and three plates of fruit.

A few old men stood beside the table with solemn faces, their hands drooping, and their eyes fixed on Ye Ming.There is also a set of musical instruments on both sides of the main room, including gongs and drums, suona, flute and cymbals.Several musicians sat on the benches on both sides, ready to play music to support mourning at any time.

Ye Ming walked to the front of the shrine first, knelt down on a cushion, and respectfully kowtowed three times.Then, Lu Nianzi and Zhang Linjiang also went to kowtow.Next, Chen Mengqi, Li Wuan and others all went to bow down in front of the portrait of Mr. Lu.

After Ye Ming retreated to the entrance of the main room, he took a closer look at the sacrifices on the altar table, and guessed that what he was going to hold today was the most grand "pig and sheep sacrifice".That is to say, there will be whole pigs and whole sheep among the sacrifices, which is the most solemn ceremony in ancient times to pay homage to ancestors.

After everyone knelt down and worshiped, an elder of the chief priest came over, made a bow to Ye Ming, and shouted in a strong local accent: "Please take the chief priest, and play music!"

With this cry, the clock and drums in the main room sounded melodiously.The elder of the chief priest guided Ye Ming to stand on the edge of a cushion in front of the altar, and then yelled again: "Lezhi! Please kneel down."

Ye Ming hurriedly knelt down on the mat, lowered his head, and listened to the elder of the chief priest read aloud an [-]th birthday rite specially written by Secretary Deer for his father in a drawn-out tone.

After reading the sacrificial text, the chief priest yelled again: "Bai——"

Ye Ming hurriedly bowed down and bowed down. He straightened up when he heard the priest yelling "Xing——" and then said "Bow—Xing—" three times, and then the priest shouted: "Pingshen! The guest of honor enters the shrine from the west steps. Kneel—"

Ye Ming quickly stood up, came to the shrine from the west, knelt down again, made three worships and three blessings, and then retreated from the east.

After praying three times in a row, the sacrifice was declared over.

Lu Nianzi had prepared 2000 yuan in cash for him a long time ago. After he finished the sacrificial ceremony, he stuffed the money into his hand and motioned him to put it in the red lacquered wooden plate with rice on the altar—this is for the chief priest. "Sacrifice fees" for people and bands.

After the sacrificial ceremony was over, the clan elders brought Ye Ming to the ancestral grave outside Lujiazhuang, and instructed him to put the grave of Old Man Lu according to the etiquette, and the whole sacrificial ceremony came to an end.