Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 154 Zuo Yi

Three days.

Daiyu not only tidied up the courtyard for the wedding reception, but also arranged the wedding hall and the ancestral temple!

The wedding date is set for May 21st.

On the afternoon of May 20th, Jiang Yong invited his bewildered new son-in-law to his house, showed him the newly built academy, and explained the origin of the plaque.

Finally, he bowed to him and apologized: "The master of the house did this for the sake of the friendship between the second girl and him.

"Now, if you don't mind, please follow me to take a look at the place temporarily used for ancestor worship."

The new son-in-law was coaxed by him to visit a small ancestral hall in a daze. There was an incense table inside, with only a space left for the spirit tablet. Below it were all the necessary incense, candles, burners, etc.

The new son-in-law finally reacted, blushing and waving his hands: "Forget it. When I get the job, my parents will definitely come to see me. It won't be too late to pay my respects then."

"Yes. I will do as you say." Jiang Yong bowed again and asked him, "Have you invited the best man from your side?"

"Yes. I am a few of my classmates." The new son-in-law answered hurriedly, his face red and a little restless.

Jiang Yong smiled and said, "Although this matter is simple, the three matchmakers and six ceremonies must be complete. The head of the family has invited the Grand Supervisor Tao from the Palace to officiate the wedding, and your master and the Minister of Rites have been invited to sit in the hall. What do you think?"

The new son-in-law was so frightened that he almost jumped up: "W-what?!"

"But they are both very busy, so I'm afraid they can only offer you a glass of wine." Jiang Yong laughed again.

The new son-in-law didn't know what to say for a long time. After thinking for a long time, he said, "Should I pay my respects to my cousin from the Lin family?"

"Yes. Please." Jiang Yong took him to the main courtyard without saying anything else.

Behind the screen, Lin Daiyu was dignified and polite. She first congratulated, then apologized, and finally said, "You're welcome. It's a good thing for family members."

The new son-in-law was silent for a long time, and then he introduced himself: "My surname is Zuo, as in Zuo Qiuming; my given name is Yi, as in the saying that a scholar must be broad-minded and resolute; and the emperor gave me a courtesy name: Shouduan.

"I am from Ezhou, my family is very poor, I only have 20 mu of thin land, my parents, brothers, sisters-in-law and nephews, we can barely make ends meet.

"My ranking in this exam was average, but I told some truths when I answered in front of the palace. His Majesty said that I was too pedantic and asked me to go down and take a good look at the people's sentiments. So he gave me the position of chief clerk of Chun'an County, Yanzhou Prefecture."

When Lin Daiyu heard this, she said "Oh".

Zuo Yi stopped.

"Mr. Zuo has good character." Lin Daiyu praised him lightly.

Zuo Yi was stunned: "How did my cousin know?"

"If you were not a person of integrity and uprightness, His Majesty would not have given you the courtesy name 'Shouduan'.

"As for Chun'an County, it was governed by Hai Rui and Hai Gangfeng, two famous ministers of the previous dynasty. If Master Zuo didn't have such good character, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to sleep well in the county government office."

After Lin Daiyu reminded him, she smiled and said, “My second sister has a gentle temperament, is calm and does not fight. If the son-in-law is ambitious, I am afraid that the couple will not be very harmonious.

"But if the son-in-law has a temperament like Hai Qingtian, then my second sister will be very happy."

Zuo Yi inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief, and his words became less abrupt and his expression softened. He bowed to Lin Daiyu and said, "Thank you for your help, cousin."

"My family is also doing our job in response to the emperor's orders. My dear son-in-law, just be grateful for the emperor's kindness and don't worry about or remember anything else." Lin Daiyu gave him a reminder and then asked him to go and have a rest.

After hearing this, Zuo Yi couldn't help but admire it in his heart, and pulled Jiang Yong to ask "Who is this cousin?"

Jiang Yong just replied with a smile, "The only daughter of the late Marquis Wen'an and the granddaughter of the Rong family," and refused to say anything else.

Zuo Yi had no choice but to suppress his doubts and planned to turn the topic into a topic for a good chat with his newlywed wife.

Lin Daiyu calmed him down and went to Xue Er Yuan to look at Yingchun's dowry sent by Rongguo Mansion. After thinking about it, she decided to go to Rongguo Mansion.

The sedan chair entered through the corner door and was first carried to Lady Jia's main room.

Lin Daiyu entered the courtyard, but was told that the old lady had gone to the second young lady in the big house. She smiled and said, "That's right."

When they arrived at the main house, Amber, who was standing in the yard, saw her and reported in surprise: "Miss Lin is here!"

Li Wan, Wang Xifeng and Shi Xiangyun all came out to greet them.

Because they were still in mourning, everyone was dressed plainly except Xiangyun, who wore a silk skirt embroidered with silver and red and dark green orchids, which added a touch of festive atmosphere.

Looking at Daiyu's rouge-colored long skirt and the moon-white gauze shawl embroidered with silver thread and flowing clouds, everyone felt a little strange.

Before anyone could think about it, Daiyu had already bowed to Lady Jia, Lady Xing and the others with a smile, and said in a coquettish voice, "The new son-in-law has inspected the new courtyard and is quite satisfied.

"Now that I have completed the tasks assigned to me by my grandmother and my uncle, how will my grandmother reward me?"

With just one sentence, everyone lost face.

Grandmother Jia smiled like a flower, pulled Daiyu to sit beside her, patted her shoulders affectionately, and pointed in the direction of her own courtyard: "Grandmother and your uncle's room, take whatever you like! It's all yours!"

Lin Daiyu covered her mouth and smiled: "Then I won't be polite."

"Good child, you shouldn't be polite! Your aunt will accompany you to your uncle's room later and get a few more things for you!" Mrs. Xing was very angry when she said this. It looked like she wanted to empty Jia She's room.

Everyone laughed and joked.

Only Yingchun blushed and sat there in silence.

Wang Xifeng saw through it, and smiled as she hugged Jia's mother's arm: "Good ancestor, shall we go?"

Jia's mother was reminded by her words and immediately understood, and stood up with a smile: "Look, it's obvious that Lin girl is here to add makeup to the second young lady.

"I'm afraid the two girls still have a lot of private things to say. Let's not be so tactless and leave quickly!"

"I won't leave! I want to see what Sister Lin gave to Second Sister as makeup! I'll have something similar tomorrow!" Shi Xiangyun winked at Lin Daiyu mischievously.

Lin Daiyu rolled her eyes at her and said, "Bah! Your mother only gave birth to you, and the ten miles of red dowry she gave you back then wasn't enough for you, and you still want to plunder from me? Grandmother, you better take care of her!"

"Shameless monkey! Does the Shi family need you? Come out now!" Grandmother Jia laughed and stood at the door waving to Xiangyun.

Xiangyun ran out with a giggle: "How can it be the same? Isn't Sister Lin's love the most precious in the world? If it doesn't include me, I won't agree!"

After some chatting and joking, everyone left.

Yingchun stood up with a red face and asked her to sit down, and whispered: "Sister Yun was just joking.

"She came the night before yesterday and brought me a pair of jade bracelets with the finest water. She also embroidered a quilt cover with a flowery pattern!"

Daiyu sighed softly, "She has a more relaxed life here. If she were at Marquis Shi's house, I'm afraid she wouldn't have the time to embroider this quilt cover."

Yingchun smiled and nodded, letting Siqi and the others go down first.

There were only the two of them left in the room. Yingchun suddenly stood up, knelt deeply, and bowed to Daiyu: "Thank you, sister, for saving me!"