jdhmnovel Chapter 1036 The Family Status of Black Sesame Dumplings?
Chapter 1036 The Family Status of Black Sesame Dumplings?
As it turns out, Old Deng is a typical doting father to his daughter and son.
To make his daughter look good when she got married, this old man arranged two elaborate wedding processions, each lasting for miles, which circled the entire city of Nanjing.
When his son got married, the old man had a phoenix sedan chair prepared for Chang's daughter, and the imperial edict and seal were made of gold, the same standard as the imperial edict and seal of Zhu Biao, the crown prince.
The "treasure" mentioned here refers to the Crown Princess's seal, which is inscribed with the words "Treasure of the Crown Princess" in seal script.
The edict was a document of investiture, also engraved in pure gold: "Those who ruled the world in the past always valued their heirs. To ensure the succession of the people, they selected virtuous and chaste women from families of merit to be worthy of the title. My son Biao has grown up, and since you, Lady Chang, are the eldest daughter of my meritorious minister, the Duke of E, we are to be married. Today is an auspicious day, and it is appropriate to first establish your name. Therefore, I hereby bestow upon you the title of Crown Princess. Be respectful and cautious in your conduct, follow the righteous path, and ensure the longevity of our family and country."
In simple terms: In ancient times, emperors valued their crown princes and would choose virtuous and capable women from families of meritorious officials as their crown princesses. Our Zhu Biao, the eldest son of our great minister Chang Yuchun, is now of marriageable age. You are the eldest daughter of our meritorious minister Chang Yuchun, and we want you to be Zhu Biao's wife. May you two live a good life together, so that the legacy our Zhu Biao built for you can be passed down from generation to generation.
Anyway, that's what it means.
Pay attention!
The Crown Prince's wedding ceremony was not a one-day affair, but rather took three days in total.
The first day, the groom personally greets the bride.
On the day of the wedding, both Emperor Deng and Empress Ma had to bathe and change clothes, and perform a ritual of purification. Heizhi Tangyuan rode in a golden carriage to the Duke of E's mansion, where the dead eunuch Chen Zhong read out the document of investiture appointing Chang as the Crown Prince. The "edict and seal" were handed to Chang, and then Chang Sheng held an umbrella while Chang Mao carried Chang, who was wearing a nine-phoenix crown and a nine-pheasant robe, onto the phoenix sedan chair (a phoenix sedan chair specially invented by Emperor Deng). Then, the wedding ceremony was held at the East Palace.
The next day, he went to court.
On this day, Emperor Deng and Empress Ma jointly held a grand court assembly. Heizhima Tangyuan was to bring Lady Chang to pay respects to the Emperor and Empress and formally announce to the assembled officials that Lady Chang had become the Crown Princess of the Ming Dynasty.
Even Chang Heitan had to kneel down obediently at the court assembly that day, and join Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen in shouting, "Your subjects pay their respects to Her Highness the Crown Princess."
On the third day, they went to see the emperor and empress and performed the ritual of washing hands and exchanging gifts.
On this day, Heizhima Tangyuan brought Chang Mou Nu to meet his parents as their daughter-in-law. Old Deng and Empress Ma were going to arrange a family banquet and then go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to report the news of Heizhima Tangyuan's marriage to the ancestors of the Zhu family, so that his ancestors could also see Chang Mou Nu as their new daughter-in-law.
Then, the officials offered their congratulations inside and outside the Fengtian Hall, while the wives of nobles and officials with imperial titles offered their congratulations to Ms. Chang in Empress Ma's Kunning Palace.
On this day, Emperor Deng and Empress Ma would also arrange two banquets: one in the Qianqing Palace to entertain nobles and civil and military officials, and the other in the Kunning Palace to entertain the ladies of various noble families.
Yang Shaofeng was the kind of person who freeloaded in the Qianqing Palace.
By the fourth day, Heizhi Tangyuan's wedding ceremony was complete. Next, they would go through their own family's ceremony, also known as the homecoming ceremony. Heizhi Tangyuan would take Ms. Chang back to the Duke of E's mansion, where Chang Heitan would arrange a family banquet.
On the fifth day, Heizhi Tangyuan brought Ms. Chang to the Prince Consort's residence.
Then, Chang, the little girl who had been raised by Jin'er and Yu'er since childhood, shyly called out "sister".
Black Sesame Dumpling winked smugly at Yang Shaofeng.
"See that? That's my status at home, you know what I'm doing~"
Yang Shaofeng responded with a cold laugh.
just you?
Do you really have no idea where you rank in your family?
Take Old Deng, who has the lowest status in your family, for example. Where would your black sesame dumplings rank in his heart?
Oh, originally I was ranked after my mother-in-law, but now I'm ranked after your wife.
Where do you get the nerve to show off in front of me?
Also, have you forgotten about the nine-mile-long red bridal procession that your father-in-law brought as part of his dowry?
This is just a show of force for you, my black sesame glutinous rice balls—
Chang Heitan dared not do a ten-mile red bridal procession like Lao Deng did—a proper ten-mile red bridal procession involves a red bed leading the way and a coffin bringing up the rear. On one hand, it symbolizes that the newlyweds will face the future hand in hand and stay together no matter life or death. On the other hand, it also shows that the daughter of this family is very confident and does not need to rely on her husband's family from birth to death.
So, Chang Heitan arranged a "Nine Miles of Red Makeup" ceremony.
Because the emperor slept on the dragon bed in the palace, Chang Heitan could not be given a red bed as part of her dowry.
Because Chang was the Crown Princess and the future Empress, she was destined to be buried in the imperial mausoleum, so Chang Heitan could not be included in the dowry.
The remaining dowry was all provided.
Yang Shaofeng had heard some of the inside story about why Chang Heitan had put on such a grand dowry of nine miles.
When Chang Heitan went to seek refuge with Lao Deng, Empress Ma and Lady Chang, née Lan, were both pregnant. So Lao Deng proposed to arrange a marriage between their children and Chang Heitan.
Later, Empress Ma gave birth to her eldest son, Zhu Biao. Zhu Yuanzhang was so happy that he went up the mountain and carved a stone that read, "Those who come to this mountain will not have to worry about not having an heir." He also joked with Chang Yuchun that Lan was definitely carrying a daughter.
This is equivalent to the fact that before Chang Heitan's daughter was even born, Old Dengti had already set his sights on Black Sesame Dumplings.
Later, due to the constant warfare, Chang Heitan's daughters and sons were taken care of more by Empress Ma and Jin'er and Yu'er, and Chang's daughter and Zhu Biao even grew up together from childhood.
For Chang Heitan, this was like having a pig eyeing his cabbage, and one that had been eyeing it since it was a cub.
It's impossible to slap this pig twice, after all, this pig has a rather high status, and he's especially good at currying favor with that shrew from the Lan family, calling her "Auntie" more affectionately than anyone else.
The problem is that even our own cabbage isn't doing well.
She can discipline Chang Mao and Chang Sheng like a quail at home, but when facing that pig, she becomes delicate and shy.
Chang Heitan's elaborate wedding procession was clearly a message to Zhu Biao: You better treat my daughter well!
Even more amazing was the story of Old Deng and Empress Ma—
There's no red bed, is there?
No problem, we'll get the girl a luxury car.
There's no coffin, is there?
It's alright, we'll just hand over the reins of the harem to the maid.
Yang Shaofeng didn't really believe that Chang Heitan would have dared to pull off the Nine Mile Red Dressing without the instigation of Lao Deng and Empress Ma.
Maybe it was Old Deng who pulled Chang Heitan aside and said, "When the girl gets married, you can't give her less than her dowry."
So, in terms of his family's reputation, black sesame glutinous rice balls are really just so-so.
At the very least, they should be ranked after Ms. Chang.
He's just as cowardly as his father.