Fenghua Jiedushi Lin Dai was nearly sixty years old, with white hair and beard, but due to his long years of martial practice and guarding a region, he had a robust body, walked with a nimble gait, and exuded an air of authority without even being angry.

  The wife of the Jiedushi seemed to be less than forty years old and should not have been Lin Dai's original wife. Zhou Xuan remembered that Lin Hanyin had said that her mother had passed away when she was five years old.

  Mrs. Lin, although no longer young, had a smooth and white complexion, with a smile on her face that was charming and flirtatious, lacking some of the dignified elegance of a high-ranking official's wife.

  The Jiedushi couple and Lin Huanyin stood in the hall, one by one respectfully welcoming each of the distinguished guests who had come to pay their respects. They asked them to enter the ancestral temple and sit down cross-legged on the two rows of cushions, whereupon Lin Huanyin began bowing incessantly like a wooden puppet.

  Needless to say, Zhou Xuan was the last one to be introduced. He stepped forward and bowed to Lin Du and his wife, saying: "I am Zhou Xuan, I have often heard people say that 'it is not necessary to be enfeoffed as a marquis of ten thousand households, but it would be great to meet Lin Du once'. Today, I see him for the first time, and I feel that he has a majestic and awe-inspiring presence, yet his words are warm and intimate. It seems that what people say is true."

  Lin Dai originally looked at Zhou Xuan with a scrutinizing gaze, thinking: "This kid is actually the sworn brother of my nephew's grandson Hei Shan, why did Han Yun insist on inviting him to attend the ceremony? It seems they even opened some kind of insect store together, what nonsense!" He was quite dissatisfied with Zhou Xuan, but when he heard "Not born to be a marquis, but willing to meet Lin Du Hu", he couldn't help but burst out laughing loudly: "Young Master Zhou is truly overpraising me, how dare I compare myself to Han Jingzhou, haha, Young Master Zhou please..."

  Zhou Xuan stepped inside, Abou followed closely behind him, holding 'Yi Tian Long Lin Ji' like a shadow.

  As she walked past Lin Huan, Lin Huan clasped her hands together in front of her chest and slightly bowed to Zhou Xuan. She glanced at the box held by Big Beard Abu with the corner of her eye and asked in a very low voice, "What gift did you give me?"

  There is such a sentence, and Lin Han's wooden puppet suddenly came to life.

  "Hold it!" Lin Du sternly rebuked.

  Lin Han Yun hastily lowered her head, and Zhou Xuan saw that she was pouting with a small mouth.

  The distinguished guests were divided into two rows, kneeling on the cushions in the ancestral hall of the Lin family, with a low table in front of each person. On the tables were wine utensils used as ritual vessels. The principal guest was Madam Xu, the wife of the governor, and the assistant was Xu Danyuan, who could be considered Lin Huan's sister-in-law before marriage. There was also a young girl holding a shallow wooden tray with clothes and hairpins on it.

  Abu placed a cushion behind Zhou Xuan's body, holding a precious box in his hands, and knelt down solemnly. He was able to attend the hairpinning ceremony of the first-class commander's daughter of the Tang Dynasty, which was something he never thought possible even in his dreams.

  Lin Daiyan spoke a long speech, saying that Lin Huan-yin had grown up and become an adult, recalling the kindness of Lin Huan-yin's mother, and then announced the start of the hairpinning ceremony.

  In front of the ancestral shrine, a mat was spread out. Lin Han-yin knelt down and sat on it, with her buttocks lightly pressing against her heels, her hands supporting her knees, her waist straight, and her eyes not looking sideways.

  Xu Danjuan, the admirer, stepped forward, took off her embroidered shoes, and trampled on the snow-white cloth socks on the mat. She untied Lin Hanyun's double buns, combed her long hair that fell to her waist one by one, and coiled her shiny black hair into a sharp bun.

  "Today is a lucky day, you first wear adult clothes. Abandon your childish heart, follow your accomplished virtues. May you have a long and auspicious life, and may you receive great blessings." Then she kneeled on the mat and helped Lin Huan-yin put up her hair with a hairpin.

  Lin Han Yun stood up with the support of Xu Dan Yu, and the guests who came to offer congratulations one by one presented their gifts. The gift presented by Li Da Ren, the eunuch in charge of selecting beauties, was a silk book, saying: "This is 'Nü Xun' (Women's Precepts) personally copied by Her Majesty the Empress for Miss Lin Han Yun. When I left the capital, Her Majesty instructed me to bring it."

  The guests all exclaimed in surprise, saying that Her Majesty the Empress had personally written out "Instructions for Women" as a gift to Miss Lin on her coming of age ceremony. The imperial favor was truly unparalleled and could be treasured as a family heirloom.

  Lin Dai and his wife quickly knelt down and thanked Lin Han-yin together.

  Mr. Li helped Lin Daiyu and her husband up, then thought to help Lin Huan-yu, but she sprang up by herself with a "whoosh", while Xu Dan-yan behind her couldn't help but stifle a smile.

  Lin Dai's human feelings were well-practiced and his experience was extremely rich. He noticed that the young Mr. Li looked at Lin Huan with a rather fervent gaze, and his heart moved: "Could it be that he has taken a liking to my family's Huan'er? This is the second time he has seen Huan'er, yesterday when they first met, Huan'er was still in the backyard chasing after a cat, saying that the cat had bitten her parrot to death."

  Lin Du Hu couldn't help but feel a mix of joy and worry when he thought of Li Da Ren's identity.

  Xu Steward's gift was a precious sea beast grape patterned copper mirror, Lin Hanyin didn't care about these gifts at all, thinking only about what was inside the wooden box held by that big bearded man behind Zhou Xuan. Could it be a living thing? A green-backed cricket? Hmm, possible, must be one caught by Tang Xiaosan and the others.

  Finally, it was Zhou Xuan's turn to bring up the wooden box. The distinguished guests present were all discerning, and upon closer inspection, they found that the wooden box was made of "Chen Dan Long Xiang" wood, which left them all secretly astonished. Just as Zhou Xuan had thought earlier: if the box itself was already so precious, then the treasure inside must be truly priceless?

  Lin Han's eyes widened as she watched Zhou Xuan press the wooden button, and the box lid automatically slid open. She let out a small cry of surprise. When Zhou Xuan turned the copper knob at the bottom, the two small copper men started fighting, Lin Han jumped up excitedly, saying in a crisp voice: "It's fun, it's playful, it's too much fun!"

  Lin Dai blew her mustache and glared, but it was not a good time to scold her in public. Fortunately, all the guests were attracted by the copper man warrior, and no one noticed Lin Hanyun's discourteous behavior.

  Lin Dai was afraid that his daughter would say something inappropriate again, so he quickly let Xu Danwen and another girl holding a tray accompany Lin Hanyun to the east house to change clothes. They put on plain white underskirts with no floral decorations, and their waists were tied with four-finger-wide cloth strips, looking simple and unadorned. This set off Lin Hanyun's small face, big eyes, and pointed chin, giving her a clear and elegant charm.

  Lin Han Yun first paid respects to her father and stepmother, then sat up straight in her seat.

  "With the first month of the year, with the auspiciousness of the moon, all will be added to your honor. Brothers are all present, to complete your virtue. With a long and peaceful life, you will receive Heaven's blessings."

  Xu Danwen removed Lin Hanyin's hairpin and re-combed her hair, gathering Lin Hanyin's thick and long black hair into a noblewoman's flipped lotus leaf bun. The young girl held up the pearl-encrusted crown, which Mrs. Xu put on Lin Hanyin. Then they went back to the east room to change into a heavily embroidered long dress with a pink luxurious flower patterned hem, magnificent and dazzling, with a wide skirt trailing on the ground. Inside the collar was an embroidered floral bib. This kind of elegant and luxurious skirt decoration Zhou Xuan had seen before in famous paintings from past dynasties, "Pinhua Shini Tu", but when Lin Hanyin wore it, it didn't look very good because her chest was too small to hold it up.

  Zhou Xuan thought to herself: "Lin Hanyu is already 14 years old, and her chest is still so flat, she's considered a late developer. They say that girls who develop later have taller children, hmm, Jingyi Xianzi's figure is very tall and slender, even taller than Zuoer."

  After the addition, Lin Hanyun was about to perform her talent show. Usually, the daughters of wealthy families and those who had undergone the capping ceremony would play the guqin or sheng, but Lin Hanyun pulled out a shiny object from her sleeve, over five inches long, with one end perforated with small holes. All the guests had never seen it before, except for Zhou Xuan.

  Lin Hanyin's crisp voice said: "The humble girl Lin Hanyin will play a tune called 'A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix' on these eight sounds and eight qins, please listen carefully, esteemed elders and friends."

  Lin Han Yun started blowing.

  Zhou Xuan smiled and nodded to the beat of the music, thinking: "Lin Han has put in a lot of effort on the harmonica these days, and it sounds quite similar."

  Zhou Xuan did not notice that his entranced expression while listening to the music had caught the attention of Li Daren, who raised an eyebrow and looked displeased.

  The music ended, and all the guests cheered and praised Lin Erniang's talent and beauty, saying she was a perfect combination of both.

  Finally, Lin Han-yin knelt before his parents, listened to their teachings and said: "Although I am not talented, I dare not disobey."

  After the ceremony ended, Lin Du Hu invited all the guests to a banquet. The crowd gradually came out of the Lin family ancestral hall, and Zhou Xuan naturally walked at the end again.

  Just as I stepped onto the small stone bridge over the Emerald Pool, Lin Han-yin caught up with me, her skirt held high: "Hey, Zhou Xuan, why are you walking so fast? I have something to ask you."

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