Chapter 76: East and West (Part 1)

  Qī niáng yì zhě lā zhe shíyī niáng shuō huà, liǎng rén dào hòu bàn yè cái mí mí hu hu de jiào le. ...zhèng shuì dé xiāng, bèi hǔ pò jiào xǐng le: "Qī xiǎo jiě, shíyī xiǎo jiě, gěi wǔ xiǎo jiě shū tóu de rén lái le."

  Translation:

  The Seventh Maiden and the Eleventh Maiden chatted until they fell asleep in a daze in the second half of the night. ...Just as they were sleeping soundly, they were awakened by Amber: "Seventh Miss, Eleventh Miss, the person who came to comb Fifth Miss's hair has arrived."

  The two of them hurriedly got up, were attended by the maid and washed their hair, then hastily ate breakfast and went to Wu Niang's place.

  The room was brightly lit. Jiang's mother sat with a stout white woman in her forties, sipping tea on one side. Seeing Qiuniang and Shiyiniang, Jiang's mother hastily stood up and introduced them: "This is the wife of Zhang Peiyun, the chief monk of Honglu Temple."

  It's time for someone to come and comb Wu Niang's hair.

  The two of them bowed, and then Seventh Sister suddenly exclaimed: "Hey, where's Fifth Sister?"

  The young servant girl who was serving tea smiled and said: "Just in time for a bath!"

  "How can she be so slow?" Qiuniang complained, "Be careful not to miss the auspicious time."

  "Don't worry, don't worry," said Mrs. Zhang with a smile. "The groom's sedan chair will be sent out at noon and will arrive by late afternoon, so it won't be late."

  "So late!" Qiuniang looked surprised, "When Fourth Sister got married, I remember it was sent very early."

  "Miss Qi's fourth sister is marrying far away, isn't she?" said Madame Zhang with a smile. "If it's a distant marriage, the bride's family usually sends out the sedan chair early. Like Gongzi Qian, since everyone lives in the same city and can arrive within an hour, they can naturally send out the sedan chair later - as long as they arrive at the auspicious time of si zheng, it'll be fine!"

  Qī Niáng nodded and said: "My fourth sister married from Yuhang to Fuyang."

  "That's it." Mrs. Zhang smiled and said, "Every family is different."

  Qī Niáng saw that she was very familiar with the various marriage etiquette, and knew that she often helped people become full-fledged wives, so she started chatting with her in detail.

  "What's going to happen on that road? It's so far!"

  "If traveling by water, once the sedan chair is on the boat, you can temporarily take off your wedding dress and rest for a while. When arriving at the destination, the groom's family will find a place to serve as the bride's temporary residence, and when the auspicious time arrives, they will send the sedan chair to complete the marriage ceremony. If traveling by land, the bride would have to suffer more, eating and sleeping all in the sedan chair..."

  The mistress and the wet nurse arrived just as they were speaking.

  The elder lady wore a sky blue gourd double happiness patterned gold embroidered jacket today, and the younger lady wore a bright red hundred butterfly embroidered gold embroidered jacket this year. Both of them look radiant and full of energy.

  Everyone laughed and stood up to greet her. Just as they sat down, Wu Niang came out of her bath.

  Her pale face had a faint flush, looking very delicate and charming.

  "Wuniang, you look particularly beautiful today." Qiuniang's praise made Wuniang's eyes slightly shy.

  She went forward and paid her respects to Madame Wang and Aunt Xue.

  The old lady smiled and looked at her with a very relieved expression: "In the blink of an eye, she's going to get married."

  The fifth daughter's eyes were slightly moist.

  Mrs. Zhang then smiled and said: "This is a good thing!"

  The lady-in-waiting smiled when she heard this and had the wet nurse accompany her to burn incense, report to their ancestors, then invited Madame Zhang to style Fifth Sister's hair.

  The maidservants gathered around Wu Niang and sat her down in front of the dressing table. Madame Zhang took up a yellow sandalwood comb that had been prepared long ago, and combed from head to toe, saying auspicious words as she did so: "One combing, all troubles gone; two combings, white hairs all aligned; three combings, children and grandchildren everywhere." After the ritual was finished, they also presented Wu Niang with a bowl of lotus seed and red date sweet potato ball soup to eat.

  Qī Niáng said in a low voice to Shíyī Niáng with a smile: "We'll go get a bowl too."

  "Look, you're not going to eat..." said Shiyi Niang with a tease.

  Qī niáng mǎn liǎn tōng hóng de chuō shí yī niáng, shí yī niáng jiù xiào zhe duǒ tā, dà tài tài tū rán wàng le guò lái.

  Translation:

  Seventh girl's face turned completely red as she poked Eleventh girl, who just laughed and dodged her. The madam suddenly looked over.

  The two of them stood up straight, looking very serious.

  Madam Zhang helped Wu Niang change into her wedding dress and comb her hair.

  Someone came to report to the first wife, saying that the second and third wives had arrived.

  The big wife brought the big milk to welcome, and the seventh daughter also followed. Before long, she came back with the second wife and third wife. The eleventh daughter hurried forward to pay respects to the two aunts, and everyone sat down smiling to watch the fifth daughter dress up.

  More and more people came, and the house became lively.

  The fifth daughter was dressed up and it was already noon. The seventh daughter and the eleventh daughter accompanied the fifth daughter to eat in the house, while others went to the outer room to take their seats.

  Qī niáng hé shíyī niáng shuì dé wǎn, qǐlái de zǎo, chī wán fàn, liǎng rén jiù dǎ qǐ hā yīn lái.

  Translation:

  The Seventh Sister and the Eleventh Sister slept late and got up early. After finishing their meal, both of them started yawning.

  The fifth daughter, however, did not have the slightest sleepiness, and from time to time asked Ziwei "Where is my pair of shoe laces embroidered with Magu's longevity?", "Where is my large red silk scarf with gold trim?", looking very tense.

  The seventh girl smiled beside him.

  The fifth daughter completely ignored her.

  Before long, the people who had finished eating began to return one after another. Seventh Sister took advantage of the opportunity to pull Eleventh Sister back into the house to rest: "Anyway, no one will notice."

  The eleventh girl also felt tired, and the two of them fell asleep with their clothes on.

  Also don't know how long it took, Amber came over and shouted at the two: "...... The groom is here."

  The two of them quickly got up, called the maid to re-braid their hair, and hurried off to Wu Niang's place.

  There were only a few scattered people in the Wu Niang's house, and Qi Niang was taken aback. Shi Niang heard a burst of warm laughter coming from outside.

  "She smiled and said: 'They're probably all gone ahead to watch the excitement.'"

  Qī Niáng nodded. Then she saw Zhuō Táo excitedly running in: "Miss, the master has come up with ten riddles and said that if the young master passes, he will open the door; if not, he won't open it. The young master is so amazing, he answered all of them correctly in one breath."

  "Really, really." Wu Niang hadn't spoken yet, but Qi Niang became excited and pulled Shi Yi Niang, "Let's go take a look."

  "It's better not to go!" Eleventh Sister said with a smile, "Since Fifth Brother-in-law has answered, the welcoming party should arrive soon..."

  The seventh daughter was disappointed.

  Zhuo Tao smiled and said: "Miss Qi wants to go, then go! I think this door won't be opened for a while."

  The people in the house were stunned.

  "Fourth Master is at it again. This time, no riddles, but a quote from the Analects of Confucius instead. Let's see how Master answers this one: 'Among three people walking together, there must be one who can be my teacher...' "

  The Fifth Daughter hastily said: "Big Brother, how can you speak without keeping your word?"

  Everyone in the room burst out laughing.

  The fifth daughter blushed bright red all over her face.

  "Brother-in-law also said that. As a result, Big Brother said, you passed this test, but didn't say it's the only one!"

  Qī Niáng listened with great interest, pulling Shíyī Niáng and running outside: "Wǔ Niáng, we'll go take a look for you!"

  Eleventh Sister also thought it was interesting and followed Seventh Sister to Zhengyuan.

  Just then, the flower gate was closed tightly, and a ladder was placed against the wall beside it. Yu Yiqing stood on the ladder and answered someone outside.

  "...This sentence barely counts as a correct answer. Answer this one: The root of governance lies in the Way, and the Way is rooted in Virtue. All discussions of governance from ancient times to the present must converge on Confucius, who told the Lord of Lu that governance depends on the Nine Classics, but ultimately returns to the Three Virtues. As for Song dynasty's Sima Guang, he said: A ruler has three great virtues: benevolence, wisdom, and martial prowess - does this align with Confucius' views?"

  "This is not a written argument." Yu Zhiqing's words had just fallen when Luo Zhenxing was the first to jump out in opposition, "Change it!"

  Yu Zhiqing let out a "heh" laugh and said to everyone, "See? I've helped already."

  Laughter inside and outside the hospital.

  Someone shouted: "Qian Guniang, you can't disappoint our master's kindness."

  "Don't worry, don't worry." Came the reply from Qian Ming outside the door.

  Everyone burst out laughing and then quieted down to listen to Qian Ming's response.

  Inside and outside the gate, all is quiet.

  Eleventh saw Seventh's hand clenched into a fist.

  "What is the Great Root? It is to gather in the depths of subtlety and reach out to the realm of responsiveness, to concentrate one's spirit in dignified stillness, and to blend together without separation. What is the Great Mechanism? It is to examine the suitability of the times and push forward to the juncture of destiny, to encompass all and not flow into triviality; to see beforehand with a profound gaze, not losing sight of minute details, to grasp the overall situation and make decisions independently, without being suspected of being overly critical; to observe changes in the subtle workings of movement and stillness, yin and yang, and to transform and adapt without leaving any traces..."

  This is a standard dialectical answer.

  Eleventh daughter was quite unexpected.

  Qian Ming, what real talent!

  Yu Zhiqing's expression gradually faded away, replaced by a serious and solemn look. Luo Zhenxing even leaned in to listen carefully.

  "...If what is used to govern is not rooted in virtue, then even if there are established laws and institutions, they will also fall into private cleverness and petty techniques, and be implemented without standards. How can the fundamental governance of Heaven be rectified, and all things be promoted to harmony? If virtue is cultivated but not applied with skill, then even if there are plans and strategies, they will also flow into biased views and limited knowledge..."

  "Good!" someone suddenly cheered loudly.

  Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.

  He saw the old man walking down the steps with an excited face.

  "Although there are clever facilities and ingenious devices, they will also fall into private wisdom and petty tricks. Although there are plans and strategies, they will also flow into biased views and limited knowledge!" He stopped in the middle of the courtyard and shouted loudly, "Open the door and welcome me, the excellent son-in-law of the Luo family!"

  Everyone was stunned.

  "Quickly, quickly, open the door!"

  The little servant beside him understood and hurriedly went to open the big gate.

  Someone suddenly burst into tears: "I haven't gotten my red envelope yet!"

  Everyone looked and it turned out to be Old Fifth Luo Zhenkai.

  The whole courtyard was filled with laughter again, lively and joyful.

  The old lady sitting in the western wing room next door waiting for her son-in-law to come and pay his respects called out to Mrs. Xu: "Go, add another 100 taels of silver."

  Mrs. Xu understood and went into the inner room to open a box, took out a 100-yuan silver note, added the previous 40 taels, totaling 140 taels, and wrapped it in a red envelope.

  Qian Ming went to pay his respects to the mistress of the house after having tea three times in the main hall.

  The old lady smiled and handed him a red envelope, saying with deep feeling: "Wu Niang has grown up under my knees since she was a child. Now I entrust her to you, you must take good care of her."

  Qian Ming, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, was full of energy. He knelt down and kowtowed three times to the old lady: "Mother-in-law, rest assured. I will take good care of Fifth Miss."

  The lady nodded: "You must remember your words!"

  Qian Ming nodded hastily: "I will never go back on my word."

  Li Bin immediately invited Qian Ming to the hall and had him pay his respects to the Luo family members - regardless of age, he respectfully bowed and made a long salute.

  Lu Zhenkai stared at him with his eyes rolling straight.

  After the ceremony, according to custom, the Luo brothers should give Qian Ming a horse and wine as a gift.

  Luo Zhenxing had just put down his wine cup when Luo Zhenkai suddenly appeared from who-knows-where.

  He held up a wine bowl: "Fifth brother-in-law, I also want to toast you!" He said, tilting his head back and drinking it all in one gulp. Then he ordered the young servant beside him: "Go, pour a bowl of wine for Fifth Master according to the amount given by Fifth Young Master."

  The little servant ran out at once.

  He's just a little kid, how could he possibly drink down such a big bowl of wine. It was probably mostly water.

  The old master's face turned stern: "Nonsense!"

  Lu Zhenkai was startled and retreated behind Lu Zhenxing's back.

  Qian Ming, however, didn't think much of it: "There's still Grandpa in the cradle. No distinction between superior and inferior, young and old. Since Uncle is offering me wine, how can I not drink?"

  He had barely finished speaking when the young servant brought over a large bowl of wine.

  Qian Ming didn't say another word and took it over, drinking it all in one gulp.

  Lu Zhenkai was stunned.

  Others started drinking heavily.

  The matchmaker of the Qian family immediately gave a signal with her eyes to Lile's messenger.

  The music and dance are magnificent, wherever you don't understand, blow the horn, beat the drum, set off firecrackers, to urge going to pick up the bride.

  Wishing everyone a happy Qixi Festival! Hehe......