allonlinenovel Chapter 175 Magistrate Yang, who almost went crazy
Chapter 175 Magistrate Yang, who almost went crazy
The matter of marrying a princess is like a subject and a princess holding a wedding ceremony, and then each going back to their own home. The princess stays in her own residence on the wedding day, but has to move back to the palace the next day. The prince consort who "marries" the princess stays in the princess's residence and cannot go back to his own home.
What if the prince consort wants to meet the princess, or the princess wants to meet the prince consort?
It's easy. Just ask the palace maid in charge of the princess to submit an application beforehand. Once approved, the princess can leave the palace and go to her residence to meet her husband.
What if the palace maids disagree with the rules?
Serve cold.
If the palace maids in charge do not agree to allow the princess and the prince consort to meet, then the princess can only stay in the palace, and the prince consort can only live in the princess's residence, and neither of them can see the other.
Therefore, being a palace maid in charge of a princess's household was actually a lucrative job. As long as the princess and her husband did not want to live apart from the princess's residence through the palace gates, they had to bribe the palace maid with money.
Even if the prince consort was so poor he was penniless, the princess still had money in her hands.
But Magistrate Yang was different. He didn't "marry a princess" at all; he openly married princesses, taking Princess Jin and Princess Yu home as his wives.
Just like what Old Zhu instructed before he left: make it clear to that scoundrel that he is marrying a princess, and we are marrying a princess. We will definitely build a princess's mansion for him, and there will be two princess mansions. However, he does not need to live in the princess's mansion, and the princess does not need to go back to the palace. The young couple can just live a happy life together.
That's why the old eunuch specifically told Magistrate Yang: You are marrying a princess, not taking her as a concubine.
As for whether the etiquette for marrying a princess or a monk is different, that brings us to the few other things Old Zhu told him.
"Give that bastard a good beating. As long as you don't completely enrage him, find a way to torture him to death. The more exhausted the better. If he hits or curses at you, just bear with it. We'll give you a reward when he comes back."
As for the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, those officials didn't need Zhu Chongba to give them any special instructions—as early as when Li Shanchang led the officials of all ranks in the court to start compiling the "Hongwu Zhengyun" and the "Hongwu Dictionary," the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs had already entered a state of resentment towards Magistrate Yang for not being dead.
Of course, no matter how much they hated Magistrate Yang, the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs wouldn't be foolish enough to resort to assassination or poisoning. After all, he was a magistrate of the sixth rank. In the entire Ming Dynasty, apart from Fuliang County, which was a fifth rank, only Magistrate Yang and Kong Xida of Qufu were sixth rank. The target was too conspicuous, and no one dared to make a move in the dark.
Besides, the officials in the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs are legitimate officials in the capital. Their information network is far superior to that of a county magistrate like Zhao Liang. Zhao Liang might be foolish enough to rush up and provoke Magistrate Yang, but most of the officials in the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs have heard of the name "Crazy Yang." Moreover, even the Empress herself came to Ningyang County to visit her son-in-law. Who would be so foolish as to offend their entire family to take action against him?
Therefore, the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs could only tacitly cause trouble for Magistrate Yang at the wedding, since they hated that he was still alive but dared not actually kill him.
The Zhou rites must be thoroughly examined, and the wedding of Magistrate Yang must be arranged strictly in accordance with the Zhou rites and royal etiquette. For example, the pre-wedding betrothal, asking the name, accepting auspicious gifts, presenting betrothal gifts, and setting the wedding date; the wedding ceremony, including the urging of the bride to prepare the dowry, sending the dowry, the welcoming of the bride, the bride's arrival and the completion of the ceremony, setting up the bridal chamber, the drinking of the nuptial cup, and the offering of leftovers; the post-wedding greetings of the bride to her parents-in-law, the parents-in-law's offering of wine to the bride, and the bride's gifts to her parents-in-law; and the so-called "three letters and six betrothal gifts" and so on. Everything that can be thought of and arranged into the wedding must be arranged for him!
What the hell?
In the Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi wrote "Family Rituals," which, due to the prevailing custom, reduced the six rites to three: "betrothal," "gift presentation," and "wedding ceremony."
What a joke! Master Zhu's family used the "Family Rites," which was simplified for the convenience of ordinary people. You, Magistrate Yang, are marrying princesses, and two princesses at that! This is an unprecedented honor. How dare you use the "Family Rites" instead of the "Rites of Zhou" and the royal etiquette?
Then, Yang Shaofeng almost went crazy.
Damn it, no wonder people in later generations all have Western-style weddings. The biggest advantage of that thing is that it's simple and cheap. If it were a Chinese wedding, you wouldn't even need to strictly follow the Zhou Dynasty rites. Even the simplest Chinese wedding, after simplifying it by 80%, could drive a good person crazy and completely empty the wallet of a middle-class family.
Yang Shaofeng released the dead eunuch's collar and instead grabbed the Ministry of Rites official's collar fiercely, yelling, "Where are you bastards supposed to get geese from? Huh! Where the hell am I supposed to get deerskin from you? Huh!"
The official in charge of the Ministry of Rites treated Magistrate Yang with the same indifference. Even when faced with Magistrate Yang's questioning, the official in charge of the Ministry of Rites only said with a forced smile, "Magistrate Yang's wedding date has not yet been set, but it is definitely too late before the end of the year. So after the New Year, Magistrate Yang will have plenty of time to hunt a couple of wild geese in the spring."
Hearing this, Yang Shaofeng thought it wasn't a bad idea. After all, it was still a long time. He might as well wait until spring when the wild geese migrated north and try to catch a couple. That way, it would look good on him.
However, the official in charge of the Ministry of Rites made a few more comments that he shouldn't have.
"Of course, if Magistrate Yang doesn't mind the embarrassment or feel that Princess Jin and Princess Yu are being wronged, you can do as the common people do and get two white geese to pretend to be wild geese. Oh, right, you'll also need to find two young boys to hold two roosters. We will do everything we can to find two young boys to hold the roosters for the two princesses. Magistrate Yang, you'll also need to prepare gifts."
The so-called "carrying a rooster" custom involves the groom's family sending a young boy to carry a rooster on the wedding day, while the bride's family sends a young boy to carry a hen on the wedding day. After the wedding, the two chickens are raised together.
The reason for this custom is that "chicken" and "auspicious" are homophones, so it carries the meaning of "great luck". Also, since roosters crow in the morning, it also carries the meaning of "long life".
Therefore, the boy holding the chicken is not only holding the chicken, but also "bringing good fortune," and the groom's family is required to give a separate gift of money on the wedding day.
but!
This custom may exist throughout the country, but it is unlikely that such a ceremony would occur when a royal princess gets married. The official in front of him is clearly using this matter to mock Yang Shaofeng.
Then, finally losing his temper, Magistrate Yang punched the Ministry of Rites official in the face and cursed, "You dog, do you really think I have a good temper?"
Seeing that Magistrate Yang had finally been provoked into action, the other officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs immediately rushed forward, protecting the beaten Ministry of Rites official behind them. The head official from the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, with a dark face, said, "Magistrate Yang, you are a sixth-rank magistrate, and you have assaulted a fifth-rank official from the Department of Ceremonial Affairs. This is the crime of assaulting a superior. Aren't you afraid that we will impeach you?"
Yang Shaofeng spat and cursed, "Afraid of death? Why don't you become a ghost? Damn it, I saw it coming a long time ago. You dogs are deliberately digging up a bunch of inexplicable rituals from the old paper pile to make things difficult for me!"
After finishing his tirade, Magistrate Yang immediately shouted towards the front courtyard of the county government office, "Guards!"
The yamen runners who remained at the county office rushed over and bowed, saying, "Your Excellency."
Yang Shaofeng sneered and pointed at the group of officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, saying, "Call the brothers over here and beat these bastards out of here! I'll take responsibility for anything that happens!"
After the bailiff bowed and agreed, Yang Shaofeng turned to the dead eunuch and said, "I will submit a memorial to His Majesty to explain the situation. It's not that I'm not good at etiquette, but these scoundrels are deliberately making things difficult for me. If you are willing to testify for me, that would be great. If you are not willing, I will not force you."
The eunuch Chen Zhong, who had just almost been beaten, was now completely bewildered.
Who are we?
Where is our home?
What are we doing at home?
How did things suddenly turn out like this when everything was fine just now?
Damn it, have all of you from the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs been kicked in the head by a donkey?
We discussed it on the way to Ningyang County, and we discussed it again after the Empress left. Why do you all have to be so forgetful and insist on provoking this guy surnamed Yang?
Left with no other choice, Chen Zhong could only stop the yamen runners who were about to go out to call for help, and then said to Yang Shaofeng with a forced smile, "Magistrate Yang, look at the mess this has made. The people from the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs just wanted to make Magistrate Yang's wedding as perfect as possible, and they certainly didn't mean to make things difficult for Magistrate Yang."
After persuading Yang Shaofeng, Chen Zhong said to the Clan Court official, "It was clearly Doctor Xu's fault just now, and I saw it all. If you want to impeach Magistrate Yang, I won't play along."
Immediately afterwards, Chen Zhong turned his gaze to the beaten-up Ministry of Rites official: "Official Xu, you should go back to the capital first. I will explain everything to His Majesty about today's matter in detail. I will not wrong you, nor will I wrong Magistrate Yang."
Xu Zhendong, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites' Department of Ceremonies, who was known as "Master Xu," immediately changed his expression.
This matter could have been a big deal or a small deal. If I hadn't said those extra words, this guy surnamed Yang wouldn't have had an excuse to cause trouble. But I just happened to say those few extra words, and as a result, this guy surnamed Yang seized the opportunity to turn on me.
Chen Zhong, the dead eunuch, made his attitude very clear: he would not wrong himself, much less wrong Magistrate Yang. This meant that he would absolutely not let that man surnamed Yang suffer any injustice, and whether he, the Director of the Department of Ceremonies of the Ministry of Rites, was wronged or not was of no importance whatsoever.
Thinking of this, Xu Zhendong quickly bowed to Yang Shaofeng and said, "I was rash just now, and I hope Magistrate Yang will not take offense."