Chapter 471: The Marriage Date Rescheduled
When Guan Jie heard about this, he felt relieved. Jia Cong was a first-class marquis of Daqian, so such a marriage matter naturally could not go beyond him, the Minister of Rites.
"Your Majesty, rest assured. Although time is urgent, the court has its own rules. I will now order the Ministry of Rites to prepare the relevant matters. There will be no delay."
Emperor Longxing frowned. Guan Jie was also someone who could understand the emperor's intentions, so how come he couldn't understand what he meant?
"Guan Jie, I mean, please come over!"
Guan Jie was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Emperor Longxing suspiciously, "Your Majesty, I will not delay any longer. I will immediately instruct the Ministry of Rites to handle this matter!"
"Huh!" Emperor Longxing took a deep breath. "The Marquis of Guanjun is my chosen marriage, so I intend to have Prince An and you serve as envoys! Dai Quan and Xia Shouzhong of the Daming Palace will serve as stewards, and the Great Illusionary and the Director of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory will serve as the letter-receivers. Together, we will go to the Lin and Xue families to propose marriage."
The reason why there are two sets of "teams" is naturally to propose marriage to both sides at the same time.
Since Guan Jie was not understanding, Emperor Longxing naturally had no choice but to state his purpose directly.
After hearing what Emperor Longxing said, Guan Jie, the old scholar, was stunned on the spot. After a while, he came to his senses and said, "Your Majesty, this is not in accordance with the etiquette..."
"Although Jia Cong is the Marquis of Guanjun, this is an overstep in etiquette. It's not that I'm lazy, it's simply against the rules."
Not only was this an overreach, but it was a massive overreach. According to Emperor Longxing, only the marriage of a prince could be celebrated with such grandeur, and even more so, only the marriage of a crown prince and a crown princess. Although Jia Cong was of high status, a first-class marquis, he was still far from being able to attend to such etiquette.
"Just do it as I say!" Emperor Longxing said unhappily. How could his only legitimate son violate the etiquette?
"This is an arranged marriage between me and the Queen. Shouldn't it be more grand? Or do you think that I and the Queen are not a good match?"
"Your Majesty and Your Majesty certainly deserve a more grand ceremony, but this..."
"Alright!" Emperor Longxing waved his hand impatiently, interrupting Guan Jie. "Just tell me if you can do it or not. No buts needed! If I can't use you, I'll ask the retired emperor to speak to you. You've never taken me, the emperor, seriously."
With such a big hat put on him, Guan Jie knelt down on the ground and said, "I dare not do that. I obey your order!"
"Is that right?" Emperor Longxing nodded in satisfaction. "Also, you can prepare the thirty kinds of betrothal gifts according to the rules. The daughter of the Lin family only has Lin Ruhai as her father, and the daughter of the Xue family only has her widowed mother, so there's no need to give them too much. The Lin family should prepare ten taels of gold, seven hundred taels of silver, a fox fur court dress, a mink hat, a set of accessories such as a gold belt ring, a handkerchief, a purse, and a saddle horse!"
"From the Xue family, there are three pairs of gold and pearl earrings, a fox fur robe, six otter skins, and a beautifully carved saddle horse!"
Guan Jie opened his mouth but ultimately did not ask. He really wanted to ask whether this Marquis of Guanjun Jia Cong was the emperor's illegitimate son.
Why bother with that? Why not just follow the rules and etiquette for the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess?
"Your Majesty, do we also need four saddled horses (horses with saddles and bridles), ten sets of saddles and bridles, ten sets of armor, 100 rolls of satin, 200 rolls of cloth, and gold and silver tea canisters?"
Because Daqian was considered the heir to the Song Dynasty, it was clearly deeply impressed by the Song Dynasty's emphasis on culture over military power. Therefore, the court attached great importance to military achievements, and the same was true in etiquette. Therefore, it was not uncommon for high-ranking families to have saddle horses, armor, and other items when they were visiting, especially for families with military achievements, where it was almost indispensable.
"Otherwise, it would have to be you, the Minister of Rites!" Seeing that Guan Jie finally understood, Emperor Longxing nodded in satisfaction. "That's right. However, I will have the Imperial Household Department purchase these items immediately, and you can just take them over when the time comes."
Before the Qin and Han Dynasties, the ceremony of accepting marriage proposal was basically "goose", which was taken from the meaning of wild geese delivering letters.
However, starting from the Han Dynasty, the betrothal ceremony began to become more diverse. Geese were of course a must-have, but many other items were also added.
For example, the thirty kinds of Nacai rituals that Emperor Longxing just mentioned are like this.
For example, sheep, fragrant grass, and deer are used to symbolize auspiciousness and blessing. Glue, lacquer, acacia bells, mandarin ducks, and phoenixes are used to symbolize the harmony of husband and wife. Others use the virtues of various things to inspire and encourage couples, such as cattails, selaginella, relic beasts, blessed beasts, fish, geese, and nine-son wives.
"Then I also need to ask the Ministry of Rites to prepare eight items of silk and jewelry, ten kinds of food, and six lanterns and twelve musicians for the ceremonial procession?"
"Not bad, not bad!"
Guan Jie rolled his eyes. As expected, you've followed every bit of the formalities of the Crown Prince marrying a Crown Princess. Why don't you just adopt that boy as your godson?
However, the emperor was obviously determined to do so. Although he was the Minister of Rites, he was not an old stubborn person. Therefore, he agreed directly. He didn't need to spend a penny anyway. Since the emperor agreed, the minister just had to do it and that was it.
"Your Majesty, I will obey your command!"
"Alright, I'll trouble you to take care of this matter. Time is urgent, so don't delay. When the Imperial Observatory sets a date for me, I'll let you know immediately, and you can go and prepare immediately."
The next morning, a eunuch went to the Xue family.
After Xue Pan welcomed the eunuch into the main hall, Aunt Xue, who had been waiting, hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Excellency has come. I am sorry for not coming to greet you. I beg your forgiveness."
The eunuch made way and said, "Madam, you are welcome. I have come here because the Empress has ordered that you come into the palace to see Her Majesty immediately!"
Aunt Xue was startled when she heard this and wanted to ask why, but she didn't have the nerve to do so. She immediately replied, "Please wait a moment, sir. I will make some preparations and go to the palace to pay my respects to the Empress. "
After that, he asked Xue Pan to go and greet the eunuchs to serve tea, and said to Xue Ke in a hurry, "Ke'er, go and prepare the carriage immediately. Tongxi, Tonggui, help me bathe and change clothes immediately!"
After about half an hour, Aunt Xue finally packed up, then went to the front yard, got on the carriage, and hurried to the palace with the eunuchs.
When they reached the palace gate, Aunt Xue got off the carriage and said to Xue Pan, "You wait here. Don't go away rashly and delay things."
Afterwards, the eunuch led Aunt Xue into the palace gate and headed towards Fengzao Palace.
Although the Xue family was descended from the Ziwei family and had produced two generations of high-ranking officials, by the time of Baochai's father, the family had fallen into decline, with only the imperial merchants in the Imperial Household Department remaining. Therefore, given Aunt Xue's position, she had naturally never entered the palace. So, upon entering the palace, Aunt Xue's heart was in her throat. She lowered her head and followed the eunuchs forward, not daring to glance twice.
