Chapter 655 The first day after snow
It was a rare early morning after snow, and the weather was good, which made people particularly happy. The manor was bustling with activity inside and outside, and everyone's faces were filled with joy.
Although Gu Wenxuan got up late this morning, he accompanied Zhou Banxia to the main courtyard to pay his respects to Mrs. Gu and Gu Erzhu before going to the outer courtyard.
In the outer courtyard, his three brothers-in-law and the third son of Qi Mansion had all gotten up early, and they had not even had time to burn a stick of incense when they came back after going out for a walk.
Perhaps because of the harmonious conversation they had during their first meeting last night, when they met again, Gu Wenxuan found that the third young master of Qi Mansion was obviously much more relaxed in front of him.
In less than an hour, this guy started not to pay attention to etiquette and rules. Not only did he grab the conversation, but he actually dared to drag him to the racecourse with his hands and feet.
He is not afraid of speaking his conscience, riding horses, shooting arrows, or even having a fight, as long as he doesn't do it casually and just composes a poem on the spot.
Although his wife helped him collect a lot of poems, they were not used in this way.
Moreover, poetry styles vary.
There are some with gorgeous words, some with simple emotions, some with great openness and great momentum, and some with freshness, gentleness and care. It can be said that there is everything you need.
But no matter how talented a person is, he can't be inclusive of everything, and his literary talent and style are all perfect, right?
When copying documents, it also depends on the occasion.
The path of a literati is still long, and good poems inspired by the sights, objects, and events he sees are still very useful. If you memorize one poem, you will lose one.
What a pity.
As for letting him recite poems and compose poems based on his real talent and practical experience, let him forget it. Cao Zhi is not the one who composed the poem in seven steps. It would ruin his image too much.
All of a sudden, it was great!
This person can be handed over.
The so-called racecourse is actually on the east side not far from the manor. The open space including the paper mill planned to be built next year is very open.
In the past, there might have been some big pits to worry about, but now even the river is frozen solid, and it has become a racecourse for the guards to practice equestrian archery.
There is a martial arts training ground inside the manor, as well as in the outer courtyard and backyard. The only difference is the size.
For example, in the backyard martial arts training ground, only family members can move their hands and feet nearby.
The martial arts training ground in the outer courtyard is closer to a place for morning exercises or gatherings for the escort team when they are not training in the back mountain. It is close to a place for sparring.
The number of horses is limited to two. If there are more horses, it is inevitable that they will not be able to turn away.
Therefore, Gu Wenxuan was not surprised at all when Qi San said he wanted to go to the racecourse.
After all, this part of his house is open except for a few places where outsiders cannot enter. There is nothing that is not suitable for people to inquire about.
Here at the racecourse.
The snow since the beginning of winter was intentionally or unintentionally piled up by the convoy into a snow wall along the way. I don’t know who even built two snowmen to guard the entrance and exit.
I don’t know, even in broad daylight, looking from a distance, it seems like there are two people on duty there.
It's just a lot of fun.
When the group arrived, Gu Wenxuan also took a special look at the two standing snowmen. From all indications, there was no doubt that they were Xiaohe's idea.
Little Jiling met the eyes of the third brother-in-law, grinned, and immediately covered his mouth with his hands as if he suddenly remembered something, and suddenly a burst of laughter came from his ears.
Pity him, he will lose his teeth soon.
Inside the manor, Zhou Banxia chatted with Mrs. Gu, and after going to the cleaning room, she came out and went to the courtyard where chairs had been arranged to bask in the sun. Because Mrs. Gu, Mrs. Liu and other elders have repeatedly said that her family does not have customary greeting rituals, not to mention the three little girls Qi Wenhui and even Ma Shan have not arrived yet.
The sun isn't strong enough to melt snow, and the ground won't get wet. It's much more comfortable to stay in the open-air courtyard than in the greenhouse.
With no one to disturb him, Zhou Banxia closed his eyes and wondered whether it was too late to buy some items from the betrothal gift when Gu Dahua was sent out after the new year.
Generally speaking, when it comes to marriage matters in a wealthy family, it is difficult to get the three letters and six etiquettes right at the same time. If you accept the gift today and ask for an appointment tomorrow, you can welcome the bride within a few months.
Why do you have to bring gifts to your door to propose marriage, wait for the woman's consent, and then choose a good day to ask a matchmaker to come to your door with a Geng Tie and ask the girl if the Geng Tie is the correct horoscope.
If the horoscopes are not in conflict with each other, then you can choose a day to come to Najib to discuss the marriage. After that, you will have a grand ceremony to get engaged, so you should have time to prepare the betrothal gift.
Although there are six and twelve rites when proposing marriage at the beginning, in order to show respect and love for the woman, it is not a big deal to prepare twelve rites.
Regarding the issue of face, she doesn't care who she marries and is laughed at by outsiders, but Sister Hui can't. She just doesn't know whether Sister Hui likes Da Jiang or not.
If these two children are eye-catching, it would be a good match. Since Uncle Qi and the others allow Sister Hui to come here, it shows that they have shown great sincerity, and there will be no problem with the elders.
Even her father and mother, yes!
Zhou Banxia finally remembered that she had forgotten to ask Gu Wenxuan if she had been angry with her father in private before.
Fortunately, there are differences between men and women, and the two children have never met each other. It will not be too late to listen to their parents' opinions in person when the two children are interested in each other.
Regardless of whether it works or not, Dajiang will be fifteen after the new year. Now that he is reaching the engagement age, he can slowly start to buy some things in the betrothal gift.
Things produced in Jiangnan are much cheaper than here, otherwise the temporary purchase will definitely cost more, and I am afraid that even 20,000 taels of silver will not buy much.
However, there is no need to use a betrothal gift of ten thousand taels of silver due to emotion and reason.
Even if Dajiang is calculated according to his status as the fourth young master of the Zhou family, it is difficult to surpass his elder brother.
Second brother's betrothal gift, what was aunt's plan when she mentioned the due date?
Zhou Banxia was trying to remember when he heard the arrival of Ma Shan, mother and son.
With the arrival of Ma Shan, mother and son, apart from Mrs. Liu who was still busy inside, Mrs. Gu also came out of Nuangeer, and all came to bask in the sun in the courtyard.
For a moment, Zhou Banxia couldn't think about anything else, especially when the Zhao family came not long after.
There were quite a few people coming, including Mr. Zhao and his wife and family.
With the arrival of Mrs. Zhao Er, her two daughters-in-law, their daughter-in-law, and their little grandchildren, it was very lively again.
Immediately afterwards, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of Zhou Xiucai's family, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of Zhou Xiucai's family, and their daughter-in-law, as well as Gu Yangqing's wife Gu Zhou, also arrived.
Later, the three and four bedrooms of the Gu family, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of Gu’s patriarch’s family, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of Gu Erye’s family, the granddaughter-in-law of their two families, as well as the Li Zheng family, the Ma family...
Seeing many female relatives arriving in groups one after another, Zhou Banxia had to be thankful that her manor had a decent area.
Not to mention how many male guests had arrived in the outer courtyard at this time, the number of female relatives who arrived today alone did not seem to be much less than the number of people on the day of the greenhouse banquet.
As long as the courtyard where her father-in-law and mother-in-law lived was small, there would be no room for people to stand, let alone all of them entering the main hall and noisily saluting each other.