Lujiazhuang is a very quaint typical northwest courtyard that retains a lot of ancient villages, and there are hundreds of families with the surname Lu, and there is no outdoor household and miscellaneous surnames. [No pop-ups]

Lu Nianzi introduced to Ye Ming in the car: The ancestor of the Lujiazhuang clan moved here from other places during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. Through hundreds of years of reproduction, many children surnamed Lu have gone to Huguang, Sichuan, and Xikou, and moved away many branches. Only the Taizu branch of Secretary Lu has been thriving in Lujiazhuang and has not moved away, and has developed into the current Dazhuang Courtyard surnamed Lu with a population of thousands and hundreds of households.

And this branch of the Lu secretary's lineage, its ancestor Chongyuan Gong was once the Hanlin of the Qing Xianfeng Dynasty, and later the official was the right servant of the Ministry of Rites. In Secretary Lu's father's generation, their lineage has always been a farming and reading heirloom, and it is also the only scholarly family in Lujiazhuang.

It's just that starting from Secretary Lu's grandfather, their lineage is not prosperous, and by the time Secretary Lu arrived, it had been two generations of single transmission.

It's just that because Secretary Lu and his ancestors have been kind to people for generations, they often help the poor clansmen, and they have a very good relationship with the clansmen, and they have also won the unanimous support and admiration of the clansmen. Therefore, Secretary Lu's ancestors, great-grandfathers, grandfathers, and fathers are all patriarchs elected by the Lujiazhuang people surnamed Lu. Originally, the people of Lujiazhuang also wanted to nominate Secretary Lu as the patriarch, but because he had been an official in the capital and rarely had the opportunity to return to his hometown, he chose another old man who was closest to Secretary Lu's lineage as the patriarch.

Because Secretary Lu is the largest official in Lujiazhuang for hundreds of years, it is even bigger than his ancestor and the official of Chongyuan Gong, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites. Therefore, the people of Lujiazhuang are proud of him, and the people in the clan attach great importance to the eighty years of Lu's father's life this time, and they are ready to sacrifice and go to the grave early.

Therefore, when Ye Ming and the others walked to the entrance of Lujiazhuang village, the folk band in the village was already waiting there. The moment Ye Ming and the others stepped into Lujiazhuang, the drums and firecrackers were deafening. The cadres of the village and the elders of the clan all greeted them, bowed to Secretary Li, Ye Ming and others, and welcomed them into the village according to traditional customs.

The old house of Secretary Lu's family, built by his grandfather, is a courtyard house with blue bricks, gray tiles and white walls, which is antique and elegant. At the gate of the courtyard squatted a pair of mighty bluestone lions, hanging high on a black lacquer plaque in the middle of the gate, engraved with three gilt characters: "Rongyi Hall". There is a couplet under the plaque: "Loyal and heirloom, poems and books are long", and the horizontal criticism is four big characters: "Cultivating goodness and cultivating virtue".

After entering the courtyard, there is a small garden inside, and there is a stone road leading to the hall at the back. This hall is actually the ancestral hall of Secretary Lu and their faction now. There is also a couplet at the door: "Don't forget filial piety and friends for housekeeping, and also hope to write poems and books for ancestral whips." The horizontal batch is "cautious and chasing the distance".

Lu Nianzi told Ye Ming: These couplets are all inscribed by grandfather, and the central meaning is one: I hope that my children and grandchildren will pass on poems and books to the world, don't fall into the world, and don't forget the roots of cultivating and reading heirlooms.

When Ye Ming entered this ancient courtyard house, he had a very strange feeling in his heart, he always felt as if he had been to this place, and he always felt that the things in this courtyard were very familiar. It's like the feeling of a wanderer who has been away from his hometown for many years and has returned to visit his ancestral ancestral hall - this feeling of déjà vu surprised him, but he didn't know why.

So, he secretly said to Lu Nianzi: "Sister, how do I feel as if I have been to this mansion?" Many of these things looked familiar to me, as if I had seen them in a dream. What's going on? ”

Lu Nianzi was shocked when he heard him suddenly say such a few earth-shattering words, thinking that this is the legendary telepathy?

So, she hurriedly smiled in disguise and said, "Xiao Yezi, in our big mansion, you can see similar houses in many movies and televisions. So, I guess you think of a scene from a movie or TV show and you feel like you've been here before. Don't think about it, let's go into the hall quickly! ”

As she spoke, she took him by the hand and came to the hall, pointed to the photo of her grandfather on the shrine in front of the hall, and said, "Look, that's grandpa." You go and bow to his old man first, kowtow to him a few times, and let him recognize your grandson first! ”

Ye Ming saw that a large offering table had been set up in the center of the hall, which was full of all kinds of offerings: a whole pig, a whole sheep, a chicken, a liter of rice, a plate of glutinous rice, and three plates of fruits.

Several old men stood on both sides of the table with solemn faces, their hands drooping, and their eyes staring at Ye Ming tightly. There is also a set of musical instruments on both sides of the hall, including gongs and drums, suona, flutes, and cymbals. Several musicians sit on stools on either side, ready to play music to help mourn.

Ye Ming walked to the front of the shrine first, knelt down on a mat, and respectfully kowtowed three times. Then, Lu Nianzi and Zhang Linjiang also went over and kowtowed. Next, Chen Mengqi, Li Wuan and others all went to kneel in front of the statue of the old man Lu.

After Ye Ming retreated to the door of the hall, he carefully looked at the sacrifices on the offering table, and guessed that what he was going to hold today was the most solemn "pig and sheep sacrifice". In other words, there will be a whole pig and a whole sheep in the sacrifice, which is the most solemn ceremony to commemorate the ancestors in ancient times.

After everyone knelt down and bowed, a patriarch of the main priest came over, made a gesture to Ye Ming, and shouted in a thick local accent: "Please take the seat of the main priest and play music!" ”

With this shout, the hall suddenly rang bells and drums, and the music was melodious. The patriarch of the main priest guided Ye Ming to stand on a cushion in front of the offering table, and then shouted again: "Stop! Please kneel down the guest of honor. ”

Ye Ming hurriedly knelt on the mat, hung his head, and listened to the chief priest read aloud a text written by Secretary Lu for his father in a long tone.

After reading the prayer, the celebrant shouted again: "Pray—"

Ye Ming hurriedly bent down and bowed, and when he heard the chief priest shouting "Xing-", he straightened his waist, and then "Bai-Xing-" kept praying three times, and then the chief priest shouted: "Flat!" The officiating guest ascended from the western steps to the shrine. Kneel—"

Ye Ming hurriedly stood up, came to the shrine from the west, knelt down again, bowed three times again, and then retreated from the east.

In this way, three consecutive prayers were prayed before the sacrifice was declared.

Lu Nianzi had already prepared 2,000 yuan in cash for him, and after he completed the sacrificial ceremony, he stuffed the money into his hand and motioned for him to put it on the red lacquered wooden plate containing rice on the offering table—this was the "sacrificial fee" for the main priest and the band.

After the sacrificial ceremony, the clan elders took Ye Ming to the ancestral tomb outside Lujiazhuang and instructed him to go to the grave of the old man Lu according to the etiquette, and the whole sacrificial ceremony was over.