Ten days passed quickly, Meng Ming's family was about to set off, Liang Zhixian came to see Meng Ming, he was promoted, made a general judgment in Weizhou, and was promoted from the sixth grade to the fourth grade, and was promoted to three levels in a row. Wei Zhizhou left, he was transferred to Kaifeng as Shaoyin, although he was still a fourth grade, he became a Beijing official, close to the center, and it was not the same. Grandpa and uncle are here, and everyone is a little sad and is about to separate. Some women were in tears and couldn't bear to part. Father-in-law Li came to urge, and he was also in a hurry to go back to recover his life. Meng Ming's family got into the carriage arranged by the imperial court, waved to relatives and friends, and headed towards Tokyo. From Beihai County to Kaifeng about 1,200 miles, the road has to walk for about half a month. On the 10th day of the lunar month, you can get to Tokyo. Now that the weather is cold, it is faster to take the official road, and I will live at the official post at night. The road was bumpy, and everyone was tired and looking forward to arriving soon.

After walking for thirteen days, Meng Ming heard the horseman shouting loudly in his sleep: I saw the city of Tokyo, Meng Ming hurriedly opened the car window and looked out, and saw the towering and majestic city wall from afar, there was a wide moat outside the city wall, there were two layers of cornice city tower on the city gate, and there was a suspension bridge across the moat outside the city gate. His family passed through the east gate of the outer city, there were two city gates on the east wall, and I heard Li Gonggong say that the south one is called Chaoyang Gate (New Song Gate), and the north one is called Hanhui Gate (New Cao Gate). The family walked through the Hanhui Gate, through the city gate, the foundation of the city wall is estimated to be 30 meters, the city wall is 13 meters high, and a street running east-west in the city appears in front of them, about 30 meters wide. Even though it is winter, it is still crowded with cars and horses, and the streets are lined with shops, most of which are two-story pavilions. Listening to Gonggong Li's saying that this street is called Fanlou Street, the famous Fanlou is on this street, the car slows down, and the sound outside seems to be able to knock people down, as if returning to the downtown of the metropolis in the previous life. There are all kinds of facades on this street, one is a tea shop, a wine shop, a foot shop, a butcher shop, a temple, and a variety of rare treasure franchise stores; the second is the façade of the market service industry such as medical outpatient clinics, cart repair, fortune telling, face repair and plastic surgery; The third is a special for all kinds of singing and dancing, rapping, opera, acrobatics and other performances. We walked through the crowded traffic and people, walked for half an hour, and saw the building of the only four-storey building in the front and back, left and right, and there was a big plaque hanging above the door of the store, which said "Fan Lou" two gilded characters, which is the legendary Fan Lou. When we arrived at the crossroads, a wider north-south street appeared in front of us, which was Huangjianyuan Street, about thirty steps wide, and the family turned around and headed north, and walked a hundred zhang There is an east-west alley, ten steps wide. When I walked into the third door, I stopped, only to hear Gonggong Li say: "Marquis Meng, here, your mansion is arranged, you can move in directly, you don't need to buy a house, the official family also sent five palace maids to come over to serve, cooks, handymen, and nurses, you can rest for three days and then go to face the saint." That's it, I'll go back on business. Goodbye Hou Ye" After saying that, the orchid pointed at Meng Ming and shook it, and left, Meng Ming felt a chill.

Meng Ming stood in front of his new home, looking at the tall and imposing gatehouse, on which the plaque read the words "Meng Mansion". There is a stone lion on each side of the door. It looks like a noble house. The door was a main door and a side door, and Meng Ming's car passed through the door. The pavilions and pavilions inside, the scenery is like a garden, the rockery pond, the guest room study, the winding bridge corridor and other buildings are all exquisite, covering an area of about 20 acres. There are nearly forty rooms. His father and mother were directly stunned, and the mouth was open to put eggs, and Mr. Li was not calm. At this time, a man about fifty years old came over and said: "Master Hou, my name is Jiao Fu, the chief here, I will hand over the house deed, title deed, seal ribbon, the list of servants in the house, and the details of the family, please take a look." Meng Ming handed it over to his mother to put it away, and said to Jiao Fu: "Master Jiao, are you willing to stay, if you want to stay, you will be the big housekeeper of my Hou Mansion, the servants at home are all in charge of you, and the family's procurement is also managed, how about it?" Seeing Jiao Fu overjoyed, he hurriedly bowed to Meng Ming and said: "Thank you Hou Ye for accepting, I, Jiao Fuding, will be the Hou Ye before and after the saddle, and bow to the end." Meng Ming raised his hand and asked him to get up, and let him sort out the mundane affairs at home. I was also tired, so I asked everyone to choose a room and rest separately. Meng Ming also asked Mr. Li to live in my house, and there is a single courtyard in my house to live in, so let Mr. Li's family live there. After the arrangement, everyone takes a break and adjusts.

Today is the ninth day of the lunar month, yesterday after repairing, Meng Ming's family and Mr. Li's family sat together and chatted, the new environment, the new atmosphere, there must be a new plan. Now the official family has rewarded Meng Ming's family with 10,000 taels of silver, 1,000 taels of gold, plus 4,000 taels of gold, and there are a lot of silk brocade silks and strange pearls in the library. Food and clothing are still worry-free. People have no long-term worries, they can't be idle at home and have nothing to do, my father is only in his early thirties, and my father doesn't want to be idle, he wants to plan something to do. I thought about it, but I couldn't make up my mind, so I went outside and looked outside while I had two days to spare.

Meng Ming asked Jiao Fu to be his guide, after all, he was unfamiliar with life, and Meng Ming was still a road idiot. The two of them went out and walked along the alley, only to know that the alley where his home was located was called North Lecture Hall Lane, which could lead to the north and south Zhao Shiwan Street, and there was a South Lecture Hall Lane to the south of the North Lecture Hall Lane, and there was a South Lecture Hall Lane to the north. the fourth is Liu Mei's mansion, which is under the jurisdiction of the Imperial City Siti; The fifth is the current servant of Li Di's family and the young master of the prince, who is the same as the middle book; Out of the alley, to the Huangjianyuan Street, to the south along the east side of the road, I saw a printing room, called Mohan Printing Shop. When I went in, I saw that it was still engraving printing, and most of them printed scriptures and righteousness, and also printed miscellaneous books. The current books are quite expensive, a set of four books and five classics of nearly 100 taels of silver, and a book of Analects 5 taels of silver. Movable type printing didn't even appear. By the way, you can open a printing room and let your father run it.

Then we arrive at the Fan Tower, a landmark building complex in Tokyo, with a flybridge between the five floors and a corridor for people to go up and down, making the five buildings a single interconnected whole. According to the record of "Tokyo Menghualu": Fan Lou "Xuanhe is more high, and the fifth floor is facing each other, and each has a flying bridge railing. Light and dark are connected, the red curtain is embroidered, and the lights and candles are shining. "Every time I go to the Shangyuan Lantern Festival in Tokyo, a lotus lantern is placed in each corrugated room on the roof of the Fan Tower, and the Fan Tower in the night is particularly beautiful and charming." 'The restaurant in the city is high to the sky, cooking dragons and phoenixes are fat and fresh. Gongsun got off the horse and smelled drunk, and he did not hesitate to spend thousands of dollars on a drink. ''Fanlou's wine and delicacies are well-known in the capital.

At noon, when Meng Ming walked into the Fan Tower, there were hundreds of bewitching dancers in the corridor, showing flowers and branches, waiting for the call of the drinkers, looking like a fairy. I'm only ten years old, and I'm weak. Pay a deposit of fifty taels at the counter, set a private room, walk in to see, it turns out that the guest rooms are embroidered with red curtains, and there are celebrity calligraphy and paintings hung inside. Placing flowers in the four seasons, burning incense and offering tea, it is really magnificent. Meng Ming asked Jiao Fu to go home and call his family and Mr. Li's family for dinner. Let's order first, the restaurant guy reported the name of the dish, and remembered the name of the dish in the cross talk of the previous life, so he ordered a few dishes: mutton steamed bun, fried quail with three fresh bamboo shoots, sea bass soup, pork knuckle in sauce, ham lotus seed tofu soup, roasted mutton, ice cheese, soft cheese, fried crab, lotus duck stick, weeping sheep's head in the sauce, sheep's head in the oven, sheep's head stick, goose duck stick, chicken stick, and rabbit. Before the official serving, there will be a very beautiful "watch the dish" on the table, only to see but not eat, to whet the appetite of the guests. I also asked for Fanlou's self-produced wine "Meishou" and "Hezhi", which was taken from "Poetry • Fengfeng • July": "For this spring wine, to Jiemeishou." It means health and longevity; The purpose of the harmony is taken from the "Poem, Xiaoya, Bin's First Feast": "The wine is the same as the purpose, and the drinking hole is together." It means mellow and luscious.

Meng Ming was waiting, and suddenly heard a singing voice from the nearby room: "When is the bright moon, ask Qingtian for wine." Not in the heavenly palace, what year is it tonight....."

Isn't this the "Water Tune Song Head" that I wrote? It spread to Tokyo so quickly, and I heard a familiar voice coming: "Uncle Tong, what do you think of this song?" It is not the same artistic conception as your Xiaoyuan Xiangjing, this is when I presided over the Weizhou State Examination, a student wrote, and became the head of the case, only ten years old. When Meng Ming heard it, it was really Wei Zhizhou, not Wei Shaoyin now. He searched for the sound, then knocked on the door and said, "Is it Wei Shaoyin?" Meng Ming came to ask to see "the door opened suddenly, it was not who Lord Wei was, Wei Zhongping grabbed me and said: "What a coincidence, say Cao Cao, Cao Cao will arrive, come to the same uncle and I will introduce you, this is the little author of Mingyue, Beihai Meng Ming, 10 years old", I saw a handsome young man, his spirit was bright, his eyes were clear and bright, he was dressed in cyan civilian clothes, a belt around his waist, and a jade pendant. A righteous look. Meng Ming looked at him, and he was also looking at Meng Ming. Wei Zhongping also introduced me: "This is my junior brother Yan Tongshu, twenty-six years old, from Linchuan, Fuzhou, bachelor of Hanlin, Zuo Shuzi. It turned out that both of them studied under Chen Pengnian, who had just passed away. Yan Shu also said enthusiastically: "Brother Meng Ming, you are still so young, and your thinking is so outstanding, you really envy others. Meng Ming also said: "Uncle Tong can be called a model for my generation, he was known as a prodigy at the age of five, and at the age of 14, thousands of candidates from all over the world entered the temple at the same time to take the exam. Received the reward of the official family and gave him the same Jinshi background. The two of them were greeting each other, and Wei Zhongping, who was next to them, jokingly interrupted our conversation: "Don't be polite, have you considered my feelings, or you two will have a discussion." The two of them said in unison: "There is no first, only exchange and correct each other!" Wei Zhongping said: "I propose, today I saw the plum blossoms in the garden, please write a poem with plum blossoms as the theme." After speaking, I called a guy and brought paper, ink, pen and inkstone, which was really a bit of a duck on the shelf. They asked Meng Ming to come first, and I wrote the first word "Fortune Operator. Yongmei:

Outside the post on the side of the broken bridge, lonely and ownerless. It was already dusk and I was alone, and it was even more windy and rainy.

has no intention of fighting for spring, and a group of people are jealous. Scattered into mud and dust, only fragrant as before.

Then he wrote a poem "Mountain Garden Xiaomei":

The crowd shook off the solitary beauty and occupied the small garden. The shadow is sparse and the water is shallow, and the dark fragrance floats in the dusk of the moon.

The frost bird wants to steal the eye first, and the pink butterfly knows how to break the soul. Fortunately, there is a slight chant that can be reciprocated, and there is no need for a sandalwood board to be honored.

Meng Ming put down the pen after finishing writing, turned around and stood aside. The two were silent for a long time, looked at these two poems and read them, and finally said yes, Yan Shu said: "Brother Ming, I'm not ugly." I admire it very much, these two poems are both masterpieces, enough to be passed on to future generations. ”

Then the two asked Meng Ming for poetry, and Meng Ming said, "Take it, you can divide it yourself." The two capitals are masterpieces, which one to pick? The two of them are struggling. An old man came in outside the door and said: "I'm bothering the three guest officers, I am the head of Fan Lou, I heard that Xiao Langjun wrote two poems, which are excellent works, can you let the old man take a look." Meng Ming and the others agreed, he leaned over and looked at it and said: "The heirloom, I have a rule in Fan Lou, where there are distinguished guests and good authors, they are exempted from meals." Can these two poems be given to me Fan Lou?" I promised these two to those two, how can I take them back. Meng Ming told the principal about this situation, and he said can I write two more, Meng Ming agreed, so he picked up the pen and wrote two more. Meng Ming's family had arrived, and he had also said goodbye to the two.

When Meng Ming arrived at his private room, he saw that his family and Mr. Li's family had sat down, so he told him what had just happened, and Mr. Li asked about some details, and everyone started to eat happily. My sister and sister have never seen these delicious dishes, during this period, my mother mentioned Meng Ming and the jade cicada, and wanted to talk to Mr. Li, Mr. Li talked about Meng Ming vomiting blood and falling into a coma that day, in fact, Mr. Li wanted to tease him, and he also saw Meng Ming's affection for the jade cicada. But Mr. Li felt that the jade cicada was three years older than me, and Meng Ming was young, so he wanted to test it, but he didn't expect him to be so stimulated that he vomited blood and fainted, and his affection was so deep. Jade Cicada also has a deep affection for Meng Ming, and is willing to do good things. Mr. Li said that there were some things that he thought were very strange, Meng Ming and Yu Chan almost died at the same time on the same day, and it was too much of a coincidence, the two of them were in trouble together, maybe it was the will of God. In the end, the two elders unanimously decided to get engaged first, and then get married when Meng Ming was older. Meng Ming estimated that he had to be eighteen to get married, with an eight-year waiting period.

After returning home, the family and Mr. Li's family found a matchmaker to finalize the marriage of Meng Ming and Yuchan first. The process of the wedding is generally "one is Nacai, the second is to the name, the third is Najib, the fourth is Najib, the fifth is the invitation, and the sixth is to welcome in person." "During the Great Song Dynasty, the marriageable age for women was 14 to 20 years old; The man is between 16 and 30 years old, and since Yu Chan and I are under the legal age for marriage, we will go through the first five steps:

1. Nacai: This is the first stage of marriage proposal, after the man asks the matchmaker to propose, the woman agrees to propose marriage, and the man prepares a gift to go to the woman's house to propose, the gift is a goose, and the goose will live. Why use geese? The goose is a migratory bird, taking the symbol of yin and yang, and later developing a new idea, saying that the goose loses its mate, and will no longer be a pair for life, and takes its loyalty.

2. Asking for a name: After the marriage proposal, the matchmaker asks the woman for the date of birth and her name to prepare for the marriage ceremony. 

3. Najib: It is a ritual to inform the woman of the good news of the marriage after asking the name. It is also called "making alliances". This is the main etiquette at the stage of engagement. In ancient customs, geese should be used as a token of the marriage. Later, it developed into rings, jewelry, colored silk, gift cakes, gift incense candles, and even sheep and pigs, etc., so it is also called sending or hiring.

Fourth, the recruitment: After the engagement, the man's family will send the dowry to the woman's family, which is the etiquette at the stage of marriage. This wedding is also commonly known as a complete or big engagement, a big gift, etc. Later, the ceremony also adopted the practice of returning the gift, returning part or all of the food in the dowry; Or after being hired, the woman will give the man a hat, shoes and socks as a return gift. The number of dowry gifts and the name of the item are mostly auspicious, and the number is taken as a double taboo.

5. Invitation period: After giving the dowry, choose the wedding date, prepare the gift to the woman's house, and ask for the consent of the ceremony. The ancient custom is to use geese as usual, the gifts are generally simple, and the invitation ceremony is often combined with the dowry ceremony, and the wedding date is determined at the same time as the big gift.

Jade Chan officially became Meng Ming's fiancée, and he was quite excited.