In the fourteenth year of the Great Calendar, the Son of Heaven respected Guo Ziyi as the "Shang Father", promoted the Taiwei and Zhongshu Order, and increased the number of food estates of the king of Fenyang County to 2,000 households.

Two years later, Guo Ziyi died of illness at the age of eighty-five, posthumously presented to the Taishi, nicknamed "Zhongwu", with the temple court of Daizong, and accompanied the funeral to build a mausoleum. After his death, Emperor Dezong abolished the dynasty for five days, came to Anfumen for funeral, and violated the etiquette system to raise his tomb by one zhang. On the day of the tomb, Dezong led hundreds of officials to mourn, wept bitterly in front of his grave, and even ordered the national history to record, calling him "the rebuilding of the royal family, the honor of the high generation".

Guo Ziyi, the king of Fenyang County, recovered his homeland during his lifetime, fought against traitors, resisted strong enemies outside, and refused to give up an inch of land; After his death, the Son of Heaven was buried, and hundreds of officials mourned, accompanied by the temple, and the supreme mourning.

What is even more admirable is that he served four generations of emperors in his life, not only in the turbulent court to the end of his life, but also in the shadow of the entire family: his father was posthumously named the Duke of Qi, and his mother was named the Lady of Wei; Eight siblings of the same generation, all of whom served in the imperial court, or were knighted for merit, or became a member of one party; His five wives and concubines were all named Mrs. of the country; His eight sons and seven sons-in-law are even more noble and extremely noble;

There are eight horses among the grandchildren, and the granddaughter Guo Yan is the wife of today's son, although she does not have the name of the queen, but she is also a mother in the world.

It is no exaggeration to say that Guo Ziyi single-handedly brought the down-and-out Guo family back to glory.

Therefore, in the Guo ancestral hall, in addition to the tablets of the emperor and Uncle Yu, the tablets of Guo Ziyi's father and Guo Ziyi himself are the most eye-catching.

And now the descendants who come to worship their ancestors are mostly from the lineage of Guo Ziyi, the king of Fenyang County.

Guo Ziyi had eight sons, each of whom gave birth to at least three grandchildren. Originally, his eldest son Guo Yao was the heir, and the second-class lord was awarded the title of Dai Guogong, and later Guo Yao died of illness, and Guo Ziyi's sixth son Guo Yao inherited the title of Dai Guogong. Guo Hua is the concubine of Princess Shengping, the beloved daughter of Dezong, the two were in love with each other during their lifetimes, and they also left a good story of "drunk and beating the golden branch", which has long become a must-talk topic in the tavern teahouse.

Guo Hua and Princess Shengping have four sons: the eldest son, Guo Zhu, was knighted, but unfortunately died young, leaving three sons; The second son, Guo Zhao, married the daughter of the former emperor Princess Changlin and also had three sons; Xilingyue's father, Guo Jun, is the third, and there is only one son, Guo Zhongting; The fourth son, Guo Chen, had a wife before, and after his death, he married the widowed Princess Xihe, although he had two concubines under his knees, but he was forced to set up Princess Xihe and her ex-husband's son as heirs.

Xiling Yue did a little calculation, her grandfather Guo Hua left four sons and nine grandchildren, plus the heirs brought by Princess Xihe, exactly ten grandchildren, that is, she has nine cousins.

The other seven uncles and uncles have far more than that, and each vein has more than twenty grandchildren. Among her peers, the eldest is thirty years older than her, and the youngest is still in infancy!

Her great-grandfather Guo Ziyi left a huge number of descendants, nearly 200 men, all of whom married famous and noble girls and were reused by the imperial court. Only Guo Zhongting is an outlier among them, but he also has the title of "Duke of Taiyuan County".

This is just the descendants of Guo Ziyi's lineage. Guo Ziyi's other brothers and siblings have also bred many descendants, with more than 100 descendants and 50 or 60 people who are not angry, most of whom have taken official careers. With their prominent surnames and large kinship as support, they are now all mixing well.

Before coming to the ancestral hall, Xiling Yue didn't think that this surname was so glorious, but when she was really in it, hearing Guo Ziyi's heroic deeds and seeing the many titles on his tablet, she suddenly felt a burst of pride. Seeing the romantic temperament and conversation of the Guo children again, she was even more impressed in her heart. She knew that she had truly embraced the surname and become one of them.

Due to the large number of descendants of the Guo family, only those who were able to enter the ancestral hall were within three generations behind the king of Fenyang County, which happened to be the end of Xilingyue's generation. Almost all of her grandparents have died, and many of her fathers and uncles have died of illness, and about 200 people are eligible to participate in ancestor worship.

But there is no doubt that worshipping ancestors is based on Guo Ziyi's lineage.

Originally, Guo Zhu, the eldest uncle of Xilingyue, was the one who took the title, but because of his untimely death, his heir was also extremely modest and did not dare to be big in front of his elders. On the contrary, her father Guo Yan married the eldest sister of today's saint, the holy family is long, and he was born in the country's sacrificial wine, and it was expected to preside over the ancestor worship ceremony, so he was elected.

Before the ancestor worship begins, Xiling Yue first carried out the ritual of bowing to the ancestors alone, kneeling three times and nine knocking under the attention of everyone, and then serving tea and kowtowing to the elders one by one, receiving the rituals and blessings, and then exchanging words between the peers, getting acquainted one by one, and finally worshiping the gods of heaven and earth, before officially recognizing the ancestors and returning to the ancestors.

When the afternoon is auspicious, it is a lengthy ancestor worship ceremony. Noble as the eldest princess of Hanyang, or an ordinary woman from a good family, but all daughters-in-law of the Guo family are equal in front of the ancestral tablet.

Offering incense, blessings, food, tea, silk, wine, food boxes, meat, blessings, burning blessings, and bowing to the gods...... Each branch will also write the new male added this year into the family tree to ask for the blessing of the ancestors.

Subsequently, the clan elders will open the gate of the ancestral hall and give the prepared Tongbao and porridge rice to the people to demonstrate the goodness of the Guo family. Some people who have been sheltered by the Guo family will also come to give gifts and thanksgiving, no matter how light or heavy the gift is, the clan elders will gladly accept it.

The elaborate ceremony continued until the evening of Chinese New Year's Eve, when more than 200 tribesmen and their wives enjoyed dinner together in the ancestral hall. At this time, the troupe of the exorcist troupe appeared lively, and ninety-nine people wore ghost masks, jumping or playing and singing with firecrackers in hand, so festive.

What made Xiling Yue unbearable the most was Tusu wine and pepper cypress wine. The former is soaked in traditional Chinese medicine such as rhubarb, atractylodes, cinnamon branches, and peppercorns, which can nourish the body, drive away evil spirits and avoid miasma; The latter is made with Sichuan pepper, arborvitae leaves, and liquor, which can detoxify and anti-aging.

Folk customs, drinking should start from the "juvenile". Xiling Yue forcibly drank a cup of Tu Su and a cup of pepper cypress, thinking that this item would be revealed. Who would have expected that at this moment, there was a sudden decree in the palace, saying that it was "Guo Lingyue Sex Hui Rou Jia", and the saint ordered to add another 500 households. So far, Xilingyue, the lord of Xichuan County, has 2,500 households in his body, like an unmarried princess.

Wise people know that the Son of Heaven chose to give this will on the day of Guo's ancestor worship, and it is extremely heavy. Especially Xilingyue, who had already received the county lord's food and was also given a special title by the Son of Heaven.

At this time, the clansmen were boiling, the elders toasted to the eldest princess and Guo Yan, and the peers came to toast to Xilingyue, taking the Tusu wine and pepper cypress wine in their hands. The eldest princess and her wife are okay, they have long been accustomed to the taste of wine. But Xiling Yue was most afraid of drinking medicine in his life, and this time he couldn't refuse the good intentions of his clansmen, so he could only drink bitterly.

(End of chapter)