In this era, ordinary men and women get married, basically prepare two or three months in advance, and the time is already sufficient, after all, there is not much to prepare, nothing more than to go to the nearby county to buy some things, and invite relatives and friends to come to the wedding, that's all.

However, Meng Zhong's marriage has reserved nearly half a year of preparation time, and it is obvious that the Meng and Le families attach great importance to it.

Don't look at Meng Zhong is just an ordinary clan of the Meng clan, but he can't stand up to him to learn from Master Zhuang, even if Meng Zhong is also very talented, just for the sake of Master Zhuang's face, the Meng and Le clans can't handle it hastily.

And Meng Zhong has no objection to this, after all, he has half a year, and he can also have a hurry to invite some relatives and friends who are far away from Mengyi.

But before that, he had to take Le Yan to Zhuangziju and inform his teacher of his marriage to Le Yan.

As the so-called teacher is like a father, if according to the rules and etiquette of Confucianism, the marriage of a disciple still needs to be allowed by the teacher, and although Taoism does not have this statement, since the marriage has been decided, it should be the first to report to the teacher, and the teacher is invited first, which is in line with the etiquette.

For this reason, Meng Zhong consulted Le Guo and Xiang's two future fathers-in-law and mother-in-law, of course, the two elders would not have any objections to this, on the contrary, Xiang also pulled his daughter to the inner room, obviously telling his daughter something, probably to be respectful and courteous in front of Master Zhuang.

The next day, that is, on the fifth day of the first lunar month, Meng Zhong took Le Yan to Zhuangziju.

As for the entourage, it was Meng Hu and Rong Yi and the other four Song soldiers, Meng Hu drove a chariot carrying Meng Zhong and Le Yan, while Rong Hu and the other four Song soldiers were on the other chariot, a total of two chariots.

Since there was no shutter on the chariot to block the wind, before the chariot could travel a few miles, Meng Zhong noticed that Le Yan's face had been blown a little red by the cold wind.

So he asked, "Is it cold?" ”

"It's not cold." Le Yan shook her head and said, "The slave family specially wore an extra dress today...... But you, the clothes on your body look quite thin, aren't they cold? ”

"It's okay, I'm used to it." Meng Zhong replied with a smile.

As soon as the words fell, I saw Meng Hu, who was sitting in front of me driving, and said with a smile: "Please take care of my driver." …… I guess it's me the coldest thing, brother and sister. ”

A younger brother and sister made Le Yan's face flush.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong scolded angrily: "You drive well, what do you say?" …… Hey, you don't know how to drive? ”

"Don't worry, old coachman."

Meng Hu said with a big grin: "From Teng to Zhao, how many times have I driven the chariot?" When I fought with Zhao Cheng and Li Dui's gang, I could still cut down a few oncoming Zhao pawns with one hand and the other, what was there to worry about? ”

Le Yan listened curiously in the back, and couldn't help but whisper Meng Zhongdao: "Who are Zhao Cheng and Li Dui?" Why are you fighting them? ”

Meng Zhong explained: "Zhao Cheng, that is, Zhao Cheng, the Anping Jun of Zhao State, and Li Dui is Li Dui, Fengyang Jun of Zhao State, as for why we are hostile to him, this is a long story......

As he spoke, he briefly explained Zhao Guo's experience to Le Yan, only to hear Le Yan's eyes full of surprise.

Although she had heard her father Le Guo mention that her future husband had done some great things in Zhao State, Le Yan never thought that she would have an entanglement with the two Yi monarchs of Zhao State - that is the king of Fengyi, and she knows that she is a great character when she hears it.

"If you offend those two Yi monarchs, won't you be able to go back to Zhao in the future?" Le Yan asked curiously.

"That's not going to happen." Meng Zhong shook his head.

It is undeniable that he had a grudge with Zhao Cheng, Anpingjun, and Li Dui, Fengyangjun, but this grudge has also dissipated with the death of Zhao's father-it can be seen from the actions of Zhao Cheng and Li Dui that they did not want Meng Zhong and others in Zhao State, no matter what the purpose was, they didn't care about Meng Zhong at all, so Meng Zhong was still free to go to Zhao State.

It's just that it doesn't make sense - Master Zhao's father is no longer there, and Gongzi Zhang is no longer there, what will he do when he goes to Zhao again? Visiting Zhao Wanghe?

I have to say that Meng Zhong still has some bitterness about Zhao Wanghe.

may have heard Meng Zhong and Le Yan talking about Zhao Guo, and Meng Hu, who was driving idle in front of him, couldn't help but interject: "Zhao Guo, seriously, it's a good country, especially the women over there, who are both beautiful and enthusiastic...... By the way, Ah Zhong, do you remember the palace maids you met in Handan Palace? Tsk, that's ......."

"Ahem!"

Meng Zhong interrupted Meng Hu with a cough.

Indeed, during the period when he followed Master Zhao's father in Handan Palace, the young and beautiful palace maids in the palace were indeed beautiful and enthusiastic, but are these words suitable for talking about here? Don't forget that there is also Le Yanli sitting next to it.

Although Meng Hu seems to be reckless, he is not stupid, as soon as he heard Meng Zhong coughing, his heart suddenly understood, and he turned back to Meng Zhong with a wicked smile, and deliberately said: "Actually, you also think that Zhao Guo's woman is good, right?" I was quite moved when I saw you...... Alas, it's a pity that we were too young at the beginning, otherwise, leave one or two palace maids to take care of our brothers, hehe, it's good to taste the taste of the women of Zhao Kingdom......"

Hearing this, Meng Zhong couldn't guess that Meng Hu was deliberately playing tricks on himself, and said with a sneer: "It seems that I have to have a good chat with Elder Mengji, and let you taste Elder Mengji's crutch first......"

As soon as he heard this, Meng Hu was immediately deflated, and hurriedly begged for mercy: "Don't don't, Ah Zhong, good brother, we have something to say, Fang is not a brother, I am here to make amends to you...... Brother and sister, I'm talking nonsense, there's no thing, Ah Zhong is very upright, it's just like that...... Oh, Yanagishita Megumi is like sitting still......"

"Shut up, you! Drive well! Meng Zhong pretended to be evil and scolded fiercely.

"Good, good." Meng Hu nodded again and again with a sneer, and no longer dared to play with Meng Zhong.

Not to mention, Meng Hu is still quite afraid of his grandfather Meng Yan, even to this day.

From beginning to end, Le Yan lowered her head and pursed her lips lightly, as if she was deaf to Menghu's words, at least she didn't seem to react.

"Ahem...... This guy deliberately played tricks on me. Meng Zhong explained.

"Hmm." Le Yan nodded lightly, not caring about Meng Hu's words at all, but feeling a little surprised because Meng Zhong explained it to her seriously.

It's no wonder, after all, in this era, it is not uncommon for men to have groups of wives and concubines, even Le Yan's father Le Guo also has several concubines, Le Yan naturally does not think it is strange, she is at most curious, curious about whether those Zhao women in Menghu's mouth are really as beautiful and enthusiastic as Menghu said.

In this way, chatting while hurrying on the road, about half a day later, Meng Zhong and his party arrived at Zhuangziju.

After the chariot stopped, Meng Zhong jumped out of the chariot as soon as he turned over, his movements were crisp and sharp, and he knew at a glance that he was a veteran of the battlefield.

"Let's step on this."

Placing a small stool that was intentionally left on the chariot next to the chariot, Meng Zhong motioned for Le Yan to step on it and get down, after all, the curved deep clothes that Le Yan was wearing were not conducive to walking.

"Hmm."

Le Yan nodded, squatted down slightly, and held the railing of the chariot with one hand.

Seeing her swaying, Meng Zhong stretched out his hand.

Seeing this, Le Yan was stunned for a moment, and then, after a slight hesitation, she blushed and put her other hand on the hand handed out by Meng Zhong, using it as a support point, and carefully stepped off the chariot.

"Thank you, thank you."

After getting out of the carriage, he bowed his head and thanked him.

At this moment, his cheeks were crimson, and he couldn't tell if it was because of the cold wind on the way, or simply because of shyness.

It must have been shy, after all, when she tried a little harder to withdraw the hand that Meng Zhong was pinching in her hand but failed, her face was even more blushing.

Of course, Meng Zhong didn't want to scare her, he explained: "This trail is slippery, you should hold my hand so as not to fall." ”

"Hmm......" Le Yan replied softly.

"Shh~"

At this time, Meng Hu saw this scene from the sidelines, laughed and whistled, causing Meng Zhong to roll his eyes.

I have to say that after experiencing many winds and waves, Meng Zhong will not feel shy because he holds a woman's hand, not to mention that this woman is still the object of his upcoming marriage.

Holding Le Yan's hand, the group slowly walked to Zhuangziju.

At this time, Zhuangzi was still as deserted as before, and probably the children of those families had not yet returned.

"Uncle Zhuang, Uncle Zhuang?"

Before Meng Zhong could stop it, Meng Hu shouted at the top of his voice, which made Meng Zhong hurriedly stop: "Master is inside, don't make noise." ”

As soon as the words fell, I saw Uncle Zhuang walking out of the main house, and after seeing Meng Hu, he scolded with a smile: "I said that whose kid is so ignorant of etiquette, it's you, Ah Hu." ”

"Hey, hey." Meng Hu hurriedly walked up to Uncle Zhuang and greeted Uncle Zhuang with a hippie smile.

Not to mention, except for Meng Hu's personality is really not suitable for entering the Taoist family, Zhuang Bo actually likes this kid a lot, after all, Meng Hu is quite familiar with this guy, no matter who he talks to, unless he doesn't like it - such as Xue Gongtianwen at the beginning, Meng Hu looks at him extremely unpleasantly.

"Uncle Johnson."

At this time, Meng Zhong also pulled Le Yan to walk slowly in front of Uncle Zhuang, immediately let go of his hand, and said to Uncle Zhuang: "The kid is about to get married, and today I will bring my future wife's room to visit the teacher." …… Le Yan, this is Uncle Zhuang, and he is the closest person to the teacher. ”

Hearing this, Le Yan also bowed and said: "Le's daughter, Le Yan, I have seen Uncle Zhuang." ”

"Okay."

Zhuang Bo carefully looked at the young woman in front of him, then looked at Meng Zhong again, nodded and said with emotion: "Ah Zhong has also reached this age...... The old man still remembers that you were only ten years old when you first arrived in the house, and in a blink of an eye, it has been eight years......" As he spoke, he seemed to think of something, and hurriedly said, "Look at me, hurry, come into the house." ”

As he spoke, he let Meng Zhong, Meng Hu, and Le Yan and their party to the hall of the main house.

Seeing that Zhuangzi was not seen in the hall, Meng Zhong asked curiously, "Uncle Zhuang, hasn't the master gotten up yet?" ”

Uncle Zhuang said with a smile: "I have already gotten up, and I originally said that I was going to go outside, in this kind of weather, and there is no trusted disciple entourage around me, how can I let him go out?" …… I'm probably looking at the snow in the inner room at this time, and I'll call him. ”

"I'm tired." Meng Zhong smiled and nodded.

After that, Zhuang Bo went to the inner room, and after a short time, he walked out with Zhuangzi.

I saw that Zhuangzi also had a thick smile on his face at this moment, presumably Uncle Zhuang had informed the former of the good news.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong immediately saluted Zhuangzi and said, "Teacher, the disciple is about to marry this woman soon, and I have come to report the good news and ask the teacher to go to the disciple's wedding feast." ”

On the side, Le Yan also saluted respectfully: "Le's daughter, Le Yan, I have seen Master Zhuangzi." ”

While they were saluting, Meng Hu also took out the invitation bamboo slip written by Meng Zhong himself last night from his bosom and respectfully handed it to Zhuangzi with both hands.

In fact, this bamboo slip is not necessary, after all, Meng Zhong himself has already come, and in the final analysis, it is just a courtesy.

Zhuangzi looked Le Yan up and down, the smile on his face became thicker and thicker, and he immediately took the bamboo slip again, looked at it twice and handed it to Uncle Zhuang, and then nodded and said, "Okay, the old man must go to the banquet...... But why in the middle of the year? Even if it is to stagger the spring ploughing, it is only February at the moment, and it is enough to get married before the spring ploughing. ”

Of course, Meng Zhong understood why Zhuangzi said this, after all, this teacher has never paid attention to etiquette, maybe in this teacher's opinion, the marriage of a man and a woman only needs to get together with the elders, relatives, and friends of both men and women to have a meal, and there is no need for other complicated etiquette, but how can the Meng and Le clans be willing to arrange this marriage so hastily?

Thinking of this, Meng Zhong explained: "First, Le Yan is the young daughter of the patriarch of the Le clan, and it is not easy to keep the marriage simple, so as not to be looked down upon by others, and secondly, the disciple also hopes to invite some close brothers and guests, such as the righteous brother Hui An, who is far away in Pengcheng, if the disciple gets married around March, the righteous brother will not be able to catch up." ”

"Hmm."

Compared with the first explanation, the second explanation Zhuangzi still agreed, only to see him stroked his beard and asked, "In addition to the old man and Hui An, who else did you invite?" ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong explained: "The teacher was the first to be invited by the disciple, and on the side of Brother Hui An, the disciple has not yet been invited, and he plans to write a letter after returning today......

I have to say that although Zhuangzi does not pay attention to this kind of etiquette, it still makes Zhuangzi very happy to see his disciples think about themselves first.

He nodded and asked with a smile, "Okay, well, then, when you go back, who are you going to invite?" In the past two years, you must have made a lot of contacts, right? ”

As for the guests and friends of the banquet, Meng Zhong had already listed them last night, whether the other party would come to the banquet or not, but Meng Zhong thought that he had to send this invitation letter.

For example, Zhao Wang He of Zhao State, the late Zhao Xiang Feiyi's son Fei You, Yang Wenjun Zhao Bao and his assistant Sima Zhao Ben, as well as military Sima Zhao Xi and Xu Jun.

Take Zhao Wanghe as an example, it is almost impossible for him to come to the banquet, but judging from the relationship between Meng Zhong and his previous relationship, such a major event as marriage should be informed to the other party, no matter how the other party reacts - Fei You, Zhao Bao, Zhao Ben, Zhao Xi, Xu Jun and others are all like this.

As for the Song Kingdom, in addition to his righteous brother Hui An, Meng Zhong invited the object of the invitation, as well as the crown prince Dai Wu, the military Sima Dai Busheng, Dai Yingzhi, Jing Yu, as well as Xiao Ji, Dai Jing and others, but considering that the Qi and Song countries only had a temporary truce last year because of the weather, there may be a guarantee this year, so Dai Wu and Dai Busheng may not come to his Meng Zhong's marriage.

But it's still that sentence, do your best, at least know that the other party will be heard, whether the other party comes or not.

In addition to Zhao and Song, Meng Zhong also decided to invite his other brother-in-law, Tian Zhang, if the other party had time.

As for whether Tian Zhang will encounter danger on the way to the Song Kingdom, Meng Zhong is not worried, after all, in this era, public and private affairs are still very clearly divided, if Tian Zhang is caught by the Song State because he came to the Song Kingdom to rush to a private banquet, then the Song State will definitely become the object of criticism and disgust of the people of the world - I believe that Song Wangyan will never do such a bad thing.

As for the end, only Mencius and his disciples remained.

"Meng Ke?"

Zhuangzi had been smiling and groaning until he heard Tian Zhang's name, until Meng Zhong said that he was going to invite Mencius, and Zhuangzi's face changed slightly.

"What's wrong, teacher?"

Seeing that Zhuangzi's expression was different, Meng Zhong said cautiously: "Mencius has always taken care of his disciples, and as a junior, disciples feel that they should invite Mencius when they get married, regardless of whether Mencius comes to the banquet or not...... Does the teacher have a different opinion on this? ”

"Disagree?"

Zhuangzi was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile on his face: "No, you are right, you must invite Mencius." ”

Speaking of this, his gaze looked at the snow outside the house through Meng Zhong and Le Yan in front of him, and then stroked his beard and chuckled: "The old man is looking forward to the ...... with Master Meng Meet. ”

He involuntarily deliberately accentuated the word "meeting", as if it burst out from between his teeth, which made Meng Zhong and Meng Hu look at each other.

Only Uncle Zhuang, who knew a little bit of the inside story, shook his head helplessly at the moment.

After a while, after Meng Zhong and Le Yan said goodbye and left, Master Zhuang said to Uncle Zhuang with a shake of spirit: "Uncle Zhuang, where did you put my crutch?" ”

"Which one?" Uncle Zhuang asked puzzled.

Zhuangzi explained: "It's the crutch that is a little heavy...... You help me find out. ”

"I guess it's in the house." Uncle Zhuang thought for a while, and then asked puzzledly, "Master, what do you want that crutch for?" Didn't you think it was too heavy to use it at the beginning? Is it ......?"

"Hugh has to say more, find out, I have a lot of use." Zhuangzi said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Okay...... "Uncle Zhuang turned around and left with a smile.

On the same day, Meng Zhong sent Le Yan back to the Le family, and immediately took his mother Ge and sister Meng Yan, and returned to Mengyi with Meng Jian, Meng Hu, and Meng Sui, as for Le Yi, he temporarily stayed in the Le family, and Meng Zhong asked Le Jin and Le Xu brothers to take care of them.

The next day, Meng Zhong began to write letters of invitation, one by one.

It is worth mentioning that the elder Meng recommended to bring the old patriarch Meng Qi and the new patriarch Meng Hu to visit Meng Zhong and discuss with him the number of guests to be entertained.

During this period, Meng Jian casually picked up the letter that Meng Zhong was going to entrust to Zhao Wanghe, and after looking at it twice, he said casually: "Your Majesty? To whom is this letter addressed? ”

Meng Zhong explained: "The monarch of Zhao State, Zhao Wang He. ”

Hearing this, the old patriarch Meng Qi's hands trembled in shock, and even Meng Jian was full of horror.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong hurriedly said: "These people from Zhao Kingdom, they may not come, I just do my best." ”

“……”

Meng Jian and Meng Qi glanced at each other, and then the former asked Meng Zhong, "Ah Zhong, who else did you invite?" ”

Hearing this, Meng Sui, who was helping on the side, handed the list to Meng Xuan, only to see that Meng Xuan and Meng Qi were speechless in shock after seeing the names on the list.

Forget about Zhao Guo's, Meng Jian and Meng Qi don't have much feeling, but Dai Wu, Hui An, Dai Busheng, Dai Yingzhi, Jing Wei, these people are all important figures in his Song Kingdom.

"You...... Can you really invite the crown prince Dai Wu, Dai Busheng, Dai Yingzhi and others to my Mengyi? The old patriarch Meng Qi asked in surprise.

Meng Zhong thought for a moment and replied, "In view of the current situation between the Qi State and my Song State, it should not be possible to invite all of them, probably one or two people will come." ”

"Even so, it's a great deal!"

Meng Qi and Meng Jian glanced at each other, and decided to make this marriage more decent and grand—what if the crown prince Dai Wu really came to the banquet?

On the same day, with the help of Meng Sui, Meng Zhong finally finished writing an invitation letter to everyone, and asked the post guards of Mengcheng to send them to various places.

During this period, in addition to spring plowing and sowing in April and May, at other times, the Meng and Le clans were preparing for this marriage with all their hearts, including Menghu, Mengsui, Le Jin, Le Xu, Le Yi and others, as well as Wu Ying, Hua Hu, Mu Wu, Xiang Yi and other small partners who rushed to help after hearing the news.

During the period, a group of friends inevitably gathered together to celebrate.

In a blink of an eye, in late May, approaching the date of Meng Zhong's marriage, Meng Zhong's brother-in-law Hui Ang took the lead in rushing from Pengcheng to Mengyi with a congratulatory gift full of four carriages to congratulate him.

Seeing that this brother was so expensive, Meng Zhong was quite embarrassed when he led his clan to welcome Hui An.

As a result, Hui Ang said with a smile: "You said that these four cars are all congratulatory gifts for my brother?" Haha, yes! This is the only carriage for my brother's congratulatory gift, and the other three carriages are the congratulatory gifts that the king ordered me to bring to you after learning of this. …… And this. ”

As he spoke, Hui Ang took off the sword he hung on his waist, handed it to Meng Zhong, and said with a smile in his mouth: "This is the sword that the king has ordered the craftsmen of Pengcheng to build in the past two years, there are only six in total, in view of your contribution to the Song Kingdom, the king ordered me to bring this sword to you." ”

With that, he drew the blade of his sword in front of everyone and slashed at the wooden corner of the chariot beside him, and only heard a slight sound, and the corner was cut off, and it was really sharp.

"Thank you...... King. ”

At Hui An's urging, Meng Zhong took the sword with both hands.

I have to say that he still has some mustard for Song Wangyan, but he didn't expect Song Wangyan to attach great importance to him, and when he learned that he was about to get married, he actually gave him a congratulatory gift of three carriages and an extremely sharp sword.

On the side, several elders such as Meng Qi, Meng Jian, and Meng Jin, who came to greet Hui Ang with Meng Zhong, were also full of shock at this moment.

Thinking about it, they never expected that the marriage of the children of the clan would alarm their Song monarch, Song Wangyan, and what was even more incredible was that this monarch even sent a congratulatory gift.

As it turned out, however, it was far from the time they should have been shocked.

Within two days, Dai Wu, the crown prince of the Song Kingdom, came to Mengyi in person with a congratulatory gift, which alarmed the surrounding area, not to mention that the patriarchs of the Le family, Xiao family, and Hua clan who lived around came to ask for the prince Dai Wu, and even the county orders of Shangqiu City and Mengcheng also rushed to Mengyi after learning about it.

Subsequently, Tian Zhang, Dai Busheng, and even Mencius, who was far away in the Zou State, also brought nearly ten of their closest disciples, such as Wan Zhang and Gongsun Chou, to Mengyi in a carriage and with congratulatory gifts.

The arrival of these amazing guests made the little Mengyi lively all of a sudden.