A gathering of guests
Zhang Xuezhou was serious about getting married.
Couplets were posted on the gates of the mansion early in the morning, and the interior was also cleaned and made brand new.
Removing the Law Power restraints might require multiple marriages, so Zhang Xuezhou didn't dare to keep Zhang Zhong and Lady Yourong going back and forth. Xiao Yan didn't bring her family or the people from Zhang Household Village over.
This kind of marriage isn't exactly good news; ultimately, it's his personal matter and a problem within his own family that he needs to handle.
The banquet invitations were limited to a very small number of people.
"Old Zheng..."
Chunyu Tiying, who had been specially invited by Zhang Xuezhou, was about to ask about the somewhat awkward wedding banquet when she quickly stopped herself, stood up, and lowered her head slightly.
"Dongfang Shuo, congratulations!"
The distinguished guests for the dinner arrived on time.
The journey from the palace through the East Sima Gate to the residence was not long; the new emperor walked directly from the palace.
Behind the new emperor followed twelve carriages carrying congratulatory gifts.
"On the joyous occasion of Manqian's marriage, I bestow upon her eight bushels each of millet, sorghum, wheat, beans, and hemp; eighteen bolts of silk; a jade scepter symbolizing many children and grandchildren; four cattle, four pigs, and four sheep; a set of six betrothal gifts; and a thousand taels of gold as congratulations. The Empress also bestows eight boxes of pearl-shell dowry and three catties of face powder as wedding congratulations!"
The eunuch beside the new emperor read the text aloud in his place.
The items carried by the carriages and horses were all mainstream wedding gifts in contemporary society, and the new emperor also arranged for them to be of the full standard, taking the largest amount according to Zhang Xuezhou's official rank.
To Zhang Xuezhou's surprise, the Empress also bestowed gifts. Although the Empress did not come in person, the gifts were present, which made Zhang Xuezhou feel more favorably toward her.
"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!"
Zhang Xuezhou simply bowed, without going through the usual formalities of initial refusal, subsequent bestowal, and final acceptance of gifts.
If possible, he hoped the new emperor's congratulatory gifts would be even more substantial.
Although Zhang Xuezhou possessed many valuable pills, these pills only had value to those with specific needs and did not have a real market price.
Zhang Xuezhou was indeed short of the daily necessities given as gifts by the new emperor, and he also needed some money for daily expenses. After all, he would need to support his family in the future and make some long-term plans for his children, so he could never have too much money.
The new emperor took the first seat, and his personal visit to offer congratulations demonstrated his close relationship with his ministers.
"You didn't invite many more people?"
After taking his seat, the new emperor looked around and saw that there were few high-ranking officials among those seated, only a handful of people making up the numbers.
He asked out of curiosity, only to see Zhang Xuezhou shake his head repeatedly.
"Your Majesty alone is worth more than ten thousand people's congratulations," Zhang Xuezhou said with a dry laugh.
Since he didn't give gifts out regularly, he couldn't expect to receive them back when he needed them for favors. Besides, Zhang Xuezhou usually took his payment on the spot, so no one owed him any favors.
If someone were to actually deliver a gift to his door, Zhang Xuezhou would have a headache about how to reciprocate and how to handle the awkwardness of the relationship.
"You sure know how to talk!"
The new emperor grumbled, then heard the wheels of the carriage turning at the door, and the familiar voice calling "Mother" again. This made the new emperor quickly remove the Tongtian Crown from his head and stuff it into his Great Heaven and Earth, and then quickly take out a Traveling Crown and put it on his head.
He had just finished fastening his clothes when Huo Qubing, supporting Wei Shao'er, slowly walked in from the main gate. Then, Chen Zhang waved for someone to carry half a tael of coins into the mansion by the basket.
"You have a very good relationship with the Chen family; you probably have eight thousand strings of cash!"
Seeing eight men carrying baskets of half-ounce coins off the carriage, the new emperor made a quick estimate and couldn't help but marvel. He thought that Wei Shao'er was using his entire fortune to congratulate Zhang Xuezhou on his wedding, bringing over all the odds and ends he earned from singing in brothels. Their relationship was so good that it was hard to believe.
"I thought Young Master Wei had made a lot of money, but I didn't expect it to be only eight thousand strings of cash," Zhang Xuezhou said.
"There was some controversy surrounding the sick child's admission to the Imperial Academy. She donated five thousand strings of cash to build the academy's residence, which quelled the Confucian School controversy," the new emperor said. "She certainly made a lot of money!"
From the perspective of emperors, Wei Shao'er's profits were limited, amounting to just over Wanliang taels of gold.
From an ordinary person's perspective, Wei Shao'er is nothing short of a money-printing machine.
If the imperial court had hundreds of guards to replenish the national treasury, the new emperor could significantly reduce national taxes.
This kind of financial gain is even better than that of some big merchants. The only difficulty is that Wei Shao'er's situation is hard to replicate. Others do not have a sister like Wei Zifu to help them, nor do they have the support of the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion.
"Dongfang Shuo, congratulations on your wedding! May you have many happy returns of the day!"
Wei Shao'er walked slowly, her face beaming with barely concealed joy, and she kept glancing at the elderly Zheng Wukong and Chunyu Tiying beside her.
Chen Zhang glanced at the new emperor, then offered his congratulations according to protocol.
May you have this day every year!
Huo Qubing was the first to bow to the new emperor, and then offered his congratulations to Zhang Xuezhou, trying to curry favor with him.
These words caused Zhang Xuezhou's expression to change slightly. He felt that the mother and son's jinxed words were bound to come true in the future.
He forced a smile and accepted the congratulations, then gestured for Huo Qubing to go to the children's table.
"They even prepared a small table for me!"
Huo Qubing looked delighted.
Clearly, Zhang Xuezhou did not treat him like a child, and even specially arranged a seat for him. Such special attention was extremely rare in the current Great Han society. He was overjoyed and sat down in his seat with great decorum.
"The Lord has arrived!"
Flames for cooking meat were lit in the mansion, and Princess Dou arrived late.
She unusually styled her hair in a bun, and then had a very young-looking man lead her forward by the hand. Behind her, two rows of men in long robes carried various musical instruments, and then came the gift-giving group.
"Oh? His Majesty is here too?"
Princess Dou exclaimed in surprise, and the new emperor, sitting at the head of the table, almost wanted to bury his head directly on the table.
"Aunt has arrived too, please take a seat!"
The new emperor forced himself to stand up and bow, then gave Zhang Xuezhou a very resentful look.
When interacting with the royal family, Confucian School, and other forces, the new emperor must also abide by various rules and cannot make all decisions with a single sentence.
If possible, the new emperor still hoped to maintain the title of Marquis of Pingyang, especially when he was around Huo Qubing and others. After all, he was not the supreme emperor that ordinary people imagined, nor was he as arbitrarily powerful as people thought, nor was he as omnipotent as the emperor Huo Qubing imagined.
"Aunt, I didn't expect you to be here today to congratulate Dongfang Shuo on his wedding!" The new emperor said, "I thought you were at home listening to some folk songs!"
"Dongfang Shuo said that today is a wedding day, and we will also recite Sima Xiangru Mate.' I am very interested in this, so I came here specifically to listen," said Princess Dou with a smile.
"I see!"
The new emperor gave a dry reply.
Han Yan was constantly busy both inside and outside the palace, and he also rode his horse to investigate a thousand miles away. He was busy without stopping.
Although Han Yan found some suspicious clues, compared to Zhang Xuezhou, who hadn't contacted Dou Taizhu for a year and then invited her to his home under the guise of a wedding, thus gaining a close relationship with her, Zhang Xuezhou did all this too easily and simply.
Zhang Xuezhou and Han Yan faced similar situations, but their approaches to doing things differed, and the difficulties they encountered were vastly different.
The new emperor was filled with emotion; he felt that Han Yan, after witnessing Zhang Xuezhou's actions, would probably break down in tears.