Someone shouted, and there was an uproar all around.
Dozens of eyes looked over and saw a green mist lingering under the archway at the entrance of the village, which was glowing. As it faded downwards, a rope was revealed, revealing a pair of large red lanterns hanging high there.
Green light flickered, and a colorful silk thread wrapped around the door plaque with the three characters "Lujia Village" and extended to both sides, hanging down on both sides of the memorial archway. On the edge of the eaves of the houses near the entrance of the village, red silk thread stretched out in the air and intertwined, revealing a festive atmosphere.
The green air swirled and flew to the small fenced courtyard. The withered morning glories on the fence wall swayed one by one, slowly sprouting tender green leaves. The buds were raised and bloomed little by little, with a pleasant fragrance.
At the gate of the courtyard, two neatly written "囍" characters appeared little by little. The people busy in the courtyard were amazed, and every door and window reflected the joy.
For a moment, the entire Lujia Village and the courtyard were immersed in the festive red. As night fell, the lanterns hanging under the eaves of the houses in the village lit up one after another, illuminating the village roads and the courtyard attics.
On the second floor, loud snoring sounds came from the room. Sun Yingxian was lying on the couch, tossing and turning. She suddenly sat up and kicked Zhu Ganglie, whose belly was exposed. The latter scratched his dark face, turned over, and his snoring stopped.
The red light from the lanterns outside came in through the window lattice and fell on the face of the man with a mustache. The Taoist took out the yellow talismans, looked at them in silence for a long time, rustled for a while, put them back, and then got up from the bed.
The window opened with a creak, and a figure rushed out. Soon, the oil lamp on the table swayed and flashed, and the figure came back from outside and fell asleep.
Sun Yingxian put her hands behind her head and stared at the red candlelight outside the window without blinking, until the sky outside the window gradually turned dark.
Oh oh oh… Oh oh oh~~
Woof woof!!
Amid the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking, the village gradually became noisy, and a series of sounds of gongs and drums continued to sound outside the courtyard.
Zhu Ganglie sat up from the mat on the floor, looked at the Taoist who had changed his clothes, yawned, and smacked his lips.
"You got up early enough."
Over there, the Taoist nodded, took out a brand new dark blue Taoist robe from the closet, unfolded it, shook it twice, and put it on.
"This is what my master made for me at the market down the mountain when he was still here. Old Pig, do you think it still fits me now?"
"Uh-huh."
Zhu Ganglie stuffed a few cakes into his mouth, nodded, took out a new piece of clothing and put it on, urging the Taoist to go down quickly.
"The wedding procession is here, and you are still conceited. Come with me. This is the first time I have seen a wedding in the human world."
The man and the demon came down from the attic, walked to the water tank in the yard, washed themselves, and shouted to the house opposite: "It's time for the groom!"
In the room, Lu Liangsheng, who had not slept all night, sat up from his bed, stretched out his hand to take the new robe hanging on the hanger and put it on, and blew out the oil lamp on the table. It was still a little dim at this time, but it did not prevent him from seeing things clearly.
When I pushed the door open, I saw that my parents and sister had already gotten up in the yard. They lit a fire and cooked, and brought the food to Lu Pan and his eight companions outside the yard, as well as a group of big men from the village.
Seeing Lu Liangsheng just coming out, he couldn't help but urge him.
"What time is it? Why are you still delaying?"
"You have to let me finish washing up."
Lu Liangsheng spoke as he washed his face and spit out the water from his mouth. He then called over an old donkey with a big red flower on it. He had originally been looking for another white horse, but as soon as he had led it into the yard, he was kicked by the old donkey and peed himself.
Ah er hum~~
The old donkey excitedly stamped its hooves, ran out with its head raised, stood in front of the team, and reminded the scholar to ride it!
"You don't want to ride a good horse... You and your father have spoiled this donkey."
Li Jinhua glared at Lu Laoshi, who turned his head away and followed the woman, handing a bowl of porridge to Lu Qing: "What does it have to do with me? I didn't spoil the donkey. Besides, Liangsheng has always been in charge of this donkey."
The woman's eyes narrowed and Lu Laoshi quickly shut up. Lu Liangsheng, who had packed up everything, came out with the Taoist priest and Zhu Ganglie, with a smile on his face.
"The old donkey is smart now. Let it do whatever it wants. I'm not used to riding a big horse. Don't you think so?"
He patted the donkey's head and jumped on it and sat down.
The old donkey grinned, neighed a few times with heavy breaths, and shook its mane. As if in response, it stepped forward slowly with its hooves.
"Let's go!"
Lu Pan yelled at the top of his voice in the back, and the wedding procession put down their bowls and chopsticks on the ground and picked up suonas, gongs and drums to play.
We walked along the path heading north from Lujia Village to Beicun, walking very slowly along the way. After all, an event like welcoming a bride naturally had to be known to everyone around. Secondly, it was also necessary to follow the custom and let passers-by and those watching the ceremony share in the joy.
The sound of the flute was so loud that people from both villages came out to watch. The children imitated the adults' blowing of the flute, shaking it back and forth, laughing and playing along behind.
Two quarters of the morning.
The lively wedding procession reached halfway up the mountain and stopped outside the Honglian Temple. A woman from the village temporarily acted as a matchmaker and took Lu Liangsheng all the way into the temple. She took the bride, who was covered with a red veil, and handed her to Lu Liangsheng. She said some auspicious words, sent her outside, helped the bride onto the prepared bridal sedan, and then went back to the village from the other side of the mountain road to music and dance.
At this time, the Lujia Village was packed with people. After waiting for half an hour, they saw the wedding procession coming back, and the place suddenly became noisy and bustling.
"I'm back, I'm back!" "The bride must be dressed beautifully!"
"Mumble, there's no place for you in that!"
"Can't you just talk about it?"
"Stop talking, tell the kitchen helper to heat up the pot and start cooking!"
When the procession with music and drums came in, the villagers who had some free time gathered around the bridal sedan and squeezed into the small courtyard with a fence. They watched the bride come out with the help of the matchmaker, lifting the curtain, and the unmarried boys in the village joined in the fun.
"Shut up!"
The old man waved his pear wood stick and scolded them a few words. Then, supported by Lu Xi, he turned around and walked in with a smile on his face. He sat next to the door of the main hall, asked Li Jinhua and his wife to come over, and nagged them with some words.
"Being a father-in-law is different from before. Don't treat your daughter-in-law as an outsider!"
"… But you can't be too partial to him. If you spoil him, your son will suffer, and your family will suffer."
"So, you still have to scold her when you should, and you can't leave out a single word that needs to be said, but you can't let the girl suffer in vain."
The old man spoke very slowly, taking a break between each sentence. Lu Pan, who was standing by, rubbed his hands anxiously and stepped over.
"Don't waste time, get married!"
"Ah? I've been talking about this for a long time?" Mr. Lu looked outside. A group of people were staring at him. His toothless mouth opened wide, and the wrinkles on his face became even more wrinkled. He stood up tremblingly, clenched his fists, and bowed them around.
"Haha... I am sorry for the delay. Please let Liangsheng and his bride get married."
It was a newlywed wedding, and everyone was in high spirits, so naturally they didn't care about these things. Amid the noise and cheers, Lu Pan walked to the middle of the hall and shouted loudly: "Welcome to the wedding!"
Lu Liangsheng adjusted the red cloth flower tied on his chest. He held a red silk in his hand, at the other end of which was the bride covered with a red veil. He spoke softly.
"Be careful, don't trip."
"Um."
There was a sound as thin as a mosquito from under the veil. The woman took small steps and followed the red silk in Lu Liangsheng's hand. She walked to the outside of the main hall and stood facing the tablet of the ancestors of the Lu family.
Following Lu Pan's words, "Pray to our ancestors for protection!"
The two of them held red silk and slowly knelt down on the cushion and bowed. When they stood up, two large chairs were brought to the door. Li Jinhua and Lu Laoshi were invited by the matchmaker to sit on them. In front of so many people, the old couple were excited but a little embarrassed.
"Thank you parents for giving birth to me!"
Loud shouts were heard again, and Lu Liangsheng and Min Yuerou knelt down again and kowtowed.
Under the eaves, there were people from the two villages, and there were also vendors mixed in. The fat Zhu Ganglie stood in the crowd, biting his finger at the corner of his mouth, looking at the newlyweds paying respects to their parents with envy, and said to the Taoist next to him:
"When will I, Old Pig, be able to marry a woman like this? It makes me itchy just by looking at her."
However, no one answered him. When he turned around, the Taoist priest had disappeared at some point, and the pig demon, who had turned into a human, frowned his thick eyebrows.
"This old man, Sun, was fine yesterday, he must be thinking of something."
While thinking about it, Lu Pan's voice from the main room came again: "Thank you for your kindness..."
At this moment, a gust of wind suddenly blew through the courtyard. Lu Pan suddenly choked, covered his throat and coughed hard. The brazier placed in front of Li Jinhua and Lu Laoshi suddenly collapsed, and the burnt ashes flew everywhere.
The villagers who were watching the performance attentively were blown to and fro by the wind. They raised their sleeves to cover their faces and started shouting.
"What's going on? It's so windy all of a sudden!" "Ouch, my eyes, someone help blow them out!"
"It's windy like this, is it going to rain? I haven't put away my clothes yet..."
"Lu Lang, why didn't you invite me to your wedding?"
Suddenly, a female voice drowned out the chaotic conversations around him. Lu Liangsheng, who was standing in front of the main hall, put down his sleeves and turned around to look. At the gate of the courtyard, a woman with red sleeves was descending from the air.
"I heard that you were going to get married. I was waiting for you in vain at Baihu Ridge. What's so good about a mortal woman? You might as well follow me. Otherwise..."
She flicked her sleeves, rolled them behind her back, and walked into the yard leisurely with one arm clasped behind her, her charming eyes scanning the surroundings.
“… Otherwise, there will be corpses everywhere! Come out!”
With a loud shout, black smoke billowed from the roof and a figure swooped down like lightning. Before the people sitting at the door of the main room could react, Lu Liangsheng pulled the red silk and dragged the bride over. The wedding dress flew open and the red skirt fluttered. A green shadow screamed and rushed out, colliding with the swooping figure.
When everyone saw clearly, the figure turned in mid-air and stumbled into the yard, standing next to the woman in red. She was wearing a colorful purple dress and had a seductive appearance, but her eyes were wide open, staring at the groom.
"Ma'am, what is that thing under his robe..."
Under the eaves, Lu Liangsheng, in red clothes, was holding his robe to quickly cover up a long, scaly beast with a jackal head. Next to him, the bride was being pulled, her veil shaking and blown off by the wind, floating to the ground.
"Why is it you!!" Hua Hongyi screamed.
Over there, the person wearing a wedding dress was Nie Honglian.