For folks other than the Son of Heaven, the most important activity on Zhengdan Day is the clan offering sacrifices to the ancestors of the family temple.

The Wei family is no exception.

On the auspicious day of October, the winter wine brewed for the worship of ancestors in Zhengdan has already been produced.

Three days ago, Mrs. Xu began to bathe and change her clothes to keep her body and mind clean.

The sacrificial deacons in the clan also arranged all the sacrificial matters, just waiting for that day to come.

On the first day of last year, Wei Shao stayed in Xindu with newly married Xiao Qiao due to the war, and missed the sacrifice.

Mrs. Xu thought that this year's New Year's Day, she would miss it again. I didn't want to finally go home one day early. Very happy.

I got home late last night, and it was already late at night. After entering the Westinghouse, he tidied up, took a shower, and then Xiao Qiao and Wei Shao fell asleep. Because the road was bumpy and hard, Xiao Qiao fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. In the early morning of the next day, it was still dark outside the window, and it was not until the fifth watch. Xiao Qiao had something in her heart and woke up from her sleep. Opening his eyes, he saw that the silver candle in the room was quietly lit, but Wei Shao, who was beside the pillow, had disappeared.

Early in the morning, he was going to make sacrifices to the family temple. He had a lot of things to do today.

Xiao Qiao sat up and was startled.

On this day last year, she was in Xindu and did not participate in the clan sacrifice of the Wei family.

It is said that this year's return, as Wei Shao's wife, she naturally wants to participate in today's family activities.

But Xiao Qiao didn't forget that when she first arrived at Wei's house last year as a bride, Wei Shao didn't take her to visit the temple at all.

In terms of etiquette, her original wedding actually lacked the last and most important step: visiting the temple of her husband's family as a bride.

Only by visiting the family temple can one truly express the acceptance of the husband's family.

Of course, Xiao Qiao himself didn't care about this kind of politeness. A year has passed, and she has long forgotten about this incident.

But today is a special day. When she faced the question of whether to be rejected outside the threshold of the family temple again, she inevitably remembered what happened back then.

Because it was too late last night, the news of her and Wei Shao's return home was delivered to Mrs. Xu. The two of them only kowtowed in front of her, briefly said a few words about what happened on the road, and then went back to the Westinghouse to rest. So at that time, Mrs. Xu didn't mention what happened this morning.

According to Xiao Qiao's guess, Mrs. Xu should take her to the family temple.

But on Wei Shao's side, Xiao Qiao was a little unsure.

Since he quietly got up and left early in the morning, without telling herself a word, she felt more and more that he was probably still unwilling to let her surnamed Qiao step into his Wei family's temple.

While Xiao Qiao was hesitating, there was a sudden sound of soft footsteps outside the door, and then the door opened, and Chunniang led the maid and turned in behind the screen.

"It's time for the lady to get up. If she goes to sleep again, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up with the sacrifices in the family temple."

Chunniang went to the bed with a smile on her face, pulled up the bed curtain, and motioned for the maid to put down the clothes she was holding.

Xiao Qiao glanced at it.

It's a blue-white silk robe. Women's clothing for worship.

Chunniang said: "The male gentleman woke up at the fourth hour, and asked the maid not to wake you up and let you sleep a little longer. When the maid saw that it was almost the same time, she came to call the female gentleman to get up."

Xiao Qiao was silent and got out of bed. After grooming, put on the deep silk clothes. Took a few bites of the breakfast served. At this time, it was still dark, and he was about to go to the north house when he heard the maid at the door calling "Men," and turned his head to see Wei Shao coming in.

He also wore a full set of black sacrificial gowns. Long crown, black outer clothes, inner clothes with purple collar and sleeves.

The dress is solemn, and it seems that others are getting longer and taller, with bright eyes and high spirits.

Xiao Qiao greeted him and called him "husband".

Wei Shao glanced at her, smiled and said, "Grandma's side should be getting better soon. We're done."

Joe nodded. They went out with him, and the two went to the north house.

From the fifth watch, all the main gates of Wei Mansion, Yimen Gate, and Inner Gate have been opened. The lanterns start from the gate and go in all the way along the passage like a fire dragon. The whole Wei Mansion is brilliantly lit.

When he arrived at the hanging flower gate of the Westinghouse, Xiao Qiao saw that the inner courtyard was also brightly lit from a distance. When climbing the steps, he habitually lowered his head and lifted his skirt, but saw a hand stretched out to the side, raised his head, and saw Wei Shao stopped, turning his head to look at himself.

It's dark and cold. But Xiao Qiao felt a little warm in her heart, and put one of her hands into his equally warm palm.

Wei Shao took her hand, led her up the steps, crossed the threshold, and released her when he reached the door of Madam Xu's main room.

The two entered the room. Madam Xu got up early. She received the worship, and looked around the two of them, nodded with satisfaction, and said with a smile: "Very good. Let's go now. The relatives must be waiting."

…

The ancestral hall of the Wei family is located in an independent compound in the west of the Wei House. The vermilion gate of Wujian, which is always closed on weekdays, opened wide this morning. The Wei family clansmen have all gathered here, waiting in the pagodas on both sides, men and women are separated, and the two rooms are filled.

For the first time, Xiao Qiao stepped into this dark and cold courtyard that made her feel at first.

She followed Madam Xu and Wei Shao, and under the gaze of many eyes, she entered the ancestral hall along the wide blue corridor under her feet. The pines and cypresses are green, solemn and solemn. On both sides of the hall, there are two huge bronze burning cauldrons with a height of half a person. The inside of the cauldron was already burning with lush incense, and two puffs of green smoke curled up from the cauldron's mouth, and there was a strong smell of incense in the air.

The deacon of the Wei family has already led people to wait. We respectfully welcomed Mrs. Xu and entered the room. The candles in the interior are brilliant, and above the shrine, there is a horizontal plaque with "Zude Liufang", and a **** couplet on the left and right: Respect Ming Xiu, then you will celebrate; Zhao Mu's ancestors carry the light of tin. table below. Behind the table is the position of the gods of the Wei family in all dynasties. The first ancestor is in the middle, and the following generations, father and son, are in the order of Zhaomu left and right.

At the end of the densely packed two rows of gods, Xiao Qiao saw two names that she was all too familiar with: Xian Yan Wei Gong taboo the gods of adults. The deity of the elder brother Wei Bao.

These two divine positions were established in the name of Wei Shao, omitting all the honorary titles, it is simple and clear.

Xiao Qiao quietly glanced at Wei Shao beside him.

His expression was solemn. Almost expressionless. Her eyes crossed the back of Mrs. Xu who was praying devoutly to her ancestors, and she always landed on the two dark wooden shrines that were painted black.

After Madam Xu finished her prayers with incense, it was Wei Shaoxiaoqiao. Xiao Qiao knelt on the kneeling mat laid in front of the **** seat, and after giving the big salute, without any distractions, she calmly collected her breath, respectfully offered incense and honored the noble, closed her eyes and sincerely prayed.

After the worship ceremony was over, and finally walking out of the gate of the family temple, Xiao Qiao looked back subconsciously.

At that time, the sky was bright, and the first ray of the rising sun on the New Year's Day was gushing out from behind the clouds, shining on the kiss of the owl on the main ridge of the main hall. It was bright and splendid. The sense of coldness was immediately expelled without a trace.

…

On the Zhengdan day, after Wei Shao worshipped the ancestral temple, he went straight to the government office, where he was greeted by the governors of various counties and generals who rushed to the hall.

Xiao Qiao was not much freer than him on this day.

Mrs. Zhu has not yet lifted her foot restraint. In the name of being inconvenient to see people, she did not even show up at the ancestral hall in the morning.

Mrs. Xu is rarely seen now. In addition, I worshipped the ancestral temple early in the morning. After returning home, I felt a little down and took a rest. Xiao Qiao completely replaced Mrs. Zhu's responsibilities as the mistress of the Wei House. Today, from morning to night, she has been entertaining the wives of various families who came to congratulate Yuyang City. Until evening, Fang was free. After drinking a sip of tea, he went to the North House to serve Mrs. Xu for dinner. Mrs. Xu asked about her trip back to Yanzhou. Xiao Qiao picked up what she could say and told her. Hearing that Mrs. Ding's condition was no longer in trouble, Mrs. Xu was also happy. After finishing the meal, he looked at Xiao Qiao and said distressedly: "You have been working **** your journey. You arrived late last night, and you got up early in the morning and have been busy until now. Let's go back. When Shao'er comes back outside, he won't be here with me. , you two rest early."

Joe agreed. Seeing Mrs. Xu's repeated urging, she got up and came out, returned to the Westinghouse, took a shower and changed into her homely clothes, Fang let out a sigh of relief, and the whole person relaxed.

After Wei Shao's banquet was over, he didn't come back until it was dark.

He must have been drinking a lot, and his feet were swaying.

Xiao Qiao has been waiting for him in the room. Hearing the voice of the servant girl outside, he hurriedly went out to greet him.

Wei Shao supported her shoulders and entered the room, then leaned his head on the bed, closing his eyes and motionless.

Seeing that he was very drunk, his face was flushed and the smell of alcohol was spitting, Xiao Qiao couldn't care to complain. He helped him remove his boots and socks, twisted a hot and humid towel with his own hands, and wiped his face finely for him. After wiping his face, he wiped his hands and feet again, covered him with the quilt, got up and went out, told Chunniang and the servants to leave, and closed the door after returning to the room. side.

She smelled the air in the tent, which gradually brought out a faint smell of alcohol through his breath, and slowly closed her eyes.

In the second half of the night, she was woken up by the man beside her.

In the darkness, Wei Shao groped her body with his hot palms, then pressed her down and pushed her legs away eagerly, without any foreplay. into her.

The two have become increasingly familiar with each other's bodies. But every time he first entered, even if she was wet, it often took a while to fully adjust to his invasion.

He will gradually take care of her feelings. She would always be warm with her before.

But at this moment, in the darkness, he seemed to have changed back to the Wei Shao who ignored her at the beginning.

His breath was very fast, and the breath hit her face, and Xiao Qiao could smell the smell of alcohol. The skin on her body was hot, ironing her moist skin like a stove. When his chest was pressed against her soft breasts, Xiao Qiao heard a very comfortable low moan in his throat.

He kept entering her, and he entered her so fiercely that her waist seemed to be broken when his palms pinched her. Panting like a cow. In the end, Xiao Qiao was sobbed by him. When he finally finished, his breathing slowly calmed down, and Xiao Qiao also slowly stopped sobbing. I felt that my face and body were covered with a wet layer that I don't know if it was tears or sweat. It was very uncomfortable, so I removed the arm he had wrapped around me, sat up from his arms, and asked for Go down to clean.

Wei Shao's arm suddenly stretched out again and pressed her back into his chest.

"From the first day you married me, you were part of my Wei family. Don't interact with Yanzhou in the future. I will protect you forever."

In the dark, Xiao Qiao heard Wei Shao say so.