Thus, in late May (Lunar Calendar) of early summer, a procession displaying betrothal gifts appeared on Qinghe Street.

This was a custom in Lin’an. After both parties had agreed upon a marriage, the man’s family would present betrothal gifts. To demonstrate the abundance and value of these gifts and the high regard for the woman’s family, servants would carry, hold, and pull the gifts in a procession through the streets.

The same applied when a woman got married. The so-called “ten-mile red dowry” referred to the abundance of the dowry.

Of course, this was primarily a practice of wealthy families. For ordinary families, no matter how abundant their betrothal gifts and dowry seemed to themselves, they couldn’t compare to those of wealthy families. Taking them out for display would only invite mockery from uninformed people—why bother?

“Oh, look at what’s leading the procession!” a passerby exclaimed, pointing at the front of the betrothal gift procession.

People looked toward the front, and someone called out, “That’s an official lady’s ceremonial robe!” Then, turning to others, asked, “Does anyone recognize it? What rank?”

Among the passersby were knowledgeable individuals.

An elderly man wearing a sapphire blue silk robe examined it carefully and said, “Four gold-plated mandarin ducks with pearls in their mouths, embroidered clouds and mandarin duck patterns on the cape and inner garment—this is the ceremonial dress for a fifth-rank official’s wife.”

Lu Guanyi was from a military merit family. Even though he hadn’t been officially named heir, since he was sent to the border by the Crown Prince, he was given an official position according to the regulations for an heir of a marquis’ household—Cavalry Commander, a fifth-rank official position.

If he were to marry Ye Yaming as his primary wife, this fifth-rank official’s wife’s ceremonial robe naturally had to be included in the betrothal gifts. This was an imperial favor, and thus was placed at the very front of the procession.

Normally, of course, it would be after the marriage that his wife would register with the relevant department to receive the ceremonial and regular robes for an official’s wife. But to show the importance and sincerity he placed on this marriage, Lu Guanyi had specially requested the Crown Prince to obtain this ceremonial robe in advance.

In the Great Jin Dynasty, military officials held a slightly lower status than civil officials. This meant that the second highest official in Lin’an city, the Deputy Prefect, was also of the fifth rank, but if Lu Guanyi were to be listed alongside this Deputy Prefect, he would be ranked behind him.

But the common people didn’t know this, and the official wives’ ceremonial robes didn’t distinguish between civil and military officials. Seeing this fifth-rank official’s wife’s robe, everyone was greatly shocked.

“Could it be the Deputy Prefect taking a wife? No, that’s not right. The Deputy Prefect is over fifty this year, and his wife is still alive. The Deputy Prefect’s wife attended a banquet at my relative’s house during New Year,” the elderly man in the sapphire blue robe continued.

He didn’t finish his sentence. He wanted to say, “I haven’t heard of any funeral in his family, so he shouldn’t be remarrying after losing his wife,” but he didn’t dare to say it. If such words reached the Deputy Prefect’s ears, it would be no small matter.

Just as this person’s topic ended, someone else exclaimed: “Quick, look at the second betrothal gift. Aren’t those buyao and pendant ornaments?”

The elderly man in the sapphire blue robe narrowed his eyes, carefully examining the second betrothal gift, then nodded affirmatively: “Indeed, they are buyao and pendant ornaments. These are accessories that only noble ladies can wear.”

This immediately ruled out the speculation about the Deputy Prefect taking a wife.

Everyone knew the Deputy Prefect came from a humble background and had entered officialdom by passing the imperial examination.

People looked at each other in bewilderment.

Both noble and fifth-rank official—whose family was taking a wife? It seemed that the recipient of these betrothal gifts must be a young lady from an aristocratic or wealthy family.

There were several aristocratic and wealthy families in Lin’an, who themselves were nobles with family members serving as officials at court. If it were a young lady from one of these families getting married, such betrothal gifts wouldn’t be surprising.

Realizing this, people’s interest greatly diminished. Seeing more betrothal gifts, including estates, shops, and sets of gold and jade jewelry, they no longer thought much of it and prepared to go about their business once the procession passed and the road cleared.

However, after the betrothal gift procession passed, an open carriage followed immediately behind, carrying an elderly monk with graying hair and beard. Beside the monk sat a young novice. As the procession moved slowly, the carriage remained stable, and the young novice steadily poured tea into a cup on the table in front of the elderly monk.

This sight stunned everyone once again.

“Whose family is this after all? Why send a monk to present betrothal gifts?”

Upon hearing this, the elderly man in the sapphire blue robe became anxious. Disregarding that they were strangers, he slapped the speaker on the shoulder and rebuked, “What monk? That is a Grand Master—Master Zhineng, Master Zhineng from Chongshan Temple.”

“What? Master Zhineng from Chongshan Temple?” Everyone was dumbfounded upon hearing this and turned to examine the elderly monk carefully.

So this was the legendary Master Zhineng of royal descent? My goodness, they had seen Master Zhineng today—this was something they could boast about for a year.

It was well known that not just ordinary people like them, but even people from aristocratic families who visited Chongshan Temple found it extremely difficult to meet Master Zhineng.

The elderly man in the sapphire blue robe muttered, “Who on earth could this be? To be able to invite Master Zhineng to present betrothal gifts.”

Hearing this, everyone came to their senses.

Indeed. Not to mention Master Zhineng’s esteemed position, which made it impossible for ordinary people to invite him, but considering his identity as a person outside the secular world, he wouldn’t easily do such things for people.

Whose family could have such honor and ability?

“Let’s go, let’s go see. We’ll see which family this betrothal procession is going to, ask around, and then we’ll know,” someone suggested.

“Yes, yes.”

People with no urgent matters were now extremely curious and decided to follow along to see.

The elderly man in the sapphire blue robe had an appointment to drink tea with a friend at the Jixiang Pavilion. Now he abandoned his tea plans and said to his attendant, “Go to the teahouse and tell Old Master Zhao that I have urgent matters today. I’ll treat him to tea tomorrow and apologize.”

The attendant agreed. Once the betrothal procession passed and the road cleared, the master and servant parted ways. The elderly man in the sapphire blue robe, accompanied by his servant and guard, followed the betrothal procession, while the attendant went in the opposite direction to the teahouse.

The crowd followed the slow-moving betrothal procession, and finally, the procession stopped in front of a household.

The road was quite wide, enough for three carriages to travel side by side. The betrothal procession took the middle, and there was enough space for people to walk on both sides. But at that time, both sides were filled with spectators, making the road congested.

The elderly man in the sapphire blue robe and his group had originally thought that as the betrothal procession moved along, the number of followers would decrease, allowing them to squeeze to the front to get a better view.

They hadn’t expected that many others had become curious just like them. They made a great effort to squeeze to the front of the betrothal procession. By the time the servant and guard had helped him push to the front, the elderly man’s silk robe was wrinkled.

Having finally reached the front, everyone looked up and was collectively stunned.

They saw two large characters written on the door lintel: Ye Residence.

Just like the difference between “furen” and “taitai,” “gongzi” and “shaoye,” there was also a distinction between “fu” and “zhai.” The former represented an official status, meaning someone in the family held an official position; the latter referred to ordinary civilians.

How could a young lady from an ordinary civilian family make it possible to invite Master Zhineng and have a fifth-rank official with noble merit status present betrothal gifts to marry her as his primary wife? Was she a celestial maiden descended to earth, or a fox spirit with enchanting powers?

The crowd, unfamiliar with the Ye family, was collectively puzzled.