"Look, look, the list of gifts is about to start. There are so many guests here today to congratulate me, and I don't know who can win. If my family can be ranked in the top ten, I will be satisfied..."

"Oh, my sister-in-law from the Wu family is so thoughtful. She actually wants to be ranked in the top ten. It seems that the gifts from your family are very expensive."

"No, no, no, just a little gift, just a token of my gratitude... What are you planning to give me? Why don't you tell me and let my sister-in-law hear it?"

"Uh... I also have some small gifts at home."

Since ancient times, gift-giving has always been popular. The ancient people's ideas are different from those of later generations. They like to do things in a secretive and pompous manner. For example, when it comes to gift-giving, most of them are modest. However, in reality, this is not the case. They are clearly full of energy and want to compete for the top prize.

.

Why?

It’s because of the skill of singing the ritual list.

The word "sing" highlights the importance of this link. The so-called singing does not mean singing, but loudly shouting out the gift list of the gift giver. If someone's gift is outstanding, it will naturally gain great honor in such an occasion.

This custom is actually quite good, and it can easily stir up the atmosphere. Looking back at various occasions in later generations, the person giving the gift would search and dodge, get a red envelope and stuff it up, and the recipient would take a pen and write it down, and that's it.

This behavior has lost the flavor of traditional etiquette.

…

In the expectant eyes of the ladies, they suddenly saw a few young men walking out carrying a wedding plate. The wedding plate was covered with red cloth, symbolizing the joy of the host family after receiving the gift list. These young men all had identities.

Extraordinary, first let the ladies present exclaim in surprise.

"Wow, did you see it? Did you see it? The first singer was actually Li Chengqian. He is the eldest son of His Highness the Crown Prince. Looking at the world today, who can send out singers of this level for the baby's full moon ceremony? I'm envious.

, I’m really envious.”

"What's the use of being envious? We can't be envious. The Gu family's tiger cub is the legitimate son of Princess Pingyang, and Li Chengqian can be regarded as the tiger's biological cousin. So this is because of family ties, and the royal family wants to use this move to tell others!

"

"Tell others? Tell what?"

"What I'm telling you is that from now on, the Gu family will be an upright relative of the country... Do you know why? This is to rectify the princess's reputation. At first, the princess was depressed and almost died by drowning herself in the river. Fortunately, she was saved by Gu.

The young couple was saved by Tianya and got married. However, the Gu family was so poor at that time that they could not even afford a wedding ceremony. The poor princess, a handsome woman of her generation, got married in obscurity. Strictly speaking, this matter

, it is easy to be ridiculed by others, so the royal family supports today to rectify the princess's status."

"There are so many ways to do it!"

"That's not..."

Among the ladies of the Tang Dynasty, some were shrewd and some were mediocre, but regardless of whether they were shrewd or mediocre, they were all attracted by a few young men at this time.

Someone was surprised and said: "The one behind Li Chengqian is Cheng Chumo, right? This little guy is ranked in front of Li Chongyi! It's strange, very strange. Li Chongyi is from the royal family, and Cheng Chumo is just the eldest son of the Cheng family, why is he ranked

Secondly, isn’t this arrangement disrespectful?”

"It's not rude, on the contrary, it's reasonable. Today, these young men are responsible for singing the chants. Their status can only be considered as the master's family. Cheng Chumo is the eldest disciple of Gu Tianya and is a leader of Gu's disciples. Therefore, even if Li Chongyi is born

Royal family, but he can only follow Cheng Chumo."

"I see, the Cheng family really showed their face today."

While the ladies were whispering, several young men were lined up carrying wedding plates. Someone who was well-informed began to quietly tell his children the origins of these young men.

First singer, Li Chengqian.

Singing the second time, Cheng Chu remained silent.

Sanying, Li Chongyi.

Four thanks, Fang Yiai.

Five invitations, Lu Zhaolin.

Liu Gong, Wang Bo.

There were six young men in a row. Except for Li Chengqian, they were all Gu Tianya's disciples. There was also a young girl who was as handsome as a pearl, but it was Tan Xiao who was responsible for collecting the gift list.

…

The welcoming boys who were singing the gift list had already appeared, but the scene suddenly came to a slight stagnation. Seeing that there were countless guests in the room, no one came forward for a while. They were all looking around, and no one wanted to be the first to give gifts.

.

It turns out there is something else to say here.

In ancient times, when giving gifts, one must pay attention to the status level. There is no first-come, first-served basis. Instead, some potential tacit understanding must be taken into consideration.

What are the tacit understandings?

The more distinguished the guest is, the more time it is necessary to postpone the gift-giving.

The more powerful the guest is, the more the opportunity to give gifts must be postponed.

The heavier the gift, the further to the front; the lighter the gift, the further to the front. This is because the ancients paid attention to face and liked to take care of other people's emotions. Otherwise, the first person to give a gift would give the heaviest gift, and the following gifts would be lighter.

Not only did the guests feel embarrassed, but the host also felt guilty, so there was an underlying tacit understanding that the most important gift should be given at the end.

This is the so-called finale.

But what happened today was a little helpless, because all the guests who came to congratulate me were extraordinary, and any family they brought out were all nobles of the country. It was for this reason that they felt that their own family would definitely not be weaker than others.

That's why the scene froze for a while, and no one gave the first gift for a long time.

They are all afraid that their gifts will be too heavy and will overwhelm the person giving the gift later.

However, the occasion cannot remain so frozen, otherwise, both the host and the guests will be embarrassed...

So soon a man with a sharp personality stood up, greeted the guests with a smile on his face, and said very modestly: "My husband is only a county prince, and my status is not comparable to that of you. Today the tiger cub is baptized on the full moon.

, I have prepared some small gifts. I say it is a small gift, but it is really a small gift, because this gift is not worth much. It is just a few small swaddling clothes that I have sewn by myself. It cannot be put on the table. It is mainly a sincere gift, so,

Let’s start from my concubine.”

The guests present waved their hands repeatedly, inviting her to come forward with smiles on their faces.

However, the noble lady did not come forward in person. Instead, she pulled out a little child from behind and said with a smile: "This is the eldest son of the family. Let him come over today to see me. After all, I am a woman. If it were up to me,

Giving gifts is a bit disrespectful, please give way to your child and let him pass my gift list."

The guests smiled even more warmly and made room for the little kid with encouraging eyes.

The little boy was only about seven or eight years old. He came forward cautiously with a gift list. The little guy glanced at Li Chengqian, held up the gift list weakly and said: "Niu family, congratulations on the Gu family's tiger cub."

Li Chengqian was also only eight years old. He was also very nervous in such a public situation. He stammered: "Thank you... thank you. I will replace my uncle Gu Tianya and my aunt Princess Pingyang to thank the Niu family for the gift."

As he spoke, he raised the tray covered with red cloth and took the gift list very solemnly.

Then Tan Xiao stepped forward quickly, reached out to pick up the gift list from the plate and unfolded it. She raised the gift list to Li Chengqian's eyes, lowered her voice and encouraged: "Read it!"

Li Chengqian took a deep breath and worked up the courage to read loudly, saying: "The Niu family's gift is eight pieces of swaddling clothes, one hundred catties of copper, nine pieces of silk, and a piece of jade pendant carved with skillful workmanship. I wish the Gu family's tiger baby will grow up to be a gentleman."

Jade."

This is the singing list.

Sing loudly the gift to the guest who gave it to you.

The noble lady had a modest face, smiled lightly at the guests around her, and kept saying: "I can't get it, I can't get it. The main thing is a few small swaddling clothes. It's a thoughtful gift to the tiger cub."

In fact, there is nothing you can do about it.

One hundred gold pieces of copper and nine pieces of silk. Although this is an ordinary gift, it is worth at least two to three hundred guan. The most important thing is a jade pendant, which must be made of top-grade Hetian jade. If you dare to say that it is crafted with skill, it must be genuine.

We hired master craftsmen.

With the beginning of the Niu family, the guests had a plan in mind, and then they used the Niu family's congratulatory gifts as a reference and started to come forward according to the importance of their respective gifts.

The second family is the Li Jing family. Li Jing is known as the Military God of Tiance Mansion and is now the military commander of Henan Province. It is said that his family background is very good. Unfortunately, his relationship with Gu Tianya is not very deep, so the gift is not light.

Not thick.

The third family is Hou Junji's family. The gifts are neither light nor generous, but if converted into money, they must be at least several hundred guan.

Then the fourth house, the fifth house, the sixth house...

As time passed slowly, the congratulatory guests continued to send out gift lists. Gradually, various treasures began to appear in the gifts, causing waves of exclamations from time to time.

Finally, the first shocking thing appeared.

But I heard Li Chengqian singing in a loud voice, saying: "The family of Liu Hongji, Duke of Kui, congratulates Gu's tiger cubs for their full-month baptism. Forty-nine top-quality southern pearls, as big as goose eggs, each one is round..."

hiss!

The whole place gasped.

The best southern pearl?

As big as a goose egg?

Even if there is only one of this thing, it can be regarded as a rare treasure. If there are two, it is a pair of pearls.

Now there are actually forty-nine beads, and all of them are round beads. This can no longer be described as a rare treasure. It is simply an inheritance item that suppresses the treasury.

But I saw Duke Kui's wife looking modest, waving her hands and saying: "A few small gifts, a few small gifts, mainly because I come from a pearl fishing family in Lingnan, and I relied on my family's connections to gather these beads and give them to her."

The tiger cubs are used as toys, and the little ones can use them as goose eggs to play with."
To be continued...