Aunt Zhong chased out with a stick in hand, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw her son being held up, "Thanks to the County Lord, or else he’d break something again. This kid is so mischievous, if he doesn’t get a beating every day, he’ll tear the roof off. He ruined all the wedding characters I just bought."

Aunt Zhong reached out, and Zhao Erlang handed the child to her before looking at what he held in his hand.

A piece of red paper, with a very familiar ’Double Happiness’ character written on it.

The character is complex but structured. Although Zhao Erlang didn’t originally recognize it, anyone who sees it every day for months would know it.

One could say, among the citizens of Luoyang City, the recognition rate for this ’Double Happiness’ character is the highest, comparable to the word "Luoyang."

This was all because of the advice Zhao Hanzhang gave to Zhao Zheng.

The county government advocates marriage and childbirth, not only introducing partners to the single soldiers in the barracks but also frequently organizing matchmaking events for single youths in the city.

As long as they succeed, the county government gives them gifts.

Initially, Zhao Erlang generously gave them pairs of towels, wooden basins, wooden tubs, and such items.

For those forming new homes, these things need to be added anew. The county government’s gifts reduce their post-marriage expenses, leading many to strive for marriage, if only for that pair of wooden basins or tubs.

But later, financial constraints, coupled with the frenzy caused by Zhao Hanzhang announcing her wedding date, led to more people choosing to form families before the year-end, causing the Luoyang County Government to eventually not even afford a pair of towels.

Promises made cannot be broken; even the straightforward Zhao Erlang, and Zhao Zheng, wouldn’t go back on their word. If they promised gifts for marriages, they must come up with something, lest they lose trust among the people.

Because Zhao Erlang worried day and night, even bringing his troubles home, Zhao Hanzhang had to join them in brainstorming how to give newlyweds a cheap yet festive gift.

Finally, when she saw the wedding preparations that Mrs. Wang and Ji Yuan made for her, she realized that this era hasn’t popularized the ’Double Happiness’ character for weddings yet.

Thus, Zhao Hanzhang penned a ’Double Happiness’ character for Zhao Zheng.

From then on, officials in Luoyang County Government with good handwriting had an extra task—writing two ’Double Happiness’ characters for couples registering their marriage.

This had nothing to do with Zhao Erlang; he could live another hundred years and never join this lineup, so he happily acted as a hands-off manager.

But how would two ’Double Happiness’ characters be enough?

Thanks to Zhao’s Paper Workshop, paper isn’t expensive now, even red paper, which ordinary people can afford.

Spend two cents to buy a large piece of red paper, cut it into sixteen pieces, then pay twenty cents to hire someone good at calligraphy to write the ’Double Happiness’ characters. If one isn’t too particular, it can be cheaper.

Take the cut red papers, squat in front of the school, find a student who looks smart, and offer two eggs or a few pastries to get them to write sixteen ’Double Happiness’ characters.

If you don’t want to prepare these things, spend three to five cents, which is still cheaper than hiring someone specifically.

Once this became popular, vendors immediately set up stalls selling ’Double Happiness’ characters. They were savvy, not just selling ’Double Happiness’ characters but also ’Fortune’ characters. They made profits from volume, only charging one cent per ’Double Happiness’ or ’Fortune’ character, and the writing wasn’t bad, surprisingly cheaper than buying red paper and hiring someone to write.

So many newlyweds bought them and pasted them alongside the county government-given ’Double Happiness’ characters throughout their homes, even in drafty thatched cottages, adding to the festive spirit with the red characters.

Now, seeing ’Double Happiness’ characters pasted in a home signals a joyful event.

Seeing Fang Dalang holding that piece of red paper, Zhao Erlang was full of questions, "Sister-in-law Zhong, do you also have a joyous event at home? Are you getting remarried?"

Sister-in-law Zhong’s mouth gaped wide.

The government officials behind Zhao Erlang immediately flooded in, chattering, "Sister-in-law, don’t be mad. Our County Lord is just simply curious, not suggesting you and Brother Fang aren’t getting along. But your three kids are still small; they can’t marry or leave home, so why paste the wedding character?"

Sister-in-law Zhong knew her County Magistrate was different from others, so she glossed over the surprise and explained, "The Great General is getting married, it’s a major joyous event, so I put up a few wedding characters to mark the occasion."

Like Sister-in-law Zhong, others simply marked the occasion, but some city merchants and wealthy folks specially made red lanterns to hang in front of their homes or shops, even hanging red silk by the doors, showcasing their extravagance.

Most families bought red cloth, red paper cut-outs, and pasted red wedding characters.

Centered around Zhao Mansion, Luoyang City quickly adorned itself in red, creating a joyful atmosphere wherever one went.

And in rural places Zhao Erlang couldn’t see, they started decorating even earlier; trees at village entrances were adorned with red cloth strips.

In the countryside, there was a rumor that Zhao Hanzhang looked stunning in red, like the Nine Heavens Profound Lady descending, so she loved red. To express their affection and blessings, villagers would tie a piece of red cloth to trees or eaves.

Meanwhile, unaware of the rumors, Zhao Hanzhang was trying on her wedding gown.

The style and color of her wedding gown weren’t solely her choice. Or rather, since she reached this position, her wedding wasn’t merely hers and Fu Tinghan’s.

This wedding gown was decided through conflicts among Mrs. Wang, Zhao Family clan members, and court ministers.

In recent years, due to war, some places popularized white wedding gowns to pray for peace and stability.

Mrs. Wang thought white looked wonderful, mainly for its auspicious meaning, hoping her daughter could live a peaceful life, so she initially proposed the white wedding gown.

Influenced by later generations, Zhao Hanzhang also thought red looked good, but if her mother preferred her in white, she didn’t mind.

She felt neither she nor Fu Tinghan cared much, so she mentioned it to him.

Unexpectedly, Fu Tinghan, usually following her lead, suddenly said, "You should wear black, black top with light red skirt, also fitting traditional wedding attire."

Zhao Hanzhang looked at him, surprised, "But my mother wants me to wear white."

Fu Tinghan rarely insisted, "You look better in black."

He paused and added, "I’ll wear black as well."

Speaking of this, his eyes seemed to sparkle, "I asked around, current wedding attire is still mainly black. Us wearing black isn’t against the rules."

Professor Fu finally stood firm on something, so Zhao Hanzhang was naturally going to support him, deciding to wear traditional wedding attire.

Mrs. Wang hesitated for a while but finally agreed to her daughter.

However, Ji Yuan and her confidant ministers didn’t agree.

They felt traditional wedding attire couldn’t fully express Zhao Hanzhang’s current status, necessitating a change.

After adjustments and more adjustments, the wedding gown became increasingly familiar. Zhao Song couldn’t stand it, jumping out to disagree, saying any more changes and Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan would be ready to ascend the throne in their wedding gowns.

That wedding attire resembled the Little Emperor’s ceremonial clothes; they seemed to be making a Sima Zhao out of them.