The Wade family's ancestor worship ceremony was the grandest family ceremony that the Wade family had.
All large families would always value ancestor worship, especially for large families with a long history such as the Wade family. As they had a profound history and many branches to their family, they attached great importance to the ancestor worship ceremony.
In truth, a lot of wealthy families had always wanted to engage in special ancestor worship ceremonies. However, a real ancestor worship ceremony was not something that any ordinary family could just do. Snouveau riche families who wanted to hold an ancestor worship ceremony might not be able to keep up with the appearance at all.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThis was because these people's ancestral tombs might have the latest three to four generations of their ancestors in total. Moreover, when it cto their identities, most of their ancestors from the previous generations might be peasants with no high-end or amazing stories to be told to the future generations.
Although those from the peasant class were also very worthy of respect, to those in the upper-class societies, if the other party's ancestors did not have a strong identity or background, it would be somewhat unpresentable and embarrassing to be shown. 4 This was especially so for the upper-class people from Eastcliff.
In addition to comparing their wealth and power, they also compared their family origin and heritage.
In Eastcliff, many elders were survivors of the bygone ages. During ancient times, the ancestors of their families were all nobles from a reputable background. They were all lords and ladies from the upper-class societies.
This kind of family had a strong foundation. During the ancestor worship ceremony, if they read out two to three of their ancestors' deeds, they could immediately portray a very positive feeling to the other people.
The ancestors of the Wade family were also palace officials. Any ordinary family would definitely be very eager to build an ancestral hall in his hometown for their ancestor if there was a talented individual in their family. There were more than a hundred palace officials and scholars amongst the ancestors of the Wade family. There were already about ten top scholars in the history of the Wade family. There were even about thirty-one scholars in the Wade family who had made it to the top three ranks. 4 With a history of nearly three hundred years in ancient times, there had already been about one hundred and twelve examinations for scholars held in the king's palace.
During these three hundred years, a total of more than twenty thousand scholars and one hundred and fourteen champions had been awarded.
The Wade family alone accounted for nearly one-tenth of this amount, which was an extremely remarkable achievement. 4 It was precisely because of these talented ancestors that the Wade family could continue to exist for hundreds of years. Moreover, the Wade family had always been pretty strong and influential. They could stil be considered a local dictator even during the turmoil and chaos of the war era.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe Wade family had expanded and branched out for so many years. At this point, there were at least tens of thousands of Wade family descendants all over the world, and a considerate number of them had already gone overseas. 3 Going back hundreds of years, their ancestors were the ancestors of the Wade family. 4 However, during ancient times, the eldest son would always inherit the entire family. All the other sons would have to separate from the family. Therefore, more and more of the Wade family members were reduced to collateral family members of the Wade family, leaving behind only the eldest son's family as the true descendant of the Wade family.
For instance, Charlie's father had three brothers.
According to the ancient rules, after Charlie's grandfather passed away, the three sons of the Wade family would have to be separated from the Wade family to branch out on their own. At that time, the eldest son of the Wade family, Clayton, would be the one to inherit most of the Wade family's business and estates. 2
After performing their filial piety duties toward their late father for three years, the second and third sons of the Wade family would have to leave the original Wade family mansion with their family members to start another family on their own. This way, the second and third son's families would eventually becthe Wade family's collateral family.
At this time, these two collateral families would still be relatively close to the main family. After all, the second and third brothers were still biological brothers with their eldest brother. 3
However, when it cto Charlie's generation, Charlie's cousin would be the one to inherit the original Wade e family. So, the relationship between the two collateral families and the main family would be set apart by yet another generation.
When it would finally be tfor the third and fourth generation to take over, these two collateral families ve would have also derived even more collateral families, and they would be separated even more from the original main family. 1 If this continued for five to six generations, more than a hundred years would have already passed by. 1 X