"What a waste of such a beautiful day!"

The young mistress of the Bu family hanged herself.

The story spread throughout the city and then returned to the Bu family's old residence.

White paper with floral patterns was hung at the entrance of the house, the words written in bold, flowing calligraphy. A memorial tablet was placed in the front hall, and white cloth strips were hung from the roofs of each room. A suona player was hired to stand by, ready to play mournful tunes at any time. The old lady of the Bu family insisted on inviting several senior abbots and dozens of young novices from the temple for the future rites and funeral procession, ensuring a more orderly affair. She was a devout Buddhist. Everything was meticulously organized and arranged with great care and attention to detail.

Young Mistress Bu was a lady from a wealthy family. When she married into the family, she brought with her several maids and servants, all of whom she had served since childhood. At this moment, their eyes were red and swollen. One of her personal maids, named Yingluan, was only fifteen or sixteen years old and was weeping uncontrollably.

The Bu family were descendants of a former dynasty's nobles, with deep and solid roots. They had always been known for their extravagant and carefree lifestyle. Now that their young mistress had passed away, they naturally provided her with the finest care. Before the memorial tablet lay a coffin, made of black sandalwood inlaid with brown. At this moment, the lid was lifted, revealing the face of the young mistress of the Bu family. Such a beautiful woman had vanished so suddenly, allowing those who came to mourn to properly grieve.

Everyone in the Bu household got up around three or four in the morning. The young maid who was keeping vigil at the coffin of the young mistress finally stood up, her vision blurry, instinctively feeling she was about to join her grandmother in death. She swayed several times before finally regaining her balance. Normally, she was supposed to be keeping vigil for the young master, but he rarely paid attention to his wife, often absent from his room. Even when he did return, he only frequented the old lady's bedroom and the back room for storing books. The young mistress had been married for over three years, yet died without children. Her family had often spoken ill of this. Our old lady Bu, listening to her parents' reproaches, would weep uncontrollably, saying, "He wouldn't come home for days on end, and when he did, he just ignored me. Who am I supposed to have children with? I might as well just end it all myself."

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Bu was so angry that she immediately threw down the delicate pipe with its jade handle and intricate phoenix carvings. The servant who was smoking the pipe next to her was so frightened that he drooped his head and could barely breathe.

"That good-for-nothing! He married such a good wife and still goes out there fooling around. Go find him and bring him back. If he goes out again tomorrow, he'll be in big trouble."

After a period of relative peace, she still didn't get to hold her grandson. Young Master Bu was her only child, and besides, she was getting old and didn't want to worry about such things, so in the end, she let it go. Even if her daughter-in-law started complaining again, with harsh words on her lips, she ultimately just turned a blind eye and let things remain peaceful.

That day, when Young Mistress Bu suddenly died, she felt a tightness in her chest, as if her spirit was hovering above her head, its slightly lowered eyes staring at her mournfully and pitifully, without blinking. So she began to turn the prayer beads in her hand even more frequently.

Her personal maid, Lüyu, brought in water for washing her face. "Madam, this towel is fresh out of the oven and still piping hot. Please wash up, as we'll be going to the front hall soon."

As she accepted it, she felt an even tighter tightness in her chest, as if someone were pulling her up with a rope, and sweat began to bead on her forehead.

"Why is it so hot so early in the morning? Go and open the windows a bit."

When she finished dressing and walked to the front hall, a group of people were already waiting there. The women were all dressed in black cotton blouses, with the younger ones adorned with tiny white flowers. Several families related to the Bu family had also sent their women to serve and help, all with white velvet flowers in their hair and heads bowed low, adopting a submissive posture. But there was no sign of young Master Bu. The old lady stomped her cane in anger and cursed, "Where is that wretched boy?"

The servant in Young Master Bu's room timidly took half a step forward. "Reporting to the old lady, the young master did not return to his room last night." His voice was as if it were being squeezed by a clamp, barely leaking out from his throat, his breath quite low, as if he wanted to disappear into the ground in broad daylight.

"That's it. It's one thing for him to fool around on ordinary days, but now that things are like this, he still acts so irresponsibly." He stomped his foot angrily as he spoke.

The servants immediately ran out of the hall to look for them, and the nephew's wife lowered her head even further, offering words of comfort to each other.

Among the wives was the second young mistress, who stood quietly to the side, saying nothing. In contrast, the third young mistress seemed quite attentive, making the young mistress feel awkward. She covered her face with her pale yellow handkerchief and coughed lightly a few times.

After breakfast, the number of mourners increased. At that time, all the prominent people had come. They first invited the old lady, then knelt down, kowtowed, offered incense, and sincerely said some respectful words.

After two groups of guests had passed by, a tall, handsome man arrived, wearing a Western-style felt hat. He took it off as soon as he entered the front hall and held it in his hand. After he finished kowtowing and offering incense, Old Madam Bu asked Green Jade to bring him a stool, and he sat down in the seat next to her.

The man thanked him and sat down.

The old lady called for tea to be brought up again, and then said, "I have seen you for quite some time now, and I feel closer to you than ever, as if you were my own child."

"I am very grateful for your kindness, Madam. Recently, there have been many trivial matters at the port, and I have been keeping an eye on things all day long. As a result, I have been able to visit you much less often. My father asked about it the other day, and I feel really ashamed."

Tea was served as they talked, and Old Mrs. Bu handed it to him, then slowly lifted the lid and took a sip herself, which moistened her throat and eased the tightness in her chest.

“I’ve always known you’re filial, so don’t worry about these one or two times. You young people should do more things; how can you ever amount to anything like the wicked children in our family?”

After having tea, Huai Xiankun bid farewell to the old lady and got up to leave.

After passing the garden lion-carved archway around the corner, a sweet, melodious voice came from behind.

Turning around, I saw that it was Grandma Yuan walking towards me.

"Brother, you're leaving already? Why didn't you stay for lunch?"

Huai Xiankun smiled and replied, "The dock will be in trouble without me. The situation is quite complicated lately, so I have to keep a close watch on it."

The next moment, she asked, "Yiling, how have you been lately? Has Madam Yuan made things difficult for you again?"

"But it's still the same old story. In my current state, how can I expect anyone to be kind to me?"

"That won't do. I'll come to the Yuan family as soon as this is over. Do you think they can treat you like that?"

Second Grandma smiled sweetly and escorted her brother to the gate.

On the way back, after passing through the archway, I saw a man leaning against a pillar inside the archway. He was tall and thin, with a long, white face and eyes that were deeply sunken in his features, giving him a somewhat effeminate appearance.

She went inside, and the two exchanged a glance. The man smiled and said, "What a pretty sister-in-law! Which family are you from?"

He immediately realized that it was the scoundrel young master of the Bu family, named Bu Songren.

She glanced at it only once before strolling across the garden and into the front hall.

After several groups of guests had come and gone, it was time for lunch.

The women in the garden then began to serve and take care of the arrangements.

The plump, glistening geese, roasted and juicy, were arranged on porcelain platters with lace borders and served one by one. Yi Lingyin helped pass them around.

The meal had been served for a while when a figure finally appeared – it was Young Master Bu.

He stood casually beside Old Madam Bu, listening to the scolding. After a few words, he looked up and stared at her. Yi Ling's face immediately darkened, and she cursed this scoundrel in her heart.

After the day's activities were over, sedan chairs from various households stopped at the entrance of the Bu residence to pick up the matriarchs of each household and take them home.

Yiling was walking with Third Grandmother Yuan and her group when, after a few steps, Third Grandmother Yuan suddenly stopped for a moment.

"Huh, where did my sachet go?"

The two of them immediately took a look.

"It must have been left at the Bu residence," Third Grandma smiled apologetically and went back.

She walked through the archway alone.

She had only taken a few steps outside when a warm hand reached out from the darkness and grabbed her.

She froze for a moment, then the hand dragged her completely into the darkness.

As soon as she saw the man's face clearly, Yi Ling cursed, "You bastard!"

“Why are you in such a hurry to go back, Sister-in-law Yuan? Why don’t you stay with me for a while? Anyway, if you go back, you’ll just be sitting on a cold bed. It’s not as fun as being with me.”

Yi Ling sneered, "You're such an absurd thing. Young Mistress Bu's body is barely cold, and your husband, instead of grieving, is causing trouble everywhere. He should be beaten to death by the old lady."

She had barely finished speaking when she was pinned against the wall. The young master Bu looked frail, but he was surprisingly strong. She struggled and kicked them both hard.

"Why do you still want to hit people, Second Sister-in-law? Go ahead and hit me, I'd like it even more."

Yi Ling saw that this scoundrel was unreasonable and stared blankly at him.

Bu Songren gently stroked her cheek and lowered his head to kiss her.

Yi Ling raised her hand and slapped him, separating the two people.

"You ridiculous thing! You have nothing to lose, but I still have some dignity." Taking advantage of Bu Songren's stunned moment, she gave him a hard shove and quickly walked out of the garden.

Outside the gate, only a few sedan chairs remained, and the sedan chair bearers and maids who were there to fetch her were waiting.

With her maid's help, she boarded the sedan chair. The thick, purple velvet veil covering one side of the door slowly fell down, making her look as radiant as a newlywed bride.

They started carrying the sedan chair, and it swayed and wobbled all the way back.

A maidservant sat opposite her, holding an oil lamp. The lamplight flickered along with the sedan chair, and Yiling felt that the scene seemed particularly bleak.

The candlelight illuminated her powdered face. Her breathing was shallow, and the fabric rustled against the soft, lake-green silk cushion she sat on.

We had just passed the main street, and the sounds of vendors hawking their wares filled the air.

It was the height of summer, and cicadas were chirping incessantly. Yiling delicately fanned herself with a multi-faceted white cloth fan. A drop of sweat clung to her narrow, round forehead, making her look charming and graceful, with a youthful air about her.

She said softly, "It's getting hotter and hotter."

The maid didn't hear clearly, so she asked, "What did you say, Second Grandmother?"

The sedan chair bounced a bit more, indicating that they were almost there.