Entering the Ancestral Hall

Offering incense? The thought of having to offer incense for Xiangqi made me reluctant. I frowned and said, "I still have to offer incense?"

"What?" The prime minister rolled his eyes at me again: "She's not worthy of receiving a stick of incense from you?"

Clearly, the prime minister understood my thoughts, and I touched my nose sheepishly, saying, "I can accept it, I can accept it!"

"Eat quickly!" the prime minister urged again, "Hurry up, don't miss the auspicious time."

"Is there still an auspicious time?" I swallowed my porridge hastily, almost choking. "How much longer?"

"About fifteen minutes."

“Alright,” I added a few more side dishes to the porridge, finished it in a few gulps, and said to the Prime Minister, “I’m done eating, let’s go.”

“Alright,” the prime minister glanced at the others and took the lead in walking towards the backyard.

As soon as we stepped into the courtyard of the ancestral hall, a gust of wind blew through the courtyard, making the bells under the eaves of the hall jingle.

I stopped immediately. Could it be that they don't welcome me?

The next second, I heard the prime minister call out to me: "What are you standing there for? Follow me!"

"Oh? Or... should I wait for you here?"

After all, I'm the one who killed their descendants, right? Wouldn't that be a bit offensive?

The prime minister rolled his eyes at me again: "You're being so well-behaved now? Hurry up and keep up."

I gritted my teeth and took a few more steps. The courtyard was calm and still, as if the air itself had stopped.

I kept an eye on my surroundings for anything unusual, but the whole journey was very smooth, and I entered the ancestral hall.

As I stepped into the ancestral hall, another gust of wind blew past me, but the ever-burning lamp inside didn't even flicker, so it seemed there was no problem.

The prime minister was the first to offer incense alone, then said to the steward serving beside him, "Bring it here."

"Yes," the steward replied, then handed a portrait to the prime minister with both hands. The prime minister held the portrait with both hands and began to read aloud: "Xiang Ji, the 136th patriarch of the Xiang clan, pays respects to all ancestors. This is Xu Yi. He is... a junior who has already passed away. Today, he is brought into the ancestral hall for all ancestors to witness."

As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of wind blew through the ancestral hall from different directions, as if there was a heated argument... After a while, the ancestral hall returned to calm, the eternal lamp flickered for a moment, and then stabilized again.

This means... consent?

Actually, I don't know why the prime minister wanted to hang my portrait in his residence, but since they wanted to, what right did I have to refuse?

Immediately, the prime minister turned to me and said, "Go and offer incense."

I obediently took the incense from the butler, afraid it would go out at any moment. But when I put the incense into the incense burner, it didn't go out, and I secretly breathed a sigh of relief...

Wouldn't it be embarrassing if it went out?

The prime minister nodded, then handed me the portrait: "Go find a blank wall and hang it up."

As I walked past the ancestral tablets in front, I discovered that behind them was an entire wall covered with different portraits, each labeled with the person's name and biography.

At the very back of the portraits is a picture of a young man with regular features, with the inscription: Aizawa, son of Aiki…

Is this the prime minister's son? He's been dead for twenty-three years? No wonder I've only seen the prime minister since I arrived in the capital...

I hung my own portrait next to Aizawa's, and I think it actually looks quite like him! Looking at the wall full of different portraits, I actually felt a strange sense of liveliness...

When I came out again, the prime minister glanced at me and asked, "Is it hung up?"

"Hmm," I nodded, not daring to ask why there was no portrait of him hanging...

The prime minister pointed to the steward and his men and said to me, "Go stand over there."

"Oh," I obediently stood beside the butler, who smiled kindly at me, and I smiled back.

Then the steward handed the incense stick to the prime minister again, and the prime minister spoke again: "Xiang Ji is unfortunate and has no offspring to rely on. Today, with all the ancestors as witnesses, I hereby adopt my nephew from a concubine's house, Xiang Zhi, as my successor. I hope that all the ancestors will bless me."

After he finished speaking, Xiangzhi knelt behind the prime minister and kowtowed: "Junior Xiangzhi greets all ancestors."

After the prime minister offered incense, Xiang Zhi took the incense sticks handed to him by the steward and put them into the incense burner.

The prime minister took a deep breath before turning to us and saying, "That's all for this matter. You..." He then pointed to me and Xiangzhi, and then to Ashi and Muli on the other side, saying, "Go and help me. Make sure the banquet doesn't go wrong."

We younger generation members all bowed our heads and replied, "Yes."

Then began a whole day of chaos. Because the Prime Minister's residence had not hosted a banquet for a long time, there were an unusually large number of people coming this time. Almost everyone who could come from the entire court was there. Someone had to greet them at the gate, and someone had to guard the accounts in the inner room. People were needed for everything in the front and back courtyards.

Finally, Xiangzhi and the steward went to the gate to greet the guests, while Ashi and I sat in the inner courtyard, arranging for servants to prepare various things and making decisions on matters that required our input. Muli, on the other hand, followed the guards of the Prime Minister's residence, wandering around to inspect and patrol in order to prevent any mishaps.

Once the preparations were nearly complete, the steward went to the kitchen to oversee things, while A-Shi and I went to the courtyard to greet the guests. Although the Great Qing Dynasty no longer had a rule prohibiting the front and back courtyards from being seen from each other, men and women always had different topics to discuss and different ways of having fun. So A-Shi went to the outer courtyard to greet the officials with Xiang Zhi, while I went alone to the inner courtyard with the old nanny from the Prime Minister's residence to exchange compliments with the ladies...

I finally thought I could rest when the evening banquet finally arrived, but the steward took me to the banquet hall. The Prime Minister's mansion had a large courtyard. Several tables were set up in the main hall, where some of the most prominent ladies and young women were seated. Tables were also set up outside the courtyard, where other guests were seated.

The main doors to the banquet hall were all temporarily removed, allowing people inside and outside the courtyard to see each other.

As soon as I entered the banquet hall, the prime minister beckoned to me: "Xu Yi, over here."

I walked over and sat down next to the prime minister. Next to me were A-Shi and Mu-Li, while on the other side of the prime minister sat Xiang-Zhi and some other ministers.

Some ministers clearly recognized me, but none of them showed it. They simply nodded calmly at me, and I returned the greeting with a forced smile.

Ah Shi smiled and pushed a teacup toward me, saying, "Auntie, have some tea first."

"Great! I was thirsty, so I nodded and finished my tea. Only then did I hear the Prime Minister rise and give his speech: 'Thank you all for gracing my humble abode. Today, I'm hosting this banquet mainly to have two things for you to witness.' Immediately, the other minister stood up on his own initiative, and then the Prime Minister looked at me..."

What? I have to stand up too? I quickly stood up, bracing myself for everyone's stares.

The prime minister continued, "This is Xu Yi, my distant niece. She has been confined to her room for a long time, but is now married. I brought her here to broaden her horizons. Please forgive me if I have not treated her well."

Everyone chimed in, saying, "You're too kind, Prime Minister..."

Then the prime minister turned to Xiang Zhi and said, “I am unfortunate, and my children died young. I am worried that there will be no successor, so I adopted Xiang Zhi from a collateral branch as my godson. If this boy does anything wrong in the future, I hope you will teach and take care of him. I thank you all.”

The people at the banquet all stood up, laughing and saying, "No, no, we wouldn't dare."

The prime minister glanced at me, and I quickly and consciously picked up my wine cup. Only then did the prime minister raise his cup again and say, "A toast to everyone."

Then he drank it down in one gulp, and Xiangzhi and I quickly followed suit. The people opposite us raised their glasses in unison: "Congratulations, Prime Minister..." and also drank it all in one gulp.

The prime minister waved to the crowd: "Please, everyone, don't be shy, please."

Then I sat down again, quickly picked up a piece of pork belly that I had seen as soon as I sat down, and under the pressure of everyone at the table, I looked at the Prime Minister's bowl and said weakly, "Uncle Prime Minister, eat."

The prime minister gave me a disapproving look before turning to the other guests at the table and saying, "I am sorry for my lack of manners. Please don't stand on ceremony."

Then everyone said, "You're too kind, Prime Minister," and began to eat.

Ah Shi chuckled and put a piece of pork belly into my bowl. He then placed the soup that Mu Li had prepared in front of me and said, "Auntie, drink the soup first, then eat the meat."

"Alright," I was indeed thirsty, so I picked up the bowl and drank it down in a few gulps. Only after putting the bowl down did I realize that I seemed a bit rude. The prime minister glared at me and handed me the soup beside him. I drank it down in a few gulps again. By then, Xiang Zhi had already ladled out a new bowl of soup and handed it to the prime minister, who then handed it to me with a look of dissatisfaction: "Is the prime minister's residence short of your water?"

"No," I said after finishing my soup in a few gulps, "I've talked too much today." Then I smiled slightly at the other adults I wasn't very familiar with and said, "Please excuse my rudeness, sirs."

"It's alright, it's alright..." Everyone laughed awkwardly.

I quickly started eating the pork belly. I was so hungry that I just kept eating and didn't even notice who was putting food in my bowl. Anyway, there was never anything left in my bowl...

After I had eaten a lot and felt less hungry, I looked up and saw Xiangzhi, the Prime Minister, Ashi, and Muli all looking at me.

The prime minister frowned slightly: "Still hungry? Would you like something else to eat?"

He then casually handed over the freshly served soup that was next to him.

I chuckled, then took the drink and gulped down a few mouthfuls before saying, "Much better, I'm almost full."

Just then, a servant knelt down beside me and reported, "Miss, some of the ladies are planning to return home. You see..."

The prime minister obviously heard this too, and said, "Let the prime minister go, you can eat some more."

Then he put a duck leg on my plate. I picked up the duck leg and said to Xiangzhi, "If I'm with you, you probably won't recognize all the ladies."

As I walked and ate, I heard the prime minister behind me say, "My niece is just so spontaneous, please excuse her."

When Xiangzhi and I arrived at the door, we saw several ladies already waiting for the carriage. We quickly went up to them to greet them politely before seeing them off properly.

After everyone left, I picked up the duck leg and continued eating, asking Xiangzhi, "Are you hungry?"

He shook his head: "I ate some food before the banquet, so I'm not very hungry."

I took another big bite of duck meat and mumbled, "No wonder you're so calm."

“My godfather had already given me a heads-up, so I was prepared. But Xu Yi, you were the one who was appointed to this critical mission.”