0047 52 Snow-Colored Funeral

The sky was overcast, the distant mountains were shrouded in mist, and the sun had not yet appeared.

A group of people walked out of the villa in Xishan, their footsteps breaking the quiet of the early morning. They were all wearing white flowers on their chests.

"I'd like to trouble you with the funeral arrangements for the old lady..."

The person speaking spoke very softly, whether out of respect for the deceased or fear of the power of the person in front of them, it was unclear.

Ling Qingyun nodded, "The people who come to the funeral will be arranged in the front hall. Wreaths and such will be sent directly to the crematorium. Putting them here is an eyesore."

"good……"

A row of black cars were parked neatly in front of the villa. The drivers wore white gloves and had white flowers on their chests.

As Ling Qingyun and his group approached, they opened the car door.

Ling Xingzhi got into the car. Inside, there was a delicate camellia scent—it was Wei Luochen's; she was wearing Chanel perfume today. Instinctively, Ling Xingzhi frowned. He closed the car door, loosened his tie, and exhaled.

Neither of them spoke. The sky outside the car gradually turned bluish-gray, and the shadows of the trees receded behind them.

After driving for a few minutes, the car turned into the mountains. The green hills had long since decayed, and the cold winter had arrived.

The car soon stopped at the funeral venue. The building was black and white, with a minimalist style. Ling Xingzhi got out of the car and walked to the side to open the car door for Wei Luochen. She was wearing a black dress, a top hat, and a black veil that fell in front of her face. Her red lips were shiny, and her eyeliner was so sharp that it seemed she could kill anyone present.

Wei Luochen took Ling Xingzhi's arm and squeezed it, noticing that Ling Xingzhi seemed to have lost weight.

I've been working non-stop these past few days, and haven't had a chance to get a full night's sleep.

The two walked forward.

There were also two newspaper reporters squatting by the roadside smoking.

Wei Luochen turned his gaze back with a puzzled look. "Didn't Dad say we didn't need to arrange any media interviews?"

Ling Xingzhi glanced at the reporter and the car that was conducting the interview, "It's the Kong family's own business, and the Ling family has no need to make decisions for them."

The Kong family was one of the four major families of the Republic of China. There was an old saying: "The Chiang family ruled the country, the Chen family had the party, and the Song sisters and the Kong family made their fortunes." After the turmoil and the defeat of the Kuomintang, the Kong family was able to escape the disaster precisely because of their wealth, and the entire family went into exile overseas.

They thought they had no chance to return to their homeland to develop their careers, but the reform and opening up gave them an opportunity in their small fishing village. The Kong family returned to China with a large amount of wealth to invest in national development. Over the years, their relationship with the central government had become complex and intertwined, but they only played a supporting role and never took over government power.

The Kong family is a prominent family both at home and abroad.

Compared to the Ling family, the Kong family has a rich history; the details are unknown, but the distant past is always associated with the sage Confucius. The Kong family has also been embroiled in disputes over this. A few years ago, a young daughter appeared on an American reality TV show, using her claim to be a descendant of Confucius to promote Chinese culture and its roots, even Confucianism.

The Kong family made no response to this. As a wealthy and influential family for generations, they would not expose their private lives to them, and they despised this kind of money.

Now that the matriarch of the Kong family has passed away, over a hundred descendants of the Kong family have returned from all over the world. Wei Luochen stopped with Ling Xingzhi and greeted the descendants of the Kong family. According to the information and gossip she had gathered, there were probably not that many people who actually had the blood of the Kong family.

Moreover, one of their sons is trapped in Taiwan and can't come back, so that branch of the family definitely won't return to City A.

She knew less about the Kong family than a seasoned gossip reporter.

Those who came to the funeral expressed their apologies to the Ling and Kong families, offering their condolences. Ling Xingzhi's smile remained faint, tinged with sadness and exhaustion. Wei Luochen wanted to step in and help him with the conversation, but he didn't know where to begin.

At the funeral, everyone spoke in hushed tones, and it didn't seem like they were discussing any secrets. Wei Luochen looked around; the black and white tones were so somber and oppressive.

After a short while, and after greeting the important people, Ling Xingzhi led Wei Luochen to sit down and rest. The temperature inside was much higher than outside, and Wei Luochen took off his gloves and rubbed his hands.

The waiter brought over a bowl of wontons, and Ling Xingzhi picked up a spoon and stirred the soup.

There were many dignitaries who had come to attend the funeral sitting nearby. Ling Xingzhi greeted them with a smile, then turned his head and sighed slightly.

"Have you heard? The Kong family's little granddaughter has been sent away! Her flight was this morning, and she wasn't even allowed to attend her grandmother's funeral..."

Ling Xingzhi lowered his head and ate the wontons that had already cooled down in his spoon.

"She had no right to participate. I think she deserved it... If it weren't for her, Old Madam Kong wouldn't have died."

Wei Luochen lowered her head and took a sip of coffee, leaving a red lip print on the rim of the cup. Upon seeing this, she wiped it off with her hand.

"Was it really because of her that she died? Although the old lady wasn't in good health, she had access to adequate medical care. How could she have died?"

Ling Xingzhi took another bite; the soup was warm and felt very comfortable as it entered his stomach.

"Of course it's true! Think about it, Kong Xiangrui could secretly raise someone else's daughter without the old lady's knowledge. After raising a granddaughter for more than 20 years, he suddenly finds out that she is not his biological granddaughter. Who could bear that?"

Ling Xingzhi put down the spoon, and the porcelain spoon bumped against the side of the bowl.

"Ding-dong—"

A crisp sound.

Wei Luochen looked at Ling Xingzhi and frowned. "These wontons have a weird smell. I'm going out for a smoke."

"She wanted to leave on her own."

Wei Luochen grabbed Ling Xingzhi's wrist and looked at him nervously.

Ling Xingzhi shook his head. "I'm just going out for a smoke."

"Click—"

The burning smell of nicotine is very pleasant and makes people feel refreshed, but this is just a way of deceiving the body through nicotine.

More and more people arrived at the funeral, and the wind picked up in the quiet mountains. He smoked a cigarette, and his hands turned bright red with cold, as if every cell in them was splitting and tearing apart—it hurt.

As the funeral was about to begin, Ling Xingzhi slowly moved to the edge of the crowd. Those standing in the front row were all direct relatives of the Kong family; their expressions were unreadable, neither sorrowful nor happy.

The funeral was presided over by the old lady Kong's friends, who recounted her decisive and ruthless life, ultimately highlighting her achievements.

Standing in the front row, Wei Luochen listened to the story of Old Lady Kong and felt a pang of sorrow. Old Lady Kong, who was able to assess the situation in a chaotic world and fight her way out of her brother's shadow, was driven to her death by incest within her family.

She thought that if this were ancient times, such a person should have died on the battlefield, and should not have ended his life over trivial matters.

The outdoor portion of the funeral service concluded, and the group was led inside by the staff.

Ling Xingzhi didn't move, standing aside looking at her grandmother's smiling face in the black and white photograph, a face that was kind yet held a touch of heroism. Wei Luochen also didn't move, watching Ling Xingzhi from a distance.

He was definitely heartbroken. Although the Kong family didn't blame Ling Xingzhi for the old lady's death, Wei Luochen could clearly sense Ling Xingzhi's desolation and regret. Even after hearing that Kong Lingqi wasn't actually a member of the Kong family, his expression didn't change much.

A screeching sound of brakes came from afar.

Immediately afterward, a red figure darted through the crowd. Ling Xingzhi looked closely and realized it was Kong Lingqi. She was wearing a red dress and a black coat.

Wei Luochen hurried a few steps, afraid that Kong Lingqi would go to Ling Xingzhi, but after a few steps, the heel of his high heel got stuck in a crevice in the stone and he couldn't pull it out no matter what he did.

Kong Lingqi only exchanged a glance with Ling Xingzhi, and without stopping, flew over like a butterfly.

She walked straight onto the stage.

As he picked up the microphone, a line of security guards ran down to the stage. Ling Xingzhi quickly made a gesture, asking Li Qingshan to help stop them.

"Please wait a moment."

Kong Lingqi's voice was hoarse as she called out to everyone who wanted to go back inside.

Someone recognized her as the granddaughter of the Kong family. They looked at each other in surprise, then turned around and realized that there was going to be a good show.

“My name is Kong Lingqi, you all know me. I don’t know if I’m a member of the Kong family, I don’t know who I am, but I know that my grandmother raised me,” Kong Lingqi said, choking back tears. “I want to see her one last time… My grandmother was kind. In your eyes, she may be the head of the Kong family, but to me, she was just an ordinary old woman who would get angry if she watered the flowers too much, and would be happy if her cat had kittens…”

These were sincere words, and everyone could tell.

Including Wei Luochen, who hated and resented her the most.

“I always thought that my grandmother spoiled me and wasn’t as strict with other children because I was a girl. Later I found out that wasn’t the case. She was also very strict with Kong Lingxiang and other girls in the Kong family. I thought it was because my father didn’t have any status or power in the family…”

A commotion broke out below. Ling Xingzhi looked up slightly and saw Ling Qingyun standing inside the glass room.

"But I was wrong. My grandmother suffered and endured hardship her whole life, shouldering responsibilities. She didn't live the life she wanted. She let me grow up freely and gave me the freedom she had earned..."

A group of people in military uniforms walked over.

Ling Xingzhi immediately went up on stage and stood in front of Kong Lingqi, saying, "Please go back inside, it's too cold outside." After saying that, he turned around, picked up Kong Lingqi, and walked towards the parking lot.

"Ling Xingzhi, put me down! I still have things to say to Grandma! You bastard..."

As Kong Lingqi's cursing faded into the distance, Wei Luochen, already numb, pulled out the heel with Li Qingshan's help.

Ling Xingzhi opened the car door and shoved Kong Lingqi inside. After getting into the driver's seat, Kong Lingqi tried to get out, but Ling Xingzhi held her down.

"Can't I even say goodbye to my grandma?"

Ling Xingzhi licked his lips, looked at Kong Lingqi who was just as haggard as he was, slowly released his hand, turned around and looked straight ahead, "This is not a good place to say goodbye. The people who came today are all guests with vested interests. For them, it's just another social occasion, and death is the theme of this party."

Kong Lingqi's hand, which had been touching the car door, slowly fell. "They told me to leave because they were afraid I would compete for the Kong family's assets, but I have nothing to compete for. What's hateful is them, making me... And what about you? You told me to leave because you wanted to protect me, right?"

Ling Xingzhi kept his hands on the steering wheel and didn't say a word.

Kong Lingqi bit her lip and said again, "It's my fault. If I hadn't been so willful, if I hadn't wanted to cause you pain, if I hadn't wanted to..." In the end, she couldn't say anything more, tears streaming down her face, "...Grandma wouldn't have died, right..."

Ling Xingzhi suddenly smiled bitterly. He turned his head to wipe her tears. "It's my fault. I'm the one who killed her. If I hadn't been with you, if I had controlled myself, if..." Too many "ifs" couldn't stop Ling Xingzhi from blaming himself. It was him, he indirectly caused Grandma's death.

Kong Lingqi shook her head, her eyes resolute. "It was me. If I hadn't said I was pregnant with your child, Grandma wouldn't have been so upset that she had to be taken to the hospital..."

Ling Xingzhi took a deep breath, turned around and started the car. "Don't think about it anymore, what's done is done... I'll take you to the airport."

“I don’t want to become a coward and hide abroad. Grandma would definitely not like me like that.”

As Ling Xingzhi listened to her mutterings, he took out a cigarette case from his pocket with one hand, poured out a cigarette, and lit it in his mouth.

The car drove out of the mountain road, and military vehicles were blocking the road in the distance.

Ling Xingzhi slowly stopped the car, rolled down the window, and the person who came over to speak bent down and looked at him with a smile, "Secretary Ling, you can't go any further, or you'll have to go down the mountain."

"good."

Ling Xingzhi didn't get out of the car. He exchanged a glance with Kong Lingqi and then rolled up the car window.

"You should go abroad for a while. The Kong family will definitely be in turmoil. The disputes over property and the issue of succession will be very troublesome. It's not safe for you to stay in the country."

Ling Xingzhi quickly analyzed the situation for her, "Also, after you go abroad, don't trust anyone. Just do what you want to do. This is the freedom that Grandma fought for for you. You yourself said to cherish it and not get involved in family struggles."

"Go abroad first, and I'll help you get your share back."

Kong Lingqi nodded, and Ling Xingzhi took out his phone and sent a few messages, then remained silent.

Those outside the car were also confused and could only wait on the side; they couldn't let anyone out. Ling Qingyun had given instructions, but he was somewhat hesitant to sit inside and smoke without getting out of the car.

More than ten minutes later, another car arrived.

When Ling Xingzhi saw this and reached for the car door, Kong Lingqi grabbed him, asking, "Is this really the time for us to separate?"

The two looked at each other, but neither spoke.

"Yes, but separation is for a better reunion."

Ling Xingzhi opened the car door, and Li Qingshan was in the car behind. He walked over, and Li Qingshan came over as well. "Take Kong Lingqi to Paris and then come back. I've already arranged the plane tickets and passports."

Li Qingshan nodded, understanding the meaning of the order.

Thus, the car carrying Kong Lingqi headed north.

Ling Xingzhi smoked a cigarette, watching Kong Lingqi drive away through the swirling smoke. No one around dared to utter a word, all staring in the direction the car had gone.

Only after the car had completely disappeared from sight did he stub out his cigarette, turn around, get into the car Li Qingshan had driven, and turn back.

Ling Xingzhi turned on the stereo, and the radio host's joyful voice came through: "City A is about to welcome its first snow, and there will definitely be more people going to the Forbidden City to see the snow."

"Yes, white snow adorns red walls, and delicate jade petals fall like scattered snowflakes..."

Ling Xingzhi looked at the road ahead, and it seemed that something white was falling from the sky.

"Bang—"

Blood trickled from his temple.

The sound from the speakers remained the same.

"City A has welcomed its first snowfall of the winter. Drivers on the road, please be careful."

Snow fell from the sky, covering the mountains and fields.

The green mountains stand together under the same clouds and snow, and the bright moon shines over us from two different places.