Jin thought she wouldn't cry, but as she lay on the chair, facing the sun and closing her eyes, tears still fell silently.

Jin thinks they are family! She has no regrets about marrying Marquis Cheng'en in this life.

Jin accompanied Marquis Cheng'en in the sun for half an hour before she wiped her tears and ordered the servants who had retreated, "The Marquis has left. Tell the elder master and the others!"

The servants who were waiting to serve nearby immediately knelt on the ground, and they were also sad at that moment.

The Marquis of Cheng'en was among these people, and he was their heavenly guardian. As long as the Marquis was around, they would walk out with their heads held high.

When Zhou Zhiyi and others arrived, Marquis Cheng'en was still lying on the chair without moving at all.

Jin wanted to wait until her son and daughter had seen the Marquis before having someone wash him.

When Zhou Qiongyue received the notice and hurried over on horseback, she saw several of her brothers kneeling beside her father, including the children of her second and third uncles.

Zhou Qiongyue started crying before she even got close.

Jin looked at her daughter's messy clothes and askew hair. She walked over to her daughter and calmly straightened her clothes and hair.

"Your father has always loved you. If you come forward like this, he will be reluctant to leave."

When Jin said this, not only Zhou Qiongyue, but even Zhou Zhiyi and his brothers burst into tears.

Zhou Qiongyue walked over to her eldest brother and knelt down, looking up in the direction her father was looking. Although the sun was shining brightly, Zhou Qiongyue felt no warmth at all.

Jin stayed by the side until all the children arrived.

Jin finally spoke in a hoarse voice, "The Marquis' children are all here, and they're here to see you off. If it's too cold down there, don't wait for me."

If you have the conditions down there, then earn some money! Our children have been spoiled by us and can’t stand hardship.”

After Jin finished speaking, she ignored the crying children and said with all her might, "You brothers and sisters, kowtow! Send your father off."

Zhou Qiongyue and the others obediently kowtowed three times to Marquis Cheng'en.

Zhou Qiongyue originally thought she would faint from crying when her father passed away, but when she looked at her mother who was holding on, she chose to be strong.

After Zhou Qiongyue kowtowed, she roughly wiped her tears with her sleeve and said to her father, "Dad, Mom said you don't need to wait for her downstairs.

But you can wait for your daughter for a few more decades, and then she will go to the underworld to honor you."

After Zhou Qiongyue finished speaking, she stood up and firmly supported her mother Jin.

Zhou Zhiyi also promised in a hoarse voice: "Don't worry, Dad! I will take good care of my younger brothers and sisters, and I will also take good care of myself.

If life down there is tough, don't try to be tough, just find a place to hide. Wait for your son to go down there and fight, and then you, your mother, and your sister can just wait and enjoy the good life."

Zhou Zhiwen didn't say anything, he just cried. In his heart, he still blamed his father for being too cruel to him.

At the end, he did not forget to drive them out to pave the way for his eldest brother.

When he arrived at Zhou Zhiquan's house, he only said, "Son, everything is fine. Have a safe journey, Dad." He was already crying so hard that he almost fainted.

"My son is doing well!" Zhou Zhiqi felt very uncomfortable. At this moment, he was thinking that if he knew that kowtowing on the day of moving would be the last time he would speak to his father, he would definitely insist on saying a few more words.

Zhou Qiongyue did what she said. She cried bitterly on the night her father passed away, and then she held back her tears until her father's funeral.

She just stared blankly at the side from time to time.

The funeral of Marquis Cheng'en was held with great splendor. Not only did the emperor come to pay his respects in person, he also bestowed upon him the posthumous title of "Wenyong".

After Marquis Cheng'en was buried, the emperor considered it for several days, and finally could not bear to see his mother's family fall into decline, so he conferred the title of earl on Zhou Zhiyi and gave him the title of "Zhi Zhong".

The emperor's edict specifically stated that the former Marquis Cheng'en's house did not need to be returned or rebuilt, and it could be directly replaced with the name of Marquis Zhong.

Zhou Zhiyi had already prepared that there would be no more titles in his generation, but he didn't expect that he would have an earl. Of course, he was happy.

This title is different from that of Marquis Cheng'en. If one does not make mistakes, it can be passed down for three generations, and the title will be demoted after three generations.

I originally thought that with the departure of Marquis Cheng'en, the emperor's mother's family would have to withdraw from the ranks of Yuan'an nobles, but I didn't expect that the Zhou family was still in the emperor's favor.

Zhou Zhiyi still submitted a petition for mourning, but the emperor, as before, rejected Zhou Zhiyi's application and approved those of other members of the Zhou family.

As the princes grew up, factional struggles became increasingly severe, and the emperor began to trust the people he grew up with more.

Zhou Zhiyi, the cousin, used to be the emperor's study companion together with Yuan Bohua. Now, in the emperor's mind, he is considered to be a relatively loyal person.

So it was impossible for him to let his cousin go into mourning. Zhou Zhiyi had already become a third-rank official, and this kind of position was a one-size-fits-all position.

If Zhou Zhiyi came back after three years of mourning, even the emperor might not be able to give him such a high position.

Since her father passed away, Zhou Qiongyue has spent most of her time with her mother, Jin.

Jin's behavior was no different from usual, she just ate and slept as usual, and she didn't seem particularly sad.

Zhou Qiongyue and Zhou Zhiyi, brothers and sisters, once thought that with their mother's current condition, it would not be a problem for her to live another five or six years.

What they didn't expect was that Jin only lived for another six months before passing away.

When Jin left, Zhou Qiongyue and her siblings knelt before her bed and listened to her say, "My Lord, you've come to take me away!"

Zhou Qiongyue looked at her mother with eyes full of joy, and she didn't even say anything to keep her.

Zhou Qiongyue thought she would faint from crying, but she herself did not expect that she could calmly help her mother Jin wash and dress, put on her favorite makeup, put on her favorite jewelry, and dress her mother in her favorite clothes.

Zhou Qiongyue wanted her mother to look beautiful and go meet the people she wanted to meet, without having to suffer alone for the sake of them, the children.

When Jin was buried, Zhou Qiongyue buried all the jewelry her mother had loved during her lifetime with her, leaving only a few pieces as souvenirs.

Zhou Qiongyue remained in this state until Jin was buried, when Yuan Bohua and Yuan Chaokang helped her walk out.

Zhou Qiongyue's tears began to flow uncontrollably.

After that, Zhou Qiongyue was always sick. One day, she suddenly woke up from her dream and began to cry.

Yuan Bohua stood up and hugged Zhou Qiongyue silently. He didn't know how to comfort Yue'er.

Zhou Qiongyue cried helplessly, "I have become a child without parents."

Yuan Bohua quickly patted Zhou Qiongyue on the back to calm her down. "How can Yue'er be a child without parents? Her parents just moved to a new place and they still care about her."

It was not known whether it was Zhou Qiongyue's crying that had an effect, or Yuan Bohua's comfort, but after that night, Zhou Qiongyue's illness began to heal.