Chapter 851 Life and death are not farewells, forgetting is

Xu Yu had a thank you under his breath, which he couldn't tell whether it was a compliment or a disparagement. Just then, Mr. Xue came out of the hall and waved to Xu Yu hurriedly, "General, what are you still standing there for?"

Mr. Xue walked over quickly without waiting for Xu Yu to respond. With a wave of his hand, several palace maids followed him jogging, holding mourning clothes that conformed to royal etiquette.

"Hurry and change."

Mr. Xue ignored the crowd and started to pull off the mourning clothes on Xu Yu. He spoke quickly, "The young prince said that no one else is allowed to stay. Only the general is allowed to go in and kneel with the spirit."

"General, please spend a little more time with me. As the prince's adopted son, you are the little prince's elder brother. If there is anything the little prince doesn't understand, please remember to give him more advice. You should also spend a little more time day and night, and please persuade him not to let his grief become too severe and hurt himself. I am counting on you."

Xu Yu politely declined Mr. Xue's offer to dress him and took the mourning clothes and put them on himself.

Everyone has a piece of mourning tied on their arm.

There was a mourning scarf on Xu Yu's forehead, which was tied by Mr. Xue himself.

Different from the filial piety of a minister, it is the filial piety of a son.

Seeing this, everyone who was arguing with Minister Wen and others fell silent. Xu Yu walked straight into the mourning hall, without even glancing at the imperial guards who were stationed outside the palace.

Jiang Yubai is not familiar with anyone here, and there is no way of knowing his temperament.

But Xu Yu was different.

This person was raised in Kyoto City. When he was young, he was arrogant and extravagant, and even caused the contempt of ministers and dignitaries.

What is the situation now?

The first person to raise doubts was the one who had the most intense dispute with Prime Minister Wen.

This person was quite far away from Mr. Xue and didn't hear what Mr. Xue said to Xu Yu at all. He raised his eyebrows and said angrily: "We can't get in, why does he have to..."

"Who do you think you are to be compared with him?"

Minister Wen spoke angrily before anyone else could, "That's our prince's adopted son in front of all the ministers, and his elder brother who risked his life to protect our young prince!"

"You ignorant old folks from the Central Plains should have bowed down and kowtowed to him when you saw him. Did you kneel just now?!"

The person who asked the question was choked so much that his face turned purple and he couldn't answer.

The Minister of Literature scoffed, "Don't give yourself too much credit."

"Our General of the Cavalry is invincible, a formidable general who has never been defeated on the battlefield! How can you question his achievements? Do you think you are worthy?!"

Although the Lingnan civil officials who were with the Minister of Literature were not as sharp as the Minister of Literature, any one of them could be a ruthless person who could outwit ten others.

But after a moment, everyone, including the old prince, slowly changed their expressions.

Xu Mingyang is extremely favored by the young prince, and Xu Yu commands a large number of troops on the battlefield.

And when Jiang Yubai blurted out "Brother" when Xu Yu was carrying the coffin into the capital, all these signs showed that the Xu family had surpassed its previous power and was far above everyone else.

But no one expected that Xu Yu would be adopted as the old prince's son...

Being recognized as the elder brother by the emperor, his future is no longer limitless.

Mr. Xue watched these people's expressions change again and again with a cold eye, and a distant yet gentle smile appeared on his face: "Prime Minister, what are you arguing about for no reason?"

"The ministers are also worried about irregularities, and they have no ill intentions."

"It's better if they don't."

The Minister of Literature looked at the pale-faced man with a half-smile, lifted his robe, walked to the front of the Lingnan ministers, and knelt down straight.

Although Chen Jing'an did not hold any specific official position, he was pulled by Mr. Xue and knelt in front.

Hundreds of people behind him knelt down in unison, in complete silence.

During the break, Chen Jing'an couldn't help but lean in and whisper, "Sir, didn't Minister Wen scold Xu Yu all the way?"

"How come when he's in public, he's actually defending Xu Yu and not allowing people to scold him?"

If Chen Jing'an hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed that such words could be spoken by the Minister of Literature!

Mr. Xue was a little amused: "What's so hard about this?"

"No matter how much the Minister of Literature curses, he is cursing one of our own. Since he is one of our own, how can we tolerate others cursing him?"

After a series of purges, the atmosphere among the powerful families in Kyoto's officialdom is now very different from what it was a month ago.

Because Jiang Yubai really dares to kill.

Anyone who speaks disrespectfully or is found to have committed any wrongdoing will have their entire family killed, and not just one person will be killed.

It is definitely not enough to kill just one clan if three clans are implicated.

After such a terrible and bloody suppression, even if these people jumped around behind Jiang Yubai's back and shouted some irrelevant nonsense, they would have been killed without any other thoughts.

After this, the factions of the Kyoto court were officially divided into two factions.

One group consisted of officials from the royal city who were brought here by Xu Yu in a bundle of ties, and the other group consisted of people from the imperial city who were difficult to kill directly.

Once a faction emerges, there is a distinction between insiders and outsiders.

Xu Yu is a well-deserved one of us.

Mr. Xue brushed his sleeves and said calmly, "No matter how hard our own people fight, their hearts are always in the same direction, and the ropes are twisted in the same direction. But it's different for outsiders."

So in front of outsiders, Xu Yu had a lot of helpers.

Chen Jing'an gave a thumbs up in amazement. Coincidentally, this conversation was heard by Minister Wen, who rolled his eyes arrogantly in return.

Chen Jing'an understood without the Minister Wen saying anything. Temporary reconciliation and unity against external affairs did not mean that the old man no longer held a grudge.

The accounts that need to be settled still need to be settled with Xu Yu.

Chen Jing'an's face twitched, unable to hide his subtle expression. Before he could say anything, he heard the bell ringing. He quickly restrained his expression and knelt down again with everyone else.

Inside Chendong Hall.

In the empty hall were placed the old prince's ice coffin and the princess's spirit tablet.

Jiang Yubai knelt down and placed a few pieces of paper money in the basin, and said softly: "Brother, if I burn these things, can my parents really receive them?"

"And those things buried with the emperor in the mausoleum. Do people really have souls after they die?"

Xu Yu knelt beside him, silently fiddling with the incense in the basin, and said without looking up, "I think so."

"I knew my father had died in Hongbei before our house was raided. Do you know what emergency arrangements I made?"

"What?"

"I'll have the secret guards find a place to burn plenty of paper money and gold ingots for my father. They must burn them for the full 49th day, lest he can't afford the fine wine he likes in the underworld and threaten to return to life and accuse me of being unfilial."

A faint smile flashed across Jiang Yubai's pale face.

Xu Yu said to himself, "At that time, I was really worried that my father would have no money to spend."

"But I couldn't go to Hongbei. The place I wanted to go was too far away from Hongbei. It was so far away that I couldn't find my father's body even after searching for a long time. I couldn't even find any token to identify him."

"Then what?"

Jiang Yubai narrowed his eyes as he watched the flames leap up in front of him as if responding to him, and asked hoarsely, "What did you do later?"

"The fighting in Hongbei was so brutal. There were bones scattered under the yellow sand, with heads, arms, and legs scattered everywhere, all piled up in a heap. I really couldn't find my father, so I just picked up some bones from the ground and pieced together the appearance of a human. I took them to the top of the highest mountain in Hongbei to bury them."

"I'm sure that's my father's grave."

Xu Yu took the stack of paper money Jiang Yubai handed over, placed a few pieces in the basin, and said casually, "Because my father's heroic spirit is above the battlefield, and the souls of countless soldiers are still guarding that piece of heaven and earth with him."

"I buried the remains in the highest place, so that they can look upon the territory they defended with their flesh and blood day and night, and their heroic spirits can rest in peace."

"When meeting Bai, life and death are not farewells."

"Forget it."

As long as the living remember, no one dies.

Jiang Yubai's throat choked violently after hearing this. After a while, he kowtowed deeply to the ice coffin and the spirit tablet, and said in a hoarse voice, "Okay."

"I know..."