After leaving the Dali Temple, Hua Qingcheng and his group went to Tai'an Restaurant in the city.

After lunch, Hua Qingcheng and Si Chengfeng did not return to the palace, but took a carriage to the Si family in the south of the city. Feng Wen was driving again, and Zuo An was accompanying them.

This was Si Chengfeng's first visit here after nine years. Looking at the mansion in front of him, which looked luxurious on the outside but actually had a run-down atmosphere, Si Chengfeng felt a lot of emotions.

He was born and raised here. This is also the place where his father Meng Lishi lived for six years. It carries all of Si Chengfeng's memories of his father.

By this time, the gilded plaque of the Si Mansion had been removed. That plaque, a symbol of honor and status, was now dim and dull, as if to speak of the passing of its former glory. The seals on the gate had also been removed, and the torn pieces of seal, like the lost honor and favor of their owner, drifted away in the wind.

The officers and soldiers in the mansion were busy shuttling between the rooms. Some were counting and registering the property in the mansion. Their fingers jumped nimbly on the abacus, making a "clicking" sound, as if they were playing the last elegy for this once glorious mansion.

Some officers and soldiers were arranging the next destination for the slaves. Their voices were cold and ruthless, and their words had already determined the future fate of these people.

The entire mansion was filled with an air of desolation and decay, no longer possessing the grandeur and luxury of the past. The once magnificent courtyard was now left with only bare walls and a desolate courtyard.

The former prosperity of the Si Mansion was like a brilliant dream, vanishing like the fleeting bloom of an Epiphyllum. The flowers and plants within the mansion had lost their vitality, their withered branches rustling in the cold wind, as if mourning the mansion's decline.

Passing through the front yard and over the hanging flower gate, Si Chengfeng walked into the backyard and came to Jingxuan Courtyard where he and Meng Lishi once lived.

Every blade of grass, every stone, every tile here carries all the memories of his and his father's childhood. Time flies, and the little bits and pieces of the past have turned into wisps of smoke, drifting away in the wind.

The plum tree that Meng Lishi planted himself still stands in the courtyard, its branches twisted and mottled, as if telling of the vicissitudes of life it has witnessed over the long years. The plum blossoms still bloom proudly on the branches, exuding a faint fragrance that is enchanting.

However, the man who stood under the tree admiring the plum blossoms has long since passed away. He once loved these plum blossoms so much that he would express his praise and respect for them in his own way, whether by painting or composing poems.

The past was like smoke, and scenes emerged in Si Chengfeng's mind. Now, only the plum tree and its flowers remained, still swaying gracefully in the wind. But the person who loved plum blossoms was gone forever.

"Dad~"

"The wind is back to see you..."

Si Chengfeng raised his hand and gently stroked the plum blossoms on the branches, his eyes filled with endless sadness and attachment.

His bony fingers gently touched the petals of the plum blossom, as if he could feel the life and soul of the flower. The tears that had been welling up in his eyes finally rolled down.

"Afeng, Dad will be heartbroken when he sees you like this..."

Hua Qingcheng raised her hand and wiped the tears from Si Chengfeng's face with her sleeve, then hugged him tightly and comforted him.

Accompanied by Hua Qingcheng, Si Chengfeng walked through every corner of Jingxuanyuan, recalling every detail of his and Meng Lishi's life here.

However, Si Chengfeng didn't have the courage to go to the room where Meng Lishi once lived. Because that was also the place where Meng Lishi took his last breath and his short life was frozen.

That room was like a solemn monument, commemorating the existence of Meng Lishi. It carried too much pain and memories, and was like an unhealable wound, reminding Si Chengfeng of what he had lost.

"Afeng~"

Seeing Si Chengfeng standing and hesitating at the door of the main house with a sad look on his face, Hua Qingcheng held his hand tightly and pushed open the door with him. It looked thin but seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.

After so many years, the un-cleaned room was filled with a stale and decadent atmosphere. Si Chengfeng saw the bed Meng Lishi had slept on, the books he had read, the clothes he had worn... Everything was still so familiar, except for the absence of Meng Lishi.

Every corner of the room was filled with the shadow of Meng Lishi. He had laughed, cried, yearned, and waited there before... but now, there was only silence and emptiness.

Si Chengfeng walked to the bedside and gently stroked the pillow where Meng Lishi had slept. It was that familiar warm scent, as if Meng Lishi was still there.

Si Chengfeng lowered his eyes slightly, took a deep breath, and then slowly opened his eyes. Suddenly, he seemed to see a familiar figure. It was Meng Lishi smiling at him...

"Dad~"

"Feng'er is unfilial. He only came back to see you now..."

Si Chengfeng hugged Meng Lishi's pillow and cried like a child. In this scene, Hua Qingcheng just accompanied him silently and did not interrupt his and Meng Lishi's conversation.

Si Chengfeng and Hua Qingcheng stayed in Jingxuan Courtyard for almost an hour, and then they went to the Si family's ancestral hall to take down the tablet belonging to Meng Lishi.

At the end of the afternoon, Si Chengfeng, holding Meng Lishi's tablet, walked out of the gate of Si Mansion with Hua Qingcheng, leaving this place that carried too many memories for him.

Since the tablet could not be brought into the palace, Hua Qingcheng and Si Chengfeng finally placed Meng Lishi's tablet in a villa in the city.

At Yu Xiaotian's reminder, Hua Qingcheng has ordered people to speed up the construction of a small shrine for Meng Lishi at the Charity Bureau. Once it is completed, his tablet will be placed there to receive the incense from the children who have benefited from Meng Lishi.

The Dali Temple Minister will award most of the confiscated Si family property to the Charity Bureau because of Hua Qingcheng, and Hua Qingcheng is naturally doing it for Si Chengfeng.

The children who were indirectly reborn because of Meng Lishi would also use their sincerity to accumulate enough merit for Meng Lishi to help him reincarnate. Meng Lishi was later revered as "Grandfather" by the children of the Charity Bureau.