Chapter 96 Returning to the Huo Residence
The following evening, Huo Nanchen and Lin Xili drove to the Huo family ancestral home, located in the suburbs of Hong Kong, nestled against the mountains and by the water.
The mansion still retains the same dignified and magnificent appearance, rich in history, as I remember it, with its flying eaves and brackets, and deep courtyards.
Lu Qingshu and Huo Nanyu were standing at the door to greet them.
When Huo Nanyu saw Huo Nanchen, he went up to him and patted him hard on the shoulder, "It's good that you're back."
Grandma Huo was already waiting in the hall. The moment she saw Huo Nanchen, tears immediately streamed down her face.
"Grandma," Huo Nanchen called out.
Grandma Huo reached out her hand, and Huo Nanchen squatted down on one knee so that Grandma could reach out and stroke his cheek.
The old man stroked his cheek, "You've lost weight, you've lost weight. Why was this training session so long? It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back..."
"Grandma, how has your health been these past two years?" Huo Nanchen asked.
"Okay, very good."
Lin Xili stood aside with a smile, giving space to the grandmother and grandson.
After a while, Lu Qingshu gave Huo Nanyu a wink.
Huo Nanyu stood up and said to Huo Donghua, who was sitting in the main seat, "Father, Nanchen wants to go to the ancestral hall to offer incense to Uncle."
Huo Donghua paused, holding his teacup, and after a few seconds of silence, slowly said, "Go, Qing Shu, take them there. You know the rules."
“Yes, Father,” Lu Qingshu replied.
The ancestral hall is located at the deepest part of the old house. It is a solemn building that stands alone and occupies a considerable area.
Pushing open the heavy wooden door, a whiff of sandalwood incense wafted out. Directly in front was a tall shrine, with layers upon layers of ancestral tablets of the Huo family, black background with gold characters, silent and majestic.
Incense burns eternally, its smoke swirling around.
What made Lin Xili gasp was the large, heavy rosewood altar table beneath the shrine.
Hundreds of dark wooden rulers were neatly and densely arranged on top.
Each one is about fifty centimeters long and two fingers wide, with a hard texture and a dark luster that comes from years of handling.
What's most unsettling is that each wooden ruler is covered with ancient small regular script characters carved with extremely fine carving tools.
Lin Xili wasn't standing very close, so he couldn't see the specific details, but the dense, intricate markings were coldly watching the intruder.
"This is..." Lin Xili subconsciously moved closer to Lu Qingshu and asked in a low voice.
Lu Qingshu stood to the side, her voice extremely low, "The Huo family rules consist of five thousand articles, engraved on a hundred rulers, fifty articles per ruler."
“If any member of the clan violates the rules, they will be punished according to the rules. Whichever rule is violated, the family law will be enforced with the ruler engraved with that rule.”
Lin Xili had heard Song Yuan mention that the Huo family had strict rules, with five thousand family rules to regulate the words and deeds of their descendants. He never expected it to be true.
She felt a chill run down her spine and couldn't help but look at Huo Nanchen.
He was quietly looking at the rulers, his profile appearing exceptionally serene in the flickering candlelight.
Lu Qingshu continued in a low voice, "One of the punishments that Nan Chen has to accept in order to completely break away from the Huo family and give up all his inheritance rights is..."
"It is to receive these hundred rulers as a sign of a complete break with the Huo family rules."
Lin Xili's pupils dilated in shock. A hundred roots?
Lu Qingshu knew what she was thinking. "When they hit seventy sticks, Nan Chen had already passed out. It was Grandma who risked her life to break in and knelt in front of the ancestral hall, threatening to kill herself."
"In the end, the father had no choice but to punish Nan Chen by making him stay at home for a month to reflect on his mistakes, thus sparing Nan Chen the last thirty strokes."
Lin Xili's heart clenched painfully. He remembered the bloody price he had paid for giving up his identity with the Huo family.
Huo Nanchen picked up three incense sticks and lit them on the eternal lamp.
The red dot on the incense stick flickered, and the blue smoke rose straight up.
He stood solemnly for a moment before the tablet bearing the inscription "Huo Gong Hui Hua Xian" on the shrine, then bowed three times with utmost seriousness and inserted incense into the incense burner.
The wisps of smoke blurred his serene features, and also obscured the name on the memorial tablet.
In this way, he was silently bidding farewell to and paying tribute to the great-uncle who had led him down a different path.
After the worship ceremony, the three left the ancestral hall.
The heavy wooden door slowly closed behind us, sealing away the solemnity and gravity once again.
They hadn't gone far when a steward from the old mansion approached and respectfully said to Huo Nanchen, "Young Master Chen, the master requests your presence in the study."
Huo Nanchen's expression remained unchanged. He simply nodded to Lin Xili and Lu Qingshu, "Please take Xili back to the hall first, brother and sister-in-law. I'll be right back."
Watching Huo Nanchen disappear into the depths of the winding corridor with the steward.
Lin Xili had just withdrawn his gaze when the shock and lingering fear in his heart had not yet subsided.
Lu Qingshu led Lin Xili through several moon gates to a quieter, more elegantly furnished courtyard.
This is the main hall where she and Huo Nanyu usually live. Compared to the solemn and grand front hall of the old house, it has a more down-to-earth and lively atmosphere.
The hall was filled with the faint scent of sandalwood, and the display shelves were filled with relevant professional books.
"Sit down, Xili." Lu Qingshu poured her a cup of warm black tea and handed it to her.
"Have some tea to calm your nerves. Few people who visit the ancestral hall for the first time don't feel oppressed."
Lin Xili took the teacup, let out a soft sigh, and nodded honestly, "It was truly shocking, those rulers..."
"The Huo family has been able to last for a thousand years for a reason. We cannot judge whether these family rules that constrain the words and deeds of future generations are right or wrong."
Lu Qingshu sat down in the armchair opposite her and picked up a cup of tea for herself.
The two had barely sat down when a pair of twins, who looked to be about seven years old, walked in.
The girl wore a plain dress and had two neat braids, while the boy wore a white shirt and overalls, looking as proper as a little adult.
Both children were born with delicate features, inheriting the best qualities of their parents.
Lin Xili recognized them as Huo Nanyu and Lu Qingshu's twins, who had grown much taller in the two years since she last saw them.
"Mother!" the two children called out in unison.
"Xining, Xiyu, come and meet your aunt." Lu Qingshu shed her professional demeanor and gently waved to the children.
The two children turned to Lin Xili and bowed respectfully, "Hello, Auntie!"
Lin Xili quickly replied, "Hello, you're so good."
Huo Xining looked up at Lin Xili and blinked his big eyes: "Auntie is so beautiful, she and Uncle are a perfect match."
Lin Xili was amused by these naive words, and the heaviness in her heart eased slightly.
Lu Qingshu smiled and said to the children, "Alright, go to the study to do your homework first, and have dinner with your aunt later."
"Yes, Mother." The two children responded obediently, and bowed to Lin Xili again, "See you later, Auntie."
Lin Xi felt a warmth in her heart. "Okay, see you later!"
Watching the children's figures disappear, Lin Xili couldn't help but sigh, "You've taught these children so well."
Lu Qingshu smiled and said, "Born into the Huo family, some things are innate, while others are things you have to learn."
After taking a sip of tea, Lu Qingshu seemed to remember something. "In Xili, my marriage to Nan Yu is naturally a marriage between two prominent families."
“Our two families have been friends for generations, and we’ve known about this marriage since we were little.”
"Fortunately, we first met at an intercollegiate debate competition at university, where he was the opposing debater."
"They argued fiercely, but afterwards they both found each other quite interesting."
She took a sip of tea and continued, "After getting to know each other better, we found that we shared similar views and had common interests."
"So when the family formally brought up the marriage, we did not resist; on the contrary, we felt it was a natural progression."
“We were lucky to avoid the most common tragedy of arranged marriages, but Nan Chen saw and experienced something different.”
Lu Qingshu put down her teacup, looked at Lin Xili, and her voice suddenly softened, "Nan Chen mentioned Mother's matter to you, right?"
Lin Xili nodded. "He mentioned it when I discovered his past identity as a member of the Huo family."
Lu Qingshu's tone turned heavy, "Nan Chen always thought that it was because he liked the painter's paintings and brought him home that everything that happened later occurred."
“He felt that he had dragged his mother down. If he hadn’t liked painting and hadn’t insisted on having the family invite that painter back to teach him, his mother would at least still be alive. He carried this guilt for more than 20 years.”
But in reality...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com