Near the end of May, Tian Mingwu had been in Jinning County for nearly three months when he finally sent a message back saying that he would be back in two days, which happened to be the auspicious day he had calculated with the monk.
Tian An quickly arranged for his servants to prepare everything necessary for the burial, even replacing all the lanterns in the house with white ones.
The items have been ordered early in the morning, so you just need to send someone to confirm them and pick them up on the same day.
There were also tributes and pastries to be used that day. In addition to preparing homemade braised meat and cakes, Tian An also ordered food and pastries from the most famous restaurants and pastry shops in the capital.
All the grains, fruits and vegetables used were grown in her space.
Everything was ready, and the house became busy before dawn that day. Xiaokang and Xiaoqi both got up early to pack up.
From the master to the maids and servants, regardless of whether they had to go up the mountain to move the graves or not, they all dressed in plain clothes. The maids, including Tian An, even took off all their jewelry and only used a white ribbon to fix their hair bun.
After Zhao Yiming took Tian An, Xiaokang and Xiaoqi to have a vegetarian breakfast, they prepared to go out of the city to welcome An Wan's coffin.
As soon as I went out, I met someone from the An family.
Old Madam An asked Tian An, Xiaokang and Xiaoqi to ride in the carriage with her, while Zhao Yiming rode a horse.
When Tian An got on the carriage, he discovered that there was a black bruise under his grandmother's eyes, and her eyes were red and swollen, showing signs of fatigue.
It looked like she might have cried all night and didn't sleep at all.
Tian An took her hand and examined her while asking, "Did Grandma have breakfast this morning?"
Before Madam An could say anything, the personal nanny beside her whispered to Tian An, "The old lady was sad all night last night and couldn't eat anything this morning."
"There's food in the carriage!"
Mrs. An is old, and if she doesn't get enough rest, her blood pressure will easily be high. If she doesn't eat, her health will easily be damaged.
Fortunately, the nanny was considerate and knew that the old lady had not eaten, so she asked someone to bring a food box before leaving.
Tian An opened the lunch box and found a simple vegetable porridge and a plate of vegetarian dumplings. Tian An took a bowl from the earthenware bowl and fed it to Mrs. An himself.
While feeding her porridge, she said, “Mother is coming back today, so mother-in-law needs to eat enough so that she can have the energy to welcome her.
It’s still early to leave the city, so after you finish eating, you can take a rest with me.”
Mrs. An was about to say that she couldn't sleep when she heard Tian An say, "Your eyes are red and swollen, and your mother will be worried if she sees them.
Mother finally reunited with everyone, we should all be happy."
Old Madam An listened to Tian An muttering and opened her mouth to eat the porridge she fed her. Xiaokang and Xiaoqi each picked up a vegetarian bun and fed her one bite on the left and one bite on the right, and kept talking to make her laugh.
Looking at the pretty face of his granddaughter, which resembled his daughter, and listening to the childish chatter of Xiaokang and Xiaoqi, he ate a lot of food that he had found difficult to swallow in the morning without realizing it.
After eating, Tian An really hugged Mrs. An and let her sleep against him.
Although Mrs. An felt that she couldn't fall asleep, she still obediently let Tian An hold her, resting her head on her shoulder and closing her eyes to rest.
Seeing that Madam An had closed her eyes, everyone lowered their voices. Tian An was a doctor and could tell whether the old lady was asleep or not by listening to her breathing.
After a long time, seeing that she still couldn't fall asleep, he hummed a gentle tune softly.
Perhaps it was because the song worked, or perhaps it was because the faint herbal scent on Tian An made her feel at ease. After a while, Tian An heard her breathing become even and long.
This is what it means to really fall asleep.
The nanny beside her was relieved to see that her old lady had really fallen asleep. Otherwise, if she continued to be unable to eat or sleep, how would her body sleep?
As the carriage drove out of the city, Xiaokang and Xiaoqi felt a little drowsy.
When they arrived outside the city, Tian Mingwu had not arrived yet, so they stopped by the roadside and waited.
Tian An saw that the old lady had finally fallen asleep, so he didn't wake her up.
Then, everyone saw carriages and horses coming towards them from behind. Leading the way were the three brothers of the Wu family, who were protecting a carriage behind them.
The eldest brother of the Wu family first brought his two younger brothers to pay their respects to Duke Anguo, and then went to greet Zhao Yiming, Anyichen and Anyiji, and then led the team to retreat to the side of the road to wait together.
Later, carriages from the Zuo, Gu, Wei, Song, and Peng families arrived one after another. After the adults greeted each other, they quietly waited with their own teams.
"An An, are we there yet?"
Old Madam An in her arms groaned and gradually woke up.
The nanny quickly helped her up.
Just now, after the old lady fell asleep, the nanny wanted to take her over and let her sleep in her arms, but Tian An was afraid of waking her up, so he didn't agree and held her all the way.
Seeing that she had been sleeping with Tian An as her pillow, Mrs. An pinched her arm distressedly and said, "You kid, you didn't even know to wake me up. Your arm must be bruised!"
Tian An shook his head. "I'm not made of paper. Besides, mother-in-law didn't sleep for long, how could she be sick?"
Then he held the old lady's hand, rested his head on her shoulder and said softly: "In the past, mother-in-law also held mother like this when she slept! Now mother has no chance to show filial piety.
I am her daughter, and I should be filial to her."
As she spoke, Madam An's eyes became red again, and she choked up and said, "If possible, I don't want her to be filial. I just want her to be alive and well. Even if I never see her again, as long as I know she is still well, that's enough."
Tian An hugged the old lady comfortingly. She had no mother in both of her lives, but the love that the old lady had for her daughter was like a substance, allowing her to clearly feel the motherly love.
......
Just as the sun was rising, Tian Mingwu's team finally appeared on the horizon.
Leading the group was Shen Cheng, and in the middle was a large carriage, driven by Tian Mingwu himself.
On their side, all the people in the carriage got off the carriage tacitly after hearing the news.
Tian An saw his old friends, all dressed in plain clothes, coming with the elders of the Xie family.
Even the three members of the Peng family, who had always been both down-to-earth and extravagant, took off their jewels for a rare occasion. Mrs. Peng didn't even wear a plain bracelet. Her only ornament was the white silk flower on her head.
Walking through the crowd, Tian An saw Xiao Chen who was at the end of the line. When he saw her looking over, he bowed to her from a distance.
Tian An also bent his knees and saluted, and then saluted each family in turn.
Even the youngest, Xiaokang and Xiaoqi, followed Tian An and bowed politely to everyone.
After greeting each other, everyone's eyes turned to Tian Mingwu and his group who were rushing towards them not far away.
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