Chapter 67 Funeral

In late spring, Lijingxuan is a scene of colorful flowers.

The eldest wife was lying on the big kang by the window with a pale face. There was a gentle breeze and willow catkins fell on her bedding.

"Sister-in-law, please accept my condolences." The second wife sat at the head of the bed to comfort the first wife, "The dead are gone!"

The third wife also agreed: "Yes, sister-in-law. You must take care of yourself!"

The eldest wife's lips pursed slightly, and tears rolled down again.

Mother Xu, who was standing by, said with tears in her eyes: "Madam, you have been crying since last night...you must be careful."

Everyone also spoke at once to comfort the eldest wife.

After a while, the eldest wife finally stopped crying and asked in a hoarse voice, "Where is Brother Sheng?"

The grandmother said hurriedly, "I am resting in the hall of the outer courtyard with my third uncle, fifth uncle, and sixth uncle!"

The first wife struggled to sit up and thanked the second and third wives: "Sorry for troubling you!"

"Sister-in-law, that's a very polite thing to say." The second wife laughed and said, "We are also Yuanniang's family!"

When the Second Wife heard Yuanniang mentioned, her eyes darkened again.

The Third Madam was about to say something and change the subject when a little maid came in and said, "The Fourth Aunt is here."

The second wife laughed and said, "I was wondering why he hasn't come yet..."

As she was speaking, Si Niang walked in wearing a moonlight-colored jacket.

She burst into tears before she spoke: "How could my elder sister leave like this? She left behind the Marquis and my brother. How are we going to live in the future?" As she spoke, she took a handkerchief to wipe her tears.

The third wife laughed and said, "We just persuaded our eldest sister-in-law, and now we have to persuade you again."

After hearing this, Si Niang wiped away her tears, greeted everyone, and said, "Since you are here, do you want to go and greet the lady?"

"Of course we have to go." The second wife said, and discussed with the first wife, "How about we go to see the old lady first and then come to sit with the eldest sister-in-law?"

The first wife thought for a moment and said, "Alright. I'm not in good spirits, so I won't accompany you."

The second wife called the daughter-in-law who was in charge of ushering guests in and led the women of the Luo family to the lady's place.

When the lady heard that someone from Yuan Niang's family had arrived, she went out to greet them in person.

The eldest grandmother recommended many people to the lady dowager.

Everyone saluted the old lady, and she glanced at Eleventh Lady.

Noticing that her eyes and nose were red and her expression was a little depressed, he nodded slightly.

After entering the house, everyone discovered that there were four female guests with the lady.

Eleventh Lady knew two of them - Madam Gan from the Marquis of Zhongqin's Mansion and Madam Lin from the Marquis of Weibei's Mansion.

Mrs. Lin was talking to a beautiful woman in her forties beside her: "...when she heard the cloud board knock four times, she knew something happened here, so she immediately sent someone to inquire. Only then did she know that the marquis's wife was gone!" As she spoke, she took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of her eyes.

The beautiful woman sighed and said, "It's a pity that the child has no one to take care of him."

"Who said it wasn't!" Mrs. Lin responded. When she saw that it was someone from the Luo Mansion who came in, she smiled and stopped talking, then picked up the tea and took a sip.

The lady introduced many people to them.

The beautiful woman who was talking to Mrs. Lin turned out to be Mr. Li Ge's wife.

Mr. Li is now the Prime Minister of the Great Zhou. Unexpectedly, Madam Li is so young... She was a little surprised.

The other unfamiliar woman was Jiang Bai's wife.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but look at her carefully.

She is about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with an ordinary appearance, but her behavior is gentle and her smile is friendly, which makes people like her at first sight.

When the Third Madam knew that the beautiful woman was Madam Li, she felt a little unnatural, but Madam Li bowed to the Third Madam gracefully.

At first, Shiyi Niang thought this was the tolerance of the victor, but after careful observation, she found that this Madam Li was a person who never led others, nor lagged behind others, and always followed the doctrine of the mean. Madam Jiang was a little different, and always put herself last in everything. In addition, Madam Gan never showed off, so Madam Lin became the leader. They sat in the madam's room for half an incense stick, and Shiyi Niang listened to what Madam Lin said.

Fortunately, Mrs. Lin did not speak rudely, and the Second Lady would occasionally agree with him, so the atmosphere was harmonious.

When the Second Lady arrived, she brought the date chosen by the Yin Yang Division of the Qin Tian Jian to the Grand Lady for review: "...Please take a look and see if there is anything to add or subtract."

The lady did not answer and said, "You decide."

The second lady put the invitation back into her sleeve and said, "I didn't expect so many guests. I'm afraid we'll need a screen to separate the outer hall for the banquet. I'd like to borrow the three black lacquered mica screens in your storeroom."

The Madam called Wei Zilai and said, "Go and give the black lacquered mica screen to the Second Madam."

Wei Zi replied "yes", and the Second Lady exchanged some polite words with everyone else, then took Wei Zi to get the screen.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but be secretly surprised.

Unexpectedly, Yuanniang's funeral was hosted by the Second Madam. She thought it would be the Third Madam...

As the thought flashed through her mind, she heard Madam Lin sigh: "Such a capable person, what a pity..."

It’s a pity that I couldn’t become the mistress of Marquis Yongping!

Eleventh Lady was pondering in her heart when she saw the lady-in-waiting glance at her.

With Madam Li around, the Third Madam felt uncomfortable. Although the Second Madam had no intention of leaving, the Third Madam stood up and said she wanted to go see the First Madam. The Second Madam couldn't sit for long, so she had to stand up and say goodbye to the First Madam.

Just then, several wives of ministers came to the Dowager's place. Seeing that they could not be kept there, she personally escorted them to the gate of the courtyard.

Eleventh Lady whispered a few words to Seventh Lady, who turned her eyes slightly and whispered a few words to Second Lady who was saying goodbye to the Taifu Lady. Second Lady's eyes flickered slightly, and she nodded slightly, then asked the Taifu Lady with a smile: "I don't know where Second Lady is sitting. I want to ask how many days will the eldest aunt rest? When will she die? Let's go back and tell Uncle, so that he can rest assured."

The lady looked at Eleventh Lady and said with a smile, "It's in the flower hall of Dianchun Hall. The Second Lady may not know it, but the young ladies know where it is."

After hearing this, the Second Wife exchanged a few polite words with the Lady Dowager and went to the flower hall of Dianchun Hall.

A row of daughters-in-law stood under the eaves waiting for something to happen.

When he saw the second wife, he hurried to report to the second lady.

The Second Lady came over, surrounded by her maids and wives, and said, "Madam, you are a rare guest. Come inside and serve tea."

After everyone exchanged greetings, the second wife explained the purpose of her visit.

The Second Madam immediately said, "Choose a day to keep the body for 49 days."

The second wife smiled and said, "I can tell the eldest master when I get back."

The two exchanged a few pleasantries, and the second wife said goodbye to the second mistress: "...I still have to go see my eldest sister-in-law. You are busy here too."

The second wife said a few polite words, then sent the second wife to the alley before going back.

Along the way, Qi Niang kept whispering to Shiyi Niang, "Big sister's house is so beautiful. When I came to pay my respects to big sister last time, it was snowing heavily, so I couldn't go to the back garden!"

Eleventh Lady was thinking about her own thoughts.

Just when she was whispering to Qiniang, she felt that the old lady was looking at her. Later, when Qiniang spoke to the Second Madam, a hint of displeasure flashed in the old lady's eyes.

Why is the lady unhappy?

Was it because she thought the Luo family was too rude as Yuanniang's family members for asking about the arrangements for her funeral? Or was it because she didn't like her way of beating around the bush?

She thought of the Second Madam, the Third Madam, and the Fifth Madam...

Obviously, the silent Second Lady and the lively Fifth Lady are both very popular with the Grand Lady, but the sharp-tongued Third Lady is not very popular with the Grand Lady... Is it because of the difference between legitimate and illegitimate children? Or is it just personal preference?

And the Second Madam, she stared at me for a long time during the greeting... Combined with what my brother said before, can it be understood that everyone in the Xu residence knows that Yuanniang wants me to become Xu Lingyi's second wife?

This made me feel a little embarrassed.

With their wild thoughts in mind, they quickly returned to Lijingxuan.

The eldest wife was sitting with her quilt wrapped around her, waiting for Aunt Xu to serve her.

Seeing everyone coming back, Mother Xu smiled and said, "The eldest lady has only eaten this bowl of porridge since last night... The old lady specifically asked the kitchen to cook it slowly over a low fire with yellow millet. Everyone should try it too!"

Everyone felt embarrassed to eat at Xu's house, so they declined.

The second wife told the first wife about the Xu family's funeral arrangements.

The eldest wife listened and said, "Since this is the day chosen by Qin Tianjian Yin Yang Si, then let it be so!" She seemed still dissatisfied.

The body was kept for forty-nine days, and the daily expenses of firewood, rice, oil, salt, lamp oil, candles were a considerable expense... The Xu family must have attached great importance to Yuanniang's funeral, right?

In the evening, they returned home and the eldest master came out to ask what happened.

The first wife followed the second wife's instructions and told them when the funeral would be held and when the burial would be held. Thinking of Luo Zhenxing who was still taking the exam, she couldn't help but put her hands together and murmured a prayer: "Yuan Niang, your spirit in heaven must bless your brother to pass the high school entrance exam, and your brother-in-law..."

The elder master was silent for a while, then said sadly: "You are tired too, go to bed early!"

Everyone responded and dispersed.

The next morning, the first wife was unhappy and felt uncomfortable. She thought it was because of the sadness and depression in the past few days. She took Baiziren Pills and felt a little better. She didn't take it seriously. After noon, Wu Xiaoquan was sent to the examination room to pick up Luo Zhenxing. The two did not return until the beginning of the evening.

The eldest wife looked her son up and down and said, "You have lost a lot of weight."

Luo Zhenxing smiled and said, "I ate well and slept well in there, so I didn't lose weight." He then asked Luo Zhensheng who came to greet him, "When did you come?"

Luo Zhensheng hurried forward and answered: "Just arrived yesterday!"

Only then did Luo Zhenxing realize that everyone was wearing white clothes and his wife was wearing two small white flowers on her hair.

"This……"

The eldest wife sobbed: "Your eldest sister, she, she..."

Luo Zhenxing's expression changed from joy to surprise and astonishment...

"I want to go see my elder sister!" He raised his feet and was about to go into the lotus flowers.

The first wife felt sorry for her daughter and son, and pulled Luo Zhenxing aside: "What time is it now? It won't be too late for you to go tomorrow morning!"

Luo Zhenxing refused, and asked the servant to harness the carriage, and went back to his room to change into plain clothes.

The first wife had no choice but to let Luo Zhensheng accompany Luo Zhenxing.

The two brothers came back very late. Just as they lay down, someone knocked on the door.

The night watchman raised the lantern and asked who it was, but he didn't expect it to be Qian Ming.

Luo Zhenxing asked someone to open the door, and Qian Ming scolded him: "Why didn't you tell me that my elder sister passed away? If my classmates' fathers hadn't gone to pay their respects to my elder sister, I wouldn't have known about this!"

"It's too late today." Luo Zhenxing welcomed Qian Ming in, "I'll let you know tomorrow." Seeing Qian Ming soaked in dew, he said, "Why don't you sleep here today? We'll go to Xu's house together tomorrow."

Qian Ming agreed, and a look of joy flashed in his eyes.

At this moment, Luo Zhenxing couldn't help but wonder whether it was right or wrong for him to bring Wu Niang and Qian Ming together.