Qin Yunyuan, Shui Ying, and the old woman were greeted by members of the Shouze clan as soon as they entered Ling Shuang Village.
They warmly welcomed Qin Yunyuan into the house and served him the best food.
Qin Yunyuan looked around at their living conditions; dozens of people were crammed into one courtyard, and they were eating coarse noodles.
He felt rather uncomfortable, so he opened the sack beside him and stuffed the two hundred taels of silver notes into Shui Ying's hand.
"This is from Luoluo. She knew you would refuse, so she asked me to tell you when we got there. Let's buy a bigger house tomorrow; it's too inconvenient for everyone to be crammed together!"
Shuiying clutched the silver notes tightly in her hand, her eyes moist, but she remained silent.
Qin Yunyuan stared at her for two seconds, then spoke jokingly.
"Aren't you already making preparations for Kaize Water Pavilion? Then just think of this money as Luoluo's investment!"
Shui Ying looked up and met his half-smiling eyes, and suddenly laughed too.
"Alright, I will definitely open Zeshui Pavilion as soon as possible!"
Qin Yunyuan chatted with everyone for a while before heading back to Danruo Village…
Shuiying and her clansmen escorted him to the village entrance. Watching his departing figure, she felt countless expressions of gratitude towards the Qin family in her heart.
Early the next morning
Dozens of Qin clan members had gathered at the entrance of the Qin clan ancestral hall, blocking the gate completely.
When Qin Ling brought the Qin family, they didn't intend to make way.
Some even shamelessly said that if Qinling wanted to exterminate their clan, they would die at the entrance of the ancestral hall.
This attracted all the villagers of Danruo Village to come and see what was going on!
Qinling had already decided yesterday to adopt Doctor You's suggestion, and overnight, he and the literate men in his family copied the family genealogy, planning to revise it after today.
Qinling took out the copied family genealogy, opened it, and held it to her chest.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please look carefully. This is the genealogy of my ancestors. It has nothing to do with you. Please leave my Qin family ancestral hall!"
Some people, about the same age as Qinling, simply snatched it and started flipping it over.
"You...you actually volunteered to leave the clan and create your own family tree? You...you..."
The Qin clan never expected that Qin Ling would be so determined to sever ties with them.
Someone stepped forward and questioned, "Aren't you afraid of being punished by your ancestors?"
Qin Ling stared at the person who spoke, his tone mocking.
"Blame me? Blame me for what? My ancestors are all properly enshrined in the ancestral hall! I've also had your ancestral tablets carved; go and take them away!"
The Qin clan members were rendered speechless by his words; they were not from the direct line of descent.
For generations, they've relied on their direct descendants for survival, but now Qinling has abandoned them.
If so many memorial tablets are taken away, then the family will have to pay for the construction of the ancestral hall themselves.
Neither of them was willing to pay the money.
Those who figured it out have already secretly slipped away.
The only thing left to do was to swallow my pride and negotiate with Qinling.
"Could you please leave the memorial tablet here for now? We can come back to take it away after we finish building the ancestral hall?"
Qinling had no intention of making things difficult for them, but he still wanted to make the unpleasant things clear upfront.
"It is possible, but only members of my lineage are allowed to enter this ancestral hall. If you wish to worship your ancestors, please remove the ancestral tablets. Of course, we will not forget any when we worship our ancestors!"
The group had no choice but to grit their teeth and agree.
After the people blocking the gate dispersed, Qinling Xianjin burned incense and bowed four times in the ancestral hall, informing the ancestors that the inauguration ceremony was about to be held.
Afterwards, the Qin family arranged the priest's various utensils and offerings.
Then Qin Ling read the ancestral prayers aloud by the priest, and all members of the Qin family lined up in front of the ancestral hall.
Qinling, carrying a flower, welcomed the deity into the shrine; the Qin family offered incense and kowtowed in worship.
Afterwards, offerings of three sacrificial animals were made, the ground-irrigation ceremony was performed, incense was offered, and then people prostrated themselves in worship, listening to the admonitions of the Qinling Mountains.
Finally, the villagers visited the ancestral hall and enjoyed a feast before the event concluded.
Apart from Wu Hua, who was carried the whole time, everyone else in the Qin family was exhausted.
The three sisters-in-law and Qin Luo started preparing offerings at dawn.
Luckily, the banquet was handled by the auntie in the village who organizes banquets; otherwise, the women would have been exhausted.
The three brothers and the cloth bag squad worked through the night copying the family genealogy.
The two old men were also busy writing congratulatory messages.
Back home, everyone except Wu Hua, who was still running around the yard, collapsed into bed and slept until the moon was high in the sky before getting up.
After a quick bite, he began preparing the burial supplies.
The dates were all chosen by someone; they all happened at the same time.
However, Qin Ling felt that this was for the best, as he could bury his loved ones' ashes sooner and put his mind at ease sooner!
The three sisters-in-law of the Qin family began preparing offerings for the ancestral worship again.
Qin Luo and Wu Hua stacked ingots, with Qin Luo in charge of stacking and Wu Hua in charge of playing with them.
Qin Liang began writing the eulogy again, while Qin Xing and Qin Xian were in charge of setting up the mourning hall.
The two old men were in charge of directing, while the cloth bag squad assisted them.
After a flurry of activity, all the deceased relatives were finally buried in the ancestral cemetery.
The Qin family was exhausted, but the villagers were quite happy, enjoying two days of feasts.
Everyone is now looking forward to the opening of the Qin Family Martial Arts School, hoping to finally have a third meal there.
The next day
Qin Ling took his three brothers to the county early in the morning, firstly to help check where else needed improvement, and secondly to help recruit more people.
Qin Yunyuan also took Qin Yunzhou and Qin Yunning to the fields to supervise the work.
The remaining few were all busy with their own things; Wang Chang'en accompanied Qin Yunyang as he practiced carving.
Qin Yundu continued reading diligently.
The twins wanted to play with Wu Hua, but Qin Ling had warned them that they must treat Wu Hua with respect and courtesy.
So they always felt there was a barrier between them, and they couldn't really connect.
The two of them then voluntarily went to help Doctor You dry the medicinal herbs and clean up.
Chen Shi (7-9 AM)
He Suisui came looking for him, and as soon as he entered the courtyard, Wu Hua ran to greet him.
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