Liu Ermei immediately said, "Then brother, you go to sleep."
Then he called to his eldest son, "Go quickly and light a charcoal fire for your little uncle, so he doesn't get cold."
Changming and Bomu took the iron basin, retrieved some coal and charcoal from the cart, and started a fire in the west room.
As dusk fell, they left the doors and windows ajar. Seeing that Xu Li was fast asleep, the two of them covered him with a blanket, looked at each other, and sighed softly.
Xu Li drifted off to sleep, vaguely sensing that he was hiding in a cellar, surrounded by overwhelming Imperial Guards who were indiscriminately killing people in the Xie residence.
In the blink of an eye, he was walking in a vast expanse of snow, braving the wind and snow, carrying a large bamboo basket on his back.
The bamboo basket and the earthenware jar contained the ashes of Xie Anfeng and Xie Yu, while the jade box contained the ashes of Miss Xie.
The Wei family in the capital was killed by Ren Jialin, Emperor Hui was poisoned by Emperor Xiao (Zhou Jingrui), the Xie family was killed by Emperor Xiao, Emperor Xiao was killed by Consort Xi, and Wei Shixun, a remnant of the Wei family, colluded with the Western Xia and the Uyghurs to kill Consort Xi.
After Wei Shixun ascended the throne, he took revenge on Emperor Hui and the Xie family. The Xie family's ancestral graves were dug up, and he searched everywhere for the remains of Xie Anfeng and Xie Yu.
Xu Li had no choice but to secretly dig up the two people's remains and burn them. He put the ashes into an earthenware jar and put the ashes of Miss Xie, whom he had picked up from Fanghua Garden, into a jade box.
Take their ashes back to Lizhou, back to Xujia Village, and bury them in their own fields.
He gave his brother and sister-in-law the money Xie Yu had given him to escape, as well as the money that Miss Xie had originally rewarded him with—more than a thousand taels of silver.
He felt that his brother and sister-in-law would treat the ashes of Master Xie, Young Master Xie, and Young Miss Xie well, no matter what.
However, Liu Ermei, who had taken the money, said: "The person is dead, why are you still keeping so many jars?"
The older brother said: "We can combine the two urns of ashes into one urn, saving the earthenware jar to use as a water container."
They wouldn't let the jade box go either. Xu Li had already buried it in the ground, but his sister-in-law told Xu Dalang to dig it out.
"This jade box is very valuable; it's such a pity to bury it like this."
"This box contains the young lady's ashes, you can't take it..."
Xu Tiezhu said with a dark face, "If you make a fuss, I'll report it to the authorities. Anyway, they're searching everywhere for the Xie family's remains."
Xu Li fought desperately, resolutely refusing to let them take the jade box.
The commotion attracted the village head, who, seeing them fighting over several jars and jade boxes, asked with longing, "What are you doing?"
Xu Li knew he could no longer be buried in his own land.
So he decided to take the earthenware pot with him.
Liu Ermei immediately started cursing: "You son of a bitch, we're starving to death, and you're filling perfectly good jars and jade boxes with ashes of dead people."
Block his way and prevent him from leaving.
"You can leave, but leave the jar and box behind!"
Xu Li knelt down and begged Xu Tiezhu: "Brother, please, they are my benefactors. They saved my life and raised me for so many years. I have already given you more than a thousand taels of silver. Please don't touch their ashes!"
Upon hearing that it cost over a thousand taels of silver, the village headman excitedly asked, "What's in this box?"
"Who else could it be? You know the Xie family in the capital, right? This jar contains Xie Anfeng's ashes!"
Amidst the commotion, Master Xu also arrived.
He was the most prestigious person in the clan and the only scholar in Xujia Village.
Xu Li knelt before him and pleaded, "Second Grandfather, please help me..."
Master Xu used a lot of classical Chinese phrases, which Xu Li didn't understand. However, when Master Xu heard that he had given Xu Tiezhu more than a thousand taels of silver, he immediately became envious.
Master Xu said, "The Xie family are thieves. Are you trying to implicate our Xu Family Village? I suggest that these ashes be handed over to the government!"
The village head was overjoyed: "The government will definitely offer a reward!"
The moment they heard the mention of a bounty, the eyes of those men lit up.
"Hand over the ashes, sell the jade box, and split the reward money equally among everyone. Don't tell anyone!" They reached an agreement in front of Xu Li.
Xu Li cried and said, "No, I absolutely won't allow it."
He grabbed the box and the earthenware pot and ran.
"Click!"
He heard a clear sound of bones cracking in his head, and excruciating pain instantly spread throughout his body. Blood flowed down his forehead, and he collapsed to his knees.
"Ah..." Xu Li screamed in agony.
Xu Dalang and Xu Erlang held hoes in their hands, drops of blood dripping down their faces.
Master Xu turned around, leaning on his cane.
The village head sighed, "Oh, Fatty, don't blame your brothers. They have children too. They can't let your family be implicated because of one person!"
Xu Dalang and Xu Erlang swung their hoes and viciously smashed him to death, one blow after another.
Liu Ermei snatched the jade box, and Xu Tiezhu and his two sons buried him in the pit that was originally dug for the Xie family.
Finally, it was Master Xu who said that killing Little Fatty wouldn't prove that his ashes belonged to Xie Anfeng's family; instead, it would expose their relationship with the Xie family.
So they threw the ashes of Xie Anfeng, Xie Yu, and Xie Zhaozhao, along with his, into the pit and buried them together.
In an instant, the earth was covered in white. This heavy snow covered so many uneven ground, burying his blood and his loyal soul.
Alas, life is but a fleeting dream, a hundred lifetimes of reincarnation…
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