Taking the handkerchief and wiping the tears from her face, Wen Zhu sobbed and asked, "Why don't we even hang white lanterns or hanging curtains at home?"
"My father wouldn't allow it. He said that keeping the body at my daughter's house was no longer an option, and adding more decorations would be inappropriate."
Hong Sheng explained with tears in his eyes.
"No matter what, we have to die! We have to let the deceased go in a dignified way!"
She said this in a decisive tone, then stood up and told Steward He and her assistant Tan Gu to prepare everything.
After receiving the order, the two immediately got busy, not daring to slack off in the slightest.
Wen Zhu decided to go to his father first to discuss his mother's funeral arrangements.
However, when she walked into the room, she saw her father Xu Junming lying on the bed. He was obviously drunk and even his speech was slurred.
Wen Zhu, who originally wanted to advise his father to drink less and stay sober to handle household affairs, felt a pain in his heart when he saw his father, who was half asleep and half awake, tightly holding his deceased mother's clothes.
Seeing his father so distraught, Wen Zhu couldn't bear to disturb him any longer and could only choose to leave quietly.
Fortunately, there was the loyal and reliable Steward He who helped to take care of various trivial matters. In addition, with the assistance of several capable servants sent by the young master of the Fu family and the waiters from the braised meat shop, the whole funeral was simple but orderly and solemn.
Considering that the recent high temperatures are not conducive to the long-term preservation of corpses, they cannot delay placing their mother's body in the charity cemetery for a few days. Therefore, the father and daughter discussed and decided to set up a mourning hall at home for relatives and friends to pay their respects and hold the funeral ceremony two days later.
That evening, the family gathered to discuss the choice of burial location.
The first plan was to ask Master Hongsheng to be responsible for transporting Song and the other elders back to their ancestral home and bury them next to the family tomb;
The second alternative is to consider finding a suitable cemetery within the capital area for settlement.
Just when everyone was still in a dilemma, Xu Junming slowly said, "Your mother is most worried about you."
As he said this, he looked at his only daughter affectionately.
Hearing this, Wen Zhu suddenly had an idea and made a third suggestion: "Why don't we bury Mom on the hill behind the manor I bought? It's quiet and beautiful there, and Mom will definitely like it."
It turned out that my hometown had been hit by severe floods since last year. Many villagers had either died or had to flee their homes. Even the bricks and tiles that were familiar to them in the past had been mostly destroyed.
After hearing his daughter's words, thinking about the future when he would be able to sleep with his wife by his side, Xu Junming, with tears welling up in his eyes, nodded in agreement: "Well, okay, I'll do as you say."
In the evening of the next day after the matter was finalized, when everyone else had gone to bed, only Wen Zhu and Hong Sheng were left quietly guarding either side of the coffin.
Suddenly, in the silence all around, there were subtle and regular footsteps.
First, he saw a pair of black boots, and then his eyes moved upwards to see a figure in a white robe with a fluttering corner. It was not until the person came closer that Wen Zhu was surprised to recognize that it was Fu Yu who came to pay tribute to the deceased.
"Prince?"
Wen Zhu stood up in surprise, with confusion in his eyes, "Why are you here? What would others say if they saw you? There are so many people coming in and out outside, it would be easy for someone to notice."
"I was worried about you, so I came over secretly to check on you. Everyone is asleep now, so everything should be fine."
Fu Yu smiled gently and pinched Wen Zhu's delicate cheek. "Look at you, you've lost a lot of weight. Did you not eat well?"
"You must have seen it wrong, my lord. I eat every meal on time and I eat quite a lot."
Wen Zhu lowered his head, his cheeks slightly red, as if trying to hide his embarrassment.
Fu Yu continued to look at Wen Zhu gently, then slowly walked to the black lacquered coffin placed in the hall, solemnly lit three incense sticks, bowed deeply, and carefully inserted the incense into the copper incense burner on the table.
According to the rules, given his status and position, he should not show such great courtesy to the mother of his maid.
But Fu Yu's expression was extremely firm at this moment, and there was no third person in the room to witness this scene.
Seeing this, Wen Zhu did not step forward to stop him, but just watched his every move with eyes full of gratitude.
"I just want to express my gratitude to your mother. Thank you for giving birth to such a wonderful daughter."
After seeing the little girl in front of him reveal a slightly unnatural expression, Fu Yu spoke to her softly, trying to make his tone sound gentler.
"This servant would like to thank the prince for his kindness on behalf of my mother."
Hearing this, Wen Zhu felt a surge of warmth in her heart, but she immediately urged him to leave as soon as possible, "Please leave quickly, otherwise it will be troublesome if someone finds out about the situation here."
"If you want to stay here for a few more days, I can go and explain the situation to Mother."
Fu Yu looked down at the girl in front of him, his eyes full of pity and reluctance.
"No, tomorrow is the day for my mother's burial. I will return home as soon as it is over."
Having said that, when she talked about saying goodbye to this place, her eyes still revealed an unconcealable sadness and reluctance to part, and she looked at the handsome man in front of her with reluctance.
"Hongsheng, you must take good care of your sister during this period of time."
Before leaving, Fu Yu turned and said to the young man who had been standing silently beside him.
"Please rest assured, my lord. I will take good care of my sister."
The boy nodded and assured the other party in a firm voice.
Fu Yu glanced at the two young men and women in the room again, then turned and left.
After he stepped out of the room, his eyes remained on them and refused to move away until he completely disappeared into the night.
On the day of the funeral, as a token of gratitude, the Duke's Mansion sent someone to deliver ten taels of silver as a pension, which was also the last token of their appreciation to the family of the deceased.
Wen Zhu knew that if it was a concubine who died, the mansion would usually give twenty taels of silver; for a concubine, this amount of money was already a lot.
This compensation is enough to cover a family's expenses for a period of time and can even solve some urgent needs.
After the funeral, Wen Zhu changed into clean and simple clothes, simply tied up her hair, and returned to the mansion in a carriage.
She sat in the car, watching the familiar scenery outside slowly move by, but her heart was filled with complex emotions, including the grief of losing her loved ones and a sense of peace of mind of returning home.
She first went to Xuanheyuan to thank the Duke's wife and Zhao Manxiang, and then returned to Chunhuayuan.
Along the way, she tried her best to keep a calm expression, although her heart was already in turmoil.
Zhao Manxiang was secretly angry when she saw that although Wen Zhu's eyes were red, he had not lost his mind and was not too haggard.
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