164, Returning Home to Worship Ancestors
164, Returning Home to Worship Ancestors
“I’m back!”
"Our scholar is back!"
As soon as the father and his two sons arrived at the village entrance, the people waiting for them there started shouting.
Many people in the village had eaten the red eggs that Lu Youtian and his wife had sent back to the village a few years ago, and they knew that they had a child. However, no one had ever seen Lu Youtian's second child. When they saw the child sitting on the donkey cart today, someone asked, "Is this your Erlang?"
"Yes, this is our second son Lu Mingrui. Mingfei doesn't need to introduce him to you, right? Everyone has seen him. This second son was born when our family business was the busiest, and we have never been able to bring him back to the village to meet everyone." Lu Youtian explained in one sentence why they had not brought their youngest son back to the village over the years. It was because the business in the city was too busy.
But everyone in the village knew that the third branch of the Lu family was forced to leave by their own family, so no one would say anything bad in front of Lu Youtian.
Hearing this, someone smiled and said, "No, no, this is our village's scholar. We can forget anyone but Qilang."
"We all remember that when Qilang left the village, he was the same age as his brother. Now he has grown up so much, and when he came back, he was already a scholar."
"Yes, yes, yes."
Followed by a group of people who responded.
The family of three was warmly welcomed by the villagers at the village entrance.
After greeting everyone, Lu Youtian led the donkey and took his two sons into the village, followed by many villagers.
When they arrived at the patriarch's house, the old patriarch was already waiting for them.
Lu Youtian brought his two sons to see the old patriarch and pulled his second son over to show him, "Fifth Master, this is our second son, Lu Mingrui."
"Mingrui, this is the fifth master. Do you remember what we taught you before you came?" Lu Youtian lowered his head and asked his youngest son who was hiding at his heels.
"Hello, Fifth Master." Lu Mingfei stepped forward to demonstrate, bowed and bent down, performing the salute of a junior to the old man. He turned his head and winked at his younger brother who was secretly watching him from the side, "Boy, it's your turn."
Lu Mingrui was reminded by his brother's eyes, and then he slowly came out to salute the old man. His big eyes looked at the white-haired old man with curiosity.
"Everyone, get up." The old patriarch waved his hand, asking the young man who had returned to the village for the first time to come over to him so that he could take a look. "Come closer, let me take a good look at what our brother Rui looks like."
"Go ahead. Aren't you very brave at home? Why do you become less courageous when you go out?" Lu Youtian pushed his youngest son.
Lu Mingfei simply reached out his hand and took his brother, who was suddenly shy after returning, forward to let the old man have a good look.
After Lu Mingrui's brother held his hand, he was no longer so afraid of the people around him, including the old man in front of him.
Patriarch Lu looked at the two brothers in front of him, and then at the grandson he was meeting for the first time. The two brothers both looked smart. This second boy would definitely be a good student in the future. The old patriarch nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Well, he looks like you when you were a child. When he grows up, he will definitely be as handsome as your brother."
"Yes, I thought I saw Fei Ge'er when he was a child. These two brothers look so much alike." Old Mrs. Dou on the side also said with a smile.
Everyone around them was praising the two brothers.
Lu Youtian heard people around him praising his two sons, which made him happier than praising himself.
Everyone greeted each other in the house, exchanged a few words, and then went to the ancestral hall together.
***
Today, the ancestral hall was opened for ancestral worship, and three animals were required. The three large animals were pigs, cows, and sheep, and were generally only used by wealthy families. Ordinary people only needed to prepare the three small animals. The Great Yan Dynasty prohibited the slaughter of oxen for farming, so cattle were not something that ordinary people could buy.
So today, Lu Youtian prepared three animals: a pig's head, a whole chicken, and a whole fish. They cooked these things in the pot before getting up in the morning and brought them back, so they could set them up and eat them as soon as they returned to the village.
The old patriarch had also made preparations in advance. He had sent someone to invite the village chief and the head of the village early, and notified all the members of the clan to come here today to open the ancestral hall and worship their ancestors. The people in the village were also notified to come here for dinner later.
On days like this, it is natural to invite people from the Lu family's old house over.
When Old Man Lu and Old Lady Wang learned that their grandson had passed the imperial examination, they had been quite quiet these days. Even Old Lady Wang stopped scolding them this time. Upon learning that their third son and grandson were returning to the village that day, the two elders also came to the ancestral hall early.
Also coming were people from the second and fourth branches of the Lu family, but no one from the first branch of the Lu family came.
Seeing Ye Niang here, Lu Youtian, as a son, couldn't just sit there and wait, so he brought his two sons over to greet Ye Niang, "Aye, A Niang."
"Grandpa, grandma." Although he didn't like the two old people in front of him, Lu Mingfei didn't want to give others a chance to talk about him being disrespectful to his elders, so he took his younger brother and followed their father to greet the two old people.
Lu Mingrui, who saw his grandparents for the first time since he was born, didn’t recognize his grandparents at all.
"Yeah." Old man Lu glanced at his third son whom he hadn't seen for a long time, and his little grandson who had passed the imperial examination. His gaze finally fell on the little grandson whom he met for the first time.
Old Mrs. Wang looked at her third son and two grandsons without saying a word.
Seeing the mother looking at the youngest son, Lu Youtian introduced her to her: "This is our second boy, his full name is Lu Mingrui. Mingrui, call grandpa and grandma." In fact, a few years ago, when the youngest son was born, he and his wife also asked someone to send red eggs to the mother and brothers.
But his mother and brothers took their red eggs without any return gift or a single kind word, and no one went to the city to visit his wife who was in confinement at home.
When the villagers received their red eggs, those who gave more generous gifts would send a basket of eggs as a return gift, while those who gave less generous gifts would send a handful of vegetables, a few cucumbers, or a basket of dried bamboo shoots as a return gift. Only the people in the Lu family's old house really did not treat the third branch they had separated from them as a relative, did not treat him as a son, and did not treat him as a brother.
So after that incident, Lu Youtian completely cut off all contact and thoughts with his relatives in the old house. Although he might have occasionally thought about his mother and brothers in the countryside before, after that incident, he truly stopped thinking about them. Some family ties and thoughts had been severed since the day their third branch was forced to separate.
However, Lu Mingrui, who had been willing to call people just now, hid behind his brother and refused to come out when facing his grandparents whom he met for the first time.
If it were in the past, Lu Youtian might have pulled his youngest son out to greet his mother, but this time he just said, "This child is a little shy..." but he didn't move his hands, nor did he think of pulling his youngest son out to greet his grandparents.
Old Mrs. Wang glared at the little grandson who disrespected her as his grandmother, with a sinister look on her face, and her old face was full of unhappiness.
Before the old lady could say anything, a voice interrupted her.
"Third brother." The person who came was Lu Yougui, the second son of the Lu family, and his wife Xiao Wang, followed by their son Lu Wulang and two unmarried girls.
Along with the second branch of the Lu family came people from the fourth branch of the Lu family.
Lu Youliang, the fourth son of the Lu family, also came with his wife Chen, as well as their three daughters and son.
Seeing the two brothers coming, Lu Youtian smiled and said take care of everyone. He didn't see anyone from the eldest house coming, so he didn't ask.
However, when Chen saw her uncle and his nephews come back but not Liu Sanniang, she asked, "Didn't Sanniang come back with you today?"
"Oh, she's busy over there. We need someone to run the stall, and she's busy with things in the city, so I brought Mingfei and Mingrui back." Lu Youtian had a smile on his face when facing these brothers, but he was actually calm in his heart.
But in the eyes of the second and fourth branches of the Lu family, they thought that their brother had forgiven them.
At this time, Xiao Wang deliberately said, "When we just came out, I called my sister-in-law and the others to come, but my sister-in-law said that they wouldn't come, and whoever wants to go can go to sleep. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, it must be because their eldest son always fails the exam, and they are jealous that Qilang passed the exam."
"From now on, our Qilang will be the scholar master. When he goes out, everyone will call him the scholar master." Xiao Wang deliberately said the latter sentence loudly so that her parents-in-law next to her could hear.
"Some people pretend to be scholars all day long, but who knows if they're actually studying or flirting with other people? Don't let some pregnant woman show up at our house tomorrow."
The latter sentence refers to their eldest nephew who went to the city to study, but did not study hard and even got a woman pregnant, so someone found out about it. Now there are two women and two children living in Lu Dalang's house, and the sound of women arguing and children crying never stops all day long.
This incident was another strange story in their village.
"You!" Old Mrs. Wang was so angry when she heard what her second daughter-in-law said deliberately.
Old Man Lu pulled his wife to stop her from arguing with his daughter-in-law in front of the ancestral hall and the whole village. He glanced at his second daughter-in-law who was stirring up trouble and said, "Well, you should stop talking too. Don't you see where we are today? You're always looking for trouble."
In the past, Xiao Wang would have been afraid of this father-in-law, but ever since her eldest daughter was murdered and her parents-in-law took other people's money to settle the matter, she no longer had any awe for this father-in-law.
So now when she heard her father-in-law say this to her, Xiao Wang pursed her lips and was about to retort to her father-in-law.
But this time, before Xiao Wang could speak, her son called her.
"Mother." Lu Wulang frowned at his mother. He was already tired of his mother arguing with his grandmother at home all day long. Now his mother was arguing with his grandparents in front of the whole village and his little cousin. This made him feel very embarrassed. He felt ashamed that he couldn't even raise his head in front of his little cousin and his third uncle.
After hearing her son calling her and seeing the expression on his face, Xiao Wang opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing.
"The clan leader is calling us over, so we went there first." Just at this time the old clan leader was calling them, so Lu Youtian took his two sons and left, not wanting to interfere in the affairs of the Lu family's old house.
Lu Laoer, who was standing behind, glanced at Ye Niang, then looked at his wife who turned her head away and said nothing. He didn't know what to say, and in the end he could only sigh.
It's all sin, it's their own fault! Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading
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