Chapter 146 The Empress Dowager Passes Away, Soldiers Are Recruited!
"Brother Zhang, I see a lot of people outside. What are they doing here?"
Zhang Liao explained Old Liu's identity as a yamen runner and the matter of exiling prisoners.
Liu Yanhui's eyes widened immediately: "Couldn't the new magistrate have waited until the snow melted before sending it off? Brother Liu must have had a hard journey!"
Old Liu smelled the delicious aroma of the big bones and, before they were even warm, tore off a piece and stuffed it into his mouth.
"The county magistrate had no choice; it was an order from above—a general amnesty!"
Liu Yan's eyes lit up.
"Brother Liu, why was there a general amnesty?"
...
"My lord, the Empress Dowager has passed away. The court has granted a general amnesty!" Liu Yan glanced cautiously at Shen Lanxi's reaction.
In the capital, everyone knows that the Empress Dowager treats Shen Lanxi as the apple of her eye. She was brought to the Empress Dowager's palace to be raised since she was a child, and even princes and princesses have to avoid her because of her favor.
The Empress Dowager must have been different in her eyes!
Shen Lanxi opened the window, letting the cold wind and snow hit her face!
After a long while, she finally spoke: "Prepare the offerings!"
"yes!"
"Tell the Shen family!"
Liu Yan replied, "Yes!"
Shen Lanxi locked herself in her room for two days. When she came out on the third day, Liu Yan and the others looked at her with concern.
"I'm fine, don't worry!"
Wei Dongzhu also arrived, and he raised his hand to remove the mask from his face.
Shen Lanxi glanced at him, then replied to Liu Yan, "Are the offerings ready?"
Liu Yan replied: "I prepare every day, and I change things up every day!"
Shen Lanxi: "What are the usual procedures when an elderly person in the family passes away?"
Liu Yan didn't understand why she asked that, but still said, "Notify relatives and friends of the temporary burial, and then proceed with the funeral!"
Shen Lanxi: "Then let's get ready!"
Liu Yan replied: ?
What is it?
Why didn't he understand?
"My lord, if I understand correctly, you are going to hold a funeral for the Empress Dowager?"
Shen Lanxi glanced at him sideways: "Is it not allowed?"
Liu Yan replied: Damn it, it really is!
"The Empress Dowager is in the capital!"
Shen Lanxi: "I didn't say I was going to bury her?"
Liu Yanhui's lips twitched: "This is something that not just anyone could do!"
Wei Dongzhu: "Does the lord mean to build a cenotaph?"
Shen Lanxi: "Can't we set up a mourning hall without a cenotaph?"
Wei Dongzhu: "...Okay!"
"Go and get ready!"
Liu Yan turned around and, feeling a chill run down her spine, caught up with Wei Dongzhu, who had come out first.
"What do you think our lord is really thinking?"
Wei Dongzhu somewhat understood Shen Lanxi's actions; he also wanted to hold a funeral for the Wei family army!
"Our lord is a filial son. Since he cannot attend the Empress Dowager's funeral in person, it is perfectly reasonable for him to set up a ceremony here to express his grief!"
After Wei Dongzhu finished speaking, he quickened his pace.
Liu Yan thought to herself that it wouldn't be enough for her to be scratching her head alone; she had to go find Cheng Zheng and the others.
He turned and rushed towards Cheng Zheng and the others' courtyard.
...
"What did you say?" Old Madam Shen asked in a trembling voice.
Shen Yuanjing forced a smile and said, "My eldest sister said she's going to hold a funeral for an elder in the family, and she asked me to come and inform the family!"
Madam Shen was so angry that she felt a lump in her throat and demanded, "Who is her elder? Is she trying to cause trouble for the Shen family?!"
Shen Yuanjing hurriedly explained, "Grandmother, the Empress Dowager has passed away!"
Madam Shen froze, her expression somewhat dazed: "What did you say?"
"The Empress Dowager has passed away!"
With a stern face, Madam Shen glanced at Old Master Shen beside her and waved her hand, saying, "You may all leave now. Yuanjing, go and inform your mother!"
"yes!"
Half an hour later, the entire Shen family had gathered.
~
The funeral hall was set up quickly, and it was ready the next day.
The night before, Liu Yan went to Zhang Liao's place with a jar of sorghum wine and sat for a while. The next day, news spread in the village that an elder of the Shen family had passed away on the way to Dongchuan, and that a funeral would be held today!
Grandpa Shen and Grandma Shen didn't come, but their four sons and daughters-in-law, as well as their grandchildren, did.
Shen Lanxi knelt in the grandchildren's place. There were only Shen family members in the mourning hall, no guests, and some formalities were avoided if possible.
"Lanxi, there are no outsiders here. The ground is cold, don't hurt your knees!"
"Yes, young lady, your health is the most important thing!"
The women of the Shen family offered their advice one after another!
The door creaked open, and Wei Jiajun carried in several braziers, while Chunxue brought in the prepared prayer mats.
The temperature inside gradually rose, and soon it was even warmer than their own home!
The Shen family members all relaxed, their eyes filled with nostalgia.
When they were in the capital, their rooms were always this warm in winter.
Before long, Zhang Liao arrived with his family. The Shen family was all taken aback, not expecting anyone to actually come!
Liu Yan temporarily acted as the one to shout the message.
"To thank our guests!"
The Shen family members quickly bowed in greeting.
After a while, the women from Liuzhao Village and the students from Qinglan Academy arrived one after another.
"To thank our guests!"
Afterwards, the other prisoners who had been exiled together arrived in twos and threes!
The funeral immediately became lively!
Madam Wang thought she only needed to prepare meals for the few people there, but she didn't expect so many people to come. She quickly sent someone to inform Liu Yan to return.
"My lord, what is the standard for the meals?"
Shen Lanxi: "Guests are always welcome!"
"clear!"
Liu Yan immediately mobilized the women of Liu Zhao Village to help in the kitchen.
In the blink of an eye, the kitchen was filled with the aroma of food.
The people of Hongliutun were either cursing or swearing, their stomachs rumbling, or even plotting something sinister.
"Do you think they'll provide meals if we go to help out?"
"How can you have the nerve to go?"
"How about we go take a look?"
"From now on, we'll all be neighbors. Let's send over a cabbage and help out in the kitchen!"
"That's what I think too!"
Soon, the number of people in Hongliutun increased.
The Shen family began to express their gratitude repeatedly.
At lunchtime, there weren't enough plates, tables, chairs, and benches, so Liu Yanhui suggested that everyone go home to get their own bowls and chopsticks and eat together from the communal pot!
The previously prepared dishes were evenly divided into each person's bowl.
Even though it was so simple, everyone who was eating was all smiles!
There's meat in the bowl, and not just a few slices, but several large pieces. It includes chicken, duck, pork, cured meat, fresh meat, and salted meat—and it's very flavorful!
The key point is that there were still steamed buns. Even if there were no steamed buns left at the end, they still finished the flatbreads and were happy.
They haven't eaten this much, this well, in so many winters. They've almost forgotten what steamed buns and meat taste like!
Are you coming again tonight?
"Come on, someone definitely needs to keep vigil here tonight!"
"Pah! There's no coffin, what kind of mourning are you going to do! But a funeral can't be without people, so we can all come and make an appearance!"
"I think it's a good idea. This family is really willing to burn charcoal. I'm sweating!"
After the meal, the guests went home together, all so happy that they seemed to have attended a wedding banquet rather than a funeral!
For three consecutive days, Liu Yan looked at the rapidly shrinking warehouse and almost pulled out all her hair.
Fortunately, three days passed in the blink of an eye, and the burial was finally possible!
Just as Liu Yan was thinking of going to the county to make purchases, Zhang Liao suddenly received a military order.
"Recruit soldiers!"
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