The Duke of England's wife, Mrs. Shen, passed away, and the Duke of England's mansion held a funeral.

Duke of England Wei Chenglin sat on the armchair in a daze, with his eyes lowered, not knowing what he was thinking. The servants beside him did not dare to disturb him and stayed away from him.

"My Lord, Aunt Chunliu has hit her head against the coffin of the Dowager Lady and died!" At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps were heard. Wei Chenglin frowned and was about to yell when a servant about sixteen or seventeen years old reported.

His face froze, and he pursed his lips. Then he said calmly, "She's dead, so let's bury her properly, considering that she took care of my mother for so many years!"

If it weren't for these mean slaves who have been fanning the flames behind my mother's back, why would my mother target Awan so much?

The visitor did not dare to say much, but respectfully accepted the order and left.

"My Lord, the wife of Marquis Jinning is here to offer condolences!"

"Princess Kang is here to offer condolences!"

"Mrs. Xu is here to offer condolences!"

"The wife of the Duke of Liguo came to offer condolences!"

…

After a while, guests arrived one after another, and servants came one after another to deliver messages, which made Wei Chenglin feel indescribably irritated.

"You don't need to reply to me about this matter. Just let someone tell Madam Sun."

"My Lord, this is probably not appropriate. All of the people here are ladies with royal titles. Although Nanny Sun is honored, she is just a servant in the mansion after all. I'm afraid we have to ask Madam to come forward." Zhi Mo, who happened to walk in, heard what he said and advised in a deep voice.

Wei Chenglin rubbed his forehead, knowing that what he said was inappropriate. Which family would let servants greet distinguished guests?

"Send someone to invite Madam! Let Madam Sun accompany her."

However, what he didn't expect was that because there were too many guests and Nanny Sun had to take care of the affairs of the inner house, she really had no time to accompany Zhou Wanning to meet the guests.

Zhou Wanning had never been in charge of a business, so how could she have any experience in dealing with such a situation? In addition, without Grandma Sun to guide her, she felt like she was in a fog. Apart from being able to properly entertain guests in the hall, she had no idea how to take care of other things.

Wei Chenglin had even more things to do. Even though he had a capable manager, he was the master who had to decide all matters, so how could he take care of them? Suddenly, the Duke's Mansion, which had always been well-ordered, gradually became chaotic.

Sometimes there was a lack of teacups here, and sometimes there was a lack of hosts to accompany the guests in the hall over there. The servants couldn't find the housekeeper, Nanny Sun, so they had no choice but to go looking for Wei Chenglin, which made Wei Chenglin even more annoyed.

He took a deep breath and suppressed his anger: "Find someone to go to Eighteen Alley to ask the Third Old Lady... Forget it, I'll just go there myself!"

Even if they have divided the family, he is still the elder after all. Moreover, he needs to ask for help now, so no matter what, he has to go and ask in person.

"Logically, since we have divided the family, we should keep to ourselves. You go your way and I go mine. Besides, you have a mistress in your house, so it is not my turn as an aunt from the next room to take charge of the affairs." After learning the purpose of his visit, Yang said calmly.

"Your niece's wife has not been in good health since her mother passed away. Now she can only barely muster the energy to greet the guests, but she can't spare the time to take care of other things." Wei Chenglin lowered his posture slightly and explained.

Yang originally planned to continue to embarrass him to vent her anger for being kicked out of the mansion, but she changed her mind when she saw Wei Chengzhao shaking his head at her. She sighed inaudibly, still a little unwilling: "I am doing this for the sake of your deceased mother. If it were anyone else, I would not interfere!"

"Thank you, Auntie!" Wei Chenglin breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, being able to ask Yang to come forward also relieved a lot of his pressure.

"Second brother." At this time he also noticed Wei Chengzhao standing beside him and took the initiative to greet him.

Wei Chengzhao called out "Brother" in a polite but distant tone and said nothing more.

Yang stepped in and quickly put the increasingly chaotic Duke's Mansion in order, which also relieved Wei Chenglin of a lot of pressure.

It was only at this moment that he realized that no matter how capable he was, and how well he could handle everything, there would always be times when he was unable to do anything.

As the guests gradually left, he looked at the mansion covered with white cloths everywhere, his eyes somewhat dazed.

His legs seemed to be out of control as he walked slowly towards the mourning hall where his deceased mother lay.

His eyes were somewhat empty and his heart felt empty.

He was raised by his grandfather since he was young, and his affairs were taken care of by his aunt, so his relationship with his biological mother was not really close.

He was of an indifferent nature and was used to keeping a distance from others. Whenever he saw his mother getting close to him again and again, he always felt a little uncomfortable. But when he saw the cautious flattery in her eyes, he felt a little sad.

But since when did the relationship between mother and son become increasingly distant?

"Second sister-in-law, we three sisters-in-law have been fighting for a lifetime, and you have also been frustrated for a lifetime, but you died at the hands of your own son in your old age. Tell me, is this unfair?"

Just as he was about to enter the mourning hall, he suddenly heard Yang's voice coming from inside. He was startled and subconsciously retracted his legs and stepped outside the door, listening to the person inside continue speaking.

"Second sister-in-law, now I know that you all lost, all your descendants lost! My eldest sister-in-law fought for the title her whole life, but in the end she got nothing, and even implicated her own son."

"What about you? You saw the Duke's wife, who was once so glorious, lose her husband and daughter, and have no children to love. In the end, she died miserably in the temple."

"You said, did you all lose?"

Wei Chenglin felt as if his chest was being hammered again and again by a heavy object. His face turned pale and he was shaking like he was about to collapse.

"Second sister-in-law, I toast to you with this cup. Please take care on your way to the underworld. If there is an afterlife, it would be better for you to be born into an ordinary family, so that you can at least enjoy the happiness of family life..."

Wei Chenglin felt as if someone was pinching his neck tightly, and he could hardly breathe in the pain. He clutched his chest tightly, like a dying man trying to grab the only life-saving wood.

Yang's words hit him mercilessly like a whip on the heart. He wanted to say something to refute her loudly, but found that he could not utter a word.

Wei Chengzhao, who had come to take Yang back home, noticed that something was wrong with him and looked a little hesitant. He seemed to want to go up and ask a few questions, but when his line of sight touched the mourning clothes on his body, he swallowed back the words.

"Mother, it's time to go back!" He turned away indifferently, walked into the mourning hall, and said to Yang who was standing in front of the coffin.

Yang nodded, helped himself to his hand and stood up. When he stepped over the threshold, he found Wei Chenglin with a pale face outside the door, walking past him as if he didn't see him.

"Auntie..." Wei Chenglin called her with difficulty.

"You don't have to worry. Since I promised you, I will not give up halfway. But I am just an ordinary old woman. I can't live in your wealthy family. I will go back to my own home every day and come here early the next morning!" Yang interrupted what he was about to say with a faint expression.

Wei Chenglin wanted to say that he didn't mean that, but the mother and son had no intention of talking to him anymore. They walked forward step by step and soon disappeared from his sight.

He stared blankly in the direction they left for a long time, then slowly turned around, lifted his legs that seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, and stepped over the threshold.

The mourning hall was filled with silence, with white silk fluttering in the wind and flickering candlelight, illuminating the coffin in the center.

The feeling of being strangled by the throat reappeared in his mind, and he walked tremblingly to the coffin. After a while, he stretched out his hand as if he wanted to push open the lid, but in the end he placed his hand on it.

"...Mother." After an unknown amount of time, a hoarse murmur escaped from his mouth.

The only response he received was the puffing sound of the fluttering white silk.

"My Lord, the Madam is looking for you!" A maid came in and reported hesitantly.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if he hadn't heard her words, and asked in a deep voice, "Where is the person guarding the body?"

"Originally, Aunt Chunliu had been keeping vigil. After Aunt Chunliu passed away, this person..."

"Could it be that no one was arranged to guard the body?!" Wei Chenglin's eyes suddenly became sharp.

"Please calm down, Duke. The Third Madam has already arranged for people to stand guard over the coffin and mourn, but there are not enough people. Some of them have been transferred to the front hall to help welcome guests."

"Ridiculous!" Wei Chenglin suppressed his anger in fear of disturbing the spirit of the deceased. "Immediately ask the people in charge of keeping vigil and mourning to come here. No, no need. Give them twenty strokes of the cane each and deprive them of their two months' rice and rations. Also, tell them that the people serving in the main room of Funing Courtyard should keep vigil. No other tasks are allowed to be assigned to them!"

"What are you still standing there for? Go and arrange it immediately!" Seeing that she was still standing there blankly, Wei Chenglin shouted in a low voice.

The maid was terrified, but she still asked, "Then where is the lady..."

"Get out!" Wei Chenglin turned his head, lifted up the corner of his robe and knelt on the cushion.

"Where is the Duke?" Zhou Wanning was eagerly waiting for Wei Chenglin to return after a long wait.

"The Duke is keeping vigil, so we may have to wait a little longer." Liushuang, who had just heard the little maid's report, came in with a frown and said softly.

"Keep vigil... Liushuang, do you think he is blaming me?" Zhou Wanning leaned against the back of the chair and asked softly after a long time.

"Madam, you worry too much. Do you need others to tell you how the Duke treats you? How could he blame you? But the lady is his biological mother after all. Now that she is gone, as a son, how can you not be sad?" Liushuang comforted.

Zhou Wanning sighed softly.

However, that night, she never saw that familiar figure appear.

On the day of the burial, Wei Chenglin was dressed in mourning. He watched the coffin being buried bit by bit. His pupils shrank and he subconsciously wanted to stop it, but his throat was blocked.

"It's good this way. They have been separated by death for decades, and now they are finally reunited." Yang murmured.

Wei Chengzhao supported her until he stood up looking at the new grave. Unconsciously, he seemed to see a kind-faced and somewhat familiar man appear and disappear in the distant white mist, and then slowly stretched out his hand to a woman with a also familiar face. As the two hands clasped, the white mist became thicker and the green mountains became faintly visible.

"Second uncle is here to pick up second aunt." he said suddenly.

"If Second Uncle really has a spirit, he should get rid of that disloyal and unfilial thing..." Wei Chengyue spat, but swallowed the words when he saw the look in Wei Chenglin's eyes.

As if to annoy himself, he kicked a small stone on the ground hard, sending it flying several feet away.

"Go back!" Yang seemed not to have heard her sons' words.