Chapter 811: The Funeral (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
At this moment, there was complete silence.
A cool breeze blew by, and the white banners guiding the spirits fluttered in the wind.
Although the servants were somewhat prepared, seeing the enormous coffin that required eight men to lift still sent a chill down their spines. The woman took in everyone's expressions, gripping her sword hilt tightly: "The funeral will be simple. The body will lie in state for seven days, and the burial will take place today. We are deeply grateful to all the elders and villagers who have come to pay their respects. We have prepared a vegetarian meal as a token of our gratitude, but we regret that you are unwelcome guests—"
Her eyes flashed with a chilling murderous intent. The woman had seen blood on her hands when she fled with her husband Zhao Feng and the others; she was familiar with killing, but she had only put away her blade in recent years when things had settled down.
The moment the guard commander was stared at by her eyes, he felt a strange fear, but he quickly recovered and calmed himself down—this woman in front of him was just an ordinary person, and even if she had some skills, she was no match for a martial arts master. What did he have to be afraid of?
Just as he was about to speak, a brisk maidservant brought over a basin of chicken blood and splashed it. These servants had been instructed to only surround and prevent the Zhao family from entering or leaving, but not to lay a hand on them. When the basin of chicken blood was splashed, the servants and guards at the front dared not resist, and of course, they couldn't dodge it either, since those behind them were also their own people.
The guard commander raised his arm to shield himself.
His face was saved, but his clothes were ruined by the stench of chicken blood.
"You unlucky creatures, let's sprinkle some blood to cleanse you, so as not to dirty the funeral procession of our Zhao family." The woman glanced sideways at the head of the household guards and said indifferently, "If you're not here to be filial sons and grandsons, then get out of the way! Otherwise, I'll throw your excrement in a basin. Thanks to you inhuman dogs, the manor has been accumulating night soil for half a month without being cleaned. Unwelcome guests, would you like to open your mouths and have a taste?"
The guard commander was almost dumbfounded, seemingly never expecting a general's wife to throw a tantrum in public without any regard for her reputation.
He didn't speak, but the woman could tell what he was thinking from his expression. She reminded him, "This isn't some public place. What I say in my own home is none of your business, you dog! I don't want to make things difficult for you, but you're just someone's lackey. If your master tells you to bite, what can you do? Get out of the way, don't delay the funeral procession, otherwise—"
The guard commander knew that the woman was holding back her anger.
But so what?
With the family's breadwinner absent, their voices were less confident, and they could only offer empty encouragement and try to gain the upper hand verbally. Even if Zhao Feng returned, they couldn't pursue the matter further; they merely surrounded him, without delaying his youngest son's medical treatment, and his eldest son's injury was initiated by him. On the contrary, it was Zhao Feng's household that harbored the thieves who stole the ancestral treasures; this gang of thieves' behavior needed to be thoroughly cleaned up.
“Madam’s admonitions are absolutely correct. We are just lackeys following orders. The manor has protected thieves, but the master has given a death order to find the treasure within a certain time, or the whole family will be punished. Please forgive us, Madam, and don’t hold it against us dogs, okay?” The guard captain gave a perfunctory bow, said a few sarcastic words with a forced smile, and then turned his head and winked.
Several servants behind him understood and approached the coffin.
The woman raised her knife to stop him: "What do you mean?"
The guard captain said, “Your household is protecting thieves and refusing to return the treasures. We suspect they are hiding here. We beg you, Madam, not to make things difficult for us. Once the thieves and the treasures are found, we will immediately withdraw our guards! We will absolutely not disturb your peace again. Please cooperate.”
The woman's expression was cold and calm: "What do you intend to do?"
The guard commander laughed and said, "Open the coffin!"
The second son was so angry his eyes turned red: "You scoundrel!"
The woman lowered her eyelids: "And if you refuse?"
The guard captain, his face contorted with a menacing scar, grinned and said, "Madam, you'd better agree. After all, investigating now only involves opening the coffin. As long as there are no thieves or treasures hidden inside, your family's reputation can be restored. But if we bury you, we brothers will have to dig up the grave again. What if we accidentally dig up something we shouldn't? Wouldn't that be terrible? Don't you think so?"
The onlookers gasped in shock upon hearing this.
The second son, being young and easily provoked, said: "You dare? Wait till my father comes back and cuts your head off!"
The guard commander chuckled inwardly and said, "Swords have no eyes on the battlefield, Erlang, you'd better not speak so confidently."
The second son, enraged, gripped the hilt of his knife, ready to draw it.
His mother forcefully pushed him back down.
He asked in confusion, "Mother?"
The woman turned to the side: "Open the coffin."
The onlookers were in an uproar, seemingly surprised that they had been forced to this point. But upon reflection, they realized it was understandable; General Zhao was away fighting, none of his trusted generals were present, and no one was there to support the elderly and infirm of his household. They could only endure their grievances.
"Aren't you afraid of retaliation?" someone in the crowd muttered.
Will Zhao Dayi retaliate if he finds out?
This issue is not important to the commander of the guards.
The coffin was opened very easily before the nails were even driven in.
Although the bodies had been kept for seven days, thanks to special preservation methods, they showed no other changes except for a slight stench of decay. The guard commander paused, noticing the deep, bone-revealing cuts on the necks of the old woman and the young man inside the coffin, before averting his gaze.
Upon examining the third coffin, one finds a heavily pregnant woman inside.
The weather was hot, and the woman's summer dress was thin, the fabric draping down to her abdomen, outlining a rounded, natural curve. Beside her were four sets of children's clothes for all seasons. She was made up, her face rosy, and at first glance, she seemed almost alive, but the skin of her hands, neatly folded over her abdomen, was clearly that of a dead person. The guard captain quickly examined her, then gestured for the covers to be put on.
The woman asked, "Have you found the thief?"
The guard commander laughed and said, "Not at all."
The woman then asked, "What about the so-called treasures?"
"Perhaps the subordinates have failed in their duties and have wronged your family. I will report this to the master and give the lady a satisfactory explanation."
The person is dead, and the goal has been achieved.
This lesson was profound enough for Zhao Feng. The guard commander had no reason to continue making things difficult for the Zhao family. Before leaving, he glanced at the three coffins and waved his hand, "Withdraw!"
Unexpectedly, an unexpected turn of events occurred at this time.
A bloody severed arm fell to the ground with a dull thud. The guard commander collapsed in pain, clutching his bleeding wound, his face filled with disbelief—this woman had taken him by surprise, severing his arm in a moment of carelessness!
"A third-class hairpin?" The woman flung her knife to the ground, the blade pressed against his neck. "Old Zhao had a point: a martial artist is like a knife, and blood is the whetstone. If you don't sharpen it regularly, it'll rust sooner or later. Consider this arm a lesson. Don't be resentful. We lost a few ancestral treasures, and you people all look like thieves. Cutting off your leg isn't too much to ask, is it? If your master wants to make a fuss, let him come to us!"
"You dare—"
The woman sneered, "Oh, still barking?"
"You dare to hurt me?"
The woman's eyes flickered slightly, as if she were somewhat wary.
At that moment, a middle-aged man in fine clothes stepped out from the crowd of onlookers: "Madam, Madam, spare his life!"
His voice was slow and deliberate, neither hurried nor slow.
They were clearly confident that the woman wouldn't dare to do anything further.
He had barely taken two steps when the woman gripped the knife hilt with her other hand, slashed it upwards, and a spurt of blood sprayed onto his shoes. He stopped abruptly, his hands frozen in mid-air, dumbfounded. The onlookers were also stunned.
The woman looked down at the guard captain, who was clutching his neck and breathing his last. She said regretfully, "How could he be so careless? The knife was right there, and he didn't even try to dodge it. I was just drawing my sword, and he didn't even move away. Was he trying to frame me?"
After speaking, she looked at the middle-aged man.
Holding a knife dripping with blood, he asked, "What is your surname?"
The middle-aged man said awkwardly, "The steward of the He family."
The woman asked again, "Have you come for a funeral?"
The middle-aged man was so frightened that he took a step back and shook his head.
Seeing his gaze fixed on the corpse on the ground, the woman said, "Oh, the dog that came to lead your family's stray dog? He just went mad, bumped into my knife, and committed suicide. I must say, your household is really something, if your dog had distemper, you could have disposed of it privately, why did you let it out?"
The middle-aged man's face turned ashen: "You—"
The woman glanced at the sun, waved her hand, and said, "It's getting late, and if we delay any longer, we'll really miss the appointed time. I appreciate your kindness. If you want to continue the siege, then continue. If you don't want to, then get lost. If you still can't swallow this, then raid my house. It would be best if—we made a bigger scene. Let all the soldiers and their families who follow Lord Wu see what happens when they follow him!"
Her words were extremely harsh.
The steward of the He family had no choice but to swallow his anger and leave with his men.
The woman put the knife away and picked up the white banner.
He said in a muffled voice, "Rise—the Spirit—"
The three coffins were not buried within Tianhai's borders, but were instead handed over to a group of people to be sent back to their hometown. Tianhai is a filthy place!
On the way home, the second son hesitated to speak.
The woman said wearily, "Spit it out if you have anything to say!"
The second son whispered, "Why is Mother so different today—"
So powerful, killing a third-class maid so easily?
Even if the opponent is unprepared, severing an arm with a single strike is still astonishing.
The woman said, "Of course, someone was secretly helping us."
She hadn't received formal martial arts training; she'd only learned some basic combat skills while fleeing with Zhao Feng and his men. She was alright when she was younger, but things were different now that she was older. Her success this time was also due to cheating. Her second son was curious about who had helped her.
The woman said, "Xu Wen's annotation."
Xu Jie also kept several secret guards around him.
In recent years, due to the issue of the jurisdiction of Heyin County, Xu Jie's relationship with Tianhai has become increasingly distant. As a shrewd businessman, he understands the principle of not putting all his eggs in one basket. At some point, he began to gradually separate the Xu family business from Tianhai, and his trusted clansmen also left in batches under various pretexts, without attracting any attention.
The Xu family's residence in Tianhai is now just an empty shell.
"On the third day after your aunt's family passed away, Xu Wenzhu's men came to the mansion..." She was very grateful to Xu Jie for his timely help, but she knew that she had more important things to do and she had to shift everyone's attention to the Zhao family.
Second son: "Why not take this opportunity to leave?"
He muttered to himself, thinking of his unfortunate older brother and younger brother. Who knew what trouble awaited their family if they stayed.
"Leaving now would be desertion!"
The woman's words were resolute.
"deserter?"
“Your father has his own battlefield, and your mother has hers. It would be easy for us to run away, but have you thought about the families of your father's brothers?” Most of the soldiers under Old Zhao's command are married, and the majority are still in Tianhai. The rear is safe, but in a critical moment, they're also hostages. “Do you think I don't know your father's temper? He's finished with Wu Zhaode!”
He drove his brother's family to their deaths and caused the death of his cousin whom he had raised as his daughter. Even if Wu Xian had saved him, he would sever all ties with Wu Xian, at most repaying Wu Xian with his own life later. Continuing to serve Wu Xian like a slave was out of the question! Therefore—
She needed to clean up the mess before everything erupted.
"During the fighting at the front, Xu Wenzhu seized a lot of serfs from those people in Tianhai and secretly switched your uncles' families with them... We cannot leave Tianhai until everything is settled." Her gaze was icy. "Even if it means death!"
Upon hearing this, the second son calmed down.
"Yes, son understands."
He's not afraid of death!
Looking at her son's youthful features, the woman laughed, "No need to look so ready to die. It's not that bad yet. As long as your father doesn't die on the front lines, our whole family will survive. For now, let's give them a good beating!"
A dark, howling roar, a madman running rampant.
Staying rational is not easy, but going crazy is easy too.
Being petty, she even sent a generous gift—a beautifully packaged wooden box—to all the families involved in this scheme.
Upon opening the deceptively packaged contents, a stench assaults the senses, revealing countless lively, plump maggots wriggling in a sea of excrement.
The wooden box is exquisite, and the night-blooming jasmine inside is fresh.
Today she's delivering chamber pots, tomorrow she'll be sprinkling dog blood, and the day after she'll be carrying an empty coffin to every house, wailing as if she's mentally unstable. If anyone tries to fight back, the woman abandons all decorum, plops down on the ground, slaps her legs, and lets out a wail, completely unleashing her fury. She cries from her eldest son to her youngest. She declares that her husband risked his life to save Wu Xian years ago and is still risking his life for him now; if she and her sons were to die, it would be perfect, so the whole of Tianhai could see, and so could those who were planning to join Wu Xian.
"They're bullying orphans and widows—"
The respectable person who was being unfairly targeted turned pale with anger.
They pride themselves on being from a family of refined manners; where have they ever seen such a scene of a rustic shrew throwing a tantrum? If you try to reason with them, they'll just brandish knives wildly. If you miss, all is well; but if you do get hit, they'll turn around and accuse you of running into them.
A respected old man from a family went out and was ambushed by her and her entourage. He was so angry that he almost died on the spot.
"This is an insult to scholarship!"
"This is an insult to civility!"
The common people of Tianhai were having a great time enjoying the gossip.
In the end, everyone stayed indoors.
The Zhaos are shameless, but they still have a sense of shame.
When Xu Jie received the news, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets: "This lady, Dayi, is really going all out!"
How could an ordinary person possibly do this?
Time was of the essence, and he dared not delay.
While the Zhao residence was drawing Tianhai's attention, clandestine activities were also underway—the Xu family was large and diversified, with each major trade trip involving hundreds of people, so it wouldn't be surprising to see a few unfamiliar faces. He was also using his connections to engage in "human trafficking."
With frequent wars, people are also considered commodities.
Not only was he doing it, but other powerful families were doing it too.
The Tianhai family buys people, but Xu Jie runs a resale business, selling them to other places for double the price.
Other families, upon hearing the rumors, didn't take it seriously, at most muttering that this person would abandon all moral boundaries to make money.
|ω`)
(End of this chapter)
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