Chapter 222 Kneel down and watch carefully
The old lady is indeed dying.
He held his breath for so long that only a layer of dry skin covering dry flesh remained, and his qi and blood dried up and his oil dispersed.
When the Xu family's spacious and bright new house was completed and the whole family was about to move in, he finally couldn't bear it anymore.
Sang Zhixia and others hurried back after hearing the news. When they entered the house, they saw everyone in the yard.
Even Uncle Xu, who hadn't been seen for half a year, came.
The person who hadn't been seen for a long time had put on a lot of fat, and his clothes and appearance seemed no worse than anyone else. But after entering the door, he found a corner and stayed there alone, with a tense and gloomy face, and was unwilling to talk to anyone.
Of course, no one rushed to pick him up.
Seeing Sang Zhixia's uneven breathing, Xu Wenxiu quickly signaled Xu Yanran to bring her a bowl of water and whispered, "Your grandfather is staying in there with her. He won't let anyone in. Stay here first. If anything happens..."
"It's better to respond in time."
The old lady has passed away, and the Xu family will definitely hold a funeral.
Although everything is not as grand as before, many details cannot be neglected, otherwise it will become a laughing stock for the Xu family if it gets out.
Aunt Xu pulled Sang Zhixia over to sit down beside her. Worried that she was young and didn't understand these taboos, she whispered, "Thankfully, the wedding wood and other supplies were prepared in advance, and the necessary white linen clothes were also prepared. It's just that the old lady's death was not easy. She suffered a lot before and after. The filial sons and grandsons will have to endure some hardships when they keep vigil and hold the funeral. They will have to kneel for several days in a row."
There aren't many rules in the village. Usually the body is kept for three days, and at most the coffin is carried out for the funeral after seven days.
But according to the Xu family's previous rules...
Aunt Xu had a hint of helplessness on her face, and said with a wry smile, "Forty-ninth days is not uncommon. How to handle it specifically will ultimately depend on what the old man wants."
Fortunately, the autumn harvest in the fields is over, and the grain stores and embroidery shops in the city have all been run and put on the main road. It won’t cause any trouble if they temporarily hand it over to others.
Otherwise, if you delay people at a critical moment, it will cause more than one or two mistakes.
Although she was the old lady of their own family, the old lady who was once high and mighty in the marquis's mansion, at this moment, there were only a handful of people who were truly sad for her.
Uncle Xu was really upset, after all, his biological mother was in the house.
However, no matter how great his desire to be a son was, it had been worn away by the old lady for so long that there wasn't much left.
As for Second Uncle Xu...
Uncle Xu, his eyes red, turned to look at him and sneered silently, "Second brother, you still remember to come back?"
"Mom has been ill for so long, I don't know how many times I've sent you messages, how come you only heard this time? Were all the people I found before dead?!"
Uncle Xu's eyes flickered, and he turned his head away and said angrily, "I already said I can't come back, you..."
"Why can't you come back?!"
Uncle Xu lost his composure, a rare occurrence. His eyes were red as he growled, "Could it be that someone tied your feet with a rope and won't let you come back?"
"I don't want to come back to mother's sickbed to serve her. I'm afraid that things at home will delay your meals. Just say it straight. Why do you have to come up with such a reason that even a three-year-old wouldn't believe to fool me?!"
"you……"
"alright."
Aunt Xu San couldn't hide her disgust. She glared at Uncle Xu Er, whose face was flushed purple, and stopped her husband from trying to persuade him: "It's already late, why are you arguing with a man whose conscience has been eaten by dogs?"
"Isn't that messy enough?"
Seeing that Uncle Xu San was about to roll up his sleeves and fight with Uncle Xu Er, Aunt Xu San quickly winked at Xu Yu.
Xu Yu came over and whispered, "Third Uncle, everyone in the village is watching. We can't make a fool of ourselves at this moment."
"Wait a minute."
Xu Yu was too lazy to do anything about it, but not now.
In the room, the old lady's breath was so weak that it was almost imperceptible, but her loose eyelids refused to close, and she stared at the old man as if she was saying something.
The old man looked at it calmly, and after a moment of silence, he laughed and said, "We've been married for half a lifetime, and you poisoned me first."
"Even now that you're sick, you probably think I did it, just like you did to me, right?"
The old lady gasped for breath and her throat spasmed, making a hideous hoarse sound. Her hands, unable to lift them, clutched tightly at the clean and fluffy quilt, as if asking, "Isn't it?"
If it weren't for the old man's revenge, how could she have become so ill? !
The old man saw through her thoughts and said with a sarcastic look: "No."
"Every bowl of medicine the children brought to your bedside was spotless, from the prescription to the herbs and finally to the boiled medicine."
"But you don't want to drink it?"
"Don't you dare drink."
Excessive shock and inner tension broke the string that held her breath. After falling ill, the old lady became even more suspicious and trusted no one. Every bowl of medicine she was supposed to drink was like a death warrant from the King of Hell, and she dared not touch it.
But since I’m sick, how can I get better without taking medicine?
The old man's eyes were filled with sarcasm. Facing the old lady's horrified gaze, who still refused to believe, he said calmly, "If you had been willing to drink the medicine earlier, this illness might have been cured."
"Look, why did it have to be like this?"
No one would do anything dark and shady, and no one would have evil intentions that would not be told to others.
The old lady scared herself to death.
She tortured herself to death.
The old man was in a state of confusion and didn't know what to say. Seeing the old lady using her last bit of strength to turn her head to see if the person she was worried about had arrived, he slowly lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "Don't look. The second son wouldn't dare to come either."
"He knew his plot to poison his father had been exposed, that your life was hanging by a thread and you could no longer protect him. How could such a selfish and vicious person dare to come see you again?"
"Look, the first half of your life was filled with glory, but now your old age is so miserable. Why is this so painful?"
It's all your own fault, evil and vicious.
The old man looked coldly at the old lady who had been bedridden and suffering for months. He felt neither hatred nor pleasure in his heart as he saw her turn into a skeleton that was neither human nor ghost but still unwilling to leave.
Although they were once husband and wife, they have long been strangers.
That's it, that's all.
The old lady didn't believe what the old man said. There was a light of struggle in her eyes. She struggled to move her dry and cracked lips to make a sound, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the old man pinched her chin and put a pill deep into her throat for some unknown reason.
The old lady suddenly burst out with strength from nowhere and covered her neck. The pill she swallowed brought her infinite fear. She gasped sharply and then stopped breathing. She fell down limply with her eyes wide open.
The old man lowered his eyes and slowly stretched out his hand, raising his hand to close her eyelids that could not be closed, and his voice was barely audible: "Look, we have been married for half a lifetime, with many children and grandchildren, and you have never believed in me at all."
A pill of Ginseng Bairong Pill, which is used to invigorate the body, can easily cause death.
He scared himself to death.
The old man closed his eyes and withdrew his hand. A deep voice came out of the door: "Come in."
"Come in and kowtow again."
This is the last journey for the old lady.
The old lady of the Xu family passed away, and the news spread quickly throughout the village like the wind.
When the host family holds a funeral, the filial sons and grandsons in the family will go to the door of the family that has invited the deceased to kowtow and ask for their blessings, and ask relatives in the village to help, so that the deceased can be sent to the mountain in a dignified manner and maintain the dignity after death.
But the Xu family has no relatives in the village.
With the help of these people from the Xu family, the funeral would not be decent.
Just when Xu Wenxiu and the others were worried, Aunt Wu, dressed in plain clothes, arrived with her two daughters-in-law. As soon as she entered the house, she said, "One family's affairs require help from hundreds of families. There's no one who just sits there and watches."
"My family can't do much, but we can lend a hand. If there's anything you need to do, just wait and see how it's arranged."
Coincidentally, it was not just the Wu family who came to the village.
No one followed the village custom of kneeling down to beg for mercy. Everyone came forward on their own initiative after hearing the news.
The old man wrapped a white veil around his shoulders and looked grateful. He put his hand to his lips, coughed, and said, "Since we have entered the village, we must follow the village rules."
"Even if I couldn't go to the door to invite you, I should still make up for the missed etiquette in front of the door, Third Brother."
Uncle Xu, his eyes red, lowered his head and replied, "Hey."
"Take these little ones with you, put on your mourning clothes, and kneel at the door to welcome the guests."
"yes."
Uncle Xu lowered his head and wanted to follow, but the old man said at this moment: "You are the one your mother missed the most before she passed away. Go and kneel at the memorial."
"The body will remain there for three days, and you can kneel alone."
"Go and kneel down, and bid your mother farewell."
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