Chapter 102 Holiday
The last time Song Yuzhu came back, she was already unable to move. I didn't expect that she would be unable to move so soon.
Song Yumin: "Second uncle and third uncle are in the house, let us come out first."
Song Yuzhu nodded, pushed the door and walked in.
There was no ice in the room, and the hot and humid air was filled with a bitter and fishy smell that made it hard to breathe.
Jiang Rong and Qin were helping the old lady put on her clothes. Song Yuzhu looked at her for the first time. Was she so old? Her gray hair had become a little messy because she had been bedridden for a long time. Her thin cheeks were covered with deep wrinkles. If it weren't for the occasional rise and fall of her chest, she would be almost dead.
When Song Bai saw his son coming, he hurried over and said, "The room smells bad, you should go out first."
Seeing his red eyes, Song Yuzhu couldn't help but pat his father's hand and said, "Dad, I'm so sad."
Song Bai sniffed and nodded. Although he had many complaints about his mother when she was alive, now that she was really gone, he felt empty and extremely sad.
In fact, Song Yuzhu didn't have much affection for the old lady. After all, she had treated him indifferently before. Although he didn't hold a grudge against her, he didn't respect her much either.
Let’s not talk about the past. Now that she is about to pass away, and she is his father’s mother, Song Yuzhu decided to let the Ministry of Internal Affairs take care of it.
"Li Dehai."
"The servant is here."
"Go and tell the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prepare funeral supplies according to the specifications for a First Rank Lady."
"yes."
As soon as Song Yuzhu left the house, loud crying and shouting were heard from inside. Song Yumin and Song Yufeng hurriedly knelt on the ground, crying with red eyes and choking.
Song Yuzhu also knelt down. Although he was the Son of Heaven, he was also a son of man and he still had to kneel when he should.
Not long after, Songbai and Songqiao came out and announced the news of the old lady's death.
The servants in the mansion took out the white cloth that had been prepared, hung white banners, and the filial sons and grandsons wore mourning clothes.
Song Bai knelt on the ground and cried uncontrollably. Song Yumin and Song Yufeng stood by his side to comfort him. Song Qiao was stronger than him, and he managed to order the servants to prepare the coffin room.
The old lady's death needed to be announced, and a funeral notice had to be sent to relatives and friends as soon as possible, but he was not sure which family to send the letter to. After all, the old lady had a special status, as she was the emperor's grandmother.
Song Yuzhu changed into mourning clothes and stood nearby, looking like a jade sculpture. She exuded a cold aura that made people feel a little daunted.
Songqiao hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and asked, "Yuzhu, what are you going to do about your grandmother's funeral?"
"I have sent someone to inform the Ministry of Internal Affairs to treat her as a first-rank lady."
"Oh, then I won't worry about it." Song Qiao bowed and turned to leave. He was a little scared of this nephew. When Song Yuzhu rebelled, he ridiculed her and forced her to separate from the third wife. Later, the third wife let go of the past and asked him to help deliver medicine, but Song Qiao knew in his heart that the family had become estranged after all.
Everyone in the capital knows that among the two Song palaces, the Song Bai family is the precious royal relative, while the Song Qiao family is just a related drug dealer.
"Second uncle."
Songqiao paused and turned back to ask, "What's the matter?"
"Your condolences too."
"Yeah." Songqiao nodded with red eyes.
When the Ministry of Internal Affairs received the news, they immediately sent people over to arrange for personnel to announce the death. Since the funeral was arranged according to that of a first-rank lady, the mourning notice had to be delivered to all officials, big and small, who came to the capital.
The officials who received the mourning notice immediately changed their clothes and took a car to pay their respects. The people of the Song family also needed to express their gratitude.
Song Yuzhu was busy until the evening when she finally found time to go to Jiang Rong's yard to eat a bowl of vegetarian noodles.
"Brother." Song Yutong had just woken up and wanted to go to the front yard to play during the day, but was stopped by He Xiang. Although she was young, she knew the importance of the matter and knew that the adults could not take care of her when something happened at home.
Song Yuzhu picked up her sister and kissed her red face: "If you go to bed at this time, will you be able to sleep at night?"
He Xiang said: "Miss is used to taking a nap in the afternoon and sleeping late at night."
Song Yutong hugged his brother's neck and asked in a baby voice, "Is grandma dead?"
"Um."
"Brother, why do people die?"
“When you get old, you die.”
"Will Daddy and Mommy die too in the future?"
"Yes, every one of us will."
Song Yutong pouted and asked sadly, "Where will that person go after he dies?"
Song Yuzhu thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to another world."
"Will we meet in another world?"
Song Yuzhu pinched her little nose: "Maybe, brother doesn't know either."
Song Yutong hugged him tightly: "I don't want you to die, let's all live to be 10,000 years old, okay?"
"Okay." Children's words always make people laugh. Song Yuzhu pinched her little face and felt much better.
Jiang Rong came back soon. She got up in the middle of the night yesterday and had been busy all night. She was so exhausted that her complexion was pale and her eyes were dark. As soon as she entered the room, Song Yuzhu hurriedly helped her sit down.
"Mom, are you okay?"
"It's okay, I'm just a little sleepy. I'll be fine after a good sleep." Jiang Rong said and yawned.
Song Yutong pulled her brother up sensibly and said, "Mom, go to sleep. Let's go play somewhere else."
Song Yuzhu did not return to the palace at night. He sent his sister to the side courtyard and went to the mourning hall himself. People came to pay their respects in an endless stream. Although Song Yuzhu, as the emperor, did not have to mourn, he had to stay here all night.
Song Bai had just recovered and was discussing something with Song Qiao. Song Yuzhu walked over and listened. It turned out that they were discussing where to bury the old lady.
"Mom is willing to go back to her hometown. After all, my father's grave is there, and she should go back to be buried together with him."
Song Bai said: "But the journey is long and the weather is hot. Sending it to Jiangcheng County may be..."
Cremation was not popular in this era. Normal deaths were all buried. Cremation was only performed when it was inconvenient to carry the body back during marches and battles.
Song Yuzhu said, "However, I have sent people to Shangjing to select a cemetery. I will bury my grandmother there first, and then I will ask my father and second uncle to go back to their hometown and move the graves of my grandfather, great-grandfather, and eldest uncle to Shangjing."
Song Qiao nodded: "This is the best." After all, they will all stay in Shangjing and settle down there. It would be very difficult to go back to their ancestral graves so far away in Jiangcheng.
Song Bai made the decision, "Let's do as Zhu'er said. It will be much more convenient for us to hold sacrifices during festivals in the future.
After the funeral, brothers Song Bai and Song Qiao set out to return to their hometown in Jiangcheng County to move the graves, and Song Yumin and Song Yufeng also went with them.
*
In the golden month of August, it is Daqi’s National Day, and the whole country celebrates.
Except for the officials on duty, all other people in each department of the court were on holiday. During the holiday, Song Yuzhu had a rare few days of free time, so she took her sister out of the palace to play incognito.
The development in recent years has made Shangjing more and more prosperous. Not only can you see local people on the streets, but occasionally you can even see a few foreigners selling goods.
With the advent of cement, many buildings have been built on Zhengyang Street. The tallest one has five or six floors and is the Xiangyunlou, the largest restaurant in Shangjing.
The entire building stands tall in the center of Shangjing City, like a landmark. From a distance, it is somewhat similar to the buildings of later generations.
Song Yutong lay on the carriage window, looking around with her little head, but she was busy enough.
"Brother, brother, what do you think that is?"
Song Yuzhu looked in the direction she pointed and saw several monkeys and peacocks standing on a shelf, with trainers directing them to do some interesting movements.
"That's an animal circus. Do you want to go and see it?"
"Hmm, hmm, hmm!" Song Yutong nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice.
The two men got off the carriage, and Li Dehai and several guards quickly followed and protected them.
When Song Yutong saw the little monkey riding a unicycle, she giggled with joy and asked Li Dehai for a handful of copper coins to reward the trainer.
After watching the acrobatics, the two continued walking forward. When they turned the corner, they saw a lot of people gathered in front of them. Song Yuzhu was a little curious and told the guards, "Go over and ask what these people are doing."
"yes"
After a while, the guard came back and said, "I heard from the people that there are polo and cuju games being held on the parade ground outside the Jingxi camp, and the people can watch for free."
Song Yuzhu's eyes lit up: "Let's go and take a look."
"Your Majesty..." Li Dehai was a little worried. The situation outside the city was different from that inside, and they were afraid that the emperor would be in danger.
Song Yuzhu carried her sister onto the carriage road and said, "Don't worry, we'll just watch from a distance and not join in the fun."
Eunuch Li had no choice but to ask the guards to drive the carriage towards the west of the city.
There were more and more pedestrians in front, and there was a long queue when leaving the city gate. Most of these people were there to watch the excitement.
Finally arriving near the western suburbs, Song Yuzhu lifted the car curtain and saw that there were already many people gathered outside the parade ground, and there were vendors selling snacks nearby.
The guards drove the carriage to a corner where there were fewer people and stopped. Song Yuzhu got off the carriage and looked inside. She saw more than 20 soldiers divided into two teams, red and white, wearing protective gear and preparing to play polo.
As the name suggests, polo is played on horseback, also known as Jiju. It originated in the Han Dynasty and flourished in the Wu Dynasty.
Polo was played in the previous dynasty but it was only popular among the nobles. Due to years of war, horses became a rare commodity and horses in the barracks were not allowed to be used casually, so polo matches had not been held among the public for many years.
It was a fine day today, and the sun was already high in the sky just after the 7th hour. Li Dehai was afraid that the emperor and the princess would be exposed to the sun, so he quickly bought an oil-paper umbrella and held it behind them.
The soldiers on the field were ready, and Song Yuzhu took a quick look and found that there were quite a few familiar faces.
The referees are Zheng Da'an and Du Chong, the captain of the red team is Yang Ping, and the captain of the white team is Jiang Ling. These two young generals are both the best in the army and are both competitive. Today is a good opportunity for them to have a good competition.
Yang Ping was wearing a red riding suit, with a tall figure, handsome features, and a mouthful of white teeth. He rode his horse around the field, and his spirited appearance attracted the attention of many girls around him.
On the other side, Jiang Ling, who was wearing white riding clothes, was a fair-looking young man with cold eyebrows and slender figure, which made the young ladies cast flirtatious glances at him and feel amorous.
Some of the brave ones even threw sachets and handkerchiefs at them.
Song Yuzhu asked Li Dehai to buy some snacks for her sister, and she took her sister to find a flat place to sit down.
After a while, a man came forward and asked, "Sir, is the seat next to you occupied?"
The guards hurried forward to drive him away, but Song Yuzhu waved his hand and said, "No one, come and sit down."
"Thank you, thank you!" The man quickly picked up his son and took his wife over to sit down.
Judging from their clothes, this family of three should be from a wealthy family. The child in their arms is about the same age as Song Yutong, about four or five years old.
Song Yutong kept tilting his head to look at the child. The little boy's cheeks turned red and he asked in a low voice: "Why do you keep looking at me?"
Song Yutong said confidently: "Because you are good-looking."
This made Song Yuzhu and the boy's parents laugh out loud.
"Tongtong, don't be rude." Song Yuzhu gently tapped her sister's head.
Song Yutong blinked her big eyes and said, "I was right, he is indeed very handsome."
The boy has very white skin, black and bright eyes, and is truly unusually handsome.
"You can't keep staring at others."
The mother of the child smiled and said, "It's okay, children are very curious."
Song Yuzhu: "From your accents, you two don't sound like locals."
The man nodded and said, "We came from Mingzhou."
Mingzhou is located in the southwest, a thousand miles away from Shangjing. I wonder what business this couple has in bringing their children to Shangjing?
The gong sounded in the center of the parade ground, and everyone turned their eyes.
(End of this chapter)
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