Chapter 30 "Fortunately, both the couple were dead..."
"Fortunately, both the couple are dead, so nothing will get out," Steward He said with a smile.
Grandpa He looked up at the sky and sighed softly, "Thanks to that rain this year, it's much cooler now. I hope there will be another one next year."
Steward He was taken aback for a moment, then immediately smiled and coaxed, "If the old master wants it, Heaven will naturally listen to the old master."
"What are you saying?" Old Master He frowned. "You mustn't be disrespectful to Heaven."
Steward He hurriedly and respectfully agreed. Old Master He waved his hand wearily at him, and Steward He then quietly withdrew. After the door closed, Old Master He's entire old face was half-lit and half-shadowed by the candlelight, making him appear deep and unfathomable.
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On the eve of the funeral, Madam He and others went to the back hall to have tea and rest, while Wei Yin and Chen Xuanhua remained in the mourning hall.
A cool breeze suddenly swept through the mourning hall.
Chen Xuanhua thought there was a draft outside and was afraid it would blow out the eternal lamp in front of the coffin, so he got up to close the window.
But when she opened her eyes, there wasn't a breath of wind outside.
The servant boy standing guard at the door called out, "Master Pei has arrived."
An elderly scholar, probably over a hundred years old, walked in.
He wasn't using crutches, yet his lower body moved very steadily.
As he walked in, the chilling wind stopped, but the temperature in the mourning hall dropped even lower.
Wei Yin recognized this old Pei; He's father and He Wenqing had both been his students for two years.
He was a very capable person. In his youth, he served as a military officer and went to the battlefield. I heard that he even won a famous battle. Later, he took the civil service exam and became a civil official. He only retired from the court in the last two years because he was too old to continue working.
After retiring, he lived alone at the foot of Qinggeng Mountain in Huangzhou City, rarely going out again.
He arrived late at night tonight.
Upon seeing him, Chen Xuanhua instinctively disregarded etiquette and stepped back.
Wei Yin stepped forward to greet him, saying, "Elder Pei, you've arrived. I'll have someone invite my mother and husband over."
“No need, Wenqing’s wife.” Old Pei shook his head: “I’m just here to offer incense to my student, there’s no need to disturb him.”
Wei Yin then went to get incense, lit it himself, and handed it to Elder Pei.
Old Master Pei did come to offer incense. After placing the incense in front of the coffin, he stood silently for a moment, then turned and left the mourning hall. He did not bring any attendants with him; only a coachman was waiting outside the He residence.
Wei Yin turned around, and Chen Xuanhua touched his chest with lingering fear.
She asked curiously, "What's wrong with you?"
"Sister, you don't know," Chen Xuanhua said in horror, "The old house where Elder Pei lives at the foot of Qinggeng Mountain is a haunted house where his entire family suddenly died overnight. No wonder a strange wind suddenly came just now; it was following Elder Pei."
"A haunted house?" Wei Yin felt a chill run down her spine. "Then why doesn't Old Master Pei move there?"
“Sigh, that’s what’s worrying,” Chen Xuanhua said. “Everyone has talked to Old Pei about this house, but Old Pei is a scholar who has served in the army for many years. He says these are all unreliable things and won’t let anyone mention them. Who dares to say anything more? Fortunately, Old Pei is no ordinary person. He has some divine protection. Nothing bad has happened to him in the past two years. But I see that he always has a strange wind around him. Many people have seen a strange wind following him wherever he goes. It’s quite creepy. I’m afraid that if he continues to live in that house, something big will happen sooner or later.”
Wei Yin suddenly realized: "No wonder there was a sudden gust of cool wind just now."
"Indeed, that gave me a fright." Chen Xuanhua instructed, "The funeral procession will take place tomorrow, and we'll be passing by the foot of Qinggeng Mountain. Young Master will probably be visiting Elder Pei with his sister, so please be extremely careful."
Wei Yin responded, and Chen Xuanhua got up to serve Madam He.
Taking advantage of this moment, Wei Yin had some wine and food prepared and personally delivered it to Lu Hun. Secondly, she wanted to see how ghosts actually eat.
The weather has cooled down considerably; it's quite chilly to go out without a light jacket.
Lu Hun's courtyard had a large bamboo grove, and the wind blowing through it made him feel cool all over.
Inside the room, only a single lamp was lit. Lu Hun was outside wearing a black hooded cloak, half-reclined on the couch, asleep with his eyes closed. He had the hood tightly pulled over his head, making Wei Yin think it was someone else for a moment.
When Wei Yin looked closely at his face, she found that his brows were tightly furrowed and his complexion was very bad, as if he were trapped in some terrible dream.
Beneath his cloak, he clenched his wounded hand tightly, and fine black blood seeped from the wound.
At this moment, the Po Jun Sword appeared out of nowhere and hurriedly used its hilt to hook Wei Yin's fingers and touch Lu Hun's scarred hand.
It seems like they want her to do something.
Wei Yin thought for a while before taking out a handkerchief to wrap Lu Hun's hand.
But as soon as she touched him, he suddenly jerked away, and Wei Yin pressed her hand onto his wound, smearing her hand with black blood.
At the same moment, Lu Hun opened his eyes briefly, half asleep and half awake.
Wei Yin looked into his eyes.
Then, she felt her head spin, and when she looked up, she found herself outside Lu Hun's house in the dead-end alley with a big locust tree.
The courtyard gate suddenly opened, and a young scholar reeking of alcohol shoved a two- or three-year-old child out of the yard, shoving him while coldly cursing, "Didn't I tell you, your mother doesn't want to see you? What were you doing sneaking in? Did you want to get rid of your mother's baby sister?"
The child was a boy, standing shivering in the wind wearing only a thin shirt, with gloomy eyes. In an instant, Wei Yin recognized the boy as the young Lu Hun.
Lu Hun carefully explained, "I saw my mother suddenly scream just now, and I thought she had fallen, so I went in to check on her..."
"I don't want to hear what you have to say, shut up." The scholar interrupted impatiently, slammed the door shut, and went back to his room.
Lu Hun stood blankly outside the door.
A blind old woman with a cane slowly groped her way over, took Lu Hun's hand, and sighed: "Hun'er, your mother almost had an accident today, and your father is unhappy. Don't stand here and make him angry, go to sleep with your grandmother."
Old Madam Lu led Lu Hun back to her room, while little Lu Hun followed obediently behind his grandmother with his head down and no words.
After returning to her room, Old Madam Lu fumbled around and brought out a box of ointment. She rolled up Lu Hun's sleeve, and saw that there was a bruised spot on his elbow where he had bumped himself. She scooped out some ointment and gently applied it to his elbow, saying with concern, "Hun'er, if you rub it and it hurts, just tell me, and Grandmother will be gentler."
Lu Hun shook his head, remained silent, and stared at his feet.
Old Madam Lu was used to her grandson's quiet and unassuming nature since he was a child, and sighed repeatedly.
After applying the medicine, she kindly led him to bed. Lu Hun didn't utter a sound, but curled up quietly in the corner of his grandmother's bed and closed his eyes.
Seeing that his breathing had gradually calmed down, Madam Lu quietly picked up her cane, closed the door, and came to her son and daughter-in-law's room. "Mingli."
A moment later, the young scholar from before, who was also her son, Lu Mingli, came out from inside. "Mother, what brings you here?"
"How dare you say that?" Old Madam Lu said irritably, hitting him with her cane. "You are a scholar, and you used to be kind and reasonable. How come you are becoming more and more outrageous? You are too ruthless to Hun'er. How old is he? You dragged him out the door and his elbow is bruised."
“Mother, you know I don’t want to mention him,” Lu Mingli said coldly.
Hey! You!
Madam Lu said, "That was something his birth mother did, it has nothing to do with him. Why are you so angry with this child? I think this child has been very sensible and filial since he was a child, not at all like his birth mother."
“Mother.” Lu Liming closed his eyes. “Back then, his birth mother and her husband had a bad relationship. It was one thing for her to plot against me, but she also couldn’t stand seeing Yun’er and me doing well. She deliberately sent this child to Yun’er on the day she was about to give birth, which made Yun’er so angry that she miscarried. She can hardly conceive again, and her health has deteriorated day by day. In the past few years, she finally managed to raise another child, but the doctor said that she can’t afford any more complications, otherwise both the mother and the child will be in danger. How can you expect me to accept him?”
"Sigh." Old Madam Lu was speechless for a moment. "Hun'er went in because he thought something had happened to Yun'er. He didn't mean to provoke Yun'er."
“I know.” Lu Mingli sneered decisively: “But so what? He’s no better than his birth mother. I think his character is rather gloomy, probably even more scheming than his birth mother.”
"Keep your voice down if you're talking nonsense!" Old Madam Lu angrily stopped her. "Don't let Hun'er hear you. This child is precocious; he can understand!"
Seeing that his mother was angry, Lu Mingli dared not continue speaking.
Madam Lu advised again, "You should drink less yellow wine in the future, and stop taking your anger out on Hun'er so easily. It makes him so cautious all day long, afraid to say anything. It really makes me feel bad."
The mother and son were talking.
In Madam Lu's room, Little Lu Hun, who was thought to be asleep, gently opened his eyes.
Yu Yu listened to the faint voices coming from the mother and son.
She pursed her lips under the covers.
The screen froze.
Lu Hun closed his eyes again and fell into a deep sleep.
Wei Yin blinked, and when she came to her senses, she realized that she seemed to have just seen Lu Hun's memories.
It was a memory from when he was two or three years old.
Wei Yin only knew that his parents had died early, but he did not expect it to be like this.
The story he told her in the official school in Ah Zhu's memory was indeed from his Lu family, and the child born from the affair between the mistress of the main house and the scholar must have been him.
In Wei Yin's mind, the image of young Lu Hun being roughly pushed out of his room by his father flashed through his mind again.
He hid under the covers, listening quietly to his grandmother and father's conversation.
For a moment, she didn't know how to deal with what she had suddenly witnessed.
Fortunately, Lu Hun hadn't woken up yet. Wei Yin thought about it and realized that he had stopped after telling a little of the story, probably because he was reluctant to bring it up. It would be best for her to pretend she didn't know anything.
About half an hour later, Lu Hun finally woke up slowly. At first, he didn't fully react, still affected by the dream he had just had. He just kept his head down and tried to calm himself down. Then, he noticed that there seemed to be someone standing not far in front of him. He thought it was the maid bringing food again. He kept his head down and said softly, "Just leave it at the door. I'll get it myself."
Wei Yin deliberately remained silent.
Lu Hun slowly raised his head.
Then he noticed that his wounded hand was wrapped in a handkerchief.
Wei Yin opened the food and wine and placed them on the table in front of him one by one, explaining, "You scratched your wound open again while you were asleep."
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