The back hill is covered with withered grass, and the tombstones are engraved with the mundane, tasteless, and worthless lives of women. They have no names, no identities, just the tombs of so-and-so.
Even though their own daughter is buried here, no one comes to clean it.
However, a small path was left behind, a path that would make it convenient to bury the coffin.
Looking at the tombstones scattered on the ground, Fen'e said to Huo Xiaolong...
"If I hadn't escaped back then, I should be buried here now."
"Fifty taels...fifty taels of silver everywhere..."
The woman's delicate face was filled with sorrow, as if she were reminiscing or harboring resentment.
"Sister, let's tear down all these graves and put up new tombstones," Huo Xiaolong said.
This is an unlucky job that many people are unwilling to do. Long'er is now the Prince of Zhenbei and is on his way to the capital to report on his duties. It should have been a joyous occasion.
But then, her own younger sister said those words.
"It doesn't matter. They let my sister come to the brothel alive, so it's just what I should do."
The woman, her eyes filled with tears, nodded without refusing.
"good."
Those parents remembered where their daughters were buried and what was written on the tombstones. Xiao Cao checked each one against the list and opened the coffins one by one.
The skeletons in each coffin were missing their right hand.
The moth stood to the side, weeping silently. The white-bearded old man with the sharp sword saw this scene and muttered something sinful.
"Taking only the ashes of the right hand for marriage is truly immoral."
"Grandpa?" Li Jian was a little confused when he heard this.
"Go help Grandpa find the clothes in the wooden box. I'll perform a ritual for them."
Perform a ritual to free oneself from shackles.
It wasn't until the coffin of Sister Fen'e was lifted that the woman stirred. Looking at the white bones inside, her right hand was noticeably shorter, and the skeleton was estimated to be only about the size of Huo Xiaolong when he was four years old.
Her hands trembled, but disregarding the snow and mud around her, Fen'e descended into the pit and personally wrapped her sister's remains in silk.
Then her skin touched the skull, and the woman whispered.
"Lancao, I'm late."
But you came back after all.
A cold wind blew by, and torches lit up the back mountain. The white-bearded old man, dressed in a Taoist robe, sat in the center, chanting scriptures and praying for the souls of the girls who had died unjustly.
Huo Xiaolong was not there at the time, and the girl was facing the parents who had arranged for their daughters to be married in ghost marriages.
"What are you thinking? Your own daughter, the flesh and blood of your own flesh, you just kill her like that, bury her alive like that?"
When the coffin was lifted, the bloodstains on the top of the coffin lid were shocking. Most of the girls had been suffocated to death by being locked in the coffin. Their will to survive wanted to get out, but they couldn't, leaving only mottled bloodstains.
After they die, on the seventh day after their death, the matchmaker will come and take their right hand back to the man's house to get married.
The girl in red looked at the group of people kneeling before her. The village chief at the head of the group wasn't afraid; he kept saying...
"The law does not punish the masses. You, a person born with a silver spoon in your mouth, how could you understand the suffering of us who beg for food in the fields, whether we can have enough to eat depends on God's favor."
“You don’t understand our suffering. If you don’t like what we’re doing, I promise that this kind of thing will never happen in the village again.”
Anyway, this person can stay here for the rest of their life, right?
This noble person is still young and soft-hearted. Lan Hua cried a little and that's how tonight's events happened. If they cried a little more, and considering that so many people in the village have done the same thing, this little girl would probably just wave her hand and let it go.
“I am the Prince of Zhenbei. The first document I issued upon taking office stated that I am not allowed to have a ghost marriage.”
"I've never seen anyone get this bad luck before."
Although many people in the brokerage business sell themselves, they are ultimately under the supervision of the government, and no one is willing to sell themselves into a ghost marriage to die.
As for those traffickers, they are also afraid of retribution, so they generally stay far away from this kind of thing.
What goes around comes around.
As the officials arrived and locked up the villagers one by one, a group of people stared at Huo Xiaolong in disbelief.
"Those girls are our own children, why can't we decide their life or death!"
"Even an upright official finds it difficult to settle family disputes, sir. You must be discerning, sir."
Huo Xiaolong sat there drinking tea, ignoring those people; they were quite good at sophistry.
Even an upright official finds it difficult to settle family disputes?
There is no household chore that cannot be resolved; it all depends on whether the person wants to or not.
A life for a life, a debt for a debt!
"Your Highness, these children..." Li Jian asked from the side.
"Send it to Pingyang."
Those parents are probably gone and will never return, but their innocent children are innocent.
On each newly built tombstone on the back hill are several pretty hair ties and flowers, and the clothes that Grandpa Lijian folded last night are burning. The girls from Fengyue Tower have colored these clothes.
The moth brought them fresh roasted chicken, and the woman kept feeding each grave with rice.
"Now there's no need to argue. You all have one. The hair accessories are the most popular styles this year, they're so pretty. And the hair ties, I bought them all the colors that each of you likes."
"Lancao, I brought you your favorite pickled cabbage and pork rib stew. You can share it with your girlfriends, but no arguing allowed, understand?"
"You can tell me if you need anything down here."
"You'll definitely look good in this little dress."
The firelight cast a flickering glow on the woman's face. She had cried too much these past few days, and now even the moth could no longer cry.
"Sister is leaving to accompany... to the capital city with the family, the place we always longed for when we were kids."
"I'll come back to see you then and tell you what the capital is like."
Since Grandpa Lijian finished that ritual, the gloom in the entire village has completely disappeared, the dark clouds no longer block the sun, and some of the snow has melted in the sunlight.
The downhill road was filled with mud and the sound of rustling, and horse-drawn carriages were waiting for her at the village entrance.
Suddenly, the moth felt as if someone was watching her from behind.
The woman turned around and seemed to see the group of girls she used to play with when she was a child.
Among them were orchids.
They waved at her, while her younger sister was still bouncing around.
Sister, we've never blamed you.
See, I told you, you would definitely come back to save us.
A tear rolled down the woman's cheek. Fen'e wanted to go back and hug them, to tell them how much she missed them, but as soon as she took a step, the group of girls told her to leave, waving goodbye as they walked away.
"sister!"
The voice was clear and loud; it was Huo Xiaolong calling her from the foot of the mountain.
Let's go, sis.
The orchid seemed to be talking to her.
The woman turned around, facing the rising sun.
The lingering bitterness remained on this mountain.
At the foot of the mountain lies new life, while on the mountain dwell the deceased whom one longs for.
Everyone on the mountain wants you to look ahead, like a moth that doesn't have to fly into the flame, but can still hold onto warmth in your hands, and not just for a moment.
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