Three beats of the cloud board rang out from outside the mourning hall.
This was to inform everyone that the auspicious time was nearly upon them.
Yet, the Song Family had not decided on the person to perform the basin-breaking ritual.
Those inside the mourning hall whispered among themselves, no longer daring to point and gesture as before.
Song Jiyun stood in the center of the mourning hall and called out in a stern voice, "Where are the pallbearers?"
Caught off guard, everyone looked at Song Jiyun in silence, and you could hear a pin drop in the mourning hall.
"Here! They’re here!" Steward Wu announced, wiping sweat from his brow, his voice particularly loud.
Immediately, eight tall and strong pallbearers carrying sticks and hemp ropes walked in, accompanied by sixteen others standing guard beside the coffin.
The already cramped mourning hall suddenly became congested.
Song Daliang was taken aback.
Weren’t these the very men Song Jiyun had brought back from the Tianzhuang two days before, claiming they were there to help with the heavy labor?
Since when had his arrangement of pallbearers turned into these country bumpkins, these rough men?
Song Sanliang and Ninth Master Song had already understood what was happening.
Especially Song Sanliang, who angrily said, "Song Jiyun, you’re just a girl; are you not afraid that your father won’t be able to reincarnate after death?"
Song Jiyun let out several cold laughs, picked up the filial basin, and "smash," shattered it into pieces, then turned around to pick up the portrait of Song Youliang.
"My father has no brothers, no nephews, and no clansmen. If a daughter doesn’t step up to break the basin and hold the portrait, do you expect you all to do it?"
Her eyes wide with determination, she swept her gaze over everyone present and called out loudly, "Lift the coffin!"
The pallbearers shouted in unison, and Song Jiyun knelt down facing the coffin.
Behind her, the shrill, heart-wrenching cries of Madam Qian could be heard.
*
The street in front of the Song Mansion was packed to capacity.
The smoke from the firecrackers was enough to make people cough relentlessly.
Yuan Yunzhong stood on the steps of the Song Family’s main gate, watching the figure dressed in mourning attire holding her father’s portrait, supported by two nannies as she took nine steps backward to stop and bow before the coffin, then rose and took another nine steps, stopping again to bow... step by step, moving further away from the Song Family.
Yet her tall figure stood straight like a pine, her movements crisp and effortless, with a casual freedom rarely seen even among men, drawing the eye of onlookers immediately.
Only such a woman could be capable of performing the basin-breaking ceremony herself.
Yuan Yunzhong sighed silently, then turned to enter the Song Family’s main gate.
Behind him, firecrackers erupted, and white paper money for the dead fluttered from the sky, blanketing half the street.
The funeral procession slowly moved away amidst the sound of musicians.
The Song Family’s stewards and servant boys ran to and fro, busy dismantling the filial mourning tent, changing lanterns, and removing the mourning cloths, trying to get everything in order before those attending the burial returned.
Yuan Yunzhong, with Liu Zi, slowly made his way back to Yinyu Hall.
The sun had risen, the sunlight still blistering hot.
Liu Zi asked Steward Wu for some more ice, while Yuan Yunzhong lounged in the Drunken Master’s Chair, reading biographies.
Shao Qing climbed through the window and bowed respectfully to him, saying, "Young Master, the carriage and horses are ready."
Yuan Yunzhong put down the biography in his hands and said, "You stay to serve here; the others will continue with the plan to Nanchang Prefecture as before."
Shao Qing was astonished.
Yuan Yunzhong recalled that decisive "Lift the coffin" from Song Jiyun in the mourning hall, and couldn’t help but smile, "I haven’t yet received my payment of 100,000 silver taels, so I won’t be leaving just yet."
"Does the young master still fancy 100,000 silver taels?"
Shao Qing’s mind was in a daze, but it didn’t affect his loyalty to his duties.
He responded respectfully, then slipped away silently.
Yuan Yunzhong smiled as he looked at the thick green shade outside the window, and his gaze returned to the new biography in his hands.
*
By the time the funeral procession returned from Zhu Mountain, the sun had already set.
Song Jiyun carried the spiritual soul banner, Song Jiyu held the portrait, and Song Jixue supported the coffin, stepping over the fire basin, and went to Madam Qian’s room to set up the spirit tablet shrine.
Neighbors from left and right dispersed upon returning to the city, and relatives and friends were entertained in the Water Pavilion and the spacious hall.
Several clan elders didn’t come, and Song Daliang, who should have entertained the relatives and friends, had disappeared. Song Sanliang and Madam Zeng and others didn’t bother to attend the funeral at all.
With no male head of the household, Song Jiyun went from table to table, toasting the guests.
Several people subtly inquired whether her family was really preparing to take in a son-in-law.
Song Jiyun said, "We can’t decide until after my mother gives birth."
The guests pondered this news.
Five or six out of ten people did not enjoy the meal.
On the other hand, Madam Qian, exhausted in body and spirit, returned from the gravesite, hadn’t eaten anything, and after crying bitterly in front of Song Youliang’s portrait, washed her face with cold water. Only then did she remember the matters of the mourning hall and asked Nanny Zheng, "I remember that at the mourning hall, it seemed like Young Master Yuan helped me up."
Nanny Zheng brought a bowl of pregnancy-preserving medicine for Madam Qian to drink first, then brought in a bowl of dragon beard noodles mixed with eggs, and said, "It was indeed Young Master Yuan."
Madam Qian felt relieved and said, "This child is really not bad!"
Nanny Zheng also thought he had behaved well today and whispered, "He didn’t talk nonsense nor did he mix with Great Master and Third Old Master. When the eldest young lady was admonishing those people, he didn’t interfere with accusations, thinking the eldest young lady was at fault. He’s a good person."
Madam Qian thoughtfully nodded and asked Nanny Zheng, "Who is taking care of that child? What did he have for lunch today? Where was he seated for tonight’s banquet?"
Nanny Zheng was too busy to pay attention, so she called Xiang Zhan to ask.
Soon, Xiang Zhan returned and reported everything to Madam Qian.
Upon learning that Yuan Yunzhong did not have a seat at the evening banquet and instead had a bowl of vegetarian noodles at Yinyu Hall, Madam Qian promptly instructed Nanny Zheng, "Tell the kitchen, Young Master Yuan is not yet one of our family members, he need not follow our family rules. Normally send him some chicken soup and meat dishes, he doesn’t need to be vegetarian."
Nanny Zheng answered with a smile.
Madam Qian stood in front of Song Youliang’s portrait for a long time.
It wasn’t until Song Jiyun had taken care of everything outside and came to see her that she sat down at the table with her, fondly touched her daughter’s face, and said with tears, "You’ve had a hard time."
But Song Jiyun felt that the hardest part was already over.
She stood up to massage her mother’s shoulders and said, "You have me to take care of things outside. The most urgent task for you is to take good care of yourself and give us a little brother or sister."
Madam Qian knew things weren’t that simple.
Today, if Young Master Yuan had interjected even once or twice, the situation wouldn’t be as it was now.
She talked to Song Jiyun about the mourning hall and expressed, "We must properly thank Young Master Yuan. Although he comes from a modest background, his character is very good. It’s also fate that we know him. If he faces any difficulties, you must help him as much as you can. Don’t let him fall into that filthy plight again."
Song Jiyun had already done what needed to be done and was even planning to arrange for Yuan Yunzhong to leave.
She agreed repeatedly and said, "Don’t worry, I’ll tell him I have to observe three years of mourning here, and he needs to go back and discuss his marriage with his family elders. I’ll make sure he leaves safely and securely."
Madam Qian said, "Don’t shortchange him financially. Our family doesn’t lack that bit of silver."
Song Jiyun really wanted to tell her that Yuan Yunzhong’s appearance fee was 100,000 silver taels.
No matter how wealthy they were, they still lacked that bit of silver.
However, some truths didn’t need to be spelled out to her mother—it would only worry her.
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