Raiders of the Duke and Duchess

Chapter 947 Worship and Farewell

Last night's heavy snow was obviously much smaller in the morning, but the snow that had accumulated all night was still a thick layer.

The most troublesome thing was that there was not only snow on the road, but also ice underneath the snow. The soft snow made them slip and they fell flat on their backs. Many maids and servants of the Ji family came from Yunzhou. They were very happy to see the snow. Those who had no work found an open place to play snowballs and build snowmen. Those who had work also liked to walk in the thick snow. But soon... they fell one after another.

Zi Qiu is the latter.

She touched the looser bun on the back of her head, and looked at Ji Wuyan's face trying not to laugh, pouting unhappily, "Miss, laugh if you want to. I am a magnanimous servant and will not bother with you... But do you really want to go to the Shen family to pay respects to Madam Xu today? I'm afraid it will be difficult for the carriage to travel in this weather today, not to mention that you have just recovered from a cold, and Old Chen has repeatedly told you to take good care of yourself. If you go out now... If you have a headache or fever again later, Old Chen will definitely blame me."

Ji Wuyan had been hearing these words for the past two days and was so tired that she was secretly glad that she had concealed her internal injuries, otherwise she would be another gatekeeper. She glanced at her disapprovingly and said, "I should have gone to check it out earlier, but I was stopped by Lin Yi and didn't dare to leave easily. Now that I finally solved Lin Yi's problem, I caught a cold and had to delay. Now that I'm better, how can I delay it?"

"Besides, Xu Si Niang has taken great care of us in the past. If things like worship are delayed, the sincerity will fade and the nature will change... What do you think?"

Zi Qiu lowered her eyebrows and pursed her lips. She knew that Ji Wuyan was absolutely right. She responded softly, "Yes. The girl, please put on more clothes and go over. I will go get you that fox fur cloak."

When I left Jiangnan, my grandmother asked me to bring the cloak with me. She said that people would freeze to death on the roads in the north in winter, and she asked me to bring this cloak with me, which I had never had the chance to wear in Jiangnan. Ji Wuyan sighed, "Okay, I'll take it with me."

……

On the way, Ning Xiuyuan said that Shen Qian went to the palace to resign the day before, saying that his wife had passed away and he had no intention of being an official. He really didn't know what the fame, wealth and power were for. Instead of living a life of idleness in the court with a salary, it would be better for him to resign and find a place at the foot of a mountain to spend the rest of his life with Xu Si Niang.

And His Majesty agreed without hesitation.

In these years, Shen Qian has been an almost insignificant character in the court. He has made no achievements, no close friends, and has been perfunctory in his work. So when the news of his resignation came out, his colleagues who were still hesitating about whether to pay their respects in person simply did not come.

The white lanterns were still hanging in the Shen family's house. The snow at the door had not been cleared yet. There were only a few footprints on the snow, which looked desolate and bleak. The servant leaned against the door frame and was also bored. When he saw Ji Wuyan, he lazily stepped forward and bowed, saying that there was no need to inform him and he could go in directly.

When asked about Shen Luoxin, the servant said that the young lady had been in the ancestral hall for several days. When they arrived at the entrance of the ancestral hall, Ji Wuyan couldn't help but sigh when he saw the young lady kneeling in the room in a white dress. After not seeing her for a while, Shen Luoxin had lost a lot of weight. The young lady who used to have some baby fat now had sunken eyes and a dull expression. She looked at Ji Wuyan at the door for a while before she reacted and stood up to greet her. "It's so cold, why are you here?"

"I've always wanted to come, but I was sick a while ago." Ji Wuyan explained briefly, without elaborating on the crises and troubles during this period, and then said, "I just recovered today, so I thought of coming over to see you off...Is it convenient?" As he said that, he untied the ink-colored cloak on his body and handed it to Ziqiu behind him.

"Thank you." Shen Luoxin thanked him softly, "Please come in."

There was a hint of strangeness and alienation in her politeness. She lowered her head slightly, and even seemed like a different person. Ji Wuyan didn't think much about it, just thinking that she was overthinking. After entering the house and burning incense, Ji Wuyan told Zi Qiu and Ning Xiuyuan to leave first, and she would stay for a while to accompany Xu Si Niang.

Shen Luoxin stood quietly by the side with her head down, not saying anything. Her eyes fell on Ji Wuyan's overly pale face, and she frowned slightly, feeling that... something was wrong with her face. However, she was worried now, so she didn't dwell on it. Instead, she comforted Ji Wuyan, "It's all right now after the person has been sent off. Get up... Actually, you didn't have to come here today. You look pale, obviously showing off... Xu Si Niang liked you very much when she was alive. Compared to you dragging your sick body to send her off, your health is the most important thing."

Ji Wuyan kowtowed again before she stood up and stood side by side with Shen Luoxin. She lowered her eyebrows and smiled a little sadly, "I have been thinking about how to persuade you all the way, but now it becomes you persuading me..."

"I understand that the dead cannot be resurrected." Shen Luoxin lowered her head, staring blankly at her toes, and pulled the corners of her mouth in an ambiguous way, "I just want to spend a few more days with her... Neither she nor I like romantic relationships. When she was still around, we were always busy with our own things... I didn't have the chance to seriously tell her that I'm very happy to be her mother and daughter in this life... It's just like this, don't worry."

Ji Wuyan stood by and said nothing. After a while, he responded in a low voice, "Okay."

Shen Luoxin rolled her toes and whispered, "The old lady has been helping me these past two days and has worked very hard. The servants said that they saw the lights in her room turned off very late every night. I wonder if she can't sleep well in the new place. I persuaded her to go back but she was unwilling. I know she is afraid that I will be alone and get depressed. Why don't you take her back today... I'm fine here, and the old lady is old, so go back and have a good rest."

Ji Wuyan responded again, "Okay..." Looking down, she saw the other person's hands hanging by her side stirring the cloth, and she seemed to be hesitant to speak. Ji Wuyan seemed to sense something, and turned his head to look at her and asked, "What's wrong?"

Shen Luoxin continued to grind on her toes, but her voice became lower and lower, as if it was lost in her throat. She said, "His...father resigned from his official position. He said he wanted to take my mother's coffin to a secluded place with beautiful mountains and rivers...He asked me if I wanted to go with him. I, I thought about it and wanted to live with them for a few years..." At the end, her voice was almost inaudible.

No matter how slow Ji Wuyan was, he had already noticed Shen Luoxin's strange behavior today.

If it were in the past, even if she had such a plan, she would have openly discussed it with her, instead of avoiding it like this, which seemed to be a guilty act... She tilted her head to look at Shen Luoxin again, pondered for a moment, and asked, "What about a few years later?"