Taohuaxi

Chapter 2: Worship with the Spiritual Tablet

Before Xiaoyin finished speaking, there was a gentle knock on the door.

I said "Don't panic" to Xiaoyin, then stood up and opened the door. A young woman smiled at me with concern.

The woman has plump skin, fair complexion, and is well-dressed. She has a dark bun on her head and a Han jade hairpin leaning down on it.As soon as they met, she held my hand, looked her up and down, and said, "She's a girl from the Zhu family, isn't she? Tsk, tsk, tsk, look at her appearance, she's such a beauty. It's a pity..."

She wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief: "It's a pity that the second child..."

"Who are you?" I asked, already guessing about it.

She said: "I am the wife of Cangshi and the sister-in-law of Huaishi."

I hurriedly saluted: "It turns out to be the eldest young lady."

She turned to look at the door and whispered: "Sister, an hour ago, the news of the death of the second child came back. When our old lady heard it, she was extremely sad and has been crying until now. The old lady loves Yao'er, this is so full Who in the house doesn’t know? Someone is slandering the old lady, saying that it was you, sister, who brought the disaster and killed the second child, and that’s why you ended up like this. The old lady ordered you to go down and kill your master and servant. Beat him to death... I have always been a soft-hearted person. I would not even step on ants on weekdays, so how could I see my sister suffer such an accident? I cleared the boy on the corner door, sister, run away."

I hesitated.

She pushed me out of the door: "Sister, hurry up. If you don't leave, it may be too late..."

Xiaoyin picked up the package and followed behind her, saying, "Miss, the young lady is right. Let's leave quickly and we can still save our lives."

After pushing and shoving, we arrived at the corner door.

The door is open.

As if ready.

The eldest young lady looked around and said, "Sister, I can't stay here any longer. It would be bad if the old lady knew that I let you go and blamed me."

After saying that, he left.

In the early morning of October in Yangzhou, the mist was blurry.

I stood at the corner door, thinking.

Although Cheng Huaishi and I were married by the order of our elders, we had no previous friendship.But now that he is in an unexpected situation, he is really pitiful. I should always give him a gift to fulfill our wish to the family.

Leaving so hastily made me look callous.

Xiaoyin urged: "Miss, why are you so stunned? Let's go. Go back to our Dongchang Mansion and choose a good family to marry. We will never come to this ghost place again..."

A crisp voice came.

"Where to go?"

I turned around and saw a girl wearing azure clothes walking towards me. She had slender shoulders and slim waist, and her eyes were wide open. She seemed to have a lot of ideas.

She walked up to me, raised her eyebrows, and said, "My second brother's body has not been found yet. I wish you sister can't leave!"

There is a sachet hanging on her waist, with small hairpin embroidered characters on the sachet: Wait for the sunny dawn tomorrow, and watch the spring ice on the pond.

I suddenly thought of the gangster on the boat, Qin Mingxu.

What does the words on this girl's sachet have to do with him?

When the girl saw that I didn't answer, she continued: "Sister Zhu came to marry her second brother, so she can't just leave without knowing anything. My second brother was a very smart man. I don't believe he died like this. Who can say anything? I I don’t even believe it.”

She said, as if remembering something, "Sister Zhu, my name is Qingshi, and I am the third girl of the Cheng family. What is your maiden name?"

"Sangyu. Best wishes to Sangyu." I said.

"Don't talk about mulberry trees at night, because the sky is full of clouds. What a good name for my sister."

The third lady is very familiar with her.

As soon as we met, he seemed to be very familiar with me.

I looked at her like a girl next door, very friendly.

She led me back.

As they walked, they talked about what happened in Cheng's mansion.

Only then did I understand why I saw so many soldiers outside the mansion yesterday.

The grandfather of the Cheng family originally passed down the family tradition through "farming and reading".In my generation, I am quite good at martial arts.

In the early years of Wanli, the master first took the strategy test, then the archery and horse test, and won the martial arts examination.When I went to Huai'an Mansion to run an errand, I unexpectedly won the appreciation of Lord Ling, the governor of the Cao Army, and became a member of the fifth rank of the Cao Army.

Official positions in the Cao Army are hereditary. After the old man died of illness three years ago, the eldest young master Cheng Cangshi took over the official position.

"Then, what does the second young master do in his daily life? Study literature or practice martial arts?" I asked.

The third lady said: "Second brother, he is very clever..."

Just as he was talking, a maid came over and said: "Miss Zhu, the old lady invites you——"

Xiaoyin was so frightened that she held my arm and said, "Miss, what should I do? What should I do?"

It seemed like the next moment was the end of hell.

I patted her hand gently.

The third young lady said: "I wish my sister not to panic, I will go with you."

It's a mountain or a river, you have to try it.

I followed the servant girl forward.

The old lady lived in the main room in the north courtyard, which was spacious and majestic.

The tables and chairs in the house are all made of high-quality huanghuali wood.Hanging in the middle of the wall is a picture of "Hundred Sons Welcome Blessings".The old lady was sobbing.

Hearing the message from the servant, she raised her head and looked at me with deep eyes.

She transferred the grief of losing her child to me. While twisting the beads, she muttered: "Disaster star, disaster star, I had known that my family would be ruined. How could I, Huai'er, have such a good child when I left?" If it’s gone, it’s gone…”

A young man was kneeling on the ground, holding blood-stained clothes, and cried: "Before the second master died, he told the slave that he was not able to marry and start a family, so he was really unfilial to his mother."

This sentence touched the old lady's heart more and more. Her eyes shed tears and she shouted: "My son——"

"Kill this little bastard from a poor family who could kill my son!" the old lady ordered.

Several rich and powerful servants came over.

The third lady took a few steps and wanted to step forward to stop him.

"Wait a minute!" I shouted.

"When my grandfather was alive, I had a good relationship with the Cheng family for many generations. I wish that although my family has declined a lot since my mother's death, did the old lady really completely ignore the old feelings and execute me for no reason because of rumors?"

"Rumors?" The old lady gritted her teeth and said, "How can what the monks in the temple say be false?"

The two parties were arguing, and the boy outside the door said: "Madam, Miss Liu is here!"

The old lady wiped her tears with a handkerchief and stood up to greet her: "Xian'er, you're here."

A woman wearing a garnet dress came in, held the old lady's hand, and said hurriedly: "Aunt Cheng, has something really happened to brother Huaishi? Tell me quickly, this is not true. It must be the servants who are talking nonsense. A rotten tongue talking nonsense.”

The old lady hugged her and remained silent.

The third lady whispered to me: "This is Liu Yuxian, the daughter of the Yangzhou magistrate Liu's family. She is the most attentive to her second brother. She always encourages her mother to ruin her second brother's engagement and marry her."

I wonder if the Cheng family treated me like that yesterday. It turns out there are high branches to cling to.

The eldest son of the Cheng family took the post of Cao officer, and if the second son married the daughter of the prefect, it would be like a flower blooming with brocade and a burning fire cooking oil.

I looked at the woman.

Her eyes were red, and she looked at the old lady and said, "Aunt Cheng, please tell me quickly. Brother Huaishi is very skilled in martial arts, but he just went to Huizhou for business and will be back soon."

The old lady pointed at the bloody dirty clothes in the boy's hands, trembling, but stopped talking.

Liu Yuxian's eyes were stunned, as if her last hope was gone.

What she least expected to happen was confirmed.

She slumped on the ground.

"My brother Huaishi, my brother Huaishi..."

At this time, a middle-aged man walked in and said to the old lady: "Madam, the elder of the clan said that the second young master died in a foreign land before he got married and could not enter the family's ancestral grave. Look, which piece of land was bought to bury the second young master? Well-dressed?"

The old lady said angrily: "What kind of land are you buying? My Huai'er should be buried in the ancestral grave with his grandfather and father."

The middle-aged man was confused: "You can't enter the ancestral graves before you start a family. This has been the rule of the Cheng family for generations. Why don't you do it..."

The old lady pondered for a long time and said: "Then we will marry Huai'er! Regardless of whether Huai'er is here or not, the wedding must be a grand event. Everyone in Yangzhou Mansion should see the excitement. Who will be the bride..."

The old lady looked at Liu Yuxian.

Liu Yuxian hurriedly lowered his head.

The old lady said with tears in her eyes: "Xian'er, you always said in the past that you wanted to marry Huai Shi...?"

"When Brother Huaishi was here, I said...I said I would marry him...but now, he is dead. I, I, I..."

Liu Yuxian got up and ran away as if fleeing the plague.

"I am willing."

I raised my voice.

Everyone present looked at me.

"Are you really willing?" The old lady looked at me, her eyes no longer as sharp as before.

"Yes." I met the old lady's gaze.

I want her to know what kind of loving home the "broken house" she keeps talking about is.

Since I've come a long way and come here with a marriage certificate, I should have a beginning and an end!
After a while, the old lady said: "Okay."

The third young lady shouted: "Second sister-in-law, Renyi!"

The housekeeper, the servants, and the maids were whispering to each other, discussing, and showing their approval.

October twenty-two.

In the month of Dinghai, on the day of Guiwei, it rained heavily in Yangzhou.

The old servant woman held Cheng Huaishi's spiritual tablet.

I was dressed in red and worshiped with the spiritual tablet.

From then on, she became the second young lady of the Cheng family.

On the wedding night, the red candles were burning brightly, and there seemed to be movement outside the door...

(End of this chapter)