Brother Rong of Red Mansion

Chapter 78
  Jia Zhen is dead!

Jia Rong and Qin Ye heard this. Although they had expected it, they were still surprised.

Especially Jia Rong, her pupils shrank, she secretly clenched her fists, and her body tensed up.

Because, in essence, Jia Zhen's "death of illness" was all his fault. It was he who killed Jia Zhen and took away his life.

"I killed someone..."

At this moment, Jia Rong's pupils flickered, and a thought flashed through her mind. My body was involuntarily chilled, a thin layer of sweat broke out, and I felt a sense of fear that "things would harm their own kind".

But soon, he suppressed this emotion, tried his best to pretend to be calm, and turned it into "shock" and "sadness". He couldn't help crying and shouted: "Master, why did you leave..."

"Brother Rong, I'm sorry!" I saw Jia Rong crying and hurriedly put on her shoes and went to the ground. Qin Ye quickly comforted him and ordered the book boy to report the news to the inner house and ask Qin Keqing to come out quickly.

"Old Taishan, my family Yan passed away suddenly, and my son-in-law urgently needs to go home to attend to the funeral. I can't be with you today. I'm sorry for the disrespect!" Jia Rong shed tears and bowed deeply to Qin Ye before saying goodbye.

"My dear relative has been ill in bed for a long time. This is the end of the day. Brother Rong, don't be too sad. It's important to take care of yourself. You have to bear the heavy burden of the Ning family. In a few days, I will go to pay my respects again."

Qin Ye said a few words of relief and the two of them left the study.

After a while, Qin Keqing came out of the back house and met Jia Rong, wiping her tears and showing sadness on her face. The couple held their heads and "cryed" for a while, and then hurried out of the house amidst the comfort of Qin Ye and his son.

At this time, the female family members went out on the street of Chongpingfang to "clean the street" again and put up splendid screens. Jia Rong and his wife got into the carriage and returned to Ningguo Mansion.

******
  Ningrongfang.

At this time, a white lantern was hung outside the door of Ningguo Mansion with the word "Dian" written on it. The sound of the cloud board announcing the funeral was as clear as a bell and spread throughout the street.

The common people on the street and the clan members of the Ningrong Jia Mansion all learned about the news of "Jia Zhen's death" and started talking among themselves.

Jia Zhen is the chief of the Jia clan. She is in charge of clan sacrifices and is also responsible for the distribution of annual gifts.

This is an interest relationship closely related to every Jia clan member. Everyone is paying close attention. Fortunately, when Jia Rong got married, he gave a "little gift" to all the men in the house.

Everyone knows that Jia Rong is not stingy with money and is generous.

Therefore, they talked with each other with emotion, but they were very supportive of Jia Rong's rise to power.

To put it bluntly, the harvests on Zhuangzi are getting smaller and smaller, and the annual gifts distributed by Ningguo Mansion are also getting smaller and smaller. Everyone is living in poverty, and it’s long past time for someone else to take charge.

I think Jia Rong is good!
  Therefore, as soon as the convoy of Jia Rong and his wife entered Ningrongfang, the voices of messengers came one after another, one after another, reaching Ningrong Jia's house.

"Uncle Rong is back!"

This shout seems to have a calming effect on people's hearts. Many Jia clan members and the servants of Ning Rongjia Mansion were eagerly waiting to welcome the convoy to the gate of Ningguo Mansion.

Immediately afterwards, the servants of Ning Mansion drove away the pedestrians and set up a beautiful screen, and Jia Rong and his wife slowly got out of the carriage.

"How is the master?"

At this time, "Lai Sheng", the manager of Ningguo Mansion, and the stewards of each house all changed into "heavy filial piety clothes". A large group of people were waiting for the return of Jia Rong and his wife outside the main gate of Ningguo Mansion.

But when you see their attire, they all wear a white Tang scarf or a white cap, a coarse linen sermon robe or a straight body, hemp shoes and shoes, and a coarse linen ribbon to tie the waist. Looking around, all the servants, girls, and servants inside and outside the mansion are wearing linen, mourning, and plain white.

Jia Rong got out of the car, looked solemn, and asked about the situation in Lai Sheng's house.

"The master just passed away not long ago. My wife has already combed his hair and put on his clothes. She is waiting for him to come back and choose a place for him to bury his body."

Lai Sheng's face was heavy, and he respectfully reported to Jia Rong while leading him to Ning'antang.

"Okay." Jia Rong nodded and ordered as he left: "As discussed a few days ago, we will open the Dengxian Pavilion and give the master a rest."

"Yes." Lai Sheng nodded, "The Dengxian Tower is ready."

Jia Rong nodded and walked to Ning'antang.

He is a man of his word. In the original work, Qin Keqing paid homage to Jia Zhen in Dengxian Pavilion. He had just traveled through that time and decided to pay homage to Jia Zhen in Dengxian Pavilion. Exactly: tit for tat.

******
  Jia Rong and his wife entered the main courtyard, passed through the south hall, and went straight into the Ning'an Hall of the back house. Except for the steward of the fourth room, everyone else stayed outside.

"Master, my son is late..."

Entering Ning'an Hall, he saw Jia Zhen dressed neatly, with her eyes closed and a pearl in her mouth, and her body was lying under the canopy bed. Jia Rong knelt down with a pop and cried step by step. She walked to her knees in front of the corpse, kowtowed heavily, and cried loudly in memory of her late father.

Qin Keqing also knelt down, covered her face with a brocade handkerchief, and cried for a while.

"Brother Rong, my passing is due to fate. Don't be too sad. It's important to take care of yourself. We all have to take care of this."

At this time, in the main room of Ning'an Hall, all the concubines of Youshi and Jia Zhen were present. According to etiquette, he sat on the west side of the bed. They all took off their crown ornaments and changed into plain clothes and mourning clothes. They all sat on the ground and cried, lamenting their fate.

Jia Rong went into the hall and cried for a while. Youshi, who was sitting on the west side of the bed, took out her plain handkerchief, wiped her red and swollen almond eyes, and comforted her with a warm voice.

"My condolences to my wife and aunts!"

At this time, the "crying" scene was over, Jia Rong looked at Youshi and the wives and concubines sitting on the west side of the bed, and also choked with sobs and said a word of relief.

Then he and Qin Keqing both stood up, walked into the ear room and changed their clothes.

Not long after, Jia Rong and Qin Keqing walked out of the ear room. Their luxurious and colorful crown-decorated clothes were gone, and they all put on "heavy filial piety clothes".

Let’s look at Jia Rong first.

But see: wearing a white square scarf on the head, wearing a coarse linen preaching robe, a linen belt around the waist, wearing linen shoes on the feet, and holding a roe stick in the hand, which represents mourning for his father.

Although he wears linen and straw sandals, his posture is upright and his steps are like shooting stars, exuding high spirits.

And what about Qin Keqing? They also wear "heavy filial piety clothes". Her hair is tied up with a white silk rope, and her hair is covered with a white cloth bun. She wears a burlap skirt with no hem, a hemp rope tied around her waist, and a pair of white lotus flat shoes at her feet. She is beautifully dressed and graceful.

Jia Zhen's wives and concubines are also dressed in this way.

It’s just that Old Mother You, Second Sister You, and Third Sister You are not from the house, they are just relatives. Therefore, he wore a set of "light mourning clothes". Wearing a mourning scarf or a white sweat scarf, the skirt is made of bleached linen, which makes it look less rough.

As the saying goes: if you want to be pretty, be filial.

The female relatives who put on mourning clothes have graceful figures, almond-shaped faces and pink cheeks, making people's eyes light up when they look at them.

It's a pity that Jia Rong doesn't have the heart to think about this.

Jia Zhen is dead! Jia Rong's "self-rescue plan" officially took the first step. There are a lot of things waiting for him to do. How can I think about this now? He only changed into mourning clothes and returned to the hall. He ordered his servant wife to hold an umbrella to protect him from the sun, and asked someone to carry the coffin. Then he walked out of Ning'an Hall with a stick in hand, cried and howled with everyone, and went to Huifang Garden to ascend the Immortal Pavilion.

A group of people from afar were holding parasols, carrying Jia Zhen's coffin, wearing linen and mourning, wailing and crying. When the servants, girls, and servants in the mansion saw this momentum, they all knelt down and cried.

For a moment, the sound of crying in Ningguo's mansion was loud.

******
  Today is Qin Keqing's return day, and it is also June 21st. The snow that fell on the seventh day of the lunar month had passed ten days earlier. The sun was warming up and the temperature was rising. Walking out of Ning'an Hall, holding an umbrella to cover the coffin bed, you can also smell the strong smell of alcohol emanating from Jia Zhen's body in the coffin bed.

This is called "bathing with millet wine".

An "embalming" process before the body is encased. The deceased should be bathed in fragrant soup first, and then wiped with wine all over his body. If the inactivity time is long and the temperature is high, mercury will be used instead of wine, which will have better effects.

Just crying all the way, Jia Zhen's funeral bed was moved from Ning'an Hall to the hall of Dengxian Pavilion.

At this moment, in the hall of Dengxian Pavilion, a mourning hall has been arranged for a long time, waiting for Jia Zhen. At this moment, the coffin was carried into the mourning hall, and ice cubes were brought from the ice cellar and stuffed under the coffin to ensure that the body would not deteriorate.

Jia Rong held a stick in hand and lit a "portable lamp" in front of the funeral bed to guide Jia Zhen on the dark road to the underworld and reincarnation.

"Have you finished writing the seedling list?"

After lighting the lamp, Jia Rong, holding a stick in hand, suddenly asked Lai Sheng.

(End of this chapter)