Brother Rong of Red Mansion

Chapter 81 Hanging Sacrifice

"it is good."

Jia Jing opened his eyes with a calm expression, as if staying up all night was nothing. This skill of meditating and becoming still is indeed somewhat skillful.

"You go and eat too."

Seeing Jia Rong kneeling to serve, with a tired face, a low and hoarse voice, and bloodshot eyes, Jia Jing gave a warm word of comfort.

"Grandson, don't be in a hurry. I'll wait until the grandpa has finished eating before your grandson goes to eat." Jia Rong smiled, his tone revealing both sincerity and admiration.

No matter who sees it, they will give a thumbs up and praise him as a filial son.

The same is true for Jia Jing.

There was a look of satisfaction in his eyes, he nodded slightly, picked up a bowl of red rice porridge, a few plates of vegetarian dishes, and finished his breakfast.

"Master, my grandson is guarding here. You can go and rest for a while. Ning'an Hall has been cleaned. If you are not satisfied, Ningxixuan in the northwest corner is also quiet." Jia Rong knelt on the ground and asked Jia Jing to rest.

"Forget it, just stay here. I do my homework in the temple and meditate often." Jia Jing shook his head and insisted on seeing Jia Zhen off for the last time.

Then he urged Jia Rong to go to dinner and take a nap before the guests came to pay homage.

Jia Rong came out from behind the embroidery screen and went to see Youshi, Qin Keqing and others. They were sitting on the west side of the coffin, with an embroidered screen set up and a straw mat spread on the ground. They were currently wearing linen and wearing mourning, and were sitting on the ground to eat.

Fortunately, it was summer. Although there were ice cubes under the funeral bed, there was a large felt carpet on the floor in the hall of Denxian Pavilion, so it was not cold. If it is autumn and winter, staying up all night will make normal people sick.

After Jia Rong entered the screen, she saw a group of female relatives and comforted them with a few words of warmth.

Before the "First Seven", filial sons, virtuous grandchildren and female relatives cannot leave each other. Even if he wanted to sleep, he could only sit down on the straw mat and squint for a while.

I have no choice but to grit my teeth and persist.

After appeasing the female relatives, Jia Rong also went to eat. Jiudao was still the one who arranged breakfast today. Only the large meat dishes were missing, and there were a few vegetarian dishes with soup. For example: roasted eggplant, fried gluten, braised braised bream, fresh lotus root shoots, mixed Houting flower seedlings, etc.

They were all the freshest vegetables of the season. Jia Rong ate vegetarian dishes and two bowls of thick rice porridge before she felt her body warm up.

After eating, Jia Rong squinted hazily for a while, and when he opened his eyes again, it was daylight.

Jia Rong quickly ordered Lai Sheng to prepare for guests to come to pay homage.

The first ones to come to the door were still the Jia people.

Early in the morning, members of the Jia family branch near Ningrongfang came to the door in mourning clothes, sent a "memorial ceremony" to the Ningguo Mansion, and then came to the Dengxian Pavilion to offer sacrifices and burn paper to Jia Zhen.

In the mourning hall, Jia Rong sat on the east side of the bed, and the female relatives sat on the west side of the bed, accompanying the mourning spirit.

From the time of Maopai to the beginning of Chen, all the Jia tribe's side tribesmen, the stewards of the shops under Ningrong and Rong's two prefectures, the village heads of the village, and the neighboring merchants who were related to each other all came to pay homage.

There was an endless stream of people entering the mansion, and Lai Sheng and others were responsible for receiving and sending them off. Yin Yangsheng presided over the hanging ceremony in the mourning hall, and Jia Rong and the female family members cried with them.

At Chenpai time, the masters of Rongguo Mansion also came over in carriages and sedans after breakfast.

Because there were female relatives, Lai Sheng politely asked some of the guests to leave. He first asked Jia Mu and other female relatives to offer sacrifices and burn a lot of paper.

What is worth noting is "Jia Xichun".

Because she is Jia Zhen's sister and Jia Jing's daughter, after the Rongguo Mansion came last night, everyone else left and she was the only one left.

Accompanied by Youshi and Qin Keqing, I cried all night on the straw mat behind the screen to the west of the funeral bed. Now someone came to Rongguo Mansion. Sisters Jia Yingchun and Jia Tanchun, who were close to her, walked into the embroidered screen and saw Jia Xichun's haggard appearance. They quickly held Jia Xichun's hand, showing distress and pity. He kept comforting softly.

He also asked You and Qin Keqing to take good care of him, and You and Qin Keqing agreed.

In fact, it's not just Jia Xichun.

Even Youshi and Qin Keqing, including Jia Zhen's concubines, cried in the mourning hall all night. They all looked haggard, pale, and tired. Their faces were no longer radiant, and their skin was much darker.

"It's so pitiful that I became so haggard in just one night. The first seven days were the most exhausting. No matter how sad I was, I had to take care of my health. I couldn't hold it anymore, so we leaned on each other's shoulders and slept for a while. No one dares to say that you are unfilial and disrespectful, right?"

For some reason, although Wang Xifeng and Qin Keqing had not met each other a few times, they had similar temperaments. Seeing Qin Keqing's beautiful and haggard appearance, he felt more distressed than Jia Rong. He held her delicate white jade hand tightly and comforted her repeatedly.

"Good aunt, I understand." Qin Keqing looked at the concern in Wang Xifeng's eyes and was deeply moved. Her body felt warm and she couldn't help nodding softly.

The family side is lively, and the men side is not bad either. Jia She, Jia Zheng, Jia Lian, Jia Cong, Jia Baoyu, Jia Huan, Jia Lan and other gentlemen of Rongfu met Jia Jing, said a few words, and then came out to comfort Jia Rong and Jia Qiang. They also take care of themselves.

Especially Jia Rong.

It is said that Jia Zhen is no longer here, and the whole Ningguo Mansion depends on him to run it. It is truly unfilial to be exhausted and even Jia Zhen's spirit in heaven will blame him.

"Yes, my grandnephew will remember the teachings of the first and second masters." Jia Rong bowed respectfully, thanked Jia She and Jia Zheng, and then welcomed the few people into Doufengxuan.

To commemorate the memorial ceremony today, Doufengxuan and Tianxiang Tower in Huifangyuan are also open. Doufengxuan receives men, and Tianxianglou receives women. They are clearly distinct from each other.

After a while, the reception in Rongguo Mansion was completed, and suddenly people from the Ministry of Rites and the palace came. Jia Rong hurriedly received him, but the palace sent someone to comfort him and ordered the Ministry of Rites to present him with a set of ritual utensils for the memorial ceremony.

This process is called "giving away gifts".

First, there were 100 taels of gold from the palace, which were packed in yellow cloth bags with the words "Emperor's Grace Yongxi" embroidered on them. It's the kind that's held during the Spring Festival. Jia Rong received it respectfully, placed it on the incense table in the mourning hall, and shouted, "The emperor's grace is great, long live my emperor."

Next is the content of the gift:

Sixty stones per grade of rice, sixty pieces of linen, a jewel in the mouth, a set of three shrouds, paper chariots, paper horses and six pairs of male and female paper children, a set of sails and precious banners, and jade axes and jade One tripod and one jade sickle each.

Jia Rong accepted them all respectfully, laid out the ritual vessels himself, and gave Jia Zhen the fur coat to wear.

He only held the pearl in his mouth, and stuffed one in before Jia Zhen became stiff and cold, and then did not change it, leaving it ready to be arranged for Jia Jing or Jia Qiang.

After receiving the eunuchs in the palace and Zhao, the minister of the Ministry of Rites and the Qing Dynasty, the children of the ministers from various mansions arrived one after another. Most of them were officials with donations or salary, and they did not need to sit in the yamen or camp, nor did they have to go to court to pay homage. After receiving the "mourning note" from Ningguo Mansion, they came in a hurry.

Especially the young brothers, all chose a valuable "demonstration ceremony" to express their respect for Jia Rong. Then he came to the mourning hall and burned paper to offer sacrifices. He cried even more sadly than Jia Rong.

Then he comforted Jia Rong and asked him to take care of himself.

The sincere look really moved Jia Rong. He patted his buddies on the shoulders repeatedly and said things like "good brothers", which only "touched" the young buddies.

For a whole day, there were dragons of cars and horses outside the gate of Ningguo Mansion, and countless officials and nobles came to pay homage. Even those who complained that they could not come, someone sent someone to deliver a memorial ceremony and asked the servant to kowtow for the master.

After a busy day, the hanging ceremony was over, and Ningguo Mansion became deserted again.

Jia Rong and the female relatives, including Jia Jing and Jia Qiang, kept vigil for Jia Zhen for another night. Then at dawn, before the guests arrived, Jia Rong ordered his servants to carry the body into the coffin and give Jia Zhen a "big burial".

(End of this chapter)