Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 1254

The next day, Cao Yong went out of the city to hand out a sign outside the Old Summer Palace to see you.

Because the seventeenth elder brother arrived in Beijing first, all those who should report back were almost the same, so Cao Yong did not stay long in front of the emperor, but he was dismissed after answering a few sentences.

After all this tossing, it was already noon when I returned to the city.

I went to the yamen to look at the official documents. At this time of year, the household department didn't have any major affairs, but it was also free.

The third day of returning to Beijing is the Dragon Boat Festival, and it is also the day when the old man of the Nian family "sends off three".

Cao Yong went to the yamen for a while, then returned to the mansion, changed into plain clothes, and went to Nian's house with his wife to hang sacrifices.

The current Nianzhai is still in the original Duke's Mansion, but it's not the Duke's Mansion.

Although Xia Ling was exonerated the year before last, his title of duke was removed, and the mansion he lived in had exceeded the limit, so the plaques were removed, starting from the gate, to the main house in the front yard, and all the places that exceeded the limit were demolished. up.

The yard seemed more and more empty, and the funeral shed was set up in the front yard. Although it was all plain white, except for the servants of Nian's family, there were only a few lone guests, which made the scene a bit deserted.

Cao Yong and his wife hang sacrifices in person, but they gave the Nian family a big face.

Although Nian Xiyao was over half a hundred years old, the genuine gratitude on his face did not seem to be fake.

Cao Yong sighed in his heart, although the news that the emperor sent the imperial physician to celebrate the New Year's home last month has spread, and Nian Gengyao's descendants have also been pardoned, but everyone still has scruples in their hearts.

Only the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled remained in the Nian family. In the eyes of the world, there was no hope of revival. Even for the sake of looking good, most of them sent the stewards to deliver some funeral rituals, and none of the courtiers were present.

First went to the mourning hall to worship, only three or four young children in filial piety clothes returned the salute before the funeral, kneeling to the hanger, but Nian Xi was not seen.

Cao Yong first went to worship in front of the spirit, and then followed Nian Xiyao to the shed to sit down and have tea.

Although it was only morning, it was the fifth month of the lunar calendar after all, and the weather was very sultry.

Cao Yong glanced at the Lingtai, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Have you set a date for the funeral?"

Nian Xialing is the tallest elder of the Nian family. If the Nian family was not in decline, it would be reasonable to stay for 49 days during the "July [-]th" period; Expect.

But even if the days are short and the weather is so hot, a lot of ice is needed to keep the body from decomposing every day.

When Nian Xiyao heard the words, a look of pain appeared on his face.

A man in his 50s had red eye circles.

The world pays attention to filial piety, and pays more attention to white weddings than red weddings.

Nian Xiyao felt ashamed that he couldn't let his father die.It's just that he is not a foolish and filial person. He doesn't care about the old and the young, and pays the funeral with all his strength, which will only make the situation of the Nian family worse.

"The eleventh of this month is set..." Nian Xiyao said hoarsely.

For ordinary people, there are also those who stop for three or five days, and some who stop for five or seven days, most of which are odd numbers.

But after all, Nian Xialing is a resigned feudal official and the grandfather of the prince, so it is unreasonable to stop for nine days.

Cao Yong saw that Nian Xiyao's difficulties were just because he was afraid of annoying the emperor. After all, Nian's family was a family of criminal officials, and in terms of status, they were not as good as ordinary people.

Thinking of the sophisticated and wise elder, and looking at Nian Xiyao with a sad face in front of him, Cao Yong said softly: "Maybe the emperor will make people hang sacrifices. If it is cheap, we should stop for a few more days to take care of the dignity of the old man." For good."

Nian Xiyao was startled when he heard the words, as if he was also thinking about the possibility of the emperor sending an envoy.

No matter how domineering Nian Gengyao was back then, the old man of the Nian family was innocent.

Cao Yong took out a pair of cards from his sleeve, pushed Nian Xiyao down, and said: "This is the pair of 'Daoxiang Village', which can make people go to get five hundred catties of pastry. I will also think of a way for the ice cubes." , it’s not easy to say if there are too many, and it’s not difficult to maintain it until the ‘[-]’.”

Given the current situation of the Nian family, there are not many hangouts. Even if the "[-]" stop and the funeral are added, five hundred catties of pastry is enough.

In addition, the ice cubes are bulky.

Although Nian Xiyao was grateful, he hesitated.

After a big change, he has become a frightened bird.

If the emperor really respected him and sent people to pay homage, it would make sense for the Nian family to handle the funeral as officials and officials do;

Fortunately, just at this moment, the housekeeper of the Nian family hurried over to report, and the emperor sent people to offer sacrifices.

Nian Xiyao heard this, with a look of sadness and joy on his face, he got up and went out to meet the angel.

In addition to a minister who led the guards and ten guards outside to pay homage, he also brought an imperial decree: according to the funeral ceremony of the first-class duke, sacrifice once.

With tears streaming down his face, Nian Xiyao bowed his head to the ground, saying "God's grace is mighty".

This is another kind of final conclusion.

Even if he can't pass on the title to his descendants, he can still be honored as a duke of the state.

Just thinking that there are precedents for first-class public funerals, which are more complicated and have to be stopped for "July [-]", Cao Yong can't help but feel a headache for Nian Xiyao...

After returning from Nianfu, Cao Yong went directly to the Yamen of the Household Department.

News from the capital always spread quickly. In the afternoon, when the emperor sent people to the Nian's house to pay homage, the yamen of the household department also heard the news, and several versions came out.

In addition to saying that the Minister of Internal Affairs offered sacrifices, there was also that Prince Fuhui, the nephew of the Nian family, went to pay the sacrifices in person.

After listening to Jiang Jian's narration, Cao Yong couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

In the morning at Nian's house, when he heard that Yuqian was coming, he also thought it would be elder brother Fuhui, but he didn't expect that it was only for the ministers and guards, and the scale of the sacrifice was one level lower.

Although elder brother Fuhui lost his mother, everyone knew that this little elder brother was favored by the emperor.It's just that the prince's body has never been very healthy because of the weakness in the womb.

On a hot day, tossing an immature child to pay homage to the ancestor's family is to observe filial piety, and it is two things that they may not be able to withstand this toss.

It seems that the emperor's love for Fuhui is somewhat sincere.But if I remember correctly, this little elder brother won't last long.

When Luo Ya came home and heard Chu Yu talk about it, Cao Yong knew that after the old grandpa died, an old aunt who served him in his daily life also died.

Because there wasn't enough ice, the old aunt stopped until today, and she was sent out of the city and buried in the ground in the morning.

Although Cao Yong and his wife felt a little heavy after going to the sacrifice, but it was the Dragon Boat Festival after all, and the family had to set up a few tables of banquets to have a good time, and they didn't care about the difficulty of the Nian family.

Although Zhuang's and Chai Xiucai were a little confused, they were also invited to the table because of Niu Niu and Zhuang Yanping.

Compared with the female family members of the Cao family, Zhuang's brilliance has a bit of a village atmosphere; while Chai Xiucai also held his breath when he saw Cao Shangshu, who has a "good face and evil heart", even if his words were somewhat noble and sour, he was Also took a little care.

All the people from Dongfu also came over, and Cao Xiang was at the table in front.

There are two seats in front, one for Cao Yong brothers, Zhuang Yanping and Chai Xiucai; next to Tianyou, Hengsheng, Changsheng and other small seats.

Cao Xiang was in the Imperial Academy, and he was looking forward to his nephew entering the Imperial Academy. During the banquet, he turned his head and asked Tianyou a few words about the preparation for the exam.

Tianyou had already had a calm temperament. Although he didn't make a big deal and said that he would definitely pass the exam, he responded calmly and calmly.

When Cao Xiang heard this, he was very happy, praised him a few words, and felt sorry for Zuo Cheng. If he hadn't fallen ill during the test, with Zuo Cheng's aptitude, he would have been expected to be among the top three.But it's okay to delay a subject. After waiting for three years, they are only 19 years old.

Tianyou said: "My nephew heard from the two of them that he wants to prepare for the six-part written exam in July."

Hearing this, Cao Xiang disapproved, looked at Cao Yong and said, "Brother, the two nephews are still young, and they are a few years late to serve as officials, so it's better for them to take the imperial examinations. After being a miscellaneous official, their promotion will be slower."

After the Xingbang came out, Cao Yong met the two brothers. The men had a sincere talk and knew their plans, so they smiled and said: "It's good to let them come out to see for a while, and let them go to the next subject." It will also be three years later, and reading books behind closed doors will only make you a nerd.”

After all, Cao Xiang didn't want to say much about whether he was his own nephew, so he changed the subject and said, "Zuo Cheng is a bit clever, and he still has a bit of hope in the exam. I'm afraid it won't be easy for Zuo to live there."

Cao Yong also knows that Zuo Zhu is not very clever, and he is also thinking about how to arrange his adopted son.

Seeing that his father and uncle were both worried about Zuozhu, Hang Seng said with a smile: "Father and uncle don't have to worry about Brother Song's future. There are many official positions in the royal family in my mansion that are vacant. It is really impossible. Let Brother Song go over and fill them up." lack."

It was just a few gossips between father and son, uncle and nephew, but Chai Xiucai's eyes turned red.

Jinshi, Hanlin Academy, Shujishi, these are all things that he has pursued for half his life holding the sage books.I am "knowledgeable and talented", but have no luck; the yellow-mouthed child on the opposite side occupies the family's light, and has a bright future.

Listen again, what are the "six-part pen post style", what are the "officials of the royal family", this official is as cheap as drinking saliva.

I haven't been back for a few days. At the family banquet, there were two more male guests. Of course, Hang Seng took a second look.

With this look, he could see that there was something wrong with Chai Xiucai's flickering eyebrows.

After eating, he talked to his elder brother about his little aunt, the big brother-in-law, and he always felt that this person's eyes were not right.

Tianyou helped take care of the house's external affairs a long time ago, so he sent a reply from the servant in the guest courtyard, asking about Chai Xiucai and his wife.

But he did ask something.

"Master Chai has a bit of a temper. In the past two days, he has been arguing with Master Zhuang. He vaguely mentions his aunt and care for him." The boy replied.

Hang Seng sounded confused, but Tianyou knew the reason why Chai Xiucai was expelled from the Cao Mansion ten years ago from the housekeeper.

Now it's nice to say, it's called "encouragement"; back then, it was to bring people back to Jiangnan.The reason is nothing more than the property that Mr. Zhuang set up in the capital in his early years.

Tianyou waved his hand and sent the young man off, annoyed in his heart, and said to Hang Sheng: "This guy is greedy, it seems that we really need to be more careful, lest he really get dizzy and interfere with my little aunt's marriage."

Hang Seng asked why, and became angry, saying: "He dares! You can't beat him to death!"

Niu Niu grew up with their brothers, just like the eldest sister.

This time the Zhuang family sent people to Beijing, and they were already a little unhappy in their hearts. They always felt that their little aunt wanted to share a piece with others.

Now that the elder uncle of the Zhuang family is planning to point fingers at Cao's mansion, how can their brothers obey...

(End of this chapter)