Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 802
Cao Mansion, outside the gate.

Today is the day of Cao Yin's funeral, and the things for the funeral were counted yesterday.

Cao Yong got up early, and it seems that the housekeeper Cao Yuan has made a list of road sacrifices and tea tables, and there are more than a dozen densely packed.Although it is mourning, but the children are still young, how can they bear this?
"Let someone tell grandma that Seventh Master and the boys will add another cotton coat." Cao Yong called a servant and ordered.

The boy went down in response, and saw the Cao Song brothers coming over after breakfast.Cao Xiang and Cao Xiang were alright, but Cao Fu followed behind his brothers with his eyes all red.

A man does not flick his tears easily, because it is not yet the time to be sad.

Last night, sitting at night, the first half of the night was fine, but the second half of the night Cao Fu couldn't bear it, and ran to a place where there was no one and cried bitterly. Now his eyes are swollen and turned into rotten peaches.

Seeing this, Cao Yong was also sad, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Brother..." Cao Fu's voice was hoarse, and he said with difficulty: "Brother, please express my condolences, so that uncle will not go uneasy."

He understands the truth, he can persuade others with his mouth, but he is very scared in his heart.

"My condolences to Xiao Wu. You also know that you are the ones who are most worried about your uncle's arrival." Cao Yong sighed and said.

Cao Fu nodded vigorously, and said: "Well, Xiao Wu knows, and will definitely not let Uncle worry about it."

Cao Song and Cao Xiang were listening, and they also felt sour.Cao Song looked up at the sky, and said to Cao Yong: "Brother, it's almost time, shouldn't someone bring Changsheng and God Bless them out?"

Cao Yong took out his pocket watch and glanced at it. It was Chenzheng (eight o'clock in the morning).

At this moment, Cao Fang took a few senior managers, and brought Changsheng, Tianyou, and Hangsheng to live with Zuo and Zuocheng.

Among the crowd, except for Chang Sheng, everyone else was already sensible, with their little hands hanging down, they were seen by Cao Yong and Cao Song brothers.Longevity is four years old, which is the age of chaos. He pulled Cao Yong's filial piety clothes, and grinned, as if he was about to cry.

Cao Yong lowered his body, picked up Changsheng, and asked: "Your sisters-in-law taught me yesterday, do you still remember?"

Changsheng put his arms around Cao Yong's neck, nodded his head and said "hmm".

After sending off the funeral guests, several married daughters of the Cao family are here.Before Cao Yong sent someone to urge them, they came out from the inner courtyard surrounded by Mrs. Li and Mrs. Zhaojia.

Cao Yuan went to Cao Yong's side and said in a low voice: "Master, it's time for the filial son to kneel down."

Cao Yong nodded, hugged Changsheng, and brought a group of people to the spirit shed.

The relatives and friends who came to see off also gathered here.

In front of the spirit, there were two tables full of sacrificial dishes.Cao Yong held the pot in both hands and knelt down in front of the sacrificial table.Starting from married women, then relatives with other surnames, then daughter-in-law, niece, niece-in-law, grandson, nephew, second son, each with three chopsticks and put them in the jar.Then, Cao Yong, the eldest son, picked up the last three chopsticks, filled in seven small dumplings, and blocked the jar with an apple.

After placing a biscuit on it, it is covered with red silk and tied up, and the jar is considered to be filled.

After the resignation is over, it's time to pick up the burden.

Next, throwing pots and holding banners were unavoidable, and after a lot of tossing, the coffin set off from the gate of Cao's mansion.Because the alley is narrow, the official starting point is Gulou West Street.

From the beginning of carrying, some porters began to shout "add money".

"The great aunt of my family rewarded me with fifty hanging coins!"

"The second aunt of my family rewarded me with twenty hanging coins!"

"..."

Starting from Gulou West Street, there are road sacrifice sheds in various prefectures.

Cao Yong walked almost all the way, knocking down all the way.

After passing through several road sacrifice sheds, Cao Yong could bear it, but the younger ones could no longer bear it.Cao Yong sent people to send Changsheng holding the spirit tablet to Li's carriage, and Cao Song sent Zuo Cheng and Zuo Zhu to Jinghui's carriage.

Tianyou is the eldest grandson, so he has to follow him all the way.Seeing that his father and elder brother were both there, Hang Seng refused to get into the carriage with Brother Zuo Cheng, so he also stayed behind.

In the sacrificial shed in front, several familiar figures were the thirteenth elder brother, the sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother.

The [-]th elder brother and the [-]th elder brother did not have a separate residence, so they could not go alone to sacrifice, so they went to the thirteenth elder brother's shed to sacrifice together.

The thirteenth elder brother offered wine, the sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother offered incense.Cao Yong took his brothers and sons to kneel down and thank him. It stands to reason that Cao Yong would still cry a few times to express his grief when the thirteen elder brothers finished their worship.

Without the master of ceremonies shouting, Cao Yong was already in tears.

It wasn't until this moment that he realized more clearly that the sky above his head was gone, and there would be no one to shelter him from the wind and rain in the future.

In the road sacrifice sheds of other people's houses, the owner kneels down to deliver the coffin after the worship.The thirteenth elder brothers are princes, and they are different from Cao Yin in terms of dignity. Therefore, only the sixteenth elder brother knelt down, and the thirteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother bowed to see each other off.

There are not many road sacrifice sheds in Thirteenth Prince's Mansion, which is the road sacrifice shed in Prince Yong's Mansion.

In the sacrificial shed, besides the fourth elder brother in plain clothes, there were two young people aged seventeen or eighteen.Cao Yong has seen one, it is the third elder brother Hongshi of Prince Yong's mansion, but the other is unfamiliar.

"He is the king's nephew Nian Xi, and he is here with the king to see Mr. Zhongzheng off today." The fourth elder brother said flatly.

Although Cao Yong had never met Nian Xi, he had known him for a long time and knew that he was Nian Gengyao's eldest son, Nalan Rongruo's grandson, and a 12-year-old Zhongjuren.Due to poor health, he has been recuperating, and only donated to become an official this year.

Nian Gengyao had been promoted to governor of Sichuan in October, and he was in charge of the military and administration.In this western expedition, two of the routes formulated were to enter Tibet via Sichuan.

Nian Gengyao's fortune is right in front of him.

Seeing the funeral procession arrive, the fourth elder brother still looked so solemn, and re-interpreted the road festival.

The fourth elder brother presided over the sacrifice, and Hongshi accompanied him in the same year.Cao Yong led all the filial piety to bow down and thank you.

As the procession continues onwards, such rituals are repeated.

From Gulou Street to Fuchengmen, the team walked for two hours.When we arrived at Fucheng Gate, many in-laws who were seeing us off stopped outside the city gate, Cao Yong got on his horse and followed the funeral procession to the Sanjiawozi cemetery [-] miles west of the city...

*
All the road sacrifice sheds in the city have been removed.

The fourth elder brother was busy with errands in the household department, so he went directly to the plain clothes outside, revealing the python robe inside, gave Hongshi Tongnianxi a few words, and rode to the household department.

Hongshi rode a horse, and in the same year Xi went back to Prince Yong's mansion together.

Along the way, I saw that the ground was covered with paper money, and there were traces left by road sacrifices everywhere.

"Tsk tsk, it's just a funeral for the earl's mansion, and it's very honorable to have to work so many palaces to come forward." Hong Shi said disapprovingly.

Nian Xi smiled, and said: "Not all of them are selling the face of the Cao family. Just like Prince Kang's mansion and Shuncheng Prince's mansion, because they are from the same lineage as the Prince of Pingjun's mansion, they set up road sacrifices for the sake of King Pingjun and Fujin. .”

Hong Shi twitched his lips and said, "No wonder. Just because of Cao Yong's sycophant, how could so many people give him face!"

Hearing this nickname, Nian Xi thought it was funny, and said in puzzlement, "Why, in the eyes of the third elder brother, Cao Erfu has become a flatterer again? In the eyes of outsiders, he, a rich boy, is a capable minister who is valued by the emperor."

Hongshi waved his hand and said, "What can I do? Flattery is the best! Throughout the year, three festivals and two birthdays, he doesn't pull it every time. The things he chooses are either for Ama's heart, or to please the big mother. Such hard work Flattery, where is the behavior of a gentleman?"

Nian Xi felt that Hongshi's words were too extreme, but he knew that he was lonely and always accepted death, so he didn't persuade him.

If Cao Yong really didn't have the slightest talent to learn, would he be able to hang himself in Beijing several times at a young age?
The Cao family had a royal bodyguard, and another Tanhualang who entered the Imperial Academy.Even if the Cao family is no longer as prominent as before, it can support another generation or two...

*
Chunjun Prince's Mansion, Study Room.

Seeing Hong Shu coming in plain clothes, Seventh Brother asked, "Is the road sacrifice over? Hong Zhuo and the others didn't come back?"

"Well, the son came back after withdrawing from the sacrificial shed, and the second and fourth brothers followed the funeral procession to the cemetery." Hong Shu replied.

Seventh elder brother nodded, remembered something, and said: "I heard from your mother-in-law that your brother-in-law gave you his soft armor?"

"I gave it to Ama yesterday, but my son hasn't had time to tell Ama." Having said this, Hong Shu hesitated for a moment, and said, "Ama gave it to my brother-in-law. Is it improper for my son to accept it?"

The seventh elder brother seemed to be in deep thought, and said for a while: "The soft armor was given by your emperor Mafa when I accompanied you to the West in the early years. Since it is the wish of your elder sister and elder brother-in-law, you can keep it , should be cherished and used."

Hong Shu bowed and answered, Seventh elder brother stroked his beard and said, "Your Sixteenth Uncle and Seventeenth Uncle are sending a funeral or setting up a sacrificial shed."

Hong Shu replied: "Ama, I heard that the two uncles are accompanying the Thirteenth Uncle's sacrificial shed."

Brother Seven looked at Hongshu thoughtfully, and said, "It's less than a month and a half before the Chinese army leaves Beijing, you have nothing to do, please go to your thirteenth uncle's house twice more. It's just that your mother is worried. You go out to fight, restless day and night, let your thirteenth uncle recommend two temples that are effective in doing things."

Hong Shu was a little confused when he heard this, and said with a bit of guilt: "It's all because of my son's unfilial piety, so Ama Erniang is worried."

Seeing his son being so honest, Seventh Brother frowned slightly and sighed in his heart...

*
Ten miles west of the city, there is a Taoist temple.

Because Cao's cemetery is [-] miles away from Fuchengmen, which is a bit far.Just on the way, there is a small Taoist temple.Cao Yuan asked people to make arrangements in advance, and here is a place to rest in the middle.

Although it was freezing cold, the porters didn't feel tired because there was extra money along the way, and they shouted enthusiastically.

Cao Yong was worried about his mother, and asked his mother to get out of the carriage and drink tea to warm her body.

Before helping Mrs. Li to get off the carriage, Chu Yu walked over with a pale face and several maids and daughters-in-law, and whispered in Cao Yong's ear: "Erboss, Sister Zijing is gone... ..."

Cao Yong only felt a tremor in his heart, looked at Li's carriage, and couldn't tell whether he was crying or smiling.

"Madam, I'll take care of her here, but the son-in-law should go over and see how to arrange it!" Chu Yu felt uncomfortable seeing him like this, and said in a low voice.

Cao Yong nodded indiscriminately, and ran to the carriage behind.

I saw Wu En standing outside a medium-sized carriage, bowing his head and crying.

This carriage was chosen by Cao Yong himself. Afraid that Amethyst would be frozen, he made a special trip to add a layer of felt.

Cao Yong stood still in front of the carriage, jumped open the curtain of the cotton cart, and saw Zijing sitting in the carriage with her eyes closed, looking like she was asleep.

Cao Yong still had a little bit of luck in his heart, and stretched out his hand to test Zijing's breath, but it had been dead for a long time...

(End of this chapter)