Nong Zhaohua

Chapter 61

After Qingming, the rain has not stopped.

Yan Zhaohua counted the days, if what Mrs. Liu told her was correct, then there should be news from Yuzhou.

After Yan Zhaoning was brought back by Aunt Gong, she kept claiming that she was recuperating from illness, and never came to Mrs. Liu to ask about Mrs. Xie's situation, and even more unreasonably asked Mrs. Liu to let Mrs. Xie come back. Finally, she settled down for half a month. Afterwards, news from Yuzhou came back—Master Xie died of illness.

This news caused a stir in Duke Dingguo's mansion. Yan Zhaohua and his three younger brothers and sisters knelt in the hall of Qingcang Courtyard with tears on their faces. The death of Mrs. Xie means the death of their aunt. Yan Zhaoning and Yan Shuyan cried while hugging each other, while Yan Zhaohua and Yan Ruiqian were more reserved, occasionally lowering their heads to wipe away their tears.

After Aunt Gong heard the news, she fell ill. Hearing that she hadn't eaten rice for several days, even the Duke was alarmed, and stayed with her in her yard these days.

"A good person goes out to recuperate, but it's too late. I said earlier that the water and soil in the capital are too hard for her to live in, so I wanted her to move to a place with beautiful mountains and rivers to raise her, but I didn't expect..."

Mrs. Liu said this to the clan members who heard the news and came to watch the funeral in the hall. It was not the elders of the clan who came, because Mrs. Xie was only a concubine and a stepwife. They didn't move out, at most the body was transported back, and they can come to the house to express their condolences on the day of the funeral.

Some relatives and aunts next to her comforted Liu Shi, and there were a lot of elders from Changning Houfu Yan's family who came to greet her. After all, Xie Shi is Yanxiu's wife. The mansion of the Marquis of Changning was burnt down by thieves some time ago, and now it is being rebuilt. The young ladies and gentlemen of the Yan family are all living in Dingguogong's mansion, so they can only come to Guogong's mansion to express their condolences.

On the day when the news was received, the lintel of the Duke’s Mansion changed its color and began to decorate with blue silk and white cloth. The people sent from Beijing to welcome Mrs. Xie also had no food that day. The official road has been reported all the way. Although Xie Lan is a married woman, the Changning Hou Mansion was burned, the Changning Marquis was away fighting, and the children were very young and could not afford such a big event. Shi's natal family is qualified to help several children with Xie's affairs.

As for this matter, as a aunt, Mrs. Liu has already done a good job. In the past, everyone only thought that Mrs. Marquis of Changning had a good relationship with Mrs. Liu, her aunt, but now it seems that it is not only good, Mrs. Liu has no secrets In his heart, he wanted to have a grand burial for the Xie family, so he sent people to greet him with a coffin made of nanmu wood, and the capital sent people to follow the Yan family elders to build a cemetery in the Yan family's mausoleum, because she was the successor. The first wife should be buried in the same tomb with Yan Xiu, and the second room can only be buried next to the tomb, so there is no extra preparation, and it needs to be rebuilt, which will take some time.

Liu's body came back more than ten days later. Because of the long journey, the body had already been put into a coffin made of golden nanmu and transported back by an ice cart.Then it was placed in the mourning hall and placed on an ice bed. Yan Zhaohua and other four children all wore thick padded jackets, linen and filial piety, and knelt in front of the coffin, saluting the guests who came and went.

The death of Mrs. Xie seemed to make Yan Zhaoning a different person. All the self-willedness in the past seemed to have disappeared overnight. Yan Zhaohua looks like he is dependent on his eldest sister. Yan Zhaohua has to bear more than other younger siblings these days. Xie is her aunt, and her death is essentially the same as the death of her biological mother. Yes, keep the spirit for three months, and keep the filial piety for three years.

Mighty Marquis Mrs. Geng came to express her condolences, grabbed Yan Zhaohua's hand and couldn't stop comforting her: "Poor children, it's really hard for you. My good sister left so suddenly, it's cruel to leave your children behind." .”

Marquis Tan Cheng Yu Yan Zhaohua and Yan Xiu had the grace to save their lives. After Yan Xiu recovered from her injuries, he even took her to the mansion of Marquis Marquis to thank him. Although Mrs. Xie didn't have much friendship, but Mrs. Xie died of illness at such a young age, people who don't know the situation must feel sorry.

Yan Zhaohua comforted her a few words, followed by wiping away tears a few times, and then a maid came to ask Geng to rest in the front hall.

Mrs. Pingninghou and Mrs. Ren Enbo are Xie's good friends. They knew that Xie's being sent to Yuzhou was unusual, but Xie Yan and his family didn't disclose it at all, and outsiders didn't know about it. Only this time they heard Mrs. Xie died in a foreign land, and the two came here specially to watch the funeral. After offering incense and kowtow, a few children returned the salute. The two wives glanced at Yan Zhaoning, and then Mrs. Pingning Marquis Mrs. Zhao waved to Yan Zhaoning, meaning she wanted to Talking to Yan Zhaoning alone, Yan Zhaoning looked at Yan Zhaohua and asked in a low voice:
"Sister, can I say a few words?"

Mrs. Zhao and the others looked at Yan Zhaohua, and when she spoke, Yan Zhaohua stretched out his hand to straighten the white flowers in front of Yan Zhaoning's lapel, and said, "Go, I'm here, don't worry."

After the scene of sisterly love was over, Yan Zhaoning stood up from the ground, as if he was a little unsteady, Mrs. Zhao rushed forward to help Yan Zhaoning with distress, and together with Mrs. While talking, Yan Shuyan also took advantage of the situation and sat down on the ground, rubbing his knees, as if he couldn't stand it any longer, and asked Yan Zhaohua coquettishly:

"Sister, how long do we have to kneel?"

Yan Zhaohua was burning paper, Yan Ruiqian replied, "Three months."

Difficulty immediately appeared on Yan Shuyan's face, he stood up with a strong body, passed by Yan Zhaohua and Yan Ruiqian, and said, "I'll go relieve myself."

Then he left the coffin without looking back. Yan Zhaohua looked at the back of the figure who probably wouldn't be back in a short time, and didn't say anything. said a sentence:
"Sister, what shall we do from now on?"

Yan Zhaohua looked up and looked around, turned his head away, gestured to Yan Ruiqian for silence, and roughly wrote the word "as usual" in ashes under the haystack that only two people could see, and then Quickly erased, Yan Ruiqian seemed to understand, but he also understood that this is not the time to discuss this, but he can somewhat understand the elder sister's reminder, which means that they don't need to do anything, as long as they do what they should do as usual Just do what you want, don't bother to do other things.

About half an hour later, Yan Zhaoning came out from the room with red eyes, and the two wives also walked out with red eyes. When they crossed the threshold, they gave Yan Zhaohua a pointed look. When they didn't know, they respectfully gave gifts to them. After the two wives went out, their own maids came to take them to the front hall to rest.

Yan Zhaoning knelt back to his seat, looked behind, and asked in a low voice, "Where's Shuyan?" He didn't mention the conversation with the two ladies just now.

If she didn't say anything, Yan Zhaohua naturally wouldn't ask, and just replied lightly: "Go relieve yourself, just go." Then he stood up, picked up the oil pot, and went to add oil to the lamps at the four corners of Xie's coffin up.

It is said that the ever-burning lamps at the four corners of the coffin are to illuminate the way home for the deceased, and they will be lit for seven days without interruption day and night, but Mrs. Xie has already died in Yuzhou, and the delay on the road is at least half a month. Liang asked whether she could still see, and sneered in her heart, but the movements of her hands made it impossible to see the slightest neglect.Mrs. Xie was the enemy she dreamed of getting rid of in her last life. She gave Yan Zhaohua a taste of betrayal, took away everything from her, made her live in the shadows all her life, and ruined her life's happiness. He thought of many ways in his mind, how to make Mrs. Xie suffer the consequences, and thought of countless ways to make her die, but he never thought that she would leave in this way in the end.

Can the scriptures recited by the monk and the wooden fish beaten can make her repent on the road of Xie's reincarnation?In the end, it is still cheaper for her. Although she died in a foreign land, there is no bad word behind her. Compared with what she did to herself in her previous life, she wanted to blackmail her and let her live a life in the back house that would be worse than death. Under the double torture of body and spirit, he died alone in a few years, without even a close person around him. It is conceivable what happened after his death, and he must be notorious.

After adding the oil for the long-burning lamp, Yan Zhaohua knelt down in front of the coffin again, picked up a piece of fresh incense and continued to light it, then returned to his seat carefully, knelt up straight, and waited for the passing guests to come in to express their condolences.

During these three months, Yan Zhaohua and the other four children had to put down all their homework and watch in front of Xie's mourning hall every day. Before the funeral, guard the coffin, and after the funeral, guard the memorial tablet. It takes a month to become decency and filial piety.

The Xie family was buried in the Yan family's mausoleum, on the right side of the main tomb. When Xie Wei passed away, she was buried in the main tomb. There were two coffins in the main tomb. When Xie Wei passed away, the tomb had already been completed, and Xie Lan Can only be buried behind her.

In the past three months, Yan Zhaohua never left the mourning hall except for eating and going to the toilet. Of the other three children, Yan Zhaoning naturally kept the most. The anger of death spread on her, but Yan Zhaoning didn't do anything excessive except for crying a little on the first day, and from the second day onwards, as if she had grown up overnight. Yan Zhaohua knew that Yan Zhaoning's behavior must have something to do with Aunt Gong's teachings, and it was indeed the case. Xie's death was a fait accompli. This fact can't be changed, just don't make trouble, maybe it will make others feel a little more sympathy for her, just like these days, the Duke often stays in Aunt Gong's yard, and the care for the Yan family's brothers and sisters is obviously better than before. There are a lot more, so Aunt Gong still understands people's hearts very well, and knows what to do to win people's greatest sympathy. Sometimes, crying is indeed the most stupid way.

Said Xiu couldn't come back to preside over Xie's funeral on the battlefield, so he could only convey the pain of missing his wife in a letter, and wrote to the imperial court to posthumously title Mrs. Xie for the late Xie. Mrs. Xie's Sanpinshu, Xie's tombstone was able to have the characters.From outsiders' point of view, the Xie Yan family was very fond of Xie's death, and the funeral was generous. Even if there were occasional rumors of discord, after such a big funeral, the wind gradually changed. At this time, Who would care if Mrs. Xie was expelled from the capital because of a mistake before? The excuse of Yuzhou self-cultivation also got a relatively perfect explanation, but that's all.Anyone who is serious can see that even though Mrs. Xie's affairs after her death are very good, she did not enjoy them during her lifetime. Even the title of Mrs. Gaoming was granted after death, unlike the old Chang Ninghou. When Mrs. Xie Wei passed away, even the Emperor himself issued an obituary to express his condolences. He was titled Mrs. Yipin before he was alive, and after his death, he was given the title of Mrs. Guo, and Yan Xiu was not even given the title of cousin. You can tell by comparing the two. Well, the so-called ostentation of the Xie family is just a show, and the status is evident, but this does not hinder the reputation and status of the Xie Yan family. It is somewhat sad to think that the Xie family is here.

After three months, there are several siblings, except for Yan Shuyan, all three children are skinny and out of shape, Yan Zhaohua can be described as skinny, with big sunken eye sockets, making him look even more pitiful. On the other hand, Zhaoning lost the glamor of the past, just like Yan Zhaohua is not suitable for wearing bright colors, and Yan Zhaoning is not suitable for wearing this plain suit, because he lost the glamor of the past.

(End of this chapter)