in spring

Chapter 156 The First Step of Exiting Citizenship

As night fell, Chunying wore a dark blue coarse cloth dress, a white cloth scarf around her waist, and no jewelry on her body. She knelt outside the mourning hall and burned paper money.Kneeling on the opposite side was Ju'er, already crying hoarsely and exhausted, just mechanically grabbed the paper money and threw it into the brazier.

This was the third night after the aunt passed away, and the spirit body had already moved back to the Huo family's old house. Due to the hot weather, the funeral would be held tomorrow.Originally, the Huo family's ancestral grave was in Nanjing. According to Huo Yi's intention, he wanted to send back his mother's coffin, but she was young and weak, and Huo Rong was even younger. After entering a prestigious nunnery, first borrow the place to stop the coffin, and when Huo Yi and Huo Rong grow up in the future, they will consider sending the coffin to the south.

There is a coffin in the middle of the mourning hall, which has not yet been closed.Huo Yi knelt beside the coffin in a daze, and put the objects and jewelry that her mother used to use into the coffin bit by bit. Aunt Qing and Sandalwood accompanied her, and she cried every time she took one.Three feet away from the coffin, Huo Rong was still kneeling, he seemed to be very scared, his small body shrunk into a ball, Jinxiu comforted him softly, and she also cried with tears in her eyes.

Nan Qi gently came to the door with a tray in his hands, poked his head around, hesitating whether to go in or not.Ju'er raised her head and asked: "What's the matter?" She knelt beside the other party and whispered: "Miss and young master haven't eaten for three days, and today I didn't even drink two sips of water. I boiled two bowls of ginseng soup, anyway. Advise the young lady and the young master to drink a little."

Ju'er looked into the room, put down the paper money, reached out to take the tray and walked in, whispered a few words to Jinxiu, and the latter took a bowl.But when she came in front of Huo Yi, Ju'er hit a snag: "What ginseng soup do you want? Take it!"

Jinxiu paused, Huo Rong immediately let go of her hand, looked at Shen Tang eagerly, and continued to sob with her head down.

Ju'er came out with a sad face, Nan Qi gritted his teeth, took the tray and went in and said, "Miss is weak, and won't eat or drink for a few days, how can I endure it? There is business tomorrow. Miss must accumulate some strength, otherwise tomorrow The son fell down, who can see the wife for the last time?"

Huo Yi seemed a little shaken, but he still refused to take the soup bowl.Chunying's heart moved, she also went in and knelt down and said: "Even if the young lady is not for herself, she should also think about the young master. He is still a child. Madam Quanxia knows, and she will not want the young lady and the young master to ruin it for the sake of filial piety. Body."

Huo Yi turned her head to look at her younger brother, seeing him kneeling there and crying, Jinxiu ignored him when she advised him to drink soup, her heart softened, thinking that as a daughter, she was unable to keep her ancestral property, only this adopted younger brother , is the only person who can inherit the incense of his parents, how can he be good or bad?So he took the ginseng soup and drank half a bowl.Jinxiu hurriedly persuaded Brother Rong to drink up the other bowl.

Brother Rong drank the ginseng soup, and fell asleep not long after. Jinxiu and Aunt Qing took turns persuading Huo Yi, and finally persuaded her to go to rest. Brother Rong also went back to the room immediately.However, Chunying Nanqi and other maids will continue to guard inside and outside the mourning hall, burning paper and crying.

On the second day, it was the day of the funeral.Waking up early in the morning, first the coffin was built, the sacrifice was made, the nails were sealed, and the funeral was delivered. Master Hou personally went to the mansion to preside over the ceremony, and the other court affairs were handled by the young master Li Jing.His wife, Anshi, also came early to help with the cooking and received the family members who came to express their condolences.Huo Jianjian's wife could only avoid it because the zodiac sign was incompatible with the deceased.Huo Jianxian himself took his eldest son to sit in the front hall, secretly angry at the rumors he heard.

The queen in the palace also sent someone to express her condolences. Huo Yi wept and knelt down to thank her, then took out the box that her mother had given her, and asked someone to forward it to the empress, saying that it was her mother who gave her the box. last words.The visitor promised to bring the letter and other things with him, so Anshi hurriedly welcomed the angel to the side hall to have tea.

When he got out of the coffin and went out, Huo Yi cried to death again, Aunt Qing and Tan Xiang supported each other, reluctantly got into the sedan chair and went out, blowing and beating all the way to the outside of the city.

Chun Ying, Nan Qi and some family members stayed behind at the Huo Mansion, looking at the pile of paper money in front of her, it was clearly broad daylight, but it made people feel gloomy, and she felt a little uncomfortable.

After the funeral, Huo Yi stayed in his old house and lived with his younger brother.The servants of the Hou's mansion who were originally sent to help with the funeral were all called back, leaving only the servants of the Huo family, and the whole house suddenly became deserted.In addition, the layout of the mourning hall and the white lanterns are still there, which is especially scary at night.

The old lady sent people to persuade Huo Yi to move back to the Hou's residence almost every day, but the latter just refused.Later, the empress empress of the palace sent someone to visit again, and she did not know what to say, so she sent the younger brother back to his parents' house, and sent Jinxiu, Lier, Ruier and other family maids and a large group of wives. The family servant accompanied him, and gave the housekeeper an order. Brother Rong will pay all expenses from his own family in the home of his biological parents, and he must not be neglected in the slightest. That is the treatment he should have as the heir of the Jinshan Bohuo Mansion.

Huo Jianxian was very depressed, especially after seeing the bunch of maids serving his son. Even if his son is adopted, it is his flesh and blood after all, and he will study and become a talent in the future. How can he be better than a woman's hand?He secretly made up his mind, no matter how nasty the rumors are, and no matter how indulgent his niece is, he must not let his own flesh and blood be wasted!
Huo Yi sent his younger brother away, as if he had relieved a heavy burden, and immediately fell ill.As her condition worsened, the old lady and Lord Hou were frightened, and they sent the imperial physician over every day for diagnosis and treatment.After finally stopping the illness, Huo Yi began to stay in bed, listless all day long, as if he couldn't get up to do anything.The old lady and Anshi urged her to go back to the Hou Mansion again and again, but she still refused to nod.

Naturally, the servants of the Huo family would not have any idea about this, but Chunying and Nanqi were a little anxious.They and the others in the Wanxiang House were originally from the Hou family, and the old lady gave it to Miss Biao with a word, but when Miss Biao returned to Huo's house, she brought only the two of them with her, and now they are trapped in Huo's house. The parents and relatives didn't even say a word of farewell, and they couldn't see each other all the time, so they were naturally concerned about when Miss Biao would go back.Chunying had vaguely heard Aunt Qing mention that the aunt had a last wish that she wanted her cousin to live with her grandmother, but now that she refuses like this, is it because she doesn't want to?
Nan Qi quietly discusses with Chun Ying, and wants to find some big maids to find out what Miss Biao thinks.Chunying recalled the experience of being suspicious before, gritted her teeth, and said: "Let's wait a little bit, the lady is still sick, isn't she? Moving rashly is not good for the illness."

Nan Qi was still very uneasy, lowered his voice and said: "You are too leisurely, we are now considered Miss Biao's people, but the slave registration is still in the Marquis's residence, don't you know? The slave servant documents have not been changed at all! If If we don’t go back to the Marquis’ Mansion, what are we here? We are neither surnamed Huo nor Li’s family. Only when we go back, the old lady has to support Miss Biao, will I officially order someone to change the document. If we spend here, we will die. It's from the Hou Mansion!"

Chun Ying gave Nan Qi a strange look, and the latter smiled wryly: "Don't worry too much, I... I just want to be justified. I have lived so long, and this is the disadvantage. No matter which master you are with, you must It's better to express your heart early!"

Although Chunying was equally impatient, she still didn't forget the lesson from last time. Because of the injustice of the current stage, the Huo family still has a estrangement from them. He clenched his teeth and refused to let go.

Nan Qi had no choice but to ask by herself, but no matter whether it was her best friend Linglong or Dong'er who spoke with thorns, they only said that they wanted to listen to what the lady wanted, which meant that they didn't answer. The more they asked, the more ugly their faces were. After getting up, Nan Qi stopped inquiring, and instead secretly asked the Marquis Mansion to greet Huo Yi's family and send a message home.

Huo Yi's illness did not gradually improve until the summer passed.During this period of time, Chunying could only get news about her family from Nan Qi intermittently, but she never dared to take the initiative to send the news back, for fear that the Huo family would be overwhelmed.I learned from Nan Qi that her father Lu Yougui had been assigned a new job as early as mid-June.But to her surprise, the errand was neither the entourage of Lord Hou, nor the small farm in Hejian Mansion, but the shopkeeper of a silk shop near Dongsi Pailou.From the expression on Nan Qi's face, it can be seen that this is definitely a fat job.Lu Yougui seemed to have become a prominent figure among the stewards of the Hou Mansion, many stewards took the initiative to come to make friends with him, and some people proposed to marry him.

Chunying's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately became nervous, but she gradually calmed down a bit.Sister Qiuyu's marriage, no matter what, must be approved by the old lady. Now that the old lady has just passed away her daughter, no one with a wink will mention the marriage at this time. Qiuyu is still quite safe for the time being, but this matter will always It is better to prevent crimes as soon as possible.

So she carefully contacted the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law sent by the old lady to see Miss Biao. In the conversation, intentionally or unintentionally, she elicited the old lady's sincere concern for her granddaughter, and her haggard appearance because of missing her granddaughter, which made Miss Biao feel ashamed. It gradually deepened, and he no longer refused to move back to the Hou's mansion so decisively.

When autumn came, the old lady finally couldn't help it, and sent the most important Liu Li to pass the word, saying that if the granddaughter didn't return to the Hou's mansion, she would come to pick her up in person.Huo Yi just nodded, ordered the butler to guard the house, took Aunt Qing and a few maids to pack their luggage, and boarded the car to go to the Hou Mansion, but this time, she did not bring the servants, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law The number has also been greatly reduced.

When the old lady saw her granddaughter, she naturally cried again.Originally, she wanted Huo Yi to live in the Wanxiang Pavilion, but the flowers and trees in the pavilion were brightly colored, and Huo Yi was hurt by the scene, so she left her granddaughter to live with her, and ordered people to rush to move a nearby small house before winter. The courtyard was cleaned up and given to Huo Yi to live in.Because the small courtyard was used by Mrs. Fan's wife to worship and visit the Buddha in the past, she even made a special trip to ask Princess Jing what she meant.

Chunying moved into the old lady's yard with Huo Yi. Although the house was a bit crowded, she unexpectedly got the chance to meet her sister Qiuyu every day.She hurriedly looked for opportunities to avoid others, and quietly asked her elder sister: "How is the family doing now? I only heard that Dad got an excellent new job. I don't know anything else, but I'm so anxious!"

Qiuyu smiled and said: "I went home once last month, and everything is fine at home. Dad has been on business for two months, and the business of the shop must have started. It is a very respectable job. When I heard, I can't believe it! Such a good position, how come it's Dad's turn?"

Chunying rolled her eyes, then lowered her voice: "Then the other stewards came to propose marriage to father, my sister must have heard about it too? What do you think?"

Qiuyu's cheeks flushed immediately, and she spat at her younger sister: "What are you talking about?! Hurry up and shut up! You can say this too?! Don't be ashamed!"

Chunying was in a hurry, she poked her head around to see that no one was passing by outside, she pulled her sister and said in a low voice: "Sister, don't be too shy, this is a major event that affects your whole life! You have to have an idea, so I can help you tell dad .Aren’t you afraid that you won’t marry well?!”

Qiuyu bit her lip, her crimson color extended to her ears, she lowered her head and twisted her handkerchief for a long time before humming softly: "I listen to what my father said... besides, the old lady hasn't spoken yet..."

Chunying stomped her feet: "Is there anything we sisters can't say? What are you trying to coax me with? I want to know what's in your heart. It's not convenient for you to tell Dad. I can help you! "Grabbing her sister's hand again, staring at her: "Sister, tell you the truth, do you... have any thoughts about your own marriage? Do you marry the son of another steward, and become the steward's wife in the future? Or... Hiring decent people outside?!"

Her heart was pounding, hoping to get the answer she wanted to hear most from her sister's mouth. Today, Qiuyu's marriage will be the first step for their family to get rid of slavery.

My dear sister, please don't let me down...

(End of this chapter)