Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 558 Funeral

After pondering for a moment, Song Ying decided to ask for them.

Because of Shen Yonghui's indifferent attitude when Wu Tixue inspected the community school before, Song Ying thought that the Shen family would not agree to this matter. Unexpectedly, the eldest wife agreed immediately and said it very nicely.

"Oh, look how careless I was. I should have gone to invite the villagers myself, but I was so busy these days that I forgot.

Please apologize to them on my behalf and ask them to come and pay their respects anytime. The funeral will be the day after tomorrow. If they are free, they can come and see us off. This will comfort our old master in his grave."

This was naturally just a polite remark. From Shen Yonghui's attitude, it could be seen that Shen Zhuangyuan had a very bad impression of his fellow villagers. If he really knew that they were coming to pay their respects, he might not even be able to hold his coffin down.

When the news got back, the people in Rongshu Village were both happy and worried. They were happy that the Shen family's attitude had softened and their relationship with Rongshu Village could improve; but they were also worried, just like the people in other villages, that their resentment would turn into a ghost.

In the end, the villages in Qinghuali reached a conclusion after discussion, and each family sent a young and strong man with strong yang energy to pay condolences.

As for the funeral, forget it. The coffin would be opened at 11 a.m. If they wanted to attend the funeral, they would have to get up at 5 a.m. at that time, when yin and yang would be changing. With such a tragedy, even the strong young man's yang energy might not be able to suppress it.

In late October, the daybreaks came later and later. It was still pitch black at the beginning of the morning hour, but the gate of the Shen Mansion opened.

The six coffins were arranged in three rows. The two black lacquered and gold-painted coffins in the front naturally contained Mr. Shen and Princess Shunan. Behind them were the eldest master, the third young master, the fifth young master, and the fifth young lady of the Shen family.

The bodies of the four children and the second aunt had to wait for someone from their family in the capital to arrive. They would decide whether to bury them in Qingshui County or carry the coffins back to their hometown for burial.

The Shen family specially set aside a room to hold the body and used ice to cool it down every day. Fortunately, the weather is getting colder and the consumption of ice is not so great. If it were June or July, with so many coffins, no matter how wealthy the family was, they would not be able to support it.

After County Magistrate Chen closed the case, the body of Aunt Lian was dragged out by the Shen family at night and buried somewhere.

"Start the funeral!" the emcee shouted in a hoarse voice, and cries suddenly broke out all around.

Song Ying was supporting his master and walking slowly out with the crowd when he suddenly saw Yuan Qing coming against the current.

He was dressed in a coarse linen robe, his hair tied up with a hemp rope, a white paper scarf on his head, and straw sandals, exactly the attire for mourning.

According to ritual system, when an official of the third rank or above dies, thirty-six people are required to perform the mourning ceremony, which is a heavy form of mourning.

Before his mourning period, Shen Zhuangyuan was a second-rank official, so he was naturally qualified to receive this gift. However, as he was still alive, the Shen family was not qualified at all, and no other relatives came.

Therefore, Yuan Qing and other students of Jiahu Academy spontaneously selected people and helped to gather thirty-six people.

Soon, they were close. Yuan Qing handed a lantern to Song Ying and whispered, "Help Doctor Lin and go slowly. Don't fall."

Song Ying nodded, his eyes fell on his neck which was slightly red from being rubbed by the coarse linen clothes, and he couldn't help but frowned slightly.

Mourning clothes must be made of coarse linen with exposed edges. In this case, even if the skin is rubbed to the point of bleeding, it is not easy to pad it with a handkerchief.

"Go quickly. I'm used to walking on mountain roads. I won't fall, and I won't let Master fall either."

Yuan Qing asked Doctor Lin a few more words of concern before returning to the front of the team. He took the bamboo cane from Shen Jing and received a sarcastic tone from Shen Jing:

"There are servants holding lanterns on both sides, so why do you need to be so attentive? Sister Song Ying only has two hands. If she holds the lantern, she can only use one hand to support her master. If she really encounters a small pothole or slope, can she hold on with one hand?"

Ever since that day, Shen Jing has always been sarcastic, and Yuan Qing simply ignored him. It was fine in the city where the roads were wide, but outside the city, many people couldn't walk side by side, so the servants holding lanterns had to scramble here and there, and inevitably they couldn't take care of everything.

If you hold a lantern by yourself, you can see the road clearly and walk more steadily, and you will basically not fall.

Even if he was really unlucky and fell, Song Ying was not a fool and would naturally know to let go of the lantern and hold on with both hands.

The funeral procession moved forward slowly, and six thin coffins weighed down the shoulders of the pallbearers, making creaking sounds under the heavy load.

On both sides of the long street, every house had its doors tightly closed. Occasionally, a few brave households would leave their doors half-open, revealing a prying eye.

The white lanterns under the eaves swayed in the morning breeze, stretching the shadows of the mourners into long and slender shapes, like a group of hesitant wandering souls.

"Scatter paper money--" the emcee shouted in a hoarse voice.

The ghost money fluttered in the air like the first snow that had arrived early.

As soon as I turned the corner, I heard a sharp creaking sound, which drowned out the sound of crying and seemed particularly creepy in the dark night.

Everyone couldn't help but look over, only to see a white-haired old woman leaning on a cane, poking her head out from the door. She chose the right moment and poured a bowl of clear water onto the coffin, chanting, "Clear water, clear the way, don't enter my house."

Then, he slammed the door.

Near Song Ying, the grief-stricken Mother Zhu finally found an outlet for her anger. She flew into a rage and cursed, "That old hag dared to curse our old lady. When she comes back from the burial, I'll smash her door!"

The coffin that was splashed by the old woman was exactly that of the Princess of Shun'an.

Song Ying hurriedly said, "Mother Zhu, you may have misunderstood. This is not a curse here.

According to our local belief, the new soul loves the old house, and the soul of the deceased will return home along the same route within seven days of the funeral. Sometimes it may get lost and mistakenly enter other people's homes, bringing disaster to them.

She poured water from the inside out. In our customs, this creates a water barrier, preventing the dead from seeing her home. At the same time, the clear water symbolizes rootless water, washing away the pollution of death at the doorstep.

She said it tactfully, but Mother Zhu understood. The old woman also felt that the sudden death of the old man and his men would emit a bloody and evil aura.

She was so suffocated that she could hardly breathe. She had heard and seen a lot of these obscure hints during this period, but she had no way to shut these people up.

When they passed the corner and saw the glutinous rice in the water stains, Mother Zhu felt even more upset.

Adding glutinous rice to water is used to purify evil spirits wherever it is found.

After the burial, the Shen Mansion temporarily returned to peace. The remaining poison in the poisoned people was almost eliminated, and the rest would slowly recover.

However, the wives and mistresses were not at all relaxed. They invited Doctor Lin and Song Ying, two insiders, to examine the surviving male members of the Shen family, hoping to find out what kind of poison Aunt Lian had given them.

However, taking the pulse only revealed that it was deep, thin and weak, which was indeed a sign of kidney essence deficiency and not conducive to fertility, but the cause could not be determined.

The wives were extremely anxious. None of their sisters-in-law had any grandchildren. If the disease could not be cured, that crazy woman's wish would be fulfilled.