At dusk, the heavy snow showed no sign of stopping and the sky gradually darkened. In the front yard of Xu's mansion, Shezao Weiyuan Hou, rows of white lanterns were lit at the same time, illuminating the fluttering white banners and the curling smoke in the yard. The plain-colored mourning shed and the snow-covered ground below the steps contrasted each other, making it look even more pale and eerie, with a gloomy atmosphere. All kinds of paper-made vehicles, ships, cows, horses, and servants were piled up against the walls of the yard, swaying gently in the cold wind, and seemed to come alive under the dim light, looking unspeakably weird and terrifying. The timid maids and servants did not dare to walk alone at this time. When they were assigned some errand, they had to ask older mothers or daughters-in-law to accompany them before they dared to walk around.
In the mourning hall, Ning Rulan, the wife of the third young master of the Xu family, dressed in white, lit a stick of incense in front of the spirit tablet. Relying on the presence of several maids by her side, she boldly stared at the tablet. Under the candlelight, the spirit tablet of Qin Meiniang, the wife of the first-rank imperial concubine Weiyuan Marquis, had a row of shining black lacquer characters on it. She sighed slightly and shook her head, still unable to believe that such a vivid, gentle and virtuous peerless beauty was gone at such a young age.
As she was wiping her tears, a maid came over and whispered, "Reply to Third Madam: Second Madam cannot come back today. Old Master Bai's funeral will take another three days according to his birthday. Second Madam has to stay at her mother's house to keep vigil for Old Master Bai and show her filial piety!"
Ning Rulan frowned slightly, "The funeral of our eldest grandmother will be held tomorrow. Second grandmother knows about this. She has been running the inner courtyard since the eldest grandmother fell ill. Our mistress has never been involved in anything. The master only manages the outer courtyard. How can I manage the inner courtyard by myself? I don't know anything. I have been exhausted in the past two days. Wouldn't it be even more difficult for me tomorrow?"
When Ning Rulan thought about the funeral tomorrow, she felt her scalp tingling, even more than the chaos and busyness of the past two days. She was born in a scholarly family, and she only knew how to play the piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting. She loved reading and painting to the point of obsession, and she didn't even touch needlework often. The monthly expenses of her courtyard, the monthly wages of the maids and servants, etc. were all handed over to the wet nurse to handle. Suddenly, she was arrested to manage such a large family and preside over the funeral of a court lady. It was really a death sentence for her.
The wet nurse Liu Mama looked at her distressedly and said, "Third Madam, please relax. We have the housekeeper and the big and small housekeepers to assist you. Nothing can go wrong... You haven't had dinner yet. You've been tired all day. You should have rested a long time ago. No one should come at this time. Leave a few maids to guard the mourning hall and continue the incense. We will serve Third Madam some hot meals when she goes back!"
Ning Rulan nodded, and gave a few instructions to the old woman guarding the mourning hall. Then she went to the backyard surrounded by maids and servants.
Several maids stood there obediently, waiting until the Third Madam went far away, then stretched their necks to look around for a while, and then went back to the mourning hall, added some incense everywhere, and did not rush to burn paper money, but only kept the charcoal fire in the brazier burning vigorously. It was freezing cold at this time, and the masters of various courtyards in the mansion were having dinner, so no one would come to see the newly deceased Grandma. Everyone took a soft cushion, sat around the brazier, and comfortably warmed themselves by the fire and chatted. While they were feeling comfortable, they wished they could have a sip of warm liquor, which would be the best.
Mrs. Yu squinted her eyes and looked at the wine bottle on the altar. Mrs. Lin next to her saw this, patted her and said with a smile:
"If you dare to drink the wine on it, I will run back immediately and give you the bacon that our old man prepared for the New Year to go with the wine!"
Mother Yu curled her lips and said, "Why should I be afraid? She was so weak when she was alive, how powerful can she be after she dies?"
Mrs. Lu next to her sighed, "Grandma is a gentle and demure lady, that's why she was bullied. She's never mean to you, so why do you have to bully her?"
Mother Yu said, "Don't talk nonsense. No matter what, she is the eldest lady of this mansion, the wife of Marquis Weiyuan, and a first-rank official. Who are we? Who dares to abuse her?!"
Ma Pozi stood up and added a handful of paper money to the spirit tablet. She quickly ran back to the brazier, huddled up and took a deep breath:
"The weather is getting colder and colder. During the day, it's the maids of the grandmother who are here, and at night, it's still us old women who are guarding the mourning hall. It's really torture. I wonder if the Lord Hou will come tonight? He came to guard for an hour at nearly the first watch last night."
Mrs. Lin said mysteriously, "I don't think he will come. I met Old Li from the kitchen at noon. She was carrying a fat chicken and said that Miss Zheng had it killed and stewed to nourish the Lord..."
Mrs. Yu chuckled, "Our Lord Hou is very healthy, what does he need to take care of? Even if ten Miss Zhengs were to accompany him every night, Lord Hou would not have any problem at all!"
Mrs. Lu cursed in a low voice: "You are a scoundrel who is looking for death! If people hear this, even those of us who have ears to hear will die with you!"
Mrs. Lin sneered, "What are you afraid of? If the Marquis doesn't come, who else can come to listen? When the eldest grandma was ill, Miss Zheng said she came to serve her cousin and look after Heng'er, but in fact, all the maids and servants in the eldest grandma's room knew what she did! She stayed with the marquis all night long, and the two of them were so close to each other in front of the eldest grandma's bed... Cui Xi saw with her own eyes that Miss Zheng came out of the east wing where the marquis slept early in the morning, and walked back to the eldest grandma's room leisurely... The marquis didn't even go to the new concubine's room to spend the night, can't you see it? It's a pity for the eldest grandma, she hasn't even died yet, but she's left to look after her husband. Miss Zheng will definitely marry here and become the wife of the Marquis of Weiyuan in the future. Little Heng'er has lost his mother, I'm afraid..."
A gust of cold wind swirled in, and several old women shrank their necks. Behind the densely hung white linen banners, there was a huge fragrant wood coffin with its lid open. The cold wind blew off the white silk lightly covering the coffin mouth. Suddenly, a slender and soft hand stretched out from the coffin and climbed onto the edge of the coffin. Then, a beautiful woman in gorgeous clothing, covered in precious stones and surrounded by emeralds, sat up from the coffin, opened her beautiful eyes as bright as stars, held her breath, and listened nervously and attentively to the secret words of the old women.
Mrs. Lin went on to say, "It is only natural for the Marquis to remarry. He has done his best for the Madam. He loved her when she was alive and visited her bedside every day during the month she was sick. A loving couple is no different. But men are always careless. The Marquis can't take care of Heng'er. Heng'er is the apple of the Madam's eye. How can a half-year-old child not make trouble or cry? Miss Zheng is yelling at him now, and who knows what she will do in the future! Alas, poor Heng'er! I heard that he pinched him again this morning. I'm not making this up. Cui Si told my Erya herself!"
The gorgeously dressed beauty in the coffin became more and more angry as she listened. Her face darkened and she turned over and tried to get up. The long and wide silk dress wrapped around her body held her back, and after struggling for a long time, she finally jumped out of the coffin.
Several maids were talking excitedly in front of the mourning hall when they heard a noise from behind the hall. They were so frightened that they fell silent. They all turned around and suddenly saw the grandmother in gorgeous clothes standing there against a large white mourning banner background. She was biting her red lips and her face was full of anger. They were immediately frightened out of their wits. Before the grandmother could say anything, the maids fainted one after another.
Cen Meimei walked forward, kicked away Mrs. Lin who had fallen into the brazier, stomped out the flames on her clothes, turned her head to look at the snowflakes falling outside the mourning hall, thought for a moment, lifted her skirt with both hands, and rushed out without hesitation.
Cen Meimei remembered that she did not drink at the wedding banquet, but she fell off the bridge while driving home. She woke up in a coffin with luxurious and soft lining. She was very scared and thought she had entered a crystal coffin in the funeral home. But she felt the coffin and found it was made of wood without a lid. There was a faint light coming in. She saw that she was wearing the most respectable brocade and colorful clothes for women of ancient officials, holding a jade ruyi in her hand and a piece of jade in her mouth. She couldn't close her mouth for a while. She heard the old women's whispers outside and got some general meaning.
She was a 26-year-old urban white-collar woman who met with a car accident in the modern world. Her soul could not disperse and she traveled to the ancient world and was transported to the body of Qin Meiniang, the wife of the eldest son of the Hou Mansion who had died of illness two days ago!
According to the maids, Qin Mei Niang was seventeen years old and had a son who was half a year old. She had been ill for more than a month. Her husband, the Marquis, would come to see her for a while every day. In addition to her husband, there was another woman, her husband's cousin Miss Zheng, who also came to take care of her cousin's wife. It was said that the cousin was to succeed her as the wife of the Marquis of Weiyuan. She had already begun to show her mistress's attitude. These days, she followed the orders of the lady and occupied her husband and slept in her room in the name of taking care of the children. When her son cried at night, she dared to scold him in front of the Marquis. She even pinched the child this morning, causing the child to cry for a long time and could not be coaxed to stop... ...
The more Cen Meimei listened, the more frightened she became. She could ignore her husband, but she would not tolerate a wild woman abusing her child! Although she had never been married and had no chance to be a mother in her previous life, the subconscious love for her child in this body suddenly overwhelmed her. Without thinking, she turned over and climbed out of the coffin, appearing in front of several old women, scaring them to faint. But she fainted and went to find her son herself!
Mrs. Lin was burned by the fire and kicked over. She came to her senses soon after. Looking at the mess on the ground, she bravely ran to see the empty coffin. Her legs went limp and she knelt on the ground, crying loudly:
"Bloody corpse! Grandma is missing!"
In the twilight, a tall and handsome young man wearing a long black mink cloak braved the wind and snow, walked through the courtyard and strode towards the mourning shed.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, the young man was stunned by the chaotic and noisy crowd in front of him, and shouted in a deep voice:
"What's going on?"
The maids and servants were instantly silent, no one dared to make a sound.
Ning Rulan hurried forward, with a sad face, and said in a panic: "Master, you are here. Mother Lin said..."
Mama Liu secretly pushed Mama Lin, and Mama Lin fell to her knees and cried, "Master Hou, this is really not our fault! Grandma, she really disappeared, her body was blown up..."
Weiyuan Marquis Xu Junying had sword-like eyebrows like a painting, eyes like black jade, and a calm and composed face with no trace of surprise. He had just returned home from outside and came to visit his deceased wife's mourning hall as usual, but who knew he would encounter such a thing.
A maid ran over and reported to Ning Rulan in a trembling voice: "Third Madam! Someone just saw the eldest madam! The eldest madam went to the inner courtyard!"
Xu Junying and Ning Rulan were both startled: Inner Courtyard? She went after Heng Ge'er!
The inner courtyard of the Hou Mansion was filled with pavilions, towers, winding paths, and intricate flower bridges and corridors. Cen Meimei didn't have to worry about taking the wrong path. This body was very familiar with the paths in the courtyard and could turn corners without hesitation. The strange thing was that she didn't meet anyone along the way. She remembered what the maids in the mourning hall had said just now, that it was time for dinner, and everyone should have gone to eat, right
She was wearing brocade clothes, with hairpins and pearls on her head, and her hairpins were heavy. What level was this woman? Oh, right, she was a concubine of some kind. She was still dressed so grandly after her death. I was a little uncomfortable with it, but fortunately, I could bear it and my walking was not slow.
After turning around the winding corridor, an independent courtyard appears in front. In the twilight, you can still see the rockery and the green lake. There is a small pavilion beside the lake and a green lawn beside the pavilion. Beyond the lawn is an open space paved with bluestones. There is some mud left where various flowers blooming in all seasons are planted. At this time, everything is covered with a layer of snow. The pure white courtyard looks clean and cold.
There was a row of upper rooms with beautifully carved lattice windows. There was no one on the corridor. The door was ajar, and orange light was spilling out from inside. Like a real ghost, Cen Meimei silently pushed the door open and walked in.
The embroidered gauze curtains, crystal bead curtains, flower and wood screens and the large rosewood carved bed, whether it is the exquisite dressing table or the gorgeous round table, there are traces and breath of the hostess everywhere.
There was no one in the room, no charcoal fire, and even the incense burner was not lit. It was cold. Cen Meimei turned her eyes and suddenly found the baby dancing in the cradle. A sweet smile immediately appeared on her face and she walked over quickly.
The delicate and lovely baby noticed her and started kicking more and more excitedly, with his mouth open, an expression that looked like he was both crying and laughing. Her heart was filled with the pain and sweetness of motherhood. She bent down to pick up the baby, holding it tightly in her arms, tears streaming down her face unconsciously: The motherless child is indeed pitiful. Night had fallen, the door was open, and the cold wind blew in, leaving the baby lying alone in the cradle, without a quilt covering him or her, and no one to guard him or her. What kind of heartless person could be willing to treat a baby like this
Cen Meimei wiped away her tears, covered the child's head and face with her wide sleeves, and walked away quietly, just as silently as she came.
She planned to go back to the gloomy mourning hall. Right now, she didn't know where to stay except there. She had just arrived and was unfamiliar with this world. She couldn't figure out the situation. Aren't there a few talkative women in the mourning hall? Let them create momentum for her, so that everyone in the mansion could show up and get to know each other. (To be continued)