Chapter 102: Weddings and Funerals
Clear skies.
The thirteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Suitable for: weddings, taking a bride, planting trees, ancestral rites.
Avoid: Nothing.
Today is a good day.
There is a happy occasion in Kaner Village.
“Bow to Heaven and Earth, bow to parents, bow to each other.”
Jiang Changtian, acting as the witness, sat in the seat of honor and accepted the bows of the newlyweds.
He felt a bit dazed.
He actually felt as though he hadn’t grown up himself yet.
Suddenly, he was already officiating weddings for the younger generation.
He even felt a bit nervous.
Was it almost time for Feng-ge’er and Sister Yu as well?
Today, A-Cui and the guard Xiao Wu were married.
Because his original home was too dilapidated, Xiao Wu was granted permission to move into Master Liu’s large residence, where he was allotted two rooms.
The rooms were sturdy, neither leaking wind nor rain.
His Mother, who had been bedridden for a long time, had an uncharacteristically joyful expression today.
Finally, she had finally seen her son get married.
Lying in bed, she tremblingly slid the silver ring off her finger, raised her hand, and shakily placed it on A-Cui.
That night, the old woman passed away, a smile on her face, her eyes closed peacefully.
Clear skies.
The fourteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Suitable for: opening a business, burial, encoffining, burial, funeral rites.
Avoid: Nothing.
Today is a good day.
There is a funeral in Kaner Village.
Everyone calls it a “happy funeral.”
Xiao Wu cried until his voice was hoarse.
Yesterday, he was a groom, he was his Mother’s son.
Today, he is a husband, and he no longer has a Mother.
Jiang Changtian patted Xiao Wu on the shoulder and said: “Your Mother didn’t want to be a burden to you. Seeing you married, she could leave in peace. She was in great pain from her illness; being released from it is a good thing. I envy you; you had a good Mother.”
Xiao Wu cried even more uncontrollably.
With tear-filled eyes, he looked at Mr. Jiang, hugged Mr. Jiang’s leg, and wailed: “Sir! Sir!”
A-Cui, who had worn a red wedding dress yesterday, was wearing white hemp mourning clothes today.
Everyone said A-Cui was blessed. Before her Mother-in-law died, she had given her private savings, acknowledging her as a daughter-in-law.
Moreover, she hadn’t wanted her daughter-in-law to be exhausted for even a day.
A-Cui, who was just a young girl yesterday, had become a woman of the household today. Wearing mourning clothes, she stumbled through the process of receiving guests.
Jiang Yu also came to attend the funeral, carrying her younger sister.
One could slack off during a wedding in the village, but not during a funeral.
People chipped in with their presence and money, gathering bits and pieces; in short, they had to send the person off properly.
Jiang Mianmian was attending a funeral for the first time.
Because she was a baby, she just tagged along for the meal.
No one would let her go to the mourning hall or anything like that.
She stayed obediently in her sister’s arms.
She didn’t cause any trouble, just watched as the villagers all wore hemp clothes.
Several older women sat in a row by the roadside, wailing in mourning.
Their voices rose and fell; they were crying, but they were also recounting the life of the deceased old woman.
The old woman’s life had no real highlights.
She had simply raised a son; her husband had died early, and she had been sickly, bedridden for many years.
When she was alive, it was extremely difficult for her son to find a match. With a sick person in the house, normal families were unwilling to marry their daughters into it.
Now that she had died, everyone was praising her.
They praised her for being righteous, for being blessed, for being a fortunate person to have a son and a daughter-in-law when she departed.
They forgot that the little old lady had actually once been a mean person.
She could have engaged in a shouting match with A-Cui’s Mother for three days and three nights.
A-Cui actually couldn’t cry; she was still dazed.
But after being pinched by her Mother, her eyes turned red.
“You must cry. Your Mother-in-law was a kind person. If you cry, your husband will feel a little better. From now on, you and he are a family.”
A-Cui was pinched so hard by her Mother that it hurt terribly, and big drops of tears fell.
Jiang Yu was A-Cui’s close friend, and A-Cui’s Mother didn’t avoid Sister Yu.
Jiang Mianmian also saw this scene and thought, sometimes the person who hits you isn’t necessarily a person who is bad to you.
That day, the Rebel Mr. Gang came again.
He hadn’t come when A-Cui and Xiao Wu got married.
But when A-Cui and Xiao Wu held the funeral, he came.
He even brought funeral gifts.
Everyone praised even more profusely, saying the old lady was blessed, that she had died with honor and dignity, and that she would surely be reborn into a good life in her next life.
That day, Jiang Yu watched as her former good friend quickly became someone like her Mother.
She saw Xiao Wu crying very sadly. When it was time to eat, he couldn’t eat a single bite himself, but he still remembered that A-Cui hadn’t eaten and stuffed a piece of steamed bun into her hand.
It seemed that getting married wasn’t so bad after all.
Everyone was crying and wailing, but they weren’t actually that sad.
Because there were so many people, Jiang Mianmian was passed around from arm to arm.
This time, she was in Father’s arms.
Father was greeting the big shot, Mr. Gang.
Today there weren’t many rich and powerful people, only villagers wearing hemp clothes.
The village was half covered in snow and half cleared.
They sat under the eaves of Master Liu’s large house.
There was a small stove roasting a fire.
The two of them each had a small bamboo chair, watching the lively funeral.
Jiang Changtian was actually a bit dejected; he didn’t have his usual pretentious, arrogant demeanor and temperament. His whole person seemed more real, and he also had a bit of a lazy feeling.
Jiang Mianmian sat in Father’s arms and felt that Father didn’t have that past sense of tension.
He sat on the small chair, chatting with the man with the little mustache.
That night at Qingfeng Restaurant, there were only two corpses; one was killed by the man with the little mustache, and one was killed by Jiang Changtian.
Gong Qichi actually hadn’t killed indiscriminately; the person he killed had usually done a lot of evil, exploiting the villagers and forcibly seizing women.
Jiang Changtian probably hadn’t killed indiscriminately either.
Anyway, it was enough to intimidate everyone.
Watching the funeral, Gong Qichi said to Jiang Changtian: “The year I took the imperial examination, my Mother fell ill. She was very ill, but she endured it painfully, worried it would affect my exams. After I passed, Mother worried it would affect my official career. Mother kept enduring and enduring. Later, when she found out I had been convicted, Mother couldn’t hold on anymore; she lost her will to live. The day she received the news, she passed away. I didn’t even have the chance to attend her funeral. Now, when I see a lively funeral, I think it’s good. It’s good; it should be lively.”
“Yes, lively. It’s quite good.”
Jiang Changtian leaned back in the small bamboo chair, one hand holding the baby, the other holding a bamboo cup, drinking hot tea.
The hand holding the baby also inexplicably rested on the child’s head, stroking her hair, strand by strand.
Jiang Mianmian:… She twisted her body slightly, then listened attentively to the gossip.
“Brother Changtian, what are your plans for the future? I observe that your appearance is extraordinary; perhaps there is some hidden story regarding your identity,” Gong Qichi added.
Jiang Changtian settled his daughter in his arms, gently rubbing her little head, and smiled: “No. I have a wife, sons, and a daughter, fields and a house; life is already very good. From now on, I am the children’s Father, my wife’s husband, and I am everyone’s Mr. Jiang, looking after everyone’s food and drink. I am very busy every day; I can’t get it all done.”
“Brother Yehang, thank you.” Jiang Changtian raised his bamboo cup in a toast.
Gong Qichi nodded.
He felt that the other person was very pitiful. Growing up to this age, only to find out his Mother wasn’t his Mother, yet not knowing who his Mother was, having spent half his life weighed down by filial piety.
No wonder they say the schemes and underhanded methods in the back courtyards of great families are terrifying.
They can torment people to death without swords or blades. The human heart is more terrifying than swords.
“I cannot stay in Ming County for long. I observe that you, Changtian, have a knack for governance. Chaos is breaking out everywhere, yet only your Kaner Village remains peaceful and retains a sense of humanity. I want to go back and report to Commander Zi to let you take charge of Ming County. I will leave some guards to assist you temporarily.”
“Thank you, Brother Yehang. In troubled times, human life is like grass; one just struggles to survive. As long as Commander Zi can trust me, I will definitely give my all,” Jiang Changtian said earnestly.
Clear skies.
The fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Suitable for: traveling, fixing doors, moving into a new house, changing jobs.
Avoid: marriage, breaking ground.
Gong Qichi left with his soldiers, dusty and travel-worn.
He left behind a team of men to assist.
The oldest was 46, and the youngest was 6.
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