In the early morning of the next day, Yu'er and Xiang'er waited for Mrs. Lin to dress up early, because Mrs. Lin repeatedly asked for everything to be simple except for the sacrificial tribute, so she was not too luxuriously dressed, and then led by Village Chief Lin, dozens of people walked towards the ancestral shrine of the Lin family in the back mountain. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

A cup of tea. Mrs. Lin and other people came to the ancestral hall of the Lin family, and saw that there were four white jade lions guarding the door, as soon as they entered the gate, there was a large hall in front of them, the main hall was supported by twelve vermilion stone pillars, and they went up the stairs to see a large stone tablet in the center of the main hall, on which there was a portrait of the first generation of ancestors of the Lin family. This was moved from the original ancestral hall when rebuilding, the ancestor of the Lin family wore a black gauze hat, his face was like light gold, a few beards, he was wearing a python robe, a jade belt around his waist, and his feet were wearing a pair of black and white cloud climbing boots, sitting on a tiger skin chair, the look was both kind and solemn, lifelike. There is a sacrificial platform under the stele, and there are "sacrifices" and "shengsheng" for sacrifice on the sacrificial platform, and there are a lot of jade silks, among which various jade ritual utensils and leather silks are very precious. If it weren't for the two generations of the ancestors of the Lin family as officials, it would be impossible to have the treasures that only these nobles can enjoy.

When noon came, the sound of various musical instruments came from the Lin family ancestral hall.

"The auspicious time has come, and the sacrifice begins! Please offer incense!" said the master of ceremonies in charge of the sacrifice. Mrs. Lin took the three pillars of high incense, went to the brazier to light it, inserted it into the incense ding, and retreated to the futon in the middle.

"Kneel!" the master of ceremonies shouted loudly, and the entire ancestral hall knelt on the futon beside him.

"The ancestors are above, and the descendants of the Lin family pray again, hoping that the ancestors will bless my Lin family, and the coming year will be smooth sailing, go to disasters and avoid disasters, and people will be prosperous!" Mrs. Lin knelt on the futon and said loudly.

"Bow down!" shouted the master of ceremonies.

"Say goodbye!"

"Three bows!"

"Get up!" Mrs. Lin stood up with the support of Xiang'er and Yu'er. When he came to the sacrificial platform, he took out a handkerchief and wiped the sacrificial platform of the ancestors, looked at the portrait of the ancestors, turned around and said loudly: "This year's ancestor sacrifice is well arranged, and those who participate in the preparation and arrangement of this year's ancestor sacrifice will be rewarded with 60 taels of silver, 60 catties of grain, and 3 horses of silk; Well, that's the end of today's sacrifice. Yu'er Xiang'er, go back. Prepare your carriages and horses!"

"Yes, ma'am!" replied Yiyong, Yu'er and Xiang'er.

"Mrs. Xie's reward, send Mrs. off!" all the servants and maids in the ancestral hall knelt down again and said in unison.

Subsequently, after Mrs. Lin and her entourage finished worshipping their ancestors, they walked out of the ancestral hall, returned to the carriage, and began to return to Cuiyunxuan under the escort of volunteers. In addition to the creaking of the carriage, the villagers who saw the carriage along the way hurriedly got out of the way, and watched the group go away with awe in their eyes.

On the way, when passing by Village Chief Lin's house, a childish cry came into Mrs. Lin's ears. "Huh, stop for a moment, Village Chief Lin!" came Mrs. Lin's scolding from the carriage.

"Madam, I'll go back and say hello immediately, I'm sorry to disturb you!" Village Chief Lin hurriedly ran from the carriage behind him and bowed down to explain.

"No, Village Chief Lin, Mrs. Ben remembers that you have no children and no daughters under your knees, what is the matter with this child's cry?" Mrs. Lin's inquiry came from the carriage, and there was no joy or anger in her voice.

"Alas, if you go back to Madame, in fact, this child and I are not related to each other, and it is also helpless to live in my house. Village Chief Lin replied with an uneasy face.

"What's going on?" Mrs. Lin murmured curiously as she got out of the carriage with the support of Yu'er and Xiang'er.

"This ...... Please also ask the lady to sit in the humble house, and the old man will give the lady a satisfactory answer!" Village Chief Lin looked around, bowed slightly embarrassed and said.

"Okay! lead the way!" Mrs. Lin thought for a moment, and quickly nodded and replied.

Lin Han took Mrs. Lin to his own hall, the guest of honor sat separately, a servant served two cups of tea, and then except for Yu'er, everyone else in the hall retreated with interest. Village Chief Lin stroked his beard, thought for a while, and said to his wife.

"Mrs. Lin, this baby boy is the child of a Zhao couple in this village, this couple came to our village eleven years ago to settle down, the man is a good hand in doing things, warm-hearted, once a poor talent, the woman is kind and sincere. The couple are well-informed, and in the nine years they have been in our village, our whole village has been very fond of them. However, just the year before and after that, the couple came to my house not long after giving birth to the child, saying that they had an urgent matter to go back to their mother's house in Yongzhou, not to mention the long journey, the child was too young to take the child on the road, so temporarily entrusted to us, let us take care of one or two, and promised to return in three months. Who knew that this wait was two years, and so far there has been no news, and the couple has never returned. In the past two years, whenever a villager has gone to Yongzhou, I will ask them to inquire about the couple, but the result is in vain, so as the head of the village, I can only continue to raise the child and wait for his parents to return. Village Chief Lin recounted a little helplessly.

"So that's what happened! Poor child, could it be that something happened to the couple?" said Mrs. Lin's eyes were full of sympathy.

"The old man had this guess, but he didn't confirm it until the villagers who went out half a month ago returned to the village and brought back the news......"

"Is it confirmed that something happened to the couple?" asked Mrs. Lin anxiously.

"Mrs. Hui, when the villager happened to pass by the local government office in Yongzhou, he accidentally learned the news that two months ago, a small local village was washed in blood by unknown people. When the government sent troops to arrive, there was no one in the village. After that, the government began an investigation and placed the victims' relics in the government's office, and the relatives of the villagers who were killed came to claim them, and issued a heavy reward for those who knew to provide clues. And the villager also went to join in the fun on a whim, who knew that when he looked at the victim's relics, he found a pair of bloody mandarin duck pendants, and the mandarin duck pendants were not complete, and they were missing a horn. The villager immediately recognized the pair of jade pendants as the Zhao couple's belongings. And the pattern of these two jade pendants and the warm jade pattern on the child's body are the same, and then the villager asked the person in charge of the government about the specific situation, and the reply was that the bodies of the couple were not found, but the bag of bloody clothes and these two jade pendants were found by the river in the small village, according to the government's speculation, there is a chance that there are nine times out of ten......" Village Chief Lin said this, and his voice stopped abruptly.

"I see, but how do you think that the mandarin duck pendant belongs to the couple?" Mrs. Lin was silent for a moment and asked suspiciously.

"Madam, in fact, most of the villagers have seen those two pieces of mandarin duck pendants, because the couple often wear them on their bodies, and almost everyone who knows them has seen them. According to the couple, this mandarin duck pendant is said to be a relic left by the woman's father, but its material is not particularly precious, just to remember the woman's father and left a thought, the jade pendant was left. In addition to this pair of mandarin ducks, there is also a piece of warm jade. Because the material of warm jade is more peculiar, warm in winter and cool in summer, and it also emits a strange aroma from time to time, which has a certain insect repellent effect, and the same is true for mandarin ducks. So the Zhao couple put the warm jade on the child's neck. Whether it is a mandarin duck or a warm jade, there is a circle of clouds surrounded by a circle-like pattern, and there is a very dim symbol in the circle of clouds that surround it, similar to the symbol of "whirlpool", as for what the meaning is, I heard the couple say that it is related to their father, and the specific meaning, the two did not elaborate, and I did not ask more. Then the villager rushed back to the village to inform me of the incident, and I took a few villagers who had been quite familiar with the husband and wife to the Yongzhou government to check the jade pendant. And the villagers and couples I brought were very familiar, so the moment they saw the jade pendant, several villagers recognized at a glance that the pair of mandarin duck pendants was the jade pendant worn by the couple, but the two pieces of mandarin ducks were missing a corner, and the luster was dim. In order to prevent mistakes, the villagers also compared it with the child's warm jade, and found that the pattern was exactly the same, and from time to time it emitted a trace of fragrance, so it was confirmed that this was the pair of mandarin ducks worn by the child's parents. So I issued a certificate to the government and took back the husband and wife's belongings. Village Chief Lin said with regret on his face.

"Hey... What clues has the government found out now?" Mrs. Hui's words, because of the bloodshed of the people in the village, their actions were extremely meticulous, and there was not a single living person in the whole village. Until now, the government has also sent many people to search around, but they have not found any clues, giving people the impression that the murderer has disappeared for no apparent reason. "Hey... This child is indeed quite pitiful, and he has no parents to take care of him at such a young age. Village Chief Lin, can I take a look at that child?" Mrs. Lin's face was full of regret, but her eyebrows wrinkled inadvertently, and a trace of doubt flashed in her eyes.

"Of course you can! It is a blessing for this child to get Mrs. Lin's pity! Xizi, go and let Aunt Zhang bring the child over to show Madame!" said to the little servant next to him, full of joy.

"Yes! After a while, Aunt Zhang came out with the child in her arms, and when she saw Mrs. Lin on the main seat, she hurriedly greeted her. "Lady Zhang, I've seen Mrs. Lin!"

"Hurry up, please get up, no need to be polite, this child is really strong!" Mrs. Lin asked Xiang'er to help Aunt Zhang up and look at the child in Aunt Zhang's arms. The boy's mouth was big, and his face was red. Mrs. Lin stretched out her hand to tease him, and the boy's small nose was long, and his big mouth grinned. The boy's little arms and legs are chubby, and they are full of "folds" on them, like snow-white lotus roots, which are so tender! His little feet are small and exquisite, and they are extremely small. The boy was lying in Aunt Zhang's arms, his little arms kept waving, his calves kept kicking, and his mouth made a "cluck" sound from time to time.