Coming out of the Buddha Hand Lake Courtyard, all the way the mountains and rivers are green, lush and scattered, among the shrubs on both sides of the loess road, there are clusters of wild flowers from time to time, which is pleasing to the eye.

The warm wind blowing through the water in the late spring brings up moist water vapor, and then rolls up the refreshing fragrance through the flowers, and then penetrates the car curtain to the face, making people just want to take a sweet nap with the corners of their mouths up.

Xiusun peeked at the world outside the gap in the car curtain, and then glanced at the silver hairpin that had just been replaced on the head of the car woman, and the high mood fell for no reason, if it was not to go to the funeral.

The masonry of the city wall looks very new, there is no feeling of heavy vicissitudes, although the city is not as prosperous as the capital, but it also reveals the fullness and warmth of people coming and going, the peddlers and pawns shouting and shuttling, the owner of the roadside bun stall lifts up the huge cage drawer, and the white water vapor wraps the meat fragrance and wafts far away.

There were no stalls on both sides of the road, and the door-to-door bustling houses were gradually replaced by long walls, and the old lady said, "From this side on, it's Chujia Lane." The voice was faint, like the vicissitudes of another world.

Xiusun glanced at the seemingly endless pink walls and tiles, and the original pink and white walls were covered with mottled moss.

The old house of the Chu family is located in Chujia Lane in the southeast of Jiangpu County, why is it called Chujia Lane, as the name suggests, this whole alley is the scope of the old house of the Chu family.

The old lady's line of white-clad carriages lined up neatly in front of the main entrance, and her old fingers personally lifted the curtain and looked out through the gap, for the first time in twenty-two years.

Xiusun looked out at the gap opened by the old lady, the main gate of the Chu family was not big, only one, and there was a lot less trouble than the three beast-headed gates that could be seen everywhere in the capital. On both sides of the door stand a pair of delicate and flexible stone lions, looking at each other, adding to the lively interest. There is no special carving on the outside of the stone lion on a pair of drum stones.

The gate is black painted, low-key and introverted, and the door head is also a roof tile, and the wings are like flying.

On the whole, it looks inconspicuous, and they have already passed by the corner gate and side door of the Chu family's old house, according to the estimation of the floor area, there are at least three roads and five entrances in it.

There was a pair of white lanterns hanging in front of the door, and the hairpin was wrapped with white silk.

The eldest man Chu Ren is Chinese New Year's Eve seven years old today, and he doesn't have a son yet, so I'm afraid he is going to pass the heir, so he doesn't need to save money for this white matter.

Two black-lacquered doors are open, allowing you to see the main hall inside. The roof of the main hall is very high, and a plaque with the words "Harmony Hall" is hung.

Simple and calm, elegant and elegant, this is the initial impression of the Chu family's old house.

"Aunt Six has been waiting for a long time," a handsome and tall young man in a linen suit stood by the old lady's car and bowed his hand to the end, "Nephew Chu Lun has said hello to Aunt Six." ”

Chu Lun is the youngest son of the second old lady Chu Changxun, Chinese New Year's Eve is thirty-five years old this year, ranking third in the clan, known as the third old man. His brother Chu You took his wife to a foreign post, he couldn't study, so he stayed at home and followed his father to learn to take care of housework.

The sixth old lady, that is, Xiusun's grandmother Shen, saw that it was Chu Lun, and said kindly, "It turned out to be Brother Lun, how is the eldest old lady?" She was asking about her own sister.

Chu Lun replied loudly, "The body is okay, but it is too sad and a little unenergetic." ”

The old lady narrowed her eyes and returned, "Let's go in, no one can walk here." ”

For a while, there were many carriages behind them, all of which came to mourn.

The carriage traveled some distance into the alley, and drove in through the side gate where the threshold was removed, and did not stop until the second gate, when several daughters-in-law came forward to salute, lifted the curtain, and helped Shen to get out of the car, and Ruan and Xiusun also got out of the car. The three sisters in the other car also got out of the car and came over in turn.

A woman dressed in a mourning dress and a mourning bun stepped forward to greet her, and she bowed down and said, "I've seen Aunt Six." ”

The old lady seemed to be very familiar with her, and said cordially, "It's Brother Lun's daughter-in-law." ”

This woman has a long face, white skin, and her facial features are not outstanding but she is dignified and atmospheric, she should be Chu Lun's daughter-in-law who was greeted at the gate, the third wife Ji, and her father Ji Cheng is a master of carving books, and is currently the political envoy of Shandong.

Then Ruan stepped forward to greet Ji, and pulled Xiusun a few to salute Ji.

Ji Shi pulled Xiusun and praised a few words, saying that they had grown taller again, so they led them to kowtow to the eldest ancestor of the third room in the clan first, and then go to change clothes and mourn. Xiuguan followed the group at the end, silent.

Since the ancestor Chu Qi ancestor to Xiusun here, the Pukou Chu family has multiplied for six generations, to Xiusun here, has been out of five suits, and the ancestor of Qi settled in Pukou back then, worried about the shallow foundation in Pukou, so he followed the example of Song Taizu to leave a will, my clan has no relatives, the world is hemp, and each generation of the Pukou Chu family ranks in accordance with the clan, and the brothers and sisters of each room are only ranked, regardless of relatives.

That's why each house has been divided early, but the rankings are still neat.

Yes, it's not good to slap the ancestor in the face as soon as he came out of the five suits, and Xiusun and they also changed into the same linen mourning clothes as the Ruan family. If the old lady is an elder, there is no need.

"Why are you picking up people here, who is in charge of this big mess?" The old lady asked.

Yes, the eldest lord has no sons, only one and two daughters, the eldest is the third in the family of concubines, fifteen years old this year, and she is going to get married in the second half of this year, and the younger one is a concubine, the fifth in the family, and she is just ten years old this year.

In case Mrs. Da has something to take care of, she can't just leave her two unmarried daughters kneeling in the mourning hall to thank relatives and friends. In the case that the second husband and wife are not at home, of course, it is more appropriate for the funeral of the third wife, Prime Minister Ji. Unexpectedly, the eldest lady still refused to let go of power at this time.

Sure enough, Ji's said a little unnaturally, "It's the sister-in-law who is in charge of it." ”

"That?" The old lady only slowly spat out a raised word, and the clever Ji knew who she meant, kneeling in front of the spirit and kowtowing to relatives and friends in thanks.

Ji's answer was even more unnatural, "Sister-in-law has accepted an heir." ”

Heir? So fast.

When the old lady saw Ji's answer like this, she knew that this heir was definitely not chosen in the usual way, and Ji's was not easy to speak ill of her sister-in-law, so she only asked, "Where did you pick this heir?" ”

Ji lowered his head and replied, "Lanling's hometown." ”

Lanling? Xiusun raised her head and opened her eyes wide, it was really abnormal.

Lanling is far away in Shandong, how did this kid suddenly appear in Pukou?

I had never heard of the eldest master's poor health before, and this time it was also an emergency, not to mention that he was only thirty-seven, and the concubine took a room just to give birth to a son, and it was impossible to pick a good person in advance.

There are quirks.

"Oh." The old lady, as if she had expected it a long time ago, squinted her eyes and answered idly, without expressing her opinion or asking any more questions.

"Let's go, let's go see my eldest nephew one last time." The old lady looked solemn and helped Xiusun straighten the collar of her mourning clothes, which was somewhat large.

Although the corners of the old lady's mouth didn't tremble, what she said was, how Xiusun listened and felt that the old lady was gloating.

――I'm the transition dividing line――

Copying the hand verandah, cobblestone corridor, stomping, passing through the hall, through the mountain verandah, open hall, stomping, copying hand verandah, cobblestone corridor......

The old house of the Chu family really has three roads and five entrances, the inside looks magnificent and atmospheric than the door, this house is more inclined to the style of the Hui school, carved beams and painted buildings, ingenious workmanship, and does not lose the calm atmosphere, awe-inspiring majesty. It can be seen that the ancestors of the Chu family spent a lot of thought when they built it.

Behind him, Xiuguan was stunned, biting her lip, the handkerchief in her hand turned into a cauliflower, but Xiuzhi tried to hang her head, not squinting, the little Xiuqian fell behind, Xiusun told her nurse to look good.

The elder's funeral shed is located in the Yezhi Garden on the West Road, where there is a corridor leading directly to the outer courtyard, which is convenient for relatives and friends to mourn.

When the old lady took Xiusun in, the drums sounded twice at the door, and the heart-rending cries of the female dependents immediately sounded in the mourning hall, and a child knelt by the brazier in the center of the mourning hall to burn paper.

Kneeling in front of the spirit were the eldest lady and two girls, and a **-year-old boy, very thin. The four of them were all dressed in linen and filial piety, and they were beating their chests and crying at this time, their hair was very disheveled, and they couldn't see their real appearance.

The mourner said that he died last night, and the small funeral ceremony (bathing and changing clothes, tidying up the appearance, transferring to the bed, covering the quilt) should be held at this hour, and the day of the big funeral (entering the coffin) should be calculated before it can be chosen.

Xiusun secretly glanced at the back of the incense case, and only saw one

The coffin does not have a bed or door for a small funeral, she knows that some places will put the body into the coffin, the coffin lid will be staggered, and the coffin lid will be sealed the day before the funeral, is it according to this rule?

Unknowingly, Xiusun turned around and gave Xiuqian's nurse a look, and the nurse immediately held Xiuqian's little hand.

The old lady took her daughter-in-law and granddaughter to offer incense and sacrifices, and sat in a circle chair in front of the spirit, crying according to the case, "My eldest nephew, why did you leave at a young age, what can you do if you leave their orphans and widows like this...... "Crying over and over again, beating the armrest of the circle chair twice from time to time.

Xiusun suddenly felt that her loving and wise grandmother sometimes turned into a bad-hearted little girl.

Ruan took the four sisters to kowtow to the eldest master, kneeling and crying for a while, she didn't have to be so sincere, otherwise people would think that she was the one who died.

Xiusun cried bitterly according to Ruan's rhythm, the child still had to cry penetrating to be more real, and the one who cried the hardest was Xiuqian, she was purely scared to cry, and the nurse had to hold her in her arms.

After a while, the eldest lady Wu Shi got up, first went to the old lady to persuade her to mourn, and then helped Ruan Shi up, the two held hands and comforted each other for a while, and then went to help the four sisters together.

The four sisters also got up in grief and collapsed, and then followed the old lady and his wife to the back to see the eldest master for the last time, in fact, as long as they symbolically walked around, there was no need to really look at the remains.

When Xiusun went over, she found that the coffin was completely covered!

She rubbed the handkerchief in her sleeve and pretended to wipe her hands, and secretly approached to observe the mortise and tenon on the lid of the coffin.

However, when she approached the coffin, a familiar smell entered her nostrils, and it was so strong that it was a little pungent.

She quietly tiptoed to smell the smell while Ruan Shi wasn't paying attention, and she knew what it was.

So strong, so pungent, and so familiar, it's musk, and it's used in great quantities.

She had never seen so many musks in the palace in her previous life, why did she meet this every once in a lifetime, can she say that she was destined to commit musk?

Strangely, of course, some embalming measures will be taken before the body is buried, and when the weather is hot, people will even sprinkle some liquor or spices in front of the spirit to cover up the taste.

And no matter what kind of preservative recipe, no matter what kind of spice to mask the taste, you will not use such a large amount of musk.

She glanced at the mortise and tenon joint, and although it had not yet been nailed, the carpentry was excellent and tightly fitted.

This is still covered with the lid of the coffin, and if it is opened, I don't know how much of the smell will be revealed.

Also, even if it is for burial, the old lady and the big lady are really willing to spend money, so much musk can not be bought with money.

"His brothers haven't come back yet, so why is this covered?" The old lady had the same doubt.

The eldest lady Wu Shi raised her handkerchief and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and replied sadly, "This morning, when the small funeral, my mother asked the true Ming Taoist of Qingfeng Guan to calculate it, I wanted to calculate an auspicious day and a good burial, but the true Ming Taoist said that the hexagram shows that it is good luck to enter the coffin immediately, otherwise it will not be good for the family." And so he did. ”

Wu Shi seemed to be tired, his face was sallow, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was so haggard that he didn't look good.

However, Xiusun will not be deceived by appearances, she answers very specifically, very methodically, and a lot.