Feng Mengxiong had been worried about Chen Caozhi all the way. When he arrived at Chenjiawu, what he saw was Ding Yi kneeling solemnly and solemnly in the small hall of the Chen family's ancestral hall, talking to Chen Xian, the leader of the Chen family. Feng Mengxiong then
There was no time to think about why Ding Yi had such a different attitude from Fenglin Dukou. The death of Chen's mother Li shocked his family of three. It was so sudden!
Feng Lingbo felt very sad when he saw Chen Caozhi coming up to bow to him in mourning. She was the adopted daughter of Chen's mother Li, but she did not come to visit when her adopted mother was seriously ill. She felt very guilty and discussed with her parents what should be done.
How to observe filial piety for your adoptive mother?
The system of Zhou Rites and Five Clothes does not stipulate that an adopted daughter should mourn for her adoptive mother. If Feng Lingbo had been raised by Chen's mother since childhood, he would have had to undergo a three-year funeral like Chen Caozhi, but Feng Lingbo was not Chen Caozhi.
She was raised by her mother and had both parents. How to fulfill her filial piety really stumped Feng Mengxiong, the prime minister of Qiantang County who was well versed in etiquette.
Feng Mengxiong discussed with his wife, Sun, and decided that from now on, Feng Lingbo would carry out the funeral ceremony for Chen's mother, Li, as his daughter, and he would be discharged after the funeral. In other words, Feng Lingbo would live in Chenjiawu these days, accompanying Chen.
As a result, Ding Youwei paid tribute to Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, together.
Chen Caozhi was very grateful to Uncle Feng's family. His mother only gave birth to two sons, and his elder brother Qingzhi was dead. Now Feng Lingbo is willing to serve his mother as a filial piety. In this way, even if he has a filial son and a daughter, his mother's spirit in heaven will also feel comforted.
Ding Youwei had put on a burlap mourning skirt, untied her bun, and tied her hair with linen silk. She mourned and cried in front of her aunt's spirit. Zongzhi and Run'er were kneeling beside their mother, one on the left and the other on the right. They were also crying incessantly. They have been crying since yesterday afternoon.
, both children have not eaten. According to Zhou etiquette, the grandchildren will live together for one year as grandparents, and they will not eat on the first day——
Chen Caozhi took pity on his nephew and niece, and said that he was not an adult and did not need to observe the etiquette of not eating on the first day. However, Zongzhi and Run'er refused to eat, saying that they would only eat when Uncle Chou ate, and they followed the etiquette.
Chen Caozhi wants to go without food for two days——
Zongzhi, Run'er is young, crying and hungry, which hurts her body. She hasn't eaten for a day. If she is hungry for another day, she may get sick. Moreover, sister-in-law Ding Youwei feels guilty that she was unable to serve her aunt when she was seriously ill.
, cried until her face turned pale, and the excessive grief was too harmful to the body. Now only these two children can divert my sister-in-law's sad mood.
As the sun sets and the sky turns cold, the white curtains of the Chen family's ancestral hall are fluttering, the white candle flames are swaying, and the cries are endless. Ding Yi and Feng Mengxiong have returned to the county, while Ding Chunqiu stayed behind, and Feng's wife, Sun Shi, and Feng Lingbo also stayed in Chenjiawu.
After Chen Caozhi, his sister-in-law, young nephew, and Feng Lingbo cried, he said to his sister-in-law Ding Youwei: "Sister-in-law, Zongzhi, Run'er has not eaten for two days and one night. My sister-in-law took them to have a bowl of wheat porridge, otherwise they will be hungry.
Sick."
Ding Youwei wiped her tears and looked at the two children. In the past, Yuxue was cute, but now her face was full of tears and her face was a little blue. She touched their little hands and felt cold and distressed. She ordered: "Xiaochan, Qingzhi,
Take Zongzhi and Runer to eat porridge."
Zongzhi and Runer refused, saying that they would only eat porridge if Uncle Chou ate it.
Ding Youwei looked at Chen Caozhi with tears in her eyes and said, "Xiao Lang, if you persuade them both, they will listen to you even more."
Chen Caozhi held the two children's small hands in his palms and asked: "Zongzhi, Run'er, does grandma like you?"
The two children said in unison: "I like it." They nodded vigorously, and crystal tears rolled down their cheeks.
Chen Cao said: "Then you two don't listen to mother and uncle Chou and refuse to eat porridge. Grandma's spirit in heaven will be unhappy."
Run'er said: "But mother, Uncle Chou, Run'er and brother are paying homage to my grandmother, so they are not disobedient."
Chen Cao said: "You two have already observed the ritual of not eating on the first day, and now it is the second day. You should eat porridge, otherwise you will get sick from hunger, and my grandmother's spirit in heaven will be sad."
The two children nodded silently, but Run'er added: "Then the ugly uncle should also eat porridge. If the ugly uncle gets hungry and sick, grandma will also be sad."
This Run'er is not easy to convince, Chen Cao said: "Uncle Chou, I want to ask you, are you very hungry?"
Zongzhi and Runer looked at each other and nodded honestly.
Chen Cao said: "Isn't that right? You are young and can't survive hunger. Uncle Chou is an adult and in good health, so it doesn't matter." Then he said to Ding Youwei: "Sister-in-law, take them with you."
Ding Youwei nodded, stood up and took the two children, then looked down at Chen Caozhi, who was still kneeling: "Young man, you should take care of yourself, you are the saddest, and you have to bother to comfort these two children, alas,
Not eating for two days really worries my sister-in-law."
Chen Cao said: "Sister-in-law, don't worry, I can bear it. My mother gave birth to me, so it doesn't matter if I don't eat for two days."
Zongzhi took his mother's hand and walked to the door, turned around and said, "Uncle Chou, will my grandmother's spirit in heaven be watching us?" He had been thinking about this question for a long time.
Ding Youwei said angrily: "Zongzhi!" He was worried that his child would be ignorant and talk nonsense.
"Zongzhi, let Uncle Chou tell you." Chen Caozhi stood up, took Zongzhi's hand and walked outside the ancestral hall.
On the ninth day of October, the faint first quarter moon hung in the sky early, the clouds were light, and the cold stars twinkled.
Chen Caozhi held the little hands of Zongzhi and Run'er, looked up at the distant stars, and said: "Zongzhi, Run'er, uncle Chou tells you that after this earthly person returns to heaven, because of care and love in his heart, his soul will turn into ashes."
It’s the stars in the sky, and your grandmother is one of these stars. Uncle Chou doesn’t know which one it is, but he only knows that this star will watch over us and protect us in peace throughout our lives.”
Zongzhi and Runer raised their heads and searched carefully. Zongzhi suddenly pointed to a bright star in the eastern sky and said, "Uncle Chou, is that my grandmother's star?"
It is the brightest star in the constellation Orion, and among the twenty-eight constellations, it belongs to the constellation Orion or Rigel.
Chen Cao said: "Maybe."
The two children's grief was greatly relieved. They held their mother's hand and returned to the west building. They looked back step by step and looked at the bright star in the sky, like the kind eyes of their grandmother -
Finding beauty in pain and never giving up hope for a better life are the seeds Chen Caozhi planted in the young minds of his two children.
…
Ding Yi, the head of the Ding clan, went to Chenjiawu to express his condolences, which caused quite a shock in Qiantang County. There were also rumors that Ding Yi had allowed Ding Youwei to return to Chenjiawu to observe filial piety for Chen's mother, and would live in Chenjiawu permanently in the future.
It even made Qian Tang's scholars talk a lot. Four years ago, Ding Yi led people to forcefully take Ding Youwei back to his mother's house, saying that he wanted to sever the marriage relationship with the Chen family, a poor family, and not have any contact with each other. What is the mystery behind such a sudden change?
The Chen family of Qiantang, together with the Mei, Zheng, Lu, Liu, and Sun families, had applied for return to scholar status, which had been widely spread in Qiantang. However, because Chen Caozhi was worried about his mother's illness, he was unable to go to Jiankang to participate in the Eighteen States Congress.
According to the Zhongzheng assessment, the Qiantang and Chen clans have given up this excellent opportunity, which means they have no hope of becoming a scholar, and this opportunity will never come again in the future. The old clans of Mei, Zheng, Lu, Liu, and Sun
After returning to the status of a scholar, the Qiantang and Chen family were left alone. If they want to become a scholar in the future, they will not be able to build up the momentum they have now. The opposition will be stronger. The interests of the gentry are like a piece of cake. The fewer people share it, the better——
However, why did Ding Sheren, who had always been shrewd and sophisticated, be so arrogant and then respectful to the Qiantang Chen family and send Ding Youwei back to Chenjiawu? Could it be that there is still hope for the Qiantang Chen family to become a scholar?
On the tenth day of October, Du Zigong ordered his eldest son to go to Chenjiawu on behalf of the Du family to pay homage to Chen's mother, the Li family. The Quan family, the largest family in the Qiantang Dynasty, also sent people to express condolences. At this time, other Qiantang noble families also heard about it. The Zhu family, the Gu family,
The Fan family and the Dai family both sent people to express their condolences at Chenjiawu. Needless to say, the poor families in the county came to pay their respects one after another. For a time, Chenjiawu was full of oxcarts. The rise and fall of a family could be seen due to a funeral.
.
Of course, the Chu family would not go to pay homage to Chen's mother, the Li family. Although Chu Wenqian was the head of a county, but now that the eight major gentry of the Qian and Tang dynasties had gone to Chenjiawu in the seventh surname, Chu Wenqian had a strong feeling of being excluded from the circle. This
This sense of marginalization made Chu Wenqian both angry and helpless. He could not order the Qiantang gentry to express condolences to Chen Caozhi's mother. Since he temporarily took over as the Qiantang County Magistrate for more than half a month, other gentry have been hampered at every turn, making it difficult for the county to implement the decree.
Ling was very suffocated——
"Chen Caozhi! Chen Caozhi!" Chu Wenqian walked back and forth in the back hall of the county office, thinking bitterly, if he didn't fight to defeat the Chen family in Qiantang, Chu family would probably be reduced to a poor family in Qiantang.
, since the collapse of the Lu family, some common people from poor families who were originally oppressed by the Lu family have re-emerged. Because the Chu family supported the Lu family in the past, these poor people now respect the Chu family and slander the Chu family. If the Chu family no longer respects the
In the future, not only will the gentry of Qiantang be despised by the Qiantang gentry, but even the common people of the poor family will not take the Chu family seriously. If the Chu family wants to regain its reputation, it must first suppress the Chen family of Qiantang and Chen Caozhi -
—
Chu Wenqian thought viciously: "It's lucky that Chen Caozhi's mother died. Otherwise, if he joined Jiankang, the Chen family was a gentry, and he would be on an equal footing with the Chu family in Qiantang. It would be difficult to suppress him. But now,
There is a good chance that my uncle is planning something in Wu County. This time he will definitely make the Qiantang Chen family suffer a big loss, and let people like the Quan family and the Ding family see that if they offend me, the Chu family will not end well."
…
On the ninth day of October, the small coffin of Chen's mother, Li Shi, was carried out, and on the nineteenth day of October, the big coffin was carried out. The date of burial was divined to be Gengwu day of Yihai month, which is the first day of the twelfth lunar month. During this period, Chen Caozhi, Feng Lingbo, Ding Youwei and Zongzhi
He Run'er cried and paid homage every morning and evening; Laifu and Jing Nu urged the craftsmen to dig a tomb for Chen's mother, the Li family, in the Chen family cemetery at the foot of Yuhuang Mountain, to the left of the cemetery of Chen Cao's father, Chen Su.
It is in the south of Jiuyao Mountain, eight miles away from Chenjiawu.
On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, the north wind was howling, the grass was vast, the poplars were rustling, and Chen Caozhi, wearing sackcloth and wearing mourning, sent his mother out of the suburbs. The hearse carried the coffin, and there were hundreds of people in the long funeral procession.
Chen Caozhi was in tears. With the support of Gu Kaizhi, Xu Miao, Liu Shangzhi and Ding Chunqiu, he was walking on the mountain road to Yuhuang Mountain. His younger brother Chen Mo suddenly caught up from behind and said to Chen Caozhi: "
Sixteenth brother, the Lu family of Wu County sent people to pay tribute and help with the burial."
Chen Caozhi nodded: "Please ask Fourth Uncle to welcome me and express my gratitude -"
Chapter completed!