Many bullock carts crowded the official roads. When returning to Beijing, there was no salute. Suddenly, firecrackers went off, making a sound like rain.
At this time, the armored soldiers were all in high spirits and majestically raised their swords. For a moment, amid the sound of soft music, the two imperial envoys slowly disembarked from the boat. The people sent by the Ministry of Rites knelt down and knelt down: "I respectfully welcome the two imperial envoys, and congratulations on your triumphant return to Beijing!" Cui Zhaoquan hurriedly reached out to help him: "I don't dare, I don't dare!"
Supervisor Zhao was a little cold, but also exchanged greetings with the people from the Ministry of Rites. Since both imperial envoys had made great contributions during this trip to the southwest, the officials from the Ministry of Rites all had smiles on their faces and did not dare to neglect them at all.
Soon, with a wave of Supervisor Zhao's hand, Qian Zhidong and Qin Fengliang, who came off different boats, also came ashore. They were both wearing shackles. Compared with the men in official uniforms and looking official, they looked very downcast. p>
Probably because they were afraid that something would happen if the two criminals stayed outside for too long, the two imperial envoys did not stay on the shore for long and left quickly.
After they docked and disembarked, they were accompanied by some officials. Naturally, they were not qualified to be greeted by people from the Ministry of Rites. Their families came to pick them up and left one after another.
After all these high-ranking officials got off, it was the ship Su Zi's turn to dock.
But when they docked, Su Ziji was not on this ship, but had already arrived at the merchant ship where Shao Sisen's coffin was parked.
The wild Taoist went down first to meet the Shao family, led them to the merchant ship, and then rushed over, whispering to Su Ziji: "These are Shao Sisen's parents and brothers."
"Shao's father, Shao Ying, is now the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple. His eldest son, Shao Maode, was born in the fourth rank. It is said that he did not do well in the imperial examination, so he reluctantly became a scholar. Thanks to his father's influence, he became a minor official in the ninth rank."
"My younger brother Shao Liu is okay, but his studies are not as good as those of Shao Sisen."
After a short while, the Shao family was thoroughly investigated. It seemed that Shao Sisen was actually the heir that the Shao family had pinned their hopes on, and he did not want to die like this.
Su Ziji sighed with emotion and ordered to push up the coffin.
At this time, a couple who looked ten years older than their actual age, supported by everyone, walked to the merchant ship and watched eagerly, waiting for Su Ziji and the merchant crew to come out with the coffin.
The delusional expectations were suddenly completely crushed by reality.
A miserable cry followed.
"My son——"
"Madam!"
"Mother!"
Seeing Shao's mother crying, she leaned back and closed her eyes. Shao's father beside her, her adult eldest son behind her, and her twelve or thirteen-year-old children all hurriedly gathered around her.
The servants and maids were even more anxious, squeezing people, and calling out. It took a while for the woman to wake up. The first thing she did after waking up was to struggle up, throw herself at the nanmu coffin that had been pushed off the boat by more than a dozen people, and cry bitterly.
Get up.
"Sen'er, how could you...how could you be so cruel and leave me and your father behind!"
"You cruel child, cruel child! How do you want me to live, how do you want me to live! Aren't you going to love me to death?"
Beating the coffin time and time again, the woman cried heartbrokenly, which really saddened everyone who heard it and shed tears when she saw it.
Father Shao, who was also unstable and had to be supported by his eldest son to stand, had red eyes and tears silently flowing down. He was so sad that he could hardly speak. He just pressed his hand on the coffin and his body was shaking. p>
Su Ziji stood aside, and because of this, he subconsciously noticed the snow falling on the coffin.
Although after it was pushed down, a servant of the Shao family immediately raised an umbrella to cover the coffin, but when it was pushed down, rain and snow still fell on it.
Some of them were not melted and were stained with water, which made him uncomfortable to look at.
Su Ziji wanted to wipe it, touched his sleeve, and a handkerchief fell down.
The wild Taoist caught it and handed it back.
"Do I have a handkerchief?" Su Ziji felt heavy in his heart because of this sad emotion. When he took it, he felt that the handkerchief was both strange and familiar. When he opened it, he only had time to see clearly what the sentence was.
Poems about love.
"I look back lazily on a flower bush, half destined to practice Taoism and half destined to be a king."
When did I get this handkerchief? I turned it over and saw the mandala flower again. I immediately remembered that this was Sang Nu's handkerchief.
"Hey, why is it in my arms again?" As I was thinking this, my hand had already wiped the snow off the coffin with this handkerchief.
"Are you Nephew Su Xian?" At this time, Shao's father, who barely maintained his demeanor, called out to Su Ziji.
Su Ziji held the handkerchief in his hand, which looked a bit awkward, so he put it on the coffin first and gave a junior salute to Shao's father: "Uncle Shao, please express my condolences. It's important to take care of yourself."
"Hey!" Father Shao closed his eyes in pain and sighed. When he opened them again, he had already suppressed his sadness.
"I've heard about your help for my son. Nephew Su Xian, our Shao family will never forget your great kindness. In the future, if we, the Shao family, can help, you can just mention it and I won't say anything!"
Then, he said to the twelve or thirteen year old boy: "Liu'er, kneel down and say thank you to Nephew Su Xian for me and our Shao family!"
"No way!" Seeing that the child actually knelt down with a pop, Su Ziji hurriedly avoided and declined.
"This is actually my fourth son, and Sen'er is my third son. The second son died in infancy and left us, and now the third son is the same."
"If it weren't for your help, the third child would never return home, and his mother would be hurt to death."
"This is a gift of survival. As a young son, he should thank you. Don't refuse."
How could Su Ziji accept it?
Just as he was about to refuse again, he suddenly saw the crowd not far away hurriedly dispersed, and a speeding bullock cart stopped in front of the Shao family's team.
Before they could stop, a girl in plain clothes stumbled out of the bullock cart and staggered towards her.
"Moriro!"
Seeing the coffin not far away, Shao's mother cried until her eyes were like rotten peaches. How could she not understand that the coffin in front of her was Shao Sisen?
She just looked at it and rushed towards it, but as soon as she touched the coffin, before she could cry out, a mouthful of blood spurted out.
There was total silence for a moment.
Su Ziji was also shocked.
"Could this be Brother Shao's fiancée?" He thought secretly.
The whole place, even those watching from a distance, were stunned. No one could have imagined that a girl would suddenly appear, throw herself in front of the coffin, and vomit blood like this.
The blood fell on the ground, and it fell together with the thin snow that had not melted away, which was really dazzling.
The sluggishness only lasted for a moment. The maid who came down from the bullock cart a few steps later staggered to catch up and shouted: "Miss!"
This sound woke everyone up.
Someone in the crowd guessed the girl's identity. The Shao family, including the master, his wife, the two young masters, and the servants below all knew who the girl was.
Mother Shao was crying so hard just now that she could hardly control herself. Now she was being supported by someone. Looking at the girl who was also grieving, she couldn't help but sob. The sadness and regret in her voice made people feel sad.
"Hey, idiot, idiot!" She sighed: "Why have you come to this point?"
The girl listened but ignored it, as if there was only the person in the coffin in front of her in the world at this moment, and even the maid who gently shook her was abandoned outside her own world.
She wiped away the blood at the corner of her mouth carelessly, and broken beads of tears fell down. She knelt down for two steps, leaned lightly on the coffin, and cried silently.