Chapter 744 - 383: Attending the Funeral (3)

Chapter 744: Chapter 383: Attending the Funeral (3)

In front of the brazier was a row of straw mats. Qingmu and Huai Zi led them to kneel and kowtow, respectfully and mournfully burning paper money and offering incense. Liu Yunlan quickly had Hulu kneel as well, and he kowtowed a few times to the Great-Aunt. They had taught him this at home, so Hulu’s bows looked the part.

One of the bereaved sons came forward and kowtowed in thanks.

How could Qingmu and Huai Zi dare accept such a gesture? They hurriedly helped him up. After the commotion, they went over to speak with Zheng Changhe, while Juhua and Liu Yunlan went to the back where the female relatives were to find Yang Family.

After a while of hurried activity, they blended into the funeral proceedings and slowly grew accustomed to it. Their tears no longer flowed as uncontrollably as they had at the beginning. Upon closer observation, Juhua saw that these people only wailed aloud when someone came to pay their respects. When the visitors left, or during lulls when no one was around, many of them could be found chatting and laughing in low voices or even critiquing the new arrivals.

Juhua could hardly stand it. She and Liu Yunlan had been pulled aside and questioned by a whole circle of people, and even Pu Pao hadn’t been spared. So they explained that Pu Pao was her younger cousin, and she’d just brought her along.

Yang Family had been helping in the kitchen, but she had estimated they were about to arrive and came to the mourning hall specifically to wait for them. After they met and exchanged a few words, she deftly dismissed the curious old women and young wives with a few brief sentences. Then she led the group out of the mourning hall. She told Juhua to take Hulu and find a place to rest for a while, while she herself took Liu Yunlan to the kitchen to help. Qingmu and Huai Zi had already been assigned tasks long ago.

Worried her daughter-in-law might overthink things, she said to Liu Yunlan, "You’ll just be helping me pluck and wash vegetables. We’ll use well water, so it won’t be cold at all. Otherwise, we’re all close family. If we all hide away to rest, it won’t look good. Juhua’s health..."

Liu Yunlan quickly cut her off with a gentle reproach. "Mother, listen to yourself. You don’t think I’d compare myself to Juhua, do you? Others might not know what suffering she’s endured, but I certainly do. What’s so tiring about washing a few vegetables? I’ll go with you."

Juhua let out a soft laugh. She whispered to Liu Yunlan, "My mother is worried you’ll say she’s playing favorites, letting her daughter rest while making her daughter-in-law work. You two go on ahead. I’m going to use the privy, then I’ll come find you. This place is so crowded, it’s not peaceful enough to rest anyway. Besides, Brother Huai Zi carried me for a long way, so I’m not that tired."

Liu Yunlan smiled too, telling Hulu to stay with his aunt and not to run off.

Yang Family called over a little girl with her hair in a topknot—she was about Pu Pao’s age—and asked her to take Juhua to rest. She said to Juhua, "You rest for a while. Come out and help after the noon meal. We can manage without you for a bit." With that, she left with Liu Yunlan.

Juhua learned from the little girl that her name was Chuntao, and she was the youngest daughter of her Third Cousin-Uncle. She led Juhua and Pu Pao around the main house to the rear courtyard, where there was an east and a west wing. Chuntao pushed open the door to the East Wing and invited them inside to rest. She then returned to the front, saying she needed to help wash dishes and pluck vegetables in the kitchen.

Juhua sighed, rested for a short while, and then came out carrying Hulu and leading Pu Pao to look for Yang Family.

The kitchen was not short on help. Besides, there were few vegetables in winter, just napa cabbage, yellow-hearted cabbage, and the like. With her mother and sister-in-law already helping, she was shooed out. Later, Liu Yunlan took Hulu back and went with another young wife to a side room to sew mourning clothes.

After a hasty lunch, she looked around for a bit, learning about some of the funeral customs. When she returned to the East Wing in the rear courtyard, she found it was also crowded with people, so she quickly backed out and went with Pu Pao to find Liu Yunlan. They searched several rooms but couldn’t find her. In the end, they had no choice but to find a corner in the room next to the mourning hall, sitting down to pass the time by listening to others gossip.

Although she and Pu Pao didn’t say much, people still pestered them with questions, like which branch of the family they were from, where they lived, and so on. When they heard she was a grandniece from the old matriarch’s maiden family, they immediately asked if she was Scholar Zhang’s wife.

Juhua was dumbfounded. ’I didn’t realize the Scholar from Qingnan Village was so famous.’

So she just laughed it off, said no, and then refused to say another word. She retreated to the inner part of the room by the bed, sat on a small stool, and started to doze off. But the old matriarch’s maiden family only had one nephew, and that nephew had raised a son and a daughter. Even if she refused to say more, everyone knew she was the "ugly girl" who had married into the Scholar’s family—though she was considered a beauty now. So they whispered about her, much to her vexation.

As a result, because she was hiding there, she ended up witnessing a farce unfold before the memorial altar.

In the afternoon, hardly anyone else came to pay respects—all who were expected had already arrived. For some unknown reason, the Great-Aunt’s sons and daughters began to argue. The argument grew louder and louder. Finally, someone must have intervened, pointing out that it was inappropriate to cause a scene in the old matriarch’s mourning hall. So, the whole group moved into the adjacent room where she was.

When the people in the room saw the siblings enter arguing, they quickly slipped away. Juhua and Pu Pao, who were sitting inside, didn’t have time to escape and were trapped in the room, forced to listen to their endless squabbling.