Zhang Lao'an saw the big and small people in front of him with sullen faces, and felt upset. He waved his hands and said: "That's it, that's all. If you don't listen to the old man's words, you will suffer the consequences. Let you go."
Mrs. Guo bent her knees again and led Shen Rui out.
The yard that Shen Rui recently moved was in the front yard, not far from the mourning hall. When he saw it, Shen Rui pulled Guo's hand and whispered: "Auntie, please go slowly. My nephew has something to ask for."
Mrs. Guo stopped and ordered the two maidservants following her: "Go ahead and ask the housekeeper to come over."
When the two maids left, Guo asked, "What's the matter with Brother Rui?"
Shen Rui whispered: "My nephew was frozen and starved for several days, and he almost died of starvation. It was all thanks to Mrs. Wang and Liu Ya who secretly kept food for him to escape. If it was because of my nephew, the two of them would have died."
How can my nephew bear to be punished by Lao An? I also ask my aunt to help me think of a way to protect my nephew."
Mr. Guo shook his head and said, "It's too late. Last afternoon, Lao'an slapped two people for not serving you well, and then called a gangster to sell the two to a passing merchant ship."
When Shen Rui heard this, he was heartbroken thinking about Liu Ya's expectant eyes, the two pieces of rice cakes left by Mother Wang, and the teachings.
Mrs. Guo saw that his eyes were straight and said hurriedly: "Don't worry, they have been bought back by your clan brother Shen Li. They are just being kept at his house for the time being because of injuries on their bodies. Maybe they will be given to you after some time when they are better."
return."
Shen Rui sighed, but felt relieved in his heart.
At this moment, the two maids had brought over the fourth housekeeper, the one Shen Juren had ordered to pick up Shen Rui across the courtyard yesterday. Seeing the two Guos, the housekeeper bowed in greeting.
"Who is in the mourning hall?" asked Guo.
"Brother is here." the butler replied.
"Where's the uncle?"
"Master is feeling cold outside and is resting in the study." The housekeeper replied respectfully.
We just "burned Qi" yesterday, and today there are no guests to pay homage. There are only monks, Taoist and nuns doing rituals in the mourning hall. Since Shen Juren is not here, there is nothing to avoid as Guo's aunt. Shen Jin is only fourteen, the same age as Guo's youngest son.
, Guo certainly does not need to avoid taboos.
The mourning hall was completely white, with cigarette smoke lingering, and monks and nuns chanting constantly. On both sides of the coffin, there was only one person kneeling alone, looking a little lonely. It was Shen Jin, with a dull look on his face, kneeling beside the coffin,
Due to the sound of monks and nuns chanting, Shen Jin didn't notice until Guo and Shen Rui approached, and quickly stood up: "Auntie and my second brother are here."
Shen Jin's face was haggard, and his eyes were black and blue. Mrs. Guo glanced at the futon next to the coffin, then looked at the filial stick in Shen Jin's hand, and said with a solemn expression: "My eldest nephew is really filial."
She originally thought that after Shen Li's scolding yesterday, Shen Jin should behave and give up his position as a filial son, but he didn't expect that he was still kneeling in the position of a filial son just now.
Shen Jin's face turned red and she said in a deep voice: "I am just fulfilling my responsibilities as a son of man. I don't dare to praise you as an aunt." After saying this, he turned to look at Shen Rui and said: "Now that my second brother is here, he should do his best." As he said this, he turned to Shen Rui.
, he handed the stick of filial piety to Shen Rui with both hands.
The dutiful son stick, also known as the mourning stick, is a bamboo body about three feet long and as thick as a thumb, wrapped with white paper cut into a crescent shape.
Shen Rui took it with both hands. It's not that he couldn't act like brothers and sisters, but it was too far from the owner's previous temperament. However, the inexplicable words he said to him were too rude, so he just took it silently and walked to the coffin to put it in his hands.
He placed the stick of filial piety by his side, then knelt down on the ground and bowed his head three times.
Seeing this, Mr. Guo personally took three sticks of incense, handed them to Shen Rui, and said, "Give your mother an incense stick."
Shen Rui thanked her in a low voice, took it, bowed before the soul again, and offered incense to Mrs. Sun. Mrs. Guo was worried about Shen Rui's health, so she said softly: "You haven't recovered yet, just do your best, don't let your mother suffer
I’m worried about it, so I’ll go back with my aunt first. I’ll wait until I feel stronger in two days.”
Shen Rui knew that it would be easier for him to follow Guo's wishes, but he still shook his head and said seriously: "My nephew is a filial son, and it is the right thing to mourn for my mother. In the past few days, my nephew's elders were considerate and did not blame me.
, my nephew was already feeling guilty and uneasy. Now that he has recovered, he is now able to accompany his mother on her last journey."
How could Mrs. Guo be so relieved? She disagreed and said, "Your filial piety is not in this. Your mother only has a little bit of blood like yours. You just raised her well. That's your filial piety."
Mrs. Guo meant well, but Shen Rui had already made plans. He walked to Mrs. Guo and whispered: "Aunt, my nephew was just hungry for two days and was unconscious for two days. Now he is warm and well-fed, and he is no longer afraid.
Yes, aunt still fulfills her nephew's filial piety."
Mrs. Guo still refused to let go. Shen Rui sighed and lowered his voice and said, "It's not good to just let the eldest brother fulfill his filial piety."
Mrs. Guo glanced at Shen Jin and then nodded hesitantly: "Then you stay here to keep your filial piety. Auntie will go back first. When it's time to take medicine, Auntie will ask you to pick you up."
Mrs. Guo did not go back to the guest house, but was persuaded by Shen Rui to go back to her own home. After all, she was the head of the fifth house, and she had a half-year-old daughter by her side. It was not easy to stay with Shen Rui for two days. But in the end, it was not easy.
Don't worry, I'd better leave my personal maid to look after Shen Rui and give her instructions before telling Fang to leave.
After the housekeeper sent Mr. Guo away, he looked at the two young masters who were silent in the mourning hall. He felt very worried and went to the study to find Shen Juren and wanted to report the matter. First, he was afraid that the two young masters would have a dispute.
It made a joke; secondly, I was worried that Shen Rui had just recovered from a serious illness and would not be able to bear the pain of keeping vigil.
After what happened yesterday, everyone in the Shen family was watching. If Shen Rui really had something to do, the reputation of the four houses would be ruined. You must know that it was not just the Shen family who came yesterday. In addition to the neighbors, the government
There were also a lot of people coming. Although the matter in the inner house did not come to the forefront, there were so many people yesterday that it was inevitable that the news would leak out.
Shen Juren was not in the study at the moment, but went to Lao An's place in the backyard. The chief steward rushed to the empty space, hesitated, and chased him to the backyard. When he reached the door of the backyard, the chief steward realized that something was wrong, and Lao An was beside him.
Several of his foster mothers and maidservants were waiting at the entrance of the courtyard.
Seeing the big housekeeper coming, Hao's mother came forward and said, "The big housekeeper has something urgent? Do you want me to go and report it to you?"
The housekeeper's eyes were sharp, and he could see that Mother Hao's eyes were wandering around. He was not angry about being sent away by Lao An, and wanted to use the name of the passerby to go to the upper room to inquire about something. Who knew what Lao An and Lao An were doing?
The butler didn't want to take part in what the master said privately, and hurriedly waved his hand and said: "No hurry, no rush, let's wait until the master comes out."
Mother Hao was embarrassed, but she didn't dare to offend the housekeeper. She snorted lightly and turned her head away.
When Zhang Laoan came into the house, Shen Juren frowned and said, "Didn't you find it for a while? I'll just wait until Sun's big business is over, open the east chamber, and search carefully."
Zhang Laoan said: "By the time the funeral was over, the day lilies were already cold! I had already felt that something was wrong. The night after Mrs. Sun passed away, I had someone open the east chamber. Everything that could be found was found, but there was nothing."
Shen Juren's expression was ugly. He was silent for a long time and said, "Since it's not in Sun's house, is it stored in someone else's house? Sun is smart in her actions. If she can be trusted, she won't make any mistakes."
Zhang Laoan snorted coldly: "Wealth and silk touch people's hearts. If it's a red deed, you can always get it back if there's a file in the yamen; if it's a white deed, who would be willing to spit it out after accepting it? Ever since I learned that the Sun family will After they were all released, I knew something was wrong. That's why people deliberately starved Rui'er for two days. They didn't just hang out two of them. They said it sounded nice, and they were gracious aunts, but they smelled the fishy smell and bit it, trying to take advantage of it. Four rooms are cheap!”
This statement sounds reasonable, but when thinking about Shen Li's status as the number one scholar and the usual discipline of the fifth-floor old man, Shen Juren shook his head and said: "Among the Sun family's dowry properties, there are only two cotton fields that were added later. One shop has a white deed, the others have a red deed, mother, don’t worry.”
Zhang Laoan stared and said: "That shop is not worth much money. Those two cotton fields are ten hectares each and eight hectares each. They are not small sums. If someone hides them, I will cry to death." I said, it is better to report to the Yamen quickly and catch the servants who escaped in the name of reporting lost property. No matter whether the bitch entrusted the contract to Shen Li or next door, there are always traces to follow and multiple witnesses. , and I feel more at ease.”
There was a scene in front of the clan members yesterday. Shen Juren always cared about face, so he dared to cause trouble. He frowned and said: "The shops and cotton fields are all left there, being taken care of by the servants of the family. I can't escape these days. Even so. It doesn't matter if someone else takes the land deed. In the Songjiang area, others can't bully the Shen family. We should wait until Sun's funeral."
Zhang Lao'an stamped his feet and said: "Other people can't bully the Shen family, but the Shen family itself? That little boy from the ninth house wears the hat of the number one scholar, and even the clan has to fawn over him; the Guo family next door, with the help of that lowly The glory of the people, the marriage with the prefect's family, and now the waist has straightened up. No matter which of the two of them accepted the entrustment of that bitch to hide the land and house deeds, it would be a big deal if they had a bad heart. "
Shen Ju, who was not well versed in economics, was impatient. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Don't worry about it, mother. My son has his own arrangements." After that, he stood up and left.
After walking a few steps, he saw that the ornaments on Duobaoge looked familiar. He couldn't help but take a second look, then turned around and said: "Mom, it's better to leave Sun's dowry untouched, so as not to be disturbed by the clan relatives." They misunderstood."
Zhang Laoan fell down in anger, and said with a green face: "Am I a thief? This is the one whom Sun paid homage to in the first place!"
Shen Juren laughed twice, but still did not change his words: "It's better to avoid suspicion. It's not good to misunderstand."
Zhang Lao'an became more and more annoyed, snorted coldly, waved his hands and said: "Go, go, I'm not old and stupid, I don't need the master's guidance!"
Shen Juren knew that his old mother was left-handed and would not listen to advice, so he could only sigh in his heart, pick up the curtain and go out. Seeing the housekeeper waiting at the entrance of the courtyard, Shen Juren slowed down and said, "But if you have something to do, come here." ?”
The chief steward hurriedly stepped forward and said in a low voice: "Master, the second brother just came to the mourning hall to keep vigil."
When Shen Juren heard this, his face was covered with frost, and he snorted coldly: "This evil beast is showing off again!"