Three hundred and twentieth chapters things are difficult (five)
I don’t know whether it was because having a full sleep relieved her fatigue, or because she knew her priorities and was afraid that she would be delayed on the road and not be able to send the patriarch off for his final journey. From the next day, Shen Jue felt much better. She no longer counted the grains of rice when eating, and rode There is no more swaying on the horse.
Shen Jiu seemed to have discovered his previous oversight, and began to care about Shen Jue's health, as well as other people. Even though he had to be a vegetarian during the period of filial piety, he still sent someone to buy two old ginseng slices with money, and cut them into pieces each time. Before setting off early, I made ginseng tea to replenish everyone’s energy.
The next journey went much smoother. Shen Dong, who was least accustomed to long journeys, gradually adapted to the daily pace of traveling after being haggard for a few days.
Along the way, the weather was good. Except for a heavy rain that delayed one day, the weather was still good at other times. Everyone was on their way, ranging from eighty miles to a hundred and twenty miles a day. Finally, on July 20th, Arrived in Songjiang on the 5th. This day was the third day after the "May 7th" event by the patriarch, two days earlier than Shen Ji's original plan.
When the group arrived at the door of the old clan house, someone came all the way in.
Because they had to rush on the road, the group of people were all dressed in plain clothes on the road, looking dusty and dusty. When they arrived at the door of the clan house, they had to put on their clothes, especially the grandson Shen Ji and the great-grandson Shen Dong, both of whom were wearing filial piety. When they returned home, , I have to go to pay homage to my grandpa first.
When they arrived at Shen Jue's place, Shen, the second brother of the clan who was out to welcome him, was a little hesitant.
There are several kinds of filial piety clothes beside him, including those made of natural-colored coarse linen and those made of natural-colored cooked linen.
The former is the uniform of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, which is the filial piety, which is what Shen Ji and Shen Dong wear; the latter is the uniform of "great merit".
Logically speaking, even if Shen Jue returned to his hometown for funerals, he would not be considered the grandson of the clan leader. It would be a "great achievement" to surrender. However, thinking about the relationship between him and his grandfather, Shen Jue couldn't bear it.
The patriarch did not leave silently. Before he passed away, his grandchildren and daughters were all around him. The thing that worried him the most was his grandson Shen Jue. He even talked about it several times. Even when he returned to his home and divided his private room, the patriarch did not Forgot to leave a copy for Shen Jue.
Shen Zhu and Shen Dong changed into mourning clothes and went to the mourning hall first.
Shen Rui and Shen Qi, who were standing next to Shen Jue, had not yet changed their clothes. Shen Rui hesitated, not knowing whether to speak or not, but Shen Jue took off the mourning clothes made of natural linen and put them on.
Shen was stunned for a moment, then looked a little sad and asked Shen Qi and Shen Rui to change their clothes.
Both of them are descendants of the clan whose patriarch has taken out the fifth robe. They no longer have robes, so they only need to wear "fuxiao", which is plain clothes with a bleached cloth filial belt around their waists.
Because it was not the day of "Burning Seventh Day", only the descendants and descendants of the clan's direct descendants were keeping vigil in the mourning hall.
Seeing the mourners coming back from the capital, everyone was paying attention not only to Shen Ji, but also to Shen Jue. Especially the second master’s family, they couldn’t help but look at Shen Jue. They didn’t think that Shen Jue’s birth was a bitter separation of flesh and blood. On the contrary, he felt that he had great luck, rising from the son of a squire to become an official young master. The third brother and fourth brother of the second master's family were also secretly jealous of this cousin. In addition, the patriarch specially designated the gift before his death, and even more This makes the second master’s family unhappy.
In their view, Shen Jue is no longer the grandson of the clan, so he is not qualified to divide the private property of the clan leader.
Now that Shen Jue came in, he didn't look grief-stricken, and he wasn't covered in burlap. They couldn't stand it even more. They didn't know that sometimes they were so sad that they couldn't shed tears. Being filial and not being filial doesn't matter. Not in uniform.
Although Shen Cang and his wife had told Shen Jue not to worry too much before coming to Beijing, but he could wear hemp and mourn for the patriarch, but Shen Jue did not listen to the instructions of his elders, but chose the second-class "great merit" uniform. It was because he had to be a good grandson who was obedient and obedient in front of his grandfather. He knew that only in this way could the patriarch truly feel at ease.
The mourning hall was located in the front yard of the old house. Because the weather was so hot, ice was placed under the coffin in order to make it cheaper to hold the funeral.
Although Songjiang is not as good at storing ice in winter as the capital city, some people use saltpeter to make ice, but the price has more than doubled.
Ordinary people can't afford this, but the Shen family is very wealthy. In addition to putting a lot of spices in the coffin, the iceberg in the mourning shed has not been broken in recent days, so that there is no trace of heat in the mourning hall, but it is filled with heat. A bit cool.
After Shen Zhu and Shen Dong offered incense in front of the coffin, Shen Jue knelt down in front of the coffin.
He didn't say a word or shed any tears. He just kowtowed respectfully, then offered incense and stepped aside, leaving the place of offering incense to Shen Qi and Shen Rui.
The eldest wife of the clan was also in the mourning hall. Seeing that the youngest son didn't even look at her, she felt panicked in her heart.
The second master of the clan frowned, feeling that Shen Jue was too cold and his expression was a little ugly. With the patriarch's love for Shen Jue, Shen Jue would have been crying bitterly, even if he was not heartbroken.
Shen Jue didn't realize it at all, with a dull look on his face, as if he was a clay or wood sculpture, standing beside him.
Shen Zhu had already brought Shen Dong to greet the elders. He couldn't help but worry when he saw the elder clan master, so he asked: "Madam, where is the master..."
"I'm tired these days. I'm taking medicine and taking some rest these days..." the eldest wife of the clan said.
Shen Zhi glanced at Shen Rui, Shen Qi and the others, and said: "If it's cheaper, let's go see the master first, and then some of the clan members should rest for a while..."
The eldest wife of the clan had already asked people to prepare the guest room, but she was just wondering if her master would be able to see guests now.
Just as she was hesitating, she heard someone say: "It's the eldest brother and Xiaodong brother who are back..."
The old man who walked in at the entrance of the mourning hall, dressed in mourning clothes and holding a cane, was none other than the clan leader.
Daily work is already tiring, not to mention this time of year, and the patriarch is also in his 60s. After working for more than a month, people can't bear it. After "May 7th", he fainted in the mourning hall and was killed. People carried him down to the mourning hall.
But as a filial son, how can he rest peacefully?
The clan leader always asked people to keep an eye on the mourning hall. When he heard that mourners from the capital had arrived, he came over on crutches.
"My unfilial son is back." Looking at his old father, Shen Zhi felt his heart tremble, opened his clothes, and knelt down.
Since he knelt down, Shen Dong naturally followed.
Looking at the eldest son and grandson kneeling in front of him, the elder clan master had red circles in his eyes and choked up: "It's good to come back, it's good to come back, get up quickly, can you go to make incense with me?"
"I've been there." Shen Ji stood up and replied.
The clan master then looked at Shen Rui and Shen Qi, and sighed: "It's Brother Qi and Brother Rui. You have worked hard on the journey... I have knowledge underground and will understand your kindness..."
Shen Qi said: "My father and mother also went south for the funeral, but my sister-in-law and her party were behind, and my nephew went ahead."
The clan elder was quite surprised when he heard this and sighed: "It's too busy to travel in such weather. It must have been your father's idea. He was so stubborn that he came up with the idea, but no one could dissuade him."
Shen Qi said: "My father often misses my uncle's kindness. After receiving the news, he has never been happy again. If he doesn't come back to see my uncle off for the last time, I'm afraid my father will not be able to live in peace in his life."
When the clan elder heard this, he was quite moved.
At that time, the fourth house was in decline and the fifth house was in chaos. It was the clan clan who came forward to help and things got better for these two clan houses. Shen Hong was about the same age as Shen Juren. In his early years, he was a frequent visitor to the clan clan and followed the eldest master of the clan clan. The two snot-nosed children of the family were regarded as nephews by the patriarch. Now that the news of the death was reported, Shen Juren, who was a professor in Yangzhou Prefecture, only sent his housekeeper back to pay his respects; but Shen Hong, who was far away in the capital, dragged The sick and weak body traveled thousands of miles to mourn.
Thinking like this, the clan elder looked at Shen Rui with a somewhat complicated look.
However, Shen Rui is now not the legitimate son of the fourth brother, but the heir of the second brother. He came back to attend the funeral on behalf of the second brother in the capital, and the patriarch of the clan had to exchange a few words.
After finishing the polite greetings, the clan elder finally looked at his most concerned son, Shen Jue.
Seeing that Shen Jue's face was sallow and his body was frighteningly thin, the clan leader moved his lips, but could not say a word.
When he arranged for his youngest son to become a successor, although the clan elder did it out of love for his son, he later regretted it. What he originally thought was that since he was old and his second wife was powerful, the younger son would be protected by the second wife as his heir, which would also help him and his young son's future. , but in the end the heir is an heir, not his biological son; the heir parents are his heir parents, not his biological parents.
In the past few years, every time he heard about the conflicts and disputes between heirs and heirs in childless families, the clan leader became frightened and thought of Shen Jue.
They are also worried that Shen Zhou will have a concubine and give birth to a child, and Shen Jue's identity will be embarrassed; and they are also worried that Qiao will be mean and bully Shen Jue, so everyone is worried.
It was not until the patriarch fell ill that he could not forget his young grandson before he passed away. The elder clan master's regrets were compounded by guilt. In his opinion, although the patriarch was old, he had always been in good health. In the past two years, his health had gone south. It's not because I miss my grandson.
But succession is not a child's play. Even if the patriarch regrets and feels ashamed, he will not say anything to let Shen Jue return to the clan.
He lowered his head dejectedly, not daring to look at Shen Jue's eyes again.
Ever since the clan elder entered the mourning hall, Shen Jue's eyes had fallen on the clan clan elder, filled with attachment and expectation. As the clan clan elder lowered his head, in the end, only despair and numbness remained.
Although the clan elder and his wife asked everyone to rest, after all, everyone came here for the funeral, so who could rest peacefully? After freshening up in the guest room, everyone returned to the mourning hall in unison.
Above the mourning hall, in addition to the direct descendants of the clan, there is also a young man in plain clothes. It is none other than Shen Quan, who returned from the capital in February to take the boy's examination.
He had passed the college examination and became a new associate student at Songjiang Prefecture, so he returned to Songjiang Prefecture. He originally planned to go back to the capital after completing the study tour procedures, but he didn't want to coincide with the funeral of the patriarch, so he stayed in Songjiang.
The various houses of the Shen family all live together in Shenjiafang. If there is news in the clan house, it won't take long for the other heads of the house to get the news.
When he heard that mourners had arrived in the capital, Shen Quan thought of his brothers Shen Qi, Shen Rui, and Shen Jue.
After the death of the patriarch, the fifth house must send someone south. There is no one else to choose this candidate, only Shen Qi, who has not yet become an official. In the same way, there is Shen Rui. As for Shen Jue, it is a matter of flesh and blood.
He didn't bother to ask people to find out who was not here, so he rushed over directly. He didn't want to see everyone in the capital in the mourning hall, but instead heard the third brother and the fourth brother making sarcastic remarks.
The third brother said: "The fifth brother is really a young master of the official family now. He is not willing to wear sackcloth and mourn for the great master. This is because he is afraid that his parents will be angry..."
The fourth brother said: "What fifth brother? He is no longer the clan's grandson, how can he still use the clan's ranking? Only the master is partial, thinking of him and not saying anything good, and even giving him a private house in the end, why? ?”
"If he is really shameless, don't take it." The third brother snorted coldly: "I want to see how this young master of Shangshu Mansion has the nerve to come to Songjiang to rob the family wealth?"
When Shen Zhu and his son arrived for the first time, they went to say goodbye to the eldest master of the clan and the eldest wife of the clan. Shen had been exhausted from working inside and outside these days. Even when he was in the mourning hall, he closed his eyes and rested his mind; Shen's children were also The juniors, even if they heard the third brother and the fourth brother making rude remarks, they would not go there and feel angry secretly. As for the second master of the clan and the second wife, the third brother and the fourth brother said exactly what they were thinking. If they had not supported them from behind, The two juniors don't dare to talk about this in the clan house...