The drizzle that lasted for several days finally washed away the cold air in the north. As May approaches, the mountains and fields are covered with misty green.
The most complicated tasks of household registration, resettlement of new households, division of new residential areas and distribution of new crops for spring plowing have finally come to an end.
Even with the help of Zhao Xi, Zhao Yun and others who had not yet left, Gongsun Yan was still busy without touching the ground.
There are so many things she wants to do and needs to do, but there are too few people available for her, and she knows too little about the world.
The bamboo slips in the palm of your hand, the series of household registrations recorded on the slips, are not just numbers that can be arranged at will. Everyone has their own thoughts and ideas.
Every decision Gongsun Yan makes will profoundly affect the livelihood of these people and their family. Therefore, while she is thinking, these people are also thinking.
These living people have their own emotions and positions, and will have their own reactions to every new policy and order.
In the past few days, there has been resistance, support, overt and covert disobedience, and ineffective execution...all these factors have given Gongsun Yan a headache.
She had to run between the study and the meeting hall to catch Zhou Xing, who was about to take office in Lulong, working overtime for several days, which made Zhou Xing's already thin hair even thinner.
On the day when Zhao Yun took office and left, his bun the size of a steamed dumpling was barely on top of his head, and it seemed like he couldn't even get a hairpin on.
Even though Gongsun Yan received systematic daily treatment, when he was combing his hair in the morning, Ah Qing, who was responsible for cleaning the inner room, still felt extremely heartbroken for days and plucked several of Gongsun Yan's long, straight black hair on the grate.
Gongsun kept his face calm and secretly bought sesame pills and anti-hair loss shampoo.
The most complicated matters were basically settled, and the fortune teller finally decided on the funeral ceremony for Gongsun Zan's family.
Gongsun Zan burned himself in Yijing. Except for Gongsun Yan and Gongsun Chengde, the rest of the family were buried in the fire at Yijing, and their bodies were confiscated by Yuan Shao.
Although Gongsun Yan asked Gongsun Jing to petition the capital to ask for the remains of his relatives, everyone knew that even if the remains were recovered, it would be difficult to get the whole body.
Moreover, the Han Dynasty emphasized funerals and regarded death as life. If no tombs were set up, the soul would have nowhere to return.
Therefore, even though the remains were left in the hands of others, the officials in charge of the divination of Lingzhi Prefecture still decided on a date to return home for burial.
Gongsun Zan was still in his prime and had not repaired his tomb before. In addition to the lack of time, he only chose a place in an open area on the north mountain of Guzhu Manor to bury the whole family together.
Gongsun Yan's eldest brother Gongsun Xu had been married and had children before his death. His wife and children were trapped in Yi Jing, and they also set up a tomb in Guzhu Beishan.
Regarding Gongsun Yan's insistence on refusing to hold the family funeral ceremony in Lingzhi City and insisting on returning to Guzhu, the head of the Zhi family, Gongsun Jing, was not happy on the surface, but privately he nodded in appreciation of Gongsun Yan's astuteness.
Now that Gongsun Zan was defeated and Yuan Shao became the new lord of Youzhou, the attitude of the Gongsun family in western Liaoning attracted the attention of many people.
Raising troops to avenge Gongsun Zan was never on the Gongsun family's list of choices.
They must maintain a hazy and ambiguous attitude towards this matter to watch events unfold.
This is the wisdom that the great family has retained for hundreds of years.
Therefore, Gongsun Zan's funeral had to be low-key and low-key.
Gongsun Yan moved the funeral to Guzhu and thoughtfully gave various wealthy families in Lingzhi City a suitable platform.
To maintain a caring but not attentive attitude, just send your family members and nephews to participate, without having to weigh whether you need to come in person.
After sending people to report their deaths, Gongsun Yan handed everything over to Tian Kai, who took charge of the overall situation and was assisted by Zhao Xi and others.
I was worried that Lone Bamboo Manor had no experience in handling funerals like this, and would make some mistakes and make a mess, which would cause a loss of face.
Gongsun's family not only sent the funeral butler, but also several stewards and several housekeepers' wives.
Among them were the lady surnamed Jiang and the steward surnamed Lin, who had dealt with Gongsun Yan.
In the early morning, before dawn, Gongsun Yan took Gongsun Cheng to bathe and change clothes, and wore sackcloth and mourning.
A tall mourning shed was built in the main house. Among the several lacquered coffins placed in the mourning shed, only the clothes were placed.
These clothes were carried by Gongsun Yan and Gongsun Cheng on bamboo poles, and they were regarded as the bodies of the deceased after the soul-returning ceremony.
Gongsun Yan held Gongsun Cheng in his arms, and placed lacquer pillows at the head of the coffins one by one, and placed rice containers on them.
Finally, the lacquered coffin was closed and placed in the coffin.
In addition to the coffins of Gongsun Yan's family, there are several coffins behind the mourning hall, which contain the ashes of the villagers in Yangqiuli and those who died in the First World War in Yangqiuli.
There were many dead, and they could not bring back all the bodies with their own hands, so they brought back the ashes and buried them together in Beishan. When the tomb was built, they could also enjoy incense and sacrifice.
Gongsun Yan, with red and swollen eyes, knelt on the right side of the mourning hall and kept throwing some paper money with a round outside and a square inside into the brazier.
Gongsun Cheng seemed to know something. From the beginning of the soul summoning ceremony, he said nothing and refused to leave Gongsun Yan for even half a step. At this time, he knelt down and snuggled next to him obediently.
From the day she was born, the siblings would cry and pay homage day and night to thank the guests who came to express their condolences.
Gongsun Jing didn't come in person, he just said that the white-haired man was too sad to send the black-haired man.
Gongsun Jing and several of his concubines brought Gongsun Yan's cousins to Guzhu yesterday.
When Gongsun Yan was in Lingzhi, he met all these uncles, brothers and sisters once or twice, but it was far from being familiar with them, and there was no blood relationship between them.
He and Gongsun Jing even formed a close relationship.
It's just that this is not the time to count these things. Gongsunyan, Gongsuncheng and his sister are kneeling alone in the mourning hall, and the concierge is picking them up. It's these uncles who are handling it.
There were not many people who came to express condolences, and there were no important guests.
No one could have imagined that the funeral of Gongsun Zan, the overlord of the North who once dominated the Great Wall and spanned several states, would be so shabby and deserted.
Gongsun Yan glanced at the paper-wrapped white horse and black cow standing next to the coffin, and carefully raised his sleeve to wipe his red and swollen eyes.
A dutiful son and a dutiful daughter must weep and pay homage in the mourning hall morning and night. Even if she can't cry, she still has to cry.
So before dawn, I got up and used Asian magic. I bought cosmetics and gave myself a sickly, ghostly look.
Besides...
She was not totally fake. Although she only had flashbacks in her mind, she remembered several people in the coffin.
She didn't know how to define those memories and emotions, and she couldn't deny that those emotions would have a certain impact on her.
"A Cheng, are you tired?" Gongsun Yan asked Gongsun Cheng softly, who was leaning closely against her.
"Not tired." Gongsun Cheng looked at the coffin blankly. It seemed that he was affected by the crying of the people around him in the morning, and he also cried in panic.
At this time, his eyes were red, and he grabbed Gongsun Yan's sleeve tightly.
Knowing his condition, Gongsun Yan originally wanted to lie about him being sick to prevent him from facing this.
However, Tian Kai strongly rejected it. He said that the young master could not hide under his sister's skirts all his life, and there were some situations that he had to face.
If you still avoid the funeral of your father, brother, mother and sister, how can you grow up in this troubled world?
Tian Kai's words have come to this point, and Gongsun Yan has nothing to say in reply.
Just as he was about to say a few more words of comfort, he heard a report from the mourning hall:
"The magistrate of Lulong County, Zhao Yun, the commander of the barrier."
