Guo Chuzi's body was temporarily placed in the house, covered with white curtains. Once the coffin was built, it was ready to be buried. Wenzhong and Guo Xiangren were in another room. Xiangren adjusted his mourning clothes and turned around to talk to him.
Wen Zhong spoke.
"Brother Wen, the obituary has been published in many places. Who else do you think we need to invite?" asked the Hunanese.
"Of course Chen Tongzhi is coming," Wen Zhong knocked on the table with his hand, "Also, all the big and small stewards in the dyeing shop have to be invited."
The Xiang people raised their fingers and said: "There are... about ten or twenty people. I'm afraid we won't be able to send them."
Wen Zhong said: "Why are you so honest? In the name of your brother, I temporarily stopped the dyeing shop for one day and ordered them all to attend the funeral. Then..." At this point, he deliberately lowered his voice and said a few words,
The Xiang people nodded.
During these days of mourning, the Hunan people showed great brotherhood. They ate porridge and vegetables every day. Notwithstanding their haggard appearance, they also found time to help with household affairs. They treated their family members with courtesy and treated their servants strictly.
He was involved in all major matters, and his authority in the house was established.
Wen Zhongshang wanted to take charge of the operation of the gambling house, so he sent Guan Qiye here to help him. The Hunan people asked their servants to pick him up from outside the door, made him a cup of good tea, and said: "When my brother is gone, why bother to provoke him?"
Everyone is not at peace. Master Qi is Brother Wen’s brother, so I should call him brother. If there is anything wrong with you, just mention it."
Guan Qi gave in several times, but could not match the hospitality of the Hunan people, so he had to hold the tea in his hand and said: "You are so polite. I am a wise businessman from Jiangdu. We feel extremely sorry for him and feel deeply sad, so we came here voluntarily.
I should share your worries for you."
The people from Guoxiang chatted with him for a while before going out for business. Master Guan Qi looked at his back, sighed a few times, and said to the servant beside him: "You master is very honest, kind and humble to others.
He is so capable in his work, he is truly a young gentleman. But... I would like to advise you, master, not to be too weak outside."
The Xiang people walked into the study and summoned the steward. His expression immediately changed and he asked sternly: "Why haven't the coffins been delivered yet?"
"This morning, the store said it was ready. When I was about to go, I asked some questions and had to be delayed for a while. Then a little servant came over and said that my wife had fainted and had to go to the store to get medicine. I
I approved a few taels of silver and went out. After a lot of fussing, my mind was so busy that I accidentally forgot about it. I suddenly remembered it and was about to go."
The Xiang man lowered his eyebrows: "I'll spare you this time, but don't neglect me in the future."
"The villain understands."
"That Guan Qi," Xiangren took out a pen from the side, "I heard that he went to Yizheng and participated in the Lu Jishou case at that time. He was able to spy on the inside story in Yizheng, so he would naturally take a few glances at us.
Don't be careful. Just take him to the outer courtyard to rest, and serve him with some low-level servants who don't know the inside story. We have put all the family members in the inner courtyard. If you have anything to discuss, please don't wander around."
"Young man, go and make arrangements immediately." The steward stood up and said.
The Xiang man said again: "Wait a minute. Guan Qi, you have to persuade him with kind words and send him out of the inner courtyard. Don't be vindictive because of your haste. These people in the gambling house are doing favoritism and bending the law. They are all like sitting in a government office."
I can’t mess with my master.”
After hearing this, the steward muttered a few times: "Shopkeeper Wen is actually pretty good to us..."
"What?"
The Xiangren rolled his eyes, and suddenly felt an unprecedented rage in his heart. His veins popped out. He broke the pen holder in his hand and shouted: "What? This dyeing shop belongs to Wenzhong, and the palace is also his territory? My brother said that
, Jiangdu’s property must belong to the family and cannot fall into the hands of outsiders! Don’t you even want to listen to his words?!”
The steward kowtowed in fear: "That's not what I meant, that's not what I meant..."
The Xiang native threw down the broken pen and gritted his teeth and said, "My dear brother, he always looked up to other people's faces before he died. I can't sit back and wait for death again." After that, he strode out from the steward's side.
When Chen Tongpao heard that the coffin had been delivered to the palace, he changed his clothes and went from the official office to the door of the palace. He took the obituary notice and said that he was his colleague Chen Tongpao. The servants hurriedly invited him into the palace.
There were about a hundred people coming to the funeral, all dressed in plain clothes, walking on the corridor like a white cloud; the only sounds in their ears were the chanting of monks, the sound of wooden fish, and sometimes the sobs of the guests.
Slowly walked towards the mourning hall.
Chen Tongpao stepped lightly into the hall, gave Chu Zi a stick of incense, turned around and left, and sulked down the hall. The monk didn't know how many times he knocked the wooden fish, but suddenly he put down the gavel and it stopped ringing.
The colleague slowly raised his head. It turned out that Tong Wenzhong, who was from Hunan Province, came out of the inner room. Their faces were expressionless.
"Dear guests," the Xiang people said first, "my dear brother has worked hard in Jiangdu and dyeing workshops all his life. He is really respectable. As a younger brother, I am extremely grateful that so many friends can come to express their condolences."
I shed tears and swallowed even more.
Wen Zhong supported him on a chair and comforted him for a long time. The guest also shed tears and felt sad.
"Si Xing is too sad and doesn't want to say too much, so I'll just read Yuan Wai's suicide note..." Wen Zhong took out a piece of white paper from his sleeve and showed it to everyone, "This is what Yuan Wai wrote a few days ago."
OK."
"My illness is gradually getting better, so I wrote a letter to tell everyone: I am a citizen of Nanjing, living in Jiangdu, and fortunately I have established a career. Thanks to the help of everyone, I can achieve great things. I have been heroic in life, how can I be sad in death?
Gentlemen, please don’t worry about it, and if you make others uneasy, how can I lighten my sin?"
After reading this, there was a sudden burst of crying in the hall, and the Xiang people's eyes turned red unconsciously. Chen Tongpao also shed a few tears and wiped them away with his sleeves.
"And..." Wen Zhong's eyes continued to look down, "If the business of the dyeing workshop is definitely not stolen by others, I have been through many ups and downs. I have never given birth to a son in my life, and I still feel guilty for my ancestors. In everything, everyone can recommend a good brother.
The people of Hunan should take over the dyeing workshop so that they will not regret it."
Wen Zhong put down his suicide note and asked, "Are all the shopkeepers from the dye house here?"
More than a dozen shopkeepers looked at each other in disbelief, then knelt down and bowed to them: "I don't know...I wonder what shopkeeper Wen has given you?"
Wen Zhong turned around, looked at the Xiang people, and then went to hold his hand: "Since Yuan Wai said something before his death, we can't make him hold a grudge. Please also ask the Xiang people to take over your brother's dyeing workshop."
The shopkeepers winked at each other and shouted: "We are willing to follow the orders of this great shopkeeper!"
The Guoxiang man stood up slowly and said in front of everyone: "You have all worked hard. I will do my best to run this dyeing shop."
Once Guo Xiangren learned about this, he took over Guo Chuzi's dyeing workshop smoothly and without any obstacles. After Chen Tongpao witnessed this change with his own eyes, he hurriedly prepared his carriage and horses and prepared to go to Nanjing to meet the man.