Chapter Thirteen: Setting Off Fireworks for You and Playing Tricks on the Princes

  "Wooo... Ah..." The mournful cries echoed on the road, thirty-two pallbearers accompanied the funeral procession slowly passing by, the men in mourning attire beating the drums and blowing trumpets with all their might.

  Not only are there professional funeral teams in modern times, but this industry was also relatively developed in ancient times. Lin's mother and daughter were down on their luck, and naturally, no other relatives came to help with the funeral. This funeral team was hired by Tang Weixi at his own expense, so-called "filial sons".

  In this strange team, there was a girl who didn't fit in at all. She was so dull and expressionless, her delicate small face tightly closed off. She also wore mourning clothes and stood in the position of a family member in the team, but all of this seemed to have nothing to do with her as she walked along, still and unresponsive.

  The funeral procession wasn't very long, and in the distance, two figures were closely following behind, one big and one small, who were Old Wang and Tang Guan. They were still wearing their casual clothes, but Tang Guan had also changed into a black suit.

  "Master, don't follow him, it's unlucky"

  "The dead are great, the child does not speak of strange powers and gods." Tang Guan slightly shook his head, he didn't believe in that sort of thing. However, since Lin Yu Xun's mother had passed away, she had been acting strangely, without crying or smiling, completely unlike the little girl who used to cry all the time.

  The funeral procession is indeed not very popular, although the route is set to be more secluded, it's hard to avoid showing it to others, after all, loyalty and filial piety are quite powerful in this era.

  It was unexpected for Tang Guan that his first time stepping out of the house since he crossed over was in such a way, after much effort to get this opportunity, and still having Old Wang following behind.

  The team passed by with some avoidance, Tang Guan followed behind and walked through this street, but didn't see much excitement, fortunately he wasn't out to see the excitement either.

  The head of the team shouted "fall...", it turned out that they had arrived at their destination, but what fell was not a well-dug grave, but one corner of the paper pavilion in the team. Tang Guan had also read about this in his book, which is called "falling seat".

  Only to see these professional teams running in unison, their footsteps steady and unwavering, it's actually quite spectacular.

  The Confucian school emphasizes the four characters "Shen Zhong Zui Yuan", where Shen Zhong refers to the attitude towards death, and Zui Yuan is to pay respects to the virtues of the deceased, so that later generations can learn from them with reverence.

  Under layer upon layer of tedious rituals, Tang Guan gazed at the little girl who still looked numb and expressionless until the coffin was buried in the ground, her face only twitching slightly.

  A slender and small body in this slightly cool wind is like a small blade of grass firmly grasping the ground, slowly kneeling on the ground.

  The "filial sons" around cried even more sorrowfully, but the real daughter stood firmly, staring straight at the coffin being slowly buried in the ground.

  "Master, let's go..." Old Wang urged Tang Guan once again. Since the young master recovered from his illness, he had become very strange, not only in terms of his cleverness and quick thinking, but also in his temperament, which was completely different.

  This is already the outskirts, Lin Mu is not a local, and cannot enter the ancestral land. However, coming out of the Tang Manor is another matter, so they were buried in a nearby place. It can't be called a grand burial, but for a pair of orphaned children and their widowed mother, it's a decent way to go.

  "Master..." Old Wang saw that Tang Guan was unmoved, and continued to urge him on. In his view, watching a family's funeral procession from afar was both extremely disrespectful and inauspicious. Yet Tang Guan remained standing there, gazing into the distance.

  "You go first" Tang Guan gazed at the distant view, waving his hand impatiently.

  Old Wang had no choice but to nod and make some perfunctory noises, saying a few words of condolence. The coffin was finally buried. Some servants from the Tang household brought out some silver coins they had prepared beforehand and tossed them onto Lin Yuhuan, who was still kneeling on the ground. They shook their heads slightly before retreating a few steps with the rest of the group to divide up the money.

  Lin Yuxun gazed at the raised mound, her eyes finally reddening, but she suddenly lifted her small hand and bit down on it, the intense pain instantly suppressing her urge to cry.

  Some women are born delicate, like fine porcelain, beautiful but fragile. Lin Yuxun's tender small hand was bleeding profusely with just one bite.

  Tang's eyesight was extremely good, and he had already spotted the old man and Wang Laoshi in the distance. The servant on that side seemed to have also noticed them and walked over excitedly.

  Young Master, Wang the Housekeeper

  It was the home care nurse who followed Tang's surname, Tang Er. Tang Guan nodded lightly and continued to watch. Old Wang asked, "Is everything arranged?"

  "Alright, it's all arranged, everything that should be given has been given."

  Old Wang nodded, and the funeral procession slowly moved away with a rustling sound. Lin Yuhong was completely unaware of this, staring at his mother's grave, with fresh blood dripping from his small hands onto the white mourning clothes.

  Tang Guan was about to walk forward uncontrollably, but was pulled back by Old Wang, "Young master, where are you going?"

  "I'm going to visit Mrs. Lin"

  "Little master, let's go back, this is not proper, soon Tang Er will bring his wife home"

  Tang Er nodded hastily when he heard the words. He had a bit of rough strength and had been guarding the Tang family for eleven or twelve years, but it was rare for him to communicate with the young master at home.

  Tang Guan pushed away Old Wang, "Rules are set by people, she's a widow with no children, it doesn't mean she wants to follow rules."

  After finishing, Tang Guan slowly walked forward. Old Wang and Tang Er exchanged a glance but did not stop him. They were aware that Lin Yuxin had been taken in as Tang Wei's adopted daughter. Although Tang Guan himself still didn't know what this meant, to outsiders, Lin Yuxin was already considered Tang Guan's future wife or concubine - it was hard to say which one.

  Tang Guan gently reached out and patted Lin Yuxun, but Lin Yuxun remained unmoved. Tang Guan knelt beside him, as the saying goes, "A man's knees are made of gold", yet Tang Guan actually knelt to a non-relative outsider. Old Wang in the distance was shocked by the sight.

  Lin Yuxun saw Tang Guan kneeling down and finally spoke out: "Young master, you can't kneel"

  Tang Guan saw her finally speaking, his face lit up with joy, he grabbed her hand, and furrowed his brow.

  They were only seven or eight years old, still young children in later life, but at this time one was a crosser and the other was ups and downs, like a lone reed.

  Adding to this era's adult standards, neither of them can be considered a child in terms of personality or ideology.

  "Zi La" Tang Guan forcefully tore off a corner of the tight-fitting Muslim clothing, slowly wrapping it around Lin Yu Xun's hand. However, Lin Yu Xun withdrew her gaze, no longer looking at him, but instead continued to stare at her mother's grave.

  "Why aren't you crying?" Tang Guanbao finally couldn't help but ask after finishing bandaging.

  "Xun'er promised her mother, and from now on she won't cry again." Lin Yuxun still had no expression.

  Tang Guan's heart inexplicably tightened, the two meeting was fate, and he couldn't help but laugh at himself for thinking she was weak and ugly that day. But this era had taught him a lesson: don't judge people by their appearance. Lin Yuxun suddenly became an extraordinary person in his eyes.

  It has to be admitted that even if this was the Zhou of Wu, which was about to give birth to its first female emperor, it was still a patriarchal society in essence, because patriarchy was the labor force that spanned the entire feudal history.

  Under such social conditions, the male complex of Tang Guan also inevitably swells up. Undoubtedly, Lin Yuxun's words have stimulated him a bit, making the woman next to him strong enough not to cry, which is not her ability, but the man's incompetence.

  "Xun'er, for you..." Tang Guan took out an object from his bosom and handed it over to Lin Yu Xun.

  Lin Yuxun lightly swept, and was stunned, it was the grasshopper that she had thrown to the ground in a hurry that day. Looking at the withered grasshopper, her eyes reddened for no reason, just about to lift her hand to wipe away tears.

  One hand stretched to the small mouth, "Bite me" Tang Guan stared at Lin Yuheng, Lin Yuheng looked up at Tang Guan with serious eyes, and tears welled up in his eyes.

  "It doesn't matter, you've bitten me anyway." Tang Guan had an air of not caring at all, and it was only then that Lin Yuheng noticed a scar on Tang Guan's hand that hadn't faded yet, remembering that it was from the day his mother passed away.

  "I promised your mother that I would take good care of you. As long as I, Tang Guo, am around, no one will be able to bully you!" Tang Guo looked at Lin Yuheng with a serious expression, rarely being so solemn. He had only met Lin's mother initially to do a good deed, but after a month of interaction, he found himself having an inexplicable affection for Lin Yuheng.

  Tears finally fell, but there was no sound. The tears streaked across Lin Yuxuan's pale face, and her small hands tightly grasped the grasshopper that Tang Guan had given her.

  Tang Guan gazed at her, finally understanding why King You of Zhou dared to use the beauty trick to play with the feudal lords. If he were in King You's shoes and Lin Yuxun was Bao Si, Tang Guan would also dare to do so.

  This year, the two were only seven or eight years old, but Tang's restless heart in his early twenties had settled down a bit. He too had thought about having three wives and six concubines, and perhaps he would have really done so, but as someone with an adult soul, he understood what love was.

  A horse carriage was galloping on the wide road.

  "Chen Ming's house, almost arrived."

  Che Baishou drove the carriage while saying to Chen Yousheng in it, "Once we get on the official road, it's a different story." After nearly two months of bumpy roads, he finally arrived in Chang'an.

  Che You Sheng tightly hugged the two scrolls in his arms as if they were rare treasures.

  "The wild flowers are about to confuse people's eyes, and the shallow grass can't hide horse hooves."

  "What a great seven-character poem!"

  "I have numerous talented individuals in my Lin'an, but those who possess such talent are scarce." Chen Yunshang muttered to himself, sometimes furrowing his brow and sometimes smiling.