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Chapter 125 The Funeral

Beyond everyone’s expectation, General Ruan passed away very quietly.

He had been seriously ill and was unable to speak or move. Therefore, when Ruan Qingyan and others were around, they took his pulse every now and then to make sure that he was alive.

In the middle of the night Ruan Qingyan found that the thin body lying in the brocade quilt was still warm, but the chest flattened.

When Doctor Qi arrived, the body had already cooled down though it was summer.

“I feel sorry but please restrain your grief.” Doctor Qi knew it was just a routine when he came. Now that he was useless, he comforted Ruan Qingyan and left.

At this point, Ruan Ciyi could not help crying. She was the unlucky one. She had lived an easy and cosy life for nearly twenty years before getting married, just in time to meet her grandfather’s defeat, which implicated her husband. Coming back to the capital city after more than ten years of demotion with the help of her brother, she was just in time for her grandfather’s last farewell.

When she burst out, Qiu Yelan also began to weep. The two cousins sobbed as they knelt in front of the bed, telling General Ruan’s kindness and their affection for him.

Ruan Qingyan had been sitting there in silence since he realized that his grandfather had passed away. He was unable to say a single word.

Fang Nongyan, who had been a district magistrate for more than ten years, immediately called people in to deal with the situation, and then sent someone to inform Ling Zui. Since General Ruan was bound to leave any time these days, it was not good to have outsiders at home. So Ling Zui helped make preparations in the daytime and went back at night.

Ruan Qingyan was so sad that he couldn’t do anything. Fang Nongyan was not familiar with the environment. On the other hand, being a grandson-in-law, he could not make decisions. So the whole family was in chaos when Ling Zui hurried over.

Ling Zui had no time to scold anyone. He found several housekeepers and told them to follow the arrangements of his people. He then rushed to the backyard.

Seeing Ruan Qingyan and others who were desperate, he comforted them even though he knew that it was useless at this point. He took over and began to work. He drove everyone out and arranged people to clean General Ruan’s body and dress him in the shrouds that had been prepared many years ago. Finally, they placed him into the coffin....

Brought up in a big family, he was a well-known dandy in the capital and had attended several weddings and funerals, so he knew the general process and scene of a funeral. Moreover, with the assistance of his own housekeepers, he had the mourning hall set up before dawn.

By this time, people who were to send messages had almost been dispatched. Mourners began to come one after another when the gate opened in the early morning.

Since the Ruans had been in decline for a long time and Ruan Qingyan wasn’t married, most of the mourners were males. Qiu Hongzhi was newly married. Qiu Mengmin was General Ruan’s junior but his rank was higher. So neither of them came in person. Princess Yang had to go there in person, but she had nothing to say to the Ruans or to Qiu Yelan. She left after the ceremonial mourning. No one had comforted Ruan Ciyi and Qiu Yelan until Qiu Nie came with his sisters. “Please take care. The Old General in heaven would not like to see you two grieving like this.”

“So you are here?” Qiu Yelan might not be as sad as Ruan Qingyan and Ruan Ciyi now, but she had a more complex mood. The old man, who hadn’t said a word until he died, had been a shelter for her, even if he was sick in bed. She had enjoyed this kind of care in her past life and present life, yet she had not been able to repay this kind of care....

In the past life, for many a time she had wanted to cry, but the tide of corpses, the hard and bitter struggles... When there was time to cry, her heart had been honed to iron and stone.

This almost instinctive self-control was even passed down to the present life.

Tears were falling and she was haunted with sadness that was getting stronger and stronger.

She exchanged greetings with Qiu Bo and Qiu Qian, without knowing what she was saying.

Qiu Qian screamed suddenly. Turning around seconds later, QiuYelan saw Ruan Ciyi, handkerchief in hand, turning pale in Dongran’s arms!

“She seems to have fainted from grief!” Dongran also looked sad. “What can we do?”

“Help her inside to rest for a while and make a bowl of honey water for her!” Qiu Yelan said, taking a deep breath.

Dongran responded and called two old maidservants in to help her rest with Ruan Ciyi’s maid Suxin. She told Qiu Yelan, “Your Grace, do take care of yourself!”

“I will.” QiuYelan smiled miserably. “Go and look after my cousin.”

Dongran hesitated but said, “Qiuran will do it soon.”

It was known to all that although Ruan Qingyan should pay more attention to Ruan Ciyi in terms of blood relationship, maybe because he got to know Qiu Yelan first and Qiu Yelan was younger than him, he had been giving more care to Qiu Yelan. As Ruan Qingyan’s confidant, Dongran, of course, was more concerned about Qiu Yelan.Update by

Naturally, no one would say that the servants of the Ruans were not as good to Miss Ruan as they were to Qiu Yelan.

After a moment of silence, Qiu Bo began to comfort others again. Qiu Qian helped her elder sister. What the siblings said was no more than platitudes but could distract them from their grief. At this time, there were footsteps from outside and the curtain was lifted. In came Fang Zijun. He looked around without greeting anyone and asked, “Where is my mother?”

Qiu Yelan disliked him. Seeing his rudeness, she was more disgusted at the moment and just wiped her tears.

Qiu Bo and Qiu Qian didn’t know Fang Zijun, so they didn’t know who he was asking about and kept silent. Dongran straightened a little and said to him, “Your mother has gone home to change clothes.”

“Oh.” Fang Zijun didn’t seem to be willing to spend more time with Qiu Yelan and he swung the curtain and ran away.

After he left, Dongran explained, “There are no enough hands in the family. When I came over just now, I saw that Master Fang was busy working with Lord Ling in the front and had no time to care for the young master. After all, he is a young boy. If he knew that his mother had grieved to faint, I’m afraid he would be uneasy. So I lied to him that she had gone home.”

Qiu Yelan’s mind was not at all on such matters, so she said, “It’s no big deal. It’s good that he was sent away.”

Qiu Bo and Qiu Qian understood what she meant. They just pretended that Fang Zijun had never come and went on with their comforting words.

After a while, there were other female guests.

To everyone’s surprise, the female guests this time were Madame Xuesun and her daughter Xue Nongqing.

Qiu Yelan did not like to see people from the Xue Family now, but since Ruan Qingyan was Xue Chang’s disciple and Ruan Ciyi was sick in bed, she just had to greet them. Seeing that she was the only female heir there, Madame Xuesun asked where Ruan Ciyi had gone and sighed with a mourning speech. In the end she said, “Before we came over, Nongqing’s grandfather told us to ask what we can do to help you. After all, it’s a big event for the family and you are all young. Don’t hesitate to tell us if you need any help!”

Xue Nongqing, the sixth granddaughter of the Xue Family, had a fair oval face, a pair of bright eyes like apricots, curved eyebrows and cherry lips. She was pretty and full of innocence. She looked at Qiu Yelan sympathetically and took over her mother’s speech, “Yes, Grandpa also said that he would ask for a posthumous title for General Ruan...”

She was stopped by a pull from her mother before she finished. Madame Xuesun was a bit awkward but she forced a smile and explained, “Nongqing’s grandfather has the intention. After all, General Ruan devoted his whole life to the country, even though... But it’s not up to her grandfather. It’s up to His Majesty... I hope you keep it secret now.”

Qiu Yelan and all the others agreed.

Madame Xuesun took Xue Nongqing inside to see Ruan Ciyi and then left.

After they left, seeing it was getting late, Qiu Bo and Qiu Qian also left, as it was impossible for them to spend the night there. After all, it was only because Qiu Nie and Ruan Qingyan were friends that they came over.

Ruan Ciyi recovered in the evening and her face was still a little pale, but she insisted on coming over for the wake. As Qiu Yelan was a young granddaughter, she was persuaded to go and have a rest.

Later, Qiu Yelan asked Dongran, “Prime Minister Xue is going to ask for a posthumous title for grandfather. Do you think it’s true?”

Dongran is the most trusted and shrewdest maid among all of Ruan Qingyan’s maids. She thought for a moment and said, “It’s a common practice for His Majesty to reward senior officials after their deaths. But, for General Ruan....”

Empress Dowager Gu was furious at that year’s crushing defeat! General Ruan had been neglected for so many years and had no merits or contributions to the country... How could he enjoy a posthumous title?

“Maybe it’s true.” Qiu Yelan had a different view. “The Dings and the Yangs have been fighting fiercely and Prime Minister Xue has also been implicated in the conflict. I guess the neutral party is eager to do something to draw the attention of the court so as to get a break.”

“You mean...?” said Dongran.

“My grandfather was punished by Empress Dowager Gu after his defeat.” Qiu Yelan squinted her eyes. “Empress Jiang has always been happy to play against Empress Dowager Gu. Prime Minister Xue needs to calm down the incident that Ding Qingyan seduced Yang Yishi but refused to be responsible for her, which led to Yang Yishi’s suicide in Ding’s residence. Moreover, my cousin is Prime Minister Xue’s disciple. It’s natural for the master to help his disciple. So there is the possibility that my grandfather will be conferred with a posthumous title.”

Dongran thought about it and said, “That sounds a good thing.”

“I’m afraid that my cousin will be dragged into Prime Minister Xue’s trouble.” Qiu Yelan naturally knew the meaning of her words. “But no matter what Prime Minister Xue will make out of my grandfather’s death, my cousin will go back to Laizhou for the mourning.” In this way, he would avoid the trouble.

Dongran agreed.

Returning to Lvqiang Court, Qiu Yelan took a sleep and got up in the middle of the night. Although still very sleepy, she was afraid that Ruan Ciyi couldn’t bear staying up all night long and climbed up to replace her.

Seeing her sleepy eyes, Ruan Ciyi refused to go, “I am supposed to stay up for the wake. You go on with your sleep.”

“You traveled a long way back home just a few days ago and fainted in the daytime. Let me do it for a while. There will be other female guests coming tomorrow and you’ll have to meet them.” Qiu Yelan asked Qiuran to drag her away to rest. Ruan Ciyi was in her prime, but after more than ten years of demotion and the deaths of three children in succession, she was no match to the teenager Qiu Yelan.

However, after Qiu Yelan sent Ruan Ciyi away, she did not hold for long herself and soon fell into Dongran’s arms to make up for her sleep.

She seemed to hear something in the middle of her sleep. When she woke up at dawn, she asked, “Was someone talking outside?”

“The young master came to ask about his mother and the servants outside coaxed him away.” answered Dongran.

Qiu Yelan was a bit surprised, “It was so late. Why was he still running about?”

“I guess Master Fang was tired and didn’t go to see him. So he wanted to see his parents.” Dongran answered.

Qiu Yelan didn’t care much about this nominal nephew but still said, “It’s better to instruct his servants. Many places in the yard are dilapidated and not safe and there are several ponds, too. Don’t let him run about in case of danger.”

Dongran nodded, “I will do it later.”

Fang Zijun was okay in the General’s Mansion. Instead, something happened unexpectedly in the Fangs’ residence. After lunchtime the next day, Qiuran raised the curtain with a grey face and told Ruan Ciyi and Qiu Yelan, “The Fangs sent a servant to tell Master Fang and you that Mistress Yan had aborted. It’s said that she ate the cake taken home by the young master last night.”

Ruan Ciyi was shocked, “How could this be?”

Qiu Yelan was stunned but not surprised at all, thinking, “He was likely to do it. However, he looked so well-behaved in front of his uncle. How could he do it in such a straightforward manner?” Looking at Ruan Ciyi, who was shocked and angry, she couldn’t help thinking, “Was he trying to frame her?”