The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 751 - 750 Filial Piety

Chapter 751: Chapter 750 Filial Piety

Steward Lu was also a shrewd person, so he promptly got up and followed along.

Shopkeeper Wu and Wang Yongzhu were left in the courtyard. Shopkeeper Wu looked around to see no one was there, then spoke in a low voice, "I shouldn’t be talking about these things today, but since the Ninth Young Master has been urging me, I just can’t care about that!"

Wang Yongzhu waved her hand, indifferent, "Is there something wrong? Could it be a problem with the fabrics?"

Shopkeeper Wu quickly shook his head, "There is not a single issue with the fabrics. They have all been bleached and dyed completely. We’re just waiting for the ship to arrive, then we’ll ship them out."

He hesitated before speaking sheepishly, "As for my Ninth Young Master, he said he would like to invite my grandniece to have a meal. He also wants to settle the account with you!"

Wang Yongzhu smiled apologetically, "I appreciate the Ninth Young Master’s kind gesture! But I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble Shopkeeper Wu to make a trip. If it’s convenient, please deliver the silver note to the town for me, and bring a message so I can pick it up. If that’s too much trouble, please ask the Ninth Young Master to hand the silver note to Brother Song, that would suffice."

"Why? Are you not going to the county city anymore?" Shopkeeper Wu asked in surprise.

Wang Yongzhu nodded, "Not for the time being! It’s spring now, and the trees and flowers are thriving. I’m thinking of taking advantage of this season to see if I can develop two more colors to offer to Consort De."

Shopkeeper Wu’s eyes lit up. This was indeed a matter of great importance and he immediately forgot about the repeated reminders from the Ninth Young Master before his return.

He eagerly asked Wang Yongzhu about her plans and if she needed any help.

Shopkeeper Wu knew well that if the fabric could appeal to Consort De and with some effort to secure an exclusive tribute status, it wouldn’t be long before the Auspicious Fabric soared to great heights.

To become an item of tribute for the Imperial Palace would attract the desire of people everywhere.

Wang Yongzhu did not hesitate. All the dyes currently used were plant-based, and she thought it could be worthwhile to test coloring agents made from minerals.

Therefore, she also proposed obtaining things like malachite, ochre, lapis lazuli, and other colored metal ores.

These were difficult for her to acquire, but not for Shopkeeper Wu. The Lee Family’s business network spanned the whole country and was involved in various endeavors.

Although these items were slightly exotic, for the Lee Family, it was only a minor inconvenience.

Hence, Shopkeeper Wu readily agreed to help.

Seeing that Wang Yongzhu was resolutely not planning to return to the county city for now, he did not inquire further.

Their business talk had concluded, and it was almost noon. Song Chongjin had already sent Jinhua to invite them both.

The courtyard of Wang Yonggui and Wang Yongping had their kitchen commandeered early on, bustling with activity as the restaurant workers and the head chef were hard at work.

As the auspicious hour approached, the Wang Family and their friends and relatives, carrying offerings and food and wine, followed the Taoist leading the procession with much fanfare to the Wang family ancestral tomb.

The paper offerings and paper money ingots brought by friends and relatives were burned for Old Wang Laozhu underground.

After placing the food and drinks, the Taoists busied themselves, signifying that Old Wang Laozhu had received his family’s sentiments. Tonight, he would come home one last time to look at his family before being separated by life and death hereafter.

Then everyone returned together. By this time, the cooks had already prepared the banquet, and the guests took their seats. After everyone had eaten, they left.

The guests had left, but the family’s tasks were not yet finished.

They busied themselves in the room Old Wang Laozhu used to live in, arranging everything as it was when he was alive.

A basin of wash water and foot water was prepared, along with a set of clothes he used to wear, laid on the kang as if he had never departed.

They waited until dark, around ten o’clock at night, when Wang Yongfu, as the eldest son, had to climb onto the roof of the house with a lantern, calling out three times, "Dad~ Dad, come back—"

Then, the people below would kneel in the courtyard and cry as they saw off Old Wang Laozhu once more.

In the old saying, this was Wang Laozhu’s last night to bid farewell to his family, to let him rest well at home for a while, and then he would leave.

Once the hour of zi had passed, it meant that Wang Laozhu had been seen off, and the family could tidy up before they could go back to their room to rest.

Once the fifth seven-day mourning period was over, they could basically take off the mourning clothes. It was enough to wear plain clothes or light-colored clothing on a regular basis.

Peasant families didn’t have so many customs; after all, their clothes were dusty all year round.

It was also after the fifth seven that the Wang Family could go out and move around, no longer needing to avoid all the things they had before.

During the day, Wang Yongzhen was nowhere to be seen, only Mutou was seen busily bustling about in the Wang Family’s house.

In the evening, Wang Yongzhen was finally seen, silently kneeling in the courtyard in mourning clothes.

Wang Yongzhu couldn’t help but be shocked. After only a month apart, Wang Yongzhen seemed to have aged ten years, and her hair had begun to show signs of grey.

The whole person looked particularly listless, shrinking in on herself as she knelt to one side, easy to overlook if one did not look closely.

But as soon as Wang Yongfu shouted "Dad" three times from the roof, before everyone could muster the right emotion, they heard a wail, "Dad～"

The youngest, Jinshao, was so startled that he burst into tears.

Everybody turned their heads, and who else could it be but Wang Yongzhen? At that moment, she was crying so hard that she could hardly catch her breath, almost as if she truly regretted not being able to go with Wang Laozhu.

On this day, the dutiful children and grandchildren were supposed to cry and wail; the more heart-wrenching the sobs and the more frightening the cries, the more filial piety was displayed.

With Wang Yongzhen starting to cry, everyone else simply followed suit, crying as well. Those who couldn’t cry naturally had to scream loudly a few times.

Everyone wept intermittently, crying for a bit and then stopping for a bit.

Only Wang Yongzhen cried from the beginning until after the hour of zi had passed, crying and saying she regretted it! Crying that she was unworthy of her father, and that it was all her fault, if only she hadn’t persuaded Wang Laozhu to go to Wang Laoer’s place, her dear father’s life wouldn’t have been lost!

It was truly a touching thing to hear, bringing tears to those who listened.

Pity that the ears of the Wang Family were all calloused from listening. Wang Yongzhen was bound to come to Wang Laozhu’s room during each seven-day period to weep.

Every time she cried, the others dared not idle about; if they had no tears, they had to squeeze a few out.

After a few times like this, it was easy for her; she came, she cried, she did nothing else, and once she was done crying, Mutou persuaded her to go back home.

But the other women of the Wang Family, in addition to crying, had to entertain the guests, cook, and so on! Every morning they still had to prepare the offerings for the prayers.

They were busy as spinning tops and had to join in the mourning every other day. Who wouldn’t get a headache?

Moreover, Wang Yongzhen’s crying was always the same three-part act. First, she cried about how her father had left her, a poor girl, so pitiful. Second, she cried about how good her father had been to her, his daughter. How could he bear to leave? Third, she wailed why her father couldn’t live for another five hundred years.

In the beginning, the younger siblings were moved, thinking that their eldest sister, regardless of anything else, did have filial piety; seeing her own father dead, she cried so heartbrokenly.

But as it happened every time, the younger siblings could almost recite her cries by heart, and who had the energy to be moved anymore?

So during this period of mourning, they developed a good understanding among themselves: when you cry, I rest.

When you shout, I shut up!

In the middle of the night, the cries carried far off, and passers-by from afar heard them, thinking that the Wang Family was truly filial; they had never heard such crying and wailing.