Transmigrated Farmgirl's Scheme to Get Rich - Chapter 217
Disrupting the Funeral
According to common convention, Ms. Zhao could only be buried in the Lu family’s ancestral grave as an equal wife if Lu Hong allowed it. But since Lu Hong is not here, they could only ask his grandfather.
No matter where the body is buried, the most important thing now is to buy a coffin to bury the body in.
Chuzi went to the coffin shop in town, picked out the best coffin, and had it sent to Jiaolan Courtyard.
Lu Junming returned to the village and told his grandfather about this matter. The grandpa thought for a moment, looked at his grandson kneeling in front of him and said, “Okay, I’ll ask someone to dig a grave hole and bring your mother’s body back!”
?According to folk customs, people who died outside could not enter the house and they could only set up a mourning shed outside the front gate. However, the Lu family lacked a courtyard wall or gate, so they set up a memorial shed in front of the house.
?Lu Junming went back to ask for his mother’s coffin, and Sir Lu went to ask the villagers to go to the cemetery to find a good place to dig a grave hole.
In a grave, if a couple is buried together, the man is usually on the left and the woman is on the right. If only one dies, a place must be left for the other person when digging the grave. If the husband remarries, she would be ranked after the married wife. Concubines cannot share the same grave as their husband.
??If the husband had a common wife, the common wife and the head wife should be buried on the left and right sides of the husband respectively. Since the common wife had died first, someone had to survey the location and leave space for the husband and the head wife.
If they had to be ranked, then the top position had to be left to Mrs. Liu. After all, she is Lu Hong’s head wife.
Ms. Jiao’s coffin was dragged back. Chuzi and Zhou Liangsheng escorted it all the way, and Chi Jie also came later. A mourning shed was set up in the Lu family’s courtyard. When Zhao’er heard the news, he also rushed over.
?No one in the village had ever seen the late Ms. Jiao, but Sir Lu was a kind man, and when he spoke, the villagers would come to help him out.
When Mo Feng, Xiuying and Mo Zenian returned home, they passed by the Lu family’s courtyard. Mo Feng said disdainfully, “A concubine died, and such a large funeral procession is taking place? I don’t know what kind of rules the Lu family has.”
Xiuying said, “I heard that Sir Lu made the decision to make Lu Junming’s mother a common wife. That’s why she can enter the ancestral grave and have such a grand funeral.”
Mo Zenian said, “The main wife’s consent is required to elevate someone to the position of common wife. Their actions clearly aren’t putting her in their eyes.”
“I heard that the head wife didn’t give birth to a son, wouldn’t that be reason enough to dislike her?”
Xiuying looked down at her belly, “Then if I don’t give birth to a son, will you also take a concubine?”
Mo Zenian said, “I, Feng’er, am the only son of my family. If the first child is not a boy, we will give birth to another one. Regardless, I can’t let my family line die out.”
Xiuying felt uncomfortable after hearing these words, so she kept silent and walked quickly back home.
The Lu family’s matters quickly spread throughout the village. Although Mrs. Liu was in the Upper Valley, she clearly had good knowledge of the current situation, and the next day, she brought her two daughters over.
The carriage stopped by the pond, and the mother and daughters got out of the carriage and walked towards the mourning shed with their heads held high. The three all had the same face, but the eldest daughter Lu Yan was even fatter than Mrs. Liu, and her body was extremely fleshy. Lu Jiao could be considered the thinnest among the three.
Lu Junming was kneeling in the mourning shed and keeping vigil. Mrs. Liu grabbed his mourning clothes and pulled him up, “Lu Junming, your legal mother is still here! What are you wearing mourning clothes for?” [1]
Lu Junming glared angrily at the person who forced his mother to commit suicide, raising his hand to pull back the mourning clothes and smooth them out. He said coldly, “My mother is now my father’s common wife, and she is on an equal footing with you.”
??If he hadn’t been afraid of disturbing his mother’s ghost, Lu Junming would not have been so polite to her.
Mrs. Liu went over and patted the coffin and said, “Who allowed her to be a common wife? My father has just lost his official position, and the Lu family already treats me like I don’t exist? In the past, if you didn’t have my father’s protection, how could you all have lived so well? All of you are ungrateful ingrates!”
Sir Lu coughed and said, “Who are you talking about? I haven’t seen any of this protection your Liu family has given to our Lu family. However, I know that the person in this coffin gave birth to our Lu family’s only grandson, and has greatly contributed to the Lu family.”
“Father-in-law, Junming is now my son, and you were the one who put him under my name!”
“You want to recognize him as your son now? No need!”
“You, you are trying to…”
?Lu Junming squeezed out a few words through his teeth, “If you insist on making trouble, my father will really get a divorce.”
At this time, Lu Yan and Lu Jiao came to speak up for their mother, “How dare you? My father initially relied on his relationship with grandfather to become the general of the Upper Valley. Now grandfather has just lost his official position, you’re already bullying people like this. I’m just afraid that it won’t sound good if word spread!”
Chi Jie spoke from the side, “What I heard is a different version. Regional governor Liu relied on General Lu to secure his position as Shanggu Regional Governor. Who doesn’t know that banditry is rampant in the Upper Valley, and all previous regional governors would not be re-elected. If General Lu had not eliminated the banditry, how could Governor Liu’s position be so secure? Madam, girls, please think carefully about who relied on whom.”
?The people watching the drama started discussing the reasons and factors behind the current confrontation.
Of course, Mrs. Liu couldn’t agree, “You’re talking nonsense. If it hadn’t been for my father’s strong recommendation, Lu Hong wouldn’t have been able to become a general at all. He would have still been guarding the border! He might have died in the battle long ago.”
Both sides held their own opinions. Perhaps only Lu Hong himself knew what the truth was. However, there was no point in continuing to argue like this, and it was more important to get the funeral done peacefully.
Governing official Wu came over to meditate, “I am the village leader. Madam, can you listen to my opinion?”
Mrs. Liu nodded, and he continued, “Regardless of what has happened or will happen, the woman in the coffin has gone now, so why bother disputing with a dead person. Let her rest in peace, Junming is still your legitimate son!”
Mrs. Liu naturally understood this truth, but was unable to swallow that grievance, and said despairingly, “She stole my husband’s heart while she was alive, and she is even snatching my grave after she is dead. I only have the empty title of head wife.”
“Madam, why do you say that? You still have two daughters.”
When mentioning them, the onlookers all laughed. No wonder Cao Zhang would rather give up his future than marry Lu Jiao, if the two daughters of the Lu family looked like this.
?Although Lu Hong wasn’t here, Sir Lu was still an elder in the family, so his words had authority. Even if Mrs. Liu was dissatisfied, she could not afford to make big waves.
?According to etiquette, Ms. Jiao was Lu Hong’s common wife, so Lu Jiao and Lu Yan were supposed to go to worship in front of the altar but they refused, so the mother and daughters walked away.
?The deceased was not considered to have lived a long life, and not many relatives and friends came to pay homage. The funeral was only held for three days.
On the afternoon of the last day of the funeral, the funeral master chanted “spirit awaken”. Lu Junming kowtowed and bade farewell to the altar, shaking from crying and choking with tears. Zhou Liangsheng and Xiao Zhuzhu supported him on his left and right.
Lu Junming’s uncle was an elder of the deceased and could not go to the cemetery. Lu Junming could nail the coffin shut, hold flags and pots, and break tiles on his own. Eight young adults carried the coffin to a stretcher, and lifted it onto their shoulders. Lu Junming, the filial son, walked in front of the coffin and waved flags to guide the way to the Lu family cemetery.
In the funeral procession, there were not many people wearing mourning clothes, but there were many people who came to help and watch. The women’s hearts had softened but they didn’t want anyone to see them cry, so they wiped their eyes. [2]
After the coffin is buried, relatives must walk three times along the grave and put soil on the coffin with their own hands. Finally, someone used a shovel to bury the coffin. It would be the next day where the gravestone was built.
P.S. I still think that the entire suicide and funeral was complete and utter baloney…but at least the funeral was decently-executed. Also, I fixed the issue where there were two duplicates of Chapter 215, thanks for telling me.
[1] Legal mother, because the head wife was the mother for all of the children, from both the main and the side branches.
[2] It’s considered bad luck.