Chapter 79 - 73 Mourning
The servant delivering the news didn’t know much, just kowtowed and said, "It was the servant from the family of Saburo at the village tail who, when accompanying his wife to her family’s home in Shangcai, saw it, and only recognized Uncle Cheng and the second lady, but leading the group should be the third lady from the main house."
Zhao Song pondered and then said, "Before my elder brother passed away, he arranged a marriage for the third lady, likely intending to leave the main house to her. If she stopped in Shangcai, perhaps she wishes for us to meet and welcome my elder brother?"
He said, "That is indeed appropriate. Quickly go inform the other families, prepare a little tonight, and tomorrow morning we will go to Shangcai to bring my elder brother back."
The housekeeper acknowledged and withdrew to pass on the message, but Zhao Song’s son, Zhao Ming, was full of doubt, "Father, why is it only the second sister-in-law and the third lady escorting the coffin back home, where is Jizhi and the others?"
He said, "Even if Jizhi is busy, it should be Dalang who manages this. He has inherited the title from the elder uncle and should show filial piety. If he can’t return, he should let his son escort the coffin back home. How come only the widow and orphan of the main house are left to escort the coffin back home alone?"
Zhao Song frowned slightly, "We’ll ask about it tomorrow."
Early the next morning, the Zhao Family’s Castle was filled with the sounds of people, horses, and oxen. Knowing that the old Clan Leader’s coffin had returned to Shangcai, many Zhao Clan members planned to accompany it to meet the coffin.
Meanwhile, before dawn, Uncle Cheng had already set off lightly with several retainers heading to Xiping.
By noon, Uncle Cheng only stopped to gnaw on a couple of bites of dry food. After letting the horses drink some water, he stood up and said, "Let’s go, there’s over an hour left until we arrive, let’s hurry."
As everyone was about to put away their water bags and mount their horses, they saw lots of horses and ox carts coming down the main road.