Chapter 281 - 182 Paying to Attach_1
In September, Qian Yixiu attended two feasts in the village. One was a celebration, as Lady Xu gave birth to another son, named Qian Yijin, or baby Jin. The other was a funeral; Second Grandpa, whom Qian Yixiu would call Second Great-grandpa, passed away. He was the eldest of the older generation in the Qian family.
Such is life, with births there are deaths, in a never-ending cycle.
The Qian family was known for their longevity in the region. Second Grandpa died at seventy-eight, which was considered a rare old age. Old man Qian was sixty-five, and Old woman Qian sixty-four, both still alive, a rarity in ancient rural areas. Especially Old woman Qian, who managed to survive a serious illness and, although movement was now inconvenient for her, she had a rosy complexion that was more radiant than many middle-aged people.
Now, Lady Wang was often invited to be the Quanfu at weddings because her in-laws and husband were alive and well, her son was the shopkeeper in the county town, and her grandson attended the best private school there. Although Qian Mandie had divorced, there was no shortage of families seeking to marry her.
Lady Wang’s father-in-law had died half a year earlier, so there were fewer requests for Madame Yu to be the Quanfu, much to her displeasure. The harmony between the sisters-in-law was no more, but due to the relationship with Qian’s third wife, Madame Yu dared not offend Lady Wang lightly. Regardless of how pleased or displeased Wang Lizheng and his wife were, they could not deny that Qian Sangui had become the most powerful person in Huaxi Village.
At the end of September, Wong Liang, who had returned from the regional capital, said that Old Great-grandpa of the Song family had died three days earlier. The family in Capital City would undoubtedly return to Xizhou Mansion to observe mourning, along with several members of the family who held official positions elsewhere, all of whom had to return to observe the rituals.
In Daqian, the mourning system stipulated that when parents died, sons who were civil officials must resign and observe mourning for twenty-seven months, while grandsons must request leave to return home for one hundred days. For military officers, they were not removed from their posts, but granted one hundred days of leave.
Only in special circumstances would an exemption be granted.
Song Huaijin, studying at the Imperial College, would certainly have to return, and it was uncertain whether Uncle Liang, who had just returned to Capital City, would come back.