Hearing his indifferent words, Commandery Princess Dongyang was momentarily stunned, but then her face lit up with delight.
"Heâs here, heâs here."
When she reached the horse, she didnât wait for Mu Shaoling to offer his hand; she just leveraged herself up.
You couldnât say her martial arts skills were anything special, but she was quite adept at mounting and dismounting a horse.
Seeing her swift movements, the hand that had been ready to help withdrew swiftly, so fast that Dongyang absolutely couldnât see it.
Once she was seated, the horse began to gallop away.
"Mu Shaoling, where are you headed after this?"
"..."
"Mu Shaoling, will you return to the Capital City?"
"..."
"Mu Shaoling, I met Yang Chuxia!"
"..."
"Mu Shaoling, her familyâs two little treasures are so adorable!"
"..."
"Mu Shaoling, you must like me!"
"Shut your mouth!"
The horse charged on, accompanied by the chatter of Commandery Princess Dongyang and the occasional bellow from Mu Shaoling.
Those left behind resignedly cleaned up the aftermath.
~~~~~~
Funan, Yangshu Village
Today was Old Yangâs fifth seven-day period after death, and the Yang Family had risen early to prepare.
Soon, relatives and friends arrived one after another, bringing paper effigies, carriages, and other such offerings.
Yang Chuxia also arrived early, and when most of the relatives and friends had reached, everyone changed into mourning clothes and donned the mourning headbands.
They then gathered the items like paper ingots and silver and placed them in a bamboo basket for carrying. When they reached Old Yangâs grave, Yang Daâan led the Yang Family descendants in offering these items to Old Yang, kowtowing one by one, and wailing in mourning.
After all the items were burned, the Yang Family members walked around the grave sprinkling handfuls of soil, thus thoroughly bidding farewell to Old Yang.
In the future, only during the holidays would the Yang Family descendants visit the grave.
"Madam, are we certain about departing the day after tomorrow?"
After returning from the Yang Family home, Fugui came over to confirm once more, as it had been previously agreed to head to Mianyang after Old Yangâs fifth seven-day period was over.
"Letâs set it for the day after tomorrow."
On April 22nd, the weather wasnât clear, there was no wind, and the Ye Family was busy loading things into a carriage.
However, the air was heavy, as if it might rain. Yang Chuxia was debating whether to delay their departure by a day.
But she didnât have to agonize over it for too long, as someone soon made the choice for her.
"Xiaxia, Xiaxia, quickly put everything back!"
Ms. Wang hurried over, her eyes red and swollen as though she had just been crying.
Lele and Yangyang were being held by Nanny Li, and when they saw Ms. Wang approaching, they both called out, "Granny..." "Grandma..."
Ms. Wang caressed the childrenâs little faces, "Be good, Grandma has something to do, Iâll hold you later." Yangyang even reached out for her to pick him up.
"What happened to mother?" Had something happened?
As soon as the topic was brought up, Ms. Wangâs tears started to flow again. "Your paternal grandmother, your paternal grandmother, she...sheâs gone!"
"What?" The news came as a sudden shock; how could a perfectly healthy person just be gone? "Why? Wasnât the doctor treating her, saying there had been improvement? How could she be gone all of a sudden?"
The news was just too abrupt.
"She passed away in the middle of the night." Ms. Wang wiped away her tears again. "Your Uncle Dayong came to notify your father earlier, and your father has gone over."
"She passed away in the middle of the night, why only notify my father now?" Shouldnât they have informed him immediately?
Ms. Wang shook her head, "I donât know what happened either. But you certainly canât leave today; you have to wait until after your paternal grandmotherâs matters are settled before you can go."
"Mhm, I understand that. Iâll immediately have the carriage turned back, but wait for me, mother. Iâll change clothes and then go with you to see." Thinking of setting off for Mianyang today, a supposedly auspicious day, she had even worn a somewhat colorful outfit.