Published at 25th of June 2023 6:26 pm

Chapter 1226 Chapter An Extremely Desolate Funeral

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“What’s this?” Shao Wanru looked at the thing in front of her in astonishment and didn’t recognize it for a while.

It was a small box, and the thing in the box was even smaller, occupying half of the box. If it weren’t for the clear dents on the bottom of the box, she couldn’t tell that the thing in the box was missing half. 𝑓𝒓e𝑒w𝑒𝒃𝑛𝒐𝘃ℯ𝙡.c𝚘m

“What’s this?” Shao Wanru tilted her head and looked at the thing, but she still didn’t recognize it. She turned to look at Chu Liuchen, who was standing by the window.

Chu Liuchen stood there with his hands clasped behind his back. Shao Wanru couldn’t see his face clearly, but she inexplicably felt that he was in a very depressed mood.

After thinking about it, she took two steps forward, put her arms around his waist behind him, and put her face on his back. “If you don’t want it, return it!”

She thought that he probably didn’t want anything from Consort Lan.

“She is sure that I will take it!” Chu Liuchen said with a little gloom in his voice. Even if he did not turn around, Shao Wanru could imagine the coldness on his face.

“Do… do you have to take it?” Shao Wanru asked softly.

“This is the Tiger Token! The Tiger Token of the deceased emperor!” Chu Liuchen smiled and said with a sneer, “Only half of it!”

“Half of the Tiger Token?” Shao Wanru didn’t understand, but it didn’t prevent her from knowing the meaning of the Tiger Token. “Why only half of it?”

“She only has half of it!” Chu Liuchen said. He reached out and held Shao Wanru’s hand in front of him.

His hand was cold, and hers was warm.

Shao Wanru held his hand with the other hand. She stroked his hand gently with her fingers as if she was trying to warm him up, but she didn’t ask any more questions. She believed that the deceased emperor’s death was the last thing he wanted to talk about.

Since he didn’t talk about it, she didn’t ask.

Chu Liuchen slowly calmed down. Although his eyes were still cold and his face was no longer cruel, he turned around, held Shao Wanru in his arms, looked down at the top of her head, and said slowly, “The Tiger Token of the deceased emperor can mobilize part of the military power. It was left by the deceased emperor when he fought a war. But after the war ended, the Tiger Token has been put away and has never been used again.”

Shao Wanru didn’t quite understand this kind of thing and said subconsciously, “That is to say, the Tiger Token is useless now?”

Chu Liuchen stroked her beautiful hair with his hand from time to time and said, “It’s useful. It hasn’t been used for many years, but it’s still useful. It’s just not as useful as it used to be. If combined with the current imperial edict, it will be more powerful!”

What a Tiger Token, combined with an imperial edict, meant was terrifying.

Shao Wanru couldn’t help shivering and subconsciously hugged Chu Liuchen tightly. “What about the other half?”

“The other half was hidden by the deceased emperor. I don’t know where it is. I haven’t seen it for so many years,” Chu Liuchen said calmly.

“What does Consort Lan want now?” Shao Wanru blinked her long eyelashes a few times and did not quite understand what the meaning within was. There was only half of the token, which meant that it was useless. What did Consort Lan want to do by sending it over?

Chu Liuchen lowered his head and said meaningfully, “Consort Lan said it was for you when she sent it here.”

Shao Wanru was shocked. She pushed Chu Liuchen away and asked hurriedly, “What? It’s for me? Why?” But then she suddenly understood. “It should be for you. Maybe she was afraid that you wouldn’t take it, so she said that it was for me so you will get it.”

Chu Liuchen shook his head and said with certainty, “No. It’s for you!”

“Why is it for me?” Shao Wanru really didn’t understand this time. In her opinion, Consort Lan was just afraid that Chu Liuchen wouldn’t accept it, so she took the opportunity that she was giving Shao Wanru a gift so that Chu Liuchen would get the Tiger Token.

“There are two pieces of the Tiger Token. This one was supposed to be kept by a woman,” Chu Liuchen said.

Shao Wanru pursed her lips. She understood.

“In that case, should we return it now?”

“It’s up to you,” Chu Liuchen said with gentleness in his eyes, which were no longer as gloomy as before. He looked at Shao Wanru quietly with an ambiguous look.

Shao Wanru thought for a moment, looked up at Chu Liuchen, and suddenly smiled. She walked to the table, put away the box, and said, “Since it’s a gift from Consort Lan, I’ll accept it. I can’t refuse her kindness.”

Chu Liuchen was not surprised by what Shao Wanru was doing. He smiled and said, “Since it’s a gift for you, you should take it. You’ve just come back, and you need to have a good rest. We have to go to Marquis Xing’s Mansion tomorrow.”

“It’s almost time for lunch. I’ll have lunch here before leaving.” Shao Wanru took Chu Liuchen by the hand and said softly with a gentle and charming smile, “You did prepare food for me, didn’t you?” She sounded a bit embarrassed.

“Of course. I’ve prepared what you want to eat.” Chu Liuchen smiled. This time, his smile was not only gentle and calm but also bright.

At the door, Xiao Xuanzi breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly ordered the food to be served. The lunch had been sent here, but it seemed that Xiao Xuanzi really didn’t dare to send it in. He was glad that Princess Chen was back, Prince Chen calmed down again, and everything was fine now.

The lunch was very light, but it was very sumptuous. There were a few dishes that Shao Wanru liked, so she didn’t have to order any extra food at all. Shao Wanru hadn’t eaten any meat in the mountain these days. Although the food in her place was light, there was a lot of meat, which made her pleased. Finally, she had a small bowl of soup before she finished eating.

Chu Liuchen had one more bowl of soup than her. He looked thin, but after recovering from his illness, he got better and ate much more than before.

After finishing the meal, Shao Wanru watched Chu Liuchen eat with a smile. When he put down the bowl, she brought him another bowl of soup. Chu Liuchen took it and had it.

Xiao Xuanzi watched from the side and smiled happily. As expected, as long as Princess Chen was here, his master would feel upset at most. How could Xiao Xuanzi not know his master’s character? If Princess Chen was not here, his master would definitely think of something bad and get furious just because of the thing sent by Consort Lan.

Xiao Xuanzi was glad that Princess Chen was around.

After lunch, Shao Wanru and Chu Liuchen went for a walk hand in hand. After that, Shao Wanru returned to her courtyard with the brocade box.

After returning to the yard and taking a nap for a while, Shao Wanru got up. She was going to Marquis Xing’s Mansion tomorrow, so she still needed to prepare some things.

The next day, Shao Wanru didn’t go to Marquis Xing’s Mansion early, but when she arrived, she found that the whole mansion was desolate. Even at the gate, there was only a small piece of white cloth hanging, indicating that there was a funeral inside. The gate was half-open, and the servants by the gate were lazy. It was hard to tell that there was a funeral, where the relevant people should be very busy.

Seeing the carriage of Prince Chen’s Mansion coming over, the gatekeeper hurriedly stepped forward to bow and lead the carriage back.

When Shao Wanru arrived at the parking place, there were only a few scattered carriages. They didn’t look like they belonged to noble families. It should be the members of the Shao Family who came to pay their respects.

Madam Jiang’s coffin was placed in a very remote place. When Shao Wanru went around the corner, she saw that only Zhao Xiran was in the mourning hall. Even Shao Hua’an was not there. Several other servant girls and old maids serving Zhao Xiran were dressed in white.

Even the decent supervisor old maid in the mansion would be honored in this way if she was dead.

Shao Wanru calmly stepped forward to offer some incense and then left. She came here today to pay her respect to Madam Jiang for the sake of Marquis Xing’s Mansion.

Zhao Xiran should have been waiting for her here. After Shao Wanru finished offering incense, she said slowly, “Fifth Sister, take a seat in there.”

She looked very calm, and her eyes were not very red. Although she was a little tired, she was basically calm. She was wearing coarse white clothes, which made her look quite haggard.

Shao Wanru looked around and asked, “Where is Eldest Brother?”

“He’s in there. Grandma, Father, and some elders are also there,” Zhao Xiran said with a pale face.

Shao Wanru frowned and asked, ” Sister Zhao, what happened?”

Zhao Xiran wanted to say something but stopped on second thought. After a pause, she said, “Fifth Sister, you’d better go and see for yourself!”

Shao Wanru nodded and they went to the backyard together.

Old Madam’s main room of Chuntang Courtyard was very lively. Old Madam, who had a stroke, was also there. She was half-lying on the couch in the middle. Shao Jing and Third Master Shao were sitting on one side respectively. Third Madam was sitting next to Third Master Shao, and Shao Jing was sitting beside Shao Hua’an. Shao Jie’er, Shao Caihuan, and Shao Cailing weren’t there.

There were several elders of the Shao Family sitting on both sides. These elders looked a little familiar to Shao Wanru. They were there when she recognized her ancestors.

The death of Madam Jiang was a big deal for the Shao Family, so it was normal for those elders to show up now.

Seeing Shao Wanru come in, everyone present, together with Shao Jing, bowed to her. At present, Shao Wanru had the highest status. Shao Wanru said, “Please rise.” Then, she sat down in the middle.

There was an empty seat saved. Members of Marquis Xing’s Mansion guessed that it was impossible for Prince Chen to come, so they saved one empty seat.

The atmosphere in the room was very depressing. After sitting down, Shao Wanru looked at Shao Jing and asked softly, “Second Uncle, what were you discussing before?”

There were so many people in the room, and Zhao Xiran was the only one waiting in the mourning hall of Madam Jiang. Moreover, she was waiting for Shao Wanru there. There must be something wrong.

When Shao Wanru entered the yard just now, she heard the sound of people talking in the room from a distance, but none of them said anything at the moment.

Shao Jing sighed and said helplessly, “Your grandma just made a suggestion.” His smile was no longer as flattering as before, but a little gloomy.

“Can Grandma talk in this situation?” Shao Wanru looked at Old Madam, who was lying on the couch, in surprise and raised her eyebrows slightly.

Nanny Yu stepped forward and explained with a flattering smile, “Your Highness, although Old Madam can’t move, she can talk about some simple things. I heard Old Madam talking these days, and I can understand her.”

“Then tell me what Grandmother has said that so many elders are disturbed.” Shao Wanru raised her eyebrows and looked at the elders sitting next to her. These elders were probably the ones quarreling fiercely when she entered the room just now. It seemed that the suggestion of Old Madam was not so pleasant.

In the past, no one would dare to question what Old Madam said and did.

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