Chapter 258: The Grievance of the He Family

It had only been three months since the Emperor's Flowing Plasma appeared in the world, and there were still newborn monsters causing trouble in Xiazhou, so He Lingchuan took his new subordinates to do his old job from the Panlong dream world.

Shan Youjun and Jiao Tai found him a few more good men, just enough to make up a twenty-man guard. The best way to test their quality was, of course, to put them into actual combat immediately.

In five days, they wiped out seven monsters, and the guard was reduced to eighteen men.

One injured his leg, and one lost his life.

He Lingchuan gave generous compensation, and then sighed. These were all strong thugs that Shan Youjun had guaranteed with his chest, and their quality was a cut above the Xiazhou soldiers. But from the actual combat of the past few days, compared to the patrol squad He Lingchuan had in the Panlong dream world, they were still quite a bit behind.

It seemed the road ahead was still very long.

On the contrary, when Li Qingge heard he was selecting personal guards, she recommended a Songyang Prefecture disciple to him, who had high martial arts value and was also good at construction.

He Lingchuan needed such a multi-talented person, so he accepted him with a smile. Looking back, this team actually had a military doctor (monkey) and logistics soldiers, which was quite a luxurious configuration.

If only there were another aerial scout.

This day, after wiping out a nest of bat monsters that specifically sucked the blood of young children, He Lingchuan led the team back to Dunyu, when he suddenly felt a chill on his face.

Was it raining? He looked up in astonishment, only to see tiny snowflakes mixed with wisps of rain drifting down from the sky, wetting everyone's clothes and hair, and wetting the horse's mane.

They happened to pass by Qing Lake, only to see that the ice on the shore had melted, and the floating algae had burst out with tiny green buds. The school of fish came up against the broken ice, and the water surface was covered with fish mouths opening and closing.

He Lingchuan only then vaguely realized that spring had truly arrived.

The wind blowing on his face faded a bit of chill and replaced it with a bit of dampness, completely different from the killing intent of winter.

Returning to the He residence, He Lingchuan hadn't walked into the inner courtyard door yet when he heard He Yue's voice.

The family of three plus him, all present.

He Yue, who was usually too busy to be seen, was home today. He Lingchuan found that this kid seemed to have grown taller again, but he had lost a circle of weight, probably because the work at the prefecture office was too exhausting.

"Old Dad, you're abusing child labor." He spoke up for the second son.

He Chunhua gave a "hehe," with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

He Lingchuan sat down boldly, and Lady Ying complained: "Don't know how to change clothes; you brought all the dust in!" He only changed his boots, and there were mud spots on the hem of his clothes.

He Chunhua asked him: "What monster did you remove today?"

He naturally knew what his eldest son had been doing these days. The township official also came to report that Young Master He was removing harm for the people, and the villagers were very grateful.

Going out to hunt and also gaining a good reputation for removing monsters and demons for the people was very cost-effective.

"A nest of big-eared bat monsters, specifically eating the blood of young children." He Lingchuan smiled. "Not many, only thirty-something, Shan Youjun took them home, preparing to roast them."

Lady Ying frowned: "Can that thing be eaten?"

Why not? Roast it and it tastes like chicken. He Lingchuan gave a "hehe" smile: "What day is it today, the whole family is here?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he found it was bad, because He Yue behind his old man was frantically winking at him, as if his eyelids were twitching, and Lady Ying had a look of astonishment.

As for He Chunhua, he went directly from cloudy to overcast, his face as dark as if it were about to drip water.

"Good, good, unfilial descendant, you actually dared to forget what day it is today?"

Usually, no matter how much He Chunhua disliked this eldest son, he didn't call him "unfilial." He Lingchuan secretly thought, "Oh no," what kind of big mistake did he make? He Yue stood behind his father, giving him hints, making gestures of burning incense and bowing, at least bowing three times.

"How could I?" He Lingchuan laughed dryly. "Of course I remember today is to pay respects to..."

He Yue shook his head frantically.

Not pay respects? Then it must be "worship..."

He Yue nodded, his finger pointing straight to heaven.

"... Heaven?"

He Yue rolled his eyes, with a "you're finished" expression.

He Chunhua suddenly turned his head and happened to bump into this expression of his, and his eyebrows jumped.

Both boys had grown up, and they dared to cheat in front of him? Taking advantage of the moment he turned his head, He Lingchuan's brain turned rapidly, frantically recalling what was special about today.

Right, today was the "Spring Equinox" solar term, the plan for the year lies in spring, stories in spring... what on earth happened in spring!

He frantically searched in the original body's sea of consciousness.

Perhaps it was because he had been dreaming into Panlong City too diligently recently, and his spiritual sense had become stronger, he actually found the answer in the vast memory! At this time, Lady Ying coughed lightly, wanting to relieve the eldest son. However, He Lingchuan had already grabbed the lead: "Today is the family memorial day, Old Dad, I didn't dare to forget!"

He Chunhua turned his head and snorted coldly: "Always hanging around!"

It could be seen that He Lingchuan answered correctly.

This was the most important day of the year for the He family, and the original body had never dared to be negligent.

He Yue and Lady Ying both secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

No wonder this morning before going out to remove monsters, his old man told him he must be back before dusk. At that time, He Lingchuan didn't think much and agreed in one breath.

Every family has a memorial day, but the He family's memorial day was a thorn in He Chunhua's heart, and he never allowed any mistakes.

So in the He family, this matter never needed to be notified in advance, and everyone kept it firmly in mind.

He Chunhua glared at him: "What are you still standing there for, go bathe and change clothes quickly, the time is almost up!"

"Yes!" He Lingchuan responded and slipped away like a fly.

He had just returned to his courtyard when the servants carried a large wooden barrel in and poured water into it.

The so-called "fragrant soup," of course, was different from washing casually; it had to be infused with fragrant medicines like angelica, peach skin, and green wood fragrance, which had the effect of warding off evil, removing filth, and refreshing the body.

He Lingchuan cleaned himself up, and it was almost dark. He changed into white clothes and a white hat, removed all ornaments, and cleaned his teeth with willow salt and rinsed his mouth with bitter tea, before being led by a servant to the ancestral hall.

The renovation of the He residence was always in progress, and the family ancestral hall was the first to be built. Its shape was simple, with black tiles and gray walls, and it would be buried low-key in the architectural complex in the future.

Under the eaves of the ancestral hall, the newly replaced white lanterns swayed in the increasingly heavy rain and snow, sometimes bright and sometimes dark, making people's faces change unpredictably.

The entire He mansion was present, and the steward, Old Mo, directed the servants to carry the offerings onto the tribute table like a flowing stream.

The three sacrificial animals in the front row, whole pig, whole cow, and whole sheep, were fixed after roasting; then there were five fruits, selected from five kinds of fruits common in the area.

There were also sixty-four bowls in total, containing various dishes.

According to the regulations of the Yuan Nation, only royal sacrifices or large-scale public sacrifices used large three sacrificial animals like pigs, cows, and sheep; from officials to commoners, at most, they used small three sacrificial animals like pigs, chickens, and fish.

The He family's offerings were not in accordance with the rites, but He Chunhua obviously didn't take it too seriously. He Lingchuan remembered that since his father became the prefect of Qiansong County, the family memorial seemed to have been like this.

It was because the mountains were high and the emperor was far away; now they had moved to Xiazhou, why were they still breaking taboos? He thought He Chunhua had his own considerations.

Besides, the He family had always closed the door to worship, and outsiders were not allowed in at this moment.

After all these were neatly arranged, the steward, Old Mo, lit the white candles on the case, and the family ancestral hall fell into silence.

This wait was half an hour.

The He family members were all in front, He Chunhua and his wife in the front, and the He brothers in the back, all looking at their noses and hearts, standing still.

The rain outside the window seemed to be more urgent.

The candles in front of the case were never blown out by the night wind, and they illuminated the dense memorial tablets in the shrine.

He Lingchuan knew that the death dates written on the one hundred and twenty-six memorial tablets here were all on the same day.

That was also the darkest and bloodiest day in the He family history.

The steward, Old Mo, suddenly opened his mouth: "The first quarter of the Xu hour, the time has arrived."

He Chunhua's voice was loud as he recited the prayer.

He didn't need a script; every word came from the bottom of his heart.

He Lingchuan listened from the side and sighed in his heart.

This world.

The He family was originally a prominent family in the capital. Even if the situation was chaotic, they could be protected by the ancestors and go smoothly.

Nineteen years ago, his grandfather, He Chunhua's father, was framed for the crime of offending the gods and betraying the country, directly exploding the emperor's reverse scales. The old emperor was furious and personally bestowed the order to execute the whole family, and it was to be executed immediately!

The next day he realized his mistake, but the He family had basically been slaughtered, leaving only an eleven-year-old boy far away who wasn't affected for a while.

The old emperor thought, "I regret it, but I won't say it," but he caught the person who framed the He family and gave him another full-family execution, plus a nine-clan execution, and then waved his hand: "The main culprit has been executed, but the He family concealed it, which is also inappropriate, treated as an accomplice. Now exempt He family's little child He Chunhua from death, and demote him to Qiansong County!" How magnanimous.

From then on, the third young master of the He mansion, He Chunhua, who was famous in the capital and had a bright future, suddenly became hopeless.

The greatest misfortune in misfortune was that He Chunhua wasn't exiled, but "demoted."

This "demote" character was used very spiritually. He Chunhua wasn't an official at a young age, but he was "demoted" by imperial decree, which instead showed that he wasn't reduced to a commoner, let alone a criminal, and didn't need to be tattooed on his face.

Not cutting off the way to live, nor completely cutting off the "promotion" opportunity, this was already the greatest mercy given by the old emperor.

He Lingchuan flipped through the original body's memory and knew very well how He Chunhua climbed from a mere station clerk to his current official position, with two exceptional promotions in between. This kind of comeback, besides the unspeakable bitterness and hardship, also required great luck.

Half a cup of tea later, He Chunhua finished reciting.

There were many good news reported to the deceased relatives this year, including his several meritorious services and promotion to Xiazhou administrator, becoming a frontier official. In terms of power, he was already higher than his ancestors.

Therefore, He Chunhua's expression this year was more high-spirited than in previous years. He took a deep breath, stepped forward two steps, knelt on the cushion, and began to kowtow.

Thirty-six loud kowtows in a row, with a thumping sound, everyone could hear it.

Then, he took the incense handed by the steward and pressed it lightly into the incense burner.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 259 =====

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