Chapter 948: The old lady passed away

Late at night!

The physicians were unable to save her, and the old lady swallowed her last breath in her sleep.

For a time, there was crying inside and outside the courtyard. At the gate of the Hou Fu, white lanterns were hung in time. The major families who were paying attention to the movements of the Hou Fu, including the imperial palace, knew that the old lady had passed away the moment they saw the white lanterns.

This night, countless people breathed a sigh of relief, and countless people held their hearts in their hands.

Inside the imperial palace.

Emperor Jian Shi was still playing with his concubines.

Eunuch Gan rushed to the outside of the bedroom, and after reporting, bowed and walked into the bedroom.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the servant just received news that the old lady of the Marquis Pingjiang's mansion has passed away!"

"Passed away?"

"She has indeed passed away."

Emperor Jian Shi was expressionless at first, and then, the corners of his mouth slowly curled upwards, soon returning to their original state.

He gave a light cough to cover up the emotions he could not suppress, sighed, and said painfully: "During the New Year, I met her old lady once; she was still fine then, and her body was very strong. How long has it been, and she has actually passed away."

"Tomorrow morning, you go to the Hou Fu yourself and speak well. Marquis Pingjiang is currently sharing worries for me in the Northwest. The old lady has passed away, sigh, I don't know how to tell Marquis Pingjiang. Forget it, I'm not in the mood tonight, serve me to get dressed!"

The palace servants received the order and immediately became busy.

Even if the concubines were dissatisfied, they could only silently watch the emperor leave at this moment.

Eunuch Gan was pondering the phrase "speak well."

These eunuchs who served closely could more or less guess part of Emperor Jian Shi's thoughts, especially his attitude towards the Northwest. This "speak well" is very worth pondering!

Met Wang De on the way.

Wang De also learned the news of the old lady of the Hou Fu passing away and rushed over in case the emperor had orders. Tomorrow morning, it is destined to be very busy. He has to prepare in advance.

Seeing Eunuch Gan, Wang De politely said it was hard work.

"Eunuch Wang came in the middle of the night, it is even harder work."

"I heard the emperor's order for you to go to the Hou Fu tomorrow morning."

"Exactly! I don't know if Eunuch Wang has any advice."

"Advice is not worth talking about! Prince Chu has not been destroyed, and the Northwest is not peaceful! You should ponder it well. If you ruin the emperor's arrangements, humph..." Wang De turned his head and left.

Eunuch Gan spat, and with his disciples and grandchildren, also turned his head and left in the opposite direction.

On the Hou Fu side.

As early as learning that the old lady was poisoned, the Hou Fu had already started preparing.

Now that the old lady was gone, the servants were well-trained and quickly set up a mourning hall in the front courtyard, arranged the guest rooms, and assigned the servants to serve.

Two daughters-in-law and several granddaughters-in-law, cooperating with professional personnel, encoffined the old lady! And placed her in the mourning hall!

Daoist priests and monks had already been negotiated, just waiting for the sky to brighten, and all personnel to be in place.

The accounting department had also prepared sufficient silver money for the funeral expenses.

The elders in the clan, the young and strong who understood human feelings and were decent, and those who could speak well, all gathered at the Hou Fu. Once the sky brightened, when the mourners came, they had to come forward on behalf of the Hou Fu to be responsible for entertaining guests.

The Hou Fu looked like it had many people, but once the old lady passed away, a large number of distinguished guests arrived, and the few people in the Hou Fu could not entertain them at all. They had to mobilize personnel from the clan to avoid the situation of poor hospitality, neglecting guests, and offending people.

The chief steward was busy, and everything had to be personally reviewed by him before he could nod and continue. The accounting department also had to wait for him to sign and draw, before they could withdraw silver.

But he still took the time to close the door and talk to Chen Guanlou for a while.

"You still have to go to the Northwest to notify the eldest master. We are holding on in the capital, but we are not sure how long we can hold on. On the Heir's side, he is communicating with other nobles and families overnight, and I don't know the result."

"Don't I need to stay and help?" Chen Guanlou asked.

The chief steward's mouth twitched. "Your mouth, even if I dare to keep you, the Heir doesn't dare. With your mouth, good fellow, you have offended everyone. You'd better run errands and send letters; you don't need to worry about other things. Your eldest sister can be called to help. She runs a tea house and welcomes guests every day, so she can entertain the female relatives for the mistress and young mistresses. The mistress and young mistresses have to cry for the mourning, and they are too busy."

"Alright! I'll go to my eldest sister's house to notify her in a while. Besides notifying the eldest master, is there anything else about the news of the old lady's passing?"

"No need! There was already a discussion before, and now it's just acting according to the plan."

Chen Guanlou took the note approved by the chief steward, went to the accounting department to withdraw a sum of silver, and prepared to set off.

Chen Mengxun brought her eldest brother Chen Mengzhao to find him.

"Is Uncle Lou going to the Northwest?"

Little girl, her brain is really good.

"Who told you siblings that I am going to the Northwest?" Chen Guanlou asked.

"No one told us, we can guess it. You and the chief steward talked behind closed doors; besides grandfather's affairs, why would you be so secretive." Chen Mengxun said so.

Chen Mengzhao was a bit afraid of Chen Guanlou, but he still gathered his courage. "Uncle Lou, can you take me to the Northwest? I haven't seen grandfather for several years, and I miss him very much!"

Chen Guanlou gave a direct knock on Chen Mengzhao's forehead. "You are the great-grandson; the old lady has passed away, and you are not kneeling in the mourning hall; is that appropriate? Stop talking nonsense."

"Uncle Lou, the old lady is gone; will the imperial court recall grandfather back to the capital to observe mourning? Will the Hou Fu be in danger?"

"Who did you hear that from?" Chen Guanlou stared at Chen Mengxun.

Chen Mengxun lowered her head slightly and whispered: "Everyone is discussing it, worried."

Chen Guanlou said solemnly: "These things are not your turn to worry about. Even if the Marquis is recalled to the capital to observe mourning, the situation can be maintained. What you need to do is to stick to your duties, not forget your original intention, look after this home for the elders, and don't let people take advantage of the chaos. Manage the people below well. The more chaotic it is, the easier it is to make mistakes."

"Yes! We listen to Uncle Lou!"

"When Uncle Lou sees grandfather, please say hello for us!"

After comforting the two siblings who seemed calm on the surface but were actually terrified inside, Chen Guanlou set off.

First, he went to his eldest sister's house to notify her that the old lady had passed away and let her go to the Hou Fu to help early tomorrow morning.

When Chen Xiaolan heard that the old lady had passed away, her face turned pale. "It's only been a few days, how could she... be gone. What should we do! What should we do! Oh my, it's going to be terrible from now on. Master, master, remember to post a notice at the door tomorrow morning and close for three days. You come with me to the Hou Fu to help."

Chen Xiaolan was nagging and busy, and there was no way she could sleep tonight.

Chen Guanlou greeted her and decisively left. He disliked his eldest sister's nagging and was afraid of her magic sound filling his ears.

He left the city overnight and headed straight for the Northwest.

This year he had a great fate with the Northwest, and he had been there twice before summer arrived.

I guess, he might have to run a few more times later.

The chief steward really treated him as an errand runner. ===== CHAPTER 949 =====