novelSusiti Chapter 30 Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor.
Chapter 30 Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor.
"Yes, sir," Yin De replied.
"Alright, you can go now. Have someone prepare two condolence payments, one from me and one from you. It doesn't matter if it's more or less, it's just a token of my appreciation."
"This servant understands." Yin De bowed and withdrew.
The study fell silent again.
Yin'e sat behind his desk, staring at the flickering candlelight on the table, remaining motionless for a long while.
The candlelight flickered in the night wind, casting his shadow on the wall, sometimes large, sometimes small.
He reached out and summoned the book "Overheard".
He turned to the page that recorded the level of favorability.
The favorability rating for the Ninth Prince is still at 55.3, the Eighth Prince at 42, the Fourteenth Prince at 39.4, and Yin De at 96.0.
The Fujin's has now become 29.2.
He stared at the number for Fujin for a long time, then closed the book and tucked it into his sleeve.
"I need to hurry," he muttered, standing up and blowing out the candle on his desk.
The next morning.
As dawn broke, Yin'e got out of bed.
He slept for less than two hours that night, and when he woke up, his head felt heavy, as if it were filled with lead.
Fuquan brought him a copper basin to wash up and helped him change into a set of plain clothes.
These are the rules for visiting a funeral: one cannot wear red or green, and one cannot be too flashy.
"Is the sedan chair ready?" he asked while buttoning his shirt.
"It's ready," Fuquan replied. "Lord Yin is already waiting at the door."
Yin'e nodded and took out a blue cloth bundle that had been prepared in advance from the cabinet, inside which were two condolence money gifts.
One portion costs 500 taels, another portion costs 300 taels.
The five hundred taels were in his own name, while the three hundred taels were prepared for Yin De.
It's not that he's stingy, but there are so many people going to pay their respects, and everyone is giving a gift. If you give too much, it won't look good to others, and if you give too little, it will seem disrespectful.
Five hundred taels is just the right amount for this occasion, neither too much nor too little.
As he exited the mansion, Yin De was already waiting beside the sedan chair. Upon seeing Yin Yi, he immediately bowed and paid his respects.
"Let's go," Yin'e said, getting into the sedan chair.
Weijia Hutong is located on the north side of Chaoyangmen Inner Street. It takes about the time it takes to drink two cups of tea to walk there from the Tenth Prince's Mansion.
Along the way, Yin'e lifted the sedan curtain and looked out. There were far fewer pedestrians on the street than usual. The breakfast stalls were still there, but there were only a few customers, unlike the usual bustling atmosphere.
Several officials in official robes rode past the sedan chair on horseback. Their faces were not good, and they kept their heads down, none of them speaking.
The sedan chair stopped at one end of Weijia Hutong.
It wasn't that they didn't want to go in, but the alley was already packed with sedan chairs and horse-drawn carriages, making it impossible to get in.
Yin'e got out of the sedan chair, straightened his clothes, and led Yin De into the alley.
You could hear a chorus of wails from a great distance.
The voice wasn't from one person, but from a group of people.
Men and women, young and old, rose and fell in waves.
The sound of weeping poured out from the gate of the Wei mansion, drifting out along the alley, making people's hearts tighten and causing them to quicken their pace.
The gate of the Wei residence was wide open, and two white paper lanterns hung above the lintel, with the character "奠" (meaning "offering sacrifice") written on them.
White elegiac couplets were pasted on both sides of the door frame. The left side read "A lifetime of loyalty and righteousness shines through the ages," and the right side read "A bellyful of knowledge has flowed eastward."
The ink was dripping wet, clearly indicating that it had only been written recently.
The courtyard was already crowded with people who had come to pay their respects.
Standing at the door to greet guests was Wei Dongting's eldest son, Wei Shitong.
He was in his forties, dressed in coarse hemp mourning clothes, with a white cloth mourning cap on his head. His face was sallow and his eyes were sunken.
Upon seeing Yin'e, he immediately bowed and greeted him, his voice hoarse: "The presence of the Tenth Prince would surely bring comfort to my father in heaven."
Yin'e didn't speak, but patted his shoulder, nodded slightly, and went inside.
The courtyard was packed with people.
Nearly half of the officials of the third rank or above attended, including the ministers and vice ministers of the six ministries, the chief ministers of various courts, and the directors of various supervisory offices.
And those old ministers who had a past relationship with Wei Dongting, all dressed in plain clothes, filled half the courtyard.
When they saw Yin'e, they all made way for him, bowing and keeping their heads down, no one daring to say a word.
The mourning hall was set up in the main hall.
The main hall was divided into two rooms by white cloth curtains. The outer room was for mourning, and the middle room was where Wei Dongting's memorial tablet was placed.
The memorial tablet bears the inscription "The Spirit Tablet of the Late Father, Duke Wei, Named Dongting" in gold characters. Behind the tablet is a black lacquered coffin, the lid of which is not yet fully closed, revealing a corner of a dark blue burial shroud inside.
On both sides of the mourning hall knelt the nephews and nieces of the Wei family, all dressed in mourning clothes, weeping uncontrollably.
The oldest one looked a few years older than Yin'e, and he cried the hardest, with snot and tears streaming down his face, until his voice was hoarse.
The youngest was only three or four years old. He was being held by a maid. No one knew what was happening. Occasionally, he would be startled by the crying and would cry out a couple of times as well.
Yin'e stood at the door for a moment, straightened his clothes, and stepped inside.
He walked to the memorial tablet and stood still.
The master of ceremonies, who was in charge of chanting the rites, shouted, "Tenth Prince, offer incense."
Yin'e took the three incense sticks from the master of ceremonies, raised them above his head with both hands, and bowed deeply three times.
He inserted the incense into the incense burner, then took out the packet of condolence money from his sleeve and handed it to Wei Shitong, who was kneeling beside him, with both hands.
"Please accept my condolences," he said softly.
Wei Shitong took the bundle, held it with both hands, and touched his forehead to the ground.
He kowtowed loudly with a thud, sobbing uncontrollably, "Thank you, Tenth Master... Thank you, Tenth Master..."
His tears dripped onto the blue bricks, leaving a small, dark stain.
Yin'e didn't say anything more and turned to walk outside.
As he passed by the kneeling Wei family nephews and nieces, he noticed that several people were following him, their eyes filled with gratitude and awe.
He knew in his heart that this gratitude was not for him as a person, but for his status as "Tenth Prince".
In this rigidly hierarchical society, for a prince to personally come to offer condolences was an immense honor, more valuable than anything else.
Moreover, he represents not only himself, but more likely the Eighth Prince's faction and the attitude of Yinzhi (the Eighth Prince).
Tian Wenjing is now considered a public enemy, condemned by everyone.
As for the Fourth Prince Yinzhen behind him, although no one dared to talk about him, he couldn't help but resent him in his heart.
Yin'e's arrival was more like a political signal, a signal that would ignite a power struggle within the court.
He walked out of the mourning hall and into the courtyard.
The sunlight was dazzling, and he couldn't help but squint.
When the officials who had come to offer their condolences saw Yin'e come out, they cried even harder.
Several senior officials knelt down, prostrated themselves on the ground, their shoulders heaving, and they wept uncontrollably.
They blocked Yin'e's path and cried out loudly:
"Tenth Master, please do justice for Lord Wei!"
"Tenth Prince, please, Eighth Prince, do justice for Lord Wei!"
"Tenth Master, Lord Wei died unjustly."
"It's all because of that cruel official, Tian Wenjing!"
Yin'e stood on the steps at the entrance of the mourning hall, his gaze sweeping over the faces of those people one by one.
He couldn't express his opinion yet, so he could only nod silently at them and help them up one by one.
He was about to step down the steps.
Just then, a loud announcement came from the doorway:
"Fourth Prince, Thirteenth Prince, have arrived!"
The crying in the courtyard suddenly subsided at that moment.
Everyone turned their heads, their eyes all fixed on the main entrance.
Yin'e stood on the steps, slowly turned around, and looked towards the gate.
The creditors who drove Wei Dongting to his death have arrived.