Chapter 515 Kneeling in the Funeral Hall

"General, please accept my condolences. Prince, please accept my condolences."

When they heard this, Gu Shaoyu and Shang Zhiping stood up and said to the man.

"Thank you."

This was the twelfth group of people coming and going today. Neither of them was good at expressing their feelings, so apart from these two words, they couldn't say anything else.

So, the mourners could only sigh and turn around to leave. When they left, they met Du Jingyi, who was also in mourning clothes and came in from outside with a bad look on her face. It seemed that she had gone to give instructions and was just coming back now.

"Madam, please accept my condolences."

"Thank you for your visit. If my father-in-law is still alive, he will be happy."

"Madam, you are too polite. We used to be friends with the Duke, so it is only natural for us to see him off now that he is gone. I can see that you all look unhappy. Although you should be filial, you should still take care of your health."

"Thank you for your concern."

Compared to the uncle and nephew kneeling inside, Du Jingyi was much more polite, so the adults who might have been a little unhappy just now left the Duke's Mansion with much understanding.

Having done their duty, they did not join in the fun.

Du Jingyi sent these away and welcomed others, and the cycle continued.

Compared to her dancing skills, her sister-in-law Liu seemed much more dull.

She knelt behind Ping'er, looking dazed. She cried the most sincerely among the few people, so naturally her eyes were red and swollen.

Compared to other people, when she married into the Duke's Mansion, her mother-in-law and husband were very proud, so she also received a lot of care from her father-in-law.

With her status, she had never been wronged by her father-in-law, and often he would give her a lot of good things on the grounds that she was far away from home, so at that time she really respected her father-in-law and mother-in-law.

But the good times did not last long. In just a few years, her husband and mother-in-law died one after another, causing their Dongyuan lineage to almost die out. At that time, she also gritted her teeth and hated this father-in-law, hating him for trusting Madam Wei. Although he had never abused Dongyuan, his inaction was the biggest problem.

But now that he is gone, she has repeatedly thought about this problem during the short period of taking care of him in his remaining years.

After all, a man like my father-in-law, with this kind of temperament, is not someone who can be expected to have high hopes. Why should we put all the blame on him? Moreover, he has suffered enough "retribution" in the past few years, so the tears of my eldest sister-in-law Liu are real, the pain is real, and the nostalgia is real.

Du Jingyi knelt beside her, seeing her crying sadly, and handed her a handkerchief to comfort her.

"Don't be too sad, sister-in-law. Now only you and Ping'er are supporting the family. If you are too sad, won't Ping'er have to fight alone? So the dead are gone, and the living still have to continue to live."

The eldest sister-in-law nodded. She naturally understood this truth, but she just couldn't help it.

Instead, Ping'er turned around, patted her mother's shoulder, and comforted her.

"If mother feels unwell, go back and rest for a while. My son and uncle are watching here, and nothing will happen."

Hearing this, the eldest sister-in-law Liu felt warm in her heart.

The son she had protected for her whole life had finally grown up. Seeing his increasingly strong body and mature face, the eldest sister-in-law was also proud of her son, and then she said.

"I'll go to the side room to wash my face and come back later."

Ping'er nodded, and Gu Shaoyu beside her also interrupted.

"Sister-in-law, let the lady accompany you. Her body is not very strong, so there is no need to kneel here every day."

As strong as Gu Shaoyu and as young as Ping'er, if they really kneel for a month, they will probably lose a layer of skin. Gu Shaoyu did not want his wife and eldest sister-in-law to suffer this time. Last time, they were both tossed around for the funeral of their grandmother.

Gu Shaoyu remembered that when he came back and met his wife, he could only touch bones and had no flesh at all.

She was very thin to begin with. If she was tossed around like this three or two times, she might not be able to bear it.

After hearing what he said, the eldest sister-in-law of course understood what he meant, and then took Du Jingyi's hand and said.

"Help me over, I'm crying so hard that I can't see the road clearly."

Du Jingyi naturally knew what everyone meant, so after looking at her own general and Ping'er with concern, she stood up and helped her sister-in-law to rest nearby.

In the mourning hall, the uncle and nephew still knelt upright, waiting for the people who came to pay their respects.

In the side room, the sister-in-law washed her face, then sat down tiredly and sighed twice.

"I don't know what happened? I just can't stop crying. Even if my father-in-law had made many mistakes in the past few years, now he has returned to dust and returned to earth. After he left, there are only us orphans and widows left in the Duke's Mansion. I always feel... I always feel a little lonely."

Her words fell into Du Jingyi's ears, and she was also very sad.

In theory, she had been married to the Duke's Mansion for so many years, and she had less dealings with this father-in-law. After moving to the general's mansion and going south to Jinling City for many days, she had even less time to spend with him.

So, although she was sad, she did not have the same thoughts as her sister-in-law and could only say comforting words.

"What are you talking about, sister-in-law? Although you and I live in different houses, we are always blood relatives. Besides, after the national mourning and family mourning are over, Ping'er will have a wedding. By then, the new bride will marry in and the child will be born, which will naturally make up for the emptiness in this huge mansion."

"That's right. Fortunately, it was my sixth brother who took the initiative and acted quickly. Otherwise, I might not be able to wait for the eldest lady of the Li family."

"What do you mean?"

Du Jingyi was a little confused by this. Why did he bring this up for no reason?

"After the marriage, I had quite a lot of contact with Madam Li. We would send gifts to each other from time to time. One day, I asked Mother Ou to go there in person, and I heard that the second young lady was already preparing to enter the palace for the selection."

"So soon?"

"Originally, the selection date was set in spring, when everything is in full bloom and reviving. Now it is almost midsummer, so we have to prepare. I heard that it will be held in early autumn, when the late emperor will be 100 days old. The royal family and our filial piety period are different."

For the people and officials of the country, they have to mourn for one year.

During this period, they cannot drink and have fun, they cannot dress up, and they cannot have weddings, so every household follows it. (End of this chapter)