Chapter 133: What is This Place?

When they finally left the West District, Zhuang Zhuang had stopped asking questions. Xiaoguo had also run out of ideas.

“Mother?”

“Yes?!”

Xiaoguo was slumped in the carriage. When she heard Zhuang Zhuang call her “Mother”, her heart trembled. What was he going to ask again?

“Mother, what’s wrong?”

Zhuang Zhuang asked worriedly. Hearing this, Xiaoguo’s heart softened. She had misunderstood her son.

“Mother is fine.”

Xiaoguo said gently. It wasn’t very elegant for her to be seated slumped in her seat like that. She decided to sit up straight.

Xiaoguo had just sat up when she heard Zhuang Zhuang’s childlike voice.

“Mother, what is the Lu something academy for?”

When Xiaoguo heard the word academy, she was relieved. What Lu something academy? The name sounded really strange.

Xiaoguo poked her head out and looked in the direction Zhuang Zhuang was pointing at. “Oh, so that’s what it was.”

“Son, that word is pronounced as ‘da’.”

Xiaoguo happened to know this uncommon word.

Zhuang Zhuang tried to read it out loud. “Lu Da Academy? Are they selling books?”

Zhuang Zhuang was clearly interested in the academy.

“No, but it’s a place where they teach. There are professional teachers teaching there.”

The academy slowly disappeared into the distance. Zhuang Zhuang felt a little regretful.

“Next year, you’ll be able to enroll at an academy.”

Xiaoguo stroked Zhuang Zhuang’s head and comforted him.

Zhuang Zhuang was also very happy after hearing this. Yes! He will be going to an academy next year, but…

After feeling happy for a while, Zhuang Zhuang seemed to have thought of something else. If he went to the academy, he wouldn’t be able to stay with his mother every day. No way!

Seeing that the carriage was slowing down, Xiaoguo guessed that they were almost there. She packed her bags and got ready to alight.

Xiaoguo did not notice anything amiss with Zhuang Zhuang. When the carriage stopped, she led him out of the carriage.

Guan Xi wanted to ask Xiaoguo to get out of the car, but seeing that the mother and son had already gotten out, he returned to the front of the convoy.

Xiaoguo got out of the car and observed her surroundings. There were no commoners living around here, nor were there any houses. There was only a large residence with seals stuck on the walls. The surroundings were overgrown with weeds and trees.

Xiaoguo wondered if this was the Jiang family’s old residence, but she immediately rebutted herself. That was impossible. Who would build a main residence here? This location would be more suited for an ancestral hall.

The more Xiaoguo thought about it, the more certain she became. Wasn’t this environment and house like an ancestral hall? Since the ancestral hall of the Jiang family was here, the ancestral grave should be nearby.

Xiaoguo held Zhuang Zhuang’s hand and walked forward. At this moment, Magistrate Liu got out of the car. Xiaoguo glanced at him. It was rare to see him step out during the day.

Magistrate Liu’s face was flushed—he seemed to have benefited from the trip. He stretched his arms. Even though his seat was lined with cotton filling, it was still very uncomfortable.

At this moment, an official beside him was reporting something to him. Xiaoguo wasn’t paying attention and was only focused on bringing Zhuang Zhuang around to observe the terrain.

As soon as they reached the back of the ancestral hall, she recognized a pile of bulging mounds among the weeds. This should be the ancestral grave.

Xiaoguo was going to bring Zhuang Zhuang back to the carriage. She was satisfied that they had found the grave. She wasn’t intending to go into the hall. Although it was daytime, she still felt rather uneasy.

“Hey, Madam Jiang.”

Magistrate Liu called out to Xiaoguo, who was walking back.

Xiaoguo stopped and walked towards him. “County Magistrate, what is it?”

Magistrate Liu rolled his eyes and thought about how to say the words. In the end, he coughed twice.

“According to the feng shui master that the Minister of Revenue had found for me, it’s not auspicious to carry out the burial rites today. Tomorrow morning is an auspicious time, so we have to stay for the night. We will do the preparations tomorrow.”

Magistrate Liu finished speaking without taking a breath. In order to increase credibility, he had even brought the Minister of Revenue and the feng shui master into his story. The part about the Minister of Revenue was indeed real. He was not lying about this. It was true that the Minister who informed him. No matter how, he had to keep Madam Qin around. Everything could be discussed the next day.

Although Xiaoguo found it strange, she didn’t say anything else. Such events had to be done on the right day. There was no other choice. She could stay for today and bring Zhuang Zhuang around the capital. At the same time, she could bring some things back for Qin Anming, Ruyi, and Mrs. Yang. After all, this was the capital. People in that era might not get a chance to go to the capital in their lifetime. Transportation was not developed and it would take more than half a month to travel back and forth. How many people would have the chance to come here?

It was by chance that she was able to come here this time. Otherwise, she might not get the opportunity to visit the capital in her lifetime as well. Firstly, she had no business here. Secondly, there was no reason for her to be here.

“All right.”

Seeing that Xiaoguo did not ask for the reason, Magistrate Liu heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed that his idea worked. “Hahahaha.”

“Ahem, there’s nothing much to do today. The coffin can be placed in the ancestral hall. There are officials guarding this place.”

Magistrate Liu explained his plans. The soldiers immediately brought the carriage to the entrance of the ancestral hall. Then, a group of people began to carry the coffin, and another man went to open the door of the ancestral hall.

Seeing that everyone was working so efficiently, Magistrate Liu could not help but nod in satisfaction. Not bad, they were all very discerning!

Xiaoguo led Zhuang Zhuang out of the way. Then, she looked at the doors of the ancestral hall and remembered what Qin Anming had instructed her.

She opened her bag and prepared the incense sticks and fire torch. After the coffin was set in place, she would go in and light the incense for each memorial tablet.

Xiaoguo brought Zhuang Zhuang to the ancestral hall. The officers parked the coffin and went out.

Xiaoguo lit all the incense sticks and handed them to Zhuang Zhuang. He had also received his mother’s instructions in advance. First, he placed the incense sticks in front of his grandparents’ coffins. Next, he placed a few incense sticks in front of each memorial tablet on the hall table. If there was any spot that he could not reach, Xiaoguo would lift him and let him place the joss sticks.

As it had been a long time since anyone came to pay their respects, the ancestral hall was overgrown with weeds. The memorial tablets and tables were covered in cobwebs and dust.

Xiaoguo brought Zhuang Zhuang to the last memorial tablet. There were still a few incense sticks left in her hand. Xiaoguo quickly extinguished them.

Xiaoguo counted the incense sticks in her hand. There were a total of 32 memorial tablets. After placing a joss stick at each memorial tablet, there were still more than half of the joss sticks left in her hand. Xiaoguo placed the remaining sticks aside. She could light them during the burial tomorrow.

Xiaoguo was initially planning to make a memorial tablet for the two elders of the Jiang family when she arrived in the capital. She didn’t know that she would need a memorial tablet prior to arriving.

In the village, most people did not have memorial tablets. When someone died, they would bury them and make tombstones. They did not place any memorial tablets at home.

After Mr. Jiang passed away, they didn’t have one at home. After Mrs. Jiang passed away, the previous owner didn’t make one either.

But now, it was inappropriate not to do so. After all, they had already entered the ancestral hall. How could there be no memorial tablets to worship?

It was better to find a wooden shop and make two later.

After checking that she had not missed out on anything, Xiaoguo came out with Zhuang Zhuang.

Magistrate Liu was waiting at the door. When he saw Xiaoguo, he went up to her.

“Madam Qin, you can return to your accommodation after you get on the carriage. I have other matters to attend to, so I won’t be traveling with you. They will bring you over tomorrow morning.”

When Xiaoguo heard this, she nodded. Magistrate Liu was an official after all. It wasn’t easy for him to get to the capital. He had to get on the good side of the local officials and try to get himself transferred to the capital.

This time, Guanxi traveled with Xiaoguo along the way. Xiaoguo sat in the carriage with Zhuang Zhuang and waited for the car to move.

“Mother, where are we going next?”

Zhuang Zhuang asked Xiaoguo curiously.

“Mother doesn’t know the exact location, but they are bringing us to a place to rest. When we’ve rested enough, I’ll bring you shopping in the afternoon.”

At the thought of being able to shop, Xiaoguo was overjoyed. Even Zhuang Zhuang was delighted. He was intending to buy more books!

The carriage shook and swayed along the way. Xiaoguo lifted the curtain and looked out curiously. The further they traveled. the more she felt that something was amiss. Although she had never been to the capital, she knew this building, this color-combination, and this place…

This place is…!