The next day, it was New Year's Eve. Early in the morning, all the maids in the Xia residence were busy. Ah Fu was busy with the waiters, shouting from time to time,"Don't delay the time. We have to finish visiting the graves before 12 o'clock today. It's still snowing, so we have to leave early. Everyone, hurry up and prepare the offerings. Orchid, are the dumplings ready? It's time to cook."
The maids of the Xia residence were busy, and so were the heads of the Xia residence. Early in the morning, the Eldest Mistress got up early to help the Eldest Master put on his clothes and hat. It was especially cold on New Year's Eve, and it was snowing heavily. He had to put on his hat, scarf, gloves, and cotton clothes before he dared to go out. Xia Qingfeng and Xia Menglin woke up early to take care of their grandparents 'dressing. Of course, Xia Qingfeng was also planning the plan that he had already made in his mind. He had always been suspicious of Meng Lin's identity and was curious about the strange things she had brought back from England. He was thinking about what excuse he should find to not follow everyone to the graves to burn incense.
It had been a tradition since ancient times to burn incense at the graves on New Year's Eve. Every family had an old man who had passed away. According to superstition, the mortals in the world of the living celebrated the new year, and so did the ghosts and gods in the netherworld. Therefore, on New Year's Eve, the men of this family would bring their children to the graves to burn incense. After burning incense, they would return home and burn a furnace of incense. The meaning was to "lead" their ancestors home for the new year. The meaning of burning incense at home was "fragrant to the gods", which meant that their ancestors had returned for the new year. They wanted their ancestors to feel that their children and grandchildren were still thinking about them, so that they would not be alone in the wilderness during the New Year. On the second night of the new year, he would burn some paper in the courtyard to let his ancestors bring the money back to the netherworld.
Every family had different rules. The poor did not have any maids, so the men brought the children to the graves to burn incense, while the women stayed at home to cook. Rich families had maids to serve them, so as long as the housekeeper and maid could take care of the chores at home, the ladies at home could go or not. The Xia family had always been a big family. They did not dare to neglect the matter of offering incense to the graves. Their grandfather felt that on the day of the grave visit, he should show up and burn incense to the ancestors. Firstly, he wanted the ancestors to go back to celebrate the new year. He could not bear to see them alone in the wilderness. Secondly, if someone visited the grave, it meant that this old friend had a successor. This also represented the prosperity of a family. Otherwise, Old Master Xia had built such a large family business. He felt that other than his own hard work, it had something to do with his constant accumulation of Yin virtue. Therefore, it was extremely important to burn incense at the graves during the new year. Only a few unimportant people were left at home to do the housework. All the children who were related to the Xia family by blood had to go. It was also to let the ancestors "see" that everyone was living a peaceful life.
Xia Qingfeng was the son of the First Master and the only man in the family, so he had to go to the grave. He knew that he could not avoid it through normal means. However, if they went to the tomb together, they would miss the opportunity. He had to find out what Meng Lin had brought back from England and whether he could find any flaws in those things. Therefore, he thought about it and came up with a plan.
Menglin was helping the old lady dress up and chatting with Grandma. Grandma looked at her granddaughter through the mirror and said with heartache," You must have suffered a lot when you were overseas. Look at how thin and weak you are now. You're not as fair and chubby as when you were young." Menglin smiled awkwardly and said," Grandma, women in England nowadays pay great attention to their figures. Some even starve themselves to lose weight every day. I'm just afraid that no one will want me if I'm fat and fair." The two of them chatted and laughed, and their relationship was very close. As they talked, it was time for breakfast. They had to hurry and eat some breakfast. After breakfast, they would set off to visit the grave.
After breakfast, the old man set off with all the children and grandchildren. They had to sit in a sedan chair along the way. There were many adults with big businesses, so every time they went out to visit the graves, they would be grand. It made the neighbors envious. The surrounding neighbors were all discussing, one said, look at them. Most of the families were rich, and the other said that their descendants really knew how to reincarnate. Reincarnation was really a skill. Xia Menglin sat alone in the palanquin. Through the cloth curtains that were blown about by the breeze, he could faintly hear some chatter. He could not put his feelings into words. It had been two to three months since he came to this house. During these two to three months, he had familiarized himself with the environment of the house and the relationships between the seven or eight aunts. Now, he could recognize the names of the relatives who often visited the Xia family. Her family treated her very well. Other than her brother who seemed to suspect her a little last time, everything else was fine. Meng Lin still had lingering fear when he thought of how he had lost his composure in front of his brother. She saw that her brother hadn't been looking for trouble on purpose recently. Perhaps she had thought too much at that time. Perhaps she had already let go of this matter.
It was not easy to walk on a snowy day. The palanquin boy walked very carefully, afraid that one person would slip and the other three would not be able to withstand it. The person sitting in the sedan chair was also worried. Now that he was sitting steadily, who knew what would happen next, he would roll out. The family's grave was on the mountain. It was difficult to go up the mountain, and it was even more difficult to go down the mountain. It was snowing heavily. What should they do?
Unknowingly, they reached the foot of the mountain. Looking up, they saw a relatively steep slope. After this slope, there was a large flat land. In the middle of the flat land, there was a large protruding land. Around the protruding land, there were four small protruding lands in the east, west, north, and south directions. The Xia family's old master had once asked people to look at the feng shui. The big protruding land in the middle was the "turtle cover", and the small protruding lands in the four directions were the "turtle claws". If the ancestors 'graves were buried here, then future generations would be "noble" riding on the turtle. The graves of the ancestors of the Xia family were located in the middle of the flat land. The family's plan was to bury the people related to the Xia family in the turtle's back. In the future, when there was no place to bury them, they would bury them in the turtle's claw. If the maids and servants who had no one to rely on died in the Xia family, they would be buried near the turtle's claw and be exposed to the earth's aura.
Now, all the families were at the foot of the mountain. This steep slope was usually very steep and long. Coupled with the snow, no one dared to go forward. However, it was not a good idea to stand at the foot of the mountain. If they missed the time to visit the grave, the old master would be unhappy. The waiters were at a loss when Xia Qingfeng came out of the sedan chair.
He looked at the road and knew that it was difficult to keep balance while carrying the sedan chair. If one person was not careful, everyone would suffer. Moreover, the slope was very narrow, and the width of the left and right could only fit one sedan chair. If the sedan chair in front overturned, the sedan chairs behind would suffer. However, Xia Qingfeng was happy to see this scene. When he went out in the morning and saw the heavy snow, he felt that the heavens were helping him. He had already thought of a series of plans in his heart and was just waiting to put them into practice.
He walked to his grandfather's sedan chair and told his grandfather that the road was originally very steep, but it was even more dangerous after the snow. He was young, so he could try walking first. Everyone waited first. Grandpa was very worried, but he couldn't resist his grandson's repeated requests. Moreover, there seemed to be no other way, so he agreed to his grandson's request.
Xia Qingfeng immediately got into the palanquin and ordered the four attendants to carry the palanquin steadily. He would reward those who walked well. The four attendants did not dare to be negligent. They shouted and lifted the palanquin and walked up the steep slope step by step. The steep slope could only accommodate one palanquin. The attendants walked carefully on the edge of the steps, afraid that they would lose their balance if they stepped on the empty palanquin. Every step they took was filled with fear. Xia Qingfeng, who was sitting in the palanquin, was even more nervous. However, for the sake of his plan, he said, He could only use the trick of hurting himself.
The four workers were walking steadily on the stairs. However, when they reached the middle, the worker in front slipped and lost his balance. He stepped on air. Lifting the palanquin was the work of four people. One of them lost his balance, and the other three fell down one after another. Xia Qingfeng, who was sitting in the palanquin, felt the palanquin suddenly lose its balance. Before he could react, he and the palanquin rolled over a few times and rolled down the stairs.
The Xia Manor's Eldest Master and Eldest Mistress, who were standing outside and seeing this scene, panicked. They quickly went forward to find the curtain of the palanquin. Some of the waiters quickly straightened the palanquin, while others went to take care of the four waiters who had fallen and injured themselves. The waiters who had fallen and injured themselves were lying on the ground and crying out in pain. The Eldest Master pulled out his son from the palanquin and desperately shook his unconscious son."Azurepeak, Azurepeak, wake up…"
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