Li Xian had lied to Madam Pan, a white lie. He really didn't want to see Mrs. Pan wailing. As soon as he arrived in the Tang Empire, he had been squatting in prison and waiting for death. He knew how torturous it was to wait for death. If he told the Pan family the truth, he felt that he might as well never appear again and let her pretend that his son was dead. In that case, a year would be enough to heal most of her wounds.
Therefore, he told Madam Pan that the Emperor had pardoned his sins because he had done so out of filial piety. The three cardinal guides and five constant virtues were the basic morals that the imperial court attached the most importance to in maintaining social stability. This was evident from the fact that Liu Yuntao, the ship's boss, was sentenced to death after cursing his grandfather.
Since ancient times, most of those who committed crimes because of filial piety had been reduced in sentence or directly pardoned. He had indeed returned alive, so Madam Pan naturally believed her son's words.
"Based on the speed of information transmission in this era, it should take me a long time to learn the truth. Before that, I can already do a lot of things. I might have already earned a lot of money and can run away with her!”
Li Xian thought to himself. He had originally wanted to settle down Pan Shi and let her live without worries for the rest of her life before escaping. But when he came to Lizhou, he understood that if he wanted Pan Shi to live without worries for the rest of her life, he could only let her son live well. That was the source of her happiness.
The fusion of Li Xian's own memories, coupled with Mrs. Pan's innocent love for his son, allowed him to naturally recognize this mother.
Mrs. Pan was so happy that she didn't know why. When she untied the straw rope that tied the door, her hands kept trembling. It took her a long time to open the door. There weren't any valuable items in the house. It wasn't too much to say that the house was bare.
The moment they entered, they saw a separated central room. There was a dining table and a stove by the door. The door curtain was opened and they entered the inner room. There was a pit on the right hand and a row of low cabinets on the left hand. The most complete and glamorous piece of furniture in the house was a tribute table placed against the wall at the top of the room.
On the tribute table were the tablets of Li Honest's father and grandfather, as well as Li Xian's. In front of the memorial tablet was a clay incense burner. When Madam Pan entered the room, the first thing she did was to rush to the altar and remove Li Xian's memorial tablet.
"My son isn't dead, so this memorial tablet can't be used anymore. Aiya, he had been offering for so many days. It was really a reduction in his lifespan!”Mrs. Pan blamed herself as she picked up the kitchen knife and scratched the name written on it with a brush.
Li Xian looked around the room. It was both familiar and strange. He needed to constantly retrieve his memories. He remembered that his room was next door. The Li family had a good family background back then. They entered a three-room house. After building three rooms, there were still some materials left. At the top of the house, there was a narrow leather warehouse.
Madam Pan scraped off the words on the memorial tablet, then found a kitchen knife and chopped the memorial tablet into firewood. Only then did she feel at ease. It was as if her son had really returned after she had completed this step.
Madam Pan happily returned to the tribute table and bowed with her hands clasped together, muttering,""Ancestors, please bless me. Xian 'er is back. The Li family's incense is still burning.”
After Mrs. Pan finished speaking, she turned her head and saw that her son was still looking around. She hurriedly pulled him closer and said anxiously,"Hurry up! Quickly kowtow to your ancestors and thank them! Aiyo, wait!"
Mrs. Pan suddenly remembered something. She turned around and said to Li Xian,""Son, wait. You came back alive. This is a big deal. You have to pay tribute!”
Mrs. Pan said as she reached into her skirt and pulled out an oilpaper package from her waist. It was something she had hidden close to her body. Mrs. Pan put the things on the table, then felt around the other side and found another thing. She tied her skirt and happily opened the layers of oil paper. It was two braised pig ears and a large piece of pig's head meat in sauce.
Li Xian was dumbfounded, but Mrs. Pan didn't care. She hurriedly went to the outer room to get two ceramic plates, filled them with meat, and placed them in front of the incense table. She said to Li Xian,""What are you looking at? Mother took it from the Governor's Mansion. Look at you, I've never seen you eat less in the past.”
Lady Pan set up the incense table and urged her son to kneel down and kowtow to the ancestors, including his dead father, Honest Li.
Looking at Lady Pan's eager eyes, Li Xian obediently knelt down, put his palms together, and prayed silently. No one knew what he said. By the time he opened his eyes again, the sound of water being scooped had already sounded in the outer room. Li Xian could smell the smell of burning firewood.
Lady Pan boiled the water and began to work inside and outside, but her mouth was never idle.
Mrs. Pan found her son's clothes from the bottom of the cabinet and told him that she didn't want to pawn them after she thought her son had left her. Other than burning a few pieces for him on September 9th, she still left two sets for him to remember. At this point, Pan Niangzi slapped herself twice with heartache. It was a pity that her clothes were burnt.
Then, Mrs. Pan rummaged through the boxes and cabinets for bedding and told Li Xian that the house next door had been rented out. The house was originally intended for his son to marry a wife in the future. After thinking that his son had passed away, he had no choice but to rent it out. Now that the lease had not expired, he could only let his son live in the same room with his mother.
Then, Lady Pan carried a large wooden basin filled with boiling water into the house and a bucket of cold water to help her son bathe.
Li Xian was shocked and insisted on washing himself with his face flushed red. Lady Pan couldn't persuade him, so she had to tell him to wash himself clean and wipe his back with a towel. She walked out with a smile, saying that her son was really old and knew shame.
After this mother, who liked to talk but treasured her son like an eyeball, coaxed her out, the curtain was lowered, and Li Xian heaved a sigh of relief. Smelling his body, he realized that after months of prison life, he had a rancid smell. It was indeed time to take a bath. Li Xian took off his beggar's clothes and washed himself carefully.
When the clean water in the middle was used up, Lady Pan followed her son's instructions and changed the water and placed it outside the curtain. After three times, Li Xian finally took a clean bath and changed into a set of clothes that were old but clean.
When Li Xian came out of the shower, Lady Pan had already cooked the porridge, and he didn't know where she got two Hu cakes. The pig's head and pork cubes also thanked the old ancestor with their palms pressed together. Then, they were cut into pieces and placed on the dining table together with the two pickles.
"Mother, this…is it good to eat something that worships ancestors?”
"Hey! The ancestors have already enjoyed it. If you eat it, the ancestors of the Li family will definitely not be angry!”
As Lady Pan spoke, she smiled and continued to put meat into her son's bowl. In just two hours, she looked radiant and energetic. She was completely different from when she came home in the afternoon.
Seeing that Lady Pan only cared about giving him meat and finally simply put the entire pottery plate in front of him, Li Xian was a little uneasy.""Mother, why aren't you eating?"
Lady Pan beamed as she watched her son eat. She waved her hand and said,"Hey! Mother is already so fat, what else is there to eat? Mother is on a diet!”
Li Xian choked and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.""Mother, our Tang people are so plump. Why are you losing weight?”
Lady Pan happily rolled her eyes at him and said,""What you said is plump, but mother is fat. They are two different things! Stop talking nonsense and eat quickly!"
Li Xian lowered his head and silently took a sip of porridge. He raised his head and looked at Lady Pan seriously, his eyes shining."Mother! Don't worry, I'll definitely earn a lot of money and let mother live a good life!”
"Hey! That's right, my Xian 'er must be a promising person!”
Lady Pan's eyes reddened and she couldn't help but put her palms together again."" Thank you, Elder Lord. Thank you, Bodhisattva. My son, you're back alive!"
After dinner, Li Xian, who had been forced by his mother to swallow all the pig's head and pork, rolled up his sleeves and wanted to help his mother wash the dishes, but was chased out by Lady Pan, who made a fuss."Go, go, go. Let's take a walk in the courtyard. How can a man do housework? That's so useless!”
As a result, Li Xian, who was bound to be successful, was chased out by Lady Pan, who had high hopes for her son. Li Xian stepped out of the room and saw a girl enter the room next door.
She was dressed in a green robe and had a slim waist. Her figure was indescribably graceful. With just a glance, a feeling called handsomeness floated into Li Xian's heart. Eh? That side profile looked familiar! Li Xian suddenly thought of Miss Wenjun, who had sold wine in the loam in Lizhou Alley.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]