Chapter 191: First Seven Days Memorial
Today was destined to be a bustling day in Lu Ward. The Lu Ward dock was packed with people, and the street in Jingxin Ward was also crowded to the brim. Because today was not only the day the clan distributed money and grain, but also Lu Jian’s First Seven Days Memorial…
These days, under the Elder Council’s relentless efforts to build momentum, the clan members’ attention to Lu Jian’s cause of death had reached an extreme. Those people repeated the rehearsed lines over and over among the clan members. Not only was the effect quite good, many clan members had begun to believe that Lu Jian’s crimes were imposed on him by the Clan Leader, and that he was merely a victim of the struggle.
Even if someone raised an objection, saying that Lu Jian first hired killers to murder and then personally assassinated a fellow clansman, and that he even condoned his son’s illegal actions, so he could not be considered a good person no matter what. Those people would say that Lu Jian was unaware, that he was forced into it. Everything he did was understandable; he was just a pitiful father avenging his son or the like… There were always countless arguments to defend Lu Jian. For places that really couldn’t be whitewashed, they would use the phrase “the dead are paramount,” perfectly brushing it off.
More and more clan members began to feel sympathy for Lu Jian. Moreover, those people kept bringing up the good deeds Lu Jian had done, making many people feel much more favorably toward him, far exceeding the time when he was alive.
As a result, in these past few days, clan members coming to Jingxin Ward to pay respects had been endless. Over a few days, the front of Lu Jian’s former residence had been piled so high with funeral banners, soul-summoning flags, white paper, and white flowers that the house gate could no longer be seen. Wreaths stretched from his main doorway, filling the entire Jingxin Ward street.
It was unclear whether those people did it intentionally or not, but they piled many paper figures, paper horses, and the like funerary objects right at Lu Xin’s house doorway. This infuriated Lu Xiang to the point of rage—what was this if not cursing him to death? Seeing the old master furious, the guards hurriedly moved those funerary objects away. But the next day, those funerary objects reappeared at his doorway.
The guards originally thought someone was deliberately doing this to disgust their master and old master. So they stood guard at the doorway at night, hoping to catch the culprit in the act. Who knew that those paper figures and paper horses actually moved on their own to their doorway as if alive, with no one touching them. Moreover, ghost fire flickered around, and they could even hear ghostly cries: “Give me back my life, give me back my life…”
The guards were scared out of their wits, all huddling together in the gatehouse. Although they were trained to be fearless in battle, that didn’t mean they weren’t afraid of ghosts!
As a result, rumors quickly spread throughout the clan, saying that this was Lu Jian’s ghost unable to rest in peace, using spells from the netherworld to drive those funerary objects. They also said that the First Seven Days Memorial was the night of return, when Lu Jian would come back to demand his life from Lu Xin’s family or the like. The rumors grew more and more bizarre, and in the end, even those who originally didn’t want to come pay respects on the First Seven Days Memorial had no choice but to come burn incense and bow their heads, begging Lu Jian’s ghost to take vengeance on the guilty and not vent anger on the innocent.
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Around chenshi, an excited shout came from the street corner: “The Great Elder has arrived!” The clan members who had been whispering among themselves all turned to look toward the street corner in unison. Sure enough, they saw several carriages bearing the Elder Council emblem slowly driving into Jingxin Ward.
The carriages stopped at the ward gate—not because the coachmen didn’t want to go further in, but because the crowd coming to pay respects had already filled the street.
Several younger elders got out of their carriages first and jogged to the Great Elder’s carriage. Without needing the servants, they personally placed the footstool and eagerly lifted the carriage curtain.
The Great Elder’s perpetually stern face appeared before the crowd. Seeing the dense crowd before him, a faint, barely perceptible smile flickered on the Great Elder’s face. He raised his hand to signal to the crowd while saying to the confidants beside him, “This is what it means for the people’s hearts to turn.”
“Yes, yes.” The confidants nodded while whispering to him, “There’s more good show to come. The Great Elder just watch.”
“Mm.” The Great Elder nodded with keen interest and, supported by his confidants, slowly walked toward the crowd. By the time he reached the front of the crowd, the Great Elder and the group of elders wore expressions full of grief, mingled with threads of indignation—no trace of smugness could be seen.
“Great Elder, Great Elder…” Wherever the Great Elder went, clan members stepped aside one after another, bowing and making way.
Lu Wen nodded solemnly to the crowd and, escorted by the group of elders, arrived at the altar set up in front of Lu Jian’s former residence house gate. But afterward, Lu Wen said nothing, merely standing there with a solemn expression.
“Who is the Great Elder waiting for?” Seeing Lu Wen’s demeanor as if waiting for someone, the clan members began to discuss in low voices.
“Who else could it be? Who else in the clan has the qualification to make the Great Elder wait?” Some pre-arranged people prompted the clan members.
“Then it must be the Clan Leader.” The crowd suddenly realized. “Speaking of which, neither the Clan Leader nor the Eight Great Stewards have come.”
“That’s too much! How can they not show up at all!” The clan members became filled with righteous indignation. The Great Elder and the elders had all come— what excuse did Lu Shang and the stewards have for not appearing?
Lu Xiang watched the clan members’ reaction with satisfaction. When the voices grew louder and the crowd’s emotions more agitated, he finally put on a show of sighing and nodded to an elder serving as master of ceremonies. That elder then drew out his voice to announce the start of the ceremony. Instantly, mournful music filled the air, and under the Great Elder’s lead, the clan members bowed their heads in mourning for Lu Jian.
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The sound of mourning music from Jingxin Ward faintly reached the dock. But the clan members at the dock no longer cared to listen to it, because the Finance Department’s boat had finally appeared.
“It’s here, it’s here!” Seeing several large ships flying the clan flag slowly docking, the clan members involuntarily surged forward.
As those large ships nearly squeezed the dock workers into the water, the workers hurriedly caught the ropes tossed from the ships and securely tied them to the dock’s stone posts.
The clan members stared eagerly at the large ships, and then saw several Finance Department managers escorting the new Finance Steward Lu Xin appear on the deck.
Many clan members standing nearby could already see Lu Xin’s ashen face, and their hearts tightened involuntarily.
“Everyone,” Lu Xin clasped his fists toward the crowd and said in a deep voice, “I, Lu Xin, have been acting head of the Finance Department under the Clan Leader’s orders for half a month now.”
“We know…” The clan members were not buying it. “No need for introductions—hurry up and distribute the grain!”
“Exactly! When Lu Jian was in charge, he never delayed like this!” The clan members, impatient from waiting, had long lost their due respect for superiors. “Why do we only see the grain ships? Where are the money wagons?”
“Apologies, everyone. This month we can only distribute grain, not money.” Lu Xin took a deep breath and uttered this heaven-shaking, stone-breaking statement.
“What?!” The clan members at the dock were stunned. Many couldn’t believe their ears and shouted at Lu Xin, “Say that again!”
“This month we can only distribute grain, not money.” Lu Xin cleared his throat and raised his voice a notch.
“Nonsense!” The clan members’ last shred of hope vanished. With a boom, they exploded. Some glared with bulging eyes and cursed at Lu Xin, in moments greeting his eighteen generations of female ancestors—completely ignoring that they all shared the same ancestor not many generations back.
They were truly too furious. Their family’s expenses for a whole month, all those social obligations, all depended on this money!
“Lu Xin, you’ve just taken office and you dare cut off everyone’s livelihood? Believe it or not, we’ll send you to see the King of Hell right now?!” Amid the clan members’ angry curses, they rolled up their sleeves and surged forward. The Finance Department’s guards desperately blocked them to prevent them from jumping onto the ship.
On the deck, the managers all showed fear on their faces, wishing they could set sail and flee immediately. But Lu Xin remained as steady as a mountain. He circulated the Heaven and Earth Righteous Law, and Righteous Qi surged forth. His voice boomed like thunder in everyone’s ears: “Everyone, please hear me out!”
