Chapter 98: Delivering Funeral News
Early morning.
Wen Mingqian had just gotten up and hadn’t had breakfast yet when Ma Ping’an arrived with news from outside the door.
Zhang Ma told him to stand at the door and reply.
“Reporting to Madam, Concubine Song passed away at midnight last night.”
“What was the cause of death?” Wen Mingqian naturally wasn’t surprised; she knew this household couldn’t tolerate Consort Song.
“It was a hemorrhage. The onset was sudden, and there was no time to call a doctor,” Ma Ping’an replied concisely and completely.
“Do Old Madam and Master know?” Wen Mingqian asked again.
“Master already knows. I’ll go to Old Madam’s after reporting to you,” Ma Ping’an added, “However, Old Madam did send Granny Xu to check on Concubine Song yesterday.”
“After Master knew, did he say how the funeral should be handled?” Song Xiulian was dead, and it wouldn’t do to just roll her up in a mat and drag her out.
It would look bad and sound worse.
Moreover, this was an internal matter, and Wen Mingqian was in charge of the household now, so it was naturally her responsibility to handle it.
Therefore, she had to ask for the opinions of Gong Xu and Old Madam.
“Master said that since the weather is hot and he and Old Madam are not well, everything should be kept simple. There’s no need for friends and relatives to offer condolences,” Ma Ping’an relayed Gong Xu’s exact words.
Gong Xu had said this yesterday, but Yun Ying hadn’t told Wen Mingqian after she returned home, simply because she knew Wen Mingqian didn’t want to be involved in Consort Song’s death, so it was better to distance herself.
“Since that’s the case, you don’t need to go to Old Madam’s. Go back to Rui Xiang Residence and oversee the arrangements!” Wen Mingqian stood up and said, “I’ll go to Old Madam’s to inform her and seek her instructions.”
Old Madam Gong had known for a long time that Consort Song had died, but she didn’t acknowledge it.
After listening to Wen Mingqian, she sighed, “It’s a pity she died so young. There’s nothing that can be done. The weather is hot, and the body can’t be kept. Have her cremated and buried early. Since she can’t be buried in the ancestral grave, choose a good burial site for her and spend some silver.”
“That is indeed appropriate. Our family has no rules for mistreating concubines,” Wen Mingqian said in a normal tone, showing no hint of resentment towards Consort Song. “However, I think we should at least inform her maternal home to fulfill our propriety.”
Old Madam Gong thought for a moment and said, “Very well, then send someone to inform them! There’s no need to notify other families. Everyone is trying to avoid the heat at this time; why disturb friends and relatives and make them uneasy, making us seem inconsiderate?”
“Old Madam is right. Then everything will be done as you say,” Wen Mingqian respectfully listened to her instructions.
“Grandmother, Madam, has my little mother passed away?” Gong Bao’an came out from the inner room, crying.
He hadn’t seen Consort Song for several days. Everyone told him that Consort Song was ill and needed to rest well, so Brother Changan brought him to live with his grandmother.
Brother Changan took good care of him and was willing to play with him, so he hadn’t missed his biological mother much these past few days.
But as soon as he heard that his biological mother had died, he couldn’t help but cry.
“Good child, don’t cry. Your little mother died of a serious illness. From now on, your elders will dote on you,” Wen Mingqian, although she and Consort Song were irreconcilable, had never had any intention of harming Gong Bao’an.
Young children are innocent, and besides, this child carried the blood of the Gong Family.
“Take Fifth Young Master aside and don’t let him go over there. The weather is hot; be careful of the smell of death affecting him,” Old Madam Gong instructed the person accompanying Gong Bao’an.
Gong Changan took Gong Bao’an’s hand and said, “Fifth Brother, don’t be afraid. I’m here! I’ll stay with you.”
Meanwhile, Song Xiang and his wife were greatly shocked upon hearing the news of Consort Song’s death.
“How could a living person just disappear? I saw her a few days ago, and she was fine,” said Ge Shi, Consort Song’s sister-in-law.
“Concubine Song had a hemorrhage due to a miscarriage. Her condition was stable a few days ago, but it suddenly worsened,” said Ma Ping’an, who delivered the message. “This was also unexpected.”
“You dismiss it with a single word of ‘unexpected’? What does your Master say?” Song Xiang’s expression turned grim.
“Our Master is deeply saddened by Concubine Song’s passing and has fallen ill. Before I came to report the death, Master specifically instructed that due to the hot weather, the body cannot be kept, so there will be no wake, nor should friends and relatives be troubled. If you two wish to pay your respects, please do so quickly, as we will have to send her outside the city afterward,” Ma Ping’an spoke professionally, without engaging in further discussion.
He left after speaking.
“This is outrageous!” Song Xiang was so angry that he smashed the tea cup in his hand to pieces. “My sister has been in your Gong Family for so many years; even if she didn’t have merit, she had hard work. No wake, no condolences from friends and relatives, what is this?!”
“Don’t get angry just yet,” Ge Shi shooed away the young maid who was about to clean up and said to Song Xiang in a low voice, “We didn’t know about our sister’s miscarriage at all; their family kept it very secret. I knew her pregnancy was unstable, but it shouldn’t have led to a miscarriage so easily.
Moreover, my sister’s health has always been good. Even with a miscarriage, it shouldn’t have cost her her life!”
Consort Song had not informed her maternal relatives after her miscarriage because Wen Mingqian had been confined at that time. If she had called her maternal relatives, she feared the Gong family would be displeased, thinking it might lead to leaks and public shame.
She had originally planned to tell her brother and sister-in-law the details after Wen Mingqian was completely defeated, and then she could have boasted greatly. Who knew she would lose her own life first.
“I’m also suspicious. Looking at the Gong family’s actions, my sister most likely died under suspicious circumstances,” Song Xiang was not an easy person to deal with, and Consort Song’s death was indeed quite strange.
“It must be that one surnamed Wen who did the poisonous deed,” Ge Shi said. “She appears amiable on the surface, but in reality, she and my sister have been irreconcilable for a long time.”
“If that’s the case, I must go and see my sister’s body. If there are any suspicious signs, I will not allow them to bury her,” Song Xiang said, immediately calling for someone to help him change his clothes.
Meanwhile, Wen Mingqian instructed Ma Ping’an, “Since we have informed her maternal family of the death, immediately take the coffin out. Tell them to follow afterward.
If they can catch up to see her, it will be due to their sibling bond; if they cannot, then there is nothing that can be done.”
Ma Ping’an understood and immediately called for people to use a thin-skinned coffin to take Consort Song’s body out through the back door.
Song Xiang arrived at the front door and saw that everything was as usual, with no signs of a funeral, which made him even more displeased.
Upon entering the courtyard where Consort Song lived, he found that the coffin had already been taken out.
By the time he caught up outside the city, Consort Song’s coffin had already been half-burned. He stomped his feet in anger.
Turning back, he thought he should ask the servants who used to serve Consort Song for clarification, so he returned to the Gong Family.
However, he was told that Granny Yang and the others had been called to Old Madam’s side to work and were unavailable to see him.
In reality, Consort Song’s trusted confidantes had already been confined and would be dealt with slowly after the situation calmed down.
But how could Song Xiang be reconciled? He firmly believed that his sister had died unjustly.
