A Clash of Gods - Chapter 48
Chapter 48 The Funeral
Things in the capital Jianye went on, in the way Duan Canghai had speculated. Black Sword Camp was sent into the Imperial City, replacing the defending force there, while the original defending force, Royal Guard Camp was sent out of the capital, stationed fifteen li away in the north of the city.
At that night, a curfew was imposed in the city.
If it was not in critical condition, a curfew would not be imposed even in a frontier town, let alone a capital of a state. A curfew would mean that something huge was about to happen.
While Black Sword Camp was defending the Imperial City, Tiger God Camp was defending the gates to the outside of Jianye City. Besides, Tiger God Camp sent out some troops to assist Capital Bureau patrolling all the streets in the capital.
It had been many years since the last time Jianye City experienced such a solemn atmosphere.
By the time they held the funeral of Qi Jing, the Marquis of Honor, the curfew didn’t get lifted. There were not many central officials at the funeral. However, as the funeral cortege passed along the streets, many people spontaneously stood on the sides to pay their respect mourning.
Considering the status of Qi Jing, the Marquis of Honor, and the contribution he had made for the state, the scale of his funeral cortege seemed to be too small.
The tomb of Qi Jing was located at the foot of Mount Zhong in the east of the capital. There was a large cemetery, which was called the Loyalty Cemetery. According to the will of the founder of the Southern Chu State, the Loyalty Cemetery was specially constructed for the burial of those loyal officials who contributed a lot to the state. It was regarded as a great honor to be buried in the Loyalty Cemetery.
Since Qi Jing had been a pillar of the Southern Chu State, there was no doubt that he would be buried in the Loyalty Cemetery.
It would take a day to walk from the capital to the Loyalty Cemetery, and the whole burial rite would take at least three days to complete. As the eldest trueborn of Qi Jing, Yang Ning had to make the trip there, leading the funeral cortege.
Unexpectedly, Third Elder Lord was also in the cortege, but Fifth Lord and Sixth Lord didn’t show up.
At the beginning, when the cortege left the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor, there were not too many people in the cortege, only two hundred or so, but as the cortege went to the East Gate, more and more people started to follow the cortege, and most of them were the citizens in the capital who genuinely admired Qi Jing. By the time when the cortege arrived at the East Gate, there were almost a thousand people in the cortege, pacing along like an endless river.
Though the curfew was imposed in the capital and the door of each household was shut closed, when the cortege reached to the East Gate, the gate opened immediately, and on roadside scattered fully armed soldiers, who stood mourning with spears in their hands. As the cortege passed by, soldiers on the sides all went down on their knees while holding their spears, grieving for that well-known general of the state.
Seeing this, Yang Ning was more certain about how much soldiers in the Southern Chu State valued Qi Jing.
The East Gate was now not far ahead. Yang Ning saw a large crowd of people gathering at the gate. When the cortege was approaching the gate, those people quickly stepped forward.
The leader was a tall man in black armor. He was at the age of thirty-something, and had a masculine walk and an awe-inspiring appearance. Such a tough guy.
Steward Qiu raised one hand and stopped the cortege. The man in black armor quickly stepped forward and kneeled down in a sudden, taking off his helmet. Behind him, a troop of soldiers collectively kneeled down and took off their helmets at the same time. After setting down their helmets on the side, they all followed the man in black repeatedly kowtowing to the coffin of Qi Jing.
At this moment, Steward Qiu had made his way to the side of Yang Ning, and he whispered, “Your Excellency, this is the commander of Tiger God Camp, Xue Lingfeng. He was once a subordinate of the General.”
Before the funeral, Gu Qinghan had patiently taught Yang Ning about all the etiquette he might need to observe during the funeral. Yang Ning kept all that in mind, knowing that he should step forward and return a salute.
Accompanied by Steward Qiu, Yang Ning went up and saw Xue Lingfeng was solemn. His eyes were red-rimmed while he kept kowtowing. His forehead got injured shedding blood.
“Commander Xue, please get up. Please get up!” Steward Qiu went up and tried to help him getting up. “If the General get to know your affection, he would be gratified in heaven.”
By now, Yang Ning had saluted to Xue Lingfeng and all the soldiers. Getting up, Xue Lingfeng came up to Yang Ning, without looking at Steward Qiu. He was a big strong man, much taller than Yang Ning, towering over Yang Ning. After a brief pause, he said, “Your Excellency, I was once a subordinate of the General and I could never forget those things the General had done for me. In case you have any troubles in the future, just come to me and I will never say no to you if I could be helpful!”
Yang Ning raised his hands and said, “Xue…Uncle Xue, since my father…my father passed away, I might bother you with many things. Thank you in advance, Uncle!”
A hint of surprise showed in the eyes of Xue Lingfeng. He seemed to be astonished about Yang Ning being so decent. Delightfulness showed in his eyes, as he nodded a little without saying much, then he moved out of the way, leaving the road open. He said in a low voice, “Farewell, General!” Again, on the roadside, he went down on one knee, while all the soldiers there kneeled down. They were solemn and respectful.
As Steward Qiu was just about to move the cortege again, a voice came from behind, “Wait a minute!” The voice was loud and followed by the clop of horses’ hooves. Everybody turned and saw people from behind had already made a way for it. Soon there came several galloping horses. Yang Ning looked over and saw the leader was in a beige silk robe, wearing a formal hat, and he had a long beard on his chin. As he came close, he already dismounted from the horse.
“It’s the Duke of Huainan!” Steward Qiu said in a panic, “Your Excellency, hurry…hurry and welcome the Duke of Huainan.”
Yang Ning was stunned for a while. He didn’t know much about the system of the Southern Chu State, but he knew that the status of a king was higher than a marquis. He didn’t expect to see a duke at this point.
The Duke of Huainan was an elegant man, slightly over forty. After dismounting from the horse, he hurried to the carriage bearing the coffin. When he got the side of coffin, he suddenly bent over on the coffin, bursting into tears. He said in a sad voice, “It is unfair. You, the Marquis of Honor had led a heroic life, had never lost a battle, and now…now you are gone. The Southern Chu State has lost a pillar, and it is killing me…!”
The cortege was already haunted by sorrow. Now that the Duke of Huainan had burst into tears, many people also started to cry. Even the soldiers kneeling on the roadside had started to wipe tears.
Yang Ning was confused for a moment, wondering who on the earth was this Duke of Huainan. He seemed to be sincere. It looked like that he was really sad that Qi Jing had passed away, and his mood was very contagious. However, why was this Duke of Huainan never mentioned by Gu Qinghan? Besides, this Duke of Huainan had never come to the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor to pay respects.
The Duke of Huainan looked sorrowful. He suddenly took two steps back and was about to kneel down. Since Steward Qiu was already on the side, he hurried to stop the king and said, “Your Highness, Your Highness, please don’t. Please don’t. This…this is not the etiquette!”
The Duke of Huainan said, “How come this is not the etiquette? I can’t kneel before the Marquis of Honor just because I am a duke? The Marquis of Honor had made great contribution to the Southern Chu State. The security and prosperity of the Southern Chu State were achieved, thanks to the Marquis of Honor as well as countless soldiers shedding their blood. Not to mention kneeling down before him. If I could trade my life for his, I would never hesitate.” He pushed Steward Qiu away and actually kneeled down.
At this moment, people around were exchanging their opinions whispering, while many of them showed admiration.
The Duke of Huainan kowtowed for several times before he was brought up. He turned and saw Yang Ning on the side. He went over and held Yang Ning’s hand, then said gently, “This must be the earl?”
Steward Qiu answered hurriedly, “Yes!” Then he darted a look at Yang Ning before Yang Ning said, “Your Highness, this is Qi Ning!” He assumed a posture of kneeling, but the Duke of Huainan stopped him and said, “Not necessary. I’m just here to say goodbye to the Marquis of Honor. I couldn’t watch that only a few people were at his funeral.”
What he said seemed to be true, but Yang Ning had a feeling that he was hinting something. There were more than a few people at the funeral, and many citizens paid their respects along the way here. Though there were not too many people, but actually it couldn’t be regarded as “only a few”.
The Duke of Huainan said he couldn’t watch that there were only a few people at the funeral of the Marquis of Honor. There must be something fishy.
At this moment, there came the clop again. Soon somebody in a thin voice said, “Hold on. Hold on. Here comes the royal instruction. Here comes the royal instruction!”
Several horses galloped here. Seeing this, Yang Ning thought to himself, “They do know how to pick a good time. When the coffin was still in the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor, neither the Duke of Huainan nor the King of the Southern Chu State has shown up. At this moment, as the cortege was about to get out of the city, the King of Huainan and the royal instruction came almost at the same time.”
“Gee, that’s Eunuch Fan from the palace!” Seeing people were coming, Steward Qiu hurried and told Yang Ning, “Your Excellency, Eunuch Fan is the director of the Board of Rites.”
Eunuch Fan was almost fifty, looking chubby but kind. His eyes looked like he was squinting. When he came close, Yang Ning found that Eunuch Fan was born with small eyes.
Behind Eunuch Fan, there were about four assistant eunuchs. Seeing the Duke of Huainan was also here, Eunuch Fan immediately smiled and stepped forward while bowing, “You Highness!”
The Duke of Huainan said in a cold voice, “Eunuch Fan is right in time. If you were a few minutes late, the Marquis of Honor would be out of the city. The Marquis of Honor would be gratified in heaven if he knew that the royal instruction came at the last minute.”
Hearing his sarcastic remarks, Yang Ning was a little shocked. He thought to himself “The Duke of Huainan is really bold. He dared to make sarcastic remarks about the King of the Southern Chu State in front the director of the Board of Rites. Was it because he was already holding grudge to the King or he wanted to defend the Marquis of Honor?”
Eunuch Fan was still smiling while he said, “The Marquis of Honor had made great contribution to the Southern Chu State, and the King would never forget him.” After a cough, the eunuch said in a thin voice, “Here comes the instruction of the King. Please take it, Your Excellency!”
Yang Ning had never dealt with such a situation, and Gu Qinghan also didn’t see that the King would give an instruction at this point, so Yang Ning really didn’t know about the rules concerning taking a royal instruction.
Seeing Yang Ning was in shock, Eunuch Fan smiled and said, “Take it easy, Your Excellency. It’s not like we are in the mansion, so don’t be bothered with trivial rules. Just kneel and take the instruction.”
Yang Ning was annoyed, thinking to himself, “It’s so hard to make a life in a time like this. Not long before, I faked myself as of an earl, a noble person, but now I have to kneel down quite frequently. This is fucking too much for my knees. But with everybody watching, I have no choice.”
Then he thought about all the rewards and gifts coming along with the instruction. Now the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor was struggling financially, and the tax revenue from Jiangling was long overdue. Several days ago, Gu Qinghan was all worried about the financial problems. If the King granted rewards and gifts at this point, it could be a timely help, coping with the urgent need of the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor.
Before Eunuch Fan started to read the royal instruction, here came the clop of horses, then Yang Ning saw that the Duke of Huainan had already got on the horse and left with his subordinates.
“Obeying the order of the God…!” Eunuch Fan unfolded the royal instruction and started to read. Yang Ning couldn’t care less about the fancy words. He was listening carefully with only one purpose, figuring out how many rewards would be granted. Eunuch Fan kept mumbling like a chanting monk. He jibber-jabbered for quite a while, praising all the contributions Qi Jing had made, then talking about how sorrowful the world was about the death of Qi Jing. After all those nonsense, Eunuch Fan closed the instruction, and the reward had never been mentioned.
“Your Excellency, please restrain your grief. As the Marquis of Honor passed away, the whole country has been drowning in sorrows. Please take good care of yourself.” Eunuch Fan rolled the instruction paper and handed over. Yang Ning took it, then stood up. He was swearing in his mind, “Sorrow? All bullshit! So loyal a general in such a big state passed away, and all he could get from the government is a piece of royal instruction telling bullshits. No real rewards for him, this is truly pathetic.”
He was furious but he could not let it show. Just as he was about to say his gratitude, he found that someone behind Eunuch Fan was staring at his face. All eunuchs behind Eunuch Fan were standing there with their heads and hands down. Only one eunuch was slightly holding his head up and gazing at Yang Ning’s face.
Yang Ning was grumpy about this impolite eunuch, but when he saw that face, he was shocked at first, then terrified.