Shipin Dalizheng

After the funeral, it was already noon. The funeral procession took two hours to walk, covering more than sixty miles, which was quite tiring.

Rong Qi, who had to drive a cart due to a broken leg, told everyone to take their reward money and food and leave. Each man who was temporarily recruited received one or two taels of silver and two cakes.

Rong Tang watched Rong Qi coldly as he distributed wages. Although he deliberately avoided looking at those people, he still revealed some clues.

They are acquaintances.

At this time, the Third Master got off another carriage and called him, "Young Master, what are your plans now? If there is nothing urgent, can you come to my house and have a visit?"

To be honest, what happened today was really too sudden. It just happened that he arrived on the last day before Mrs. Rong's burial.

Without knowing the full picture, he acted solely on his own instincts, unsure if his plans would conflict with others. He decided he needed to talk to the Third Master.

"Master, there's no need to be so polite. Just call me Atang."

The Third Master said, "Then I'll call you Tang Ge'er!"

After getting on the Third Master's carriage, Rong Tang took off his mourning clothes and asked, "Master, today was too hasty. Did it disrupt your plans?"

The Third Master smiled bitterly, "What plan? We have no other options. I was forced to go there today by the Jin family to register Jin Yaoyang on the family tree. Fortunately, you returned in time; that Jin family's plan was thwarted."

"But I didn't help the Rong family win the title or the estate of the Earl's Mansion. You won't blame me, right?"

The Third Master waved his hands repeatedly, "What are you talking about? You can't win this by fighting for it alone. Given the nature of the Jin family, if you don't speak up, they will argue until dark, and the lady's funeral will be delayed. But your tactic of retreating to advance is very clever. If you fight with them for the title and the family property at the funeral and cause chaos, it will really make outsiders laugh. After all, the Jin family is from a small place, and the women in the family are superficial. They don't realize how big a person they have lost. Just wait, the joke is about to come."

Rong Tang was surprised. He never thought that an old man could have such a long-term vision and actually guessed his purpose.

On the surface, he gave up his title and property to the man surnamed Jin in public in the mourning hall in exchange for the qualification to carry the spirit banner personally, but this qualification is not available to everyone.

This was Madam Rong's legitimate son, the legitimate heir to the Jian'an Earl's mansion. He had abandoned his status and wealth to fulfill his filial duty to his deceased mother, earning himself a reputation as a filial son.

As the only legitimate son and with a reputation as a filial son, what could the Jins do to compete with him?

Even if the Jin family has been doing business in Shangjing City for half their lives, and they use all their resources and connections this time, they can't get past him and get involved in the Jian'an Earl's Mansion.

Along the way, through the Third Master's narration, he learned many details about the Jian'an Earl's Mansion, and answered some of the questions in his mind.

The Third Master's branch was the eldest branch of the Rong family, so he had the Rong family genealogy in his hands. The Rong family had originally been a farming family for generations, but by the time of the father of the Earl of Jian'an, their branch had become a military household.

They all lived a hard life originally, but when Rong Zheng joined the army, he was particularly talented in leading troops. He established the Rong Family Army on his own. Before he was 30 years old, he earned himself the title of Earl of Jian'an, and the family tree was opened separately from then on.

Hearing this, Rong Tang asked again: "The family tree has been opened, so why is it in the hands of the great master?"

"Listen to me, Rong Zheng also had three sons, but they all died in battle. His branch only had two daughters left, your mother and Concubine Rong. Rong Zheng originally wanted to adopt a child from our distant relatives to raise from a young age, but we are all farmers. The adults have no talent for fighting and are afraid of death, especially the death of the younger generation. Therefore, no one is willing to adopt a child, even if there is a huge wealth waiting for us."

Rong Tang could understand that becoming the Earl of Jian'an meant leading troops to fight in wars, and these farmers who were used to digging in the soil would definitely not be able to do that.

"Later, Rong Zheng had no other options, so he used his military merits to exchange for a promise from His Majesty the Emperor that one of his daughters would marry a son-in-law and give birth to a son who would inherit the Earl's Mansion. His Majesty agreed."

After a lot of conversation, the carriage finally arrived at the destination, which turned out to be Rongjia Village not far from the cemetery.

"Grandpa, did my grandfather leave from this village?"

The Third Master shook his head. "No. We, the Rong Family Village, didn't originally live here. We lived in Yuzhou in the northwest, hundreds of miles away. Unfortunately, the land there was barren and unsuitable for farming. After Rong Zheng became successful, he paid out of his own pocket to move most of his clansmen here. Oh, this is the farmland and manor bestowed upon him by the late Emperor. Speaking of which, it's also the private property of the Bo's Mansion. Old woman, the young master of the Bo's Mansion is here. Quickly kill a chicken."

The last sentence was directed to an old woman who heard the noise and went out to see what was going on.

When the old woman heard that it was the young master of the Bo Mansion, she looked unhappy for some reason and kept a stern face and refused to cook.

Rong Tang asked, "Grandma, don't you welcome me?"

"That's not the case. The old woman misunderstood."

The Third Master then explained to the Third Grandmother, "He's not surnamed Jin, he's from our family, the eldest daughter of the uncle, his surname is Rong, and he's one of us."

The third grandmother looked incredulous, "Really? Still alive?"

"That's true! Go cook and add two more eggs."

The Third Grandma smiled. In the simple thinking of people nowadays, although they were very far away from the Jian'an Earl's Mansion, so far away that it was beyond the reach, as long as they still had the surname Rong, they were still family.

Rong Tang looked around the yard. It was the most common adobe house in the village. The roof was covered with tiles. It looked quite new and was considered a pretty good house in the village.

Chuncao found a few stools and placed them under the big camphor tree in the yard, then went to help Third Grandma cook.

Rong Tang and the Third Master sat on a stool and continued chatting. Rong Sandong looked around and said, "Master, I'll go clean up our place."

"Let the eldest and second oldest take the kids to clean up. They should be here soon."

The Third Master continued to explain to Rong Tang, "Your mother is being buried today. According to etiquette, everyone in our village should go to help, but the Jin family has occupied the uncle's mansion and won't let Rong get close. We can only wander around outside the mansion. Fortunately, you shouted, and many young men and women from other families took advantage of the chaos and rushed in, which gave you a little help.

This little help was achieved by pushing and shoving with the servants from the Earl's Mansion and the Minister's Mansion, allowing Rong Tang to easily enter the mourning hall in the main courtyard.

"Grandpa, how many uncles and aunts in our village rushed in?"

"I remember there were about thirty or forty people there!"

Rong Tang silently calculated that apart from the thirty or forty people from Rongjia Village and the funeral team, there were at least a hundred young and strong men who silently helped him at the most critical moment.

He looked at Rong San, who lowered his head and went to pack up his room.