The administrative center of Shu Prefecture was Chuzhou City.
A funeral procession, with a clamor of music and mourning, was preparing to leave the city.
Unexpectedly, one of the poles supporting the coffin snapped just as they were about to pass through the city gate. Two pallbearers were injured, and another was crushed to death on the spot.
The funeral procession was thus brought to a halt at the city gate.
Prince Fu’s son, the chief mourner and successor to the title of Prince Fu, knelt sobbing loudly beside the coffin. The Princess Consort, accompanied by the female members of the household, also wailed inconsolably.
They were not weeping for the pallbearer who had been killed; they were grieving because Old Prince Fu’s passing was so unpeaceful.
Outside the city gate, the group that had already exited could only wait by the roadside.
Senior Xiao, the suona player, sat on an open patch of ground beside the official road. His apprentice, Little Ma, was diligently helping him prepare his water pipe.
In this world, opium had not yet appeared, but tobacco and similar substances had long been circulating among the common folk.
The rolled cigarettes Blind Bei made for Zheng Fan were merely an innovation in terms of craftsmanship and production method; the tobacco itself was readily available for purchase.
Of course, the upper echelons of Qian State did not smoke tobacco. Compared to Five-rock powder, the kick from tobacco was truly negligible.
After carefully using a tinder-lighter to light his master’s pipe, Senior Xiao took two puffs, then coughed dryly and spat out a thick glob of phlegm.
His apprentice, Little Ma, immediately began to gently pat his master’s back. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novel_fіre.net
Senior Xiao turned his head to glance at the situation at the city gate. Without any sign of impatience, he said to his apprentice,
"Call your Uncle Kang over."
Soon, an old man with a large gong hanging at his waist walked over and approached Senior Xiao.
Senior Xiao said in a low voice,
"The trouble at the city gate... I reckon it won’t be sorted out anytime soon."
"You’re right. Mishaps during a funeral procession are the biggest taboo. This incident is truly bizarre. Not only did the carrying frame collapse, but someone was also crushed to death, and blood was spilled.
Look, that official claims he was sent by the Ministry of Rites to oversee the funeral. Judging by how anxious he looks, he probably has no idea how to handle this."
"I say, Old Kang, don’t just stand there watching the commotion. Pass the word to everyone. We’ll definitely be delayed for a good while now; we won’t be getting back on the road anytime soon.
Once this is sorted and we’re ready to set off again, tell everyone to take it easy and conserve their strength. If the superiors ask, just say we were delayed past mealtime and are too hungry to have any energy.
Either the Royal Mansion’s steward provides us with a meal, or they give us some extra money."
"Alright. I’ll do as you say. I’ll pass the instructions along right away."
"Tell them to be smart about it and just say they’re hungry."
To outsiders, it might seem incredibly audacious for this group of funeral professionals to dare to extort the Royal Mansion. However, they had grown up in the funereal business, seen countless dead bodies, and thus had developed considerable nerve.
So what if it’s the Royal Mansion?
Can the Royal Mansion stop people from feeling hungry?
Senior Xiao picked up his water pipe again and took a couple more puffs.
At this moment, his apprentice Little Ma leaned close to his master and whispered,
"Master, I heard... the Prince in the coffin, he doesn’t have a head."
Senior Xiao’s brow furrowed. He immediately grabbed his apprentice and demanded,
"Hua Cui told me. Her mother is a senior servant in the Royal Mansion. She said that when the Prince’s coffin was brought back to the mansion from the north, her mother went to help prepare the body. Her mother didn’t tell her anything at first, but that night, when she was sleeping in the same room as her mother, her mother had a nightmare and cried out, ’The Prince’s head is gone! The Prince’s head is gone...!’"
Senior Xiao slapped Little Ma on the head and berated him in a hushed, harsh voice,
"Don’t you dare repeat this to anyone else! This is something that could cost you your head!"
Startled by his master’s fierce glare, Little Ma stammered obsequiously,
"Master, I’ve only told you! I haven’t told anyone else, I swear I haven’t!"
"You little brat! Keep this to yourself, and let it rot in your gut!"
"I understand, Master. I understand."
Senior Xiao lowered his head and took another couple of puffs from his water pipe.
For those in the funeral trade, taking advantage of a bereaved family’s situation to snag an extra meal or solicit a larger tip was simply par for the course. But some matters were definitely not for common folk like him to meddle in.
Direct Thief! Prince Fu had actually returned without his head!
This Prince Fu had a rather notorious reputation. In the Chuzhou City region, whenever Prince Fu was mentioned, people would invariably scoff. Then, they’d often digress to discussing how fat a neighbor’s pig had become and whether it would be ready for slaughter by New Year’s, and so on.
Yet, if you pressed them on exactly how bad this Prince Fu was, no one could really say for sure.
In any case, his portly, big-eared appearance alone made him seem like no good sort in the eyes of the common people.
Two years prior, a scholar had stood at the entrance of Prince Fu’s Royal Mansion and loudly denounced him, proclaiming, "The very flesh on your body is made entirely from the people’s fat and the people’s grease!"
Little Ma had once asked him what "people’s fat and people’s grease" meant.
Senior Xiao hadn’t actually understood it himself.
But as a master, how could he reveal his ignorance to his apprentice?
So, he had told him it was like pig skin jelly.
Later, when the mother of a private tutor passed away, Senior Xiao was hired for the funeral services. He took the opportunity to specifically ask the tutor what "people’s fat and people’s grease" meant.
The tutor nodded and replied,
"It is indeed quite similar to pig skin jelly."
Senior Xiao handed the water pipe to his apprentice. He then reached into his waistband, pulled out a dried stalk of some plant, and began to chew on it thoughtfully.