Chapter 125: Chapter 69: The Ultimate Life
In a nutshell, whether it was Yuan Bao’s “Zhang Liang’s Strategy” or Xiao Chengwen’s “Wall-Climbing Ladder”, Gu Changsheng neither knew nor wanted to know.
Her days were blissfully carefree, and the new guard was exceedingly compliant, effectively invisible. Gu Changsheng silently said a prayer for Ami Tofu on behalf of that girl, Mu Wanxuan, guessing that her fate wasn’t too harmonious, otherwise, the new guard wouldn’t be so cautious.
Gu Changsheng was oblivious to the severity of military law in this era. Had she known that Mu Wanxuan had fallen into the hands of Yhan Ting, who was known as “Mercenary Killer”, she surely wouldn’t have made light of it.
After two days of rest, under the careful care of Gu Changsheng, Gu Ze, the Little Meat Bun, also began to recover from his fever, and his wound started to heal. Although he couldn’t make any significant movements with his head and had to be careful not to open his mouth too wide to avoid disturbing the wound on his neck, the Little Meat Bun couldn’t stay idle. With his little mouth slightly open and his voice soft and glutinous, he asked, “Mother, you talked about the Sacrificial Official, and I also know about the merchant, but why is professional mourner also a job?”
Xiao Cui gave Han Mo a glance from the side: a loudspeaker!
“Son, that’s a very good question!” Gu Changsheng put down the watermelon she was holding and bent down to kiss her son lying on the bed.
“My lady, you’re just talking nonsense, I’ve never heard of making a living from that.” Xiao Cui frowned with worry, thinking about how she could stop the Madam from such an instructive lesson for the Young Master.
“Just because you haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Come, come, this involves the secret sorrows of wealthy families, private matters and such. Let me, your mother, explain it to you in detail.” Gu Changsheng leaned forward, propped her cheeks with her hands, and lowered her voice, her eyes gleaming with mischief.
Her mysterious demeanor had infected everyone, who unconsciously leaned closer to her, straining their ears, ready to listen to the Madam’s wisdom!
“Do you know why nobles and great families always hire a bunch of Monks to perform rituals during funerals?” Gu Changsheng beckoned with her fingers.
“To deliver Lost Souls…” Xiao Cui was the first to respond.
“Not exactly, ‘A child does not speak of the supernatural’. They do it to showcase their loyalty, filial piety, brotherly duty, and to proclaim their illustrious heritage. The greater the spectacle, the grander it appears, the more the public will revere their family morals and rituals.”
“And then what?” Xiao Cui asked, puzzled.
“You remember Lady Li’s haughty demeanor, right?” Gu Changsheng gave her a look, “As a paradigm of noble ladies, a woman from such a wealthy background, would you expect her to wail at her mother’s funeral?”
“Most likely, she’d demurely lift her sleeve to cover her face, whimpering a couple of times and call it done.”
Everyone thought about it and agreed that it really was the case.
Gu Changsheng gave them a look, as if to say ‘I told you so’, with slightly raised eyebrows and a smug smile, “So there’s the question, with Monks chanting scriptures for the souls, the rich maintaining their dignified image, tell me, where does that grand, heart-wrenching, wallowing, deeply impactful wailing at the funeral come from?”
Where does it come from? Everyone was perplexed.
“Either it’s house servants from their homes who are good at crying and take on the role of professional mourners.” Gu Changsheng narrowed her eyes, summing up, “Thus, professional mourning is indeed a job, emerging from market needs. As long as one cries well, one can live well, isn’t that also a profession?”
The crowd looked at each other, feeling something was amiss, but after some thought, they weren’t sure how to argue otherwise.
Watching their faces take her words as gospel truth, Gu Changsheng quietly wiped her sweat. Alright, she had pulled one over on them. Actually, in this era, there really wasn’t such a profession as mourner; at best, it could be considered a side job. She couldn’t tell them that in modern funeral services, it had become an esteemed profession with comprehensive one-stop services including shrouds, coffins, Mages for mourning, and burial arrangements—professional mourners were indeed a thing!
“Ah, the weather is nice. Come on, let’s have some fun with riddles, shall we?” Gu Changsheng smoothly changed the subject without a hint of embarrassment.
As if she had thought of something, Xiao Cui quickly interjected, “As long as it’s not a joke!”
“Tsk tsk…” Gu Changsheng’s laugh showed all teeth but no eyes. “You’re so eager, I like that. Come on, Xiao Cui, you go first with the riddle.”
Xiao Cui glanced at everyone and nodded her head.
“You stand next to Blind Bear, name an animal.”
The whole group looked at Xiao Cui with collective sympathy.
“If you race with Blind Bear, who would win?”
After seriously pondering for a while, Xiao Cui answered truthfully, “Blind Bear.”
“You’re even worse than a beast!”