叭哒漫画

Wei Ruo still didn’t speak.

Seeing her like this, a throb of pleasure flickered in Wei Qingwan’s heart.

In the past, Wei Qingwan would have been quickly refuted by her eloquent words, but today she remained silent. This surely confirmed that she was devastated, without the energy to even speak, right?

This indeed was retribution at its finest!

Just as Wei Qingwan was about to say something more, Wei Yilin arrived.

Wei Yilin lower his head, his expression mournful.

Despite his poor relationship with Wei Jinyi, Wei Yilin felt obviously saddened by his death.

After kneeling on the cushion, Wei Yilin silently started burning paper money.

With Wei Yilin present, Wei Qingwan found herself unable to continue talking to Wei Ruo, and so she silently went about burning paper money.

###

At night, the entire Military Prefecture became engrossed in mourning for the funeral.

White lanterns illuminated the entire Military Prefecture while the flickering flames from the white candles in the funeral altar danced. The scent of burning paper money and incense permeated the area.

Wei Ruo, Wei Qingwan, and Wei Yilin continued to burn paper money at the back of the funeral altar, staying up all night.

The servants were busy with other matters upfront, leaving only the three siblings here.

“Older Sister, Second Sister, you should both rest a while. I’ll handle things here,” Wei Yilin suggested with concern.

Hearing him, Wei Ruo instantly rose to her feet, grabbed some water and snacks to fill her stomach.

Wei Qingwan did not move, but she sincerely said to Wei Yilin, “This is the last thing I can do for my second brother. I shouldn’t shirk from the task, and furthermore, I cannot bear to let you handle everything alone, Yilin. Let me accompany you.”

In the past, Wei Yilin would certainly have seen his older sister as heartless and his second sister as kind and caring.

However, now, while he still felt that his second sister was good-hearted and emotional, he also didn’t think that there was anything wrong with his older sister’s actions.

Wei Yilin said to Wei Qingwan, “Second Sister, you should rest with Older Sister. Your injury on your back hasn’t healed for long and you should rest more. Once I feel tired and can’t hold on any longer, you and Older Sister can replace me. We should take turns if we’re staying up the whole night, or else we all would be too exhausted.”

Wei Qingwan shook her head, “It’s okay. Today is not like any other day. I should persist no matter how hard it is. Moreover, if you can endure, Yilin, why should I avoid the hardship?”

Wei Yilin thought for a moment, then stopped his persuasion, “Alright then.”

As Wei Qingwan and Wei Yilin were burning paper money, Wei Ruo moved closer to the coffin to once again delve into the icy corpse inside.

The corpse inside the coffin looked a lot better than when she first saw it. It was now dressed, with a paper mask on the face, and the ghastly parts of the body were all covered up.

Both Wei Yilin and Wei Qingwan noticed Wei Ruo’s actions.

Wei Yilin asked Wei Ruo, “Older Sister, aren’t you scared?”

He was somewhat scared when he saw the corpse for the first time.

Even though he told himself that he was destined to march into battlefields and encounter countless corpses, and that some would be a hundred or a thousand times more horrifying than this.

He also told himself that this was his second brother, not a stranger, and there was no reason to be scared.

But in the end, he couldn’t fully overcome his instincts and decided to walk away after a few glimpses.

“The dead are not to be feared, it’s the living that is frightening. The dead can’t harm people, only the living can,” Wei Ruo responded.

Seeing Wei Ruo staring resolutely at the corpse inside the coffin, Wei Qingwan knew that she was still attached to Wei Jinyi.

“Sister, if you’re sad, just let it out. It’s hard for anyone to bear the loss of a young life like our brother,” Wei Qingwan said to Wei Ruo.

Wei Ruo gave no response, not even a glance at Wei Qingwan, she just kept looking at the corpse in the coffin.

Wei Qingwan continued, “He was supposed to have a promising future, capable of being accepted by the Tibetan layman as an exclusive disciple, his prospects wouldn’t be much worse than eldest brother’s. I don’t understand why the gods were so cruel to take him away, or what sins were committed.”

Only upon hearing these words did Wei Ruo turn to look at Wei Qingwan. Wei Qingwan’s face held an expression of pity and sympathy, but in her eyes, Wei Ruo saw provocation and mockery.

However, Wei Ruo still didn’t rebuke Wei Qingwan.

Once again, Wei Qingwan felt Wei Ruo’s helplessness and grief, a grief so profound that it rendered her incapable of refuting anything, just silently enduring it all.

Listening to Wei Qingwan’s words, Wei Yilin only thought that she was mourning Wei Jinyi.

Wei Yilin lowered his head, his voice sad and his expression gloomy, “With second brother gone, there is one less person in the residence. Even though I didn’t talk to him much before, I still find it hard to get used to his absence.”

Then Wei Yilin continued, “I hope the others in our family can be safe and sound in the future.”

Wei Qingwan reached out and gently patted Wei Yilin’s shoulder, comforting, “Don’t worry, Yilin. We will all be fine. What goes around comes around, we are all people whom the gods consider worthy, and we will have good fortunes when in distress.”

Wei Yilin nodded.

After that, Wei Yilin and Wei Qingwan continued to kneel on the cushion and burn paper money, while Wei Ruo sat on a chair at the side, propping up her chin with one hand, apparently dozing off.

Being able to nap at a time like this was indeed astounding.

This left people unable to tell if she was truly indifferent or heartbroken.

Wei Qingwan concluded it was the latter. If Wei Ruo didn’t even have the heart to rebut her, how could she not be heartbroken?

The wee hours of the night passed, but it was not yet midnight. Wei Qingwan started to turn pale and her body began to sway.

Wei Yilin quickly had someone help Wei Qingwan to the side to rest, before sighing inwardly.

He had said earlier that staying up the whole night wouldn’t work, especially for someone fragile like Wanwan.

Sometimes, despite Wanwan’s kindness, her decision-making lacked rationality compared to their decisive elder sister.

###

The funeral lasted three days. During that time, every household in Taizhou prefecture that was associated with the Wei family came to pay their respects.

Among them were Magistrate Yuan Zhengqin and Madam Yuan, Prince Chu Lan, and Lu Yuhong.

After the funeral, a weary Wei Ruo returned to Tingsong Garden.

Xiumei helped Wei Ruo change clothes and wash up sympathetically, “Miss, don’t be too sad. The Second Young Master would feel heartbroken if he saw you like this from heaven.”

“Where did he get the ‘from heaven’?” Wei Ruo retorted.

“Miss, you should not think that way. People do have spirits after death,” Xiumei said, even more worried, thinking that Wei Ruo was excessively grieving.

“That’s only applicable after they die,” said Wei Ruo.

“Miss, what are you saying? ‘Only after they die’?” Xiumei looked startled and perplexed.