Song Mu walked into this familiar city very calmly. Perhaps because it was still early in the morning, the streets in the city were sparsely populated, scattered shops were open for business, and people pushing dung carts were already walking on the road.
Song Mu didn't hide anything, but had a solemn face, holding the box containing the remains of his parents in both hands, and headed home.
After passing through the familiar streets and alleys, the doorstep of my home is already in front of me.
At this moment, the gate of the Song family's old house has been opened, and Song Liangda is sitting in front of the door, frequently looking towards the entrance of the alley.
On August 16, the news that his nephew Song Mu passed the examination and that Jiangnan West Road was liberated from the Yuan Dynasty reached Jizhou Prefecture. Song Liangda spent those few days in a daze, feeling that the glory of the world was nothing more than this.
Not long after, a letter that Song Mu asked Xiao Li to take back to Jizhou Prefecture was also delivered to Song Liangda.
In the letter, Song Mu only stated two things. One was that Song Mu would definitely settle the affairs of the Song family in Hongzhou and the ancestral hall would return to the Song family in Shiyang. Second, Song Mu Yanming now has news about his parents. He returned late this time to find the remains of his parents and asked his second uncle and his family to wait in his hometown of Shiyang County.
After reading the message, Song Liangda burst into tears and took his wife and daughter back to Shiyang County by boat with Jieyuan Banque that day.
In the past few days, Song Liangda had trouble sleeping and eating every day. He always woke up unconsciously at night and listened to the noise outside to see if Song Mu was back.
And every morning, Song Liangda would stand in front of the door, looking outside, hoping to see Song Mu's figure.
On this day, Song Liangda had just stood at the door and said hello to several neighbors, but he looked towards the entrance of the alley with some emotion.
The entrance to the alley was still extremely calm. After staring for a moment, Song Liangda sighed, feeling that it was another day of waiting. However, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure appearing at the entrance of the alley.
That white robe, tall body.
Song Liangda looked intently, his whole body suddenly stopped, and he felt goosebumps all over his body.
Zhu, who was about to call Song Liangda for breakfast, just poked his head out of the kitchen, but suddenly saw Song Liangda standing in front of the door and ran out, and then Song Liangda's voice rang out in the alley.
"Jing Zhao, you're back!"
Song Mu had just walked into the alley, and before he shouted, he saw a figure in front of him running towards him quickly, and the familiar face was full of excitement at the moment.
"Second uncle!"
Song Mu also immediately took a few steps forward. Song Liangda had already rushed up, but his eyes immediately fell on the wooden box in Song Mu's hand.
He seemed to have expected something, his expression was stagnant at this moment, and his eye circles were actually a little red.
"Jing Zhao, this..."
Song Liangda spoke softly, as if he was confirming something. Song Mu nodded silently and said in a deep voice.
"Uncle, these are my parents."
Song Liangda almost fainted after hearing these words. Tao Fengming, who was next to him, quickly stepped forward to help him, but the next moment he heard Song Liangda crying loudly.
"Brother! Sister-in-law!"
Song Liangda's voice was very loud. At this moment, the neighbors around him poked their heads out and saw Song Liangda half-kneeling on a box. The person carrying the box also looked sad at this moment.
"Ah, it's Song Mu, the boy from the Song family is back!"
"Bah, bah, bah, it's our Jieyuan who's back!"
A neighbor's sister-in-law shouted loudly, and the others immediately started to coax and rushed out regardless. Some people were holding chewed willow branches in their hands and spitting bubbles in their mouths, while some were holding rice bowls and swaying all the way.
They all rushed forward, but found that Song Liangda was crying even more at this moment, and shouted the word "big brother" loudly.
Uncle Lin Bo, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped. The expression on his face also changed suddenly. He looked at Song Mu and others in front of him and said blankly.
"This...could it be Brother Song..."
The words were shocking. When others heard the news, they all stopped involuntarily. They all looked at the box Song Liangda was holding, as well as Song Mu's surging expression. The joy on their faces at this moment, It quickly turned into a bit heavy.
Song Liangda was still wailing loudly, with tears streaming down his face, as if he wanted to vent all the suffering he had suffered in the days since his brother Song Liangtong left.
He was originally a young boy in the family. Although his family was poor, he was loved by his parents and older brothers.
But when the eldest brother he was most proud of died in a foreign country, and even his body could not be found, everything changed.
After his parents passed away, the burden of family affairs suddenly fell on him. However, he was whipped by this vicious world and almost had no way out. Even though Song Liangda was not sure whether it would last for two years, countless of Song Liangda's hair turned gray.
At this moment, facing his brother's corpse, he seemed to finally be able to be the young boy he once was and pour out the pain in his heart.
Song Mu had already burst into tears, and Zhu had also come out, hugging Song Liangda and crying. When Song Mingwei saw this scene, he also ran forward, clutching Song Mu's robe, choking and crying.
The family seems to have finally seen the light at this moment.
The neighbors around him had already stepped forward to help him, whispering comfort and leading them to Song's house.
At this moment, they felt the same and felt that Song Mu was an extraordinary young man. Not only had this young man earned such fame, making his second uncle proud, but he was also able to accomplish such great things.
For a time, the scene in the alley attracted many people to watch, and the news of Song Mu's return to his hometown spread quickly throughout Shiyang City as if it had wings.
Shiyang City has only produced fifteen Jinshi scholars so far, but among them, only one or two Jinshi scholars from the Song family competed at the forefront of the imperial examinations. There have been cases of academic examinations, but there has never been a provincial examination.
But with the news of the provincial examination, Shiyang County gained another honor.
Shiyang County has a Jieyuan!
This is a great honor. The smartest people in a province and a country come from their own county.
The people shouted loudly that this grand event was the last time Kong Siqi became a Jinshi.
For a moment, the city was full of people, and they were all heading towards the alley where the Song family was.
At this moment in the Song family compound, Song Liangda finally recovered temporarily with the comfort of Song Mu and Uncle Lin Bo, as well as several elderly neighbors around him, but he just refused to let go of the box that Song Mu brought.
Song Mu was also afraid that Song Liangda would be extremely miserable, so he secretly sent a burst of literary power into his body.
This situation was a mixture of sadness and joy. The neighbors standing in the yard didn't know what to say. They just looked at each other and then focused on Song Mu or Song Liangda.
After a while, Song Liangda seemed to finally come to his senses. He stood up holding something in his hands and said to Song Mu urgently.
"Jing Zhao, hurry up and worship your ancestors. We'll go in and worship our ancestors right now."
With that said, Song Liangda walked towards the main house, and Song Mu quickly followed, but at this moment he took out something.
Song Mu took the first step and carefully placed the thing in the middle of the incense table.
Song Liangda looked up, but his expression was startled again, and Song Mu had already spoken slowly.
"Uncle, this is our ancestor. Now, the Song Ancestral Hall has returned to us. I was offended and brought my ancestor back first."
What is placed on the incense table is the tablet of the earliest ancestor of the Song family three hundred years ago.
Three hundred years ago, Song Youfu took his family and settled down here.
At this moment, Song Liangda looked at the tablet in front of him, his throat was choked, but he immediately pulled Song Mu to kneel down and said in a hissing voice.
"Song Liangtong and Song Liangda, the sixteenth generation sons of the Song family, and Song Mu, the seventeenth generation eldest grandson, kneel down to worship their ancestors."
…
