A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 229

On the day of the funeral, before dawn, the candles inside and outside the Li Mansion were already lit up as if it were daytime, and the wailing inside once again sounded like the sound of thunder and lightning.

Since Grandpa Li married into the Hua family, the owner of the dyeing workshop, as an orphan, the Hua family could not bear to see the Li family without descendants, so the owner of the Hua workshop gave his two grandsons the surname Hua and Li. However, it is difficult to have both, and gains and losses always go hand in hand. With the efforts of Grandpa Li, the Hua family's dyeing workshop became bigger and bigger, but the descendants were gradually dying out. After Grandpa Li passed away, the Hua family also died out due to illness, and the Li family was left with Grandpa Li, who was Li Yunye's grandfather. From then on, the three generations of the Li family were all single-lineed.

The Li family is now an independent household, with only some distant relatives from the Hua family left. However, after the Hua family's dyeing workshop was changed to Jiangnan Mingli, those relatives seldom visited each other. Therefore, apart from the people from the Li Mansion, the others who came to send off Mr. Li's funeral were the owner, manager and employees of Jiangnan Mingli.

The other side of the West Street in Qile City was covered in white, with the mournful white blending into the snow. After the solemn bell rang three times, Li Yunye, dressed in mourning and holding a soul-guiding banner, walked out of the gate of the Li Mansion. Mu Liang followed closely behind him, holding a bundle of willow branches and two rows of chanting monks. A mourning procession with tears in their eyes also followed. Li Xingyuan's coffin was then carried out, and Madam Li followed slowly behind, supported by her maids.

As for the bodies of Butler Fang and Aunt Xin, Mu Liang had asked Steward Li to arrange for them to be transported to the farm for burial two days ago.

The huge funeral procession was ten miles long. Since the Li family cemetery was far away in the farm, a few miles after leaving Qile City, only Li Yunye Muliang, the monks and several shopkeepers, escorted the coffin in a carriage and continued to the farm.

"Mr. Li! You are such a kind man! We are here to see you off for the last time. Have a safe journey!"

Li Yunye and others had just got on the carriage when they heard bursts of crying. When they opened the window, they saw a group of people crying in the snow not far away. They were dressed in tattered and thin clothes. They were all poor people who had been helped by Master Li. They were grateful for Master Li's kindness and came spontaneously to see him off.

Seeing this scene, Li Yunye was moved, and his red eyes moistened again. So this is what it feels like to be rewarded for doing good deeds. Father, did you see this? They still remember your good deeds.

Afterwards, Li Yunye followed Mu Liang out of the carriage and returned three salutes to the crowd not far away.

The lanterns were still lit in the Li Mansion at night, but most of the people had left and the place had returned to calm. After three days of sadness and hard work, Li Yunye was exhausted again. He returned to the attic and leaned on the couch to rest his eyes. He didn't open his eyes until a lamb blanket covered him. When he saw Brother Mu Liang, his haggard eyes finally showed a smile.

"It's time to take medicine." Seeing Li Yunye wake up, Mu Liang placed a bowl of hot medicine and a plate of preserved fruit on the table in front of him and said softly.

"What's going on outside?" Li Yunye took the lead and put a piece of preserved fruit into his mouth and asked.

"Everything is fine. Don't worry, Ange is watching over you." Mu Liang then got on the couch and sat in front of Li Yunye.

"Brother Muliang, I'm afraid... I'm afraid that I can't bear the burden of being the famous Jiangnan Li..." Li Yunye looked at the steaming medicinal soup in front of him, and thought that he would stand in front of people as the boss of the famous Jiangnan Li starting tomorrow. He suddenly felt like a stone was pressing on his heart.

"What are you afraid of? Don't you still have Brother Mu Liang?" Seeing his brother lowering his head, Mu Liang immediately comforted him.

"That's true. With you behind me, what do I have to worry about? You are also a member of the Li family anyway. If there is anything I can't handle in the future, I will leave it to you." Mu Liang's comfort did calm Li Yunye's heart a little.

"Now there are rumors outside that the famous Li in Jiangnan is coveted by my adopted son. Don't you want to be on guard against me?" Mu Liang lowered his head and smiled, then raised his tired eyes, hesitated for a moment, and asked tentatively.

Although he had no second thoughts about the Li family, as the saying goes, "three people make a tiger", if the rumor spreads for a long time, it is inevitable that someone will believe it. Even though his stepmother and stepbrother treated him like family, he was ultimately a person of an outsider with a different surname from him due to blood ties.

"There are rumors out there that a dandy boy like me cannot take over the Jiangnan Famous Li. Sooner or later the Jiangnan Famous Li will be destroyed in my hands. So instead of being destroyed by me, it's better for you to take over." Li Yunye sneered and drank all the medicine in front of him.

"Others don't understand me, but you think of me like this?" Seeing his brother-in-law's disapproving look, Mu Liang couldn't figure out whether his brother-in-law cared or not. Then he sighed helplessly.

"Brother Muliang, why can't you take a joke now?" Li Yunye put down the medicine bowl, glanced at his sworn brother in front of him, and continued to say angrily: "In my and my mother's eyes, you are a member of the Li family. I have never treated you as an outsider. Why do you care about those gossipers outside? Do you want to be estranged from me now that my father is gone?"

"How dare I be estranged from you? I'm just afraid that you and my stepmother will hear the rumors outside and become estranged from me. You are the only family I have in this world. I don't care what outsiders think of me, Mu Liang. I only care about what you and my stepmother think." Seeing that his brother was a little angry, Mu Liang hurriedly explained.

"We know you best. Let them say whatever they want. Anyway, I will always believe in Brother Muliang."

In modern times, Jiang Siyao has experienced too much betrayal, so apart from her grandmother who passed away early, she doesn't trust anyone, not even her own mother. After coming here for more than a year, she felt the warmth of being surrounded by love, the satisfaction of being valued and protected, and her originally cold and defensive heart has changed unconsciously. Now, in Jiang Siyao's heart, there are many people she can trust, and brother Mu Liang is the one she relies on the most.

Mu Liang felt comforted by his brother's words. He always believed in himself. He had said this when he was a child. It turned out that he had always trusted himself.

Li Yunye suddenly remembered something, turned around and took a red wedding invitation from the cabinet to Mu Liang, frowning and said, "My mother gave me this engagement document, telling me that if I don't want to marry into the Fan family, I can take advantage of the mourning period to cancel the engagement with the Fan family. But my father just passed away, can I cancel the engagement?"

"Don't you want to marry Miss Fan?" Mu Liang opened the document, glanced at it, and then closed it and placed it on the desk. He lowered his eyes and was silent for a moment before looking at his brother and asked seriously.

Li Yunye didn't say anything, but just looked at Mu Liang aggrievedly and nodded heavily.

"That's fine, since the Fan family has already expressed their intention to regret the engagement." Mu Liang sighed softly. Although there was helplessness in his tone, he inexplicably felt a hint of joy in his heart, but he quickly suppressed it.

"The Fan family also wants to cancel the engagement? What does that mean?" Li Yunye asked in surprise.

"Did anyone from the Fan family come to pay their respects this time?"

"There are so many people coming, how can I remember..." Li Yunye shook his head without even thinking. There had been so many people coming and going from the Li family in the past few days, so he was in a daze and naturally didn't know anything.

"I asked Ange to send someone to inform the Fan family of the death, but the Fan family did not come to offer condolences. Their intentions are obvious. I guess the Fan family also believed the rumors outside and thought that the Li family is going to decline." After Mu Liang finished speaking, he glanced at his sworn brother in front of him with concern.

"That's good. Since the Fan family is so snobbish, I can cancel this engagement without any hesitation." The Fan family was busy distancing themselves from the Li family at this time. Instead of being annoyed, Li Yunye felt relieved. This way, he wouldn't feel guilty towards the young lady of the Fan family for canceling the engagement.