The Peach Blossoms White by the Village Edge

Chapter 54: Funeral Arrangements

On a rainy day, Qu Feng finally stopped breathing. Qu Qingjiang, who had stayed by his side all day, witnessed his last breath. In that moment, it felt as though her entire world collapsed.

When her mother passed away five or six years ago, Qu Qingjiang had already experienced this unbearable pain. However, at that time, it was her first experience of losing a close family member, and her father was still with her, so she didn't feel completely hopeless. But now, her father was gone too. She was left alone in this world and burst into heart-wrenching sobs.

Standing by her side, Zhao Changxia didn't offer any comforting words, but quietly took her hand, reassuring her with his presence. Turning to him, she cried out, unable to control her grief: "June, my father... he's gone."

Zhao Changxia nodded heavily, his lips pressed together.

Qu Qingjiang was overwhelmed by her grief, her body weakened, and she leaned into the only person she could rely on at that moment.

Hearing the commotion, Qu Zhen also rushed over. He knew Qu Feng's end was near, so he had been staying at the Qu family home for most of the past few days, helping to take care of Qu Qingjiang and Zhao Changxia.

Now that Qu Feng had passed, although he was saddened, he felt that Qu Qingjiang and Zhao Changxia, being young, might not be capable of handling the funeral arrangements on their own. He asked, "Le-niang, my condolences. Your father has passed away, and now you are the head of the Qu family. You need to pull yourself together and handle your father's funeral arrangements. Do you have a plan in place?"

Qu Qingjiang was too consumed by her grief to focus on these matters, so Zhao Changxia spoke up: "We are still young and inexperienced in handling funerals, so we would appreciate your assistance, Fourth Uncle."

In fact, Qu Qingjiang had already seen her father handle her mother's funeral years ago, so she wasn't entirely clueless. She allowed Zhao Changxia to say this because she wanted to temporarily rely on Qu Zhen to stabilize the Qu family and prevent any disturbances.

Qu Zhen nodded and said, "Third Brother left a will before he passed, naming Le-niang as the heir to the family estate. Therefore, Le-niang is the chief mourner. During Third Brother's funeral, I will be responsible for overseeing the proceedings..."

In this era, funerals followed a complex and elaborate process. First, Qu Qingjiang, Zhao Changxia, Mrs. Li, and even Tian Shi, who hadn't yet left the Qu family, had to change into mourning clothes and announce the death. Then, arrangements had to be made for the body, and a mourning hall had to be set up. All of this had to be done on the first day. The second and third days, and even up to three months later, were part of the funeral period, with many tasks yet to be completed.

Announcing the death was the responsibility of the chief mourner. Qu Qingjiang didn't have the strength to do this, so Zhao Changxia took on the task. Originally, Qu Qingjiang hadn't planned to announce the death to the clan members, but she knew that she couldn't go against tradition. If she didn't do so, people would certainly criticize her.

Zhao Changxia visited the homes of various Qu clan members. Although they all seemed to take a perverse pleasure in the news, they still had to go through the motions of mourning and changed into plain clothes to attend the funeral.

Aside from Qu Hu and Qu Yuan, who were away at the academy, almost all the Qu clan members arrived. Each of them went to Qu Feng's room to view his remains, and once the mourning hall was set up, they moved to the front hall to begin the mourning process. However, they were far from sincere in their grief. Inside, they were secretly gloating over Qu Feng's death and couldn't muster any real tears, resorting to half-hearted wailing as they went through the motions.