Chapter 32 The Mess at the Family Rites (1) (1/2)

Quiet days pa.s.sed really quickly. Half a month went by in the blink of an eye. Nothing happened in the two weeks. It would be time for the Mo Manor family rites in a few days. The Mo Manor originated from a well-to-do family and was a family with a long history in the Qin Kingdom. Even though there were not any impressive officials among the main branch of descendants, they were well-known in their social circle. Mo Huawen was the eldest son of the main branch of the family. As such, he was in charge of the family rites.

Unlike the rites of other n.o.ble families. The head of the family had to invite the well-known and reputable intellectual to watch the rites with other n.o.ble intellectuals. All children from the main branch have to wear course clothing made especially for the family rites and kneel in the ancestral hall to pay their sincere respects to their ancestors and to their ancestors, filial piety.

Mo Xuetong was the only daughter of the main branch of the family. There was no one else to do it!

As such, Auntie Fang got someone to send Mo Xuetong her clothes for the familiy rites. It was a coa.r.s.e, white dress and had a thin layer of fur on at collar and opening of the sleeves to ward off the chill.

”Miss, Auntie Fang is too careless. How could she send you clothes like that.” Mother Xu flipped the clothing over and said angrily.

”What's wrong with the clothes?” Mo Xuetong flipped through the medical text in her hands and smiled.

”Auntie Fang sent the right set of clothing. It is fine in terms of style and looks thick as well. However, I discovered that the threads are coa.r.s.e and on some parts, the threads are thick and pointy. It looks fine on the outside, but if you put it on, it will definitely hurt your skin. The rites will take a long time. You will definitely hurt all over if you put on something like this.” Mother Xu followed Mo Xuetong into the room and muttered in annoyance. ”We have not seen Auntie Fang in more than a year and she's gotten more and more vicious. She wants to kill our mistress!”

Then, she looked at Mo Xuetong worriedly. However, Mo Xuetong had a faint smile on her face.

Auntie Fang wanted to kill her? Of course not!

Auntie Fang did not have the guts to kill her outright. Mo Xuetong flipped through the clothing. The coa.r.s.e white clothing was made especially for the family rites in order to showcase the purity of the family rite. nothing could be said even if the clothes were filled with threads. It was made from coa.r.s.e cloth. Even if she mentioned it, others would think that she was being too delicate and kicking up a fuss.

There was a thread that was especially spikey as she ran her soft fingertips across the cloth. Those who did not think much about it would think that it was just that the treads were a little coa.r.s.e. However, Mo Xuetong knew that there was a thread called ”Heavenly Silkworm Needle” mixed in the coa.r.s.e threads. This type of thread was not native to Qin and not many knew about it. She heard that in a far off area in the Yan Kingdom, there was a type of mysterious silkworm that could make such threads. Mo Xuetong had seen this on a magazine about bizarre things.

This type of thread was called ”Heavenly Silkworm Needle”. It was no different from ordinary threads, but when worn, it received a person's body warmth and after a long period of time, would become as sharp as needles. At first, it would be like a single needle, and then ten, and then tens of thousands. Who would be able to wear a s.h.i.+rt like that?

When one took it off, the clothes would be no different from clothes made of coa.r.s.e cloth and examining the clothes would not result in anything. Auntie Fang had plotted well. If she put on a s.h.i.+rt like that and when tens of thousands of needles were poking at her, how could she sit down quietly? If she moved because of it, others would say that she was being unfilial, taking the family rites lightly and was being arrogant and impolite before the guests.

An accusation like that could ruin the life of a woman.

”Miss, look at this, how can you wear clothes like this? Auntie Fang is too much. Should we go and tell Old Sir?” Mother Xu asked her angrily. She was only mad that Auntie Fang had not gotten the servants to remove the threads thoroughly.

Mo Xuetong smiled lightly and shook her head. ”Mother, it is fine. I'll just have to wear it for a while. It's not important.”

”But, Miss...” Mother Xu was still worried.

”Mother, you can just prepare some thicker underclothes for me then. These threads will not be able to get through the underclothes.”

Ordinary threads would not, but the ”Heavenly Silkworm Needle” could.

Mother Xu thought about it and agreed. As such, she did not wait but pulled Mo Lan and Mo Yu out to make Mo Xuetong some thick underclothes.

On the morning of the second day, Mo Xuetong woke up early. It was the day of the family rites. Mo Lan sent her breakfast. It was a plate of cuc.u.mbers and a bowl of plain porridge. Today was the day of the family rites and they did not eat much. However, this was too little. Mo He placed the bowl of porridge on the table forcefully and said angrily, ”Miss, the kitchens only gave us this much. They said that we can only eat these today.”

It was such a small bowl of porridge. How would her mistress be full from eating this? Furthermore, her mistress would only be allowed to eat again later in the night. Her mistress' health was poor, how could she only subsist on a small bowl of porridge?

”It's alright. This is enough! It's already pretty good!” Mo Xuetong smiled lightly. She picked up her utensils and started to eat elegantly.

It was a small bowl of porridge and she finished it quickly. Mo Xuetong put down the bowl in her hands quietly and Mo Lan helped her to put on the plain coa.r.s.e clothing. Her hair was not done up in an elegant manner but was scattered down her back, tied up with a light colored piece of cloth at the back of her head. This was the clothing worn by n.o.ble women in the Jin Dynasty and was very much suited for the Mo Family that had a tradition pa.s.sed down from a thousand years ago.