The patriarch felt a nervous drumming in his heart, daring not speak a single word too many. He immediately ordered the ancestral hall to be opened. Song Yanqing knelt and kowtowed toward the hall, after which the elders of the clan lit incense and burned paper offerings.
The patriarch began to speak of the marriage between Yun Feiwan and Song Mingjian—when she had entered the estate, the wedding, the birth of their children, and her management of the clan's assets. He omitted everything that should not be said, recounting only the contributions of Yun Feiwan. Across from her, Xu Ningzhi wiped away tears in secret. In just a few brief sentences, it sounded simple, but behind them lay nearly twenty years of Yun Feiwan's youth and a life that could never be reclaimed. Madam Wen looked at Yun Feiwan, her face full of heartache.
On the other side, Lu Beiming’s gaze rested on Yun Feiwan, his eyes filled with appreciation and respect. How many people could actually bring themselves to divorce their late husband? He recalled the calligraphy and painting Yun Feiwan had gifted him at Ginkgo Tower. He had sent them to Jiangnan that very day, and his maternal grandfather had expressed great fondness for the work in his reply. Ever since the Lu family had laid down their armor and returned to the fields, and a new general had taken office, they had seemed to vanish from the circles of the Capital. But some still remembered… and he was grateful for this sentiment.
Chapter 142