HLnovel Chapter 457 A Joyful Gathering to Welcome the New Year
Chapter 457 A Joyful Gathering to Welcome the New Year
The next day was Lunar New Year's Eve. On this day, most families would visit the graves of their ancestors to invite them back for the New Year. Wen Yuanqian was an orphan who fled famine from the north in his early years. Over time, the Wen family's ancestors had been moved to a cemetery on the outskirts of Beijing.
During their exile, the Wen family was far away in the northern desert and could not visit their ancestral graves to pay their respects. Later, they learned that Ren Zu'an would arrange for people to go to the Wen family's cemetery to clean up the withered grass and fallen leaves during festivals.
After they returned to the capital to receive their titles, the estate at the foot of the burial hill was returned to its rightful owner.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the family prepared the offerings needed for the grave-sweeping ceremony.
Logically, it is the men of the family who should visit graves, but Wen Yuanqian no longer cares about these formalities. He instructed his grandchildren, regardless of gender, to go together.
More than twenty people, including members of the Wen family and a group of guards, rode out of the capital in a grand procession carrying offerings the moment the city gates opened.
We arrived at the Wen family cemetery just after Chenshi (7-9 AM).
The Zeng family, who were guarding the tomb, were already waiting for their masters.
At this time, the Wen family ancestral graves were cleaned up, without a trace of snow or withered leaves.
The descendants of the Wen family arranged the sacrificial offerings, lit incense, and added wine to worship.
During the worship ceremony, everyone had something to say. Wenwen had no way of knowing what others said, but she knew that her soul had finally found its origin and its destination, and everything was just right.
After the worship ceremony, and after paying respects to the ancestors, the group headed back.
On the way back, Wenqing nestled in Wenwen's arms and said hesitantly, "Sister, you're going out for a while now. When will you be back? I miss you. What should I do?"
The little girl's words were so sweet and endearing that Wenwen didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Seeing the little girl's miserable face, she couldn't help but pinch her cheeks and change the subject, "Qing'er, do you like cultivation? If you do, you have to work very, very hard. When your cultivation level is high, I'll take you with me next time I go out, okay?"
"Okay." Having received someone's promise, the little girl secretly made up her mind.
Upon returning to the mansion, it was just the time for the ancestral hall to be opened for worship.
After the worship service, it's time for the New Year's Eve family dinner.
The Wen family had no other relatives, only about twenty members of the Wen family and a group of maids and servants in the mansion.
Everyone gathered together to celebrate the Spring Festival.
This was the first New Year that the Wen family had spent back in Beijing after being exonerated, making this reunion dinner particularly meaningful.
During the meal, Mr. and Mrs. Wen Yuanqian were so moved that they shed tears. All their words were expressed in the wine. Of course, the children were not allowed to drink, but the rest of the guests were fortunate enough to share a small cup of the spirit wine.
To stop her younger siblings from causing trouble, Wenwen gave each of them a Coke.
The New Year's Eve dinner begins at Shen Shi (3-5 PM) and continues until the end of You Shi (5-7 PM).
After the event ended, it quickly turned to evening, and the group moved to the backyard to begin the lively New Year's Eve fireworks celebration.
The kids in my family are at the age where they love to play and are very active. They go crazy when it comes to fireworks and firecrackers. At first, they were a little cautious when lighting the firecrackers, but after they got a little more used to it, they weren't afraid at all.
Everyone was incredibly excited.
Several older sisters soon joined in playing with firecrackers.
In the past, the sisters always behaved like proper ladies, sitting and standing with perfect posture. But since they started practicing self-cultivation, those proper manners of not showing their teeth when smiling have long since disappeared. Instead, they all open their mouths wide and laugh loudly, laughing so hard that you can clearly see the little tongue in their throats.
Beautiful fireworks exploded in mid-air, eliciting gasps of amazement from everyone.
If the wailing sounds from that night were tangible, they could probably fill several baskets.
The elders couldn't stand the clanging and crackling of the firecrackers, so they all went back to their own courtyards to keep vigil for the New Year, leaving behind a bunch of older brothers, sisters, younger brothers, and younger sisters who were tirelessly making a ruckus.
At midnight, the sound of firecrackers rose and fell, signaling the passing of the old year and the arrival of the new.
After playing and having fun enough, everyone settled down in the greenhouse, each with their own blanket, and lay down to sleep in various positions.
The next day, which was the first day of the Lunar New Year, early in the morning.
"On the first day of the Lunar New Year, get up quickly, you lazybones! A bunch of lazybones, get up now, there are red envelopes to be received!"
Wen Chengbin, with his loud voice, was the first to get up and reached out to pull back Wen Chengmo's blanket.
"Hey, second brother, what are you doing?"
Wen Chengmo rubbed his eyes and muttered, "Red envelopes don't have legs, how can they run away?"
Caught off guard, he was slapped on the head. Wen Chengbin urged, "Hurry up, it's the first day of the Lunar New Year, you can't stay in bed. As the team leader, how can you set a good example for your younger brothers and sisters if you don't lead by example?"
The speaker has no intention, the listener has the heart.
The group of sisters reluctantly got up.
The group arrived at the main hall, where the maids and servants greeted their masters with smiles.
Grandpa Wen, Grandma Wen, and the other gentlemen and ladies of the various courtyards were all dressed neatly and seated in their seats. When they saw Wen Chengjian leading his younger siblings to arrive, their faces were full of smiles.
"Happy New Year, Grandparents! Wishing you both good health and longevity!"
Happy Chinese New Year! Wishing my father and mother good fortune and all the best!
The younger generation all knelt down and kowtowed.
"Good, good, good! Happy New Year! May you all be healthy and have everything go smoothly!"
The elders of the Wen family took out thick red envelopes one after another.
Wow, the New Year's red envelopes are so thick!
Wow, I can buy lots of firecrackers to play with!
After giving red envelopes to the younger generation, they then gave them to the servants; everyone received a New Year's red envelope.
Everyone had a bountiful year, and the whole family was overjoyed.
In the afternoon, everyone went back to their rooms to rest. They had stayed up too late last night and hadn't slept enough, so they wanted to catch up on their sleep as soon as possible.
Starting tomorrow, it'll be either you coming to my house or me going to yours; we'll be busy visiting relatives and friends for a while!
After catching up on sleep, the mansion became lively again.
With several energetic children running around, it would be strange if the mansion were quiet.
The next day was the second day of the Lunar New Year.
The custom of returning to one's maternal home applies to any dynasty.
Logically, today was the day Wen Qilin and Madam Ren were to return to the Ren family mansion with their children. Since Madam Ye and Madam Wei's families were not in the capital, the second and third branches of the family planned to visit relatives with Madam Ren.
However, given everyone's desire to reunite, they had already made arrangements before the new year.
The consensus was that everyone would gather at the Wen family's house on the second day of the Lunar New Year, at the Ren family's house on the third day, at the Yao family's house on the fourth day, and at the Zhou family's house on the fifth day.
Therefore, early on the second day of the Lunar New Year, several children waited at the door, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their friends.
Just past one o'clock in the morning, several families arrived one after another.
"Grandmother and grandfather, Happy New Year!" Yao Xiaomi shouted loudly as soon as she got off the carriage.
Not to be outdone, Zhou Ruirui darted in as soon as she entered the room, showering everyone with compliments and collecting a whole stack of red envelopes.
Ren Jinning was also quick on her feet. This child truly lived up to her reputation as a chosen one, as she looked much stronger.
Several families entered the mansion one after another, but a low-key carriage lagged behind. After everyone had dispersed, Wenxia and Yao Maimai lifted the Sixth Princess and her wheelchair off the carriage and pushed her into the greenhouse in the backyard.