Her eldest son, Wen Shining, inherited the title of Duke Xiangguo. He married the second daughter of the merchant Sang family. After having twins, he took Miao Shi, the daughter of the emperor's wet nurse, as a concubine. With Noble Concubine Miao, he had two more daughters and a son.
The second son, Wen Shi'an, married Zhu Shi, the daughter of the old Prince of Chu and the emperor's cousin. They had one son and one daughter.
The youngest son, Wen Shiyi, married Yu Shi, the only daughter of the Duke of the British. They had one son and one daughter.
All three sons of Old Madam Wen were high-ranking officials, and her only daughter was also very well married. With many children and grandchildren, the family flourished.
The day she heard the news of her daughter's death was the hardest day of Old Madam Wen's life.
"When Chengjie'er was born, I knew she wouldn't survive." But the deceased were gone; now Old Madam Wen's greatest concern was her only granddaughter. "Shining, Shi'an, Shiyi, go to Sujing City for the funeral. Bring Yuanyuan back. Yuanyuan is your sister's only child."
*
The Duke of Xiangguo, along with his two younger brothers, traveled south by boat and arrived in Sujing City on the twenty-sixth day of the second month. The Jiang family's servants were already waiting at the ferry.
Three eight-person sedan chairs carried the three uncles to the Jiang mansion.
The Jiang mansion was not inferior to the Duke Xiangguo's Mansion. It took up most of a long street. In front of the red-lacquered gate, over twenty servants in white uniforms stood in orderly fashion, greeting guests and seeing them off. The plaque hanging on the gate bore the emperor's personal calligraphy—a testament to the imperial favor this brother-in-law enjoyed.
After entering the main gate in their sedan chairs, the three traveled some distance before alighting at the sedan chair hall.
The Jiang family steward led several young servants to pay their respects. Then they guided the three uncles to change into mourning clothes, sip tea and eat snacks, and proceed to the mourning hall to pay their respects to the deceased mistress.
After all formalities were completed, Jiang Shaohua led a little girl—delicate and bright-featured, with eyebrows and eyes almost identical to their youngest sister's—to greet them.
The Duke of Xiangguo's eyes grew hot, his nose stung. He quickly picked up his niece, who was about to kneel and kowtow to him, and wiped her tears with his sleeve, unaware that two streams of hot tears were silently rolling down his own face.
Second Master Wen and Third Master Wen had very deep feelings for their younger sister. Seeing that she had died at such a young age—before even celebrating her twenty-fourth birthday—the two men wept like waterfalls.
This kept Jiang Xuesui busy—after comforting First Uncle, she comforted Second Uncle, then Third Uncle, until she forgot to cry herself.
At lunch, little Jiang Xuesui held a wine jug and filled a full cup for each of her three uncles. As her three uncles shared stories of their childhood with her mother, they were once again melancholy and teary-eyed.
"Mother instructed us to take Yuanyuan away. It happens that there are several female cousins in the family who can accompany Yuanyuan in her studies and play, allowing our brother-in-law to focus on his official duties and fulfill his ambitions. I wonder if our brother-in-law could fulfill Mother's wish to care for her granddaughter?"
The Duke of Xiangguo feared that this brother-in-law would be unwilling to part with his daughter. He didn't want to forcefully separate father and daughter—after all, their bond was natural and justified—but he was even more afraid of disappointing his mother by returning home to see her letdown expression.
"Mother-in-law's intention is good, but I need to ask Yuanyuan if she is willing to go to her maternal grandparents' home." Jiang Shaohua asked his daughter's wishes.
Jiang Xuesui remembered her mother's earnest entreaties whispered in her ear while holding her.
Her mother said that her father was not only Yuanyuan's father but also the beloved and respected official of all the people in Sujing City.
Yuanyuan could not monopolize her father.
Only if Yuanyuan went to her maternal grandparents' home could her father focus on being a good official who benefited the people.
There were many things Jiang Xuesui didn't understand.
But she understood that she had to listen to her mother.
Even though her mother was no longer around, she still had to obey.
Jiang Xuesui nodded. "Yuanyuan wants to go to Grandmother's house. Yuanyuan likes Grandmother, likes First Uncle, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, likes aunts and female cousins and male cousins."
But the words "Yuanyuan still likes Daddy and Mommy the most" caught in her throat.
She knew that if she said that, her father would definitely not let her go.
She wanted to cry so badly.
But she had to hold back her tears.
Because if she cried, her father couldn't bear to let her go either.
The funeral ended, and the coffin was interred.
Jiang Shaohua brought his daughter to his late wife's grave and let her say goodbye.
Jiang Xuesui asked earnestly.
"Daddy, when Yuanyuan misses Mommy, can she come back, dig Mommy out from under this dirt pile, and take a look?"
Jiang Shaohua looked at his daughter's innocent, adorable face, thought for a moment, and answered seriously.
"Then Yuanyuan, you must eat a lot at your maternal grandparents' home. When you've grown strong and sturdy, Daddy will come to pick you up. By then, you'll have the strength to wield a hoe and dig out your mother. But after you've seen her, you have to bury her back again, or she won't sleep well outside."
After all, his wife had once said to him that if she died, could she be occasionally dug out of the grave to get some air and see the light, as long as she was buried back.
Meanwhile, the three uncles of the Wen family: "..."
"Truly, people who belong together end up in the same family."
"Such wild, crazy talk—father and daughter responding to each other like a pair of comedians—without even having the decency to avoid them."
Three men were so sad they almost wanted to laugh.
But the Duke of Xiangguo thought to himself, "When our little sister was at home before her marriage, she was the one who talked the most nonsense."
Second Master Wen thought to himself, "The inheritance of bloodline is truly mysterious."
Third Master Wen thought to himself, "People who sleep in the same bed really do become alike. No wonder they were a loving couple who would die for each other."
Author's note: None.