Holding the five qian of silver fragments, Xu Qing walked out of the accounting room.
For ordinary commoners, this amount of money wasn't small, but for the funeral business, which could go three years without any business and live off the earnings of one job, it was mere scraps for beggars!
The Funeral House invited from the Prefecture City asked for a price of twenty liang as soon as they opened their mouths. The Liu family's wealth was vast, and their burials were conducted to the highest standards. After taking out labor costs and various expenses, the remaining silver barely sustained the Funeral House.
Everyone in the Liu Mansion knew this well; otherwise, they wouldn't have invited their master.
As for the accountant's claim of senior and junior masters, it was purely an excuse.
After today's funeral, the old funeral master and the suona musicians were all singing his praises for his steady work!
Walking within the well-feng shui adorned mansion, however, Xu Qing didn't think the feng shui was all that great here.
Feng shui is easy to change, but human hearts are hard to mend!
How many in the Liu family abode were those who kept to their duties?
Xu Qing walked through the corridor with a cold face, and from a distance, he heard sounds of playful laughter.
He paused and looked towards the pavilion.
He saw Young Master Liu chasing a maid around artificial hills, teasing her.
The maid was dressed in mourning clothes, her snow-white arms partly exposed, playing coy while giggling continuously.
"Come catch me, young master! I'm a charming widow who just lost her husband, just waiting for a rogue like you to come and take advantage of me!"
In the corridor, Xu Qing, who had witnessed it all, unconsciously clenched his fists in anger!
Alright, alright, so that's how they want to play!
He didn't rush to leave, instead turned to find a secluded spot, took out pen, ink, and paper from his satchel, and started writing.
A lengthy denunciation exposing the Liu family's foul scandals was written!
At the bottom of the paper, Xu Qing signed the name of a scholar he had previously saved, then dried the ink and headed towards the back courtyard of the Liu Mansion…
Xu Qing easily leapt over the nearly one-zhang high courtyard wall, and relying on his natural zombie abilities, he could sense the presence of any living person passing by the servants and maids.
After wandering around, he found the remote yard where Su Hongxiu lived. At that moment, she was discussing with her close maid how to steal Liu Landlord's estate.
"Miss, every time I see Young Master Liu secretly watching your body from behind, he's infatuated with lust. With just a small trick, miss can use him to... "
Su Hongxiu's eyes lit up, just as she was about to speak, she saw her maid suddenly cry out in pain!
She quickly looked sideways, only to see the maid had two teeth knocked out by a paper ball from who knows where.
After pacifying her maid, Su Hongxiu picked up the weapon and found it was a piece of white paper wrapped around a stone.
Frowning, she looked around but saw no one.
Instinctively opening the paper ball, after reading its contents, Su Hongxiu's face instantly flushed with excitement.
...
Outside the Liu Mansion, Xu Qing used his Qi Observation Skill and found that the feng shui of the Liu family estate had completely reversed, becoming a place of dark, ominous ambiguity.
It seemed the few items he moved on a whim had started to take effect with the Liu family's loss of their core.
As for the Liu family's future…
The spark had been ignited, how big the fire would become depended on these people's capabilities.
"Greedy desires are all dry wood, wicked thoughts are the wind; when this fire burns, this winter might be quite warm..."
With his satchel slung over his shoulder, Xu Qing walked down the cold street, where some vagrants huddled under walls and eaves to avoid the wind, waiting for alms from passersby.
Seeing this, Xu Qing had a sudden thought.
The beggars in the prefecture city had been cleared by a mysterious group, and these vagrants and beggars suddenly congregated in Linhe. Could there be a connection?
Thinking about it, he found himself back at his funeral shop.
Next door at the Paper Mache Shop, a middle-aged man in a gray cotton jacket was moving paper horses and wreaths inside.
Seeing Xu Qing in his Dharma Robe, obviously just finishing a ritual, the man couldn't help but ask, "Are you also from this shop?"
Xu Qing nodded and said, "My master set up the shop. Now that he's gone, it's up to me to carry on."
The Paper Mache Shop owner, Wu Yaohua, was taken aback. He thought to himself that many elders had passed this winter, evident from the increased paper goods orders.
But he didn't expect the newly opened shop's old master to not make it through either.
Xu Qing, unaware of Wu's thoughts, seeing he had no further questions, didn't elaborate either.
"Young master, it's not easy doing it alone. If you ever need paper crafts, come to me, I'll give you a discount."
Xu Qing smiled slightly, warming his heart after a cold day.
However, he felt it was inappropriate to offer help in return like 'If you need embalming or a funeral, I'll give you a discount...' only a fool would say that!
"Thank you, shopkeeper. May I know your name?"
"My surname is Wu. You can call me Old Wu. We're neighbors now, no need to be formal!"
After exchanging names with Wu, they didn't talk much. It was too cold to chat on the street.
Upon returning to the shop, the sky had darkened. Although Xu Qing could see in the dark, he still lit the oil lamp.
He had to act like a living shop owner. If the place was always dark, he would become a corpse ghost!
"Seems today's work wasn't in vain."
Sitting behind the counter, Xu Qing took out a raw egg, cracked a small hole, and drank it while reflecting on the day.
The reward for redeeming Liu Landlord didn't need to be mentioned, but some intangible gains had a greater impact on him.
For example, hosting such a major funeral today made him recognized in the Funeral House, at least everyone had an impression of him.
Also, the neighbors weren't as 'nosy' as he imagined. They didn't pay much attention to his identity.
Above all, the most important was today's observation at the entrance of the district.
Liu Landlord was buried outside the district, so they had to pass through Linhe District's streets, and exit the district.
Nearing the district exit, Xu Qing saw many laborers and stonemasons building 'city defenses'.
Some said it was because of military disasters in the northern provinces, causing many refugees to flock here, prompting the prefect to order the building of city defenses to block potential riots.
Others said it was the Celestial Heart Sect collaborators with evil demons with sinister intentions planning to rebel in Jin Sect, destabilizing the country.
Rumors were rampant, with no definite answer.
But it was foreseeable that Linhe District or Jin Sect might really see a change.
Xu Qing remembered clearly when the coffin bearers carrying the coffin out of the district, the soldiers in charge of the defense said:
"Only in Linhe, if it was in the prefecture city, you'd have to go through thorough verification to leave the city. After the walls are erected and the gates open, you may have to verify both the living and dead to leave..."
Those words stuck with Xu Qing. Dayong already required registering those buried outside the city; documenting the deceased's birth and death dates, funeral date on white paper for verification, and verifying the identities of the mourners with travel permits to avoid post-burial discrepancies.
"Tooth card and travel permit..."
Xu Qing placed the empty eggshell on the counter, exhaling the egg's unique sweet and fishy smell.
"Looks like I need to find a chance to visit the broker and inquire about the cost to reissue the tooth card and travel permit."