Lou Tong was dead.
He had simply been unable to withstand it; the poison had flared, and he died.
For a time, the entire Minister's Residence was shrouded in a hazy gray sorrow.
That night.
The breeze rose again.
Cries of grief filled the Minister's Residence.
At that moment, countless people stood before the main hall.
At their head stood a middle-aged scholar who looked to be around forty.
His face was resolute, his eyes bright, and his nose bridge exceptionally high. Though his temples were lightly touched by the frost of years, they could not conceal his composed and refined bearing.
Most striking of all were the brows above his eyes.
They were thick, lending a measure of unyielding resolve to his scholarly elegance.
His face was grief-stricken, and tears faintly glimmered in his eyes.
He looked at the coffin in the innermost part of the courtyard, his voice terribly hoarse:
"Lift the coffin! Send the young master back to Yangqi!"
Though Tong'er was dead, he should still return to his roots like fallen leaves.
As his voice fell, the mournful crying in the courtyard grew even more intense.
Looking around, every servant was dressed in mourning hemp and wearing filial headbands, their faces wretched as they wept aloud.
By then, every agent from the Imperial City Department had already withdrawn.
As the funeral procession slowly began to move.
Secretary Lou and his wife staggered along behind it.
With the servants' help, they climbed into a carriage.
The procession carrying the coffin stretched for ten li from Lou's Mansion.
Under the night sky, an evening breeze swept through the courtyard at Lou's Mansion where the incident had occurred.
Aside from the gatekeepers stationed at the entrance.
There was no one left in all of Lou's Mansion.
Spring