Chapter 177 A Day of Joy and Funeral
On the tenth day of the second lunar month, Liu Xunyi and Pan Yuyin got married at Pan's mansion. On the eighth day of the second lunar month, Pan invited many local gentry and celebrities from Yingchuan, and even officials such as He Shan and He An came to congratulate them.

He Shan still didn't know that the Qingchuan landscape painting had been swapped, so now he was still trying to curry favor with Prince Xian's Mansion.

Everything followed the real wedding ceremony. Liu Xunyi and Pan Yuyin kowtowed to the heaven and the earth and tied the knot in front of many guests.

On this day, from morning to night, there were loud gongs and drums inside and outside the Pan Mansion, and the traffic was busy and bustling with people.

All the guests in the mansion were beaming with joy. Facing all the relatives and friends present, Pan Chuba raised his eyebrows and beard, raised his glass and drank happily, and actually got drunk and had a great time.

In front of everyone, Liu Xunyi and Pan Yuyin acted like a perfect match, a perfect match made in heaven. They held hands and lingered among the guests, playing the zither and the harp in harmony, leaning against each other, making others envious.

Not until the Golden Crow set in the west and the Jade Rabbit rose in the east did the noisy Pan Mansion gradually calm down.

Liu Xunyi and Pan Yuyin sent away the last group of guests who were making trouble in the bridal chamber. They were exhausted and had no mood to drink the wedding wine. They sat on the ground and smiled bitterly at each other.

"Brother Liu, thank you for your hard work today!" At this moment, Pan Yuyin seemed afraid to look directly at Liu Xunyi. She looked particularly charming in her red dress. "I thank you on behalf of the Pan family..."

"What are you talking about, Miss Pan? What's wrong with me being a grown man? But you, a girl, are marrying me in front of so many people in such an unclear way. It's really..." Liu Xunyi couldn't find the right words for a moment, and was afraid that he would say something wrong and accidentally hurt Pan Yuyin's pain, so he could only stop talking and smiled lightly with embarrassment.

"I didn't expect that my first time as a bride would be in such an occasion." Pan Yuyin's words were full of bitterness and helplessness, but she soon changed the subject and said, "Grandpa deliberately made such a big noise today. I'm sure the news of our marriage has spread thousands of miles away and reached the ears of Qin Shi in Hexi."

"There must be spies of the Qin family in Yingchuan City. Mr. Pan's goal should have been achieved." Liu Xunyi nodded without denying, "Miss Pan is willing to sacrifice her own reputation for the family's honor. She is truly a heroine. I admire her! Now that the guests have left and it's getting late, I will go back first."

After saying that, Liu Xunyi was about to stand up and say goodbye, but Pan Yuyin suddenly stopped him and said, "Wait a minute, Brother Liu..." When she saw Liu Xunyi's puzzled look, her cheeks flushed and she timidly explained, "Just now, Brother Liu said that there must be spies from the Hexi Qin family in Yingchuan City. Then who can guarantee... that there are no spies from the Qin family in the Pan Mansion?"

"What do you mean?"

"There are many servants in the mansion. If Brother Liu leaves now, it will definitely attract a lot of criticism." Pan Yuyin said hesitantly, "According to common sense, who would abandon the bride and leave alone on the wedding night?"

At this moment, Pan Yuyin's voice was as thin as a mosquito's thread, almost inaudible, but she was worried that Liu Xunyi would misunderstand her, so she hurriedly explained: "Brother Liu, please don't misunderstand me. What I mean is... you and I are in our wedding night, newlyweds, and there are so many people hiding in the courtyard, waiting... waiting to see the 'fun'. If Brother Liu suddenly leaves, won't it arouse suspicion?"

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi was slightly stunned, and said hesitantly: "Miss Pan's words make sense, it was my negligence." After that, Liu Xunyi turned around and walked to the table to sit down, pouring a drink by himself and smiled, "Then I will stay here for one night, Miss Pan just take a rest."

"A man and a woman are alone in a room, and Brother Liu is sitting here. How can I rest alone?" Pan Yuyin muttered softly, then stood up and sat opposite Liu Xunyi, and filled a glass of wine for herself.

Two red candles burned slowly on the table, illuminating a man and a woman sitting opposite each other.

For a moment, the room was silent and awkward.

"Ahem..." Liu Xunyi looked around awkwardly. He wanted to say something to ease the embarrassment, but after coughing for a long time, he couldn't think of a single word.

"The clouds are like clothes, the flowers are like faces, the spring breeze blows the threshold and the dew is gorgeous..." Suddenly, Pan Yuyin recited slowly. Liu Xunyi was stunned at first, then blurted out subconsciously: "If we hadn't met on the top of the Jade Mountain, we would have met under the moon on the Jade Terrace."

Pan Yuyin seemed to have not expected that Liu Xunyi could actually continue the poem, so she looked at him in surprise and asked in astonishment: "Brother Liu has also read poems?"

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi couldn't help but smile bitterly. He had practiced hard in Tianji Pavilion for more than ten years. Every day, he practiced martial arts diligently and studied. Little did he know that when he became a lieutenant of the Golden Sword, he already had the talent of a scholar in both literature and martial arts. Although Liu Xunyi's literary talent was far inferior to his martial arts, he was still comparable to ordinary scholars.

"I studied for a few days when I was a child." Liu Xunyi said perfunctorily, "Miss Pan Suwen is proficient in all arts, such as music, chess, calligraphy and painting. I am just showing off my skills in front of an expert. I am ashamed of you."

"That's great." Pan Yuyin ignored Liu Xunyi's modesty and said excitedly, "How about we recite poems tonight? This way we can kill the long night and save us from... saving us from sitting by the candlelight and feeling like the days are long."

Without waiting for Liu Xunyi to agree, Pan Yuyin spoke up: "Brother Liu, have you ever heard of 'The green mountains are hidden in the distance, and the water is far away; autumn ends but the grass in the south of the Yangtze River is still not withered.'"

Liu Xunyi hesitated for a moment, then nodded slowly and said, "On a moonlit night under the Twenty-Four Bridges, where can the beautiful lady teach me how to play the flute?"

"That's right!" Pan Yuyin's eyes suddenly lit up with hope, and she asked, "Brother Pan, have you ever been to Yangzhou? Is this 'Twenty-four Bridges on a Moonlit Night' about twenty-four bridges, or is there only one bridge named 'Twenty-four' Bridges?"

"This..." Liu Xunyi thought for a moment and smiled bitterly, "Yangzhou has more than one bridge, but whether there are twenty-four... I don't know."

Hearing this, Pan Yuyin couldn't help but look disappointed, and said regretfully: "I have always wanted to see 'Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlit Night' with my own eyes, but it's a pity that I have no chance to go to Yangzhou in my lifetime..." After that, Pan Yuyin changed the subject and asked, "Brother Liu, what kind of poems do you like to read on weekdays? Can you tell me?"

After a moment's thought, Liu Xunyi murmured, "I look at my sword under the lamp while drunk, and dream of blowing the horn in the camp. I distribute roasted meat to my subordinates over eight hundred miles away, and the fifty strings play the music from the frontier. I review the troops on the battlefield in autumn..."

"To accomplish the king's affairs, to win a good reputation during life and after death..." Pan Yuyin recited quietly, "Brother Liu likes poems that are very tragic and majestic."

Liu Xunyi murmured thoughtfully, "The country is destroyed and the family is ruined. A real man born between heaven and earth, how can he not sacrifice his life to kill the enemy and serve the country, and recover our land..."

"My hair is standing on end with anger. I lean on the railing, and the rain has stopped. I look up, filled with passion..."

A song "Man Jiang Hong" and countless heroic dreams.

That night, Liu Xunyi and Pan Yuyin drank and wrote poems together until they "sat down at the desk with their arms resting on their heads in the new room, not knowing that the east was already bright."

……

On the same night, in the Pan Family Ancestral Hall, Pan Chuba forced Ding Cui and Pan Chun to kneel in front of Pan Wu's spirit tablet. The cups of strong liquor that they drank in the daytime had now turned into drops of heartbroken blood and tears, falling down.

Pan Wen, Madam, Pan Feng, and He Hu stood aside, looking at the trembling Ding Cui and her son with gloomy eyes. In the huge ancestral hall, only a white wax as thick as a finger was burning, which made Pan Wu's spirit tablet vaguely visible. The dim atmosphere was a little weird, and it was almost suffocating.

"father!"

Pan Chun knelt in front of the spirit tablet and cried bitterly, his voice hoarse and his heart broken, which made Pan Wen and others burst into tears. "What...what do you want to do?" Ding Cui stared at Pan Chuba with panic eyes and threatened viciously, "Brother Hu will not let you go..."

"Li Lao Hu is now in a desperate situation, unable to save himself. How could he come to save you?" He Hu said in a deep voice, "You vicious woman, you actually dared to murder your own husband. This is truly an unforgivable crime! Tonight I will behead you in front of Pan Wu's spirit to comfort his soul in heaven!"

"You are a woman with a heart as vicious as a snake. My second brother treats you well, how can you treat him like this?" Pan Feng cried and cursed.

"What's Pan Wu?" Ding Cui screamed with a ferocious look on her face, "I have never liked him. There has only been one man in my heart from beginning to end, and that is Li Lao Hu..."

"Snapped!"

Before Ding Cui finished her words, Pan Yun, who was furious, suddenly rushed forward and slapped her hard, causing Ding Cui's cheek to swell and bleed from the corner of her mouth. But she suddenly laughed shrilly like crazy, and her laughter was like the howling of ghosts and wolves, which was very frightening.

"Since you were in love with Li Lao Hu, why did you marry Pan Wu?" Pan Wen questioned, "Do you know that Pan Wu was infatuated with you? For you, he even gave up his dignity as a man. In fact, he already knew that Pan Chun was not his biological son, but he still pretended to know nothing. Do you know why? Isn't it because he couldn't let you go?"

"You're talking nonsense!" Ding Cui retorted ruthlessly, "Pan Wu either beats me or scolds me. Is this what you call not letting me go?"

"That's because he knows that you and Li Lao Hu are still in love, but he can't win you back, so..." The eldest lady couldn't help but let out a long sigh and couldn't say any more.

He Hu said: "Now that Pan Wu is dead, it is useless for us to say anything. Only by killing this vicious woman can Pan Wu rest in peace in the underworld!"

"No!" Pan Chun was horrified and fiercely protected Ding Cui under him. He looked at Pan Chuba who was crying silently with tears in his eyes and begged bitterly: "Grandpa! I have lost my father, please don't kill my mother again... Grandson, I beg you! Grandson, I beg you..." Before he finished speaking, Pan Chun began to kowtow to Pan Chuba one after another.

Every kowtow of Pan Chun was like a heavy hammer, hitting Pan Chuba's heart hard and making him even more heartbroken.

Although Pan Chun was not his grandson, they had lived under the same roof for more than 20 years, so how could there be no affection? However, Pan Wu's tragic death was a hidden pain in Pan Chuba's heart that he could not let go for a long time. If he could not avenge his son, how could he face Pan Wu after his death?
"Chun'er..." Pan Chuba said tremblingly, "This matter has nothing to do with you...get out of the way!"

"No!" Pan Chun tightly protected Ding Cui who kept cursing and shook his head repeatedly with a firm attitude, "If Grandpa wants to kill my mother, then kill me first!"

"Your mother murdered her husband and deserved death. Why did you save her?" Pan Feng said angrily. "By the way, you are Li Lao Hu's bastard. Now that you have acknowledged Li Lao Hu as your father, you are no longer qualified to call him 'grandfather'."

"Auntie, I..."

"Don't call me aunt! There is nothing between you and me!"

"Grandpa..." Pan Chun looked at Pan Chuba for help and cried bitterly, "On the first day of March, I am willing to fight against the Hexi Qin family on behalf of the Pan family. I am willing to complete what my father has not completed..."

"He Hu, do it!"

Without waiting for Pan Chun to finish his words, Pan Chuba suddenly gave a cruel order.

He Hu glared and rushed to the wailing Ding Cui with a sharp knife in hand. Before Pan Chun could twist her body hard to stop him, He Hu had already ruthlessly extended the knife and stabbed it into Ding Cui's heart with a "puff".

Ding Cui's pig-slaughtering scream suddenly stopped, and the remaining vitality in her frightened eyes quickly dissipated. Her bound body trembled and twisted violently for a few times, then straightened up and remained motionless.

"Mother? Mother!"

Pan Wu fell madly to the side of Ding Cui. As his hands were tied tightly behind his back, he could not struggle. He could only use his head to butt Ding Cui's body, and his throat let out mournful roars like a trapped beast.

"I will kill you! I must kill you!" Pan Chun turned around suddenly, and his rat eyes glared viciously at everyone in the ancestral hall. He was furious and full of murderous intent.

"I'm afraid you don't have that chance!"

"He Hu, you can't..."

"puff!"

Before Pan Chuba could stop him, He Hu, who had just killed Ding Cui, suddenly turned his knife and cut Pan Chun's throat with the sharp blade. Blood immediately flowed out, splattering everywhere in the ancestral hall.

Pan Chun died instantly, glaring at He Hu with unwilling eyes, and finally fell straight to the ground.

"Why did you kill him?" Pan Chuba shouted angrily, "His mother deserved death for her murder, but he did not deserve death..."

"Letting the tiger go back to the mountains will bring endless troubles!" He Hu said in a deep voice, "Dad, didn't you hear what he said just now? If we leave him here, all of us will die in his hands sooner or later. What's more, he is the bastard of Li Lao Hu. If we don't eradicate him, one day..."

"No matter what, I have watched Chun'er grow up since he was a child. You should never kill him... You shouldn't!"

Pan Chuba is old now, and it is inevitable that he would think of the old times. Besides, he has been away from the underworld for decades, and has long forgotten the cruel rule of the underworld that "letting a tiger go back to the mountains will lead to endless troubles."

But no matter whether it was right or wrong, it was already a fact and no one could change it. Moreover, with the war imminent, Pan Chuba still had to rely on He Hu and could not turn against him.

Pan Chuba, with tears streaming down his face, stared at Pan Chun, who had been his "good grandson" for more than 20 years, as if he had suddenly aged ten years. His spirit and energy became increasingly weak, and his every move showed a bit of old age, a sad sign of dying.

"Give him... a proper burial..."

……

(End of this chapter)