Starting from the second day, the old mansion of Zhang family in Golden Light City had been boisterous. First, the elders and Zhang Taixuan the head of Huaiyuan Palace in Yanghe Prefecture came here to offer their condolences, closely followed by the heads of the branches of Huaiyuan Palace. Then, the representatives of major clans across Youzhou Province and the representatives of major clans in Gaozhou Province, Mozhou Province, Tongzhou Province, Qiongzhou Province, Yanzhou Province, Huizhou Province and Chaozhou Province in Northeast Military Region poured into Golden Light City. After that, the major clans and business partners across Taixia Country who cooperated with Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory and Jinwu Business Group arrived here one after another.
Additionally, those who came here were not small figures. Those from major clans were either clan heads or grand elders. Those from business groups were all heads. They all knew that Zhang Tie was in the old mansion of Zhang Clan. If those who came here were small figures, they might not even have a chance to see Zhang Tie. If so, it would be boring.
The entire Golden Light City had not been so boisterous since it was founded. The current scene in Golden Light City was even more boisterous than that when Zhang Tie competed for the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province. The entire sky above Golden Light City was covered with airboats. All the airports outside the city had been transferred to other places by the castellan.
Fortunately, the old mansion had expected that there would be a lot of people coming to mourn for the old master. Therefore, although the mourning hall was set up in the old mansion, the walls of the two courtyards in the old mansion were torn down on the same night to make way for the mourning hall. The mourning hall was also set up wide enough so that it wouldn't be crowded.
Besides Zhang Taixuan the head of Huaiyuan Palace who left Golden Light City and returned to Youzhou City for public affairs, Elder Muyuan, Elder Muyu and Elder Muen of Huaiyuan Palace stayed in the old mansion of Zhang family and greeted all the major figures who came here to offer their condolences. With the help of the three clan elders, the old mansion didn't make any mistake.
Zhang Tie was the grand elder of Huaiyuan Palace. The death of the grand elder's grandpa was a major event in Huaiyuan Palace. As the three clan elders were also members of Huaiyuan Palace, it was reasonable for them to greet the guests here.
The best inns and hotels in Golden Light City had long been reserved by Zhang family for these guests.
Due to the large number of guests, the two streets outside the old mansion were all guarded by sergeants to maintain the order.
On the second day, Zhang Tie put on his mourning clothes and greeted all the passers-by in the old mansion. After offering their condolences to Zhang Haitian, those clan heads and elders of major clans would be invited to talk with Zhang Tie for a short while and show their faces in front of Zhang Tie. After that, they would be received by Zhang family members and have a rest.
There was a saying that a poor man in the downtown would be ignored; a rich man in the deep mountain would have distant relatives. This was the wisdom of the world. Zhang Tie was very open-minded about this. He was not cynical or self-righteous. Zhang Tie knew his role in the old mansion and the thoughts of many people who came here to offer their condolences to Zhang Haitian. Therefore, he just followed the arrangement of his family members. At this moment, as a member of Zhang family, those who came here to offer their condolences to Zhang Haitian were his guests and the honor of the old man. Therefore, Zhang Tie treated them politely. As for those who wanted to see him, Zhang Tie didn't put on airs. He just met them calmly and talked with them for a short while.
Disasters and pains made people mature. After the death of the old man, the future of Zhang family was in Zhang Tie's hand. Zhang Tie found that he had become much more mature overnight.
More and more people came here. However, the funeral gifts of those people scared Zhang Tie's eldest uncle.
…
Unknowingly, night fell on the first day. After midnight, although the Zhang family's old house was brightly lit and the door was wide open, according to the rules, no one would come to the mourning hall after midnight. Those who had not yet offered their condolences would only come after sunrise the next morning. The mourning hall was set for seven days. After seven days, there would be the "Great Convergence" and the "Head Sacrifice". After that, there would be the first mourning, the seventh mourning, the funeral, and other ceremonies. It would take a total of 49 days for the old man's funeral to be completely completed.
Of course, this was the custom of major clans in Taixia Country. As for ordinary clans, the funeral of the old man would take 3 days or 7 days.
"… Mo Clan of Fraternity Palace in Mozhou Province sends 17 million gold coins as a gift; Qian Clan of Tongzhou Provincial Governor sends 3 million gold coins as a gift; Gu Clan of Derun Palace in Gaozhou Province sends 3 million gold coins as a gift; Wang Clan of Bao Stone Palace in Qiongzhou Province sends 3 million gold coins as a gift; Liu Clan of Liu Clan of Huizhou Provincial Governor sends 3 million gold coins as a gift; Xiong Clan of Tianyuan Palace in Chaozhou Province sends 2 million gold coins as a gift; Hong Clan of Virtuous Palace in Chaozhou Province sends 6 million gold coins as a gift; Zhu Clan of Yanzhou Provincial Governor sends 4 million gold coins as a gift; Sun Clan of Firewood Palace in Yanzhou Province sends 2 million gold coins as a gift; and …"
In a room beside the mourning hall, Zhang Tie was sitting on a chair and listening to Zhang Su's father reading a list of gifts in front of him quietly after entertaining guests for a whole day.
This thin list was very heavy for Zhang Tie's eldest uncle. His hand which was holding the list was quivering uncontrollably. Even his voice was quivering.
The long list contained the names of hundreds of clans who came here to offer their condolences today. The total amount of gift money on the list was astronomical. It took Zhang Tie's eldest uncle a few minutes to report all the gift money on the list to Zhang Tie.
However, this list only contained the names of clans who received over 1 million gold coins as a gift. Those clans below 1 million gold coins were not included in the list.
The gift money of Mo Clan of Fraternity Palace was already many times greater than that of the entire Milky Way Shipyard in the old mansion. No wonder Zhang Tie's eldest uncle was so nervous.
Besides Zhang Tie's eldest uncle, all the other uncles in mourning clothes were in the room, including Zhang Tie's dad. They were all pricking up their ears and listening to the figures on the list with shocked looks. Each figure on the list made them dizzy and thirsty. Even though Zhang Tie's dad didn't care about money in daily life, he was also shocked.
Zhang Yang was also listening to it on one side. Sitting on a chair beside Zhang Tie, he was drinking tea as he glanced over those uncles' faces from time to time.
"When I was outside just now, I heard a cousin say that the old man passed away in such a glorious way. We've received so much gift money that our hands were numb. These money are the old man's legacy. When we share these gift money later on, each member of the family would at least have millions of gold coins. All the descendants of Zhang family would be billionaires. They could not spend all the money in 10 generations. We could live a peaceful and steady life. I wonder whether the other uncles and uncles also think so?" Zhang Yang put down his teacup before Zhang Tie replied.
Zhang Yang said with a smile, but his words didn't sound warm at all. Instead, he sounded a bit cold.
Zhang Tie threw a calm glance at Zhang Yang. Of course, Zhang Tie didn't doubt his elder brother's words. However, he had not imagined that someone among the descendants of the old mansion could be carried away by the gold coins on the list in only one day. They were thinking about how to share the gold coins on the list.
It was just the first day. In the following days, more people would come here. As a result, more gold coins would be accumulated on the list. No wonder someone would be interested in these gold coins.
'Is this the old man's legacy?' Of course, even though they said so superficially, as long as they were not idiots, they would know what was going on. These gifts were more for Zhang Tie than for the old man. If Zhang family didn't have Zhang Tie, even Zhang Taixuan the Count of Long Wind would not be so polite to him, not to mention Zhang Haitian the old man.
Under Zhang Yang's gaze, some of his uncles looked calm while some revealed an embarrassed look...
(To be continued.)
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