The Challenge of a Farmhouse Son-in-Law
Chapter 777 - 771 My Mother is Buried Here

Chapter 777: Chapter 771 My Mother is Buried Here

"Indeed, just do it like this," he said indifferently, striding towards the thatched hut.

The hut was no different from the others; left uninhabited for years and without repairs, it had fallen into complete disrepair.

Jin Zijin rolled up his sleeves and cleared away the weeds in front of and behind the house, his movements swift as he began to tidy up the ruined yard.

Gu Youyou pouted in surprise and said, "You’re not thinking of fixing up this house for us to live in from now on, are you?"

She didn’t want that; she wanted to live in the big tile-roofed house in the Taoist Temple.

The mountain wind was strong, messing up Gu Youyou’s hair. Jin Zijin turned around, gathered the strands that were in her face, and placed them behind her, saying with a faint smile, "This house is falling apart; it’s drafty from all sides. How could I let you live here? It’s just that it’s been a long time since I’ve been back, and I’m only cleaning up the weeds."

Gu Youyou was puzzled and asked, "Isn’t the courtyard where I live your house? Why did you build a thatched hut up here on the mountain?"

Jin Zijin straightened his posture and stood facing the wind at the edge. His gaze, as deep as ink, turned toward the extending mountains at the foot of the hill.

It turned out that this place was just like the thatched hut in Lotus Village; it seemed ordinary, but the view was surprisingly expansive.

The Taoist Temple halfway up the mountain, the stretch of mountains below the temple intermittently visible through the misty clouds, and the few paths leading up the mountain could all be seen winding their way below.

Choosing this location to build a thatched hut held a hidden meaning.

"Before I went with my master to the Taoist Temple, I lived here with my mother," he said.

Gu Youyou’s expression changed, and she took steps toward him to stand shoulder to shoulder with him in the cold wind.

"Your mother lived here with you alone in these mountains. Why didn’t she ever go back to Beijing?"

Jin Zijin shook his head and said, "I was very small at the time, and my memories of my mother are very vague." He smiled, stretching the corners of his mouth and said, "Look, she chose this spot with great care. There must be reasons she couldn’t go back to Beijing!"

Gu Youyou looked at his profile, his handsome nose bridge, took a deep breath, and latched onto his arm.

The two stood in the wind for a long time until Jin Zijin suddenly said, "Let’s go down the mountain. My mother’s tomb is at the foot of the mountain."

Gu Youyou looked at him in surprise. His mother, after all, had been posthumously honored as Empress. How could she be here instead of in the Imperial Mausoleum?

Without another word, Jin Zijin had already grabbed her hand, hoisted her onto his back, and began descending the mountain at great speed.

Though it didn’t look far to the bottom, it took nearly four hours to get there with Jin Zijin’s pace.

This was a flat grassy area. There was no sign of his mother’s tomb as mentioned, but a long, weed-covered pit.

Jin Zijin put Gu Youyou down and said, "This is it."

Gu Youyou looked at the pit, which stood out oddly in the flat grassland.

No gravestone, no earthen mound, instead there was a pit?

Jin Zijin said, "My mother was buried here before. Later, when they found out, they exhumed her and relocated her to the Imperial Mausoleum."

So that was it!

Even if the Crown Princess Consort were dead, how could she tolerate being buried anywhere but the Imperial Mausoleum?

Jin Zijin gazed intently into the pit, lost in thought, while Gu Youyou, unsure of how to comfort him, simply stood with him.

After a long while, his hoarse, suppressed voice came, "Soon I will be able to pay respects to you openly."

He turned his head, looking at Gu Youyou, and said, "For now, this is all I have, but later I will take you to see my mother."

"Okay," she said softly.

Leaning gently against his shoulder, she added, "If we avoid the guards at the Imperial Mausoleum, we could also sneak in."

After a moment of thought, Jin Zijin said lightly, "Let’s not go there for now, let’s go back first."

...