Once these words were said, everyone turned around and saw a man wearing blue robes come out of the crowd. He looked to be in his 40s, and his skin was dark. His body was slightly hunched, and his face was dark. His complexion looked to be a little poor.
Some of the citizens recognized him, saying: "Isn't this the shopkeeper of the Shengcai Shop on the Eastern street? I heard that elder madam Feng's coffin was ordered from there."
Shengcai Shop was a coffin shop. The reason behind its name was because of a homonym.1 That place was the most famous coffin shop in the capital. The reason for its fame was the materials used by this shop were all of the highest quality. All of the coffins were made by the old man, and the prices were extremely high. Only high-ranking officials and noble people were able to afford such things. Also, they had to be of the upper echelon. Just a little bit of money would not be enough.
Upon hearing the identity of this person, Feng Yu Heng immediately thought of the coffin that contained the matriarch today. She did not put too much thought into the materials. In the 21st century, she knew that many of the private clubs would have high-quality tables and chairs, and she had also seen ones made with gold thread. She knew about them, but she had never asked about the price. Moreover, even if she had asked about it, that would have been the price seen in the 21st century. There would be no way to compare it to the present.
The person from the coffin shop stood in front of Feng Jin Yuan and asked him with a stoic expression: "Lord Feng said for us to bring the coffin over before the elder madam was carried out, but the clerk said that the Feng family was in a rush to leave and did not have a chance to prepare the money. Normally speaking, our Shengcai Shop does not sell on credit. This is something that the entire capital knows. Also, there is not a person that would buy a coffin on credit for a person that has already passed away. But since we are in this business, we must not do something that neglects good deeds. The elder madam was waiting here to be placed in a coffin, and we cannot stop her from being placed in one because of a little thing like money. That's why Shengcai Shop was willing to set aside this amount of money. Now that lord Feng has returned to the manor, shouldn't this debt be handled?"
In the time that he spoke with Feng Jin Yuan, Feng Yu Heng turned her head and quietly asked Wang Chuan: "What is the rough price of the coffin used by the elder madam this morning?"
Wang Chuan pondered for a while then said: "This servant is unable to provide too accurate of an estimate, but it must be at least 200 taels because Shengcai Shop does not have any cheap good. They all have a starting price of 200 taels."
Huang Quan picked up on this: "200 taels would not be enough. That sort of gold thread is quite expensive. I figure it must be 500 taels."
Feng Yu Heng furrowed her brow. 500 taels was not much. She trusted that Feng Jin Yuan had done this out of his filial feelings. He wanted to the matriarch to have a better place to lie after passing away. After all, the matriarch loved money while she was still alive, thus he could not allow her to rest in something shabby after she passed.
But if there was anything to blame, it would be the fact that the Feng manor was almost completely out of funds. The madams, concubine mothers and young misses all needed to look out for themselves. Aside from Han shi, who was pregnant and needed supplements, the communal funds did not provide anyone else with a single cent. Even the monthly allowance that was sent to her and Zi Rui in Tong Sheng pavilion had stopped being sent a couple months ago. She knew the Feng manor's situation and did not want to argue over that little bit of money, thus she never asked for it.
Feng Jin Yuan clearly knew the family's situation, so where did he get the courage to ask for such an expensive coffin from Shengcai Shop?
At this time, Xiang Rong had moved closer to her and quietly expressed her own thoughts: "Second sister, father won't come up with the idea of pushing this debt on you, right?"
