"Dong."
"Dong."
The death knell sounded in the palace. It rang seven times before it stopped.
In the prison, the Empress sat dejectedly on the ground. A moment later, she cried and laughed, "It's over, it's all over."
She married the Emperor after reaching marriageable age. Later, she became the Empress, second only to one, and successfully gave birth to an heir for the Emperor. Originally, she was fated to live a life of glory. Why did she become a prisoner in the blink of an eye?
If the Empress Dowager was still alive, their Fang Family would still have a chance. Now that the Empress Dowager was gone, everyone in the world thought that she had harmed the Empress Dowager. Their entire Fang Family …
Before the Empress Dowager died, she did not forget to praise Xian Wang for his filial piety. So under the pen of the historian, there was another record of Yan Jinqiu.
Before she died, the Empress Dowager said, "Zi Ling, you are a filial son. Aijia does not fear death. I only worry about this son. I hope the Emperor will be kind to him."
All of Jing was hung in mourning. In order to show his filial piety, the Qilong Emperor did not care about his own status. He wore mourning clothes for the Empress Dowager and abstained from meat every day. Every time he mentioned how well the Empress Dowager had treated him in the past, he would uncontrollably cry.
The Qilong Emperor's actions finally redeemed some of his filial piety. Even though many people still thought that he was acting, it was acceptable on the surface.
The rumors that the Empress had poisoned the Empress Dowager had become unrecognizable. Perhaps it was in people's nature to respect the dead. So in these rumors, most of them were about how evil the Empress Dowager's actions were, and how hard it was for the Empress Dowager, a lonely old woman, to live in the inner palace.
There were also rumors that the Empress had purposely given the Empress Dowager bad ginseng donkey-hide gelatin and was very neglectful of the Empress Dowager.
The Empress' reputation plummeted. She was no different from a poisonous woman who brought disaster to the country. There were even many storytellers who described the Empress as a monster who only knew how to scheme and had no kindness. Otherwise, how could the Crown Prince be so bad? It must be that the Empress did not teach the Crown Prince well.
"The world is used to blaming the mother for not educating the child well. If the child is successful, then like father, like son." Hua Xi Wan played with the plain silver hairpin in her hand. She slowly ran it through her hair and wiped away all the makeup on her face. "The Empress isn't a good person, but she's not as bad as the rumors say. She's just …"
Hua Xi Wan suddenly stopped talking and looked at Yan Jinqiu, who was wearing a linen robe. "The rumors outside …"
"It has nothing to do with me." Yan Jinqiu picked out a plain silver bracelet from the box and put it on her hand. Then he looked at the three plain silver hairpins in her hair. "The Empress has fallen to such a state. I do not need to waste energy targeting her."
Hearing this, Hua Xi Wan smiled. "I'm not asking about this rumor, but the rumors about the imperial grandson."
"This is a warning from the heavens." Yan Jinqiu adjusted his robe. The linen robe was very rough, but he was wearing a comfortable silk inner robe. It was not uncomfortable. "The world only likes to believe what they think. It has nothing to do with me."
"Haha." Hua Xi Wan smiled as she took off the plain silver bracelet that Yan Jinqiu had put on her. "It's the mourning period. Why wear this?"
Looking at Hua Xi Wan who was bare-faced, Yan Jinqiu sighed. "I can't bear for you to be wronged."
Hua Xi Wan smiled and reached out to pinch his earlobe. "You have a glib tongue."
Holding Hua Xi Wan's hand, Yan Jinqiu stole a kiss by her cheek. "These are my true words."
"Have you heard of a saying?"
"What?"
Hua Xi Wan giggled and said, "Believing a man's words is better than believing that you can see ghosts in the day."
"Nonsense." Yan Jinqiu smiled helplessly. He didn't think that Hua Xi Wan would dare to say such shocking words. He reached out to pull her into his arms. "This can't be heard by other people."
"You're not other people." Hua Xi Wan gave him a flirtatious look. Seeing Yan Jinqiu's eyes become more and more heated, she pushed him away and stood to straighten her clothes. "Wang Ye should prepare to enter the palace. This is the mourning period."
Smiling helplessly, Yan Jinqiu said, "I understand."
The two went to the palace every day to mourn for the Empress Dowager. Because the weather was too hot, the Imperial Astronomer decided to bury the Empress Dowager after fourteen days. This was the shortest auspicious time.
There were countless ice basins around the Empress Dowager's golden coffin. When half of the ice melted, it would be replaced with new ice to prevent the Empress Dowager's body from rotting. Even so, when Hua Xi Wan entered the mourning hall, she still smelled sandalwood mixed with all kinds of incense and candles. It made her very uncomfortable.
She knelt on the prayer mat and listened to the mournful cries of the mourners. She threw paper money one by one into the basins. Through the light of the fire, she glanced at the Empress Dowager's coffin. She had an indescribably complicated feeling. In this inner palace, the Empress Dowager was the one who had the last laugh. Who would have thought that she would die in such a way?
She didn't believe that this was done by the Empress. Perhaps the Emperor didn't believe it either. But the evidence was too conclusive. If the Emperor was willing to speak for the Empress, if he didn't succeed in overturning the case, then in the eyes of the world, the Emperor was trying to protect the Empress and was purposely stalling for time.
The Empress had accompanied the Emperor for many years. Now that she had been plotted against, her man probably wouldn't risk his reputation to come out and speak for her.
A white figure knelt down next to her. She turned her head to look at the person and then bowed her head slightly. "Crown Princess Lin."
"Greetings, Xian Wang Fei." The Crown Princess threw some paper money into the basin and used a handkerchief to wipe at her slightly red but tearless eyes. "Wang Fei seems to have lost some weight. Please take care of your body."
"It's just that I haven't slept well in the last few days," Hua Xi Wan said submissively. "The Crown Princess just gave birth to the Imperial Grandson. How can she come here?" If she hadn't counted the days wrong, the Crown Princess hadn't finished her confinement yet, right?
"I just wanted to see the Empress Dowager before she was buried." Lin shi finished and threw another stack of paper money in. Seeing the fire in the basin grow bigger, she said expressionlessly, "Also, I heard that Wang Fei was here, so I wanted to see her even more."
Hua Xi Wan didn't know the meaning in her words, so she didn't speak.
"I heard that Wang Fei's cousin is engaged to my elder brother?" Lin shi didn't care that Hua Xi Wan didn't speak and said directly, "My elder brother is a reliable man. If the girl of your Hua Family marries him, you won't have to worry that she will be wronged."
Hua Xi Wan continued to burn paper money and didn't let the fire in the basin go out. "I don't think it is appropriate to discuss these matters in the mourning hall."
"You are right." Lin shi kowtowed three times to the Empress Dowager's coffin and threw all the paper money in her hand into the fire. "It is inappropriate to talk about such a joyous occasion here."
Hua Xi Wan detected that something was wrong with Lin shi. She frowned and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Crown Princess, please take care of your body. His Highness the Imperial Grandson still needs you."
Lin shi smiled. It was a great sin for this smile to appear in the mourning hall, but Hua Xi Wan could see endless sorrow in this smile.
"I once thought, if I didn't marry into the Imperial Family, I would be very happy to be close to a woman like you." Lin shi gently gripped Hua Xi Wan's hand. "It is a pity that there are no ifs in the world. Xian Wang Fei, I hope that you are not like us."
After she finished speaking, she stood up from the meditation mat and bowed deeply to the Empress Dowager's coffin. She turned and strode out of the mourning hall.
"Crown Princess." Hua Xi Wan faintly felt that something wasn't right and hurriedly turned back to look. But she only saw Lin shi's determined and straight back.
She stilled for a moment. Turning back, she saw that the fire in the basin was about to go out. She hurriedly threw some paper money back, but her brow unconsciously furrowed.
At this time, another person knelt down next to her. It was Prince Consort Xu. The two of them nodded to each other and then silently sat down to do monotonous and dull things.
An hour later, Ning Wang Shizi Fei and Princess Sheng took their places. They rubbed their numb legs and slowly walked out of the mourning hall. There were many members of the Imperial Family standing guard outside the mourning hall. They all had sorrowful expressions as though the Empress Dowager held a supreme position in their hearts.
Yan Jin Qiu saw Hua Xi Wan come out and her walking posture was not right. He knew that her knees were uncomfortable from kneeling for so long. He couldn't help but go forward to help her sit down on the wooden chair at the side. But it was not good for him to do anything else in public, so he could only gently squeeze her hand.
Prince Consort Xu sat down on the other side. She and Hua Xi Wan exchanged a look and then nodded again.
Prince Consort Xu thought that if this was not the Empress Dowager's mourning hall, Xian Wang probably would not be able to resist rubbing Xian Wang Fei's knees. She had originally thought that Xian Wang's treatment of Xian Wang Fei was fake. But now, she felt that if this was not true feelings, then Xian Wang was too terrifying. Because if a person could act to such a degree, then how cruel would he be to himself?
Every day, after the younger generation of the Imperial Family finished kneeling, they would take the carriage with white lanterns to return to their own fu. They would do the same the next day.
On the day of the Empress Dowager's burial, the weather was exceptionally clear. The morning sun in the sky was enough to melt people.
Hua Xi Wan and Yan Jinqiu sat in the carriage and moved forward. Every time the procession stopped, they had to get off the carriage and kneel. They could only get back on the carriage after the ceremonial officer spoke.
After half the journey, Hua Xi Wan felt like she was going to be roasted. She secretly drank a few mouthfuls of herbal tea in the carriage before she felt better.
After the coffin was sent to the Imperial Mausoleum, the Empress Dowager was buried with Xiandi in the name of the benevolent Empress Dowager. When the doors to the Imperial Mausoleum were closed, all the mourners knelt down and kowtowed three times. The Emperor personally read a prayer he had written before ordering everyone to rise.
Before getting on the carriage, Hua Xi Wan couldn't help but look back at the Imperial Mausoleum behind her. She felt an indescribable sense of desolation.
"Watch your step," Yan Jinqiu gently held her hand and said softly, "It's hot outside, quickly go in."
Turning back to look at the man standing beside her, Hua Xi Wan smiled and stepped onto the footstool to enter the carriage.
Yan Jinqiu followed into the carriage. When he entered, he saw Hua Xi Wan's sweaty appearance. He took out a brocade handkerchief hidden in his sleeve and carefully wiped the sweat from her face. "Go back and have a good sleep."
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