No. 1 Girl in the Imperial City

Chapter 448 National mourning!

When the two rushed back to the palace with Xie Cheng, the already cold and quiet palace was already immersed in mourning.

In the palace of the Empress Dowager, black and white banners were hung up in the whole palace, and the palace people also changed into mourning clothes.Everyone looked solemn and dignified, and the whole palace seemed to be only black and white, without a hint of spring.

Xie Cheng already understood what happened, his usual cheerful little face was tense.

Lost his father in his infancy, and lost his mother last year, the child who is only a few years old already understands the meaning of death better than many people.

As soon as he reached the gate of the main hall, Xie Cheng let go of Luo Junyao's little hand and ran towards the hall.

Princess Changling had already changed into plain clothes and came out from inside, just in time to stop Xie Cheng who was rushing inside.

Xie Cheng raised his head and looked at Princess Changling, tears could not hold back his face, "Aunt Changling, Ah Cheng wants to see the imperial grandmother!"

Princess Changling hid her face and held back her tears, hugged Xie Cheng and said softly, "Ah Cheng, the imperial grandmother is going to rest, shall we let the imperial grandmother rest?"

Xie Cheng burst into tears, "Aunt Changling is lying! Ah Cheng wants the imperial grandmother! Huh...Ah Cheng promised the imperial grandmother, and will accompany the imperial grandmother to bask in the sun today. Ah Cheng wants the imperial grandmother..."

Princess Changling squatted on the ground, holding her nephew in her arms and weeping silently.

Not only did Ah Cheng lose her grandmother, she also lost her mother.

Xie Yan looked at the pair of aunts and nephews silently, and Luo Junyao couldn't help but turn red.

Because of the empress dowager's health, she actually didn't have many encounters with this old man who had gone through countless ups and downs.Most of the time the Empress Dowager was in a coma, and they could only look at her when they came to the Empress Dowager's bedroom.Occasionally she was awake and couldn't bother to talk too much, and they often fell asleep again while they were sitting and talking about the Empress Dowager.

But even so, in Luo Junyao's heart, the Empress Dowager is still a respectable old man.

She has always been very kind to her, and she has never felt oppressed by the legendary mother-in-law's elders on the new daughter-in-law.

Because of the age gap, Luo Junyao's feeling is about the same as that of Xie Cheng, except that she is a kind and kind grandmother.

Luo Jun raised his head and whispered to Xie Yan: "Let's go in and have a look."

Xie Yan nodded silently, and led her into the room.

When passing by Princess Changling, Xie Yan didn't say much, but raised his hand and patted Princess Changling's shoulder lightly.

The Empress Dowager went very peacefully. If ordinary people didn't know in advance, they would almost think that she was still asleep as usual.

Luo Junyao breathed a sigh of relief, at least...she didn't suffer any torture when she left.

Xie Yan stood beside the bed, watched quietly for a long time, then turned his head and asked Eunuch Huang who was kneeling beside him, "How did Aunt Huang get there?"

Eunuch Huang tremblingly said: "Go back to the lord. In the morning, the Empress Dowager woke up and used some things. Her Highness Princess accompanied me and said a few words. At that time, the Empress Dowager looked at... nothing wrong, and the Eldest Princess followed me. The old slave said that the Empress Dowager seemed to be in good spirits today. Afterwards, the princess went to deal with the affairs in the palace, and left the old slave to guard the Empress Dowager. Just after noon, the Empress Dowager woke up suddenly and said that she wanted to see...the princess and the prince, Mr. I hurriedly asked someone to invite the eldest princess. But... the empress dowager only, only said a few words to the eldest princess, and then, went..."

Xie Yan was silent, looking at Eunuch Huang who was kneeling on the ground and weeping.

He is not ignorant of the situation of the Empress Dowager, the decoction is almost useless these days as she becomes weaker.

The Prince Regent's Mansion was not too far from the Imperial Palace, but the death knell still rang before the person who had informed the Prince Regent arrived. It could be seen that the Empress Dowager had indeed gone very quickly.

Xie Yan closed his eyes, and said: "Huang Gong, get up, the imperial aunt is leaving quickly... There are still many things to do."

"Yes, my lord."

The death of the Empress Dowager is a major event. Even though preparations have been made in the womb these days, there are still many things to be busy when this day really comes.

The sudden sound of the death knell in the palace made the entire imperial city quiet for an instant. After reacting, each household took off their original red and green cloaks, and the entire imperial city seemed to be covered with a layer of red and green in an instant. White.

For this empress dowager, no matter the dignitaries in the court or the people in the countryside, they all have some respect.

The Empress Dowager was originally from a noble family, and she never disliked Gao Zu who was forced to live in the Jianghu when she was young. Instead, she gave up the rich clothes and jade food and supported each other with Gao Zu to move forward.It can be said that the empress dowager also made great contributions to the grand plan and great cause established by Emperor Gaozu.

Later, Gaozu and the late emperor died early one after another. She first endured the pain of bereavement to assist the late emperor, and then supported the young emperor through old age and infirmity, stabilizing the court and the public.Moreover, the empress dowager is gracious, magnanimous, lenient and kind to others, but she is very frugal and never extravagant in her daily life.

Although the Empress Dowager has been in poor health for the past two years, as long as she exists, she gives people a sense of stability.Now that she's gone, people feel sad and at the same time feel a little uneasy in their hearts.

Ordinary people only need to change into plain clothes during the national mourning period, and do not hold banquets, drink alcohol, listen to orchestras, silk bamboos, etc., but the court dignitaries have to enter the palace to worship.

When the palace gate opened, a large group of courtiers who came to worship the Empress Dowager had already gathered in front of the palace gate.

Among them, there are quite a few veterans of the Gaozu court who are already old and have already spent their lives at home.

Seeing the palace door slowly opening, the people who were still talking in low voices stopped talking one after another, and walked into the palace in silence under the guidance of officials from the Ministry of Rites.

The empress dowager has already been encoffined, and the place where she rests is in the Yukun Palace behind the main hall of political affairs.

Xie Yan brought Xie Cheng along, and Princess Changling and Princess Changzhao also brought their children to guard the spirit of the Empress Dowager in the palace.

The whining sound of mourning and music made people feel sore eyes and felt a slight gamble in their hearts.

All the people knelt in the open space outside the main hall, kneeling, mourning, and crying with the high-pitched voice of the ritual officer over and over again.

The etiquette in the palace is naturally cumbersome, it took less than half an hour to complete a set of etiquette, and the officials waiting outside kept coming in, repeating the etiquette over and over again.

In the west side hall of Yukun Palace, Luo Yun looked at his daughter who had red eyes and was obviously tired, and said in a hoarse voice: "The Empress Dowager passed away, and the Eldest Princess probably has nothing to worry about, so you have to take care of her these few days. "Luo Yun also feels sorry for his daughter, but he has to bear some responsibilities in this position.

Luo Jun shook his head and said: "Dad, don't worry, I know."

Luo Yun sighed, he was also a little saddened by the death of the Empress Dowager.

Mrs. Su took Luo Junyao's hand, and whispered: "I'm afraid you will all be living in the palace for the next few days. I just saw that the Eldest Princess's expression is not right. You should pay more attention. Also, Your Majesty is still young. You should also pay attention when kneeling on the spirit, let His Majesty rest earlier. The Empress Dowager is in the spirit of the sky, and she will definitely not want to see her Majesty hurt her body."

Luo Jun shook his head and nodded.

Luo Yun and the Su family can't stay for long either. Now that the regent has to attend to the empress dowager's funeral and also guard the empress dowager, Luo Yun can only watch over the court affairs.

The memorial ceremony in the palace lasted for seven consecutive days, and officials of the fourth rank and above in the imperial court were ordered to enter the palace every day to pay homage to the Empress Dowager and kneel down.

The members of the royal family have to take turns to watch the coffin every day. Now that there are not many people in the royal family, it is naturally more difficult.

As soon as Luo Yun and Su Shi were sent away, someone from the palace came to the main hall to say that Princess An Cheng had passed out.

There was another burst of panic, and people sent Princess Ancheng to the side hall to rest.

Princess Ancheng had put on makeup on her face, and her original expression could hardly be seen, but seeing her weak appearance lying on the couch, she knew that she was really working hard.

"Princess." Seeing Luo Jun swaying in, King Ancheng and Xie Xiao hurriedly got up to salute.

Luo Jun waved his hands to signal for the two to excuse themselves, and asked in a low voice, "How is the princess?"

Prince Ancheng looked a little sad, and said: "Princess Lao is concerned, but it's just caused by emotional excitement."

Concubine Ancheng is congenitally deficient and sickly. After marrying Prince Ancheng, she only has one son, Xie Xiao.In such a situation, it would be fine if she married into an ordinary family, but she was still married to someone like Ancheng County King, and Ancheng County King still had a deep affection for her.Therefore, Princess Ancheng's life in the royal family was not easy in the early years, thanks to the empress dowager who has always stood by her side and taken good care of her.

When Princess Ancheng's health was not so bad and the Empress Dowager was still healthy, she often went to the palace to talk with the Empress Dowager, and the relationship between the two was not inferior to that of a daughter-in-law.

Now that the Empress Dowager has passed away, Princess Ancheng is naturally very sad, but the most important thing about her illness is not to be overjoyed and sad.

Even Xie Xiao fell in love with Cui Zheyu, the father and son of Ancheng County did not dare to tell her, now the death of the Empress Dowager is tantamount to a heavy blow to Princess Ancheng.

Luo Jun said: "The body is still the most important thing. We are guarding the soul. The empress dowager will not blame her for her kindness."

King Ancheng nodded, but looked worried at his sleeping wife.Although the concubine was born weak, she was soft on the outside and strong on the inside. If she wanted to keep her spirit...

Luo Jun said: "The lord told the concubine that if she feels bad, she can ask Xie Xiao to kneel on her behalf."

Xie Xiao gave Luo Jun a grateful look, and quickly said: "What the princess said is, father, the child will go back and kneel."

King Ancheng looked at his son's back as he hurriedly walked out, and said to Luo Jun, "Thank you, Princess."

Luo Jun shook his head, and said, "Nowadays there are no concubines and concubines in the palace. The prince will choose a place to live near the Yukun Palace when he turns around, so as to save the concubine the trouble of going in and out every day."

"This... I'm afraid it's not in line with etiquette."

Luo Jun waved his hands, "In the end, people are the most important thing. Let's talk about whether the etiquette is right or not."

"Yes."

"Young Master." Cao Mao walked into the small courtyard and saw Cao Jie standing under the eaves looking up at the sky, wondering what he was thinking.

Hearing his voice, Cao Jie just withdrew his gaze, looked sideways at him and said, "What's wrong?"

Cao Maodao: "Just received the news that the Empress Dowager passed away, and the Regent ordered the court to stay for seven days, ordering the vassal princes and nobles from all over the country to return to Beijing to attend the funeral for the Empress Dowager."

Hearing that Cao Jie raised his eyebrows slightly, "Xungui? Isn't he an official in charge of various places?"

Cao Mao hesitated for a moment, "It's the vassal king and the nobles, and the regent is probably worried that there will be trouble if the officials in charge of the various places leave?"

Cao Jie snorted coldly and said, "How many vassals are left in Dasheng now? Isn't it obvious who the regent's edict is targeting?"

Cao Maodao: "Eldest son, you mean... no way? There is no rumor in the court that the regent wants to target uncle." There are not many local officials with titles and important positions, and the Governor of Qingzhou Wen Dinghou Cao Mian Happens to be one of them.

Cao Jie also knew that his doubts were unreasonable. The edict most likely referred to those nobles of the clan, and there were very few magistrates with titles.

But ever since the so-called Young Master Dongfang appeared out of thin air and made Chen Xun out of control, he felt a faint sense of unease.

It stands to reason that the regent is currently suffering from foreign aggression and the southern border is also unstable, so he should not have the time to deal with Gao Zu's former heroes.But from what happened with Ruan Ting and King Ning, we can know that His Royal Highness the Regent was born in the army after all, and he does not always look at the situation when doing things.

Cao Jie thought for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "The court messenger must have already left, but we still have time anyway."

"What does the eldest son want to do?" Cao Mao asked worriedly.

Cao Jie said: "I'll go to Feng's house later."

Cao Mao was startled, "Master, are you going to see Mr. Feng?" Now the old Cao family in the capital does not know that Cao Jie is in the capital. It will make people think too much.

Cao Jie said: "I must find out whether the regent's decree was intentional or not." Even if Xie Yan just forgot his father's title and did not intend to recall him, his father would not be able to accept this decree once it came out. no more.

"Yes." Cao Jie had made up his mind, and Cao Mao could only nod in agreement.

"The empress dowager passed away too suddenly." Cao Jie didn't know what to think, and suddenly murmured: "However, this matter is not a bad thing for us."

Cao Mao was silent, Cao Jie waved his sleeves and said in a deep voice, "Take this opportunity to transfer some people to Shangyong."

Cao Mao hesitated and said, "My lord, uncle said that we should do things in Shangyong..."

Cao Jie snorted coldly and said: "Be cautious! Father is too cautious! If not, why would we let a boy of unknown origin play wild on our heads? Call someone, do you just watch that kid go crazy like this?"

Cao Mao knew that Cao Jie couldn't be persuaded. His cousin was always proud, but this time he was really slapped in the face by a teenager with unknown background.

If this tone does not come out, I am afraid it will not be kind.

Forget it, if the imperial edict is okay, uncle will be in Shangyong soon, and everything will be decided by himself at that time.

However, Cao Mao couldn't help reminding, "My lord, the Fang family may be going to Shangyong soon."

The person sent by the Fang family to investigate Fang Shuo's death died in Shangyong for no apparent reason, Yangxin's secret stake, and the young man of unknown origin. What happened after they came to Shangyong, the Fang family inevitably asked the eldest son for an explanation.

Cao Jie said coldly: "This is about that kid, can the Fang family rely on us?"

"Young master is right." Cao Mao bowed his head.

(End of this chapter)