Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 440 The Emperor passes away
After Minglan had eaten and drunk her fill, she also learned a lot about Li Ang from Haitang.

The two had known each other for many years and had gotten engaged early on. She had even accompanied Ang Lee's parents on outings, but there were many things she had not been comfortable asking about before.

Now that the two have been married and are officially husband and wife, they no longer have those concerns.

After Haitang and her men cleaned up the leftovers, Minglan asked Danju to give red envelopes to each of the maids.

Minglan sat on the bed, talking absentmindedly to Xiaotao and the others. She didn't know how much time had passed before she felt drowsy.

As her wedding was approaching, her heart was filled with reluctance and excitement, and she hadn't slept well for several days.

I don’t know how long it took, but there was a burst of noise outside, which woke up the drowsy Minglan.

"The Second Master has returned to the house!"

Upon hearing the voice, Minglan hurriedly took Xiaotao and Danju out to greet them.

Before he reached the door, it was pushed open, a smell of alcohol wafted in, and two servants carried Li An in.

Minglan quickly stepped aside and waited for the two maids to carefully place him on the bed. She smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Danju, bring me two red envelopes."

Danju took out two red envelopes and stuffed them into the hands of the two servants.

Although it was wrapped in red paper, just by feeling the weight, one could estimate that it weighed several taels. The two servants were overjoyed, thanked them and left.

Haitang came in with her maid carrying toiletries.

"Let me do it."

Minglan washed the towel in the basin, wrung it dry, then walked to the bedside and bent over to wipe Li An's face.

Li Ang also had a thick layer of foundation on his face, which he had to wipe clean after changing several basins of water.

"How can we have the wedding night when my son-in-law is so drunk?" Xiao Tao muttered.

"You are the only one who talks a lot."

Minglan blushed and was thinking about how to help Li An take off his clothes. Hearing this, she glared at her and said, "Come over and help me."

"what!"

Minglan had just finished speaking when she saw Li An, who was lying motionless on the bed, suddenly open his eyes, sit up, and look at her with a smile.

Minglan was caught off guard and was shocked.

"Sir, are you not drunk?" Minglan asked in surprise.

"Xiao Tao is right. How can we have the wedding night if we are drunk?" Li An said with a smile.

Minglan's face flushed when she heard this, she lowered her head and said in a whisper, "Sir, what nonsense are you talking about?"

"Haha."

Li An laughed and didn't tease her. After Haitang and the others helped him wash up, he sent everyone away.

"Ma'am, let's get some rest."

Li An looked at Minglan who was still standing beside the bed with her head down and said.

"Yeah." Minglan nodded shyly but didn't even move.

Li An came to the bed and sat down. He reached out and took Minglan's arm and exerted a little force, and Minglan sat in his arms.

Holding Minglan in his arms and smelling the faint orchid fragrance emanating from her body, Li An whispered in her ear: "Minglan, I finally married you."

"Officer."

Hearing this, Minglan looked up at Li An with some emotion.

Li An looked at the face so close to him and lowered his head to kiss it.

Minglan watched Li An's face getting closer and closer, closed her eyes, and gripped her sleeves tighter.

Soon the curtains fell, and from time to time there were rustling and tearing sounds coming from the room, as if someone was tearing clothes and moving them.

The curtains were opened from time to time, and pieces of clothes were thrown out.

……

Li Ang was so drunk that he woke up at dawn the next day.

Looking at the soft person in his arms, Li An frowned slightly and gently stroked her face with some pity.

Minglan's face looks a little fat and chubby, which is very cute.

Perhaps it was because she felt Li Ang's touch, Minglan's eyelids moved, and she opened her eyes, and saw Li Qinghuan looking at her with a doting look on his face.

Minglan was stunned at first, but after she regained consciousness, she quickly closed her eyes.

"My lady, why are you pretending to be asleep when you are awake?" Li An said with a smile.

Seeing that she couldn't pretend any longer, Minglan could only open her eyes. When she saw the light coming through the window, she screamed and sat up abruptly.

"Ah~"

Because the movement was too big, it aggravated the injury and he couldn't help but let out a cry of pain.

"Madam, are you okay?" Li An asked hurriedly.

"This is all your fault." Minglan took a breath and said coquettishly.

"How can you blame me? It was obviously you... um..."

"Don't say that." Minglan blocked his mouth and said.

"Second Madam, it's time to get up."

Mother Cui waited outside anxiously for a long time and wanted to call for help.

How could a new bride sleep until noon the next day?

But Liu had sent someone over early to tell them not to disturb her, so she could only wait.

Now I can't bear it anymore when I hear the noise.

"Sir, please get up quickly." Minglan didn't care about quarreling with Li An anymore. She let go of his hand and urged him, "It's already bright, and I haven't served tea to my father-in-law and mother-in-law yet."

"It's okay. My mother is so happy that she won't care." Li An said with a smile.

"No, even if my father-in-law and the others don't mind, it's my first day home and I'm sleeping so late. What will the servants at home think of me?" Minglan said anxiously.

Seeing that Minglan was about to cry, Li An didn't dare to tease her anymore. He lifted the quilt and got out of bed.

Seeing this, Minglan quickly covered her eyes.

Li An searched the ground, found his underwear, put it on, and said, "Come in."

Mother Cui brought Danju and Xiaotao in first, wrapped Minglan in a wide robe and took her into the compartment, and then called in the maids outside.

The maidservant who came with Minglan as a dowry went into the inner room to dress Minglan, while Haitang served Li An.

Seeing that Li An had only one maid serving him, Mother Cui left Bisi and Qin Sang outside to serve Li An before going into the inner room.

When Minglan came out after washing up, Li An had already packed up. After Minglan finished dressing up, the couple left the house and went to the main hall.

"Madam, I have wronged you."

On the way, Li An turned his head and looked at Minglan and said.

"Huh?" Minglan was enduring the pain and trying hard not to look strange when she walked. Hearing this, she looked at Li An with some confusion.

"I saw that there were many exquisite pieces of jewelry in your jewelry box that you didn't bring with you." Li An said.

The first day of the wedding requires dressing grandly, but Minglan only changed into a gorgeous bright red dress and chose some slightly ordinary jewelry.

Just now, when Danju and the others were dressing up Minglan, they took out a lot of exquisite jewelry, but Minglan refused them all.

In the end, I only picked a few simple ones.

After a moment's thought, Li An understood Minglan's intention.

Although his family is rich, their background is very poor. His mother and sister-in-law usually dress simply and don't wear many jewelry.

Although the first day of a new bride's life should be grand, she would be covered with precious jewels, which would inevitably make Liu and her elder sister-in-law feel uncomfortable.

"Actually, I also feel tired of carrying those things." Minglan said with a smile.

According to the rules, on the morning of the second day after the wedding, tea is served to the direct elders first, then the collateral relatives are recognized, and then the ancestral hall is opened to enter the family tree.

The Li family's hometown is in Yangzhou, and the clan ancestral hall is not here, so the steps are much simpler.

When they arrived at the main hall, all the relatives of the Li family were already there. Minglan first offered tea to Li An's grandparents and parents, and then Li An took her to recognize the elders one by one.

The elders had prepared a purse containing a gift for the occasion, and would present it to Minglan when she saw it.

Then those who were younger than Li Ang and the younger generation came to greet Minglan.

Minglan also presented the gifts she had prepared one by one.

Li An is now the most promising one in the Li family, and Minglan, who was brought up by Old Madam Sheng, is noble in her every move.

Her relatives were very polite to her and naturally did not make things difficult for her.

After the greetings, Mrs. Liu was so happy that she had food served, and the whole family divided into three tables to eat.

As for the matter of entering the family tree, we can just inform the elders of the Li family when my uncle returns to Yangzhou.

After dinner, Minglan was called by Liu and her sister-in-law to the backyard to talk.

Li An stayed in the main hall and talked with his father and the elders.

"Second brother, we plan to go back in two days." said uncle Li Dong.

"Ok?"

Li Nan was stunned when he heard this and said, "Why are you in such a hurry to go back? I was thinking of taking you to visit Bianjing City."

"Yes, uncle. It's so far away and you finally made the trip here. You have to play for a while before going back." Li An also advised.

"This is what I mean. Fu'er is here on leave and has to go back to teach. He can't delay too long." Li Mu said.

"Grandfather, let my eldest brother go back first, and you, grandmother, uncle and aunt can stay in Bian Jing to have some fun." Li An said.

"No, if we don't go back, who will take care of the children?" The eldest aunt shook her head and said, "Dad and Mom, why don't you stay here and play for a while, and we will go back first."

"Dad, then you and mom stay and play for a while, and I will send you back later." Li Nan said.

"Yes, grandpa, Rui Ge likes to hear you talk about your hometown very much. You can stay for a while and talk to him." Li Ping said and winked at his son.

Li Rui was very smart. He went forward, hugged Li Mu's legs, shook him and said, "Great-grandfather, please stay~"

Mother Li looked at her great-grandson with a kind look on her face, and she couldn't bring herself to say no.

Just as the family was gathered together chatting and laughing, a bell suddenly rang.

At first, Li An didn't care about it. There were some temples in Bianjing City, including Daxiangguo Temple, and the bells could be heard frequently.

But soon Li An's face suddenly changed. The morning bells and evening drums were rung in the temple in the early morning, so it was already morning.

Moreover, the Li family's place was quite far away, and when Li An got up early in the morning to practice martial arts, the bell sounds he heard were almost inaudible.

But now the sound of the bell is very clear, and judging from the direction the sound comes from, it seems to be coming from the imperial palace.

This made Li An think of a possibility - the emperor had passed away.

According to etiquette, when an emperor passes away, the bell should be rung 30,000 times, which is called "The Emperor's Passing Away".

Although he hadn't received any news yet, Li An listened carefully for a while and found that the bell had already rung more than ten times.

"Hurry up, tear off all the wedding characters and red ribbons." Li An said anxiously.

"Aniu, what's wrong?"

Everyone who was chatting and laughing was stunned when they heard this.

"Dad, it's hard to say now. Just do as I say. I'll go to the backyard first."

After Li An finished speaking, he hurriedly left the main hall, leaving everyone confused.

"Aniu must have his reasons for saying this. Second brother, do as Aniu says." Li Mu said in a deep voice.

"Yes!" Li Nan replied.

"Everyone go and help." Li Mu said.

……

Li An hurried to the backyard and met Minglan who came out in a hurry.

"Sir, is it..."

"Ah."

Li An nodded and said, "It's very likely. Let's go back to the room and change our clothes."

"Yes." Minglan nodded and said, "I have already notified my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to change their clothes."

When Ang Lee got married, the whole family dressed quite formally.

But men are okay, their expressions are relatively simple.

But women are different, their eyes are brighter, and when an official passes away, they naturally cannot wear clothes with such bright colors.

Upon hearing this, Li An was very happy to marry Minglan.

His parents are ordinary people, and his sister-in-law is not from a high-class family either.

The backyard needs someone with ability and skills to take care of it.

The couple hurried back to their room and changed into simple clothes. The court had sent someone to inform Li An to enter the palace.

"My wife, my parents don't know anything. You take care of the family and tell them what to do. Don't break any taboos." Li An warned.

"Well, I'm at home, so don't worry, sir." Minglan said.

Li An nodded, went back to his room to change into his official uniform, and hurried to the palace.

……

Li An came to the Hanlin Academy, and all the officials of the Hanlin Academy had already arrived.

After giving some instructions, Grand Secretary Wu led everyone to the Daqing Hall.

When Li An and his companions arrived, all the officials had not yet arrived.

Everyone dispersed and sat down at the tables on both sides of the hall, starting to grind ink.

Not only will the emperor's will be read out in public today, but the arrangements for the emperor's funeral and the time for the new emperor to ascend the throne will also be decided.

All officials from the Hanlin Academy were mobilized, and everything had to be recorded.

After everything was ready, everyone waited quietly.

About half an hour later, civil and military officials entered the hall.

"His Royal Highness is here!"

After all the civil and military officials stood still, the eunuch shouted and announced that Zhao Zongquan walked in.

Zhao Zongquan was much thinner at this time than the last time they met.

Zhao Zongquan did not wash and change into the crown robes, but still wore his previous clothes.

He came up to the imperial steps with a haggard look on his face, and stopped halfway to listen.

A eunuch came before Prime Minister Han Zhang holding the imperial edict.

Han Zhang bowed to the imperial edict, then held it up in both hands, walked to the center of the hall, turned around and faced the officials, and said, "The emperor's will!"

The officials standing in the hall knelt down one after another.

Han Zhang unfolded the imperial edict and began to read it.

The official was frugal throughout his life. On his deathbed, he left a will requesting that his funeral be kept simple and without extravagance.

Generally speaking, when an emperor passes away, the coffin will be kept for several months, sometimes even for a year. In addition to showing solemnity, it also gives officials and royal family members who are far away time to rush over.

However, the emperor said in his will that, according to the minimum standard, the entire national mourning would only last twenty-seven days, and officials and royal family members from all over the country would not have to return to Beijing.

"Your Majesty is wise!" All the officials shouted in unison, and many of them were already crying bitterly.

Some of these people may be pretending, but many of them are truly sad because of the death of the official.

During his reign, the emperor was very tolerant towards his ministers.

When the officials' cries subsided, Han Zhang turned around and saluted Zhao Zongquan, saying, "Your Highness, the country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Now that the emperor has passed away, Your Highness should choose a date to ascend the throne to reassure the people of the world."

"My father has passed away, and I am heartbroken. I just want to spend more time with him. I have no intention of ascending the throne at this moment. The Grand Prime Minister and the Ministry of Rites will jointly preside over the national mourning and summon all the ministers to draft a posthumous title for my father." Zhao Zongquan said with a sad face.

(End of this chapter)