Forbidden Autumn, Summer, Winter and Spring Rebirth

Chapter 176 172. Death

Without delaying for too long, the next day, the masters of each palace set off with light luggage, and left someone to pack their luggage and follow. Everyone noticed that this was a bit hasty, and they just thought that they were afraid that the Queen Mother would be too tired.

In the Forbidden City, the Shoukang Palace had started heating its floors early, making the room cozy and warm, so the Empress Dowager began to take better care of her.

The concubine Nian presented a ginseng that was about 600 years old and two taels of Cordyceps sinensis, which is unique to the northwest.

When the emperor heard about this, he didn't say much, but pondered for a long time. Everyone knew that the number of valuable things in the concubine's palace was comparable to the national treasury, and it was all thanks to Nian Gengyao.

The imperial physician said that what Concubine Nian presented would be of great benefit to the Empress Dowager, so the Emperor immediately ordered the Imperial Hospital to consider using it as medicine, but he was as indifferent to Concubine Nian as ever.

The Empress Dowager did not survive this winter. Before the first snow of winter had melted, palace maids reported to each palace and summoned their masters to wait in Shoukang Palace.

The Imperial Noble Consort came out of her inner chamber and saw that all the concubines in the palaces were standing solemnly, so she sent someone to arrange seats for the mistresses of each palace.

The store was completely silent, and no one dared to speak. This depressing atmosphere lasted for about three hours.

At the end of the hour of midnight, the palace maids cried bitterly from the inner room, and then the emperor came out with bloodshot eyes and a sad face. Su Peisheng also had red eyes and replied, "My lords, the queen mother has passed away."

The Empress Dowager's funeral was held with great ceremony. Although it was the coldest day of the year, no one dared to be negligent.

After the three-day grand ceremony, the emperor issued an edict, saying that the empress dowager had always been considerate of the younger generation during her lifetime and would certainly not want to see everyone suffer for her affairs after her death. The emperor was grateful for the empress dowager's kindness and simplified the subsequent ceremony a lot.

Not to mention that the Imperial Noble Consort was in poor health, but Noble Consort Jing and Noble Consort Hui were diligent every day. They cried until they fainted several times during the ceremonies. Everyone could only sigh that Noble Consort Jing and Noble Consort Hui were extremely filial to the Empress Dowager.

The princes and princesses, led by the Sixth Prince, copied Buddhist scriptures and sacrificial texts and burned them in front of the Empress Dowager's spirit.

The emperor even suspended court for three days to show his remembrance of the empress dowager.

Afterwards, he lavishly rewarded the descendants of the Empress Dowager Uya's maternal family, but most of them were sinecure positions. He also took advantage of their period of mourning to distribute all the power in the hands of the Empress Dowager's maternal family. Although their titles were elevated and their reputations increased, it was actually a promotion in name only and a demotion in reality.

Most of the officials of the previous dynasty noticed the unusual imperial intention in this, and they all knew about Uya's future in the court: a high position might be within their reach, but power would never be.

Xia Dongchun learned most of these things about the previous dynasty from Concubine Jing and Shen Meizhuang. The situation of the previous dynasty became clearer and clearer, and the harem was also in order.

The weather was getting colder and it was approaching the Laba Festival. Concubine Jing and Shen Meiyu became busy. Since the Empress Dowager had just passed away, it was not appropriate to have a big banquet. They only had to prepare some festival gifts and rewards for the ladies of the Zong family, as well as festival celebrations for the palace maids.

Jipin was also missing all day. The children were also very diligent. They went to the study room together in the morning and went to the martial arts field to practice riding and archery in the afternoon.

Xia Dongchun became idle, and sometimes even felt that she was the only idle person in the palace.

When he had nothing to do during the long days, he would often pass the time by listening to the rumors that Baiguo had found out.

After the Empress Dowager passed away, the Emperor was in mourning, but everyone in the palace knew about it. Although the Phoenix Spring Grace Carriage was never used again, every few days at dusk, a bright yellow sedan chair would be carried into the Yangxin Palace, sometimes one, sometimes two.

Naturally, Tong Shi could not remember these things. Just in case, the Imperial Hospital would prepare several extra doses of contraceptive soup every day.

In the past two years, the Emperor has become increasingly obsessed with elixirs and the art of immortality, but the doctors in the Imperial Hospital all know that the stronger his body becomes, the weaker he becomes inside.

The emperor's temperament is unstable and his moods are unpredictable. Even the director of the Imperial Hospital can only give a few reminders. There is another thing that has been widely spread in the palace recently. It is said that the emperor intends to keep the ninth prince in Jipin's palace. In addition, Jipin has been seen going to the Shangshufang to pick up the ninth prince recently, and this rumor has become more and more intense.

After Xia Dongchun asked in detail, he learned that Concubine Ji had been going in and out of the Yikun Palace frequently in recent days, sometimes staying there for half a day. When she went to the upper study to pick up the Ninth Prince, she was just sending him to the Yikun Palace.

In the past, Concubine Nian often picked up and dropped off the Ninth Prince, but other than that, she was rarely seen. However, during the Queen Mother's funeral, Concubine Nian looked much weaker than before. Thinking of this, Xia Dongchun seemed to have sensed something.

In the afternoon, Doctor Wen came to check Ping'an's pulse, and Xia Dongchun then asked about the health of the man in Yikun Palace.

Doctor Wen hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and spoke.

Concubine Nian has been exhausting herself since her pregnancy, and she has experienced great sorrow and anger, and suffered a lot during childbirth. Her health has been broken since then, and in addition, she has been depressed for several years. This year, she was diagnosed with a multi-lobed disease. When the weather gets cold, she often finds it difficult to get up, and she is afraid that she may not have much time left.

Hearing this, Xia Dongchun felt sad for a moment, and then fell into memories.

Xia Dongchun knew that she had helped Nian Shilan get pregnant with the intention of harming her. Later, when she was giving birth, she was plotted against by the Ulanara family, but by accident she got help from Nian Shilan.

She was also struggling in her heart at that time. Even though she entered the palace mostly because of the hatred in her previous life, Nian Shilan in this life actually saved the lives of her and her son.

After a lot of entanglements, when Nian Shilan became pregnant, Xia Dongchun took out his best prescription for prenatal care to help her get through the pregnancy safely.

She also reminded Nian Shilan several times that this pregnancy was forced, and if she really wanted to protect the fetus at all costs, she would only be able to do so by sacrificing her own body. Even so, the birthing process would be extremely dangerous, and if she was not careful, two lives would be lost.

Xia Dongchun still remembers Nian Shilan's expression at that time.

The eyes that used to be charming and bright were like a pool of stagnant water, her face was full of despair and dullness, as if she had made a great decision. She closed her eyes slightly, two lines of clear tears fell on her gray face, her pale lips opened and closed several times, and finally she spoke.

"Xia, if you can save my baby, all past grudges will be wiped out. From now on, you and I will have nothing to do with each other."

Xia Dongchun pondered these four words over and over in his mind.

Stop, stop, stop.

It's just fate.

Although she has distanced herself from the Yikun Palace in the past few years, she would occasionally pay attention to the news about Concubine Nian and the Ninth Prince.

But no matter what, Xia Dongchun had no more disputes with Yikun Palace as agreed at the beginning.

I have heard of the symptoms of abdominal masses in summer, winter and spring, and I also know that this disease is beyond recovery and cannot be cured by medicine.

Thinking of this, Xia Dongchun had no intention of visiting Yiku Palace. Unexpectedly, after dinner, Concubine Ji came to visit late at night.

"Sister Chang Fei, you know the relationship between me and Concubine Nian. Please do me a favor and go with me to Yiku Palace." Concubine Ji pleaded, with a rare sadness on her face.

"Is your request the intention of Concubine Nian?" Xia Dongchun asked with a frown, feeling a little reluctant.