Chapter 337 - Song Yuan's "Death"

When Jian Xubai returned to Crown Prince, he deliberately asked him to dismiss his subordinates. When there were only them two, he spoke alone about Beautiful Lady Nuan.

Of course, he would not say that Beautiful Lady Nuan had offered herself to him in order to avoid going to the temporary palace, but said, “Beautiful Lady Nuan stopped me on the way just now, saying that she wanted me to ask Grandmother and Aunt to allow her staying for the sake of our acquaintance during our time in Wuhuan. You know that although there is nothing between her and me, otherwise Uncle would not have accepted her into the palace. After all, there should be gender sensitization. So how can I say anything like that? It is not for me to say anything about such matters.”

Crown Prince had been so busy these past two days with grievance for the loss of his father that his energy was inevitably low. Hearing this, he was absent-minded and said, “This is not a big deal. It is inconvenient for you. Then I shall ask Xisu to speak to Grandmother or Mother later. They only need to prepare a side hall for her. At least Father was served by her for the past two years…”

“Your Highness?” Jian Xubai was dumbfounded and couldn’t help but interrupt him to remind him, “Your Highness, although Beautiful Lady Nuan is a concubine of Uncle, she is a few years younger than Your Highness, and even than me!”

His voice trailed off, “And her beauty is known to the outer court!”

So how could she be kept against the rules?

Even if it was Crown Princess who stepped in, there would be suspicions within and outside the palace that it was Crown Prince himself who had taken a liking to this young concubine mother. Crown Princess did not dare to go against her husband’s wishes, so she had to step in!

The reason why Jian Xubai reported to Crown Prince that he had met Beautiful Lady Nuan was because he was worried that the scene of his stopping to talk to Beautiful Lady Nuan would be seen by others in the dark and rumors would be spread. The second reason was to prevent Beautiful Lady Nuan from really getting determined to make a deadly duel. Although with her current status, it was impossible to drag the family of Duke of Yan down, there were still some secrets, which would cause trouble if she spread them.

The reason why he came to tell Crown Prince first was that if Beautiful Lady Nuan really did something, Crown Prince would think that she was trying to slander him because she had failed to get help from Jian Xubai.

But Crown Prince had said something like that, which really took Jian Xubai by surprise!

“You are right.” Hearing this Crown Prince was shocked, and sighed, “I’m really confused. I’ll ask someone to tell Mother later, and ask someone to keep Beautiful Lady Nuan under guard, so that she won’t lose the dignity of the royal family by causing trouble since she comes from a small country and doesn’t know about manners!”

He rubbed the corner of his forehead with some fatigue and said in a low voice, “I have not been in the best of spirits these two days, so I am not able to react well when I think about things. Fortunately only we two are here, otherwise…”

He said this with a bitter smile and shook his head with a gloomy expression.

“These days are hard for Your Highness.” Jian Xubai knew that Crown Prince had a hard time holding on. After all, Crown Prince had always been under the patronage of Emperor Xianjia. Even last year, when the dispute for the crown was at its height and the Eastern Palace was in the most difficult situation, there was still Emperor Xianjia to count on. But at this moment, Emperor Xianjia was not just seriously ill but dead. He could no longer shelter Crown Prince from the storm. No doubt how terrified Crown Prince could be!

Not to mention the depth of the father-son bond between Emperor Xianjia and Crown Prince.

If Crown Prince was able to do as he thought, he would have wanted to leave everything aside and concentrate on kneeling beside the coffin to grieve and remember his father.

But as Crown Prince, it was time for him to take up the mantle.

So Jian Xubai just assumed that Crown Prince had been in a trance and had said the wrong thing because he was in a daze.

Having finished his explanation, he excused himself.

When he returned to his residence, he told Song Yixiao what he had said in front of Crown Prince, “Isn’t this a difficult request for me? I made such a requirement for her, when Uncle has just died. How can outsiders not maliciously speculate about my relationship with her? What harm will this do to Uncle’s honor and reputation? She is really silly.”

“After all, she is young and it is inevitable that she will panic when she encounters something like this.” Song Yixiao knew that her husband did not have any thoughts about Beautiful Lady Nuan, so she could sympathize with Beautiful Lady Nuan generously and coaxed her daughter as she said, “But this is a big matter. With the royal rules there, there is nothing we can do.”

Jian Xubai picked up the rattle and played with his daughter, laughing in his heart, “If you knew what she was really up to, you wouldn’t feel sorry for her.”

But he couldn’t really say such things, and his wife didn’t ask, so he passed on.

Three days later, white streamers were seen and howls of tears were heard on Cuihua Mountain as a vast caravan of carriages escorted Emperor Xianjia’s coffin back to the imperial capital.

As Gu Shao had made preparations in advance, and Crown Prince was the future emperor whom Emperor Xianjia had explicitly supported during his lifetime, the process of bringing the coffin back to the imperial capital went very smoothly.

After setting up the funeral hall at the palace, Crown Prince was formally enthroned as Emperor in the presence of the civil and military officials, and the reign title was Duanhua.

To show respect for the Emperor, the first year of Duanhua was designated after the beginning of next year, and it was still the 22nd year of Xianjia era this year.

The first thing Emperor Duanhua did after taking his throne was to honor the seniors. Empress Dowager became Emperor’s Grandmother, and Empress Su became Empress Dowager and the two Grand Princesses became the Great Grand Princesses.

Of course, Emperor Xianjia’s funeral had not yet taken place, so at this moment it was only a holy decree to change the title first, the official promotion ceremony could only be held later.

The reason why Crown Princess was not crowned Empress was not because Emperor Duanhua had forgotten his wife, but because Crown Princess was about to go into labor. This time she rushed back to the imperial capital from Cuihua Mountain, and the fetus was influenced on the way. When she returned to the imperial capital, Imperial Academy of Medicine used all means to keep the fetus. It would only be troublesome to make her receive the decree. Emperor Duanhua had come to an agreement with his wife in private that he would take care of the seniors first, and that after she went into labor, she would be crowned Empress.

After all these, the state mourning officially began.

All the officials paid their respects, and the noblewomen wept.

According to the rules, the funeral of the dead Emperor had to last for 27 days. During this period, all the local officials who could make it would come to the imperial capital to offer their condolences, and the tie-up countries would also send ambassadors.

Song Yixiao had only just returned to the imperial capital when she received the news, “Great Aunt and Uncle’s family have already left for the north, because of the haste, the residence of the Ji Family in the imperial capital is not ready, so they will stay at our home temporarily. Would you prepare some rooms which you think are suitable?”

“I wonder if Aunt’s family have any preferences or taboos. I can ask subordinates to pay attention when I prepare.” Song Yixiao knew that Great Aunt Jian Lizhi was the eldest legitimate daughter of the original match. She shared the same mother as Song Yixiao’s father-in-law, Jian Likuang and uncle Jian Limiao. She was the only daughter of Jian Pingyu. So she must have had a high status in her maternal family. At this time, her whole family would stay at the mansion of Duke of Yan as guests. Song Yixiao naturally didn’t dare neglect them.

However, after thinking about it for a while, Jian Xubai said, “When I was born, Great Aunt was no longer in the imperial capital, so I don’t know much about her either. So, why don’t you send someone to ask Third Uncle?”

Song Yixiao did as she was told and sent someone to ask for advice from Jian Limiao. He said that his eldest sister was bright and easy-going and was not fussy. So she didn’t have to worry too much about it.

The person she sent also said, “Third Master said that if it weren’t for the fact that Madam had several children and grandchildren, and Third Master’s mansion would not be able to accommodate them, there would be no need to bother Duke and Madam this time!”

“Third Uncle doesn’t have to mind it.” Song Yixiao said, “It is a blessing for us to be able to make a small contribution to our elders.”

As for the reason why Jian Lizhi and her husband came in such a hurry but didn’t stay at the residence of Grand Princess Jinguo was that Grand Princess was of high status and her residence could not be borrowed casually.

Even if Grand Princess Jinguo was good-tempered and willing to let her sister-in-law stay there, Jian Lizhi and her family would definitely be uncomfortable. Not to mention the fact that Grand Princess’ preferences were no secret, and the rumor that her relationship with Prince Consort had broken up was spread in the imperial capital, so Jian Lizhi must have heard of it.

If Jian Lizhi’s family went to stay at Grand Princess’s mansion, wouldn’t it be embarrassing if they ran into Grand Princess Jinguo’s boy toy or Grand Princess and her husband quarrelling?

The reason for them not to stay at Princess Changxing’s mansion was the same.

The best choice would be the mansion of Duke of Yan, which was a large place, with a harmonious couple and a small population. And Jian Lizhi had been living here before she got married, so she was familiar with the environment. The yards Song Yixiao prepared for them this time were exactly those with Embroidery Compound as the center where Jian Lizhi had lived before she got married.

After the places were tidied up, Song Yixiao ordered people to clean them every day, and the flowers and plants in the courtyard were also well pruned, so that Aunt’s family could feel the hospitality of the mansion of Duke of Yan.

However, before Jian Lizhi and her family arrived in the capital, the Song Family reported the sad news, “Master is dead!”

Song Yixiao was shocked at the news, “How could he have died?”

Although she had heard the news of Song Yuan’s accident just before Emperor Xianjia’s death, didn’t they say at that time that he had only broken his leg and was recuperating at the foot of the mountain?

“Originally, it was only a broken leg, but due to the matter of Emperor having died, he dragged his injured body back to the imperial capital and got bumped on the road.” The man who came to report the news thought cautiously about his words, “The wound worsened and the medicine was ineffective. This morning…”

“This is really…” Song Yixiao pursed her lips. She should have started crying. But honestly, she was still mostly surprised at her father’s passing at this moment. At this point in her previous life, she had already died.

In other words, a few days after she died in her previous life, Song Yuan also died?

Was this retribution, or was there an inside secret?

After all kinds of thoughts went around in her head, Song Yixiao settled down, took a handkerchief and pressed the corners of her eyes, made a sad voice and said, “How are Grandmother and Mother now?”

As she asked, she stood up, “I really can’t rest assured, so I’d better go and see for myself!”

At this time, Jian Xubai was still at Emperor’s Grandmother’s side, so Song Yixiao did not wait for him to return, leaving her daughter in the care of Aunt Yun and taking the carriage to the Song Family’s mansion first.

The Song Family’s mansion, which was usually not very lively, was especially cold on this day, perhaps because it was still in state mourning.

Song Yixiao took her subordinates all the way in, but she did not even see many servants.

When they arrived at the funeral hall, it was even emptier and colder. She could not even hear the sound of crying.

She felt a little strange and took the opportunity to look through the gap in the mourning curtain while she was greeting. She saw Madam Lu with Song Yibao behind the curtain kneeling alone. Maybe because Song Yijiao and Song Yiyao were too young, they weren’t brought along.

Madam Lu’s face was blank, lifeless as if she had lost her soul. Song Yibao, who didn’t understand what was going on, was looking around in boredom, and when she noticed her elder sister, she looked up and smiled sweetly.

It was no wonder that there was no sound of crying in the hearse.

“The deceased has passed away. Please don’t be too sad!” Song Yixiao finished paying her respects, looked outside and saw that no one was coming, so she simply lifted the curtain and went in, half kneeling beside Madam Lu, and said softly in a comforting voice.

“…” Madam Lu turned around mechanically like a puppet and looked straight at her. As far as she could remember, this stepmother had looked at her with ingratiation, defensiveness, enthusiasm, expectation, hesitation, but the sight was never like this. It was so complex that one could not guess what she was thinking!

“Lady, there had been a few days after my husband’s return from Cuihua Mountain.” Madam Lu looked at her for a long time, until Song Yixiao had already frowned, then she said in a low voice, “But I didn’t tell you, so you didn’t get to see your father for the last time. Do you resent me?”