After receiving her promise, the empress nodded and smiled, "I know you are a good child, thank you for taking care of my little longevity. In the future when things change in the palace, you don't have to worry about it anymore.
The Empress seemed to be extremely tired. Xu Mingwei knew that she still had things to say to Eldest Princess, so she and the Senior Servant Liu retreated first.
Xu Mingwei was still pondering over the Queen's last words to the Eldest Princess. Could it be that she already knew of something?
The First Prince born in the Xiao Fei was eleven years old, while the Second Prince born in the Queen was only nine years old. If the Tianqi did not follow the direct line of descent for the position of Crown Prince, then the actions of the Emperor Tiansun in the past few years would truly be difficult to understand. From what Xu Tiangang and the Lady Helan had occasionally said at home, the Emperor Tiansun didn't seem to be too satisfied with the Second Prince's personality. Last fall, when the princes were on their way to the hunt, they encountered a large worm with white hair and a slanted eye. Among the princes, only the First Prince remained calm in the face of danger. After that, the Emperor Tiansun praised him while laughing in front of the Minister, "What kind of person is this?
After all, despite the difference in age, the Second Prince's studies were not as advanced as the First Prince's. Adding on the empress's small family, Xiao Fei's family was actually the court officials, it was obvious who was the superior one and who was the inferior one with a single glance.
As the princes grew in age, they were naturally divided into the main faction of power and the royal faction of power. Although the Xu family's position was never made clear, but looking at the looks of everyone in the family, with Old Master Xu's shamelessness, they probably did not touch anyone, and only served as royalty and Emperor Tiansun.
As for the Yang family, because their daughter had become an concubine in the palace, and because they had given birth to the third prince, they were supposed to be on good terms with the second prince, but they also had a good relationship with him.
Old Master Xu's attitude towards the juniors, towards making friends was also clearly seen when the Yang Family sent a birthday invitation. If you like to make friends, then make friends. Xu Mingwei could not help but guess, maybe the old man had already predicted that something like this would happen in the future. No matter which one sat on the dragon throne in the end, it would still be the Xu family's younger generation that chose this path.
Perhaps this was the way big families lived. After experiencing the changes of the world, they would have to finish storing eggs under the cover of nesting?
For the first time, Xu Mingwei experienced deeply that she was in this unstoppable tide of history. Even though on the surface it was a dead still river, on the bottom it was a churning gigantic wave. In the face of such absolute strength, an individual's will was so small that it weighed nothing.
It was probably because of this that the empress knew that once she died, the Second Prince's situation in the palace would only get worse. That's why she spoke to the Eldest Princess in such a dejected manner, telling her not to care about anything and not to fight over anything.
Her mind was in a mess, Eldest Princess had already left the Yongle Palace, her expression was still the same as before, but her eyes were slightly red and swollen, most likely because she had been crying.
Xu Mingwei was also unwilling to casually console her. Anyone who saw the Empress's current appearance would know very well that her days were numbered. If Eldest Princess was comforted and told that the Empress would definitely get better, it would only be a facade that no one would believe. So she just asked, "Your mother is not well, so why don't you take a leave from your husband and stay with her? Sister Ning Hui's noodle could no longer be eaten, right? Why don't we change the day to have some fun in the palace? "
Eldest Princess said, "There's no need to look for another day, I've already asked my mother for her opinion. That day, I was able to go, but I didn't have to save money. The Queen's body was just like that, and it didn't get any better just because I was with her. "The Queen also doesn't want me to be taken ill by her side. She's afraid that I'll be so angry that she'll jump out of bed if I ask for a leave of absence." ""
The Eldest Princess seemed to have that scene flash across her mind, as the corner of her mouth curled up unconsciously, before collapsing. She suddenly threw herself into Xu Mingwei's embrace, wailing loudly and sobbing, "Mingwei, is my mother really going to die? In the future, the only people left in this palace are me and my second brother … "I'm so scared …"
Xu Mingwei lightly patted her back, afraid that she wouldn't be able to catch her breath in a short period of time, so she ended up crying. Her heart was desolate as she spoke many comforting words, but she couldn't say a word. In the end, she could only sigh and say softly, "It will pass. Good and bad. It will always pass …"
Eldest Princess cried until her tears and mucus covered every inch of her body, while hiccuping, she was busy and heartbroken. Faintly hearing Xu Mingwei's quiet sigh, she thought to herself, how can I live like this?
The reason why the Eldest Princess's personal servant wanted to help the young mistress take care of her was because she was afraid that the young mistress would hurt her feelings too much and harm her body. However, she was stopped by the Senior Servant Liu, and said while sighing, "Let's just let them be, after today's crying, we'll be able to feel better in the future."
As a result, everyone gathered their wits and waited for the crying to stop before they dared to change clothes and wash up. Being tightly held onto by the Eldest Princess like a lifesaver, and being unable to return to the Western Palace, Xu Mingwei had no choice but to follow the Eldest Princess around for the time being.
Eldest Princess cried once during the day, but she calmed down a lot at night. She lay on the bed, but couldn't fall asleep, and started to chat with Xu Mingwei. First, she talked about Xu Mingwei's marriage, only then did she know that there were actually so many other involved stories behind her, causing her to become excited, so she pestered her to talk about Fu Heng.
Xu Mingwei laughed, "I've only seen it a few times since I was young, I don't even know if it's a round or a flat one, where did all these words come from to be said?"
Eldest Princess thought about it and decided to not mention it anymore. She continued, "My daughter's family has grown so many people in the blink of an eye, I'm afraid you guys do not have much time left to accompany me. Big sister, are you going out the year after tomorrow?"
Xu Mingwei knew that she was talking about Xu Minglan, so she nodded and replied, "Listening to what my Fourth Aunt said, it should mean that. More or less, we are sisters who have accompanied you for many years. In the blink of an eye, you are about to leave.
The Eldest Princess sighed, and said, "Around this time, it will be a few years, and it will be good for you, in the future, I'm afraid that it will be difficult to even meet you."
Xu Mingwei laughed, "How can that be, only my Fifth Sister is going to marry so far, the other families will all be left in the capital, right?"
Eldest Princess laughed, "You said that we are as free as we are today, that we can meet whenever we want to?! "In the future, when you become his wife, you will belong to someone else. If you don't leave through the gate, it will be difficult for you to leave the courtyard."
Xu Mingwei laughed and pushed her, "You sound just like you've been married before, if you can't be, you'll still be here. When the next princess orders us, won't we all be coming?"
Xu Mingwei pinched her throat and imitated the eunuch's soft voice, almost making Eldest Princess unable to breathe. The two rolled on the bed until they were tired, then finally fell asleep.
The Eldest Princess came as expected that day. Other than Xu Mingwei, the others present at the table knew that the Queen had not had a good Phoenix Body, but they did not know that she was already so sick that she looked like she was about to run out of oil. As a result, they did not notice the worry on her face and just continued to laugh and drink until it was almost night before they separated from each other.
When Xu Mingwei and Xu Minglan had just returned home, the palace bell had just rang, which seemed especially long in the dusk. Xu Mingwei was startled, but Xu Minglan turned her head to look in the direction of the palace gate with curiosity, and asked, "I wonder which one of the members of the palace she is."
Xu Mingwei replied slowly, "Yes, I wonder who it will be …"
In his heart, he was praying that the empress would not die at this time. If he was unable to see the last time, Eldest Princess was afraid that he would regret it for the rest of his life.
The next day, the entire capital hung up a white banner. As expected, the Queen Yan did not have a single moment during her declaration yesterday. She had just given the order this morning, and a white banner was hung all over the country to show her filial piety.
The three officials of the Xu family changed into their specially made mourning clothes early in the morning and left for the imperial court. They didn't return until late at night. When Xu Tiangang returned, Xu Mingwei was playing in the courtyard of Lady Helan. The two of them did not intentionally avoid her when they spoke, one of them asked why it was so late, and the other replied that the emperor had already killed his wife. Naturally, they did not allow their subject to return home early to hug their wife.
Xu Tiangang sighed. "I don't see how much of a treasure the emperor usually has. It's said that that person hasn't been pampered for two or three years … Now that he was gone, he immediately became more reserved. The coffin had been made of Golden Silk Sage Wood which he had prepared long ago. He just didn't expect it to be so expensive. It was almost comparable to the time of the founding of the country. If the emperor hadn't requested for the Ministry of Rites to return, he would have needed to use the word 'Yuan' to chase after the empress who had passed away. Although her heart is sincere, her intentions are clear and true, the imperial family's laws cannot be defied. In the end, the emperor and the elders from the Ministry of Rites quarreled for a while in the imperial court, before finally coming to a compromise, abandoning the word 'Yuan' to chase after the word 'chastity'. "
Xu Mingwei perked up her ears and eavesdropped from the side. Lady Helan glanced at her, smiled indulgently, then answered, "When one is done with his stuff, he will be covered with a pile of dirt after all. It's fine if he is not corrupted by the birds or beasts."