C264

Rong'er thought to himself, "The empress dowager left just like that. This is probably the greatest tragedy the emperor has ever had. After days of accompanying the empress dowager's coffin without stopping to eat or sleep, until he fell unconscious due to exhaustion, I can clearly understand the emperor's grief. Because my heart hurts so much, not to mention the empress dowager's meticulous care and guidance since I was young …"

Xuanye guarded the spirit of the empress dowager day and night. According to the Manchu tradition, those who died in the past had moved the coffin every other year. The ministers had sent out orders for the coffin to be moved on the 29th of this month, but Xuanye had firmly refused. In the end, the empress dowager decided that the coffin would stop in the palace on the eleventh of the first month of the following year. Every day, the ministers of the second rank and above, as well as the wives of the princesses, would gather in the palace to mourn.

The palace was in chaos. The ministers and empress dowager were worried about Mystic Dragon's body, but Xuan Ye refused to leave. After three days of sacrifice, all the concubines no longer required their spirits to be guarded all day long, and all they had to do was gather three times a day to mourn.

It was already late winter, and the atmosphere of the funeral in the palace made the winter even colder. In front of the empress dowager's mourning hall, Xuan Ye sat in front of the spirit of the empress dowager, facing Zi's coffin with sadness in his eyes, and behind him, the tears of Crown Prince Yin were constantly falling. Yin He had been raised by the empress dowager herself, and his relationship with the empress dowager was especially deep.

Seeing that Zi had passed by, the consultant, Xing Xing, who stood to the side, slightly raised his voice and reported, "After the time has passed, please rest, Your Majesty. Crown Prince!"

As for Xuan Ye and Yin He, they didn't seem to hear anything as they continued to stare at the coffin.

Rong'er was unable to sleep soundly in the palace. With Xiaoqing by her side, she headed to the Tzu Ning Palace at midnight. The scene she saw when she entered the palace was one of a small, sad figure.

Seeing that Rong'er had entered, the counselor hurriedly raised his eyebrows at her, hoping that she would persuade them. Rong'er understood, and nodded lightly, walking into the palace. Xuan Ye's footsteps didn't alarm Xuan Ye, who was still staring ahead. Yin turned around, saw Rong'er, and called out, "Rong'er."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince!" Rong'er bowed to Yin He. The Yin He in front of her was just like the emperor she met when she first entered the palace. She was young and full of heroic spirit. However, her eyes were already red and swollen. Your Highness, it's getting late. It's time for you to rest. " Rong'er said softly.

Yin Ying shook his head. "Huang Ama will not rest, and neither will I."

Rong'er looked at Yin He with a pained expression and asked, "What about the other princes?"

"The emperor told them all to return, only to leave the crown prince behind. The emperor said that the empress dowager helped raise the crown prince, so the crown prince should accompany the empress dowager more." The consultant replied in a low voice.

Rong'er and the counsellor spoke in hushed tones, but Xuan Ye continued to sit there as if he didn't hear them.

"Did the emperor eat today?" Rong'er asked worriedly.

"I just drank some water, ate a mouthful and said that I couldn't eat anymore, so I stopped eating." The consultant replied with a worried expression.

Rong'er nodded and walked to Xuan Ye's side. She sat down quietly without saying a word. She knew that too many people had come to persuade the emperor to eat and rest these days. The emperor had also heard too much, so even if she tried, it would be useless.

Sure enough, seeing that Rong'er had sat beside him, without even blinking his eyes, Xuan Ye directly said: "Imperial Concubine Rong, you don't have to persuade me. You should understand that I don't want to rest, and I don't want to eat."

Rong'er lightly nodded. "Your majesty, chenqie isn't here to persuade the emperor. Chenqie only wants to accompany the emperor to guard the old ancestor." Rong'er's eyes reddened. She looked at the high coffin and felt her heart ache.

Xuan Ye nodded in satisfaction and said no more.

"Old ancestor, chenqie remembered that you once said that you were most concerned about the emperor. You said that as long as the emperor was well, you could give anything up, and you knew that the emperor respected you so much that when you left, the emperor didn't eat or drink anything, and he even fainted away. chenqie knew that when you saw the emperor's filial piety in the sky, you would be deeply moved, but you would definitely be very reluctant to part with him …"

Xuan Ye turned around to look at Rong'er, who was beside him. Rong'er didn't look at Xuan Ye, but continued in a soft voice, "Old Ancestor, chenqie remembers when we were clearing buddhism together in the past, you once said that once a person dies, they will be reincarnated. But once they pass through the Bridge of Helplessness and drink Grandma Meng's Elixir, they will have to put it aside.

"Imperial Concubine Rong, stop talking!" Xuan Ye suddenly interrupted Rong'er's words in a soft voice. "The crown prince should return to the palace to rest. The counselor's shop has prepared food for us. We should also go take a rest."

"Your servant commands!" The consultant was excited as he heard the order.

When Rong'er saw it, Rong'er understood what Xuan Ye meant. He was telling Rong'er that he would treat himself with care, so that the Empress Dowager wouldn't worry about him in the sky and they wouldn't worry about him. Xuan Ye didn't say anything, but he nodded emphatically and turned around to look at Yin, "Si'er, go back to the palace and rest."

"Huang'ma, you will not rest. I will not rest either." Yin Ying said sensibly.

Xuan Ye nodded his head in gratification. "Huang Ama will go to rest, and you will also go back to rest. Someone send His Highness back to the palace!" Xuan Ye instructed.

Rong'er walked over to Yin He, took the coat from the eunuch, and put it on Yin He. "Rong's mother knows that the crown prince misses his great-grandmother, but only if the crown prince is healthy and safe will he be able to leave!"

Yin He nodded, "Rongniao, you rest early too!" Finished speaking, he saluted and left.

Rong'er supported Xuan Ye to a warm pavilion beside the Mourning Hall. Ever since the empress dowager fell ill, Xuan Ye had always stayed within this warm pavilion so that he could serve the empress dowager at any time.

The imperial kitchens had been preparing the food all this time, so it was quickly brought in. It was light porridge. He went to Xuan Ye's side to feed him. Xuan Ye did not refuse, but asked Rong'er to feed him one mouthful at a time, even eating a bowl of porridge. The counselor had been worrying about Xuan Ye for the past few days, so he was happy and said, "Thank god the emperor has finally eaten."

Xuan Ye looked at Rong'er and softly said, "It was I who had worried everyone."

"Everyone understands that the emperor is filial, that the empress dowager passed away, and that the emperor is grieving. However, the emperor is the Son of Heaven of the Great Qing. "The emperor knows that the empress dowager has worked hard all her life to carry the mountains and rivers of the Great Qing Empire. The emperor cannot let the ancestor down!" Rong'er said gently.

"Yes, I will rest. I will eat!" Xuan Ye hummed softly. "It's already so late. You should hurry back to the palace and rest. The palace has to be managed in all aspects, and Imperial Consort Yi's body isn't feeling well even in winter. You still have to take care of her."

"Yes, Your Majesty is going to rest. Your concubine will be returning soon. Your majesty, rest assured, helping Imperial Noble Concubine Yi and Imperial Concubine Wen to look after the harem is your humble concubine's duty." Rong'er said softly and stood up to leave.

"You've worked hard." Xuan Ye nodded tiredly.

Walking out of the chamber, Rong'er passed through the mourning hall and walked in again. There were also buddhist monks and palace maids and spiritual ministers standing guard there, gazing at the empress dowager's coffin from afar, their vision blurring once again. The scene before her seemed unreal, she really hoped that this was a dream, and after waking up from the dream, the empress dowager would look at her benevolently, telling her to cherish the feelings the emperor had for her, to never be jealous, to tell her to forgive the emperor, to get along with her sisters … The candles inside the mourning hall swayed violently a few times before a cold wind blew in from the door. The cold feeling on her body was so distinct that it clearly told her that this was not a dream. The empress dowager had really left …

"Old Ancestor, Rong'er misses you …" Looking at the empress dowager's coffin, her tears flowed even faster. In the spring, the empress dowager smiled at Rong'er and said, "Rong'er, is the soup comfortable?" Rong'er melted under the empress dowager's smile, his tears already blurring. The empress dowager's smile within the mist became more and more blurry, like the thin fog in a spring of soup. Rong'er wanted to see the empress dowager's smile with all his might, but it grew further and further away. "Old ancestor, Old ancestor …" "Chenqie really misses you …" Rong'er cried in the mourning hall...

Although Xuan Ye had eaten, he continued to cry bitterly and his body became extremely weak. The ministers repeatedly exhorted him to return to the palace and to rest well, not allowing him to do so. On the second day of the first month, when the Emperor's overseer offered wine to the Emperor, the Emperor's student Liu Qizui and five hundred other officials expressed their disapproval that the Emperor's three years of mourning would not be feasible. On the fourth day of the first month of the month, the Cabinet Kings, Beler, Bey, and other ministers of the civil and military all played together.

After everyone's admonishment, and in order for the empress dowager's spirit in heaven to be at ease, Xuan Ye finally listened to the ministers' commands. He replaced the days of submission with those of months, twenty-seven days of submission, and so on, and so on. He refused to accept it, and his heart could still guard the empress dowager, as long as the empress's heart remained filial piety for the empress dowager, the result would be the same. Xuan Ye agreed, and in the end decided to follow the old twenty-seventh day, but he still had to show his filial piety.

He moved the coffin to the funeral director of the empress dowager who was near Xiao Ling. Xuan Ye did not bring the empress dowager back to Sheng Jing to be buried with Tai Zong, which was the last wish of the empress dowager. When the empress dowager was still alive, she had asked Tai Zong to pass away, and it was not good to open the mausoleum to Tai Zong. Since she had already entered the Central Plains, she wanted to stay closer to her son.

Xuan Ye complied with his last wishes. In April of 27 years, Kang Xi placed the empress dowager temporarily in the "temporary palace" next to the Shunzhi of the Changri Mountains.