PFC Chapter 138 The Queen Mother Passes Away
Chapter 138 The Queen Mother Passes Away
Zhao Huaijin stood with his hands behind his back and gave some instructions to Shangguan Li and others, asking them to go back and not stay in the capital any longer.
"Brothers all miss the prince. When can the prince come to see us?"
"Haha, why are you in such a hurry? As I expected, my father will send me to the Northern Frontier soon."
Shangguan Li was a rough man who did not understand the intricacies of the court. He only knew that his master was King Huai, as Grand Tutor Pang had told him in person.
Anyway, Shangguan Li was very happy to hear that his master would be able to go see his brothers soon. He was so happy that he took his men back to the northern border to wait for news.
How could the emperor allow Zhao Huaijin to continue like this? The majority of ministers in the court were neutral, and they were loyal to whoever was the emperor.
Now that Prince Yu's reputation has deteriorated, Prince Huai has become the one in the limelight, and many ministers have rushed to curry favor with Prince Huai's palace.
Therefore, the emperor would definitely find a way to suppress Zhao Huaijin, and sending him away was the best way.
But before the emperor could implement his idea, he suddenly had health problems, which put the imperial edict he had prepared on hold.
The emperor first felt dizzy and had a headache, then he began to have auditory and visual hallucinations, and someone was often talking to him in his mind.
The emperor secretly summoned the imperial physician to treat him, but the physician was helpless and had to prescribe tranquilizers for him.
"What the hell is going on? I've been taking this medicine for so long, but why is it not working at all?"
"Your Majesty, we all agree that Your Majesty is overworked, so..."
"Useless! What use do I have for you?"
The emperor covered his head and threw the teacup in his hand to the ground. The imperial doctors were so frightened that they knelt on the ground and trembled. They had never heard of such a disease.
Just as the emperor was about to continue scolding, someone from the empress dowager's palace came to report that the empress dowager had passed away.
"what!"
The emperor stood up in shock and wanted to run outside, but suddenly his body tilted and fell to the ground and fainted.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
Everyone was in a panic. The empress dowager died over there, and the emperor fainted over here. The entire harem was in chaos.
Li Fuquan asked his servants to notify the masters of each palace and invite the queen and the imperial concubine to take charge of the situation.
Concubine Shun thought about it and asked Meixiang to go to the princess's mansion and invite the eldest princess over.
The eldest princess was holding Jingle and teasing her when she heard the news. Suddenly, she heard that the empress dowager had passed away and the emperor had fainted. She quickly stood up and handed the child to Jinxin.
Then he gave a few instructions and followed the eunuch who came to report out quickly, asking what happened as he walked.
She was not surprised by the Queen Mother's death. Song Qingwan had cured her leg last time. Although the Queen Mother's health had recovered well, she was too old.
His heart has been in bad condition since the beginning of this year. Song Qingwan and the imperial physician both concluded that he was at the end of his rope and even the gods could not do anything.
Princess Jiayi just came back from the harem yesterday. She has been serving in the Empress Dowager's palace for some time and has somewhat neglected Jingle.
When Jingle left her, she started crying and looking for her mother. Princess Jiayi had no choice but to go back home to see her child. After only one night there, the Queen Mother passed away.
Although she still couldn't bear to leave her daughter behind, Princess Jiayi had no choice but to reluctantly abandon the child and go into the palace to take charge of everything.
If she wasn't present, there was no guarantee that someone with ulterior motives would take advantage of the situation, which would be very troublesome.
The eldest princess rushed to the Empress Dowager's Cining Palace as quickly as possible and found that everyone who should have arrived was there.
The queen stood in the main seat, looking like the master of the harem. Concubine Shun stood aside in a low-key manner, while other concubines of lower ranks knelt below and sobbed with their heads down.
"Sister Jiayi is here. The Queen Mother has passed away. I hope the princess will show her condolences."
The eldest princess ignored the queen. She pushed the queen's body aside and rushed to the queen mother's body, holding her hand and saying her final goodbye.
When the eldest princess came out, everyone started to discuss the empress dowager's coffin and funeral. The eldest princess looked around but didn't see the emperor.
"Where is my brother? Why isn't he here?"
"Sister, you don't know. When the emperor heard that the queen mother had passed away, he fainted."
The eldest princess felt strange. Zhao Yuanrui was the emperor and had seen all kinds of storms. His own mother had died of illness, so how could he not bear it?
However, the Queen Mother's funeral was more important at the moment. Princess Jiayi had no time to grieve and began to instruct her servants who to notify.
There are also various things to prepare, the quantities, and the specifications and rituals for the burial.
The servants all listened attentively. After all, the emperor was not there. For matters like this, as long as the eldest princess was there, her words were equivalent to an imperial decree.
The queen standing aside was very dissatisfied. She was the queen and she should be the one in the limelight. Why did things change when Princess Jiayi arrived?
"Don't work too hard, sister. After all, you have an adopted daughter who is still young. You must take good care of yourself."
"Thank you for your concern, sister-in-law. I am fine. If you feel you have nothing to do, you can take the maids to make paper flowers."
The princess knew the queen's thoughts best. She even cursed her to death in a sarcastic tone in such an occasion and wanted to use such an incident to increase her own presence.
The eldest princess was a woman of steel, so she could naturally see through the queen's intentions, so she retorted without any hesitation.
The queen was so angry that her face turned green. She was the mother of the country and the queen, how could she do such an unlucky job as making paper flowers?
Seeing that the queen wanted to continue speaking, the eldest princess raised her hand irritably and interrupted her.
"It is really inappropriate to quarrel with my sister-in-law today. My sister-in-law is also my mother's daughter-in-law. She should shut up and observe the mourning period."
The queen snorted unwillingly and returned to her position. She really couldn't make a fuss today.
After the eldest princess had arranged everything, other princes and nobles came with their wives to mourn, including Zhao Huaijin and Song Qingwan.
What was surprising was that His Royal Highness Prince Yu not only brought his wife, the Princess Yu, but also his newly married concubine Zhong Xueying.
Logically speaking, Princess Yu is still alive, so the concubine has no right to come, but when Zhong Xueying takes action, all the rules have to be changed.
All this stems from Prince Yu's favor for her. Since Zhong Xueying entered the mansion, Prince Yu finally regained his former confidence.
Zhong Xueying is very good at pleasing Prince Yu. She knows what the prince likes to hear and also knows that the prince likes women to obey him.
So Zhong Xueying tried all kinds of ways to please Prince Yu like a dog, and she also slandered her sister Zhong Xuejiao from time to time, saying that she was not a qualified wife.
In addition, Zhong Xueying was beautiful, young, and good at writing poetry and painting, so she became the most favored one in the mansion in a short time.
This time, when she learned that the Queen Mother had passed away, she cried and insisted on going to the palace with the Queen Mother, saying that she wanted to fulfill her filial piety on behalf of Prince Yu. Prince Yu had no choice but to agree.
Zhong Xuejiao didn't care about all this. Her sister had always liked to snatch her things since she was a child. If she liked the position of princess, then she could just give it to her.