Chapter 300: Chapter 301 - The Funeral in the Xifu Palace

Jian Xubai was thinking about how to soothe his wife. Suddenly, the sound of quick footsteps of a maid came from outside. Then Jinxun knocked on the door and said, “Your Highness, we got the news from the palace that Consort Cui has passed away!”

“How did she die?” Jian Xubai and Song Yixiao looked at each other when they heard this. They both knew very well how Consort Cui died, but they needed to pretend that they didn’t know. Song Yixiao said in a surprised tone, “Come in and tell me the details!”

Jinxun pushed the door open and entered. Seeing that they were neatly dressed from the corner of her eye, she still lowered her head and said respectfully, “The messenger told me that she died of illness.”

“I heard that Consort Cui was ill earlier, and Uncle fell ill the next day. He didn’t wake up until last night. We were concerned about his illness and didn’t get any news from the Xifu Palace. So, we thought Consort Cui just had a minor illness!” Jian Xubai sighed and said, “Consort Cui probably didn’t want us to worry about her, so he kept her illness a secret. However…”

He stopped here. Song Yixiao said with a smile, “Things are unpredictable. What on earth happened to Consort Cui? Is there any news about that from the palace?”

“The Empress Dowager said that His Majesty and His Highness Crown Prince also fell ill earlier and haven’t fully recovered.” Jinxun said, “If they hear that Consort Cui has passed away, they will certainly be very sad. Consort Cui wouldn’t want that to happen, so the Ministry of Rituals was asked to handle her funeral quickly and Your Majesty and His Highness Crown Prince can restrain their grief.”

She added, “The Empress Dowager has given an imperial edict and bestowed on Consort Cui the title of Noble Consort.”

Song Yixiao nodded. Consort Cui intended to kill the emperor and made an attempt. Even for this, her family property should be confiscated and her family should be exterminated. For the sake of the crown prince, her funeral was handled like those of ordinary consorts who died of illness. In fact, the emperor and the Empress Dowager both hated Consort Cui very much!

In this case, the royal family would not care too much about her funeral. They asked the Ministry of Rituals to handle Consort Cui’s funeral quickly for fear that the emperor and the crown prince would be sad just because they didn’t want to be bothered by Consort Cui’s thing anymore.

“Find some simple and plain clothes for me,” Song Yixiao looked at the sky and said, “The crown princess has probably set out. I’ll go directly to the Xifu Palace!”

This dynasty followed the system of the reign of Yong Dynasty. Only the Empress Dowager and the empress could enjoy the treatment that titled ladies above the fifth-rank within and without of the palace wailed and mourned for them when they died like the treatment they enjoyed in the grand ceremony. When an ordinary consort died, only her family and friends would attend her funeral.

Jian Xubai and Song Yixiao were not directly related to Consort Cui, but Song Yixiao should go to the Xifu Palace to offer condolences for the sake of the crown prince.

A moment later, they got dressed and arrived at the gate of the Xifu Palace by carriage. Jian Xubai sent his wife to the palace gate separating the inner court and the imperial harem. Song Yixiao went to the Xifu Palace under the guidance of the maid.

Song Yixiao calculated the time. She set out without delay after receiving the news, but when she arrived at the Xifu Palace, many titled ladies had arrived there.

She went to the mourning hall of the main hall together with several people who arrived in tandem to offer their condolences. After she returned to the side hall to have tea, she saw that Xie Yiren was already there and waving to her. She hurriedly walked over and sat down, saying in a surprised tone, “You came so early! I thought I arrived here ahead of you!”

“You are pregnant, so you walked slowly?” Xie Yiren joked. Probably remembering that they were mourning at the moment, she quickly restrained her smile and whispered, “Since His Majesty woke up last night, everyone was worried even if those are always on the neutral side. They were worried that they couldn’t get the news in the palace. However, hearing that Consort Cui passed away, those who are related to her all came.”

At this point, her voice became lower, “Xubai is in the palace these days. I heard that he went back home this morning. Did he bring any news to you?”

“Marquis Yuan and Cousin Xishi came to our home immediately after he came back.” Song Yixiao explained in a complained tone, “He went to the front yard before he had time to change his clothes. Immediately after Cousin Xishi and Marquis Yuan left, he went to take a bath, changed clothes, and had lunch. After that, he received the news that Consort Cui passed away. Even if he knew something, he didn’t have any time to tell me. I was also confused. Why did Consort Cui suddenly pass away?”

Xie Yiren hurriedly said sorry on behalf of her husband, half covered her mouth with her handkerchief and whispered, “I came ahead of you and heard some comments about this thing. Consort Cui was already dying two days ago. She was thinking about the crown prince, so she held on. After His Majesty woke up last night, Consort Cui was relieved. Thinking that the crown prince had always been loved by His Majesty, she had her worry dispelled, so she didn’t make it through last night!”

She obviously believed this statement, “Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence that she died just after His Majesty woke up?”

Song Yixiao was secretly amused but agreed with Xie Yiren’s remark, “You are right. Parents tend to worry about their children!”

“However, His Majesty didn’t mention anything about the heir to the throne after he woke up.” Xie Yiren said anxiously, “Now it’s said that His Majesty woke up because the empress took care of him day and night without resting and God blessed him. During this time, the crown prince was also recuperating in the Eastern Palace. He only visited His Majesty last morning. I don’t know if His Majesty will be disappointed with the crown prince after he knows it.”

It was normal that she would have such a misgiving. After all, people were always more vulnerable when they were ill, and the emperor was no exception. After waking up from a coma for several days and seeing his wedded wife taking care of him busily, how could he not be deeply moved?

Moreover, Emperor Xianjia and Empress Su were not on bad terms.

Emperor Xianjia might be moved and think Prince of Zhao was brave and handsome for the sake of the empress. Moreover, Prince of Zhao was the empress’s son. His Majesty might think he was more suitable to be the heir to the throne than the current crown prince.

“I don’t think so!” Although Song Yixiao knew the inside story, she didn’t dare to tell Xie Yiren about it rashly. She only said ambiguously, “Although the crown prince didn’t go to the Palace of Xuanming to take care of His Majesty, he didn’t do that on purpose. At that time, he was harmed by someone and was too ill to get out of bed! His Majesty has always been considerate of the crown prince. He will only care more about the crown prince after he knows what happened, right?”

Xie Yiren was about to speak. Suddenly, there was a commotion in the crowd nearby. They hurriedly looked at it and asked their maids, “What’s going on?”

Their maids squeezed in the crowd, made some inquires for a moment, came back, and reported, “Princess Consort of Liang fainted when she kept vigil beside the coffin. The people of the Sikong Family received the news and rushed over before they could say goodbye to the several ladies they were talking to. Those ladies were confused, subconsciously wanted to catch up, and figured out what was going on. So, they caused such small congestion.”

“Princess Consort of Liang?” Xie Yiren’s impression of Sikong Yihan was not very good. She subconsciously frowned when she mentioned her, “It is said that she has always been in good health even when she is pregnant. She only kneeled for a while but actually fainted. Alas! It’s probably because she’s too sad!”

Song Yixiao smiled and said nothing, disagreeing with her idea inwardly. If the Sikong Family hadn’t helped Princess Consort of Liang, She probably hadn’t got any chance to be pregnant until now. It was hard to say whether she really fainted or she just faked it.

After all, Consort Cui was Princess Consort of Liang’s mother-in-law. She died. How could Princess Consort of Liang not come to keep vigil beside the coffin since she was not about to give birth? However, her fetus was harmed before. If she kneeled for too long, her fetus might be affected. For Princess Consort of Liang and the Sikong Family, the dead Consort Cui was certainly not as important as their heir. Princess Consort of Liang simply kneeled for a while and pretended to faint, and then went to rest, so no one would accuse her of being unfilial.

However, the fact that Princess Consort of Liang was harmed by her personal maid during her pregnancy did not get out much. So Xie Yiren thought that she fainted because she was overwhelmed with sadness after thinking of her mother-in-law’s care for her before her death… Moreover, Xie Yiren was from an upright and decent family. With that in mind, she had a better impression on Princess Consort of Liang. Princess Consort of Liang was by no means a good person, but she was grateful. She always got the Sikong Family into trouble just because the Sikong Family wronged her before?

However, in Xie Yiren’s view, even if the elders in the family were wrong, it was not the reason for the younger generation to be unfilial. Therefore, although she had a better impression on Princess Consort of Liang, she still had no intention of befriending her. She only said to her maid, “Send some gifts to Princess Consort of Liang’s mansion after we go back.”

Those who came to offer condolences for Consort Cui’s death were more or less related to Consort Cui and her son. After hearing that Princess Consort of Liang fainted, they needed to send some things to them to show their care anyway.

Apart from such a small accident, nothing else happened in the Xifu Palace that day. After staying for a while and seeing that they couldn’t get other news here, they all dispersed.

The next day, Consort Cui’s coffin was sent out of the palace. According to her rank, her funeral shouldn’t be handled so hastily. However, although Emperor Xianjia had woken up, it was said that he still looked rather off-color and hadn’t fully recovered. Holding a large funeral at this time might bring bad luck and affect Emperor Xianjia’s heath.

Therefore, the Empress Dowager gave an order and asked them to give Consort Cui a quick and simple funeral.

At this time, the father was more important than the mother. The crown prince and Prince of Liang were in an awkward position to complain, especially the crown prince. His mother came to such an end and could already be considered lucky after doing those things. How could he question the standard of his mother’s funeral?

In this way, in less than three days, the Xifu Palace that was once bustling became empty.

However, no matter in the court or in the harem, few people paid attention to Consort Cui who had just passed away, including her family, the Cui family. What everyone cared about most at present was, how could they hide what had happened since the murder case in Jianling from the emperor after he woke up?

How would he react after he knew what had happened?

The point was, did the emperor intend to choose another heir to the throne?

If he did, who would be the new crown prince?

If he didn’t, what should those who fought for the title of heir to the throne do?

In short, everyone was restless in the imperial court!

However, Emperor Xianjia didn’t make any move in the past three or four days after Consort Cui was buried. They didn’t know whether it was because he hadn’t recovered or he had other plans.

The emperor’s silence was not reassuring, but even more disturbing.

Even Nie Wuying, who came to the mansion of Duke of Yan in the name of “visiting her fourth sister-in-law”, inquired about the emperor’s thought in a roundabout way, “I heard that His Majesty has recovered. Will he handle affairs soon?”

“You are trying to get the news about Prince of Zhao, right?” Song Yixiao knew Nie Wuying’s mind like the palm of her hand. No one else was around at this time, so she said frankly, “I’ve got no news of him. I can’t help you even if I want to.”

Nie Wuying blushed and peeped at her sister-in-law. Seeing that her sister-in-law didn’t seem to be angry, she summoned up courage and asked, “But my brother goes to the palace to see His Majesty every day, doesn’t he?”

“If His Majesty doesn’t take the initiative to mention that thing, who dares to ask?” Song Yixiao explained patiently, “Moreover, everyone knows that your brother is on the crown prince’s side. If he asks that, His Majesty might think the crown prince can’t wait to know his decision!”

Seeing Nie Wuying’s disappointed look, she pondered and said, “But I heard that His Majesty would summon Aunt Daiguo to the palace tomorrow. Maybe after Aunt Daiguo sees His Majesty, we’ll know His Majesty’s decision!”

She guessed right.

However, the result was beyond everyone’s expectations!