Nine days after that night, Shen Wan saw Xie Jingyan again.

For nine days, Xie Jingyan kept vigil for Consort Chen in the palace, and the Emperor did not attend court.

Matters of all sizes in the court were handled jointly by the Right Chancellor and the Prince of Yanping. Only matters that they could not handle, but which urgently needed to be addressed, would be submitted to the Emperor for a decision.

However, he hadn't encountered such an urgent matter in nine days.

On the day of Consort Chen's funeral, heavy snow fell.

The Emperor led civil and military officials and noblewomen to escort Consort Chen to the imperial mausoleum.

The funeral was even more grand than the one held when Empress Wei passed away. However, Consort Chen was murdered through a scheme, so the more grand the funeral, the more regrettable it was.

The biting wind was unbearable even for the civil and military officials, let alone the noblewomen who walked behind the funeral procession from the palace to the imperial mausoleum, nearly collapsing from exhaustion along the way.

After finally arriving at the imperial mausoleum, we knelt on the ground for half a day until our knees were numb from the cold.

The Emperor was reluctant to part with Consort Chen and stayed in the imperial mausoleum for quite some time. Xie Jingyan invited him three times before the Emperor finally left.

Looking at the Imperial Mausoleum Pass, Xie Jingyan's eyes turned red, and he secretly made a vow in his heart.

He will definitely find out who plotted against his mother back then and use that person's head to offer sacrifice to his mother.

The officials respectfully requested that His Majesty accept their condolences and return to the palace.

Xie Jingyan hadn't returned to his residence for several days, but according to etiquette, he was required to escort the Emperor back to the palace. After patiently seeing the Emperor off at the palace gate, Xie Jingyan couldn't help but leave.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, the sound of horses' hooves came from the other side, and the messenger shouted, "Urgent dispatch!"

The messenger never expected to encounter the Emperor at the palace gate, especially since the Emperor was wearing a dragon robe with a white overcoat.

The constable dismounted from his horse, took the letter from his back, and quickly delivered it to the emperor. He knelt down ten paces away from the emperor and presented the eight hundred taels of silver as an urgent gift.

Any matter requiring the urgent delivery of 800 li (approximately 400 kilometers) must be of great importance.

Moreover, the bad things far outweighed the good things.

The Emperor had a bad feeling and said, "Bring it here."

Eunuch Yuan hurried over, took the urgent message from 800 li away, confirmed that it was sealed properly, and then presented it to the Emperor.

The Emperor removed the seal and took out the urgent memorial from the mailbox.

Upon seeing the memorial, the emperor's expression changed.

The Right Chancellor, who was nearby, asked, "Your Majesty, has something happened?"

The Emperor showed the memorial to the Right Chancellor.

The Right Chancellor glanced at it twice and gasped repeatedly.

The urgent message delivered was the death of the Crown Prince of Western Liang.

The Crown Prince of Xiliang fell off a cliff and went missing. He was found a few days ago. His body was washed downstream a hundred miles away. The body was eaten by fish so badly that his face was unrecognizable. He could only be identified by the clothes he was wearing. It was confirmed that he was the Crown Prince of Xiliang.

The princess of Xiliang and her envoys have already brought the body of the crown prince of Xiliang back to Xiliang.

The Crown Prince of Western Liang came to Great Chu to celebrate the Emperor's birthday. On his way back to Western Liang, he was assassinated within Great Chu territory. Great Chu failed to provide adequate protection, and Western Liang will certainly demand an explanation from Great Chu.

The memorial passed from the Right Chancellor to Xie Jingyan. After reading it once, Xie Jingyan handed it back to the Right Chancellor and rode back to the Ling Prince's residence.

Inside the room, Shen Wan leaned against a large pillow and held the baby for a while. Suddenly, the baby started crying, and Shen Wan couldn't stop soothing him. The wet nurse said, "He must be hungry. I'll take the young prince downstairs to breastfeed him."

Shen Wan then handed the child to the wet nurse.

As the wet nurse took the child away, Qiu'er came in and said, "Your Highness, the Prince has returned to the manor."

They're finally back.

Since their marriage, they have spent almost every day together. If it weren't for keeping vigil for Consort Chen this time, she wouldn't have known she would miss him so much.

Shen Wan sat up straight, waiting for Xie Jingyan to return, but after waiting for a while, Xie Jingyan still didn't come in. Didn't he say he was going back to the manor? Where is he?

Shen Wan kept looking towards the beaded curtain when Yin Shuang came in and said, "His Highness will probably be a little while before he comes to keep the Princess company."

Shen Wan asked, "What is Your Highness busy with?"

"His Highness is taking a bath."

Shen Wan suppressed her eagerness.

Yinshuang said, "I heard from Chen Feng that the Crown Prince of Xiliang has been found..."

Shen Wan didn't think much of it and breathed a sigh of relief, "After being missing for so long, we've finally found you."

The princess breathed a sigh of relief too soon. Yinshuang said, "The Crown Prince of Xiliang is dead..."

Shen Wan, “…!!!”

"Dead?!" Shen Wan's voice rose in disbelief.

After Xie Jingyan finished showering and returned to the room, Shen Wan eagerly got off the bed and asked, "Is the Crown Prince of Xiliang really dead?"

Xie Jingyan was surprised that after he hadn't returned for several days, the first thing Shen Wan asked him when she saw him was about the Crown Prince of Xiliang. He replied, "That's what it says on the urgent dispatch."

How could he have died?

In his previous life, the Crown Prince of Western Liang returned to Western Liang without any setbacks, but in this life, he died in Great Chu.

The crown prince of Western Liang died in Great Chu, and Western Liang will surely besiege the city.

Shen Wan did not want to see war break out between Da Chu and Xi Liang, nor did she want her father and elder brother to go to the battlefield.

However, these matters were beyond her control. She looked at Xie Jingyan and saw the weariness between his brows, and said, "You must be exhausted these days?"

Thankfully, she still cares about him.

Xie Jingyan touched Shen Wan's face and said, "I'm not tired, I just miss you so much."

Shen Wan retorted angrily, "Then you won't let me go with you to keep vigil for your mother?"

Although the postpartum period is supposed to last forty-two days, Shen Wan felt that she had recovered in the past two days, and her lochia had become very little. As the daughter-in-law, she should go to pay her respects at the funeral of Consort Chen. However, no matter what she said, Yinshuang Haitang and Granny Zhou would not let her go out, saying that the prince had ordered that if she stepped out of Moyuxuan, they would lose their heads.

Xie Jingyan said, "My mother has never cared about such formalities. If I really send you there, she will be furious with me in the afterlife."

"When Jin'er grows up a bit, I will take you to the imperial mausoleum to pay respects to your mother."

Shen Wan nodded slightly.

Xie Jingyan asked, "Why did you get out of bed?"

Shen Wan said, "Dr. Tao said I can get out of bed and walk around for a while each day, instead of staying in bed all the time."

Shen Wan pulled Doctor Tao out, and Xie Jingyan didn't say anything. He hugged Shen Wan, his voice unusually fragile, "Let me hold you for a while."

Shen Wan hugged him tightly with heartache, and it took a while before Xie Jingyan let go of her.

She looked at the water clock and said, "You're tired, why don't you take a nap first?"

Xie Jingyan was exhausted, having slept for less than two hours a day for nine consecutive days, but he wasn't sleepy at all.

In fact, during the four years he guarded the imperial mausoleum, he had already accepted the fact that his mother had passed away. However, when he saw Consort Chen again, she looked like she was fast asleep. He felt quite reluctant to bury her in the imperial mausoleum. He wished that his mother was still alive.

The wet nurse brought the child back. The child was full and was now full of energy, looking at Xie Jingyan with his round eyes. He looked extremely cute.

Xie Jingyan hasn't been sleeping well these past few days, so he probably hasn't been eating well either. Shen Wan asked the kitchen to bring dinner early so she could eat with Xie Jingyan.

After finishing their meal and resting for half an hour, they urged Xie Jingyan to go to bed.

Although Consort Chen was only buried today, she had been dead for seven years. Xie Jingyan had already observed mourning for Consort Chen for four years at the imperial mausoleum, so he did not need to do so again.