When a person dies, it is like a light going out.

It’s just that people are dead, and the living are still busy.

First is the ceremony of cotton wool, which is to use this year's new cotton wool, which is spit out by silkworms and put it into the nostrils of the dying person. If the person is still alive, the new cotton wool will sway slightly, indicating that the person is alive. If there is no movement, the next steps can be carried out.

Many times it's just a formality.

For example, the saint here.

He was indeed dead, and Xie Pei was still handling subsequent official business and had no time to care about him. The civil and military officials in the court also knew how busy the prince was, so they would not suspect him in this matter.

I just think that the death of the saint is only related to those two princes.

Yes, if they had such unfilial descendants, they would be angry to death.

So this has nothing to do with the prince, and it even seems a bit innocent.

After the "纩", the next step is "复", which means to summon the soul in common parlance.

It is also a kind of etiquette, which means that the relatives do not want him to leave, so they want to summon his soul and invite him back.

If he is unconscious, then we will continue with the funeral arrangements.

The saint naturally could not wake up, and it would be quite scary if he could wake up. Almost all the imperial doctors were here, and they took his pulse for countless rounds. At the hour of Chouzheng, they announced that the saint was dead.

Chouzheng was two o'clock in the morning. At that time, Su Wan had just sent Huyan Qiang out of Kyoto, so when she came back, it was daybreak. White silks were hung on all the city gates and many restaurants were closed. The saint had passed away and the whole country was in mourning.

The patient recovers but is still unconscious. Then the third step is "collecting". However, there are two types of "collecting": small "collecting" and large "collecting". This "collecting" is the same as "burying".

The former was to change the clothes and quilts for the corpse. The saint's clothes and quilts naturally had three layers inside and three layers outside, stacked up, totaling more than twenty pieces. This was still a small number, and it was the result of Xie Pei not doing it with the highest etiquette.

The prince's attitude now was respectful, but not so sad.

If it were someone else, the ministers would probably report that the prince was disrespectful and not filial enough, but when it came to Xie Pei, everyone thought it was natural.

A father should be kind and his son should be filial. If a father cannot achieve the former, don't force him to achieve the latter.

The current prince has already left some dignity for the saint.

Besides, the death of the saint was also related to the wrong accusation of the prince. If he had listened to the prince and dealt with those spies quietly, he would not have been so angry.

Even though the prince was not very respectful, he still selected the best jade cicada for the funeral. The cicada is a noble creature, and the jade cicada is placed in the deceased's mouth instead of rice, and it also represents the deceased's tongue in the underworld.

Although this thing was prepared by the saint for himself a long time ago, the prince still let it go. He had done his best.

In the fourth step, the body is placed in the coffin that has been prepared long ago, and then the funeral procession begins.

According to the custom of Tianxiang Kingdom, during this period, all civil and military officials had to attend the ceremony, that is, go to the palace to mourn.

The prince also had to designate a place for crying. The place had to be spacious and warm, and allow everyone to cry freely. They had to cry every morning and evening.

After twelve days, you only need to cry once.

Anyway, Su Wan looked very tired.

Ever since Su Wan heard about this when she returned to Kyoto on November 12, she has felt incredulous.

I now understand more clearly what surprise Huyan Qiang was talking about.

What a surprise! Su Wan even wanted to retreat tactically.

But she was the only one who knew about this, and it was not even clear whether Xie Peiming understood this matter. Anyway, the result of the examination by the imperial physician was that the saint suffered from severe dizziness, and when he died, his eyes were blue and there was some white foam in his mouth.

In fact, the last time the saint fell ill, Su Wan wondered if he had high blood pressure and a cerebral hemorrhage.

This time the symptoms felt even more like this.

Think about it again, Huyan Qiang knows some medical knowledge, and he gives the saint medicine from time to time. If I am not mistaken, then Huyan Qiang knows his condition, and then uses medicine to guide him, taking advantage of the existing illness to make the saint's condition worse.

As for why she said she was giving a big gift, Su Wan felt that there should be someone like her around the saint.

However, she told me about the "surprise", and also made this secret known to those around her, as a way of repaying me and Xie Pei for keeping their promise and letting her go.

Su Wan entered Kyoto and returned to the palace. Everyone in the palace was wearing hemp, which is the lightest of the five kinds of clothing. It is just a light layer, and people can change into normal clothes after three months.

When Su Wan entered the palace, she naturally changed into it quickly.

The guard Xiao Song next to her had also returned to Chonghua Palace, but he winked at her, suggesting that Xie Pei would probably look for her again in the evening.

But this time the search will definitely be in the inner palace.

Because Su Wan should still be working in the imperial kitchen.

They had pretended to work in the inner palace's imperial kitchen before, and have not been transferred back yet. After all, there are too many things to do in the inner palace, and logically no one should pay attention to them.

Su Wan saw Hu Yanqiang off and left. She greeted her superior and then returned to the imperial kitchen secretly.

At this time, the imperial kitchen was staffed by Chef Zhang, Sister Cuizhu, and Aunt Yonglan. Fortunately, the inner palace was in chaos, so no one would notice that Su Wan was not there all night and morning.

Not only did Su Wan have to stay in the inner palace, but Xie Pei naturally couldn't leave either.

Now he is the only one in the palace who can hold on. The eldest prince and the second prince have just been imprisoned in the Taimiao and cannot come out at the moment, but they are allowed to observe mourning in the Taimiao.

Imperial Concubine Jiang and Concubine Chu were confined to their respective palaces, and had also put on mourning clothes, which was also one of the five mourning clothes. Compared with the hemp mourning clothes worn by Su Wan and the others, it was the heaviest of the five mourning clothes.

So Xie Pei naturally stayed in the inner palace all day long. Some people with good eyesight even planned to vacate the Qinzheng Hall for the prince, which would be his "office" in the future.

But it all happened too fast and many people were not adequately prepared.

Imperial Concubine Jiang and Concubine Chu were clamoring to come out to keep vigil, but they stopped after that as they had a lot of things to do.

When someone dies in an ordinary family, the head of the family is already very busy, let alone the royal family.

When Su Wan arrived at the imperial kitchen, Zhang Yuchu and others breathed a sigh of relief, for they were afraid that she would be discovered.

Now he knew vaguely that Su Wan must have a very good relationship with the prince, otherwise, not to mention the guards around her, the first thing the prince would do after he was fine would be to send the news here.

Even when leaving the palace, he had to carry the prince's warrant.

Su Wan didn't say anything, but just briefly learned about the situation in the palace.

The funeral was conducted according to the rituals, and after a brief period of panic, it is now proceeding smoothly.

The imperial kitchen was a bit confused.

There are two or three thousand people here, even a few people transferred from the Imperial Food Bureau, all serving the saint. Now that the saint is gone, what about them?

Serve the new emperor?

Su Wan was just taking a look. If nothing unexpected happened, these people would not stay.

A new emperor appoints new ministers, and everyone understands this truth.

Besides, Xie Pei wouldn't hire so many people to serve meals and midnight snacks.

Sure enough, the people in the imperial kitchen were immediately ordered to prepare breakfast and evening meals for the civil and military officials who came to the palace.

Although one cannot eat too much during mourning, the prince was considerate and provided plenty of tea, porridge and snacks. Some elderly ministers were even allowed to sit so that they did not have to work too hard.

How do I say this?

Although there was less respect for the saint, the officials were naturally happy.

After all, the advent ceremony will come sooner or later, and crying when the time comes is actually very tiring.

Anyway, in the current situation, the general etiquette should not be wrong, because the imperial palace is not holding a funeral for itself, but for the whole country, to set an example for the world.

If the royal family handles the matter in a hasty manner, wouldn't it encourage the trend of unkind fathers and unfilial sons among the people?

Isn't it really as what is said in the Strategies of the Warring States: If you are alive, you will not be able to work to support you, and if you die, you will not be able to eat.

If people really start not to support their children when they are alive and not to mourn their children when they die, then both fathers and sons will be in chaos.

This is not an exaggeration. In the past few years, saints worshipped Buddhism, and Buddhists believed in cremation, so cremation became popular among the people. However, Confucianists believed that burial was the best way to rest in peace, but they could not compete with Buddhism at that time, because the saints worshipped Buddhism.

This is the impact that the royal family’s actions have on the people.

Even if the royal family dotes on their wives or kills them, the common people will follow suit.

If a saint respects his wife and has only one beloved wife, those who follow him will follow his example. This has been the case throughout history.

As for special circumstances, we will deal with them as they arise, but the general etiquette still needs to be performed.

Therefore, we must show enough superficial courtesy.

Letting the ministers rest is an internal matter, and no one outside will know about it anyway.

When the head of the imperial kitchen heard that they were going to cook for the ministers, he was angry at first, and subconsciously said, "But we used to serve the saint, can't we continue to cook for the prince?"

The guard who passed the message said, "The prince's meals will be taken over by the people from Chonghua Palace's small kitchen."

After saying that, he looked at the hundreds of people on duty. There were still many people who were not on duty or were in the small kitchen.

The guard continued, "The prince's meals alone do not require so many people."

The meaning of this sentence is very clear. Not only will it not be used now, it will also not be used in the future.

Everyone in the imperial kitchen was a little confused. They didn't need so many people?

But the saint has used so many imperial chefs, does the prince really not need them?

This is the dignity and pomp of the royal family.

No matter what they think, a part of the imperial kitchen will now be set aside to prepare tea and snacks for the ministers who come to the palace.

The guard walked up to the three people from the Imperial Kitchen Department with a respectful attitude. Since he was being respectful to the female officials, he was also being respectful to Su Wan. "The Imperial Kitchen will be managed by the female officials. The people from the small kitchen of Chonghua Palace will come over soon. The officials from the Guanglu Temple will also come, but they will still be led by the three female officials. Thank you for your help."

The guards' attitude towards the people in the imperial kitchen was completely different from their attitude towards Su Wan and others.

Hearing him repeatedly mentioning the word "female official", everyone then realized that among the three people in the Imperial Food Department, the one named Cuizhu was a female official of the fifth rank, and the one named Yonglan was a female official of the sixth rank.

Female official is an official.

When they came to the imperial kitchen yesterday, everyone's attitude was not very good. They were just arrogant because they cooked for the saint.

Now that the fig leaf of arrogance has been torn off, it is clear who is arrogant and who is not.

When something happens, the fifth and sixth rank female officials should be in charge.

In the past, people knew that they were officials, but they had no actual experience of them. Now that the saint has just passed away and the prince has completely taken power, many people have come to understand that the word "female official" is not just a nice name.

Not to mention everyone in the imperial kitchen, Su Wan also keenly noticed this.

Other things would be fine, but this incident made her think more about Xie Peilai.

He is really good.

The situation changed in just one day. Led by Cuizhu, a female official of the fifth rank who was the left doctor of the Shangshenjian, the imperial kitchen in the inner palace was divided into two parts. The main room was still reserved for the prince, and was vacant to wait for the people from the small kitchen of Chonghua Palace to enter the inner palace.

The remaining people were divided into four parts. Tea, snacks, dishes, and staple foods were all distributed to four areas, and a manager was re-elected. Zhang Yuchu was generally the assistant manager, and when the officials from the Guanglu Temple came in, there would naturally be a person in charge.

But they are only temporary managers. Whoever does a good job will have a different status in the future.

There is no need to talk about breaking up this, the only way is to rearrange people in different places, so it is not easy for them to form a group.

Chef Zhang is one of us, and was originally from the imperial kitchen, so he might be less resistant. And with the help of officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Rites, things would naturally be easier to do.

Although the female officials Cuizhu and Yonglan did not say it, these people still respected the male officials more.

However, after this incident, the status of the female officials must have been improved.

Of all the things that have happened recently, this one thing alone is enough for Su Wan to leave a plate of snacks for Xie Pei when she sees him in the evening.

The cream puff pastry she made for the officials today looked white, tender and crispy. This kind of food is also high in calories and can quickly replenish physical strength.

The officials and their families who came to the ceremony in the evening all liked it.

Xie Pei couldn't help laughing when he saw it: "You know, at the funeral hall today, everyone wanted to praise but didn't dare to, so they could only pretend to be silent and finish eating, with a look of grief on their faces."

If you don’t know, you might think they are eating something.

But as soon as he left the palace, he immediately praised the food and even wanted to get some more food.

The two of them were in the warm room in the Imperial Garden at the moment. There were charcoal fires burning around them and the lights were on, but outside it was snowing heavily.

Su Wan was too lazy to respond to his words and just said, "Eat quickly and stop talking."

Xie Pei was indeed hungry.

There are too many things to do, both big and small, and the succession of the throne is not an easy matter.

Besides, there were a backlog of government affairs, all of which were handled by the deceased who was ill and bedridden and was unwilling to ask the prince to help with them, and he himself was too lazy to get up to do them.

Now that he is dead, it’s all Xie Pei’s fault.

It’s almost like your previous colleague has already left before you even have the time to hand over your work, and they haven’t even given you a handover form.

Are you busy?

It's ok that you are capable, you are just busy, and you haven't let down your team.

Otherwise, many people are waiting to see you make a fool of yourself.

Xie Pei ate the cream puff and drank a cup of tea. Although it was not a good time to drink tea at night, he had to go back to work soon.

Xie Pei looked at Su Wan and said, "If you can help me deal with it, it will definitely be twice as effective with half the effort."

Su Wan still didn't want to respond, Xie Pei smiled and said, "By the way, I've decided to mourn for three years."

Su Wan looked over and saw Xie Pei raised his eyebrows: "Exactly three years."

Three years later, Su Wan's term as a palace maid had expired, and she had the final say from then on.

"You can't eat meat, drink alcohol, or watch singing and dancing for three years. Your every move will be restricted. Are you sure?" Su Wan asked.

Xie Pei shook his head: "My subordinates said that my health is important and I don't need to be a vegetarian. As long as the wedding is postponed for three years, it can be considered as observing mourning."

???

What is this called?

Flexible mourning?

You are such a filial son.

Su Wan felt that she couldn't respond to a word of what was said today.

Thinking of this, Su Wan kept thinking about what Huyan Qiang said to her before he left.

The cause of the saint's death was abnormal, and it was even absolutely related to Huyan Qiang.

However, Su Wan still kept this matter secret. Perhaps Xie Pei knew about it but could not make it clear.

If it were made clear, it would truly prove that he was unfilial.

Even if this matter is buried deep in her heart, she won't know about it.

The two of them had tea and snacks, and they were clear with each other about recent events.

There is a difference between knowing what Su Wan did and hearing her say what she did.

Xie Pei said: "Are you so sure that Hu Yanqiang wants revenge?"

"If it were you, would you swallow this anger?" Su Wan said, "She dared to come here from the northwest to be a concubine. She is not a simple person."

Xie Pei smiled and nodded.

I don't know what he is laughing at.

"It's all thanks to you this time. The deeds of Kong Zhang Sheren will be added to the list."

When this was mentioned, Su Wan couldn't help but look at him.

I didn’t know why he created a character called Kong Zhang Sheren and gave her so many good names. It’s not that she didn’t do those things.

But most of the time, Su Wan came up with ideas, Xie Pei wrote the documents, and then stamped them with her empty seal.

Even if Su Wan said it, it still sounded too mysterious.

So much so that everyone in the court and the country was talking about this matter, and Huyan Qiang also said that the Shiyi clan knew about Kongzhang Sheren.

I finally found out the reason recently. This person's scheming is too deep.

Xie Pei finally said: "The official mourning period is 27 days. I don't plan to stop mourning for many days. The burial will be done after the mourning period is over, so I will be very busy during this period."

The official mourning period means that after these twenty-seven days, officials and their families no longer need to perform rituals, that is, they no longer need to enter the palace to mourn, and major and minor court meetings can resume as normal.

People's lives also returned to normal.

As for the mourning of relatives, that is another matter.

Anyway, this will happen in twenty-seven days, which is around the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month. After Laba Festival, we can find a day to bury the body, and it will not be later than the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month at the latest.

The meaning of "suspending the mourning for many days" is that some households hold a grand funeral to show respect, and even suspend the mourning for three or four months. It is okay in winter, but in summer they will even use ice to preserve it.

Xie Pei was naturally disrespectful, and after the official mourning period of twenty-seven days, he could be buried.

This year's winter festival will have to be attended during this period, but Xie Pei does not want to make a big deal about it. He can just take the important officials of the court and Su Wan with him to pay homage in a simple manner, without having to mobilize a large force like in previous years.

But even so, there is still a lot to do.

But it can always be settled before the New Year so that civil and military officials as well as the common people will not miss the New Year.

After the New Year, it will be a new world.

As we say goodbye to the old and usher in the new, everything will be different.

Xie Pei hadn't expressed his thoughts yet. After all, today was only the first day of the mourning period, so he told Su Wan about his plan.

When Su Wan heard about taking her to the Winter Festival, her eyebrows twitched. She wanted to refute, but as soon as she said one more word, the other party would continue to talk more deeply.

Can I talk about this? Of course not.

Su Wan had no choice but to change the subject: "There is another important event after the New Year. The Saint of Tianxiang Country is away, so they must send people to inform the foreigners, and they will also send envoys to offer condolences."

"The Shigi clan will definitely not let go of this opportunity, so be careful."

That is to say, when their emperor died, the younger brothers around him would come to pay their respects.

Even the sincerity of the worship determines the eldest brother's attitude.

The Yoshiyoshi clan naturally had no sincerity, but they would not miss the opportunity to officially send an envoy to inquire about the news.

This is also what Su Wan reminded me of.

Xie Pei nodded: "There won't be too many problems for a while."

"Besides, don't we still have you?"

"If you can save me once, you can save me twice? Right?"

Su Wan looked at him. Is there such a person?

How can you say that so confidently!

After the two came out of the Imperial Garden, Xie Pei went to the Qinzheng Palace and Su Wan went back to rest.

After a hard day, you must rest early.

However, after returning to the inner palace residence, he tossed and turned. The courtyard was quiet. In the next room were the female officials Cuizhu and Yonglan. They were very busy today. They had already arranged the matters of the imperial kitchen, so they went to bed early. They would have to get up tomorrow to arrange tea and snacks for the morning ceremony for all officials.

The two or three thousand people in the imperial kitchen gradually became speechless.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Crown Prince attached great importance to the Imperial Food Bureau.

The Shangshi Division is worthy of this important responsibility, and all parties have made good arrangements.

By the second day after the saint's death, everything in the court and palace was in order. Yesterday, there was shock and surprise, and some ministers even shed tears.

But today I have accepted this fact.

People's ability to endure is always stronger than we think.

The next day, there was less of a funeral atmosphere. Although I was still doing what I was supposed to do, I still had one thought in my mind.

After the funeral is over, the prince will definitely ascend the throne. They need to understand more about the prince's temperament.

A new emperor has new ministers, and this corresponds to more than just the imperial kitchen.

Although the prince was in charge of affairs in the past, it was still different from being a real emperor.

You said that before a saint ascended the throne, everyone thought he was timid, cowardly and insignificant, but when he became emperor, he showed a different face.

So, it depends.

Then that afternoon, news came from the Qinzheng Hall that the prince would observe a three-year mourning period for the saint to express his grief.

Three years???

Although according to etiquette, a son for his father, a father for his eldest son, and a wife for her father's daughter, all wear mourning clothes, which is the heaviest of the five mourning clothes.

But the emperor is different. The crown prince is the future monarch. Does he really have to observe a three-year mourning period?

Even if it is a real mourning period, it is still three years, but in reality it is only two years.

You aren't that close to the saint, so how come it's only been three years?

The Grand Secretary of the Dongge who knew the inside story, the guards around him, and the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Rites who knew something about it all had the same feeling.

Although Su Wan was just a little palace maid, they all knew that she would leave the palace in three years.

If he wants to marry a girl from the palace directly, that's fine too, as long as the prince is willing.

But if you can give her respect outside and then marry her with great fanfare, that’s another matter.

It is hard to say whether the current reputation of Kong Zhang Sheren and even the improvement in the status of female officials are related to Su Wan.

The three-year mourning period ended, and the three of them just said "oh" with wooden faces.

Instead, it confused the court officials who originally wanted to find fault with the prince.

Are they wrong?

They thought that since the relationship between the saint and the prince was so bad, he would definitely not be respectful according to etiquette. What's going on now?

When the news came out from Qinzheng Hall again, the close ministers advised the prince not to be too harsh on himself and not to strictly abide by the mourning regulations. The prince reluctantly agreed.

But this is not strict, so what's going on?

The Grand Secretary of the Dongge looked at the Minister of Rites and said, what can he do? He just won’t get married within three years.

As soon as the three-year mourning period began, not only the civil and military officials in the court, but even the common people were full of praise for the prince.

As expected of the Crown Prince of Tianxiang Kingdom, he is benevolent.

Outsiders don't know the details, they only see what they see.

In addition to this incident, the prince also used the mourning period as an excuse to cut spending.

No one noticed it at first, but after the civil and military officials finished crying twice in the morning and evening in the palace, the prince began to give cooks to officials who performed outstandingly.

The mourning ceremony for the saint is called Linli mentioned above. It is performed twice in the morning and evening for the first twelve days, and once every fifteen days. This means that the government has gradually resumed.

Before the two meetings ended, the prince began to show grace to the ministers who were respectful to the sage, saying that they cried well and the prince would sympathize with them and reward them with a few imperial chefs.

The officials who initially accepted the grace were filled with gratitude, but gradually came to their senses.

But we should still be grateful for the grace of the future saint. Besides, no family would mind having a few more royal chefs. In the future, we can eat comfortably and hold banquets in a decent manner.

This also shows that the prince really doesn't want to be too extravagant.

The first twelve days are over and it is November 24th, and the winter solstice, which is the grand winter festival in previous years, is approaching.

The prince traveled light as planned.

But on this day, Su Wan was sent to make tea in front of the saint's spirit. This was not an easy job as it would take at least three hours and no one could be replaced during these three hours.

After hearing this, Xie Pei took a deep breath.

Was she sent there? It was obvious that she found the opportunity to go there on her own.

As the team was about to set off, she was still working diligently in front of the coffin, in full view of everyone. If she was really taken away, would that be okay?

Just as Xie Pei was thinking about this possibility, he saw Su Wan look up at him, smile at him deliberately with her eyes curved, and then work more seriously.

Su Wan really didn't want to go.

In the past, the winter festival was a time for people to go on errands.

What to do now?

Was she really dragged to the Tianxiang Temple? And then taken to the Temple of Heaven?

Some things were not urgent, so before dawn, she took the initiative to find someone from the Guanglu Temple and arranged a job for herself that would be in the spotlight of everyone.

How great that would be, Xie Pei, if you have the guts, just take me away?

He does have courage.

So just smile and comfort yourself.

Xie Pei was helpless and looked at her a few more times. These few glances alone had already attracted a lot of attention.

Fortunately, Xie Pei left quickly, making them feel that they were overthinking it.

The prince is not interested in women, so how could he look at other people casually? It's impossible.

Su Wan calmly ordered tea in front of the saint's spirit and placed the teacup in front of the spirit tablet, thus escaping the disaster! Good thing!

There was no point in going to the winter festival. Every day we just worshipped and watched performances. This year there weren’t even performances. It was just a formal festival.

She also had to listen to work reports from six ministries and six great secretaries. She would probably be exhausted to death if she went there.

Su Wan thought it was good, but Xie Pei was naturally not very happy.

After he got on the carriage, he took a deep breath and asked Zang Dongxin and Guard Xiao Song beside him: "Do you know how to chase people?"

Huh? This?

They are all bachelors!

Definitely don’t know!

Xie Pei looked at them, wondering why they were still speaking so proudly, no wonder they had no wives.