The Fourth Prince, who had been holding Consort De's hand tightly, suddenly released it. He stared at her lying on the bed, as if she were a stranger. His wounded heart seemed to bleed; he couldn't believe his own mother distrusted him so much. She had disregarded his own feelings entirely to protect her younger brother. Feeling abandoned, the Fourth Prince sat listlessly by the bed, utterly dejected.

The words of Consort De lingered in my mind...

"I agree to your request..."

After the Fourth Prince agreed to grant the Fourteenth Prince a pardon, he immediately sent someone to Changping to bring the Fourteenth Prince back.

Consort De didn't even get to see the Fourteenth Prince one last time.

Finally, one afternoon, the palace bells rang loudly. The Fourth Prince watched helplessly as Consort De died with her eyes wide open, staring westward. Before she died, she kept muttering "Fourteenth, Fourteenth, Fourteenth..." but she never looked at the Fourth Prince who had been by her side day and night.

Consort De's body temperature slowly cooled. The Fourth Prince, expressionless, held Consort De's hand without saying a word. Suddenly, he looked up and shouted, "Empress Mother..." and burst into tears.

He lay on top of Consort De's body, and no one could pull him away. The Fourteenth Prince had returned too late; he hadn't seen Consort De one last time.

The Fourteenth Prince hurriedly ran towards the palace, bumping into the Fourth Prince as he came out of Yonghe Palace. The Fourteenth Prince froze in shock, and after a long pause, slowly knelt on the ground. His bluish stubble made him look even more haggard, and he reluctantly whispered, "Greetings... Your Majesty..."

Fourth Master remained silent, staring intently at Fourteenth Master, his eyes filled with complex emotions and an indescribable pain.

He said to the Fourteenth Prince in despair, "Empress Mother, Empress Mother, she..."

Suddenly, the Fourteenth Prince sprang up, grabbing the Fourth Prince's shirt collar tightly. His eyes were bloodshot, and his heart was filled with a frenzied, utterly heartbroken grief: "What happened to Mother Empress? Tell me... what did you do to Mother Empress?"

Fourth Master punched Fourteenth Brother hard in the face. The sound of bones cracking could be heard. Fourteenth Brother fell to the ground, caught off guard, and grabbed the threshold for support.

The Fourth Prince roared furiously, "It's all your fault! You're the one who killed the Empress Dowager! She waited for you until her death, her eyes wide open in despair. If you hadn't rebelled back then, how could things have turned out like this? You... killed yourself and killed the Empress Dowager..."

The Fourth Prince, panting heavily and trembling, glared at the Fourteenth Prince on the ground. This roar seemed to awaken him; his eyes were glazed and helpless as he desperately shook his head and crawled into the house. He struggled several times to stand but failed, and could only crawl forward on his knees: "No...no...Empress Mother, your son is back...this can't be real, how could you leave without seeing your son? Empress Mother..."

The Fourteenth Prince crawled step by step toward the inner chamber of Yonghe Palace, leaving the Fourth Prince alone, his face ashen, standing there for a long time, unable to calm down. The servants dared not approach and waited at a great distance from the Fourth Prince.

After a long while, the Fourteenth Prince's heart-wrenching wail finally broke through...

Consort De's funeral was very hasty, because no one was prepared for her sudden death.

In particular, Emperor Kangxi's concubines were all envious of Consort De becoming Empress Dowager, especially Consort Yi.

To the outside world, the Fourth Prince could only say that the Empress Dowager, out of longing for the late Emperor, could not bear to leave him alone, and thus followed him in death. Only after the Fourth Prince added many titles to Consort De's posthumous title could he feel at ease.