Chapter 428 Funeral Procession

Time flies, and soon it was time for the late emperor's funeral procession to the Hengyang Imperial Mausoleum. The funeral procession was the most solemn ceremony.

Although heavy snow fell in Shengjing, the government had already begun preparations a month earlier, determined not to delay the late emperor's burial, the costs of which would surely be astronomical.

Jiang Fenghua was five months pregnant. Although it was freezing cold outside, the heavy snow had stopped. Given her status, she had no choice but to go with the funeral procession. She had to overcome all difficulties in order to show the Empress's respect and filial piety towards the late Emperor.

The Empress Dowager remained in the palace to oversee things. She had already moved to the Cining Palace and was quick to vacate the Kunning Palace. Once the craftsmen had finished renovating the place, Jiang Fenghua could move in.

After the late emperor is buried in Hengyang Palace and returns, the emperor's Qianqing Palace will be completely renovated.

Before Jiang Fenghua could leave, Xie Shang personally went to Chenxi Palace again, saying, "Ruan Ruan is not feeling well, so I will take care of escorting Father Emperor to the Imperial Mausoleum!"

Jiang Fenghua still wanted to complete the task the late emperor had given her. She said, "No matter what, I must go and see Father off on his final journey. I am all prepared."

She grasped Xie Shang's hand. "The ladies of the harem don't need to go. As the Empress, I must go. It's such an important ceremony. If I don't show up, people will gossip." She knew that Imperial Censor Zhu would definitely not let this opportunity pass by and take Zhu Yiyi with him.

Jiang Fenghua pretended not to know of Zhu Yiyi's existence, saying, "I will take the two concubines with me on the journey so they can take care of Your Majesty." Once the late emperor's burial is complete, the concubines can then serve Your Majesty in bed.

Lin Yu had already prepared to protect her along the way.

Seeing her commendable filial piety, Xie Shang tapped her nose and said, "Alright then, the late emperor's funeral is indeed a big event. We'll have Granny Wang send more people to accompany him."

Xie Shang had been busy for a month and had lost weight, but his facial features had become more resolute and defined, making him seem more mature and composed. "His Majesty must have had a very hard time these days! He had to deal with funeral arrangements and state affairs."

"You don't need to worry about these things," Xie Shang said gently, then put his arm around her waist to check her, "Ruan Ruan, have you not been eating properly? Why haven't you gained weight?"

She was showing her belly. "Perhaps this is a single pregnancy, and the baby is still small, so it's not showing much. Your Majesty, I also need to fast and pray for you. You have worked hard all your life, and I hope you will go to the Western Paradise soon."

"You've worked so hard. After these few days, Ruan Ruan must eat well and take good care of herself." He held her in his arms. Of all the princes and princesses who had stayed at the mourning hall for a month, none of them could be as filial as Jiang Fenghua.

"Your Majesty's precious son will not go hungry," Jiang Fenghua teased him deliberately.

Xie Shang said, "Perhaps it's a little princess, a little princess as beautiful as Ruan Ruan."

Jiang Fenghua felt that it was a son, a naughty son. When she was pregnant with her first child, both children were very well-behaved and did not cause her much suffering. However, when she was pregnant with this child, she could not eat or sleep well, and her pregnancy reaction lasted until the fourth month before it got a little better.

Jiang Fenghua called Song Qing, Tang Qianran, and Gao Qingtong to her side and instructed them to guard the East Palace. She also entrusted the young ladies to their care. She left Hongxiu and Aoxue to take care of the two children. Ye Ying, now the captain of the Imperial Guard, also stayed in the palace to protect the safety of the palace.

Lianye was a good cook, and she and Granny Wang followed her around. However, there were also Granny Xi and Empress Dowager Cheng in the palace, and the Empress Dowager's eyes were on the children in the East Palace.

Jiang Fenghua brought two young ladies, Zhu Zhenzhen and Zhang Jingjing, with her.

At this moment, they were sitting in the same carriage. Outside the carriage stood a crowd of people, their faces filled with sorrow as they wept for Emperor Huijing. Everyone knelt on the ground to bid farewell to the late emperor.

Jiang Fenghua lifted the carriage curtain and saw the scene outside; her eyes involuntarily reddened.

Emperor Huijing was a very diligent emperor during his reign. Although the people were not wealthy, they did not suffer much. Later, Emperor Huijing was in charge of investigating the case in Yuzhou and sent a lot of grain and disaster relief funds to Yuzhou. This silver and grain were seized from the family of the corrupt official Qin.

The Qin family embezzled enough silver to support the people of an entire city, which shows how much they embezzled.

In the previous life, the Qin family, with Qin Yunyan's help, was not subjected to confiscation of property or execution. Instead, they were dealt with in the same way as the Zhao family: they voluntarily confessed their crimes and paid money to avoid further trouble.

Jiang Fenghua knew that these were not the achievements of the concubines in the harem, but rather Xie Shang's methods of governing the court officials. On the one hand, he made Qin Yunyan confess her crimes, and on the other hand, he made Qin Yunyan a concubine, and eventually even a noble concubine.

Just then, she seemed to see a familiar figure in the funeral procession—Qin Yunyan.

Wasn't she demoted to a slave and then forced into the laundry department?

The funeral procession had more than a thousand people. Jiang Fenghua smiled. This number one beauty in Quanzhou was quite capable.

Zhu Zhenzhen and Zhang Jingjing both glanced outside, looking in Qin Yunyan's direction. Zhang Jingjing naturally recognized her; at that time, she didn't know she was Qin Yunyan's daughter, only finding out later.

Zhu Zhenzhen said, "That woman is very beautiful."

Jiang Fenghua thought to herself: Of course she's beautiful, otherwise she wouldn't have had the ability to compete with Su Tingwan in her past life.

Zhang Jingjing said, "The daughter raised by a corrupt official's family, every inch of her flesh is grown by drinking the people's blood and sweat."

"Young Master Zhang, do you know her?"

"I don't know her, but I know her..."

At that moment, she suddenly stopped talking, as if she saw someone who made her blush.

That day, Zhang Jingjing secretly watched Xiao Yu expose Prefect Qin's affairs in public. She thought that this Lord Xiao was very righteous and handsome!

"Young Master Zhang?" Zhu Zhenzhen called her twice.

Just as Zhu Zhenzhen was about to look out the window, Jiang Fenghua suddenly lowered the carriage curtain and said in a deep voice, "The Qin family has already been raided, and the corrupt officials have received their due punishment. Consort Zhang, you should not always remember the past. Now you are a concubine in the harem, so remember to be careful with your words and actions."

Zhang Jingjing replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, I understand."

She just saw Xiao Yu; she never expected him to have gone to the capital to become an official.

Jiang Fenghua put Xiao Yu aside and her thoughts returned to Zhu Zhenzhen. If Zhu Yiyi knew that she had left the palace, would she try to take advantage of Zhu Zhenzhen to seize this spot?

However, Xie Shang takes the late emperor's funeral very seriously. He would not allow anyone to cause trouble at the funeral, otherwise it would not be as simple as punishment, but could even result in losing one's head. Imperial Censor Zhu would not be so stupid as to let Zhu Yiyi compete for favor at this time.

Hengyang Palace was the palace where the ancestors of the Xie family lived when they conquered the world. It has been built for two hundred years. Later, the power of the Xie family grew and they established the Shengjing Imperial City, but Hengyang Palace was also preserved.