On the 26th day of the first lunar month in the ninth year of the Xuanli calendar, there was heavy snow!

At dawn, the thick door of the palace was still closed, and a large group of ministers in white clothes stood outside the door on Taiping Avenue.

Led by the Minister of Rites Shi Chaoyuan, they stood solemnly in two rows.

Old Grand Tutor Fei and Old Grand Tutor Ning stood side by side in front of the door, waiting for the empress dowager's coffin to come out.

The weather was extremely cold and Fu Xiaoguan felt his feet were frozen. He looked at the two old men with great concern, hoping that they would also freeze to death.

Or maybe it was that old fellow Yan Beixi who was cunning. He took advantage of the numerous affairs at court to hide in the warm government hall, drinking tea and reading memorials, which was so comfortable. This made Fu Xiaoguan suddenly feel that the boring days of sitting in the office seemed pretty good too.

Xu Huaishu, the Minister of Rites, stood in front of Fu Xiaoguan. He quietly retreated to the back and came to the lonely Fu Xiaoguan. He tilted his head slightly and whispered, "Your father has been to the Xu Mansion."

Fu Xiaoguan was startled, "When?"

"You don't know? Yesterday afternoon, around 3 p.m."

Fu Xiaoguan wondered what his father meant. He had sent him out of the city gate at 3:00 PM yesterday. Could it be that he had come back again?

So has he left now or not?

"What did he say?"

"My father said he just came to show off and then left without even a sip of tea."

"To vent my mother's anger?"

Xu Huaishu nodded.

childish!

What's the point of this?

Fu Xiaoguan could only understand that the landlord had finally had a remarkable son, and it was natural that the time had come to regain the face he had once lost.

Fu Xiaoguan didn't know that after Fu Daguan went to Xu's house to regain his face, he went to Hongxiuzhao again.

"Father is not angry. He asked me to tell you something."

"What?"

"If you can't let it go, come to the Xu Mansion when you have time."

Fu Xiaoguan was stunned. Does the fact that I didn’t go to Xu’s house mean that I have let it go?

"I'm not free for now, and I haven't let it go..." He turned to look at Xu Huaishu, frowned, and asked, "I just don't understand. My mother is about to die, why is he so cruel?"

"Then come to Xu's house when you have time." After Xu Huaishu said this, he walked forward, leaving Fu Xiaoguan alone standing in the last row of the queue.

Fu Xiaoguan raised his eyebrows. He really didn't have the time and mood to go to Xu's house.

The gate of the palace opened, and the sound of heavenly music came from inside. Fu Xiaoguan turned his head to look inside the door and saw lanterns like a long dragon.

Walking in the front were cavalrymen wearing armor and holding spears. Their helmets were wrapped with white cloth. They were lined up in neat rows and slowly walked towards the palace gate.

Fu Xiaoguan thought that Huo Huaijin was the leader, but when he looked closely, he didn't recognize him.

A cavalry team of 3,000 people set foot on Taiping Avenue, followed by hundreds of Taoists who were wearing Yin-Yang Bagua robes, holding prayer flags and whisks, chanting scriptures, and also set foot on Taiping Avenue.

Behind this group of Taoists was a team of a thousand guards with broadswords on their waists, but they were not riding horses, but walking.

Behind them were the princes, grandchildren, and relatives of the emperor, all dressed in mourning, headed by the eldest prince Yu Wentian, roughly a hundred people in total.

Fu Xiaoguan saw Prince Xian's son Yu Hongyi among the group of people and felt quite friendly. He thought that after this matter was over, he would invite this guy to visit him in Sifang Tower.

Behind this group of royal relatives was the empress dowager's coffin, carried by eighteen people, with Emperor Yu Yin and Concubine Shang supporting the coffin on either side.

When the coffin reached the palace gate, Grand Tutor Fei and Grand Preceptor Ning also walked over and joined in carrying the coffin.

When the coffin reached the outside of Fu Xiaoguan's procession, Emperor Yu Yin raised his eyes and saw Fu Xiaoguan standing at the end, and gave an instruction to Eunuch Jia behind him.

Eunuch Jia trotted to Fu Xiaoguan's side and whispered something. Fu Xiaoguan was shocked and thought that this spirit could not be helped by just anyone. What did His Majesty mean?

"Young Master, go quickly!"

Fu Xiaoguan walked over in full view of everyone, stood behind His Majesty, and placed his hands on the coffin.

He thought the emperor would say something to him, but the emperor didn't even turn around to look at him.

The eyes of the ministers on both sides fell on Fu Xiaoguan!

According to etiquette, when the Empress Dowager passed away, the pallbearers, besides the Emperor and Empress, would be the Crown Prince and Crown Princess. Next, the senior officials in the court would choose two more, and then His Majesty would personally select one. This chosen person was usually a key figure in the court, such as Yan Beixi and Yan Shidao.

His Majesty has not yet appointed a crown prince, so the princes can only walk in front of the coffin.

But His Majesty only chose Fu Xiaoguan - the deep meaning of this was seen by all the ministers, and it had a bit more flavor.

Is it because of the disaster relief strategy?

Is it because the name is recorded in the first column of the third stone tablet of the Thousand Steles?

Or was it because of the bloody battle along the ten-mile-long street that defeated Prince Comet in one fell swoop?

No one knows the specific reason, but everyone knows that Fu Xiaoguan, the pawn, has now actually crossed the river!

Taifu Ning felt vaguely regretful. Wouldn't it have been better if he hadn't appeared at the Jinling government office on the day of the bloody battle on the long street?

Old Master Fei's face was quite stiff, perhaps because it was too cold or because he was embarrassed by his previous wrong judgment.

There was a bloody battle on the long street. Old Master Fei thought that Fu Xiaoguan would die, but he didn't expect that this guy not only did not die, but instead made a great contribution to His Majesty.

He was also extremely suspicious of Fu Xiaoguan regarding the Lantern Festival flyers, but he had not yet found any evidence.

The eldest son Fei An was released from prison yesterday and left with a knife. He could roughly guess what Fei An would do. He thought that the man was promoted by the eldest prince himself. He also thought that if the eldest prince really went to the eastern border army to be the commander-in-chief, that man would be very successful.

If you kill him this time...something bad might happen to the Fei family!

He has written a secret letter to the State of Fei, hoping to resolve this disaster for the Fei clan.

He never understood why his eldest son, who had been farming for five years, would do the thing he once wanted to do but didn't do in the end after spending some time in prison!

Since you can't let go, why not just hold on to the hoe!

Old Master Shi was also standing in the crowd. He looked at Fu Xiaoguan, and his old face suddenly smiled, but no one knew what that smile meant.

Xu Huaishu and Xu Yungui looked at each other with shock in their eyes.

The eldest prince Yu Wentian just glanced at Fu Xiaoguan, his thick eyebrows did not move, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

The fourth prince Yu Wenshu glanced at Fu Xiaoguan three times, raised his eyebrows, and smiled while lowering his head. It was a little cold and sarcastic.

The fifth prince, Yu Wendao, simply pursed his lips, thinking that this guy really won the favor of his father.

The Ninth Princess Yu Wenyun was calm, but she was thinking about the regret that her future father-in-law, Fu Daguan, had come to the capital, but she could not find time to meet him.

Only the third princess, Yu Qinglan, made a decision in her heart after seeing Fu Xiaoguan carrying the coffin - she would ask her mother to inform her father in a few days that Fu Xiaoguan must be among the envoys to send off the bride!

In short, no matter whether they were ministers in the court or royal relatives, after seeing His Majesty summon Fu Xiaoguan to carry the coffin, they had many thoughts in their minds and different expressions on their faces.

A long dragon-like team slowly marched on Taiping Avenue. There were already many people on both sides of the avenue. Fu Xiaoguan didn't know what these onlookers were thinking, but he just thought, why don't you stay in bed on such a cold morning?

Isn't it really uncomfortable to be drenched in this white snow?

The sky gradually brightened, but the wind and snow continued.

The route of the coffin in Jinling City had long been guarded by imperial guards, and there were also constables from the north and south yamen of Jinling Prefecture patrolling everywhere, so there was no idle people along the way. However, many doors and windows on both sides of the streets were open, and people stuck their heads out to look at this huge funeral procession, and they were extremely impressed in their hearts - this was the royal ceremonial guard, with strict laws and regulations!

The sky was bright and the wind had died down, but the snow was getting heavier.

The team walked out of Jinling City and into the vast snowfield.

There were still royal guards riding solemnly on their horses on the snowy field. When the troops came over, they all stood up on their horses, raised their spears to the sky, looked very imposing, and shook off the snow and wind.

Fu Xiaoguan felt that his hands were almost frozen. If he had worn a pair of gloves earlier - like the ones His Majesty and Concubine Shang wore, it would probably have been more comfortable.

This was something he had not expected. He had thought that he would follow the ministers so that he could tuck his hands into his sleeves and enjoy the scenery while walking. To be honest, he did not feel any sadness in his heart about the death of the Queen Mother.

There were only two contacts, and neither was pleasant. As for the Queen Mother's final compromise, in Fu Xiaoguan's opinion, it was because of Concubine Shang's tactics that facilitated the deal.

In exchange for Prince Hui's life, the Queen Mother changed the rule that Yu Wenyun must marry Fu Xiaoguan.

So he had no idea whether the Queen Mother was kind or cruel, or whether her feelings were genuine or fake.

In line with the traditional virtue of respecting the elderly and loving the young, Fu Xiaoguan behaved seriously. Although he was not sad, he still had due respect in his heart.

But his vision was more active than that of the others. He often looked up and saw the mountain in the distance.

The mountain did not appear tall, and its outline was a little blurred in the heavy snow, making it appear somewhat ethereal and somewhat sacred.

As the team moved forward, the mountain became clearer, and the pine trees stood like white mushrooms.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, the view became clearer and Fu Xiaoguan could see strings of ice crystals hanging on the branches of the pine trees.

The ice crystals are one meter long and crystal clear. If there is sunlight, they will reflect colorful light, and the Purple Mountain will become colorful.

He glanced around and saw that there were more guards here, and there was also another type of soldier - they wore black armor, carried longbows on their backs, and had long swords on their waists. They must be the famous Imperial Tomb Guards.

The team entered Purple Mountain.

When they arrived at the huge platform on the mountainside, Fu Xiaoguan saw the old eunuch standing at the front of the platform.

Eunuch Wei!

He is indeed the top-notch master eunuch stationed here!

So what did Old Master Shi ask you to come here to see?

Old Master Shi was also in the funeral procession, but Minister of Rites Shi Chaoyuan did not accompany them - could it be that he had something more important to do?