While the Empress Dowager's coffin was lying in state, the war situation remained grim. Emperor Jian'an had no choice but to issue an edict ordering Prince Su to lead troops to quell the rebellion.
Wan Jinlan didn't know what was going on outside, even though she had heard her aunt's story. She only had one wish now: to return safely to the Prince of Qi's mansion after her mother's funeral.
As for the future, we’ll talk about it later.
Fortunately, Xiao Feng's health was getting better day by day, and he no longer had to rely on liquid food that was easily digestible for meals, so he recovered much faster than before.
After Doctor Song was driven away, the emperor naturally sent another doctor.
Wan Jinlan pretended to be crazy and stupid for a long time, and said like a madman that there were people with evil intentions in the palace who wanted to kill her prince, and she refused to let the new imperial physician see him.
The emperor was so angry that his face turned blue. When he entered the inner room and saw Xiao Feng, whose face was pale and grayish, his expression suddenly softened. He felt that Doctor Song should have done his job well and Xiao Feng could only wait to die, so he stopped forcing him.
However, this "mad woman" Wan Jinlan was also reprimanded by the emperor.
With the help of her aunt, neither she nor Xiao Feng suffered from eating.
At this time, Wan Jinlan was drinking hot old duck soup.
My aunt is so thoughtful. She brings in different soups every day, and they are all very delicious.
All food brought into Feiyu Palace will be checked to see if there is any smuggling. The food boxes containing soup and medicine have changed several times. Recently, there are no soups, and they are just pills.
I broke open today's snack, the pine nut and lily pastry. The first two were empty, but the third one contained a brown pill.
Wan Jinlan lifted the curtain, handed him the pills, and fed him some water.
"You don't need to be careful today. Eat more and see your mother off on her final journey."
Xiao Feng was obviously in a bad mood today. It was one thing for him to have harbored resentment in the past, but now that he had lost someone, he couldn't help but feel sad.
The palace maid was guarding outside. Through the screen, she vaguely saw the King of Qi stand up and was shocked.
"Princess, why did His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi get up? Would you like me to come in and serve you?"
Wan Jinlan dressed Xiao Feng in several layers, with mourning clothes as the outermost layer.
She raised her voice and said, "There is no need for you to serve me. I can do it myself."
The palace maid didn't think there was anything unusual about Wan Jinlan's attitude. After all, these days, Wan Jinlan never let anyone get close to Xiao Feng, often drove away the palace maids, and always said that someone wanted to harm King Qi.
"Your Highness, are you feeling better today?" The palace maid still remembered her duty in Feiyu Palace, and she poked her head inside.
Wan Jinlan helped Xiao Feng, who had a pale face, pale lips and was wearing mourning clothes, out.
"I suddenly feel refreshed today. My mother is being buried. As a son, how can I not go and see her off?"
When the palace maid saw the appearance of King Qi, four words came to her mind.
A last glimmer of light.
I heard that before a person dies, he or she will suddenly become energetic, able to eat, drink and have the strength to speak. However, the good times usually don't last long, and when the time comes, the person is gone.
The King of Qi's face was pale and gray, with a slight blush on his cheeks. Wasn't that a last gasp of vitality?
The maid bowed and said, "It's a good thing that the prince can get up. His Majesty will surely be pleased. I will go and inform His Majesty right away."
Wan Jinlan didn't stop her and helped Xiao Feng walk out of the hall.
The palace servants blocked the entrance to the palace. Xiao Feng coughed weakly from time to time, and the palace servants could clearly see the bloodstains on his handkerchief.
"Today, I am going to see the Queen Mother off for the last time. Anyone who stops me today will die."
At this moment, Concubine Wan arrived with her palace maids. Seeing this, she angrily shouted, "How dare you! What are you doing?"
The leading eunuch said, "His Majesty has instructed that the prince is weak and needs to be well cared for. He should not be moved."
Wan Jinlan kicked the eunuch away and said, "You bastard, you dare to stop our prince from fulfilling his filial duties to the Queen Mother. I think you want to die."
Anyway, she has been notorious recently, so today's incident doesn't matter.
She just didn't believe that these palace servants would dare to fight her.
She kicked the door open and helped Xiao Feng out of the hall.
When they were almost at Taiji Palace, the emperor's sedan chair arrived.
The emperor had learned from the palace maid who had reported the news earlier that Xiao Feng was suspected of having a "last burst of vitality". When he saw Xiao Feng coughing up blood, he believed it even more.
Now Xiao Feng and the emperor both knew the truth, but they had not yet torn their faces apart and still maintained the false appearance of brotherly friendship.
"You are not in good health, and your mother will not blame you for not going to see her off for the last time. If anything happens because of this, your mother will definitely blame me for not taking good care of you." At this moment, the emperor seemed to really be like an elder brother who loved his younger brother.
Xiao Feng coughed up another mouthful of blood and casually wiped it off with his crimson-stained handkerchief.
"Don't worry, my Royal Brother. I feel much better today. If I don't go to see my mother off, I'm afraid I'll regret it for the rest of my life. I hope your Royal Brother will allow me to do so."
Wan Jinlan wiped her tears and said, "Your Majesty, please save the prince. I'm afraid... afraid... wuwuwu..."
She looked like she was in a state of collapse, afraid that her husband would die.
Emperor Jian'an felt more relaxed.
Recalling the year when he fled Kyoto, Nanny Huang told him that his mother only wanted to take Xiao Feng away because she had known for a long time that he was Sui'er's son.
He was terrified, fearing that his mother would really abandon him, so he found ways to hide Xiao Feng on the day he left, making it impossible for his mother's people to find him.
He thought that the young Xiao Feng would die in Kyoto, but he didn't expect that he would still be alive and well after so many years.
Not until he became the master of the Great Wei did his heart settle down.
For so many years, he was wary of the Queen Mother, but entrusted important tasks to Xiao Feng, making Xiao Feng regard him as his own brother and rely on him. Seeing the relationship between his mother and Xiao Feng becoming more and more distant day by day, Emperor Jian'an felt very happy in his heart.
The Queen Mother's own son had died of illness. Since she had snatched him from her to secure her position, she should have treated him well! Why did she abandon him when danger struck?
Huang Ma, this lowly maid, was related to his biological mother by blood, but she became the knife in the hands of the empress dowager when his mother was in trouble. She deserved to die.
Looking at the scene before him, Emperor Jian'an felt extremely happy and said in a gentle tone, "Go and see your mother off for the last time."
You and your son will be reunited soon, so I will be merciful this time.
Wan Jinlan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he left the palace and returned to Prince Qi's Mansion, he would not be so passive.
Seventy-two pallbearers carried the empress dowager's coffin out of Taiji Palace, out of the imperial palace, and to the imperial mausoleum.
The funeral band played music, Wan Jinlan and Xiao Feng followed behind the coffin, and officials of all ranks and the guarding army accompanied them. Today, even the emperor had to send the empress dowager off on foot.
There was also a large team transporting burial objects in the funeral procession. The team was very long, the weather was gloomy, and the air was very cold. Halfway through the procession, snowflakes started to fall.
After the burial ceremony, there is also a ceremony to worship the heavens.
Xiao Feng knelt on the altar with his eyes lowered, his thoughts drifting far away.
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