Chapter 117 Winter.
The furnishings and decorations in Changqiu Palace were as elegant and luxurious as before, and the chrysanthemums under the corridor were in full bloom, but Daiyu felt a sense of desolation.
Daiyu sighed softly and followed the lady-in-waiting into the Empress's palace. Not only this Changqiu Palace, but the Empress and the palace servants were all lifeless.
No, Daiyu thought, perhaps it was because the people living in Changqiu Palace were like lifeless beings that the palace itself was devoid of life.
The Empress has only one son and one daughter. The eldest prince has passed away, and now the eldest prince's wife and the eldest princess are by her side, but they are clearly unable to bring the Empress any vitality.
Daiyu curtsied, while the Empress lay there with her eyes open, motionless and silent.
The eldest princess forced a smile and said, "Aunt, please forgive me. Since my mother fell ill, she has stopped talking to anyone."
Daiyu shook her head and politely advised, "You should also take care of yourselves, so that the Empress can be at ease."
The eldest princess said dejectedly, "Aunt is right, we will be careful."
The Crown Prince's wife smiled at Daiyu and said, "Thank you for your concern, Aunt. Please sit down and have a cup of tea."
The eldest prince died protecting the emperor. Although the emperor was ill, he ordered the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs to properly handle his funeral arrangements. The eldest prince's wife, as his widow, was also ordered by the emperor to be treated with great respect.
Although she has lost her husband and can no longer rely on her family, the Crown Prince's wife can now avoid all the troubles. Whoever succeeds to the throne in the future will surely treat her well.
Daiyu sighed inwardly, wondering whether it was a blessing or a curse.
After leaving Changqiu Palace, Daiyu sat in the Imperial Garden for a while, admiring the newly arranged chrysanthemums of various colors, before leaving the palace with her maids and nannies.
The Empress had been ill for over half a month, and all the ladies of the court and palace had to pay their respects to her daily. Daiyu was no exception. She successfully spoke with a palace maid who was now quite popular with the Crown Prince—she was now a female official with a rank. However, she had only encountered the Fourth Prince's wife a few times in public and had not yet spoken to her privately.
Half a month later, the empress passed away.
This was expected by everyone. The Empress was ill but refused to take medicine. Even when the palace servants tried to feed her, she wouldn't open her mouth. She was only able to get through these days by swallowing some medicine and ginseng soup while she was unconscious.
The emperor is now able to get out of bed and walk around, but he still claims to be ill and does not appear at the empress's funeral. He simply instructs the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs to follow the proper procedures.
Daiyu was to observe a vegetarian diet while keeping vigil in the palace, and Chu Heng, fearing that her health might not be able to handle it, would often secretly prepare special meals for her.
After lunch that day, as the two were talking to aid digestion, Daiyu said coldly, "Even my lifelong wife is treated so heartlessly by the Emperor; it is truly chilling."
Chu Heng was massaging Daiyu's knees when he heard this and said, "Now His Majesty can't stand such things. He teaches the imperial physicians to take pulses every day and even avoids getting involved in politics, all because he's afraid of death. Right now, let alone his wife, he only cares about himself, not even his parents and children."
“People say that the imperial family is heartless, but in my opinion, the most heartless person in the imperial family is the emperor,” Daiyu said.
Chu Heng continued working: "Let's not talk about him anymore. This isn't the first time His Majesty has been like this. You should close your eyes and rest for a bit. You still have to endure this for another ten days or so."
Daiyu closed her eyes and said, "The Empress is also a pitiful person. I have no complaints about keeping vigil for her. However, even pitiful people can be foolish. Apart from the eldest prince, the Empress has forgotten that she has another daughter."
“A princess is a princess, whether the empress is here or not,” Chu Heng said gently.
For the eldest princess, it seemed to make no difference whether her mother was alive and oblivious to her, or whether her mother was gone.
Daiyu sighed deeply, frowned, and slowly fell asleep. Chu Heng got up and sat beside her, gently smoothing her brow.
… …
The day before the funeral, a vigil was to be held all night. Daiyu rested for an hour in the afternoon and met the Fourth Prince's wife on her way back.
The Fourth Prince's wife politely bowed, and since they had the same destination, they traveled together.
"The sky was overcast when I woke up this morning, and it looked like it was going to rain." The Fourth Prince's wife held the lady-in-waiting's hand, her brows furrowed with worry. "If it rains, the journey to the Imperial Mausoleum tomorrow will be difficult."
Daiyu said, "The affairs of Heaven are unpredictable, so there's no need to worry about them too early."
The Fourth Prince's wife nodded and said, "Aunt is absolutely right. I was worrying unnecessarily."
Daiyu stepped over a threshold and asked, "You've come from the south to the north, I wonder if you're adjusting well?"
The Fourth Prince's wife smiled and said, "Auntie doesn't know, I only went to the south with my father and mother in the last few years. I grew up in the capital until I was ten years old."
Daiyu smiled and said, "I am the opposite of you. When I was a child, I lived in the south with my parents for a few years before moving to the capital. In recent years, I have only stayed in Qingzhou for a few years and have not gone south again."
The Fourth Prince's wife asked curiously, "Where in the south did you live when you were young, Aunt?"
“My ancestral home is Suzhou. My father served as the salt commissioner in Yangzhou for several years,” Daiyu replied.
The Fourth Prince's wife smiled and said, "Both Suzhou and Yangzhou are places of outstanding people and beautiful scenery. No wonder Aunt is so elegant and refined."
Daiyu humbly replied, "Only young girls like you deserve such words."
The Fourth Prince's wife shook her head: "Auntie is actually quite young, it's just that she is of a higher generation, so I'm the one who called her old."
Hearing her say this, Daiyu joked, "It's all thanks to our Prince."
The Fourth Prince's wife was slightly taken aback: "I've long heard that my uncle and aunt are a loving couple, which is truly enviable."
Daiyu followed up by asking, "Has the Fourth Prince treated you badly?"
"Whether it's good or not..." The Fourth Prince's wife lowered her head and twirled the handkerchief in her hand. "A marriage bestowed by the Emperor is rare, especially one as good as your aunt."
Everyone knew what kind of person the Fourth Prince was, so she had no need to hide it. Besides, she had no worries about food and drink in the palace, just like at home, and she hadn't really had a hard life. It was just that young ladies in their boudoirs inevitably had some romantic thoughts, and it seemed like she was forcing herself to be melancholic.
Hearing her say this, Daiyu softened a bit, abandoned her probing intentions, and comforted her, saying, "Life is ultimately your own, and how you live it depends entirely on your own heart."
The Fourth Prince's wife had a powerful maternal family and a husband who was completely out of the running for the throne. In the treacherous power struggles of the royal family, she could be considered to have turned misfortune into blessing.
The Fourth Prince's wife responded, "Aunt is right..." As she spoke, she happened to see the First Prince's wife approaching from the other side, and she paused for a moment, murmuring, "If she were like her, it wouldn't be bad..."
The Fourth Prince's wife thought that being a widow who didn't have to worry about anything and could enjoy wealth and luxury would be much better than having the Fourth Prince who was an eyesore. However, the Fourth Prince was always lively and energetic, so she was afraid that her wish would be difficult to realize.
Upon hearing this, Daiyu raised an eyebrow slightly.
That evening, autumn rain fell and the wind blew. The next day, when the Empress's funeral procession took place, there were still fallen flowers and broken branches on the road that had not been swept away.
The funeral procession then left Beijing, returning in early November, when the capital was experiencing its third snowfall of the year.
Chu Heng brushed the snow off his clothes at the door before going inside to warm himself by the fire. Daiyu and Chu Yang were reading in the inner room when they heard him return and came out to see him.
Upon seeing this, Chu Heng quickly said, "It's terribly cold. Stay inside and keep warm, don't catch a cold."
A maid draped a warm coat over Daiyu's shoulders. She pulled it tighter and smiled, "It's alright when it snows, but it'll get even colder when the snow melts tomorrow."
Chu Heng frowned and said, "There's been too much snow this year; I'm afraid there will be a disaster."
Daiyu stopped laughing: "If that's the case, we need to make preparations in advance. It's not just snowing in the capital. Someone from the estate brought fresh venison the other day. The manager's wife said that the snow is even heavier in the surrounding counties. Everyone says that a good snow promises a good harvest, but there's too much snow. We're afraid that the crops and livestock will freeze, and many poor families will even freeze to death!"
"I have already discussed with them the matter of the imperial court setting up soup kitchens. In addition, we need to ask the Imperial Hospital to keep an eye on things and prepare some herbal soups to treat colds or common winter ailments. His Majesty's health has deteriorated since the beginning of winter, and he doesn't care about these things, so we can make the decisions," Chu Heng added.
Daiyu nodded and said, "I also plan to set up a few soup kitchens. I mentioned it to Yongkang the other day, and she was also interested. She has already given me the money. I wrote the regulations this morning, and you can take a look at them in a bit."
Once Chu Heng felt warm, he took off his outer coat, took Daiyu's hand, and the two of them went into the inner room together: "Since Yongkang has this idea, you can also ask Eldest Sister and Fifth Sister. Ordinary noble families in the capital also set up soup kitchens, but they are ultimately inseparable from the capital. Since the situation is more serious in the surrounding counties, why don't we set up the soup kitchens further away as well?"
Daiyu handed him the plan she had written and said, "That's feasible. Let me take care of this first step, and then we'll discuss it with them."
Chu Yang climbed onto his father's back and asked, "Dad, can I go help once the soup kitchen is set up?"
"Can you do it?" Chu Heng asked. "You can't do anything. You'll only cause trouble, not help."
Daiyu patted the little guy on the shoulder: "Don't bother your father, he's very tired."
Chu Yang obediently sat down and said, "I can learn, Mother. I'll learn from you, and once I've learned, I can help."
"Alright." Daiyu smiled and patted his head. "From today onwards, you will learn from your mother."
After Chu Heng finished reading, he said to Daiyu, "Yours is even better than ours. I need to learn from yours."
Daiyu smiled and said, "It's not that I don't want you to learn, you just say nice things to coax me."
"How could I be flattering you? I clearly admire you." Chu Heng smiled and gently squeezed her palm.
Daiyu glared at him, telling him to be serious in front of the child. Chu Heng coughed and then said to Chu Yang in a serious tone, "You can't just learn from your mother; your father will teach you too."
In Qingzhou, Chu Yang learned poetry and literature not only from his teacher, but also from his parents. After returning to the capital, because Chu Heng was busy with court affairs, usually only his mother taught him. Therefore, when he heard his father say this, Chu Yang couldn't help but feel pleasantly surprised.
What did my father teach me?
Chu Heng tapped his forehead: "I'll teach you this too, but it's about how the imperial court handles it."
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