***
The reason Jingyan didn't let Yuejiang bring Qingke and Qingfei on the first day was because he was worried that they were too weak to help in case of an emergency.
Wei You was born into a military family, and even the women in his clan knew some fighting skills to protect themselves, making them more alert than ordinary women.
Jingyan then asked Wei You to find two of his cousins to act as her personal bodyguards, to protect Yue Jiang when she went out.
On the first day, a mourning hall was set up in Jing Shuo's Prince Jing's mansion, and funeral banners were hung. In the center of the hall was Zheng Yutong's cenotaph. According to the rules, the coffin must be kept for three days before burial.
The coffin containing Zheng Yutong herself is still in the Huayi Hall of the palace and has not yet been carried out of the palace.
Yue Jiang helped Empress Dowager Zheng pack up Zheng Yutong's belongings in the Longevity Palace so that they could be returned to Zheng Yutong's hometown with her.
Inside the Longevity Hall, the sadness on Zheng Taihou's face was very noticeable. Upon hearing this, Yue Jiang had already sorted out all of her grandniece's belongings.
She slowly nodded: "You've worked hard, Your Highness. I've already asked the monks at Huayi Palace, and they said that Yu Tong's body will inevitably be turbulent when it returns to its hometown, which might disturb the peace of her soul."
"These three days will be spent in Huayi Palace for the deceased. Once the cenotaph at Prince Jing's residence is completed, Yu Tong's coffin can be carried out and sent off together at an auspicious time. At that time, the Crown Princess will inevitably have to make an extra trip."
Empress Dowager Zheng meant that the coffin containing Zheng Yutong would not be kept at Prince Jing's residence, but would be moved out of the palace and carried away with the coffin at Prince Jing's residence on the day of the cenotaph.
It sounds troublesome, but the dead are the greatest, and Empress Dowager Zheng is currently focused on comforting Huai Xu, so Yue Jiang can't complain.
"Yes, Grandmother Zheng, then your granddaughter-in-law will deliver the items to Huayi Palace first."
"Go," Empress Dowager Zheng said, her eyes narrowed slightly. After Yue Jiang's figure disappeared, she slowly opened her eyes, her slightly turned face concealing a layer of coldness.
"What did they say over there? Will they provide backup?"
The old nanny leaned down and whispered, "Yes, they said that as long as things go smoothly on your end, they will make proper arrangements for King Li's future. The arrangements outside the palace have already been made."
After hearing this, Empress Dowager Zheng remained uneasy, her mind still filled with worry.
"After what happened back then, I dared not trust them anymore. If it weren't for being desperate and Lu'er pleading so earnestly, just to fight for a sliver of hope, how could I have..."
Empress Dowager Zheng was heartbroken and unable to speak further. She remained silent for a long time before complaining.
"In the end, the Crown Prince should not have taken Yue Jiang back. He disrupted all my plans, causing Yu Tong to die and Lu'er to leave for distant lands."
"That's enough. It's no use saying anything now that things have come to this. Tell Huayi Palace to have Lu'er's coffin buried on the same day as Yu Tong's."
Seeing the Empress Dowager's worry, the old nanny silently poured a cup of tea and replied, "Yes."
...
Yue Jiang took Zheng Yutong's belongings to Huayi Hall. The monks in Huayi Hall were meditating and chanting sutras. Jing Lu's coffin and Zheng Yutong's coffin were placed on the left and right sides, respectively.
Yue Jiang was quite knowledgeable about spices. Before she even entered the palace, she smelled a strong sandalwood scent mixed with a faint smell of rotting corpses.
It is said that Jing Lu's body has decomposed and the coffin has already been nailed shut.
The time for burial has not yet been found, so we can only fumigate the coffin daily, add a base and wooden boards, and replace the incense inside to cover it.
Judging from the smell today, the corpse inside must be rotten beyond recognition.
It's already summer, and if Zheng Yutong's body is carried back, it will probably start to stink within ten days.
She was vaguely puzzled. Empress Dowager Zheng thought it was good for Zheng Yutong to return to her roots, but did she not consider the preservation of her body?
"Your Highness, Princess Jing's belongings have all been moved into the palace. Would you like to take a look at them?" The abbot of Huayi Palace arranged for people to put the things away, and then he went to Yue Jiang to report.
Yue Jiang watched the things being moved in with her own eyes. She couldn't accompany Zheng Yutong's coffin back to her hometown; the whole journey was arranged by people from Empress Dowager Zheng.
She couldn't control whether those people acted consciously or unconsciously, so there was nothing to check. She nodded and prepared to leave.
"No, I trust the master."
The Eastern Palace.
As soon as Yue Jiang returned, she heard the news that Jing Yan was going to leave the palace on business. Upon learning the reason, she asked with concern, "Will he be gone for many days?"
Jing Yan said solemnly, "Yes, we need to arrest the person first before we can find out who is hiding."
He and Rong Ying had been scheming about spies, and recently they discovered an old eunuch who had left the palace.
The old eunuch's departure from the palace at a suspicious time; it was right after Jing Yan investigated An Guo's spies, and he hasn't returned since.
A junior eunuch once went out of the palace to search for him, but although he did not find him, he did find several secret letters in the old eunuch's house.
The letter describes the situation inside the Jing Palace, most of which is irrelevant.
Afterwards, Jing Yan secretly investigated the neighborhood around the old eunuch and found that everyone said that after he returned, he always sneakily brought things back from outside.
Neighbors said that the person brought fine wine and food, and that there was a person hiding in the house who never came out. Three days ago, the old eunuch locked the door and had not been seen since.
Following his neighbor's advice, Jing Yan searched the old eunuch's house but found nothing strange.
They dug up a pile of valuable food scraps and burnt clothes in the yard, and even found a piece of paper with a stamp in a pile of ashes that hadn't turned to ash.
There is a missing character "奂" inside the seal.
Jing Yan was very familiar with this half of the characters and the remaining seal pattern. In the past, every time he gave An Guo silver, An Chenghuan would always send a sanctimonious reply to Jing Guo.
Jing Yan dared not imagine who would dare to hide in Pingkang City, given that the old eunuchs were serving him fine wine and food.
Relying on his experience of leaving a trace of everything, he investigated the merchants who could provide transportation, both openly and secretly, and finally found out that the old eunuch had gone through a lot of trouble to buy two mules for transporting goods.
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