Chapter 134 Sitting in a Row and Sharing Fruit: Shen Wanqing had a waist token from Yuqing Palace, making it easy for her to enter the palace on ordinary days. Even with unfamiliar guards, as long as…
Shen Wanqing had a waist token from Yuqing Palace, so entering the palace was always smooth for her. Even if there were unfamiliar guards, as long as they got close and saw the insignia on her carriage, no one would give her any trouble.
But entering the palace today still felt particularly special. The guards at the palace gates were all solemn. As she walked into the Forbidden City, Shen Wanqing even saw Su He and two other familiar faces whose names she couldn't recall.
Su He is in the Firearms Battalion, and those two familiar faces should be from Shen Wenyuan's side. The fact that people from the Firearms Battalion and the Five Cities Garrison have been transferred to the Imperial City shows how cautious Yinreng, as the Crown Prince, is about this matter.
Even though the situation in this life is completely different from what Shen Wanqing knew, and even though Yinreng has gained an absolute advantage, there can be no mistakes in this matter.
“Madam, Lord Yu has already entered the palace. He knew you would be entering the palace soon, so he asked me to wait for you here.”
What message did he leave me?
As soon as she arrived at the entrance of Yuqing Palace, Martai was the first to greet her. As soon as Shen Wanqing saw him, she guessed that Akdun must also be in the palace at this time, most likely guarding the Crown Prince.
"My lord has instructed you to stay close to the Crown Princess today. The encoffining at Qianqing Palace is not yet finished, and the Fujin (principals) will be entering the palace soon. Please keep a close eye on things and send someone to find me if anything happens. I will be guarding the entrance of Yuqing Palace with my men today."
"Why haven't any of the princes and nobles entered the palace at this hour?"
"The princes and nobles are all in the Qianqing Palace. The Crown Prince... His Majesty ordered the eunuchs and guards who went to fetch them to delay the arrival time of the princesses. The affairs of the inner palace are still to be handled by the Crown Princess. Too many people entering the palace at this time would be too chaotic."
Indeed, there was no preparation. If Emperor Kangxi had fallen seriously ill for a few days before passing away, like the Empress Dowager, those few days would have been enough for Yinreng to arrange everything in an orderly manner.
Although Kangxi's health had been declining in recent years, it had remained quite stable. So stable that Yulang once treasonously told Shen Wanqing in secret that he was prepared to serve as Vice Minister of Revenue for another ten years.
After all, as long as the Crown Prince doesn't ascend the throne, he certainly won't get those positions as Grand Secretaries or heads of the Six Ministries. A new emperor brings a new court; Yu Lang is just a reserve officer who does the work but has no title. His rise to prominence will only be meaningful after the Crown Prince ascends the throne and bestows favors and rewards.
But no one expected that this morning, just as dawn was breaking, Liang Jiugong was preparing to help Emperor Kangxi get up and wash with the palace maids when he lifted the curtain and discovered something was wrong.
Liang Jiugong had served Emperor Kangxi with utmost caution his entire life, but this was the first time he had ever shouted for the imperial physician. He immediately turned around and pushed He Mancang to rush to Yuqing Palace to report the news.
When Yinreng saw He Mancang, who was panting and speechless, his mind went blank for a moment. Without waiting for He Mancang to speak again, he had already dashed out of Yuqing Palace, followed by a string of eunuchs and guards. The scene was as ridiculous as could be.
When Yinreng arrived at the Qianqing Palace, the imperial physician had not yet arrived. Liang Jiugong mustered his courage and forcibly pried open Kangxi's teeth, then placed two specially prepared pills under his tongue.
Perhaps the pills were truly effective, or perhaps he still had a breath left. In any case, just as Yinreng turned around and sternly urged the imperial physician to be brought quickly, Kangxi, who had been in a coma, slowly woke up.
Emperor Kangxi ascended the throne at the age of eight and is now fifty-five. In the years since his stroke, he has become thin and haggard, and even his beard has turned mostly white, making him look more like an old man in his sixties.
Time is the most impartial thing to everyone, and even the most powerful person cannot escape it. The only thing that still shows his former glory is his eyes, which remain bright and piercing even after being ravaged by illness.
Those eyes remained fixed on Yinreng without blinking, until Liang Jiugong reminded him that the Emperor had woken up. Seeing Yinreng kneel before the bed, Kangxi managed a stiff smile. He wanted to speak, but saliva slid down his chin before he could even open his mouth.
People fear this kind of situation the most. Especially for someone like Emperor Kangxi, who truly had a glorious and spirited life, this nearly decaying physical body was even a humiliation.
He frowned as he watched his son, Yinreng, wipe the drool off his face with a handkerchief, then take a warm cloth from a palace maid and gently wipe away the filth left on his face and neck by the illness that had occurred sometime during his illness.
“Liang Jiugong…” With his son doing this much, Kangxi’s resentment and frustration accumulated over the years dissipated all at once. “Go and bring that box over here.”
"Baocheng, send someone to fetch the eldest and fourth brothers."
Perhaps it was a final burst of energy before death, but after saying a few words, Kangxi's speech became clearer and his voice louder than before. He even had Yinreng put a pillow behind him, sat up halfway, and looked at his crown prince while panting heavily.
"After all these years of living in fear, is this finally happening?"
"At this point, why does Father Emperor say such things to hurt his son's feelings?"
"I have a bad temper, and I have never truly raised a child other than you. When you are not good, I want to give you the best of everything in the world. When you are good, I feel like you are my son. I am not old yet, how can you have grown up and escape my control?"
As the saying goes, "A dying man's words are good," and Kangxi was in a state of speaking his mind at this moment. Father and son had been suspicious of each other for decades and had been honest with each other a lot, but at this moment, every minute and every second seemed so precious and rare, and neither of them wanted to waste any more time on lies.
"I have no mother, and I have been protected by my father in the palace for decades. If it weren't for my father, I would probably be a pile of bones by now. I both respect and fear my father. He can be good to me and decide my life and death. I am just an ordinary person and I am very afraid of dying."
Yinreng truly never harbored any intention to usurp the throne; from beginning to end, he only hoped to be a good son. One must know right from wrong; if his father, the Emperor, had been any more ruthless or insensitive, he would have had a very difficult time getting to where he is today.
Hongxi is thirteen years old this year. Watching his son Yinreng grow up day by day, he secretly thought that in a few years, this boy Hongxi should be getting married and having children.
At that time, this kid will also have his own things to do, and there will be officials and subordinates who want to place their bets and pledge allegiance to him.
When he reaches the age where he can participate in politics, he will surely have different opinions and views on the same things as I have seen my imperial father all these years.
Different opinions lead to different ways of handling things. How could he possibly have no dissatisfaction at all? Yinreng felt that he wasn't that magnanimous.
Of course, she wanted her son to be obedient and loyal to her. Hongxi seemed like someone who could hold the throne. She might not make a crown prince so soon, but as long as he was obedient and patient, she would definitely pass the throne to him in the future.
When Yinreng said this to Emperor Kangxi, his voice was somewhat muffled. The more he spoke, the more heartbroken he felt, and the tears he had been holding back for so long finally broke free at this moment.
Perhaps my father has thought the same way all these years. He also felt that there would always be that "time," but I always wondered how long that "time" would actually take.
“In a few more years, Hongxi will be able to give you a grandson and will be the Emperor’s man. Why are you still crying like this?”
Looking at Yinreng's appearance, Kangxi even found it a little funny. The silly boy had reached the age where he had watched him grow up little by little, a feeling that no one in the world could understand except for the father and son.
The father and son, one lying down and the other kneeling, neither of them mentioned anything about the court. Kangxi had given them everything he could, including the regents, the cabinet, and the Southern Study. As for what he couldn't give, Yinreng had to subdue it all by his own abilities. Even though he was the emperor, he couldn't control that anymore.
Yinzhi and Yinzhen arrived quickly. Yinzhi had run so fast on his way to the palace that he tripped and fell on the steps outside the Qianqing Palace. His palms were rubbed raw and bleeding. When Yinzhen pulled him up, he could even feel Yinzhi falling.
"Father Emperor."
"How old are you? Why are you still so reckless?"
Yinzhi was the eldest son, and over the years, Kangxi's attitude towards him was all bark and no bite, whether things were good or bad.
To outsiders, Prince Zhi, the eldest son of a concubine, was treated much worse than the Crown Prince. Even Emperor Kangxi himself felt that Baoqing was not as good as Baocheng.
But Kangxi, who was barely clinging to life, was not afraid of death. Instead, he frowned as he looked at Yinzhi's injured hand.
The effects of the pills he had taken earlier had mostly worn off, and the fact that he could still speak was entirely thanks to the imperial physicians who had arrived earlier and inserted long needles into several major acupoints on Kangxi's body.
"Summon the imperial physician to examine the injury on the eldest son's hand."
“Father…”
All the princes and noblemen have always addressed him as "Father Emperor," but only Yinzhi, because he was the first son raised by Emperor Kangxi, kept forgetting to say "Emperor" after he learned to speak as a child, and instead called him "Father Emperor."
At first, Consort Hui kept correcting her son, but Emperor Kangxi felt that it was no big deal. He thought that his father and father were both his own father, so why should he change them?
This habit remained, and neither Yinzhi nor Kangxi remembers when Yinzhi stopped calling him "Ama" (father). In recent years, this somewhat unfamiliar form of address would only be uttered by Yinzhi when he was truly emotionally agitated.
After calling out "Father," he had nothing more to say. Yinzhi lowered his head and let the imperial physician handle him as he pleased. Kneeling beside him was Yinreng. The two brothers, who had grown up together, hadn't knelt together like this in countless years. Yinzhi felt as if needles were poking his knees and buttocks.
"Baoqing, you're too impulsive. From now on, behave properly and control your temper, Your Majesty..."
"After I leave, Liang Jiugong has something for the eldest brother. Take the thing and behave yourself."
As his last breath faded, Kangxi's voice grew softer and softer. When he uttered the last sentence, he no longer sounded like an emperor, but more like an elderly father rambling on to his son.
Liang Jiugong had already brought over the box containing the imperial edict, and the other princes, imperial relatives, cabinet ministers, members of the Southern Study, and grand secretaries who were supposed to be there outside the Qianqing Palace had all arrived.
Kangxi glanced at Liang Jiugong, who immediately understood the meaning and summoned all the important officials.
Yu Lang also entered with these officials, but this time Lord Yu had changed into the robes of a military officer and carried a sword at his waist. After entering, he stood at the door, where he could see Akdun outside.
These precautions were trivial; Kangxi could no longer clearly see who was standing at the door, and even if he could, he wouldn't think anything was amiss. No amount of caution was excessive during the handover between the old and new emperors, and Yinreng's grief and vigilance at this moment were genuine.
As expected, the imperial edict passed the throne to the crown prince. After the edict was read, Kangxi was barely clinging to life.
Lying on the bed, the emperor laboriously moved his eyes, scanning each of his sons one by one, before finally tightly grasping Yinreng's hand: "Be well, be well..."
The last words were swallowed up with each breath by the genuine or feigned weeping of the crowd, and Liang Jiugong's hoarse cry that the Emperor had passed away.
At this moment, Yinreng was actually unable to cry. When Kangxi passed away, he did not feel the joy of "I can finally ascend the throne and become emperor", but rather a kind of fear of "What should I do? What can I do? Can I really support this country?"
Fortunately, there were too many things to deal with after the late emperor's passing, so Yinreng didn't have time to be sentimental. He was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work that Yulang and Yinzhen had to do.
After the encoffining, the late emperor's edict was issued, and a funeral administration office was established, with the new emperor, Yinreng, presiding over the funeral rites. Soon, officials from the Ministry of Rites, the Imperial Clan Court, the Imperial Household Department, and the Ministry of Works set up the mourning hall in the Qianqing Palace, and the princes' wives, led by the Grand Consort, arrived at the Yuqing Palace one after another.
The First Consort, Lady Irgen Gioro, was in poor health and had been coughing since early autumn. She was forcing herself to come to the palace, and even the short walk from the palace gate to Yuqing Palace left her breathless and unable to speak.
"Weren't there any sedan chairs prepared at the palace gate? Why did you walk in like this, sister-in-law?"
"Everything was prepared, but I didn't want it myself. It's not appropriate to ride in a sedan chair today. Please, Your Majesty, make a decision on what to do."
The imperial edict announcing Yinreng's ascension to the throne has been issued, but the new emperor has not yet had time to bestow honors upon Shi Qionghua and the people of Yuqing Palace.
Everyone knew that Shi Qionghua was the Empress, but since the imperial decree of investiture had not been issued, they could not call her that without permission. Even the Irgen Gioro clan could only vaguely call her "Your Majesty," and everyone knew what that meant.
"The Imperial Household Department has already sent the items needed for mourning to various parts of the inner palace. The Qianqing Palace must still be busy at this moment. We are all family members and sisters-in-law, so I won't stand on ceremony with you."
"Later, everyone should go to the inner palace first and help the concubines and noble ladies in the side halls to change what needs to be changed and prepare what needs to be prepared. Also, we should comfort the concubines. Everyone is feeling bad after the late emperor passed away."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Even if life is tough, we have to keep going. Fortunately, the late emperor is gone, but there is a new emperor. As long as we still have support, we won't panic."
"What reliance or not? As the old saying goes, when fighting a tiger, brothers are close. Once this busy period is over, we will definitely not be left behind."
In just a few words, the Crown Princess and the First Princess Consort had said everything that needed to be said. The late Emperor has just passed away; those of you who should mourn should mourn, and those of you who should observe mourning should observe mourning. Do not cause any disturbances at this time.
Afterwards, the new emperor will bestow as many titles and rewards as he should, since the titles have been kept under wraps for years, waiting to be issued after the new emperor ascends the throne.
Upon hearing the Crown Princess's words, the sorrow on the faces of all the princesses in the room lessened considerably. The Third Princess, Dong E, was the first to stand up and say she wanted to go to Consort Rong's palace. Shen Wanqing, who had been standing to the side, quickly ordered the palace servants to bring the sedan chair from Yuqing Palace and, without further ado, helped Irgen Gioro into the sedan chair and headed towards Yanxi Palace.
"Your Majesty, we need to summon a few more imperial physicians to the palace, one for each of the Qianqing Palace and the inner palace. We need to go to the Qianqing Palace this afternoon to mourn, and we can't afford to send a few more."
"Shenbi, go to the Imperial Hospital and have the director select ten healthy imperial physicians to enter the palace. Six should be assigned to the Qianqing Palace and four to the inner palace. Anyone who feels unwell, including eunuchs and palace maids, should not try to tough it out. They should see an imperial physician and get medicine in time. Don't delay important matters."
After giving her instructions, Shi Qionghua let out a long sigh. Her gaze towards Shen Wanqing was particularly complex. The death of Kangxi and the ascension of Yinreng to the throne were undoubtedly good things for her, but were they really all good things? Shi Qionghua wasn't so sure herself.
"Your Majesty, don't think so much. Let's deal with the immediate matters first, and we can talk about the future later."
"I know, I know..."
“I just can’t help but overthink things sometimes. Don’t go anywhere these days, just stay by my side. I feel more at ease when you’re here.”
"That won't do. I have to go to the Court of Colonial Affairs on behalf of the Empress. In a few days, people from Shengjing and Mongolia will be arriving one after another to attend the funeral. I need to go and see how to arrange for the elderly wives and female relatives among them before I can feel at ease."
“I’m giving Caiwei to you. Take her with you wherever you go during this time. That way, people outside will know you’re acting on my orders, and they’ll have less to say.”
The worst thing about this is being busy with nothing to do. As soon as you have free time, you tend to overthink things, so it's better to keep busy.
Shen Wanqing helped Shi Qionghua and Yulang follow Yinreng. During the entire period of keeping vigil for Kangxi, the two could only see each other once in the morning and evening when they came out of the palace. They were so tired that they didn't even have the strength to talk.
After the late emperor's death, his body was kept in the Qianqing Palace for twenty-seven days. After twenty-seven days, the body was moved to the Shouhuang Hall. There was a series of complicated and complicated ceremonies to be held in the Shouhuang Hall. Only after the Ministry of Rites determined the posthumous title and temple name and the Imperial Astronomical Bureau set a date could the funeral procession and the coffin be sent to the imperial mausoleum.
Fortunately, for women of noble birth like Shen Wanqing, who were officials outside the capital, they were free once they got through the first twenty-seven days. The ceremonies at the Shouhuang Hall were all attended by members of the imperial clan, and they only needed to accompany the funeral procession to the imperial mausoleum.
After mourning Emperor Kangxi for twenty-seven consecutive days, even though Yu Lang and Shen Wanqing had found themselves jobs and didn't have to kneel there every day to follow the instructions of the Ministry of Rites officials to get up, bow, cry, kowtow, and then cry and kowtow again, by the time it was finally over, they still felt that the clothes and cloaks they were wearing were a bit empty.
Especially for Yulang, there are many things that Yinreng hasn't assigned yet, so it's not good to give him temporary tasks. The fear is that once they're given, they won't be able to take them back, so they can only rely on Yulang.
Fortunately, this task was not done for nothing. Three days after the late emperor's funeral, the palace issued several imperial edicts bestowing favors. The first was to posthumously honor deceased important officials, and the second was to reward and reward brothers and officials.
As a member of the Crown Prince's faction for so many years and now a favorite of the new emperor, Yu Lang was naturally not to be left behind. He was promoted from Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue to Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, entered the Southern Study to discuss politics, and his original second-class viscount title was also promoted to second-class marquis. In short, he was not left behind in terms of official position and title.
Meanwhile, the 'Kowloon' that had fought each other to the death throughout history have each taken new paths and have their own futures.
Prince Zhi was promoted to Prince Zhi, Prince Cheng was promoted to Prince Cheng, the fourth prince Yinzhen was promoted to Prince Yong, the fifth prince Yinqi was promoted to Prince Heng, the seventh prince Yinyou was promoted to Prince Chun, and the eighth to thirteenth princes were all promoted to princes.
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