Everything went well on the eastern tour. Emperor Qianlong and his entourage stayed in Qufu, visited the Confucius Cemetery, and went to Tai'an to climb Mount Tai.
Empress Fucha was not in good health throughout the journey, but she did not want to spoil everyone's fun, so she kept quiet and used rouge to cover her pale complexion.
The Empress seemed to be in good spirits, so Hongli didn't realize that Empress Fucha's health had indeed reached its limit.
After climbing Mount Tai, Empress Fucha finally succumbed to illness.
On the day he reached the summit of Mount Tai, Hongli was more excited than ever before. Mount Tai has always held an extraordinary position in the eyes of emperors in the Central Plains.
Hongli was naturally excited to be able to climb Mount Tai as an emperor, but after the excitement, a piece of bad news plunged him into sadness.
Empress Fucha was his first wife, and her position in his heart was different from that of anyone else. Moreover, Fucha was indeed perfect, and she deserved everyone's praise as a virtuous empress.
When the Empress fell ill, Hongli ordered the journey to stop there and did not continue.
All the imperial physicians on the imperial ship were assigned to treat the Empress, but Fucha's health was indeed poor. She concealed her illness, which caused it to worsen over time until she could no longer hold on and finally collapsed.
Half a month later, Empress Fucha's condition did not improve; on the contrary, it worsened. At this time, she was still advising Hongli not to worry about her condition and not to delay the important eastern tour.
Under such circumstances, how could Hongli possibly abandon his seriously ill wife and go on an eastern tour? He rejected the suggestion and stayed to accompany Lady Fucha.
Perhaps she was truly at her wit's end. In the days that followed, Empress Fucha spent more time in a coma than in a conscious state, and the imperial physicians' expressions grew increasingly grim.
Hongli was heartbroken, but he still held onto a sliver of hope that his wife would recover.
Fate intervened, and in the end, Empress Fucha could not overcome the knot in her heart and passed away.
Throughout her life, she was praised by everyone and was seen as a perfect being. But in reality, she lived a very tiring life. Her departure now may be a relief for her.
The Empress's death is not only a family matter but also a national affair, and it also presents a very good opportunity for the inner palace.
Without a direct superior, any of them could potentially ascend to the position that every woman in the world dreams of.
Although they knew that Consort Hui was the most likely candidate, as the saying goes, anything is possible until the dust settles.
Yun Yi simply smiled and remained silent. She was completely unfazed; no matter what these people thought or wished for, it wouldn't come to pass.
When Hongli and his entourage returned, it was already half a month later. The Empress had passed away, and the funeral was held with great solemnity.
Yunyi wouldn't do anything, and following Hongli's instructions, Fucha's funeral was conducted with the highest standards.
The daughter-in-law had just passed away when Niohuru started causing trouble again. Consort Shen was still in the early stages of her pregnancy and fearing that the pregnancy was unstable, she suggested to her son that Consort Shen should not hold a funeral for Empress Xiaoxian.
Hongli would certainly not agree. Even if a concubine is pregnant, she is still a concubine. How could she not attend the funeral of the mistress of the house?
Having no other option, Niohuru could only settle for letting Consort Shen attend Empress Xiaoxian's funeral. However, Consort Shen was pregnant and could not afford to exert herself. Her body could not withstand the long hours of mourning and wailing.
Hongli was aware of this situation, so he suggested reducing the time she spent mourning, allowing her to spend only one hour each in the morning, noon, and evening, and resting the rest of the time.
After the two sides reached a consensus, Niohuru knew the importance of knowing when to stop and returned to her Shou Kang Palace without disturbing her son any further.
She left happily, unaware that her son's health had deteriorated.
After the Empress Dowager left, Li Yu stepped forward with concern and advised Hongli to summon an imperial physician to take a good look at him.
Li Yu said this because the situation that day was extremely dangerous.
He could never forget that on the day the Empress passed away, the Emperor was so grief-stricken that he vomited blood.
From that day on, Hongli's health was not good. The imperial physician examined him and said it was due to mental and emotional damage caused by excessive grief.
Li Yu had witnessed all of this during this time. The Emperor was already in poor health due to grief, yet he still insisted on presiding over the Empress's funeral. How could his body possibly withstand that?
Most importantly, Hongli did not allow the imperial physicians to examine him. At this time, he did not want everyone to know that he was unwell.
After seeing his mother off, Hongli felt another wave of sadness. He got up and walked towards the Empress's mourning hall, wanting to see Lady Fucha again.
The mourning hall was now packed with kneeling people, and none of them looked well.
But that's normal. Anyone who kneels here all morning, crying the whole time, unable to rest or move around, would be in a bad state of mind.
As a Noble Consort, Yunyi was kneeling at the front, with Consort Chun, Consort Jia, and others behind her.
The concubines knelt according to their rank, followed by the princes and princesses.
Yongjie was at the very front, followed by his wife, Lady Guarjia, and the little boy, Miande.
Yonghuang also knelt beside him with his wife, Lady Irgen Gioro, but since he did not have any children yet, it was just the two of them.
After kneeling all morning, Yonghuang was extremely impatient. He had no feelings for the Empress, so he wouldn't be too saddened by her death.
The prolonged kneeling and weeping at the spirits had become unbearable for him, and his complexion was not good as he knelt there.
At least among the weeping crowd, his somewhat impatient expression was quite evident.
Hongli walked over silently, without letting the eunuchs announce it, and thus saw his son in this state.
The sadness in his heart was overshadowed by anger. In a fit of rage, Hongli rushed forward and kicked Yonghuang to the ground.
Suddenly, he was kicked to the ground by a shock. Yonghuang was furious and was about to curse this arrogant person.
But when he turned his head, he saw his father, and he was so frightened that he quickly swallowed the words of cursing. His expression changed drastically, from impatience to fear.
Hongli was not buying it; he was extremely disappointed in this son.
Now, seeing him so utterly unfeeling and disrespectful, I felt even more displeased, thinking that Yonghuang was beyond redemption.
Out of sight, out of mind. Hongli didn't want to listen to Yonghuang's excuses, so he directly ordered the Second Prince to be taken away, not wanting to see his face.
After such an incident, he had no mood to reminisce about the Empress. He glared at the still somewhat dazed Nala, and then Hongli turned and left.
The room was left with a group of people who were either bewildered, stunned, or frightened, looking at each other in confusion.
Fortunately, Yunyi was in charge. Seeing that it was almost time, she told everyone to take a break, but she also issued a gag order to prevent them from talking nonsense.
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