After Bai Yu returned to the city and settled his wife and family, he immediately used all his strength to investigate Xu Yiyan's past, especially her movements after Xing'er married into the Sun family. If it was really as she said, there would be traces left behind, so he would not be afraid of not being able to find out.
He himself was locked up in his study, deep in thought, filled with worry. If it were any other day, besides Commander Bai, if anyone else approached him to "borrow someone" like this, he would have immediately and without hesitation taken them to the Heavenly Prison and handed them over to the Emperor for strict interrogation.
But today, he actually hesitated. As the emperor's most trusted minister, in charge of the palace, he couldn't have friends, nor was he worthy of confiding in anyone. He wished he could sew his mouth shut to prevent talking in his sleep. After nearly twenty years of living like this, it would be a lie to say he wasn't tired.
Moreover, the emperor had trusted him this time and asked him to carry out Xu Xianshan's execution. He called it trust, but who knew if it wasn't a test to see if he would let him go? After all, the emperor had imprisoned even his own son's wife, so how could he expect him to trust him even more?
But if it's like what Xing'er or Xu Yiyan said, and she lends someone to her, whether it's to spy on the emperor or do something more dangerous, if she's discovered, it will definitely be a crime punishable by the extermination of all nine generations of her family. Is it worth it?
Bai Yu pinched his nose hard, a headache raging. Prince Xiaoyi and his wife were incredibly popular, and they were certain to be crowned Crown Princes. Could it be that they felt that wasn't enough of a guarantee, and insisted that the Emperor pass the throne to them immediately?
It is not a wise thing to let people be greedy and let hatred blind their eyes.
Here, Xu Yixing returned home, changed into comfortable home clothes, and called a few famous young actors from outside to sing a few operas for him. The empress dowager was about to hold a funeral, and vocal music was not allowed during the national mourning period, so he had to have some fun while he could.
Unfortunately, just as the curtain was lifted on the stage and the pianist had just tuned the strings, the housekeeper came running in hurriedly: "Madam, Madam! The eunuch from the palace is here, the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager has passed away!" After saying that, he knelt on the ground and cried, as if his own mother had died.
Xu Yixing was "extremely shocked" and struggled to be helped to the front yard by Siqin. After hearing what his father-in-law said with his own ears, he collapsed for a moment, covered his face and burst into tears. It was so true.
Seeing Princess Xiaoyi crying so hard, the strong man was anxious and hurried to support her. "Your Highness, Your Highness! The palace is currently holding a funeral for the Empress Dowager. All ladies are requested to enter the palace to serve. The prince is already guarding outside the Yi'an Palace. Please pack up and follow me into the palace!"
After hearing this three times, Xu Yixing finally stopped crying, nodded in sudden realization, and let the maid help her go back to change clothes.
Entering the main hall, her expression naturally changed: "Siqin, do you still remember what happened when we were in the palace last time?"
Siqin felt her whole body tense up, and her legs and feet immediately went limp.
"Take this and hide it." Xu Yixing took a package of things and stuffed it into Siqin. She also took out several packages of things from under the bed, in the cabinet, and even from the crack in the door. The things she had robbed from Ying Si were all here. If it was another Hongmen Banquet this time, she wouldn't mind sending this old bastard emperor away directly.
"Miss, are these?" Siqin held the packet of medicine tightly, her knuckles turning white.
"You shouldn't have the intention to harm others, but if you are harmed by others, that's not good either." Xu Yixing hid the medicine in his purse, belt and inner clothes, changed into a plain white suit, put on a black cloak, and packed a lot of Lu Anyuan's clothes to take with him. Then he hurried out.
Mourning was no joke. The Empress Dowager's funeral was, of course, the highest standard, except for the Emperor's. It was said to be seven days, and it was seven days. You literally had to kneel for seven days, not even eating, and could only go home at night. You had to arrive early the next day. It was a real chore.
With my small body, I would probably be half dead after kneeling for a whole day, so it would be helpful to keep some tricks to save my life.
Arriving at the palace, she was met with a blanket of mourning. Someone who didn't know better might have thought the first snow had arrived so early. Although the mournful music was only in the Yi'an Hall, she felt as though she could hear weeping everywhere the moment she entered the palace, like the sound of a ghost, which was a real dampener.
Outside the Yian Hall, there was already a crowd of people kneeling. The emperor and empress took the lead in kneeling at the front, which was inside the hall. The princes were also inside the hall. As for the concubines and ladies of the court, they could only kneel on the hard and cold stone floor outside.
The cold wind, the humidity, and the tears made these people, who should have been beauties, look like they were all wearing smudged makeup and had messy hair, looking like they were fleeing.
Xu Yixing found his place and knelt down cruelly. As he knelt, he felt that he had committed a sin! Why did he have the bad luck to mourn for this old woman? She had clearly harmed Lu Anyuan, and she was clearly the culprit. But the emperor wanted to implicate this group of people for the sake of filial piety. What a sin.
Fortunately, perhaps knowing the weather conditions, not long after they knelt, a team of eunuchs set up cloth banners on all sides, added a roof, and brought up a dozen braziers and placed them in different places. This gradually gathered some heat, so that the group of people did not freeze to death.
The sobbing and crying continued around her. Although Xu Yixing's position was not at the front, she didn't dare to stand out too much. She could only cover her face with her sleeves and cry in a fake way. She had only been kneeling for an hour, and she had already lost all feeling below the waist. Fortunately, her pants were thick; if they were summer pants, her knees would probably bleed.
Now her sadness was no longer feigned, her face was truly pale, and the concubines around her also seemed to be gradually losing strength. Everyone's voices became lower, and they were all breathing hard.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" Suddenly a shrill scream passed through everyone's ears. Everyone was pulled out of their numbness and hurriedly looked up at the location in the front where the sound came from.
The originally orderly kneeling procession in the hall had become disordered. Everyone was gathered at the front in a chaotic mess. The imperial physician had been guarding outside the Yian Hall, and this was the perfect time for him to be of use, so he hurriedly pushed everyone aside and rushed forward.
Xu Yixing could barely see what was happening inside, but she knew without even looking that something had happened to the emperor. Thinking of what Lu Anyuan had said about the emperor being injured, she started to worry. If the emperor couldn't hold on any longer, and passed away right now, wouldn't that be a complete mess?
However, things were not as bad as she thought. Soon, the eunuchs carried a sedan chair to take away the unconscious emperor. The empress and Concubine Gong took the third prince and followed the imperial physician to leave in a hurry, and order was restored in Yian Hall.
Xu Yixing turned around and silently glared at the leaving Third Prince. "At this time, the other princes were all kneeling peacefully inside. Why were you following them? Are you making yourself look bad?" Of course, she would not admit that she was jealous of the Third Prince because she couldn't leave.
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