When she reached the door, she didn't rush to open it. Knowing Ying Wu was outside, she said through the door, "Xiao Wuzi, go to Si Wen and ask her to re-adjust last month's accounts. I don't think something is right."
Ying Wu was slightly puzzled. Was this a good time to check the account books? However, he felt that his master's actions were profoundly meaningful. Perhaps he simply didn't understand, so he excused himself and left.
Once Yingwu left, it was naturally easy to get rid of the other people in the yard. They were all driven away under the pretext of needing quiet to copy Buddhist scriptures.
It was much easier to go out after leaving the inner courtyard. She was now dressed as Siqin and had the token of the main courtyard, so it was not difficult for her to leave through the back door at will.
After leaving the Prince's Mansion, Xu Yixing quickly went to the largest carriage company in the capital, hired a small carriage and headed straight for the north gate. He finally left the capital before the city gate closed.
"Don't blame me..." Xu Yixing didn't dare stick his head out of the car. He could only faintly face the direction of the imperial palace in Beijing and gently clasp his hands together and bow. Yuan, your life has finally begun, but I can't participate.
The palace was also filled with solemnity. Several favored concubines all stood guard at the emperor's bedside, and a large crowd knelt on the ground outside the door. Those concubines with children were naturally not afraid. Even if the emperor passed away, they would always have a place in the palace. If the new emperor was kind, he could even release them from the palace and make them honored concubines in their son's fiefdom.
But those who had no children could only cry and pray, praying that the emperor would not leave them.
Lu Anyuan has been following his aunt and the queen, guarding the inner room. This is not only his duty as a son, but also a sign of respect that a prince must show.
Fortunately, everyone's attention was not on him, otherwise we would see his eyes flickering and he seemed to be thinking about something.
What went wrong... Why did my father's condition deteriorate so quickly?
He scanned the people present one by one by the candlelight, feeling that everyone was suspicious. Suddenly, his eyes moved. Those imperial doctors who had been guarding the outer room, they were the most suspicious people, right?
Lu Anyuan winked at the young eunuch standing farther away, and the young eunuch immediately followed the order and came out of the inner room. He was the one who had gone to the mansion to convey the imperial edict during the day.
By curfew, the emperor showed no sign of waking up, so the empress personally issued an imperial decree, ordering all the concubines at the door to return to their own palaces and wait to be summoned after the emperor woke up.
Naturally, she and the prince could not leave. Although several accompanying ministers could not leave the palace, they had a few small beds on the emperor's side rooms so that they could rest without having to rush back from outside the palace when the time came.
"Mother, I will stay here to guard you. Please go and have some rest."
The queen raised her eyes and saw Lu Anyuan, who looked as tired and had sunken eyes as herself. Somehow, his face suddenly overlapped with Concubine Yi's face back then. She was so scared that she quickly closed her eyes and shook her head: "I'm fine. The emperor hasn't woken up yet. I must wait until the emperor wakes up." After saying that, she looked at the person on the bed affectionately.
In fact, they both knew that even if the Queen had no legitimate son, Lu Anyuan was not the Queen's preferred candidate for the Crown Prince. Although he was considered to have no foundation, the Queen was furious when she thought of Concubine Yi's curse on her!
Moreover, she had personally ordered his death, and she didn't know if Lu Anyuan would hold this grudge against her. Neither of them left, simply because they were afraid of what the emperor might say when he woke up, giving the other the upper hand.
In the middle of the night, the emperor finally opened his eyes slightly under the earnest gaze of the two people. Unfortunately, the queen's joy did not last long. The emperor uttered a word and finally closed his eyes.
"well..."
As the only two people of status present, they didn't even have time to wake up the old ministers sitting next door before they saw the emperor pass away, his last word being a sigh.
"Your Majesty!" The queen covered her mouth with her hand after a brief scream, glancing anxiously at the imperial physician who had confirmed the emperor's death. Even if she didn't want to, she had to admit that she had to rely on her son's mood.
Several ministers finally arrived and, upon seeing the situation inside, they too knelt on the floor. Seeing the imperial physician kneeling beside the emperor's bed, not daring to breathe, Lu Anyuan knew it was time for him to take charge. He cast aside his disdain and glanced at the empress. "What a petty woman! Do you still think I'll keep the death a secret?"
"Mother, my Lords, since last year's rebellion by the commoner Lu Yin, my father was stabbed. This has been kept secret. Since then, he has been overworked, and coupled with the sudden passing of the Empress Dowager, he has been so heartbroken that he has been bedridden and ill, and has passed away. Now, we must immediately declare a national mourning and announce it to the world. All of our subjects must mourn for our father."
As soon as these words were spoken, the palace servants and ministers in the hall understood what the Crown Prince meant. They immediately changed their depressed mood and fell to the ground, crying and wailing. One of the palace servants immediately went out of the palace to summon all the relatives and ministers, and together they prepared the white lanterns that would be hung at the four corners of the eight gates of the imperial city tomorrow morning.
The Queen listened to his decision with astonishment. She had assumed that the Crown Prince had only recently been promoted, and the four princes had recently been driven to their fiefdoms. The best course of action would have been to ascend the throne in secret and then announce it to the world. Was he truly afraid of the princes' ulterior motives? However, since his decision had already been made, she couldn't change it. This palace would eventually have a new owner, and as the Queen Mother, she was undeniably privileged, so she didn't need to say anything.
Everything was being arranged in a hurry in the palace. It would be dawn in less than an hour. There was really a lot of work to do if the funeral was to be held early in the morning.
However, no one noticed in the darkness of the night that an imperial physician who had been guarding the emperor's bedroom just now hurried away. However, the moment he stepped onto the palace road, he was blocked by a group of people in front of him, led by the imperial guards.
Chao Jianyi wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Who are you? I am the imperial physician Chao Jianyi. I want to return to the Imperial Hospital. Why are you stopping me?"
"Imperial Physician Chao, the emperor has just passed away, and you are in such a hurry to leave. Isn't this inappropriate?" The leader waved his hand, and the people behind him immediately stepped forward to arrest the person, but they saw a man flying out from nowhere, and a row of steel needles flew out. The two people who came to arrest the person were caught off guard and were shot and fell to the ground.
The leader was startled, fearing that the hidden weapon was poisonous, and dodged backwards for a few moments. When he turned back, the palace avenue was empty.
"There's an assassin! Warning!" He shouted this belatedly, but it was too late to chase after him.
Imperial Physician Chao felt his eyes blur and his body lighten, and he immediately flew far away from the palace path he had just walked through. Although his breathing was a little disordered, he did not shout or struggle. After all, this man was either saving him or killing him. No matter what the situation was, it was better not to move.
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