Chapter 132 The Imperial Concubine passed away without a funeral, and the memorial service continued.
The day after Mu Chuan returned, it snowed heavily in the capital. Overnight, the snow was so thick it could almost bury a person halfway up their body.
In this kind of weather, although it's not good to go out, Mu Chuan really has to go out.
Especially at times like these, it is essential to go to the palace to pay respects, and also to take a look at the Northern Camp.
Mu Chuan simply moved the soft couch to the window. The couch was warm and cozy, and the view was good. You could see the scenery outside by leaning on it. He then said to Lin Daiyu, "You should stay at home and not go out today. The road is not good and it's cold."
Lin Daiyu stretched out her hand and pulled her sleeve to cover her face: "How was I supposed to know you were back the other day?" She was actually a little embarrassed; her husband, who had been away for more than half a month, had returned while she was out having fun.
"Good Third Brother, you're not angry, are you?" Lin Daiyu peeked at him from the edge of her sleeve.
Mu Chuan touched the cold windowpane with his hand before reaching into his wide sleeve to cool her: "When I get back, we'll build a snowman."
Lin Daiyu shrank back and laughed, "How old are you? I want to set off fireworks. I still want the fireworks you gave me last year."
Mu Chuan nodded in agreement, and then went to the palace to pay his respects to the Emperor and the Emperor Emeritus.
The palace was quiet and peaceful. The snow had been mostly cleared. The emperor and the retired emperor were as usual, their attitudes amiable. There was no indication that a concubine had died in the palace the night before.
That's right, Jia Yuanchun is dead.
She already had phlegm, and after the temperature dropped in winter, she developed a cough. She also had a fever every night, and it hadn't gotten better for almost a month.
Last night was the same; she was delirious with fever and felt unbearably hot and humid. She went to open the window herself. The next morning, when the palace maid came in, she found her lying on the daybed by the window, her body stiff.
The Empress only learned of the news after breakfast, and it was not good news either. The maid who brought the news did not dare to disturb the Empress's meal.
The Empress had no fondness for Yuan Chun either. Upon hearing the news, she merely sighed softly and said, "Let her be buried according to the rites for a low-ranking lady of the inner palace." Then, the Empress instructed the head maid in her palace, "Go and ask Baoqin. After all, she has done a lot for me. Whatever she wants, I have granted her."
The lowest rank was below the rank of concubine. They did not have separate tombs and were buried together with several others. Their status was not even as high as that of favored eunuchs and palace maids.
The female official went to Jia Yuanchun's palace to give instructions, and then called Baoqin to the clean room: "Her Majesty is a compassionate person. She asked you what you want to do in the future. You have been in the palace for so many years. You know what palace maids can do after leaving the palace. The best thing is to go out and become a female official, such as in the Jiaofangsi or the Nujian. There are positions for female officials in those places."
Since the Empress had instructed that she be treated well, the lady-in-waiting naturally went through all the details, explaining the various options available to the palace maid. Then she added, "You don't need to worry. Her coffin will be taken out this afternoon, and the palace will be sealed off in three days. Think it over carefully."
Baoqin looked blank, not because he was saddened by Yuanchun's death, but because he felt that it was finally over.
She accompanied Yuan Chun into the palace for nearly twenty years, and today she finally met her end.
Baoqin knelt down: "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. This servant wishes to become a nun."
The female official thought for a moment and said, "You can't get into Yuci Mountain. Even if you did, you'd only be serving others. I'll arrange for you to go to Guanyin Temple."
Guanyin Nunnery was also a nunnery under the royal family's name. As a member of Baoqin's family, and with the Empress's permission, he was allowed to enter and properly cultivate himself.
Baoqin kowtowed three times firmly: "Your Majesty is merciful, this servant is eternally grateful and will never forget it."
After seeing the female official off, Baoqin knelt again in front of Jia Yuanchun's mourning hall, numbly and mechanically putting paper money into the brazier.
Guanyin Temple... Yuan Chun once said that her best ending would be to become a nun at Guanyin Temple.
That was several years ago? She never mentioned it again after that.
...I want to gain the Emperor's favor; I want to plan for the Jia family...
Baoqin's lips curled into a pitiful smile. The Imperial Concubine? She didn't receive any of the treatment an Imperial Concubine should have. The mourning period was less like half a day and more like she was packed up and left. Even after her death, she was buried with the standards of a low-ranking lady.
These two characters are written as "贵妃" (Guifei), but are pronounced as "催命" (Cuiming).
Then think back to the extraordinary funeral held at Ningguo Mansion a few years ago, where the body lay in state for a full forty-nine days, and all the four kings and eight dukes came to pay their respects. The emperor had indeed received this show of force.
I wonder if the Jia family will regret it when they find out.
Baoqin looked at the wisps of smoke and the ashes rising with it. How could it have come to this? She suddenly gritted her teeth and said, "They should regret it! They must regret it!"
The news of Jia Yuanchun's death reached the Jia family around dinner time.
The Empress had no intention of making anyone run around again. She simply instructed, "When you carry her out of the palace tonight, just tell her that the weather is bad and we don't know if the snow outside has been cleared. I'm worried about the people in my palace."
Grandmother Jia had just finished eating and was holding a cup of hot tea while watching the snow.
"It's so cold outside, with snow falling heavily." Grandmother Jia smiled with a sense of superiority. "We can burn the best smokeless charcoal and have hot meals, while countless people outside are homeless and don't even have a cloak to keep out the wind and snow."
“Exactly.” Madam Wang smiled as well. “I don’t know how cold it must be in the temples and nunneries. In a couple of days, after the snow stops, I will go and make some donations, as a way to pray for our family.”
Compared to before, Grandmother Jia's room was much quieter and more deserted.
Tan Chun fell ill, so Xi Chun simply stopped coming. Li Wan was confined to her quarters, and Wang Xifeng only paid perfunctory visits every few days.
The only one left who was truly sincere was Jia Baoyu.
What was once seen as filial piety and childlike innocence by Grandmother Jia now appears to be nothing more than stupidity.
Grandmother Jia couldn't help but recall when Lady Wang first married into the family; she was also innocent, naive, and outspoken. Now, it seemed that the mother and son were just as foolish.
"Never mind," Grandmother Jia laughed again. "Send someone to check on Baoyu later. He lives in the outer courtyard, and his father isn't that attentive. He's always been the type to keep quiet even when he's wronged, and he'll only help the servants cover things up. Make sure no one mistreats him."
Madam Wang readily agreed.
Yuanyang ran in at that moment. Her face was deathly pale, her lips were trembling, she was covered in cold sweat, and her body was alternating between hot and cold, and it was hard to tell what she was feeling.
"Is it cold outside?" Madam Wang, still with her elegant and composed demeanor, smiled and said, "You young girls, once you see snow, you don't care about anything else, you only think about playing. If you get sick later, the old lady will have to worry about you."
"Madam, Old Madam." Yuanyang called out several times, but couldn't get the words out. Tears fell first, but once the tears came, her eyes seemed to move again. She closed her eyes and finally managed to speak.
"The Imperial Concubine... has passed away!"
After shouting, Yuanyang collapsed to the ground.
Whether it was Lady Wang or Grandmother Jia, their faces, which had turned peach-colored from the warmth of the room, turned deathly pale.
"Your Highness? There's no need to be too saddened by the death of the Wu family's daughter," Madam Wang tried to console herself.
The mandarin ducks didn't speak, but knelt on the ground and sobbed.
Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai exchanged a glance, both feeling uneasy. Although the imperial concubine was practically nonexistent, she still held a title. Now that the imperial concubine was dead, what was left of the Jia family?
"Get up, kneeling on the ground is uncomfortable." Madam Wang was about to get up to help Yuanyang up, but before she could take two steps, Grandmother Jia yelled at her, "Shut up! Continue speaking!"
Yuanyang lowered her head, wiped away her tears, and said, "They said she died last night. First she had phlegm, then she started coughing, and yesterday she developed a fever and passed away."
"Where are her maids? Where is Baoqin? Why is there no one serving her in her room!" Grandmother Jia's pale face gradually turned red again, and tears streamed down her face. "A white-haired person burying a black-haired person! I wish it were me instead, she was so young!"
As Grandmother Jia cried, she suddenly bent backward and fainted.
"old lady!"
The room of Grandmother Jia was in chaos. The maids scattered to call for help and to find a doctor.
Fortunately, the Jia family had some medicines commonly used by the elderly to help them regain their senses. Before the doctor arrived, Yuanyang took it upon herself to give her Angong Niuhuang Wan (a traditional Chinese medicine), and soon after, Grandmother Jia slowly woke up.
"What about the funeral? Should we go to the palace to offer incense? How many days should the body be kept in state?" Grandmother Jia's expression calmed down. "Last time, when the Dowager Consort passed away, people of our social standing all went to the funeral. Although the Imperial Concubine's seniority wasn't high, she was still higher than a Consort. Send someone to change into mourning clothes and inform acquaintances of the death—"
Grandmother Jia was about to speak again when Yuanyang interrupted her, keeping her head down and not daring to look at her: "Grandmother, people in the palace say that the Empress died of an epidemic and was childless. Normally, she wouldn't be buried in the imperial mausoleum, but only in a burial site chosen in the surrounding mountains. However, His Majesty is kind to the Empress and has allowed her to be buried with the rites of a low-ranking concubine... Her body has already been carried out of the palace and will be buried in three days."
The room fell completely silent. Yuanyang, her voice trembling, uttered another sentence: "There was no funeral."
"Yuan Chun! My Yuan Chun!" Madam Wang cried out in anguish, "How could my perfectly good daughter have become like this!"
Grandmother Jia, leaning against the bed, grabbed a pillow and threw it over: "Get out! All of you, get out!"
Jia She and Madam Xing exchanged a glance without saying a word and left first. Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng followed behind. Jia Zheng scolded them and told Madam Wang and Jia Baoyu to leave together, adding, "I'll wait outside. Mother, just tell me if you need anything."
While crying, Jia Baoyu kept calling out "Big Sister".
At this moment, Li Wan no longer needed to be confined to her quarters. When she married into the family, Yuan Chun had already entered the palace. She had never met Yuan Chun and had no feelings for her.
The empress in the palace is gone, and she is being buried with such a humiliating standard, especially with the phrase "died young from an epidemic and childless." This is not referring to Yuan Chun, but clearly to Rong'er's wife in the East Mansion, and the funeral that exceeded all the usual standards.
Li Wan looked around and saw that even her mother-in-law looked a little frightened. Did they really not notice anything? Did they really not realize that the Rongguo Mansion was about to collapse?
She took a deep breath and lowered her head. This was the Rongguo Mansion; even at this point, they still couldn't solve the problem, but they could solve the people.
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