Unfortunately, half an hour later, amidst the chaos, Lady Wuya finally succumbed to her illness. She gripped the hand of the nanny who had served her her entire life and uttered, "Yin...Zhen..."
"Your subject is here." Yinzhen stepped forward, knelt by the bed, and pursed his lips.
“Treat…Yinti well…” Lady Wuya said haltingly, her heart still filled with thoughts of her youngest son, “Yes, very well…”
Before she could finish speaking, Uya's hand, which was holding the nanny's, suddenly fell limply to her side. The nanny cried out in anguish, "Empress Dowager!" and then threw herself onto Uya, bursting into tears.
Uya, the woman who had been biased her whole life, seemed to finally remember that she had a son at the last moment. Her words, "Take good care of him," were one of the few acts of affection that Yinzhen received from his own mother in his life.
Yinzhen knelt blankly in front of the bed, seemingly completely dazed.
Behind him, Ulanara and her concubines knelt to the side, already weeping softly.
On the other side, Imperial Physician Liu knelt on the ground wiping away sweat, while the other imperial physicians trembled with anxiety, waiting for the emperor to speak.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager... the Empress Dowager has passed away!" Su Peisheng mustered his courage and shouted, then knelt down and wept bitterly.
Amidst the weeping, Yinzhen swayed as he stood up, but after taking only one step, his body suddenly went limp and he collapsed.
"emperor!"
That very evening, the news spread throughout the capital—the Empress Dowager had passed away, and the Emperor, overcome with grief, fainted on the spot and did not wake up for a long time.
The Empress Dowager's passing was naturally a major event, and at the same time, the Emperor's filial piety was also praised by everyone.
Everyone knows that since the Empress Dowager fell ill, the Emperor has gone to pay his respects to her every day. Later, when she became seriously ill, the Emperor put aside all state affairs and stayed at Yonghe Palace for two days and one night without closing his eyes. Moreover, in order to pray for the Empress Dowager's well-being, he bestowed titles upon the concubines and granted noble titles to his half-brother's family, just to put the Empress Dowager at ease.
Unfortunately, she did not live long enough and passed away, following the late emperor.
Overwhelmed with grief, Yinzhen suspended court for three consecutive days to keep vigil for the Empress Dowager, nearly fainting again. In the end, Prince Yi led men to pull him away from the coffin and persuaded him to eat and sleep, which finally helped Yinzhen slowly recover. Even afterward, he still went to his mother's coffin three times a day to offer food, wailing incessantly, moving all the officials to tears.
—The above is the official version.
Qian Shengyan smoothed out the wrinkles in her plain clothes. She had just left Yongshou Palace when she met Yinzhen. The two headed to Ningshou Palace together. On the way, Yinzhen asked Hongshan a few questions and then sighed, "The full moon banquet can't be held in a big way."
“There’s no other way in these special times. Hongshan will understand,” Qian Shengyan calmly advised.
After walking a while longer, Yinzhen suddenly asked, "Is there anything you want?"
Qian Shengyan, puzzled, gave Yinzhen a strange look: "Your Majesty, I am perfectly fine and have no desires whatsoever."
Yinzhen pursed his lips, seemingly slightly displeased, but with Ning Shou Palace right in front of them, the two stopped talking, went inside and took their places, standing guard before the spirit tablet of Lady Wuya.
After the posthumous title was determined, she was buried in the Qingjing Mausoleum and her spirit tablet was placed in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. By the time the Empress Dowager's funeral was completed, it was already early September.
Having grown up completely, Hongshan is now chubby and fair-skinned, looking remarkably like Hongli when he was a child. Fuerguochun now loves to tease him the most. Although the little chubby boy can't speak or walk yet, his sweet and adorable smile is very endearing.
Qian Shengyan had just finished dealing with the mourning period. Now, she was leaning against the window, using the cushions on the small couch to look at her daughter and son, and felt a rare sense of peace in her heart.
These past few months have been a period of intense competition between the Ulanara clan and the "Nian clan".
At that time, Yinzhen's decree to bestow titles upon the harem came suddenly, and under the guise of praying for the Empress Dowager's well-being, no one dared to object. In addition, apart from Lady Nian and Qian Shengyan, the rewards bestowed upon Lady Li and Lady Geng were not excessive. Furthermore, as for Qian Shengyan, she now held most of the power in the palace and had given birth to two sons and a daughter, so her promotion to the rank of Imperial Concubine was at least reasonable.
But the title of Imperial Noble Consort Nian is enough to make people gossip.
It was alright before, but in the past few days, some people in the court have been intermittently suggesting that "while the Empress is alive, no Imperial Noble Consort should be appointed." In addition, Ulanara was the primary consort appointed by Emperor Kangxi to Yinzhen, and she had never done anything wrong. The fact that Lady Nian was standing there was simply embarrassing for her.
Yinzhen didn't need to respond to such matters; another group of people would jump out and argue with each other. He only needed to sit back and watch the tigers fight, and he could easily discern the power of the Nian family and the Ulanara family in the court. Joining the argument was another group of officials who genuinely offered remonstrances. Although these people were pedantic, they were also loyal, so there was no need to pay them much attention.
Under the shadow of Consort Nian, Qian Shengyan's position as a Noble Consort was secure. Ulanara was busy dealing with Consort Nian, and Yinzhen was willing to help her, so now Qian Shengyan basically handled all the affairs of the harem, leaving only the affairs of the late emperor's concubines to be managed by the Empress.
"What do you think of what the Empress said this morning?" Qingxue asked with a smile.
Qian Shengyan smiled casually: "The Empress's idea is excellent."
Qingxue laughed too.
Isn't that a brilliant idea?
It is said that Lady Nian's health has always been poor, and Prince Fu Hui is not very strong either. Perhaps the two should be separated for a while. She is willing to take Prince Fu Hui to Changchun Palace to raise him...
The fact that "nian Shi" didn't immediately lose her temper was already a testament to her excellent self-control. She only wrote about the Empress's concern with a stiff expression and never mentioned anything else.
"Isn't Prince Fu Hui two years old already?" Qian Shengyan lazily calculated. "Hmm, isn't his birthday coming up soon?"
“Yes, I vaguely remember my birthday being in October,” Qingxue replied.
Qian Shengyan responded indifferently. Anyway, this child... will disappear from the palace when it's time to die. Qian Shengyan originally thought there was no need to care, but now that Ulanara has interfered, she finds it somewhat amusing and complicated.
Shan Xiu's recent actions have been quite obvious. She has begun to frequently and clearly show goodwill towards Yinzhen. Qian Shengyan thinks that if it weren't for the fact that they are still in mourning for the Empress Dowager, Shan Xiu might actually do something.
However, recently, Shan Xiu has often brought Fu Hui out to play. The child is chubby and cute, but Yinzhen is probably not good at acting and is not enthusiastic about the child at all.
Needless to say, compared to Hongli and Hongshan, even Hongzhou seemed to be more pleasing to Yinzhen than Fuhui.
A complete mess. Qian Shengyan fiddled with the lace on the cushion, calculating that the battle between Nian Gengyao and Lobsang Danjin would take another six months to finish, and that Ulanara's plans were likely to be in vain.
Meanwhile, in Changchun Palace, Ulanara was telling Yanruo the same thing: "All the other princes' names start with 'Hong,' but she's different; her son is named Prince Fuhui!"
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