Xuanyuan Che died young, before reaching adulthood and without offspring, so his preparations were incomplete.
His fiefdom was in the south, and he wished to be buried at Yuquan Villa. The incident happened suddenly, one in the south and one in the north, so even though a group of people from the Ministry of Rites came, many things could not be transported over.
Xuanyuan Che's funeral was also kept simple.
Only the Third Prince came with the Empress Dowager this time. The others were either on official business outside, or unwilling to take risks due to the unstable situation here. In addition, their relationship with Xuanyuan Che was only so-so, so they all made up their own excuses not to come.
However, with the legitimate third prince present, it doesn't matter whether others come or not. Even if they did come, Xuan Yuanche might not like them anyway.
Xuanyuan Che had no children, so the Third Prince volunteered to carry Xuanyuan Che's coffin, with his nephew acting as his son.
Besides Xuan Yuanche, there were also the fallen Divine Eagle Guards Mingyue and others. So, the procession was a grand affair, with many of their own and temporarily requisitioned carriages, donkey carts, and handcarts, pulling coffins, forming a long white dragon that brought tears to the eyes of every passerby.
When we left Tianshui City and passed by the Heroes' Tomb, at the foot of the mountain at the main gate of the Heroes' Tomb, Chu Mingzhu had already been buried in the very center of the entrance. There was no grave mound, only a kneeling figure carved by the carpenter in the city in her likeness, which was placed on top of her burial site, facing the place where the heroes rest in eternal sleep on the mountain, bowing her head in repentance.
Despite their tragic circumstances, no one showed them any sympathy.
Placing her portrait there serves two purposes: firstly, to allow her to atone for her sins for a long time; and secondly, to warn future generations against emulating the woman from the Chu family, who brought disaster to the country and its people for her own selfish desires.
Because it was a funeral procession, they were destined to travel slowly; a journey that normally takes two days took them three.
When they arrived, it was the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), the best time of day. On her way here, when the Empress Dowager passed through Tai'an Prefecture, she had already left people at Yuquan Mountain Villa to repair Xuan Yuanche's tomb. Counting the round trip and the seven-day Dharma assembly, twelve days had passed, and they had already completed the tomb repairs.
Although Emperor Qingyuan allowed him to be buried with imperial standards, Xuanyuan Che's tomb did not even meet the standards of a prince's tomb.
However, the Empress Dowager had come to terms with it. As long as it was a place her son was willing to stay, why should she care about those empty titles?
Although time was somewhat rushed, the royal craftsmen were quite skilled. Despite the short timeframe, the workmanship was excellent, and they even carved a four-clawed dragon and an epitaph on the side of the tomb entrance.
Although Xuanyuan Che's tomb is not large, it is spacious and solemn, occupying an area the size of a basketball court. In the middle is the main burial chamber, and on the side is a side chamber containing some gold, silver and jade artifacts, as well as his favorite trinkets.
In front of the main tomb chamber, Mingyue, the deputy commander of the Divine Eagle Guard, led twenty Divine Eagle Guards to continue guarding the tomb entrance for Xuanyuan Che.
Behind the main burial chamber are the other Divine Eagle Guards who died in battle.
They continue to silently guard their master, just as they did when they were alive.
A few days ago, some of the brothers' remains were transported back in batches for burial. This time, Chunyu, Hongmei, and Zhaotu also joined the ranks of those who will be laid to rest.
Looking around now, the entire hillside is almost covered with new graves, and the white banners and paper money all over the mountain only add to the desolation and make people feel heartbroken.
Xie Yushu had Wang Wu prepare a lot of incense, candles, offerings, and strong liquor. She solemnly performed the ritual, and then several senior monks from Huangjue Temple recited a sutra to send off the deceased. Only then did she reluctantly bid them a final farewell and return to the mountain villa.
The Empress Dowager, exhausted from days of travel and overwhelmed with grief, had reached her limit and suddenly fell ill.
Fortunately, she brought the imperial physician with her, and there was also a hospital at Yuquan Villa.
Since the recapture of Hangu Pass and the cessation of the war, Wang Wu returned with a group of people. Except for Liu Zhuoyuan and Liu Zhuoxuan, who were still in Tianshui City, their father, Doctor Liu, was already practicing medicine at the hospital.
After examining the Empress Dowager, Doctor Liu and the imperial physicians who had accompanied her both spoke with grave expressions.
"The Empress Dowager is overwhelmed with grief and her illness stems from her heart. If she can't let go of her worries, she won't recover!"
If only one person says so, there's still hope for a misdiagnosis; but if two people say the same thing, then the Empress Dowager's condition is basically confirmed.
But how easy is it to untangle a knot in one's heart?
When parents outlive their children, nothing anyone else can say seems meaningful; all they can do is stay by their side.
However, neither Xie Yushu nor Han Zhongyu had time to accompany the Empress Dowager.
After the others returned to Tianshui City, Han Zhongyu also took Lanting and the others back to Tai'an Prefecture. He had been gone for more than a month. Although someone was handling affairs for him, too many things had happened during this time, and he had to go back and take a look.
Xie Yushu instructed Qu Xiaodie to immediately settle the wounded soldiers, the fallen heroes, and the families of her own brothers.
For disabled people without family members, we should find a place for them to stay until they die.
Those with family members will either be provided with ten acres of land or given one hundred taels of silver as resettlement compensation.
If any family's child is interested in learning a trade, they can bring them directly to the resort for training.
Those who made special contributions were also recorded, and Han Zhongyu would reward them in the name of the imperial court.
Including those Liu Qiang brought, Han Zhongyu's group, and those from their own manor, a total of five or six hundred people went. Of those who have returned, one hundred and seventy-six have returned. More than one hundred of them are still recovering from their injuries in Tianshui City. About three hundred of them died in battle.
Xie Yushu took 40,000 taels of silver directly and asked Qu Xiaodie to contact Liu Qiang and Lan Ting to finalize the issue of compensation for the casualties.
At the same time, Sun Chongren was also instructed to notify the managers of each factory to gather nearby workers and resume work.
He then gave Zhao Hu another 20,000 taels of silver notes, instructing him to go to brokerage firms in various regions to select and train another thousand young men suitable for martial arts training as soon as possible.
This time, she not only wants to quell the Tatars and avenge Xuan Yuanche, but also to completely bring down Consort Chu and the Fifth Prince. She personally killed Chu Mingzhu, and Consort Chu will come after her sooner or later. If the Fifth Prince takes power, none of them will have a good outcome.
Once she was in the situation, she had no choice; sometimes, people are always pushed along by circumstances.
Although she never intended to get involved in the power struggles of the imperial court, if she didn't participate, she would die, so she didn't mind getting involved.
Having grown accustomed to a peaceful and prosperous world, she always thought that having a knife in her hand would be enough to deter villains. But she was being too naive. What truly deters villains is not having a knife in your hand, but rather being willing to draw your knife at any time!
Some people only know fear when a knife is held to their throat.
After arranging these matters, she asked Nanxing to keep the Empress Dowager company while she went back to her room, found paper and pen, and began to draw quickly.
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