Chapter 98 Dispersed
In order to try his luck, Liang Jiugong secretly sent someone to the place where the concubines in the harem were kneeling to bring Yuying out.
"Empress Jin, please help me persuade the Emperor. How can the Emperor not eat or drink all day? Before the Empress Dowager died, she told the Emperor to take care of his health and not to mourn too much. But now you see, the Emperor probably didn't listen to her at all."
Yuying followed Liang Jiugong's line of sight and could only see Kangxi's desolate back.
Yuying nodded, "I'll try."
So Yuying walked over and knelt down next to Kangxi.
Sensing the movement beside him, Kangxi tilted his head slightly and saw that it was Yuying. "Why are you here?"
"Everyone is very worried about the emperor's health. Let me try to persuade him. How can the Empress Dowager's spirit in heaven rest assured if you keep kneeling down without eating or drinking?"
Kangxi looked at Yuying's haggard face. He had been immersed in grief these days and had forgotten that she had been kneeling in the spirit chamber. It must be very uncomfortable in this snowy and icy place.
"I have neglected you during this period. Is there anything wrong with your health, Ah Ying?"
Kangxi stood up, staggered for a moment, and then turned to help Yuying up, "Accompany me to the side hall to rest for a while."
Yuying stood up with the help of Kangxi.
Liang Jiugong watched the two people walking out supporting each other and finally breathed a sigh of relief. When he heard Kangxi say that he wanted to go to a side hall to rest, he hurriedly asked someone to serve the meal.
Yuying accompanied Kangxi for some meals.
Then, the two of them leaned against each other quietly.
After a long while, Kangxi straightened up, looked at Yuying who was quietly accompanying him, and sighed. In fact, he knew in his heart that the dead could not be resurrected.
But he could not accept, nor was he willing to accept that the Empress Dowager, who had been with him for decades and who had even been the only two people in the palace who could trust each other, had abandoned him.
So forgive him for his brief moment of weakness.
The snow was falling heavily, but Kangxi still had to go to keep vigil, and so did Yuying, but they did not go to the same place.
"Aying, if you can't hold on, go back to the palace while you're sick." Kangxi always remembered what Doctor Zhou said. He was negligent in the past few days. At this critical juncture, he still hoped that Yuying could take care of herself. He couldn't be distracted anymore.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I understand."
Yuying returned to the place where the concubines knelt to mourn. There were wind shields all around and braziers were placed everywhere, so she didn't feel cold. In fact, she had only met the Grand Empress Dowager a few times, so it would be a lie to say that she was very sad about her passing.
She was just a little disappointed.
Kangxi did not allow himself to remain in grief for too long.
The next day, he returned to normal, calmly handling government affairs while keeping vigil for the Empress Dowager.
Until the day of the funeral, Kangxi followed the Empress Dowager's wishes and did not transport the coffin to Shengjing, but temporarily placed it in the Zan'an Fengdian of the Xiaoling Mausoleum.
As for the mourning period, Kangxi had another quarrel with the ministers of the previous dynasty. Kangxi insisted on following the rules to mourn for the Empress Dowager for 27 months, but he never expected that this move would be opposed by the ministers as soon as it was proposed.
The ministers in the court argued that Kangxi was the emperor and therefore did not need to follow the rules and only needed to mourn for 27 days.
Kangxi said that precisely because he was the Son of Heaven, he had to set a good example for the world and insisted on mourning for 27 months.
For a while, there was a lot of noise and arguments.
It was not until Su Malagu took out the Empress Dowager's will that Kangxi reluctantly agreed to mourn for only 27 days.
The white banners in the palace were taken down one after another, and life in the harem returned to normal.
It's still different from the past.
No one dared to wear bright clothes, and no one celebrated the New Year. Everything was quiet.
This imperial city seemed to have entered a cold winter due to the death of the Empress Dowager.
If Kangxi was the person who was most saddened by the death of the Empress Dowager, then the Empress Dowager and Concubine Xuan must have been ranked closely behind Kangxi.
Not to mention that Concubine Xuan cried until she was almost unconscious, and she lost a lot of weight during the mourning period.
The Queen Mother was even more so. The tree that was blocking her head had fallen, and the Emperor was not her biological son. How would she cope with the future in the harem? She was terrified and fell ill in extreme torment.
Kangxi went to Shoukang Palace to visit the empress dowager.
According to the rules, the Empress Dowager should move to the Cining Palace. But the Cining Palace had been sealed by Emperor Kangxi, and the palace still retained the appearance when the Empress Dowager was alive. Emperor Kangxi was reluctant to move it, and the Empress Dowager was also unwilling to set foot in this sad place.
So, with a tacit understanding between the two, no one suggested moving the palace.
The Queen Mother was lying in bed and saw Kangxi coming. She was surprised and said, "Why are you here, Emperor? I am just ill. Please sit down quickly."
The Queen Mother had never met Kangxi alone without the Grand Empress Dowager. Although the two were foster mother and adopted son, the atmosphere at this moment was more distant than that of strangers.
Kangxi naturally noticed the empress dowager's embarrassment and anxiety, and was the first to speak: "My empress dowager, don't worry. I will respect you as I respect my grandmother."
Kangxi made his attitude clear.
The queen mother's eyes suddenly turned red after hearing this. "Ai Jia... your words are enough for me."
Although she was not very smart and did not understand the affairs of the previous dynasties, she had seen the emperor's fear of Mongolia over the years.
Without the Empress Dowager to mediate, she really couldn't handle the relationship well.
After sitting with the Empress Dowager for a while, Kangxi went back.
With Kangxi's promise, the empress dowager finally let go of her worries. After a few days, she recovered from her illness.
In a blink of an eye, the Empress Dowager had passed away for more than three months, and the palace was finally not as terribly quiet as before. There were more laughter and joy in the Imperial Garden, and the familiar concubines began to visit each other.
Only Kangxi, although he did not show it on his face, would often go to the Cining Palace to sit in meditation, or go out of the palace to the Zan'anfeng Palace and stay there for the whole day.
Kangxi would occasionally visit the Empress Dowager at Shoukang Palace, as if to put his promise into practice. As Kangxi came to Shoukang Palace more frequently, the relationship between the Empress Dowager and Kangxi finally improved and was no longer as estranged as it was at the beginning.
When Kangxi wanted to get closer to someone, he would naturally succeed. Moreover, he and the Empress Dowager already had the connection of the Grand Empress Dowager. The two of them often recalled every little detail about the Grand Empress Dowager in Shoukang Palace. From a distance, they really looked like a loving mother and filial son.
After March, everyone will set off for Changchun Garden again.
This time, almost all the concubines in Kangxi's harem went with him. Kangxi also took the empress dowager with him, saying that he wanted her to go to the garden to relax.
The sky cleared up, and the dark clouds that had shrouded the sky of the Forbidden City since the death of the Empress Dowager gradually dissipated.
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