Ye Qingxue went to the front yard to receive the imperial edict.
The imperial edict stated that the emperor was deeply grieved upon hearing of Yun Zhuo's story, his heart breaking with grief and his soul burning with anguish.
"However, fate is unchangeable, and the heroic soul awaits solace. As the wife of the Crown Prince, Lady Ye, it is only right that you fulfill your duty as a living mother. Therefore, I hereby order you to go with the imperial insignia to escort the Crown Prince's coffin back to the capital. You must ensure that the procession is filled with the spirits of the deceased, and that his soul returns home. Furthermore, you must show utmost sincerity and respect to appease his spirit."
It turned out that the imperial decree was to send her to Qinglan Gorge to bring Yunzhuo's soul home.
"Thank you for your great favor, Father Emperor. Your daughter-in-law accepts the decree." Ye Qingxue's voice was still dry and monotonous.
Huaifu presented the imperial edict with both hands, and glanced at Ye Qingxue's expression, but couldn't discern anything from it. He was slightly surprised, but still said, "Please accept my condolences, Your Highness!"
Ye Qingxue did not respond, but simply accepted the imperial edict.
At the same time the imperial edict arrived, the emperor had already ordered Cui Shao to prepare a carriage and guards to personally escort Ye Qingxue to Qinglan Gorge.
They set off overnight.
Later, Ye Qingxue remembered nothing about how she changed clothes, how she got on the carriage, when she left the city, what roads the carriage traveled, and how she finally arrived at Qinglan Gorge.
By the time she stepped off the carriage, it was already dawn. She looked at the collapsed tunnel in Qinglan Gorge, her expression momentarily blank.
She saw that both sides of the river were filled with people.
Among them were officials, soldiers, and guards, but their main objective was to intercept most of the river works at a distance.
The river workers kept looking this way, as if they were performing a silent drama. Their urgency and anxiety were written all over their faces and their bodies, but they didn't make a sound.
Many river workers, however, were completely indifferent, showing no physical reaction whatsoever, as if they were merely background figures in this drama, silent and immense.
There were only a few corpses on the riverbank. They were dressed in rags, their shoes had fallen off, and they were lying barefoot with mud and sand between their mouths, noses, and toes.
Ye Qingxue watched these scenes, while Granny Xing and Chunxiaqiu looked at her with worry in their eyes.
Since learning of Yun Zhuo's tragic death, Ye Qingxue has barely spoken. When she received the imperial decree, her expression was extremely indifferent, and she hasn't shed a single tear yet.
It was as if she were in another world, and no one could touch her joys and sorrows. This made Granny Xing and Chunxiaqiu even more worried about her, wishing she could have a good cry.
Ye Qingxue walked towards the direction of the Vice Minister of Works.
Upon seeing her, the Vice Minister of Works immediately led his men forward to greet her, saying, "Greetings, Crown Princess!"
Ye Qingxue asked, "Where did His Highness the Crown Prince have the accident? What is the status of the search and rescue operation?"
Granny Xing and the others breathed a sigh of relief when they heard Ye Qingxue's clear and unambiguous words. Thankfully, she was still mentally sound.
The Vice Minister of Works pointed to a section of the collapsed tunnel: "It's right there. Because the rocks in this area are fragile, the collapsed section is quite long."
"How is the search and rescue going?" Ye Qingxue repeated the question from before, her voice no longer dry and indifferent, but cold and sharp as a knife, as if she were about to cleave someone in two.
"No... not ideal. The collapse was too severe, and the water flow is also affecting the rescue efforts. We are very worried about a secondary collapse, so the search and rescue situation is not very good." The Vice Minister answered somewhat haltingly.
Ye Qingxue took off her cloak, threw it on the ground, and walked towards the place where Yun Zhuo had the accident.
The collapsed area looked completely different from other places. When she arrived at the collapsed site, she stopped, knelt on the soil, bent over and began to dig with her hands.
...We dared not use hoes or shovels, for fear of digging into the people inside and seriously injuring them, or causing even more serious casualties due to a secondary collapse.
After digging several times, she turned to the Vice Minister of Works, her eyes as white as snow: "His Highness the Crown Prince is buried underground. Please, Your Excellency, order a rescue!"
The Vice Minister of Works pursed his lips, glanced at the distance, and then ordered the soldiers in a deep voice: "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and follow the Crown Princess to rescue people!"
Upon receiving the order, the officers and soldiers rushed forward and began digging and rescuing people.
Granny Xing and Chunxiaqiu exchanged a glance and quickly came to Ye Qingxue's side. Granny Xing said, "Your Highness, you are feeling unwell. Let us handle the rescue. Let Chunqian take care of you and let you rest to the side."
Ye Qingxue seemed not to hear and continued digging, her hands quickly getting covered in mud and sand, and her sleeves soon becoming dirty and wet.
Granny Xing was heartbroken: "Your Highness, what will we do if anything happens to the child? How long have you been waiting for this child? Your health is the most important thing!"
The mud and sand were rough, and Ye Qingxue's ten fingers quickly bled. Granny Xing couldn't bear to watch any longer, grabbed her hand, and cried as she begged, "Crown Princess!"
After that one call, there was no more speech.
What else can be said?
I've said everything I needed to say.
Ye Qingxue didn't look at her, but forcefully pulled her hand out and continued digging regardless, and no one could stop her.
Granny Xing and Chunxiaqiu had no choice but to follow her and dig, tears streaming down their faces.
From the cool breeze of the morning to the scorching sun at noon, the harsh sunlight on my back felt like it was drying out all the moisture in my body, causing a burning pain.
Qiu Shen went to get some sweet water and held it to Ye Qingxue's lips. She thought it would be difficult to persuade her to drink it, but Ye Qingxue took it and drank it all.
Still no words were spoken, but they continued digging.
Several people had already been dug out of the mud, but there was still no trace of Yun Zhuo.
However, Qiu Shen was overjoyed to see that Ye Qingxue was willing to drink, so he immediately went to get some pastries and brought them to her lips, which Ye Qingxue ate as usual.
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