When a concubine of a late emperor passed away, no one in the harem of the previous dynasty cared about it until Emperor Longfeng named her a concubine of honor and honor, and more and more people went to the mourning hall of Concubine Zhao to express condolences.
However, those who were really sad about the departure of Concubine Zhao were the old concubines who lived in the Palace of Concubine Zhao.
The palace usually does not let people cry, only in front of Zhao Taifei's mourning hall, they dare to cry loudly.
They cried for Concubine Zhao and also for themselves.
Jiuzhu and Chen Wang changed into plain white clothes, went to the mourning hall to offer incense, and sent her off for the last ride.
"The funeral specifications for the concubine Jinggui have been set." King Chen took Jiuzhu's hand: "I will bury her in the mausoleum of the concubine, not with the late emperor."
"That's good." Jiuzhu looked back at the monk who was chanting scriptures in the mourning hall, and held King Chen's fingers tightly in the palm of his hand.
The late emperor forcibly robbed the women of the people into the palace, at least after his death, the women were in peace.
"My lord, my princess, please stay."
Jiuzhu turned her head back, it was the old mama who served Concubine Zhao.
Mammy was wearing a white hemp belt around her waist, and she looked very haggard. She walked up to the two of them and saluted: "Before the concubine died, I wanted my servant to give some things to the princess. If the princess is willing to accept it, please follow the old lady. Take a walk."
"Please mama lead the way."
Without the yard where the owner lives, it has become a lot deserted. The white paper lanterns hanging under the eaves, in the vibrant spring, appear indifferent and indifferent.
Mammy brought Jiuzhu and King Chen into the house. She took out a box from the house: "The concubine will prepare the contents here for a few days. It should have been handed over to you on Qingming Day, but it was delayed."
Jiuzhu knew why it was delayed. The things she brought back to the imperial concubine two days ago made her forget about the rest.
Taking the heavy wooden box, Jiuzhu whispered her thanks.
"Princess." Mammy took three steps back and knelt down toward Jiu Zhu, and all the other palace maids and eunuchs in the room also knelt down.
"Mother." Jiuzhu quickly reached out to help her.
"Princess, please allow the old slave to finish this ceremony." The mother's eyes were firm, and Jiu Zhu slowly retracted her hand.
Mammy led the palace servants in the house to kowtow three times to Jiuzhu, and Jiuzhu heard the sobbing of the little palace maid.
"The noble concubine left with a smile and was very peaceful." The maid stood up with the help of the little palace maid: "The princess and the master met by chance, but the master deliberately crossed most of the capital for her during the Qingming Festival, and gave her to a man who had already passed away. People have worshipped incense for many years. If it wasn't for you, the master would only leave with regrets."
So she deserves this gift.
The imperial palace is the most noble place in the world, and it has everything that people in the world dream of.
Power, status, money, beauty.
The only thing missing is the human heart.
Princess Chen arrived gracefully, and in this harem full of desires, she seemed to be an outlier, but she was not out of place.
It was like a dark night, and a light appeared.
On the hot summer night, a gust of wind appeared.
She is so different, that's why the concubine, who was unwilling to interfere in anything, dragged her sick body and insisted on going to the Peach Blossom Forest to remind her and King Chen.
The concubine's heart softened for a while, in exchange for Princess Chen's sincere retribution, she brought back the things left by the longevity for the concubine.
There was a shrill cat meowing, and when Jiuzhu saw the cat raised by Concubine Zhao, she squatted at the foot of the bed, looking up at the bed from time to time, as if wondering why the owner was not on the bed.
"After the master left, the cat has been lying in the house waiting for the master to come back." Mommy's tears rolled down again: "We feed it, but it doesn't like to eat. At night, I look for the master around the yard. "
How does the cat know that its owner will never come back.
Jiuzhu gave the wooden box in her hand to King Chen beside her, squatted in front of the cat, and reached out to it.
The fat cat meowed and circled the room many times before jumping slowly into Jiuzhu's arms.
However, just as Jiuzhu hugged it and left the courtyard gate, the cat struggled for a while, but still jumped out of her arms.
"Princess, I'll help you catch the cat back when I'm young." Seeing this, Yang Yiduo rolled up his sleeves and prepared to catch the cat.
"No need." Jiuzhu shook her head: "Go and tell Mammy, I'll pick it up in a while."
"Little leader."
"Want to raise a cat?" King Chen turned his head and asked her.
Jiuzhu shook her head: "The concubine is no longer here. This cat has no owner in the harem, so it may not survive."
At the beginning, it accidentally ran to the sixth palace of Zhangzhang, and its legs were broken, not to mention the days when it was not taken care of by its owner.
"Don't worry, those old ladies in the West Palace will take good care of it." King Chen took her hand again: "If you are worried, check back in a few days."
"Yeah." Jiuzhu nodded, she always believed what His Highness said.
"Let's go, I'll take you to a place." Seeing that Jiuzhu was still in a low mood, King Chen whispered in her ear, "Your Highness will take you out of the palace."
"Now?" Jiuzhu asked.
"Yes, right now." King Chen reached out and pinched her nose: "Would you like to go?"
"I think." Jiuzhu nodded.
"You can go if you want, just smile at me." He handed the wooden box to the attendant specially arranged for him by the emperor, and rubbed her face with his hands: "What does a sad face look like at a young age."
After rubbing it twice, it felt so good that King Chen couldn't help rubbing it again.
Not only did Jiuzhu not laugh with him, she was also angry with him.
Seeing this, King Chen quickly retracted his hand: "Don't be angry, don't be angry, we'll go out now."
Seeing that Jiuzhu was ignoring him, he reached out and took Jiuzhu into his arms: "I was wrong, don't be angry, eh?"
Jiuzhu raised her head and stepped on her feet, took the opportunity to reach out and rubbed King Chen's face, and in the stunned expression of King Chen, she nodded in satisfaction: "Well, I'm not angry anymore."
"Ming Xiaozhu, you're with a few concubines, and you've learned badly." King Chen came to his senses, how well-behaved his piglets were in the past, and now he has learned how to cheat after a long time in the palace.
Sure enough, the palace is a big dye vat, turning his white, tender and spotless piglet into colorful.
The two went out of the palace in a carriage, and when Jiuzhu got off the carriage, did they know where His Highness had come to her.
It was originally just a mound of longevity tomb, but now there is no mound, and it has become a big pit.
Jiu Zhu turned to look at King Chen: "Your Highness?"
If ordinary people saw such a scene, they would definitely suspect that King Chen had destroyed other people's graves, but Jiuzhu's first reaction was, His Highness wants to build a grave for Changsheng
Looking at her trusting little eyes, King Chen smiled, a little fool like this, fortunately he met him.
Fortunately, she was the one who didn't waste his efforts to ask for a grace from his father and mother.
"Take off the things on the carriage." King Chen said: "Concubine Jinggui is the concubine of the late emperor who received the jade scorpion, and the funeral is jointly managed by the Zongren Mansion and the Ministry of Rites. I can't transport her body out of the palace, so I can only take some of her body. The objects, jewelry and clothes that I use on weekdays, build a tomb with clothes and crowns and be buried with Changsheng.”
Grandfather did a lot of mischief. As a grandson, he gave his grandfather a colored hat. The ancestors should also turn a blind eye and not care about him.
"This matter can't be done with great fanfare, so we can only keep things simple." King Chen took Jiuzhu's hand and whispered: "Let's hurry up, don't be discovered."
"The father and mother agree to this matter?" Even though Jiuzhu grew up in a Taoist temple, she didn't know much about the world, and she knew that this matter was not in line with the principles of filial piety.
"Shh, don't say it, don't say it." King Chen took out the tablet hidden under the carriage, and it was written not of Mr. So-and-so, but of Zhao Taohua.
According to folk customs, the bones should be washed to see the day and the hour when the tomb is opened and buried together, but Jiuzhu knew that if Changsheng and the concubine Jinggui were alive in the sky, they would not mind that the funeral was not solemn on this occasion.
Warm the grave with paper money, sweep the bottom with clothes, and fan out all the paper money ashes from the graveyard.
This should have been done by the children and grandchildren, but neither Concubine Zhao nor Changsheng had descendants, so Jiuzhu and King Chen took the robes they wore and fanned for a long time, finally fanning all the paper money ashes at the bottom of the tomb. go out.
The two of them were covered in the ashes of the flying paper money, and the plain white clothes turned into black and white gray clothes.
"I asked people before I came here, this step is essential." King Chen pulled Jiuzhu to climb out from the bottom of the pit: "This means that they will have no worries about food and clothing in the future, and they will be safe and sound."
"Oh." Jiuzhu nodded, nodding ignorantly: "What are we going to do next?"
"Put Zhao... Auntie's clothes into the grave." King Chen put his hands behind his back: "The rest of the burial rules belong to the descendants of Fuze. Since they have no descendants, why bother them."
As the coffin was buried and the earth covered the coffin, Jiuzhu's depressed mood began to gradually improve.
When King Chen asked his attendants to place the newly carved tombstone in front of the tomb, a smile appeared on Jiuzhu's face.
"Finally not sad anymore?" King Chen took out a handkerchief and wiped Jiu Zhu's ashes on his face, even though his hands were not clean.
"Yeah." Jiuzhu nodded: "They couldn't be together before they were alive, so it would be nice if they could share the same acupoint after death."
"Come on, give them a stick of incense, and then we'll go home." King Chen handed the incense to Jiuzhu and bowed three times to the tombstone.
The breeze blew, and the cigarette swirled in the air and flew into the blue sky.
Longevity, Taohua.
May they come to live a hundred years, and their lives are as bright as fire.
When the two returned to the carriage, they laughed out loud when they saw each other's feet were muddy and their clothes were dirty.
"That's right, the little girl looks so good when she smiles." King Chen reached out and pinched Jiuzhu's face. There were two dark fingerprints on her already flowery face.
He looked away with a guilty conscience, and coughed dryly: "It will be dark after a while, and the palace maids and eunuchs dare not look directly at our faces. Later, as long as we walk fast enough, no one will notice that our clothes are dirty."
Of course, the point is actually the face.
But he dared not say it.
They are covered in paper money and ashes, and changing clothes outside the palace is more likely to attract others' speculation.
"What if someone sees it?"
"When you see it, say I'll take you out of the palace to grill fish, but we both accidentally fell into the ash heap." King Chen calmly said, "Don't worry, as long as we have the answer, no one will dare to ask further questions."
According to his previous behavior, maybe no one suspects that he is lying.
When night fell, King Chen took two thin black cloaks and draped them over himself and Jiu Zhu, and strode down the palace road without hesitation.
"My mother's body was not cold, and she was pregnant. What kind of filial piety, I think it was all faked before."
"Like a mother, it's natural to be a son to pretend to be."
Behind the palace gate, the voice of the eunuch came out, and there seemed to be a little excitement in their mean tone.
When Jiuzhu heard this conversation, she immediately stopped, and King Chen frowned and looked behind the door.
Some people are born to like to watch others suffer.
The world is never short of people who fall into the trap.