As the stages of Xiaoxiang, Daxiang, and Tanji passed, the grief gradually eased, and everyone's mourning clothes also changed from heavy to light, from thick to thin, and finally ushered in the final burial.
Under the leadership of the new emperor, the clan and the officials together helped the late emperor's coffin to the emperor's mausoleum built in the suburbs. After the last cry and three worships, the funeral ceremony of the emperor Daxing ended.
On the second day, everyone took off their solemn mourning clothes, put on ordinary clothes, and gradually resumed their normal lives. The meeting, which had been stagnant for two months, finally resumed.
At the same time, the birthday of the Queen Mother Qi at the end of October was also put on the agenda.
In the Wanchun Hall, Cui He will carefully insert a jade hairpin into Chu Ning's hair, while saying, "Somehow this year, the Queen Mother will remember to hold a birthday banquet."
Chu Ning was standing in front of the bronze mirror carefully sorting out the clothes that he had just put on. Hearing this, he turned to look at the folds on his shoulders that were just smoothed out, and said, "Who knows? Maybe it's because this year happens to be the sixty-fifth birthday. Let's do it well according to the custom."
Having said that, Cui He said, "Slaves always think it's not that simple."
Chu Ning also thought so.
Although Empress Dowager Qi manages the power of the Qi family behind her, she is more like a secluded old woman, who eats fast and recites Buddha every day, lives a frugal life, and rarely organizes a birthday banquet. It is the late emperor who should be taken into account who passed away not long ago.
At this time, there are other intentions to hold a birthday banquet.
"Forget it, let's go see it today, maybe we can guess something."
She and Xiao Yu lived in Wanchun Palace for more than a month. Now that the funeral ceremony has passed, and Xiao Yu's body has recovered, it is time to return to the East Palace.
She had planned to go to the Baifu Hall in person today to greet the Queen Mother Qi. She was an elder and had to be respected. Unexpectedly, in the early morning, Baifu Palace also happened to come, saying that the Queen Mother Qi invited her to come over after lunch.
The East Palace and the Baifu Palace have always been clearly separated, and she, the Crown Princess, is not very good at getting into the eyes of the Queen Mother Qi.
After finishing her grooming, Chu Ning waited in the hall for a while, until a servant from the government office brought news that Xiao Yu was busy with official business and could not find time to return to the palace, so he got up and went to Baifu Hall by himself.
This is also expected.
Xiao Yu's relationship with the Queen Mother Qi was stiff, and if it was not necessary, she would hardly go to the Baifu Palace. In the past, she, the Crown Princess, was the only one who went to ask hello several times a month. Moreover, some things have indeed happened in the DPRK and China in the past few days.
On the first day of the re-opening of the Great Court, someone from the Censor's Office impeached Liang Biao, the governor of Cangzhou, on charges of embezzling money for disaster relief and condoning family members to bully men and women three years ago.
This impeachment is obviously prepared, not only the charges are clearly stated, but also the specific time, number and other details are listed in the booklet. Xiao Kezhi saw it, and immediately ordered the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple to jointly try the case.
Many people in the court knew that Liang Biao had always been a supporter of the prince Xiao Yu in the past, and now he has become the first person to kill one as an example after the new emperor ascended the throne.
Xiao Yu's mind was extremely heavy.
He had made preparations in advance to let Xu Rong deal with all the traces of pickling in the past, but Xiao Kezhi still caught the handle. This time it was just Liang Biao, who was far away in Cangzhou. Who knows how many others are in the hands of the other party What about human evidence
However, the matter has not yet been settled, Xiao Kezhi immediately issued another decree, handing over the re-dredging of the ancient river channel, which is 14 miles long in Huazhou, into Xiao Yu's hands, which caused a shock to the court and the public.
It should be noted that the matter of dredging the river in Huazhou was put forward by Zheng Hua's interpretation and observation envoy last year, and it was put on hold because the late emperor suddenly fell ill. If this is done, the old river will be resolved and the water potential will be divided, so that there will be no more floods in Huazhou, and the irrigation of hundreds of hectares of fertile fields will be restored.
While suppressing the followers of the prince, the new emperor handed him such an errand, which is really confusing.
In the past few days, Xiao Yu secretly suspected Xiao Kezhi's true intentions, and at the same time had to go to the Ministry of Industry every day to discuss and discuss with several officials in charge, and waited for the departure to Huazhou in January.
Outside the Baifu Hall, the maid who was waiting saw Chu Ning coming, and after giving her a slight salute, she turned around and entered the hall to report.
Chu Ning waited quietly outside the hall, only to feel that the maid took an extraordinarily long time to report.
She was accustomed to being treated coldly in Baifu Hall, and she was not annoyed, she just waited patiently, and after a long time the maid led her in with a smile.
As soon as he entered the inner room, before seeing anyone, he heard a young and gentle female voice say something softly, followed by the hearty laughter of the Queen Mother Qi.
Empress Dowager Qi has always been stern, and it is very rare to see someone who can make her so happy in the Baifu Palace.
After a moment of thought, Chu Ning knew who the other party was.
Sure enough, as soon as I entered the inner room, I saw a girl of fifteen or sixteen years old sitting next to the Queen Mother Qi. Qi Chenxiang, the youngest daughter of Qi Mu and the niece of the Empress Dowager Qi, the sixth mother of the Qi family.
The Queen Mother Qi has no children, so Qi Mu's sons and daughters are very affectionate, especially Qi Chenxiang, Liu Niang, who has stood out among the ladies in Chang'an since she was a child because of her gentle and considerate temperament, generosity and calmness, and was deeply loved by the Queen Mother.
Chu Ning only glanced at it, then bowed down and bowed in accordance with the rules, saluting upright.
However, the two aunts and nephews who were sitting at the same place didn't seem to notice her presence.
Chu Ning still waited patiently and calmly, but in her heart she wondered whether Qi Chenxiang's appearance at this time was a coincidence or the Queen Mother's intentional arrangement.
I don't know how long it took until the maid just now left and returned, saying "The saint is here", and Qi Chenxiang, who was sitting beside the Queen Mother Qi, opened her eyes in surprise as if she suddenly noticed her existence, and said: "Auntie, the Crown Princess has arrived. It seems that she has been kneeling for a long time."
Empress Dowager Qi also followed and waved at her lightly: "I'm old, deaf and blind, but I didn't hear your greeting, get up, it's cold on the ground."
The sound of steady footsteps came from the screen behind him. Chu Ning slowly got up. Just as the footsteps went around the screen and entered the inner room, as if he couldn't hold back the pain in his knees, his legs softened and fell to the side.
The maids were startled and were about to step forward to help her when she felt that her left shoulder was firmly supported by a very familiar broad palm with a scorching heat and strength that could not be ignored.
"Be careful." A cold and rough voice came from the ear, and then the palm was quickly retracted, as if nothing was wrong.
Chu Ning turned around in a hurry, raised his eyes to meet those sharp eyes, and said in a weak and nervous tone: "Your Majesty forgives your sin, my niece has just been kneeling for a long time, and her knees are a little sore, so she didn't stand firm and bumped into Your Majesty. "
After hearing this, Mrs. Qi didn't change her face, but Qi Chenxiang's face was a little stiff.
Xiao Kezhi looked at Chu Ning expressionlessly, and when his deep eyes slipped from her bright eyes to her red lips, the Adam's apple moved indiscernibly.
She seemed to have carefully smeared her mouth grease today, which not only made her entire face more beautiful and dazzling than when she had not put on makeup before, but also made her already full red lips a bit more plump and attractive.
He slowly looked away and said solemnly, "No problem, get up and sit."
After the two were seated, Qi Chenxiang walked up to him and saluted generously.
Xiao Kezhi responded lightly and asked her to get up. Empress Qi smiled and pulled her to her side, sitting right between him and Xiao Kezhi.
"Rokuro, how about you look at my niece?"
The Queen Mother Qi called "Liu Lang" so naturally and kindly, as if she really was his mother, which made Chu Ning sitting on the other side have to admire it.
She looked at Qi Chenxiang across from her, and finally understood why Empress Dowager Qi specially asked her to come here, clearly to let Donggong know that the Qi family intends to marry their daughter to the new king.
It was probably because I saw Xiao Kezhi's city mansion recently, or maybe I heard that Xiao Yu took the job of dredging the river, and the Queen Mother Qi made such a decision.
After all, the Qi family is only a foreign relative. When encountering such an unexpected new prince, the only way to stand back is to take a step back and stabilize the status of the Qi family. If you can rely on marriage to stabilize the status of the relatives, it is naturally better.
If the relationship between the emperor and the Qi family is strong, it will definitely make the East Palace tense.
It's just that I don't know how Xiao Kezhi will react.
Chu Ning's eyes fell on him calmly.
As if he didn't realize what the Queen Mother meant, he glanced at Qi Chenxiang blankly, and said indifferently, "The Queen Mother's direct niece is naturally a lady."
When these words fell in Chu Ning's ears, it could be regarded as a compliment, but in Qi Chenxiang's ears, it was quite unpleasant.
She lives in the Qi family and is the youngest girl. She has always been the one held in the middle. She has heard countless compliments and compliments from childhood to adulthood. It is rare to meet Xiao Kezhi's indifference.
While she was proud of being challenged, she was also a little dissatisfied.
This new prince is indeed as splendid as others have said, and his imposing manner is compelling, but he is also a little colder.
Fortunately, her years of upbringing have kept her dignified and generous smile, without showing any strangeness.
The Queen Mother Qi didn't seem to mind his attitude, pulled her niece to sit down again, and continued with a smile: "This child is very filial, and just now he told me that he would personally offer me a dance at the birthday banquet at the end of the month. Woolen cloth."
Qi Chenxiang hurriedly bowed her head shyly, and said, "I just hope that the Queen Mother will not think of my tricks in carving insects, and it will be difficult for me to enter the lobby."
"How could it be? I heard from your mother that you practice diligently and dance as well as others." Empress Dowager Qi patted her hand and looked at Xiao Kezhi meaningfully. , give a comment on how well she can dance."
Xiao Kezhi neither agreed nor refused. Instead, he seemed to ignore Fang Cai's words and said, "Why did the queen mother call me here?"
There was a trace of unhappiness on Empress Qi's face.
She smiled slightly and pointed to Chu Ning: "The prince has always been in bad health, so I called her to ask. I heard that you even sent him an errand to repair the canal in Huazhou. Can't take care of it well?"
Xiao Kezhi smiled coldly, looking at the Queen Mother Qi with insight and provocation. He turned to look at Chu Ning and asked, "How is the prince's body?"
Chu Ning blinked and replied softly, "His Royal Highness is in good shape."
"That's good." Xiao Kezhi raised his eyebrows at the Empress Dowager Qi and said, "I have my own arrangements for the affairs of the DPRK, so I don't bother the Empress Dowager."
Saying that, without waiting for her to respond, he stood up and left.
Empress Dowager Qi has not been refuted face-to-face like this for many years, and she was surprised and angry at the same time.
She put away her smile and returned to her usual solemnity. She no longer talked to Chu Ning any more. She only let people reward some of the supplements that she had prepared, and then waved at her.
Since Chu Ning would not stay, after paying respects, he left Baifu Hall and walked in the direction of Shenlongmen.
However, when I went to the vicinity of Lingyan Pavilion, I saw a figure standing at the bottom of the original steps, looking up from time to time, it was Liu Kang.
As soon as Liu Kang saw her, he quickly approached and said with a smile, "His Royal Highness, it's still early, do we have to go back to Wanchun Palace?"