The Grand Concubine was naturally considered a legitimate elder, after all, she gave birth to Prince Ping.
"Send someone to notify second brother." Ning Chen gave instructions as he stood up and dressed.
Yuan Jiu responded and arranged for Huai'an to go.
Ye Jun naturally had to get up and go to Ci'an Palace as well.
Although you don't have to kneel down, you still have to express your condolences.
Ye Jun didn't like to get close to the Yao family.
She didn't believe that the Grand Concubine had no involvement in everything that Yao Xiang and the Yao family did back then, but now that the person has passed away, she didn't want to pursue the matter.
They are just poor people trapped in the deep palace.
In less than an hour, Ci'an Palace was brightly lit.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs had been preparing for the funeral of the Grand Concubine Tai long ago, and now they were making arrangements in an orderly manner.
Prince Ping and Princess Ping arrived, and they knelt in front of the Grand Concubine's couch.
One had a pale face and red and swollen eyes, and the other was wiping his eyes with a handkerchief, both looked very sad.
"Please accept my condolences, second brother. Nanny Li, who served me personally, said that the Grand Concubine passed away peacefully." Ning Chen patted Prince Ping's shoulder.
Prince Ping took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. "Thank you for your comfort, Your Majesty. My mother has been suffering from illness for a long time. This is a relief for her."
At this time King Kang also arrived.
He patted King Ping's shoulder silently to comfort him.
No matter what, it is rare that these three brothers have always been in harmony.
This was also due to the fact that the late emperor's Empress Zhang was too powerful and gave birth to the eldest son, which made the concubines and princes feel overwhelmed, making the first few of them particularly close.
Later, the late emperor was in a hurry and decided on the candidate with an imperial decree, without letting the three of them compete.
Ning Chen is also kind and friendly to his brothers, so they have been in harmony ever since.
After all, the Grand Concubine was the concubine of the previous emperor, and could not bear the kneeling of Ning Chen and his concubines.
Therefore, after the concubines in the harem paid their condolences, it was Prince Ping and Princess Ping who went to the palace to kneel and pay respects every day.
The place where the coffin is placed is called Yinghua Hall.
According to palace rules, the coffin of the Grand Concubine can be kept for seven days before being buried in the tomb of the previous emperor's concubine.
During these seven days, Prince Ping and the Princess had to go to the palace every day to kneel before the casket. Ning Chen also ordered the entire palace to be draped in white for a month as a sign of mourning.
Cining Palace.
The new maid assigned to take care of the empress dowager was named Daimao. She was in her early thirties and very capable and smart.
Among the newcomers, the Queen Mother was the only one who was relatively gentle to her.
"Yao Qianhua is dead?"
Early the next morning, the servants told the news.
Although the Emperor had instructed that the Empress Dowager should not worry about matters outside, she still had to know what needed to be said.
Daimao was combing the queen mother's hair and answered softly, "Yes, she passed away last night. Now the coffin has been carried to Yinghua Palace, and the palace is all covered with white."
For a moment, the Queen Mother was in a trance.
It’s not like there haven’t been deaths in the palace before, but none of them were of her age. Imperial Concubine Yao was the first one.
Perhaps other concubines had also passed away, but when the new emperor ascended the throne, only the concubines who had given birth to the previous emperor could stay in the palace. The others were sent to the temporary palace near the previous emperor's mausoleum, so the empress dowager did not know.
Now the death of Concubine Yao has had a huge impact on her.
"Do you know how powerful Yao was in the past? Empress Zhang was vicious and powerful, and only she dared to fight against her. Now, she died before me."
The Queen Mother seemed to be mumbling to herself, or talking to someone beside her, as she stared blankly at her own wrinkled face in the bronze mirror.
She remembered that when the emperor first ascended the throne, she was still charming and graceful, but now, only eight or nine years have passed, she has already looked old.
"The Emperor is a filial son. All the good food and clothes are sent to the Cining Palace. The Empress Dowager is taking good care of him. He will live a long life."
Daimao smiled and put the last phoenix hairpin on the empress dowager.
"Look, the queen is still as beautiful as ever after putting on her makeup, dignified and calm, majestic without even getting angry."
The Queen Mother was persuaded by her words, and then looking in the mirror, she had to admit that this palace maid was very good at dressing up.
At first she didn't want to dress up and just wanted to stay in the house. Later, this tortoise shell persuaded her to dress up, water the flowers and enjoy the scenery. She felt much calmer than before.
This is why she gradually accepted the hawksbill turtle.
"You are so sweet-talker. Please accompany me for dinner. Later, ask someone to go to Yinghua Palace to send Yao off for me." The empress dowager said calmly.
Daimao nodded, helped the empress dowager up and went to the main hall.
When Ning Chen heard that the Queen Mother sent someone to visit the Grand Concubine's mourning hall, his expression fluctuated slightly.
Although he didn't say anything in the end, he called the imperial physician who usually checked the empress dowager's pulse to Jiuchen Palace and asked a few questions.
Naturally, the emperor's every move was watched by the harem.
Not long after, Ye Jun also learned the news.
"After all, the emperor still has feelings for the empress dowager." Ye Jun said lightly.
They are mother and son, how could they not be touched at all
This move was probably because the passing of the Grand Concubine made Ning Chen somewhat worried about the Queen Mother's health.
Huiyue was puzzled, "But the emperor has clearly always been wary of the Chen family."
"To His Majesty, the Chen family is the Chen family, and the Queen Mother is the Queen Mother. They cannot be confused." Ye Jun lowered his eyes, "Our emperor is not a person who likes to kill everyone. It's just that the Duke of England is too magnanimous."
When Ning Chen first ascended the throne, he naturally relied on the Chen family, but the Duke of England really didn't know how to write the four words "retire after success".
He has always won over half of the court officials and manipulated their mouths to influence the emperor's decisions.
Ning Chen is not a tyrant, he will not allow this.
But what Ning Chen could not tolerate the most was that the Duke of England instigated the Queen Mother to seek benefits for him.
It is disgusting to take advantage of Ning Chen's filial piety.
Taking advantage of the emperor's youth, they began to think of controlling him, and even intended to control the next emperor of Nanqi, which was not allowed for any emperor.
People who have grown up with big hearts won’t know how to stop, so we can only cut off their hands.
When it comes to state affairs, the servants all keep their mouths shut.
Ye Jun didn't say anything more and instead thought of something.
"Now that the Grand Concubine has passed away, I'm afraid there won't be any wedding ceremonies in the palace for a while."
"I guess so. The Emperor has been in mourning for a month for the Grand Concubine, so there's no reason why he wouldn't allow her to have a three-month mourning period," Huiyue said.
Nan Zhi's eyes lit up, "Does that mean the newcomers' entry into the palace should be delayed?"
"Of course." Ye Jun smiled. "I thought she would be able to come in March, which would be around the same time as Qin Wanrong's birth, so it would be a double blessing. Now I'm afraid she won't be able to enter the palace until June or July."
"It would be better if I didn't enter the palace." Nan Zhi pouted and muttered.
Ye Jun took a sip of tea without much concern.
"The emperor is still so young, and he is being very low-key by not holding a talent show this year. If he doesn't select two people, the court officials' spit will drown the emperor."
After all, this is an era that values having many children, especially for the royal family, which is the least likely to mind having too many children.
This time, the two people chosen to enter the palace both had good family backgrounds.
One was the legitimate daughter of the Changsun family, a scholarly family in the south, and the other was the legitimate daughter of the Xu family in Jiangning.
The grandfather of the first one was the tutor of the late emperor, and the cousin of the second one is Princess Kang.
Neither is easy.