(Easter egg at the end of the chapter, concept drawing of the protagonist’s filial piety!)
At dawn on the first day of October, the Qian'an Palace was brightly lit.
Zhao Yanxun opened his arms and allowed the eunuchs to dress him.
It's just that today is different from the past. Today he is wearing a white tunic, the outermost layer is a round-necked robe made of linen, and the leather belt around his waist has been replaced by a hemp rope.
There is no doubt that he is wearing mourning clothes now.
Not only him, but the maids, eunuchs and guards inside and outside the palace were all wearing plain clothes today because today was the day when Emperor Tai'an was buried.
When the emperor dies, it is customary for the whole country to show mourning.
It is a pity that Emperor Tai'an died when the end of the world was coming, and he encountered Zhao Yanxun's trouble later, which caused his funeral ceremony to be messy.
But no matter what, after Emperor Tai'an was buried today, everything has settled.
Finally, a plain-colored Yishan crown was put on Zhao Yanxun's head, which meant that his dressing was completed.
With a calm expression, Zhao Yanxun turned around and walked out of the hall.
A group of eunuchs followed immediately, and a chariot and sedan chair were waiting outside Qian'an Hall.
"Let's drive!"
The chariot sedan moved forward, slowly heading towards the harem, and finally stopped outside Xianfu Palace.
In the Xianfu Palace, all the concubines of Emperor Tai'an and Zhao Yanxun were all wearing mourning clothes made of linen.
And these women all centered around Concubine Duan, which made Concubine Duan feel pretty good on this supposedly sad day.
After paying tribute to Concubine Duan, Zhao Yanxun led the group of women to the back of the palace.
Emperor Tai'an's Zi Palace was located in Changle Palace behind the imperial palace.
At this moment, outside Changle Palace, a large number of officials in plain clothes were kneeling on both sides of the royal road, numbering at least three to four hundred people.
In other words, except for those positions where people cannot leave, all the officials who can come are here.
Inside the Changle Gate, those kneeling were higher-ranking officials and the vassal king who had been summoned to the capital by Zhao Yanxun.
After leaving the Shenwu Gate, Zhao Yanxun was separated from Concubine Duan and others. He was the only one who could take a chariot and sedan along the imperial road as far as Changle Gate.
Even if most of the people are left out, Zhao Yanxun still has a lot of ceremonial entourage, including eunuchs, maids, and bodyguards, totaling more than 300 people.
The sky is getting brighter now, but it will take another half an hour before the sun rises from the east.
Soon, his chariot and sedan arrived outside Changle Gate, attracting a crowd of officials to bow down and salute.
Twenty feet away from Changle Gate, Zhao Yanxun's chariot sedan dropped down, and he was about to walk in next.
He got up early today, but many of the officials present got up in the middle of the night and have been waiting here for more than an hour.
With his head held high and his chest held high, Zhao Yanxun walked on the royal road. On both sides of him were officials from the royal family, and behind him were Huo An, Lin Quan and other eunuchs.
After entering Changle Gate, Zhao Yanxun continued walking in. At this moment, he could already see Emperor Tai'an's Zi Palace in the main hall ahead.
When Zhao Yanxun passed by, the vassal kings who entered Beijing from the south quietly raised their heads and looked at him.
At first glance, I think Zhao Yanxun is just handsome, and there is nothing else surprising about him.
But after a few more glances, I felt that he was moving like a dragon and a tiger, and he was too powerful to look directly at.
Soon, Zhao Yanxun climbed up the stairs and walked into the main hall.
There were also a group of people kneeling in the main hall. They were the brothers and sons of Emperor Tai'an, and they were the people with the closest blood relationship.
In addition, around Emperor Tai'an's Zi Palace, there were a large number of Taoist priests sitting cross-legged and chanting sutras.
The empty futon in the middle in front of Zi Palace was reserved for Zhao Yanxun.
When Zhao Yanxun stepped into the hall, his eyes fell on the altar in front of him, and he sighed in his heart.
To be honest, Emperor Tai'an was very kind to him and fulfilled almost all his wishes when he came to the vassal, so Zhao Yanxun's sadness at this moment is sincere.
Kneeling on the futon, Zhao Yanxun took a stick of incense from the eunuch, knelt down three times before the altar in front of him, and then handed the incense to the eunuch, who inserted it into the incense burner.
Next, there were various complicated etiquettes, and the whole process lasted for nearly an hour.
When all the ceremonies were over, it was already bright and the sun was high in the eastern sky."
This also means that it is time to lift the coffin.
Under the guidance of the ceremonial officer, more than fifty strong men in plain clothes entered the hall, and the next step was to lift the coffin.
But before the coffin is raised, there is still something to be done.
At the entrance of the main hall, the ceremonial officer shouted: "To express my condolences..."
His shout seemed to turn on the tear gland switch of everyone, and all the officials and princes inside and outside Changle Palace burst into tears.
Amid waves of louder cries, dozens of strong men were already in place, lifting the coffin under the command of the ceremonial officer.
The mournful music was played, and along with the sound of crying and howling, Emperor Tai'an's coffin slowly moved outward.
Men were crying inside and outside the main hall, while in the side halls on both sides, the concubines and wives were crying.
In the east side hall of the main hall, Concubine Duan is kneeling facing the west. Behind her are the concubines of Emperor Tai'an and the princesses of various vassals.
Others may be pretending to cry, but Concubine Duan, who has always been cruel and ruthless, is really crying at this moment.
The crying and howling sounds in her ears, combined with the desolate and sad music, were both tear gas for Concubine Duan.
Looking at the Zi Palace where Emperor Tai'an was slowly moving out in front of the main hall, Concubine Duan even cried out.
Emperor Tai'an had been partial to her for many years, and even though Concubine Duan was hard-hearted, she developed deep feelings for her.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... Why did you just leave!"
In the west side hall, Xue Baoyun was kneeling at the front, and behind her were the concubines Zhao Yanxun and the higher-ranking wives.
Everyone here basically has no interaction with Emperor Tai'an, so there is no relationship at all, so most of them are just pretending to cry.
But some people are thinking about other things while pretending to cry.
For example, Zhang Fengxiu, who was kneeling at the back, was staring at Huang Rongrong in front of her, her expression full of coldness and resentment.
Huang Rongrong gave her a slap in the face, which still makes Zhang Fengxiu feel resentful.
She first reported the matter to Xue Baoyun, but the princess directly reconciled with Xini and then let it go.
Originally, Zhang Fengxiu wanted to report to Concubine Duan, but after thinking about it, she stopped because after all, Concubine Duan was being pushed forward, which might make Concubine Duan unhappy.
Zhang Fengxiu suffered the loss of being mute, but she remembered her revenge. She thought about revenge all the time.
But today's opportunity gave her a sense of opportunity.
Just as she was thinking about how to make Huang Rongrong "disrespectful" in the country's funeral, she heard Lin Jingyu, who was in the front seat, say: "Princess, if someone is distracted by mourning, what crime should be committed?"
Xue Baoyun of Prince Yong's Mansion undoubtedly has the power of "life and death" in this side hall, which also means that every word she says cannot be wrong.
"The loss of dignity to the country is a crime of great disrespect and should be severely punished!"
This sentence was naturally extremely correct, and it also made everyone in the hall cry and howl, their voices reduced a lot, and they all wanted to watch the fun.
In fact, Xue Baoyun didn't want to cause trouble at this time, so Lin Jingyu's sudden opening made her very unhappy.
But she still suppressed her anger and asked: "Who is disrespectful?"
This sentence made Lin Jingyu angry again. If she didn't name the specific person, then she would be a disobedient person.
"Zhang Fengyi just lost his mind, and it's only then that I asked this question!"
Lin Jingyu answered very cleverly. Although she named Zhang Fengxiu, she did not directly say that she was discourteous.
But this sentence made Zhang Fengxiu understand that Lin Jingyu had noticed everything she had just done.
At this point she had two choices, either explain or plead guilty.
Of course it was impossible for Zhang Fengxiu to plead guilty. I just heard her say: "I am in unbearable grief, my heart is as sharp as a knife, and I have even forgotten myself. Please forgive me!"
This explanation barely made sense. Xue Baoyun didn't want to get into trouble at the moment, so he didn't ask any more questions.
At this time, Lin Jingyu and Zhang Fengxiu looked at each other, and both of them saw the coldness in each other's eyes.
In fact, Lin Jingyu didn't want to get into trouble, but this picture of Fengxiu trying to touch Huang Rongrong forced her to "make extra trouble."
As the person involved, Huang Rongrong was completely unaware of the confrontation just now, and was just happy that Zhang Fengxiu was "named".
The wives behind the concubines sensed the storm in the palace in the future from the few words exchanged between the concubines.