NCCnovel Chapter 516: Named King
Chapter 516: Named King
Emperor Shenwu's reckoning was merciless. When the maid Ah Tian fell to the ground, her life or death unknown, Emperor Shenwu gave a direct order: "Sprinkle water on her to wake her up! Execute her!"
"The rest of the survivors will be thrown into death row! We must interrogate the other traitors in the palace!"
Wei Yanting and the others took their orders and left. The maid, Ah Tian, was clearly a resolute person, a guard trained by the Abandoned Prince. Questioning her wouldn't reveal anything, so it would be better to execute her directly as a warning to others. As for the others, if they could reveal anything, that would be best. Otherwise, the Emperor Shenwu had other methods to cleanse the palace once more.
Empress Dowager Li inevitably learned about the eldest princess's loss, and how this matter was related to her other son. How could Empress Dowager Li not be furious! She was so angry that she fainted. When she regained consciousness, she had to face the emperor's son's purge of the Cining Palace. All the elderly people with a certain level of seniority in the Cining Palace were taken away, interrogated, and expelled from the palace...
The six palaces were in a state of panic, and the screams in the Ministry of Punishment had not stopped for several days. The smell of blood drifted far away on the autumn wind, making everyone in the palace nervous.
When Empress Dowager Li opened her eyes, she saw Emperor Shenwu sitting beside her with a frown on his face. Empress Dowager Li was helped up by Nanny Li and sat on the bed.
Empress Dowager Li's face inevitably became more wrinkled, and she asked with a worried look on her face, "Emperor, how is Mingzhu?"
Emperor Shenwu said, "Mother, please take good care of yourself. I will take care of Mingzhu."
After saying this, both mother and son fell silent.
Nanny Li quickly brought over the tonic soup prescribed by the imperial physician, "Empress Dowager, please at least drink a few sips!"
Empress Dowager Li waved her hands, her face full of worry, and she seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Emperor Shenwu was also tired of watching: "Don't worry, mother, the queen and I will personally issue an order to appease Mingzhu and the prince consort."
Emperor Shenwu stayed for a while and then got up and left.
The eldest princess's mansion was filled with gloom and sorrow. Even the maids had to be careful with their words and actions in the yard, for fear of offending the eldest princess who was in deep grief.
The eldest princess initially held the child tightly, refusing to let anyone get close to her and refusing to let the child be buried. It was not until Princess Mingzhu fainted from crying again that the eldest consort found an opportunity to take the child.
But holding his son, the prince consort was also somewhat bewildered. He did not want his child's soul to be left without a place to rest, but the child's early death was a symbol of lack of blessings. His family would not allow such a young child to be buried in the ancestral tomb.
The Qingjiang Marquisate indeed forbade such a young child to be buried in the ancestral tomb. Even if the eldest son-in-law was the son of the Qingjiang Marquisate, he could not change the ancestral system.
But soon after that, Emperor Shenwu and Lan Qingwu issued an imperial decree and an imperial edict in succession. In the imperial decree, Emperor Shenwu directly named Princess Mingzhu's son Jiang Muhao, and made an exception to posthumously confer the title of Prince. The princess's son was conferred the title of Prince Mu, which demonstrated the nobility of Princess Mingzhu, the eldest princess of the Yuan Dynasty. Even if it was just a posthumous title, the meaning was very different.
Emperor Shenwu restored Princess Mingzhu's fiefdom and estate, and in Lan Qingwu's imperial edict, he rewarded her with many royal gifts and precious medicinal herbs. He also ordered his maid Ruhan to guard the princess's mansion and handle the funeral of Prince Mu in the princess's mansion on behalf of the current empress.
The statements made by the Emperor and Empress made some officials' families think twice. Led by the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess, the other princes and princesses all went to the Grand Princess's residence to express their condolences, and the high-ranking concubines in the harem also followed suit.
In this situation, the eldest son-in-law's father, Marquis Qingjiang, had to reconsider.
To be honest, the eldest son-in-law's mother, Zou, did not like the eldest princess of noble status. Although the eldest princess's biological mother was of noble status and was the first wife of the current emperor, she died young. Now the eldest princess gave birth to a son who died young. Zou was worried.
She was really heartbroken for her grandson, but her other uncles, aunts, and sisters-in-law all said, either explicitly or implicitly, that the child could not be included in the family tree, could not be ranked in the order of seniority, and could not be buried in the ancestral tomb.
Marquis Qingjiang and Zou had been at the Grand Princess's residence recently, hoping to persuade the Grand Princess and the Grand Princess to first place the child's coffin in Guo'an Temple, where the monks would chant sutras and pray for blessings. They would then proceed after the 49th day.
But now that the emperor and empress had made their stances clear, Marquis Qingjiang immediately changed his attitude and took good care of his grandson's funeral, including including the family tree, the order of generations, and the burial in the ancestral tomb. At least he had won over the heart of the prince consort.
But this did not alleviate the eldest princess's pain of losing her child.
Princess Mingzhu didn't eat or drink for several days, didn't speak, and didn't rest. She just lay there with a dazed look on her face every day. The prince consort put all his affairs aside and stayed with the princess every day.
The eldest princess didn't answer him, but he didn't get anxious. He didn't get angry when the eldest princess spilled the medicine. The eldest princess refused to eat or drink, and the eldest prince consort followed suit.
Until the eldest princess fainted again and woke up, it was late at night and everyone was asleep. The eldest princess looked at the haggard appearance of the eldest prince consort and finally became sober for a moment.
Princess Mingzhu caressed the eldest prince's face distressedly, sadness filling her eyes. "If you hadn't married me, the eldest princess, you wouldn't have gone through all this. You could have married any noble lady from a noble family, and it would have been better than now."
The eldest prince's eyes flashed with joy when he saw the eldest princess regain consciousness, but after hearing what the eldest princess said, he slowly calmed down. "Princess, do you remember the first time you saw me? There was a banquet in the palace then, and you appeared under the blossoming trees, so dignified, noble and beautiful! Princess, I willingly knelt before His Majesty and begged for you. I know you're overwhelmed with grief right now, but it's okay. I will be with you no matter how long you're sad. You must know that An'er is not only your son, but also my son."
"We both lost An'er, but we still have each other! Can you bear to see us lose each other again?"
The eldest princess looked at the eldest prince consort's gaunt face and the dark circles under his eyes, and couldn't help but shed tears: "Did you miss your meals? Why do you look so haggard?"
The Grand Prince Consort suppressed his heartache and smiled, "Shall we eat together?"
The eldest princess finally nodded, and the prince consort immediately ordered someone to serve her some easily digestible porridge. However, the eldest princess only took two mouthfuls before she covered her chest with her hands and could not drink any more.
The Grand Prince Consort quickly consoled him, "It's okay, just two bites is fine, just two bites is fine, you can use some more later..."
The eldest princess urged the eldest prince consort to eat, but the prince consort did not leave and ate half a bowl of porridge in front of the eldest princess.
After the eldest princess fell asleep, the prince consort called the four palace servants in the room and said sternly, "No matter what, the eldest princess must not be left alone at any time. You must never let the princess be alone! Do you understand?"
The four palace maids looked at each other and suddenly shuddered. They immediately understood the implication of the prince consort's words and nodded in agreement.
The eldest son-in-law was also very tired, so he lay beside the eldest princess' bed and took a short nap.
Lan Qingwu in Fengqi Palace was also very tired. The Emperor Shenwu's wrath had not yet subsided. She had just recovered from a serious illness and lay down again after the eldest princess left the palace.
When Lan Qingwu opened his eyes, he saw the Seventh Prince and the Seventh Princess guarding him.