Eight Treasures Trousseau

89

Chapter Eighty-Nine: Burial

"Dong."

"Dong."

The funeral bells rang out from the imperial palace and sounded seven times before stopping.

In the heavenly prison, the Empress sat spiritless on the ground. A moment later, she said, laughing and crying, "It's over, all over."

She had married the Emperor after coming of age and then became the empress later on before giving the Emperor children. She had been fated to a glorious life, but why did it suddenly reverse and she become imprisoned?

If the Empress Dowager were still alive, the Fang Family would have a chance. Now that the Empress Dowager was dead, everyone thought that it had been her who killed the Empress Dowager. Their entire Fang Family...

Before the Empress Dowager died, she had not forgotten to praise Xian Wang for being filial. So under the scribe's pen, there was an additional line about Yan Jin Qiu.

The Empress Dowager said before death: "Ziling is a filial son. Aijia has no fears before death but is only worried about this one and hopes that the Emperor will treat him well."

All of Jing put on their mourning attire. In order to show his dedication to the Empress Dowager, the Emperor disregarded his own status and put on hemp clothing for the Empress Dowager. He also stopped eating meat. Whenever he mentioned how well the Empress Dowager had treated him, he couldn't help but sob loudly.

Qilong Emperor's actions finally won him back some of his filial reputation. Even though many people still thought he was acting, at least it could pass on the surface.

The rumors about the Empress poisoning the Empress Dowager had been completely transformed as they spread. Maybe it was because people would innately have some respect for those who had passed away. Consequently, in these rumors, it was mostly how evil the Empress had been, and how hard it had been for the Empress Dowager to live alone in the palace.

There were also people who said that the Empress had purposefully had the Empress Dowager eat ginseng and other medicines that had gone bad, and had mistreated the Empress Dowager.

The Empress' reputation dropped to a level of her being labeled a calamitous evil wife. Many storytellers described the Empress as a cruel and wicked woman who only knew to scheme and plan. Otherwise, how come the Crown Prince was so bad? It was because the Empress had not taught the Crown Prince well.

"People always like to blame the shortcomings of the child on the mother for not raising the child well. Yet if the child is outstanding, it would be because the father breeds true." Hua Xi Wan played with the plain silver hairpin in her hand and slowly inserted it in her hair. She wiped away all the powder on her face. "While the Empress is not a good person, she is not as bad as the rumors say. She just..."

Hua Xi Wan suddenly stopped talking and looked at Yan Jin Qiu, who was beside her, dressed in hemp robes. "The rumors..."

"Nothing to do with me." Yan Jin Qiu picked out a plain silver bangle to put on Hua Xi Wan's hand and then looked at the three plain silver hairpins in her hair. "The Empress has already dropped so low; I will not waste energy acting against her."

Hua Xi Wan smiled upon hearing this. "I'm not asking about this rumor, but the rumors about the imperial grandson."

"That was a warning from the heavens." Yan Jin Qiu adjusted his outer robe. While the hemp outer robe was rough, he was still wearing a comfortable silk robe under it, so it wasn't too uncomfortable. "The people only like to believe what they think by themselves, and it doesn't have much to do with me."