The coffin was sothing Liu Yuan had prepared for himself early on. Since his health declined, he had people prepare a coffin in case of an ergency.
Not to ntion the mausoleum, which he started preparing after he ascended the throne. Each year, a bit more was added to the burial goods. In the storerooms of the harem, two rooms were specifically set aside for the burial items prepared for him.
Amazingly, even though the state treasury had been opened, the storeroom with his burial goods remained tightly locked, and no one attempted to pry it open.
Zhao Hanzhang had soone open it to take a look, and when she saw the dazzling array of treasures inside, she imdiately lied shalessly: "Emperor Liu was naturally frugal. Wouldn’t burying these things with him taint his vision? Have soone select what’s necessary, and apart from the things Emperor Liu frequently used and liked, transfer the rest to the state treasury."
Once in the state treasury, they beca spoils of war; as such, they belonged to her.
Fan Ying fully understood Zhao Hanzhang’s intentions and began to lead people to pick through the storeroom. The items Liu Yuan had sent in—such as his usual chamber pots, stools, racks, and basins—she had people move out, "All these are Emperor Liu’s accustod items, it’s not right to take them away."
As for the nine bolts of silky brocade for sumr coverings he liked, Fan Ying habitually ignored them and had people carefully store them away in the storeroom.
Upon seeing several sets of brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones he had prepared, she selected the ones already used, assembled a set, and had it moved out. The rest she kept.
These items were valuable; not only could they be sold, but even the inspector could use them.
After all, they hadn’t been interred yet, thus weren’t considered burial items.
Fan Ying spent quite so ti picking out a pile of items suitable for Liu Yuan’s burial, while the rest in the storerooms were all transferred to the state treasury. There was no need to move them; putting a sign at the storeroom door would suffice—turning a private storeroom into a national one.
The reinstated forr Chief Eunuch, Yu Dayou, approached Zhao Hanzhang with trembling steps, "Doctor Xuan sent this servant to ask: the items originally selected for Your Majesty, for Emperor Yongfeng’s burial, should they be interred together?"
Zhao Hanzhang nodded and said, "Have them interred together. I’ve already had Fan Changshi prepare everything."
Yu Dayou’s face turned pale. After hesitating for a mont, he moved forward, knelt with a plop, and trembled as he said, "This, servant wishes to pledge allegiance to Governor Zhao."
He said, "Though this servant is aged, I am still sowhat useful. The people in this palace still show so respect. I know the Zhao Family Army has yet to finish inventorying all the property, and I wish to assist where I can."
Zhao Hanzhang looked down at him, her face unreadable. "Very well, this matter is under Fan Changshi’s responsibility. Go find her in a mont and await her instructions."
Pingyang City was the capital of the Han Kingdom. Apart from the private properties of escaped officials, there was also considerable public property, not to ntion that the leaders of the five Xiongnu tribes also owned residences and estates here. These individuals were either with Liu Cong attacking the Jin State or had fled with the Prince of Xiongnu.
Zhao Hanzhang had people take over everything. Now, Pingyang had been reorganized under Si Province, answering to Luoyang.
There was so much wealth that even with Fu Tinghan’s help, it took Fan Ying five days to sort through and still not finish.
Yu Dayou was once one of Liu Yuan’s chief eunuchs. If willing to assist sincerely, he would significantly expedite the inventorying of palace assets.
Yu Dayou, upon receiving orders, was nearly moved to tears. He promptly kowtowed in gratitude, pledging to serve Zhao Hanzhang with all his heart.
Zhao Hanzhang quietly watched him as he repeatedly kowtowed, set her pen down, and asked, "What’s the matter?"
Startled by the sudden question, Yu Dayou didn’t imdiately grasp the aning. He hesitated a mont and, after cautiously peeking at her, found enlightennt. He quivered his lips and whispered, "Inspector, I, this servant, is on the burial list..."
Imdiately, Zhao Hanzhang’s expression darkened.
Seeing this, Yu Dayou instantly kowtowed and pleaded, "Have rcy, Inspector, have rcy! This servant did not know you were unaware, and it wasn’t intentional concealnt."
He hastily said, "Even though I served by His Majesty’s side, I couldn’t compare to Eunuch Liang. If we speak of favor, His Majesty surely favored him more."
Zhao Hanzhang asked, "How many people are on the burial list? Where’s the list?"
Yu Dayou, after a mont’s pause, said, "The list is probably with Doctor Xuan..."
"Go fetch it."
Observing Zhao Hanzhang’s gloomy expression, Yu Dayou speculated sothing and imdiately scrambled up to get the list from Xuan Yuxiu.
Xuan Yuxiu was in a heated debate with Fan Ying—oh no, more like a rational discussion. She had gone too far, having taken away over ninety percent of the emperor’s burial goods.
Upon hearing Yu Dayou’s request for the list, Xuan Yuxiu was eager to comply and imdiately had soone fetch it, personally delivering it to Zhao Hanzhang.
Fan Ying followed along to keep an eye on things, to prevent any instigation against her in front of the inspector.
Yu Dayou also hurried to catch up.
There were many burial items, and the record list ford quite a stack. Although Xuan Yuxiu held the position of Imperial Censor, he was also a warrior capable of going to the battlefield and was remarkably strong, carrying an armful of lists and still briskly making his way to the annex where Zhao Hanzhang worked without pausing to catch his breath.
Xuan Yuxiu laid the lists on Zhao Hanzhang’s desk, saying, "Governor Zhao, please have a look. This is what was originally prepared for burial. Many items are still unprepared and thus not registered. Those, we can dismiss, given the current circumstances...but these registered ones, surely they should accompany His Majesty in burial?"
Xuan Yuxiu further remarked, "Governor Zhao did ntion that our emperor should be given an imperial burial befitting his status."
Zhao Hanzhang reached out for a booklet, unrolling the list inside.
She barely glanced at it before tossing it aside, lifting her gaze to him, "Where is the list of burial participants?"
Xuan Yuxiu was montarily taken aback. He sifted through the stack and pulled out a red-marked booklet to hand over.
Zhao Hanzhang accepted it and began to read.
Seeing her earnestly examining it, Xuan Yuxiu explained, "This list has been revised. So originally designated for the burial followed the Crown Prince in escape, while others died. So, I selected replacents from the palace slaves."
Zhao Hanzhang saw it; many nas were crossed out at the beginning. She scanned it, chuckling with anger, "Sixteen concubines are to be buried, ninety-nine palace maids and eunuchs each. Does your emperor wish to form two ghost armies to fight against each other in the underworld?"
She crushed the list into a ball and flung it at Xuan Yuxiu’s face, fuming, "Abolish the custom of human sacrifice; decree that anyone who dares to demand it will be skinned and have their bones stripped, to be fed to dogs! This bull human sacrifice disregards moral codes and ethics. Even back during Emperor Shi’s ti, human sacrifices were abolished. Who dares to override him?"
Zhao Hanzhang decisively turned to instruct Fan Ying, "Prepare the burial proceedings and inform the Han officials who oppose—if they desire human sacrifice, they should go to the mausoleum and end their own lives. Should anyone compel others to sacrifice themselves, I will annihilate their ancestors!"
The words were crude yet effective; Xuan Yuxiu, with a bellyful of argunts ready, remained silent, head bowed, not daring to make a sound.
Fan Ying acknowledged and ceased further inquiries about burial goods, going straight to make arrangents.
She decided that more burial items could be reduced. Those brushes, although used, were not broken and could be kept. Since the brushes were to be kept, the accompanying ink sticks, paper, and inkstone sets also didn’t need to be buried...
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