"Good Zhen’er, you must help speak well in front of the Empress."
Su’er was also aware of the Empress’s resolute nature—once she made a decision, only the Emperor could change it. However, she neither had the connections nor the courage to ask the Emperor for help. If the Emperor discovered today’s incident was her doing, she would be punished, but worse, it might implicate the Empress.
"Alright, we’ve been sisters for a while; I wouldn’t just watch you leave the palace like this."
With Zhen’er reassuring her, Su’er didn’t say much more and left the palace early the next morning when the gates first opened.
The palace didn’t stir up much of a fuss over the departure of a lady and a maid.
The Empress initially thought Baili Yan would notice it was her doing, but Baili Yan never ntioned it, which set her mind at ease.
Mourning rituals three tis a day—morning, noon, and night.
During this period, after staying in the palace for the first two days, Yang Chuxia bid farewell to the Empress and returned to her residence. Though a bit weary every day, she felt more at ease and didn’t have to worry about hidden threats.
Quickly, seven days of mourning passed, and the next day was the funeral.
Originally, the passing of the late Emperor wouldn’t have been followed by such a brief mourning period; it would have been at least half a month. However, the current season wasn’t suitable, and even these few short days required countless ice blocks.
Even then, it wasn’t very effective; when the wind blew past the kneeling Yang Chuxia and others, they could often sll the odor of decay.
"It’s finally coming to an end."
"Lele and I will escort the late Emperor to the imperial tomb tomorrow."
Other than the imperial family, no won were allowed into the imperial tomb; Yang Chuxia and other wives of officials only had to escort them out of the city tomorrow.
"Alas, these past few days, Lele has lost so much weight," Yang Chuxia muttered, "He wasn’t chubby to begin with, and these days he’s turned into a little monkey."
"After tomorrow, you should get so good nutrients for him. Even we adults find it hard to bear, yet this young child has remained silent throughout—it truly is precious."
Yang Chuxia gently touched his face with so concern, "You’ve lost quite a bit of weight too."
"It’s good to be thinner; saves the trouble of dieting."
"Pfft..." Yang Chuxia couldn’t help but laugh.
"By the way, there’s sothing I must remind you of," Ye Zi’an suddenly said with a serious tone.
Seeing his solemn expression, Yang Chuxia tensed, "What’s the matter?"
"About the Empress, don’t get too close," Ye Zi’an advised, "Even though the Emperor and I are cousins, we are ultimately ruler and subject, and the Emperor is still young—who knows what he’ll think in the future? Getting too close to the people in the inner palace might lead us to being categorized into factions once the princes grow up, which would not be beneficial for the Ye Family."
"You don’t need to tell ; I know the seriousness of this," Yang Chuxia replied, "Otherwise, I wouldn’t have moved out of the palace."
"That’s good, Mu Shaoling will likely remind Dongyang too. It’s best if we continue standing on the Emperor’s side; we can’t concern ourselves with what cos later."
"Yes, I understand."
After a while, with nothing else to attend to, they washed up and prepared to sleep.
Just as Ye Zi’an turned off the light, soone ca to call him, saying the Emperor requested his presence at the palace imdiately.
"Why is he calling you to the palace at this hour?" Yang Chuxia also got up.
Ye Zi’an was a bit puzzled, "It must be sothing important; they wouldn’t call for at this ti otherwise."
As he spoke, he had already tidied up his clothes.
"I’ll go see what’s going on; you should sleep first and don’t wait for ."
"Be careful, then."
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