Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

"When did it happen?!" Daiyu was horrified and rushed to the window, looking straight at Situ Sheng.

Situ Sheng sighed again, his eyes reddened: "This morning, at the end of midnight.

"Last night, when everyone was asleep, a guard on duty was chatting while patrolling and let slip the news that the East King had passed away.

"Who knew that the Lord and the Queen Mother couldn't sleep, so they went up to the high platform to watch the stars and heard it all.

"I heard that the emperor vomited blood and fainted... Later, Doctor He used strong medicine, and he regained consciousness for a moment, and took my father aside to say a few words."

Situ Sheng stopped describing the affairs of the palace and instead turned to instruct Lin Daiyu:

"Since Princess Zhaoqing is going to the Tiewang Mountain Palace, she should make preparations.

“The Second Prince is too young and has never experienced this.

"Now the Queen Mother is the only one who can make the decisions in the palace, but there is no female official around her who can take care of things.

"After all, the Queen Mother is old, and she has just experienced the deaths of Aunt Cheng Qian, the Crown Prince, and the Crown Princess, so she is in a very depressed mood.

"Plus, the two saints have a deep love for each other... I'm afraid the Queen Mother won't be able to bear it if the Supreme Lord leaves!

"Once Zhaoqing steps into the palace, I'm afraid he will have to help my father start preparing for the funeral of the great emperor."

Lin Daiyu had already started to cry while listening. When she heard this, she bowed in the carriage and said, "Thank you, Lord. Zhaoqing will definitely take good care of the Empress Dowager!"

There is no such thing as “arranging a grand funeral”.

Seeing her cleverness, Situ Sheng felt more at ease. He patted his horse's neck and added in a low voice, "Zhao Qing can make it. My father will have an extra helper, and I will feel more at ease."

Then he sat up straight, clasped his fists, and raised his voice by two notches, "I'm in a hurry to get back to Beijing, Zhaoqing, take care, goodbye!"

"Thank you for your hard work, sir. Take care!" Daiyu returned the greeting and ordered, "Our horses are all walking slowly, they are still strong!

"The county lord's horse has been galloping for a long time, I'm afraid it must be exhausted!

"General Zang, please give them some horses!"

Situ Sheng bowed again in gratitude, and without further ado, he quickly exchanged horses with the imperial guards, and galloped away with a few trusted subordinates.

Here, Daiyu called Zang Ao to come closer and whispered a few words to him through the window, which made Zang Ao's face change drastically.

He immediately turned around and told everyone to get alert, and then made an excuse: "It's going to snow, let's hurry up and try to get to the palace at night!"

The group sped up.

The carriage sped away, and the maids' faces turned pale again.

Fortunately, Xueyan still remembered the pain of riding in a carriage in Jiangnan, and had prepared some pills early. She took them out for everyone to use, and it relieved most of the pain. No need to mention it.

We sped all the way and finally arrived at the palace in the late night.

The guards at the gate became extremely nervous when they saw someone coming in a small group. They almost stabbed their swords and guns into Zang Ao's chest: "Who is so bold as to trespass into the palace?!"

The guard happened to be an acquaintance, so Zang Ao slapped the weapon away and glared at him with disdain: "Open your dog eyes and see clearly, it's me!"

The guard heard the familiar voice and looked carefully. He was immediately surprised and almost cried: "General Zang, you are here! Is that His Majesty..."

"No! I am ordered to send Princess Zhaoqing to the palace to look after the Queen Mother." Zang Ao raised his thumb to the carriage and raised his eyebrows, "Hurry and report it in!"

The guard agreed and told someone to pass the message inside. He grabbed Zang Ao and started to complain: "Old Zang, you don't know..."

"I know everything! Otherwise, why would you come here so desperately at night?" Zang Ao interrupted him, not letting him continue, and warned him in a low voice, "Don't talk nonsense! Are you trying to kill yourself?"

The imperial palace had not officially announced the death, and the court had not announced it to the world.

The county magistrate Zhongqin, who had received the letter and returned to the capital to report the death, revealed a few things in order to get Lin Daiyu to come and help as soon as possible. Otherwise, if he was investigated carefully, it would be considered as leaking the forbidden matters privately, and exile would be the least of his crimes.

The guard was embarrassed and puzzled: "What do you know? How did you know it?"

"You're bothering me!" Zang Ao kicked him, turned back to the carriage, and whispered to Daiyu, "Princess, would you like to get off the train for a while? I'm afraid the sedan chair will be here to pick you up soon."

"Wait a moment. Listen to the Queen Mother's arrangements." Daiyu said.

The Queen Mother must be extremely heartbroken now, and may not have the patience to call for a sedan chair. I'm afraid she will just drive the carriage in directly.

At that moment, Aunt Meng rushed out, with a look of sorrow and surprise on her face. She pulled aside the curtain and when she saw that there was Aunt Cui among the people Daiyu brought, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows:

"why you?"

"I am now with Princess Zhaoqing. It was the order of His Majesty." Nanny Cui shook her head and urged her, "This is a trivial matter, and it's a long story.

"What did the Queen Mother say? Do you want to see our princess now?"

Aunt Meng nodded and said, "The Queen Mother will see the Princess immediately." She turned and ordered, "The carriage will go in directly. The Queen Mother is waiting anxiously."

Daiyu thanked Zang Ao for his hard work and said, "General, please go and see Prince Kejin and follow his arrangements."

Then he invited Aunt Meng to get on the carriage and it drove inside.

Long drive straight into.

They didn't stop until they reached the gate of Jingfuzhai, where the Empress Dowager lived.

When Daiyu got off the car, she was already wearing plain clothes, with a hemp mourning belt across her waist and her hair tied up with a hemp belt. She was already dressed in mourning.

When they entered the palace, Zijuan came out to greet them. She knelt down and called out, "Princess." Then she looked carefully and saw that she was safe. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned to lead her into the inner room.

The Queen Mother was already sitting on the bed in her nightgown with her hair loose. When she heard the noise, she turned around and saw Daiyu. She opened her arms towards her and called out, "Zhaoqing..."

Tears welled up in my eyes.

Daiyu hurried over, took the Queen Mother's hands, and comforted her gently: "Don't worry, Madam, I have heard everything..."

The Queen Mother had already burst into tears, and she held Daiyu's hand tightly against her eyes: "He actually, just like that, is gone..."

"Your Majesty, please accept my condolences..." Daiyu also burst into tears. Turning around, she saw that there was only Zijuan, two palace maids and two eunuchs in the hall. She couldn't help but frown.

Wiping her tears, she asked Zijuan, "Where is Yimin? Why is she hiding if she doesn't come to look after the Queen Mother in such a big matter?"

Zijuan glanced at the crying queen mother and whispered, "Some people say... the emperor would not want to see the daughter of the Jia family serving the queen mother..."

Someone said?!

Daiyu's eyes turned cold: "Did the person who was speaking continue to say, who will comfort, care for, and serve the Empress Dowager?

"This is not a punishment for the women of the Jia family, this is harsh treatment of the Queen Mother!"

Aunt Meng said with hatred: "If only I had the princess's eloquence!"

Daiyu did not hesitate any longer and asked Aunt Meng to help the Queen Mother to sleep, and then she said softly: "I have traveled a long way, and I must wash before I can accompany you.

"Yi Min must be furious right now - she is not a gentle and patient person at heart.

"You can ask Aunt Meng to call her over. We two sisters will still be in Yanjia Palace. We will just serve you and take care of your daily life. We won't ask about the important things outside. Is that okay?"

The Queen Mother calmed down, and her originally hazy eyes became clearer. She nodded and said, "That's right. Xiao Meng, go and call Yimin."