Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

When Daiyu came back after washing, Tanchun was already sitting beside the empress dowager's bed, holding the old lady's hand and watching her fall asleep quietly.

The two looked at each other, and Tanchun's eyes were instantly filled with tears.

She slowly put the empress dowager's hand back into the quilt, carefully tucked it in for her, and lowered the thick and light curtains. Only then did Tanchun tiptoe out of the inner room.

The two sisters held each other's hands tightly, each shedding tears, with thousands of words stuck in their throats, but at this moment they couldn't say a single word.

Aunt Meng and Zijuan watched from the side, and their eyes also turned red.

Aunt Meng asked them to go to bed first: "It's almost dawn, Princess, go take a nap first. I'm here."

Because Daiyu came in a hurry, Tanchun did not prepare for her to come out in advance. In the middle of the night, she had to replace the bedding in the compartment with new ones so that the two of them could sleep together.

The two sisters put down the tent and informed each other of the situation in low voices.

Daiyu spoke first, and Tanchun cried as she listened. When she finished, her eyes were swollen. She held Daiyu's hand and sobbed:

"It's my Jia family that has let you down..."

"Don't talk nonsense." Daiyu shook her head and urged her to tell her about the palace. "What's going on with the Imperial Concubine?"

Tanchun wiped her tears and sighed, "How else could it be? The night the prince stopped sleeping, the emperor didn't tell anyone and ordered someone to give him a warrant.

“Even His Majesty and the Queen Mother didn’t know about it until the next morning.

"When I was called over, the body had already been put into the coffin...

"Even so, there are still people whispering in front of the Supreme, saying that the Jia family should have been exterminated, but now they have escaped because of a little girl like me. If this gets out, people will say that Your Majesty is lustful and has ruined the country..."

Daiyu was startled: "Someone? Who?!"

"An unknown eunuch." Tanchun lowered her eyes and tears fell. "It was because the Queen Mother protected me and rushed me to the Buddhist temple to copy scriptures that the Supreme Lord did not pursue me."

"What about the eunuch?" Daiyu asked.

Tanchun turned away her eyes. "Tao Mo, the disciple of the Grand Eunuch Tao, found the money and property that the eunuch had accepted from outsiders. The Emperor was furious and shot him to death with his own hands."

Daiyu frowned slightly: "No trial?"

"No." Tanchun's hand gently pinched the corner of the quilt, and the blue veins on the back of her hand were conspicuous.

Daiyu patted her speechlessly.

"Later, I entered the Buddhist temple. Aunt Meng was afraid that people would bully me, so she personally brought me food every day. Only then did I get to know some news from the outside world.

"I only heard that Prince Kejin is accompanying the Second Prince to arrange matters concerning the palace. General Zhou is only responsible for the outer defense and will not allow soldiers to enter the palace without permission."

Tanchun whispered.

"General Zhou is polite and abides by the rules. This is a good thing." Daiyu felt relieved and then felt sleepy coming over her.

The two talked for a few more words and then fell asleep.

Two hours later, Aunt Meng called them to stand up: "Prince Kejin heard that the princess had arrived, so he sent someone to say that he would go and invite the second prince to come and pay his respects to the queen mother in about half an hour."

Daiyu and Tanchun naturally washed and dressed hastily and went to see the empress dowager again.

Unexpectedly, the Queen Mother was talking to Aunt Cui in a kind manner.

Aunt Meng then whispered to them: "This Cui is from the Qinghe Cui family, a legitimate branch of a large clan.

"The Kou family agreed to come to the palace to look after Kou Zhaorong for ten years because of the grace of saving her life.

"She herself was reluctant to part with the Second Prince, who was only seven years old at the time, so she agreed to keep him for another ten years.

"Counting the days, it's already here - why hasn't this person left yet?!"

Aunt Meng curled her lips and said, "The Queen Mother only met her two or three times back then, and she disliked us all and said I was rude."

Daiyu smiled and said, "Madame Cui's talent, learning and manners are indeed very good."

At least when he was teaching Jia Lan and Qiao Jie, it could be seen that he had a plan in mind.

That's good, it may help.

Daiyu stepped in and met the empress dowager together with Tanchun.

The Empress Dowager then let go of Nanny Cui, forced a smile at Daiyu, pulled her to sit in front of her, and then fell silent again.

Daiyu then sat forward, stretched out her hands and hugged the Queen Mother in her arms: "I wanted to tell you at night, but you were sleepy at that time.

"Taishang Long Yu returned to heaven to be a guest of the Emperor of Heaven, and will enjoy a peaceful life in the immortal world from now on.

"You and Taishang have a good fate in this life, your marriage is perfect, and you will grow old together.

“This is a blessing from the Supreme Being, and also a blessing from you.

"But if you suffer and hurt yourself for the death of the Supreme Lord, or even become ill, you will be adding to the debt of love to the Supreme Lord.

“For an immortal, going through tribulations and paying off debts are the most distressing things.

"The Queen Mother admires His Majesty so much, she won't add to his debt, right?"

The Queen Mother was stunned by what she said, and couldn't help but smile: "Where did you hear such a thing, little kid?"

"Don't worry about how I know this. Just tell me if what I said makes sense." Daiyu gently patted the empress dowager's shoulder and said softly:

“I don’t know about others, but Yimin and I were the only ones who didn’t have the blessing of being looked after by our own mother for a few years.

"Now that we finally have you by our side, please don't ignore us and just be sad by yourself, okay?"

The Queen Mother's heart softened when she heard this. She hugged her with tears in her eyes and said only one word, "Okay..." Then she choked with sobs and became unable to speak.

At this moment, someone outside reported: "The Second Prince and Prince Kejin are here to see the Queen Mother!"

The Queen Mother then let Daiyu go, wiped her tears, and told her to wash and dress.

Aunt Meng was overjoyed: "Yes, yes!"

As soon as the emperor left, the queen mother also fell down, ignored everything, and just lay on the bed crying.

Doctor He was about to take his pulse but he refused, and even threw a ruyi at him, calling him a "quack".

It’s great that you are willing to wash up and meet people!

The Jingfuzhai bedroom suddenly became busy.

When the Queen Mother saw Daiyu and Tanchun also came forward to help, she waved her hand and said, "What are you two doing here? Go out and entertain the guests for me."

Only then did Daiyu and Tanchun stop and go to the main hall outside together.

After exchanging pleasantries and shedding tears together for the death of the Crown Prince and the Supreme Emperor, they got down to business.

Prince Kejin glanced at the Second Prince and said, "Yesterday, the Queen Mother asked me to work with the Second Prince to organize the funeral ceremony at the imperial palace. We have never been there before, and there is no one from the Ministry of Rites around us, so we had to figure it out.

"It's great that the princess is here now. Since we can ask the Queen Mother to mourn, we should let her speak for us on all matters."

Daiyu and Tanchun looked at each other.

Tanchun shook her head slightly, while Daiyu nodded slightly.

The second prince looked at them and saw that they were both dignified and gentle, but one was as fierce as a rose in spring, and the other was as graceful as a lotus in autumn. They really had their own charm. His heart could not help but be slightly moved.

Daiyu didn't notice his look, and just said politely to Prince Kejin:

“Don’t say that you and the Second Prince have never experienced this kind of thing. I’m afraid that the last time the palace held a grand funeral, the Empress Dowager was just following the etiquette.

“Besides, the collapse of the Taishang Mountain Mausoleum is not a family affair, but a national affair.

"Since this is a state affair, it cannot be done simply by our discussion and the Queen Mother's nod.

"I met the Duke of Zhongqin on my way here. According to the time, he could have entered the palace to report the news last night.

"Given your majesty's temperament, I'm sure you've already sent capable people on the way, and they might arrive by noon.

"Second Prince, Your Majesty, why don't you wait patiently for a while?"