The most beautiful lady in the harem

No matter how high the rank of Concubine Xian was, it was still below that of the Empress. According to folk sayings, she was only the Emperor's "concubine". In addition, she had no children, so her funeral was far less grand than that of the Empress.

After seven days, the body was moved to the imperial mausoleum for burial. Missing a person from the harem would be like a dead leaf falling in autumn, nothing special.

The ceremony for a concubine cannot be compared with that for the queen, and the ceremony for mourning other people is far inferior to that for the queen.

As soon as the Queen left that day, the Queen Mother Dong also performed a part even if it was just a play.

Since Concubine Xian is gone today, Empress Dowager Dong will naturally not condescend to come.

Qin Liuse let out a sigh, bowed and walked out, then met Wei Lanxin at the door.

The Empress Dowager Dong doesn't have to come, but Wei Lanxin is a junior and has been taken care of by Concubine Xian since entering the palace, so naturally she has to come and take a look.

But when Wei Lanxin came today, she did not cry as much as she did that day when she was with the Queen.

He ran into Qin Liuse at the door, greeted her, and then walked in with his chin raised. Although the corners of his mouth were drooping, the look in his eyes when he looked at Qin Liuse seemed like he was smiling and proud, and there was no sign that he was here to see a dead person.

Seeing her energetic appearance, it was as if she saw a new beauty who would enter the palace in a few days. Qin Liuse murmured, "The old ones are gone and the new ones are here. In the future, the beauty will enter the palace, and there will be a new person living in this palace again."

The Empress and the four concubines, namely the Imperial Noble Consort, the Virtuous Consort, the Shuo Consort and the Virtuous Consort, are just titles. It's time to change the cage and replace the bird in the palace. When the old one leaves, there will naturally be a new favored person moving into the palace in the future.

Later on, there will be another "Queen" and another "Virtuous Concubine".

Aunt Mingyue listened to her mistress's words and thought she was being sentimental, so she comforted her, "Our Concubine's fortune is yet to come. It's all fate and time. Everything is arranged by fate."

Qin Liuse picked a branch of winter jasmine by the roadside, played with it in her hand all the way, and said with a smile, "Aunt Mingyue, you don't need to persuade me. I can see it clearly and understand this truth. It's just that Concubine Xian passed away suddenly, so I can't help but think more about it."

Aunt Mingyue smiled slightly, "Who says it's not true? Xianfei is such a good master. No matter who is in charge of the harem in the future, I'm afraid it will not be as peaceful as before."

As an elder in the palace, Aunt Mingyue saw it clearly.

Not to mention that Concubine Xian's death was sudden, the Queen's sudden death that day was also unexpected.

Qin Liuse had nothing to do today, so he walked aimlessly along the way. As he walked, he arrived at the gate of Kunning Palace.

Seeing that the palace gate was wide open and thinking that he had nothing to do, he took Aunt Mingyue inside for a walk.

The main reason is that they are afraid that if a new person becomes queen in the future, it will not be as easy to enter the Kunning Palace as it is now.

At present, Kunning Palace is almost the same as the Cold Palace, except that it is more magnificent, gorgeous and large, but it is just as desolate and cold.

There was no one in sight when I walked in. The virtuous concubine had just set up the mourning hall today, and everyone in the harem went there.

Qin Liuse and Aunt Mingyue walked around the Queen's Palace as if they were in their own home. It was the first time since they entered the palace that they felt so relaxed and at ease.

As we walked, we arrived at the small garden in the queen's backyard.

I thought there should be no one there, but I saw something I shouldn't have seen in the small garden in the backyard.

Rather than saying they met someone, it would be more accurate to say that there must have been someone here before they came in.

Because they saw a brazier in the corner that had not yet burned out, with silver paper burning in it and the fire was burning brightly.

Qin Liuse and Aunt Mingyue looked at each other, walked in and looked left and right, but didn't see anyone.

Qin Liuse counted the days in her mind. Today was exactly the 100th day of the late queen's death. This guy was really thoughtful.

However, burning silver paper privately in the palace is against the rules. Even if it is the late queen, she is now buried in the imperial mausoleum, and paper money should be burned there.

There is no such figure as "Queen" in the imperial palace today. The Kunning Palace has long been regarded as a new palace, even though the emperor still asks people to come here from time to time to look for clues.

Qin Liuse glanced at the brazier and thought it must be the old aunt who served the late queen.

The wind blew the paper money out of the brazier, so Qin Liuse squatted down, picked up the unburned paper money and put it back in.

Qin Liuse looked around, thought for a moment and said to Aunt Mingyue, "Let's wait. It's dry. Let's wait until the fire is over before going back."

Although everything comes back to life in spring, the imperial palace is made of wood. If it were blown apart and caught fire, it would be a disaster.

Qin Liuse and Aunt Mingyue stood aside and watched, thinking that they came here to scare people away, so they helped the old aunt to watch over them.

At this time, a person Qin Liuse had never expected walked out from the corridor next to him.

A pair of light green cloth shoes embroidered with fish patterns and silver thread caught the eye. They didn't look like the shoes a maid would wear.

Qin Liuse looked up and unexpectedly saw Concubine De here.

When Concubine De saw Qin Liuse, she also revealed a hint of subtle awkwardness and embarrassment.

After looking at Concubine De like this, Qin Liuse opened his mouth and asked, "Madam Concubine De, it was you just now?"

He was so surprised to see Concubine De that he forgot to greet her.

De Fei didn't care whether Qin Liuse bowed or not. She walked over with a faint smile and said, "It's me. I thought it was someone else..."

Concubine De didn't say anything else, but Qin Liuse knew what she meant. Concubine De was afraid that someone would spread the news that she was burning paper money here.

When Qin Liuse came over just now, Defei probably hid aside. Seeing that Qin Liuse didn't make any other movements, she felt relieved and came out again.

Qin Liuse had always thought it was her old aunt, but she never expected it was the Concubine De, who was not related to her at all. She was a little stunned when she saw this.

Seeing this, Concubine De said, "I don't mean anything else. It's just that when I was in the palace before my sister came to serve, the Ninth Princess had done me a favor. Today is her 100th day, so I thought I would take advantage of the fact that no one is here to burn a little token of my gratitude and leave."

Defei was afraid that Qin Liuse would mistakenly think that she was guilty and had done something to offend the Queen, so she came to burn paper money, so she explained it again.

When Qin Liuse was sent to the Ninth Prince's Palace by the Qin family, the Ninth Prince became the emperor not long after. Although he was called an elder in the palace, there were still many things he didn't know compared with the late empress, the virtuous concubines, and the virtuous concubines who had been in the palace since the Ninth Prince was young.

Qin Liuse showed a look of understanding, thinking that Concubine De was also a kind and loyal person.

I quickly told Concubine De, "Sister knows."

Anyone could harm the late queen, except Concubine De.

Having been the Yongjia Emperor's woman for such a long time, whether before or after entering the palace, she has never heard of Defei serving the emperor, nor has she ever seen her being jealous and seeking attention.

If Qin Liuse were to say, among all the women in the harem, the most pure and unselfish one, apart from the presiding nun at the back, would be Concubine De.

Except for the abbot, no one else in the temple had such a single-minded mind, otherwise the scriptures copied for the Empress Dowager Cixi would not have been tampered with.

When Concubine De came here, she was ready to make a quick decision. She chatted with Qin Liuse while waiting for the paper money in the brazier to burn out. Then she poured water on it to cool it down quickly.

Qin Liuse saw that Concubine De seemed to want to take the paper money ashes to the well in the backyard and quickly stopped her, "Madam Concubine De, you can't pour it here."

Although the queen was gone, there were still servants guarding Kunning Palace. They had to fetch water from the well for daily cleaning. If they found water with paper money ashes in it, they would think there was a rift and report it to the Shanggong Bureau, causing another disturbance.

"Then what should we do?" Defei said, "We can't take it out."

Concubine De was a little anxious. At this hour, she should go to Concubine Xian's palace.

Seeing that she was anxious, Qin Liuse took on the task and sent her off to the west. "Why don't you go to the virtuous concubine, and I will take care of the paper money ashes."

Defei was reluctant at first, fearing to trouble Qin Liuse, but she couldn't resist, so she finally told Qin Liuse to finish it quickly and not let anyone come in and see it again.

Qin Liuse nodded, and after Concubine De left, she took a small shovel from the back garden and prepared to bury the paper money ashes in the soil.

The flower petals can turn into spring mud to protect the flowers, and the ashes of paper money mixed into the soil can also serve as fertilizer.

The ashes of the paper money had been sprinkled with water and had now shrunk into a ball in the basin. It had become much smaller and could be buried in a hole.

Aunt Mingyue was watching outside, and Qin Liuse picked up a small shovel and started digging the soil.

Afraid that the shallow layer would be easily discovered, Qin Liuse couldn't help but dig deeper.

It would have been fine if I hadn't dug, but once I did, I saw things I shouldn't have seen in the soil.

Qin Liuse opened his eyes wide, thinking he had seen it wrong. But after seeing it clearly, he felt a chill on his back and his hair stood up.

The death of the late queen was indeed due to some reason, and it was not caused by a terminal illness!