klisemfg Chapter 261 Prepare to Change the Map
Chapter 261 Prepare to Change the Map
Chapter 261 Preparing to Change the Map
This day marked the third day of the Emperor's funeral, and a heavy, solemn atmosphere permeated the entire palace. Hongye remained kneeling silently before Kangxi's coffin, motionless as a statue. His eyes were red and swollen, his face pale as a sheet, as if he had lost his soul.
At this moment, a figure slowly walked in from outside. It was Yinreng. He waved his hand gently, signaling all the servants to leave the hall, leaving only the two of them in the room.
Yinreng slowly walked to Hongye's side and knelt without hesitation. He kowtowed three times to Kangxi respectfully, then stood up and placed the burning incense stick firmly into the incense burner. After doing this, Yinreng turned his head and looked at his haggard son beside him, his heart filled with pity.
He lowered his voice and said to Hongye earnestly, "Hongye, that's enough. If your emperor were still alive and saw you in such a state of dejection, he would surely jump up in anger and beat you awake.
You've always been a filial and sensible child. How could you torture yourself like this now because of excessive grief? If you truly can't bear to leave your Emperor, then you should take better care of your body! Don't forget, your Emperor gave you earnest instructions before he died.
He hopes that you will surpass me, even him, in the future, and become a wise ruler of the Qing Dynasty, an emperor of all ages. But right now, you are so careless about yourself. If you let yourself down, wouldn't that be a betrayal of your Majesty and Father's deep expectations of you?
And your mother has been extremely worried these past few days, worrying about you all day and night, so much so that she hasn't had a good rest for several days. You also know that your mother's health is already weak..."
Hongye's body trembled slightly. He struggled to move, trying to stand up from the cold ground. However, the pain from kneeling for so long had already eaten away at his legs, which now felt numb and swollen as if being gnawed by millions of ants. Despite exerting all his strength, Hongye could only stumble in place, unable to stand straight.
Seeing this, Yinreng's heart tightened. He quickly stepped forward, stretched out his hands to half-hug Hongye's shaky body, and carefully supported him, step by step, towards a chair not far away. After some effort, he finally made Hongye sit down steadily on the chair.
After Hongye settled down, Yinreng breathed a sigh of relief, then turned and shouted towards the door, "He Zhu, come in!" Before he had finished speaking, the door was gently pushed open, and He Zhu walked in with a brisk pace, holding an exquisite tray in his hands. Xiao Lingzi, who was following behind He Zhu, was quick to take the tray and began to diligently serve his own prince.
Hongye first picked up a cup of warm water and took a sip, letting the gentle water flow slowly down his dry throat. After a moment's relief, his hoarse voice finally rang out: "Father, how is Mother now? Is she all right? It's all my fault for being unfilial. I've caused Mother so much worry." As he spoke, Hongye's eyes gradually reddened, filled with self-blame and guilt.
Yinreng looked at his sensible son with a pang of sorrow in his heart. He reached out and gently patted Hongye's shoulder, comforting him, "Don't worry. I have ordered the imperial physician to examine your mother. She has simply been overworked these days, and there is nothing serious. With a few days of good care, she will be back to normal.
Your mother has had a really hard time these days. She has been busy dealing with your emperor's funeral, taking care of the sick Empress Dowager, and always worrying about you. If it weren't for your sister helping her, you don't know how hard it would have been.
Go back and have a good rest today. Don't be stubborn. Your Royal Madam's body will remain in the palace for ten days. After ten days, I will send him to be reunited with your Royal Madam."
Hongye nodded solemnly, his eyes gleaming with determination as he accepted the emperor's request. For the past few days, he had knelt before the emperor's spirit, his mind racing. Recalling every moment of their time together, he couldn't help but feel an indescribable sorrow, yet at the same time, he gradually came to understand something.
Huang Mafa was old and already frail. Coupled with the long-term use of those so-called elixirs, his health was deteriorating. In fact, Hongye had long been aware of this matter. How could such a strange thing as the sudden disappearance of that huge temple not arouse his vigilance?
However, out of respect for his elders and to maintain the reputation of the royal family, he chose to remain silent and did not make the truth public.
Now, the deceased is gone. As the Emperor's father had said, he must not dwell on grief. Perhaps the Emperor will go to reunite with his mother. As a descendant of the Aisin-Gioro family, he shoulders a heavy responsibility and mission.
Next, he needs to work hard to learn how to govern the country and explore ways to make the Qing Dynasty increasingly powerful; he needs to be concerned about the suffering of the people and strive to ensure that all the people can live a happy life with enough food and clothing and a stable home.
Only in this way could he achieve great achievements that would last for generations, becoming a wise ruler whose name would be recorded in history and admired by all. A hundred years later, when he met the Emperor again, he would be able to hold his head high and proudly recount to him his life's achievements.
The death of the retired emperor plunged the entire palace into mourning. Deeply grieved, the emperor issued an edict to suspend the selection of concubines for three years, halting all large-scale and small-scale selections.
Not only that, for those registered concubines, if they are of marriageable age, they only need to ask the relevant departments to obtain permission for free marriage leave.
At the same time, Hongye and several other princes and princesses were also obliged to observe filial piety and observe mourning for the retired emperor. The originally planned selection of a crown princess had therefore been put on hold. For some time, the atmosphere in the palace had been quite heavy and depressing.
However, this wasn't the only cause for concern. The Empress Dowager had been ill since the death of the Retired Emperor, constantly sullen and depressed. She no longer even entertained herself with her favorite pastimes, such as mahjong and card games. Seeing the Empress Dowager's worsening condition, everyone was deeply concerned.
In order to help the Empress Dowager recover as soon as possible, Yinreng, the Crown Prince, after careful consideration, decided to lead his entire family to live in Shoukang Garden after the spring.
Shoukang Garden is no ordinary place; it's actually a brand new garden, meticulously renovated and reassembled from the original Changchun Garden and several surrounding gardens. Its area has more than doubled, and many of the garden's thermal insulation facilities have been completely renovated to ensure residents can enjoy a pleasant temperature, whether in winter or summer.
The Forbidden City was truly oppressive! Especially the palace where the Crown Prince lived, the Yuqing Palace. Not only was it difficult to expand, but even after the expansion was completed with great effort, it still wasn't very large. Whenever Yinreng recalled the oppressive days he had spent there, he would feel a surge of annoyance.
So, he waved his hand generously and decided to open up a new way out in Shoukang Garden, open up a large piece of land to be used as the new residence of the prince, and personally named it "Eastern Palace".
At the same time, Yinreng decisively issued an edict: any prince or princess willing to take their mother out of the palace to be raised, as long as both parties reach an agreement, can put it into practice. As a result, taking advantage of this favorable situation, almost all the concubines in the palace who had children were cleared out of the palace.
Of course, if the princes and princesses are still young and cannot live independently for the time being, then the concubines can only wait patiently for them to grow up, leave the palace and set up their own residences, and then leave the palace with them.
Liang Taipin and Cheng Taipin naturally followed the trend and left the palace together. Now, the Lianjun Prince's mansion has added two lovely little princes and a cute little princess. Liang Taipin's departure from the palace this time finally allowed her to fully enjoy the joy of family life.
As for Concubine Cheng, she did not have the same glory as Concubine Liang. After all, she left the palace secretly this time, and could only leave it openly when Yinyou took her to Goryeo.
Fortunately, the Seventh Lady was a filial and considerate daughter-in-law. Even though her father had no relationship with Concubine Cheng, he was still willing to support her and let her live out her days in the mansion.
As for Concubine De, her life was a bit difficult to describe. The Fourteenth Prince was demoted to guard the imperial mausoleum, and the mansion was only supported by the Fourteenth Lady. She was not willing to find a nanny to go back and take care of her. Therefore, Concubine De had no one to take her in, so she could only continue to stay in the deep palace and endure her days.