The mourning music started. The imperial physicians filed out one by one. Granny Gui summoned her energy and led the eunuchs and maids to tidy up the things. In front of the Empress Dowager's couch, only the Emperor and Lu Wanning were kneeling motionless.
Granny Gui came over and knelt in front of the Emperor. "Your Majesty... The Empress Dowager has passed away. Please... mourn with restraint."
The Emperor seemed to be deaf. He still knelt there blankly.
Lu Wanning never thought the Emperor had such deep feelings for the Empress Dowager before. To the Emperor, she always showed superficial closeness but actually kept a respectful distance. Now she realized that the Emperor was also human, with human emotions.
In the book, the Lu family was exterminated by the Crown Prince after the Emperor's death. But the Emperor's suspicion of the Lu family had been there for a long time. It was obvious that the Empress Dowager's last words had worked. No matter how suspicious the Emperor was of the Lu family, he still remembered the Empress Dowager's last wish and refused to take action against them.
Lu Wanning got up. Due to kneeling for too long, she staggered and almost fell.
She walked up to the Emperor and bent down to help him up, but the Emperor didn't move at all.
"Your Majesty, last night the Empress Dowager told Zhaoyang that she was old enough and had lived long enough. She just couldn't bear to part, couldn't bear to leave Your Majesty and Father."
Only then did the Emperor show a slight reaction. He turned his head and looked at Lu Wanning. "She said that?"
Lu Wanning nodded and knelt down beside him. Looking at the colorless Empress Dowager on the couch, she continued, "She said it was useless to be greedy for the mortal world. She didn't care about anything else, only her relatives."
The Emperor's heart skipped a beat. "What else did she say?"
Lu Wanning thought for a while and said, "She also said that Zhaoyang was always being naughty and out of line. She wouldn't feel at ease no matter where Zhaoyang went in the future."
Saying that, Lu Wanning covered her face and cried. Choking with sobs, she added, "But Zhaoyang has been trying so hard to grow up and be sensible. Why didn't the Empress Dowager wait a little longer... wait for Zhaoyang to grow up."
Once she started crying, the tears couldn't be stopped. They gushed out desperately through her fingers.
The Emperor felt heart - ache when he saw this. He reached out and patted her head. "Silly girl, my Zhaoyang doesn't need to grow up."
Lu Wanning followed the Emperor out. Inside and outside the Shoukang Palace, it was already full of kneeling concubines and princes. The princes outside the palace hadn't entered yet. Among the adult princes, only the Crown Prince, who lived in the Eastern Palace, was beside the Queen at the moment.
Everyone looked extremely sad.
Lu Wanning walked down slowly, staggering. She wanted to kneel beside Princess Qin.
The Emperor supported her. "Zhaoyang, don't be too sad."
Lu Wanning just walked down the steps blankly and fell beside Princess Qin. But the Emperor didn't scold her at all.
After the Empress Dowager's death, the Emperor ordered a seven - day suspension of court. Court officials and noble ladies were supposed to enter the palace to pay their respects.
When Lu Wanning saw Lu Hongxi, she could hardly recognize him. It had only been one day since they last met, but his grief seemed to overflow. His hair was almost all white.
Father and daughter looked at each other in silence. Lu Hongxi, dressed in mourning clothes, knelt in the front.
After the mourning ceremony, they got a little rest, but there was no food. They had to force themselves to kneel again. Many older women couldn't hold on anymore.
Lu Wanning asked Granny Gui to invite the Emperor and ordered the imperial kitchen to send some water and vegetarian food to distribute to the women and children. But she didn't want any herself. She just hid in the apricot orchard outside the Shoukang Palace and stared blankly.
People would experience birth, old age, illness and death. She couldn't stop it. She had only been in this world for four months, but she had already regarded the Empress Dowager as her own grandmother. How could she just let go?
The apricot petals fell. Lu Wanning reached out to catch them. A gentle breeze blew, and the apricot blossoms were like a rain, or more like snow, showing a painful whiteness.
"Ning'er."
Hearing the call, Lu Wanning turned around subconsciously. To her surprise, the person in front of her was Fu Rongxuan.
She felt annoyed and got up to find another place.
Fu Rongxuan quickly stepped forward to block her way. "Ning'er, please mourn with restraint."
Lu Wanning said coldly, "Thank you."
Fu Rongxuan quickly added, "Just now outside the hall, you were crying so hard. Your eyes will hurt later. This is a cassia seed sachet. You can..."
"Mr. Fu."
Before Lu Wanning could react, Shi Aohan's voice came from behind.
Fu Rongxuan was stunned for a moment. He turned around and frowned. "Why are you here?"
Shi Aohan looked at Fu Rongxuan aggrievedly and walked between the two of them. She stared at Lu Wanning with a bad look on her face. "Princess Zhaoyang has already said that she has no feelings for Mr. Fu at all."
Fu Rongxuan grabbed her. "Don't talk nonsense. I'm just chatting with Ning'er."
Shi Aohan broke free from his hand and still looked at Lu Wanning. "It's well - known that Princess Zhaoyang has feelings for the Prince of Yu. Why does she still act like this?"
"Aohan!"
Shi Aohan turned to look at Fu Rongxuan. "The Queen's imperial edict must have been sent to the Fu family this morning, right? If it weren't for the Empress Dowager's death, we would have been engaged. How could you meet others behind my back?"
Lu Wanning was in a bad mood and didn't want to argue with them. She turned around and wanted to leave.
Shi Aohan said again, "Moreover, she is so promiscuous. She falls in love with every man she meets. Mr. Fu, I'm deeply in love with you. How could you..."
Lu Wanning turned around and slapped Shi Aohan across the face. Shi Aohan, caught off guard, fell to the ground.
Fu Rongxuan was startled and quickly went to help Shi Aohan up. "Ning'er, how could you beat someone for no reason?"
Lu Wanning said coldly, "For no reason? Didn't you hear what she just said about me? I'm a princess personally conferred by the Emperor. How dare you slander me?"
Shi Aohan's lips trembled. It took her a long time to say, "I... I just made a slip of the tongue."
Lu Wanning stepped forward and reached out to hold Shi Aohan's chin. Seeing that Fu Rongxuan was about to stop her, she sneered. "A scumbag and a bitch deserve each other. Don't come out and disgust people. If you dare to move a finger, I'll dislocate her chin."
Shi Aohan couldn't speak. Her tears streamed down like a flood.
Lu Wanning continued, "I didn't see a bit of sadness from you when the Empress Dowager passed away. Instead, you complained that her death delayed your engagement? That's the biggest joke in the world. Shi Aohan, you're really disgusting!"
She let go of her hand and slapped Shi Aohan several times on both sides of the face. It was not until then that Fu Rongxuan reacted and grabbed Lu Wanning's hand.
"Lu Wanning, what on earth do you want? She just said a few words. Why are you so aggressive?"
Lu Wanning drew out her scimitar and was about to chop at Fu Rongxuan. Fu Rongxuan was frightened and stepped back repeatedly.
Weapons were not allowed in the palace, but only Lu Wanning dared to bring her scimitar here. If Fu Rongxuan wanted to protect Shi Aohan, he would surely be at a disadvantage in this confrontation.
But Lu Wanning didn't really want to do anything either. She just shouted, "What does this princess want? This princess wants you two disgusting people to get out of here as far as possible! Fu Rongxuan, control yourself and control your dog. From now on, if you ever appear in front of this princess again, it won't be just a few slaps."