The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

When Concubine Song Shu passed away, the emperor was greatly grief-stricken. He ordered the Shanggong Bureau to hold a funeral for Concubine Song Shu with the rites for a noble concubine, and gave her the posthumous title of Huaijing. He also suspended court for three days and ordered the women of the royal family and the ladies of the inner and outer courts to set up an altar to worship her and go to the palace to cry for her.

Lefu Palace was draped in white everywhere; even flowers with slightly brighter colors were picked. The palace maids were all dressed in mourning, without a single bright color on their bodies. The ladies from both the inner and outer courts who came to mourn were all in plain dresses, with a few silver hairpins on their heads and white linen tied around their arms to express their sorrow.

The coffin of Concubine Huaijing was placed in the main hall of Lefu Palace.

Both the coffin and the body inside have been processed, and during the seven days of the funeral, not a single indecent smell will leak out.

Xie Yuzhen also changed into plain clothes. When she arrived at Lefu Palace, the hall was already filled with ladies kneeling and crying. As a palace concubine and the head lady of a palace, she did not need to kneel and cry for a long time like those ladies. She only needed to kneel down, kowtow, and offer three incense sticks in front of the spirit of Concubine Huaijing.

After burning incense, Xie Yuzhen stood up and looked at the two princes kneeling in front of the coffin. Her face was sad and her expression was gentle: "Please mourn for your two princes, don't grieve too much, or you will hurt your body..."

The eldest prince and the third prince turned their heads to look at Xie Yuzhen. Both of them had red eyes and their eyelids were swollen from crying. They were already weak, and they refused to listen to the maids' advice to go down and rest. Their cheeks were pale, yet with an unhealthy blush.

"Thank you, Concubine Zhao." The eldest prince spoke in a hoarse voice.

He would be eight years old this year. Children of the royal family have always matured precociously, not to mention that he was the emperor's eldest son. Even though he was weak, he still received much attention. Although he was young, he had considerable knowledge and insight. Also, because he had been weak since childhood and could not have too much emotional fluctuation, the eldest prince was also accustomed to controlling his emotions.

It's just that he had just lost his biological mother, and he could hardly control his grief. Right now, he could only speak clearly.

On the other hand, the younger Third Prince couldn't stop the tears on his face, his whole body was twitching, and intermittent sobbing sounds kept coming out of his mouth and nose. His health was worse than that of the eldest prince, and he was already shaky at this moment, which made Xie Yuzhen frown.

"If the Imperial Concubine knew about this in the afterlife, she would certainly hope that the two princes would be healthy and safe. I heard that the two princes have been kneeling since last night and have not rested at all?" Xie Yuzhen could probably guess that Concubine Xu wanted to cause trouble today.

But his daughter had just been born, and most people at that time believed that a newborn should not be exposed to funeral activities. Even the emperor had instructed Xie Yuzhen to go back quickly after offering incense to Concubine Huaijing, lest he bring back evil spirits and offend his precious daughter.

Xie Wei really never believed this.

What's more, Concubine Liu, who had just given birth, was also kneeling and crying. Only Concubine Xu and Concubine Zhang, who were pregnant, were allowed not to come. In fact, when it comes down to it, whether or not to come to pay homage is just a matter of whether the emperor favors them or not.

She also wanted to give Concubine Xu some advice to prevent Liu Shuyi from being sentenced to death today.

Looking at the two pitiful little princes, Xie Yuzhen found an excuse to stay: "It's good to be filial, but if it harms one's own body, wouldn't it disturb the dead souls in vain and make the queen worry about the two princes in the underworld?"

She took two steps forward, bent down affectionately and helped the trembling Third Prince up: "The Imperial Concubine loves her son deeply, and the two princes must take care of their own for her sake and fulfill the Imperial Concubine's motherly love. Let's get up first, take a short rest, and drink some water before weeping for the deceased."

Being able to build a hut and observe mourning for a deceased elder is an act that is praised by everyone nowadays.

But in this world and this era, if the descendants are already weak, they do not have to kneel before the spirits of their ancestors all the time. After all, having living descendants to fulfill their duties is the true filial piety. Sacrificing one's own descendants just to have a decent funeral, leaving the deceased without descendants, is the true unfilial act.

The maids could not persuade the two princes who lost their mother at a young age.

Xie Yuzhen was sincere, gentle and kind, and he had the honor of entering Lefu Palace before Concubine Song Shu died... The eldest prince remembered the words that the female officials who had served his mother left for him and his brothers after her death. Then his unfamiliarity and resistance to Xie Yuzhen were reduced a lot. He staggered to his feet as he was told, asked Xie Yuzhen to hold his hand, and went to the side hall to rest for a while.

None of the low-ranking concubines and ladies who were kneeling below crying stood up to stop Xie Yuzhen from taking the princes away. The two princes were already in poor health, and if something happened while they were kneeling and the emperor was angry, they would never be able to escape good fortune. But they had no status or position to intervene, so it was a good thing that the two brothers were coaxed away by Concubine Zhao.

After Xie Yuzhen arrived, Chen Guipin followed closely. Chen Guipin did not say anything about the whereabouts of the two princes. She simply offered sacrifices and burned incense, then stood up on her own, called Liu Xianshi, and took her to the side hall, saying that she was worried that Liu Xianshi could not hold on.

It didn't take long.

Concubine Li also came with the second princess.

"Why aren't your two princes here?" After offering sacrifices with her daughter, Concubine Li asked Lan Yin, who was dressed in mourning clothes.

Lan Yin also answered in a hoarse voice: "Reporting to the Empress Li, the two princes have been kneeling all night from yesterday to today, and have not eaten a single grain of rice...I and others could not persuade them, and just now the Empress Zhao Guipin came over and persuaded the princes to go to the side hall to rest."

Concubine Li was stunned for a moment, nodded and was about to say something, but she saw Concubine Ning also arrived with the third princess.

Concubine Ning greeted them, and then took her adopted daughter to burn incense. She stood up and asked the third princess and her sister to go to the side hall first: "Sister Concubine Li, I didn't see Liu Shuyi's sedan chair when I came in just now. Why hasn't she arrived yet?"

There were fixed rules for the order and time for concubines to come and pay homage.

Those below the rank of third-rank imperial concubine had to come early to kneel and cry for the deceased, while those who were imperial concubines or above had to come in order from the lowest to the highest. So normally, after Xie Yuzhen and Chen Guipin, those who should come to pay their respects should be Liu Shuyi, Concubine Li and Concubine Ning, then Concubine Deng Xianfei, and finally the Emperor and Empress.

Concubine Li was stunned: "I didn't notice it just now. Didn't she sit in the sedan chair?"

As she spoke, she looked at Lan Yin.

Lan Yin lowered her head and said, "Your Highnesses, it is true that Empress Shuyi has not arrived yet."

Concubine Li frowned immediately. She looked outside the hall, but saw the Queen's procession slowly approaching from a distance. For some reason, not only Liu Shuyi, but even Concubine Deng, who was always polite, was late today.