dognovel Chapter 508 Death and No Heir
Chapter 508 Death and No Heir
The news of Mei Ruoqin's "death" came earlier than they expected.
After Wang Xifeng received the news, her face turned pale with anger. She gritted her teeth and pounded the table for a long time. Her eyes turned red and she choked with sobs as she asked someone to inform Empress Mo.
The eunuch in charge of delivering the message went to Penglai Palace.
Having just been comforted by Xia Shouzhong, he was leaning on the couch drinking a hawthorn and cheese drink when he was so shocked by the news that he dropped the cup:
"What?! How come it's gone?!"
"After leaving the palace, she has been in poor health, but she refused to tell anyone. There is a master in the temple who always preaches asceticism.
"Mei said he wanted to atone for his sins, so he followed the master in his ascetic life, eating only a bowl of water, a steamed bun, and a piece of pickled vegetable every day. Not only did he clean the entire temple, he also had to kneel before the Buddha 180 times, recite two volumes of scriptures, and copy two volumes of scriptures...
“She was so exhausted that she started coughing up blood quietly last month. She kept it a secret and the maid didn’t know either.
"Two teachers and students came from the south to stay the night before yesterday. They said they were going to Beijing to see the remains of Guanyin and the palm leaf manuscripts.
"Because the master was very good at calculating the innate numbers, Mei heard about it and went to ask her to predict her destiny.
"Who would have thought that the master calculated for half an hour, but in the end he just glanced at Mei and let her go.
"Mei begged again and again, but the master was determined to let her go. Mei went back to her room crying and collapsed that night.
"Her maidservant panicked and asked a doctor to see her, but it was too late. She died at the end of the afternoon.
"The abbot was naturally panicked, and worried that the palace would blame him, so he hurriedly wanted to arrest the maid and the ascetic nun.
"It was the old master who calculated her fate who came forward and said that Mei's fate was like this and that she should not be reborn in the mortal world in the temple.
"The abbot then trembled and asked someone to send the message directly in."
Empress Mo listened and felt happy at first, but then she felt more depressed. She sighed several times and asked again, "What did the imperial concubine say?"
"The Imperial Concubine was furious when she heard the news." The eunuch lowered his head and told the story without paying any attention to the taboos.
"Then I sat there for a while and cried again.
"The servants went there first to report because His Majesty was in Yinyu Palace.
“But the Imperial Concubine said that His Majesty has been very busy these past two days and is currently taking a rest in the inner room.
"Besides, this is a matter for the ladies of the inner court, so we should ask the Empress for instructions. It would be better not to disturb His Majesty for now.
"Then let me report to your majesty as soon as possible."
After hearing what he said, Xia Shouzhong also flattered Empress Mo: "Your Highness is a polite person."
He winked at her again.
Empress Mo understood, and her expression softened a bit: "The Queen Mother passed away, the Emperor returned to the capital, and Your Majesty has just recovered from a serious illness.
"As for the Mei family's affairs, the dead cannot be resurrected, and their names are nothing more than empty reputations after death. There is absolutely no need to disturb Your Majesty at this time.
"That's fine.
"Before the palace gates are closed, go out and tell the palace to tell the Muni Monastery to bury Master Yuanzhen properly according to the rules for monks and nuns."
Queen Mo made the decision directly, then lay down on the couch and sighed sadly.
Xia Shouzhong glanced at her, walked over, bent over, and reminded her in a low voice: "Master Yuanzhen's expenses have always been allocated from the palace.
"If we let the temple handle her funeral, the specifications will be..."
Queen Mo waved her hands impatiently: "The temple has its own rules, just follow them.
"As for the rest, once you're done, go find the person in charge!"
Xia Shouzhong had no choice but to smile and agree, and winked at the eunuch. The eunuch understood the situation and hurriedly left.
Xia Shouzhong followed him out and whispered to him, "Tell the temple to hold a decent ceremony. The imperial concubine is here, and the palace will pay for it."
The eunuch breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly left before the palace gate was closed.
When Wang Xifeng saw that no one came to report in Yinyu Hall, she knew that Empress Mo had made the decision herself, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, a eunuch came running in, terrified, and knelt down to report:
"King Xiaoyao was assassinated! He was seriously injured!"
Seriously injured?
Wang Xifeng quickly changed her expression and asked, "Which imperial physician went to see him?"
"The imperial doctors are all in the palace today, so we only found a few doctors from the public. They all said that his life is fine, but I'm afraid..."
The eunuch who brought the news hesitated.
The curtain in the inner room was lifted up, and Emperor Chongzhao strode out with his hair loose, shouting, "Stuttering! Tell me! What are you afraid of?!"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me! The doctors said that I might have damaged my roots and would have an impact on my offspring...
"King Xiaoyao was also awake and heard everything, but he wasn't sad or angry, instead he smiled...
"The doctors and servants are all frightened..."
The eunuch knelt on the ground and shrank his neck.
Wang Xifeng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly sighed.
Emperor Chongzhao originally felt a surge of anger in his heart, but when he looked at her, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "Hmm?"
"What a silly child..." Wang Xifeng sighed, "The Zhen family and the Northern King have committed serious crimes. Although he is just a young puppet, he must be terrified after following them and doing bad things for so many years.
“It is a great blessing that this injury does not threaten his life.
"Besides, since he has lost the blessing of having children, even if there are still people with wolfish ambitions, I'm afraid they won't try to take advantage of him. This is a great blessing.
"In his heart, he probably feels sorry for the emperor and Brother Tao. Now that he has taken his offspring to atone for his crime, it can completely quell the emperor's anger. This is a great blessing..."
At this point, Wang Xifeng shook her head again, "But the death of your brothers and the decline of the royal family is your greatest regret.
"He is still young, and has been taught all kinds of tricks over the past decade. He is completely incapable of sympathizing with his brother, the emperor. This is particularly regrettable."
These words calmed Emperor Chongzhao, who also shook his head and turned to tell Changying:
"Let Jiancheng take two skilled imperial physicians to take a good look at him. Don't miss any glimmer of hope."
Changying bowed and said yes.
Wang Xifeng then helped Emperor Chongzhao to sit down at the dressing table, ordered someone to bring water for washing his face, and helped the emperor to wash and dress.
Wang Xifeng herself stood by and whispered the news of Mei Ruoqin's "death": "You fell asleep just now, and I sent someone to report it to the Queen."
Emperor Chongzhao was reaching into her dressing box to look at her jewelry. When he heard the news, his fingers paused on the table.
"How did our queen deal with it?"
"I just asked someone to inquire about it, and they said that we should let the Muni Temple bury her properly according to the rules for nuns.
"Old Xia chased him out and told him to be more respectful and report to the palace when he was done."
Wang Xifeng bit her lip and whispered, "I want to tell Concubine Ran, and also want to ask my personal maid to help send Sister Mei off..."
Emperor Chongzhao looked up at her, paused for a moment, then shook his head and said:
“The Queen is right in handling this matter, and that is how it should be.
"You didn't send anyone before, but now you're trying to make up for it, which means you're not giving the Queen face.
"forget it."
Wang Xifeng felt a little aggrieved, but she still lowered her head, hummed softly, and obeyed the emperor's words.