dmims Chapter 435 Extra: Emperor Yongxi
Chapter 435 Extra: Emperor Yongxi
When Empress Chenyuan Zhao passed away, she was buried in Changling Mausoleum and then entered the Imperial Ancestral Temple. The people were filled with grief, and the whole country was in mourning.
Changling is the mausoleum built by Li Yuanke for himself. Every emperor, from the moment he ascends the throne, will build a mausoleum for himself, to be used after his death, unless something unexpected happens.
Since the Han Dynasty, the system of "same tomb, different burial chambers" has been implemented, meaning that emperors and empresses were buried in the same mausoleum, but in different underground palaces and without sharing a burial chamber.
However, Li Yuanke only built one underground palace and one tomb chamber. Shen Shixi's coffin was placed in the tomb chamber first, and then placed in the tomb after he passed away. After they were buried together, the tomb was sealed.
On the day the coffin was placed in the underground palace, the weather was already quite warm, but Li Yuanke wore a thick black cloak and staggered into the underground palace. He circled the coffin many times, and finally, holding onto the coffin, he buried his face in his arms and wept uncontrollably.
Beside him were his court officials and sons. In a short period of time, the emperor's hair had turned mostly white. The once spirited monarch had become a pitiful old man.
Emaciated and emaciated, only his shadow remains to mourn him!
She's only forty-eight years old.
After returning from Changling, Li Yuanke went straight back to Zhaoyang Palace and sat there without saying a word, from dawn to dusk, and then from dusk to dawn.
The four children were equally heartbroken, but their father's appearance worried them even more.
The prince knelt and pleaded, "Father, please have some water and something to eat. If you suffer like this, how worried and sad will Mother be if she sees it?"
Looking at his four children, Li Yuanke thought of what Shen Shixi had said: "When parents are alive, there is still a way to come; when parents are gone, there is only a place to return to." Did she have a premonition at that time?
That bastard is so heartless!
"Get up, Dad's hungry. Come and have something to eat with me!"
Only five members of the family are left!
Seeing the empty seats, all five of them felt very sad. Xihe couldn't help but cry out loud, followed by Fuguang and Wangshu.
Li Yuanke's eyes stung with tears. He hugged Xihe and Wangshu tightly, one on each side, and patted them gently. "It's alright, don't cry, don't be afraid, your father is here! Your mother is watching over you from heaven!"
Xihe cried, "Father, is it true? Will Mother really see us?"
Li Yuanke nodded, "I can see, don't cry!"
After a casual meal, the imperial physician arrived to examine Li Yuanke's knee. He was too lazy to see a doctor, but his children insisted, saying that their mother had told them they had to take good care of their father.
Li Yuanke didn't take his knee recovery seriously, only feeling that the persistent pain was a constant reminder of Shen Shixi's companionship.
She didn't go far; she's still here beside me.
He feared the loneliness of not having her anymore.
Wang Shu applied medicine to his father's knee. When he looked up, he saw his father staring at him absentmindedly. He knew that his father was thinking about his mother again.
"father!"
Li Yuanke snapped out of his reverie, patted his son's head, and said to the Crown Prince, "From now on, I will reside in Zhaoyang Palace. You shall move to Qianyuan Palace."
The prince knelt down, supporting his father's legs. "Father, no!"
Qianyuan Palace was the sleeping quarters of emperors throughout history. He was only the crown prince, so he should have lived in the East Palace.
"I don't want to live in Qian Yuan Palace anymore. Your mother's image is everywhere there. I see her smiling at me, calling my name, playing with me, wanting me to carry her. She ignores me when I talk to her, and she won't come even when I offer to carry her..."
Thirty-seven years have passed. They met when she was three years old. Over the years, in any difficult or critical moment, he knew that there was someone he could trust and rely on. But now that person is gone.
Who would still call him by his name, who would still call him a "dog" and live that ordinary, mundane life with him?
The crown prince buried his face in his father's knees and wept like a child. "Father, Father, Mother is gone. Father, please don't be like this. There are still state affairs to attend to. After the hundred days of mourning, there will be many things to deal with. Mother wouldn't want to see you like this!"
Li Yuange tilted his head back, tears streaming down his face. "Father is fine, Father will be fine. Father promised your mother that he would take good care of you. You are all still young, Father wants to watch you grow up. Father is tired, let Father be alone for a while."
"Yes, Your Majesty, we obey!"
Li Yuanke, leaning on his cane, went out of the palace gate and stood under the eaves.
The rabbit lanterns have been replaced with new ones. The courtyard, which used to be planted with crops such as corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and peppers, has been replanted with flowers and plants. Roses climb the walls, and there is a swing in the corner where Wang Shu and the others used to swing when they were children.
He still remembered that year when they reunited after a long separation. They were both a little awkward with each other. She still had that charming smile and was still just as mischievous, making him want to hit her.
Li Fude saw the emperor sitting under the eaves for an entire day.
The Emperor's knees are beyond repair and he will be unable to walk properly from now on.
He was once a fierce general who fought on the battlefield, a king who made Beisha and Xiling flee in terror.
The Grand Secretary requested an audience, and Li Yuanke allowed him in.
Song Piyang has aged a lot, but now when he sees the emperor, he feels that the emperor seems to be older than him, even though the emperor is almost twenty years younger than him!
"Your Majesty, you must take good care of your health. If the Empress were alive, she would not be able to bear seeing Your Majesty suffer like this."
Li Yuanke laughed and said, "She's always been hard-hearted; she's not afraid to see me suffer!"
Song Piyang hurriedly replied, "Her Majesty the Empress is kind-hearted and compassionate, with the Emperor always on her mind, and he is the one she worries about the most!"
Li Yuanke closed his eyes briefly. "What important matter brings you here, my dear minister?"
He wanted to talk to people about the Empress, but he was also afraid to talk to people about the Empress.
Song Piyang said, "After the Empress's passing, Your Majesty praised her virtues. While the imperial edict was entirely based on the facts, Your Majesty used his own mistakes to glorify the Empress's virtues. We believe this is inappropriate."
Song Piyang was referring to the emperor's words in the imperial edict: "I made a mistake in choosing people and lost the chance to win the favor of the Heavenly Consort."
Li Yuanke remained silent for a long time before saying, "Everything stated in the imperial edict is true. It was carefully considered by me and written in my own hand. It will be issued after being stamped. There is no need to change or embellish it."
The Empress's great achievements cannot be fully described in a few words, and the world should know that the Empress is no ordinary person to me. As for the Hanlin Academy, order them to properly revise the "Annals of the Empress."
There is no such thing as a dynasty compiling its own history.
But Song Piyang knew that at this point, the emperor wouldn't listen to anything he said.
As he emerged from the palace, the cabinet members surrounded him, asking how things went. Song Piyang shook his head and sighed, "His Majesty has appointed the Crown Prince to oversee the country. We should see if the Crown Prince can offer his advice on this matter, as it would ultimately be detrimental to His Majesty's virtue."
Song Yan shook his head. "Let's just drop this matter!"
Song Piyang, puzzled, asked, "Why?"
Song Yan said, "Your Majesty is well aware of this. Your Majesty does not intend to attribute your own mistakes to the Empress's merits, but rather to punish yourself for being overly self-critical."
The ministers were all quite adept at understanding the emperor's mind, and they all understood immediately after Song Yan's words.
After the emperor's wedding, he never summoned any more women to his harem.
This alone offers a glimpse into the emperor's mind.
When the emperor was vying for the throne, in order to win over some powerful officials, he took in the daughters of those nobles. In order to silence public opinion, he had so many princes and princesses with his concubines. While the empress was alive, the emperor could still ignore it. But once the empress passed away, the emperor probably became obsessed and couldn't get over it.
The deep affection between the Emperor and Empress was a fact that all the court officials could see.
If it is said that when Shen Shixi ruled as regent, some officials worried that the Empress would emulate Lady Lü, but later events proved that the Empress had Lady Lü's abilities, but not her intentions.
The passing of the Empress has saddened not only the Emperor but also many others.
Li Yuanke had previously issued an edict stating, "I will hold court in the Yan Ying Hall in mourning attire, suspending court for one hundred days to express my grief. All civil and military officials, both inside and outside the capital, shall wear the lowest mourning attire for twenty-seven days and mourning attire for one hundred days." However, he did not go to the Yan Ying Hall to handle state affairs.
All government affairs were handed over to the Crown Prince. He only allowed Wang Shu to accompany him, while the Crown Prince, Xi He, and Fu Guang did what they were supposed to do.