Rebirth of the Firstborn Daughter: Life is like a Dream

Mrs. Li had to go to the palace to mourn the next day. Wei Bingyan did not have an imperial edict, so naturally she did not need to go to the palace. She could only set up an altar facing the direction of the Imperial Palace. Even if the Empress Dowager had used her, the deep friendship was still there, and the person had left forever, so there was no need to take the mistakes seriously.

Not long after returning home, Li Yuyan came back.

"So fast? Did you have a hard time on the way?" Li Yuyan took Wei Bingyan's hand as soon as he entered the door. He looked at her face carefully and noticed the green circles in her eyes. He couldn't help but feel heartbroken.

"What's the situation in the palace now?" Wei Bingyan asked.

Li Yuyan said softly, "After Empress Little Li and Empress Linghu died, the Empress Dowager was in charge of the affairs of the harem. Now that she is gone, the harem has no uncle to take shelter from the heat, and it's all chaos."

"His Majesty has just issued an edict allowing Concubine Lu De to temporarily take charge of all matters in the harem." After a pause, Li Yuyan continued.

After losing the Seventh Prince, Concubine Lu De was heartbroken and no longer paid attention to the intrigues in the harem. She returned to her previous indifferent and non-confrontational personality. Unexpectedly, this made His Majesty start to care for her again.

Wei Bingyan thought back to when she went to the Xiao family before. She didn't have much expectations for her grandfather and his second wife. On the contrary, she was worried that they would take advantage of Concubine Lu De's regaining power and come up with some ideas.

Li Yuyan saw what she was thinking, touched her head and said, "Don't think too much. We can't afford to think about it."

"Uh." Wei Bingyan nodded slightly.

"By the way, did your mother do anything to the old lady in Dinghushan? The old lady returned home a day earlier than you, and she grabbed your uncle and father and cursed them for a long time, saying that she was hated in Dinghushan. What happened?" Li Yuyan asked. He definitely believed that the old lady was forced back by his mother.

Indeed, no one knows what the old lady has done to make my mother unable to endure it anymore and no longer need to endure it.

Speaking of this, Wei Bingyan pursed her lips and tried to keep silent. "The old lady pretended to be ill and asked mother and aunt to take care of her. You know that the old lady is sometimes quite demanding... After taking medicine for a few days, she recovered completely. She went out with us for a few days and then said she was coming back."

Li Yuyan raised his eyebrows. No one knows a mother better than her son. "What did mother put in the old lady's medicine?"

"In fact, the old lady is not ill at all. She just wants to instigate mother to do things. Sometimes she wants mother to massage her back, sometimes she wants to eat porridge, and sometimes she wants to eat Jinyun's dessert..."

"Mother put Du Heng under her medicine?" Li Yuyan guessed it immediately.

Wei Bingyan was surprised, "How do you know?"

Li Yuyan said calmly: "This is not the first time that the old lady pretended to be ill, and this is not the first time that mother added something to her medicine."

It turned out that she was confused! Wei Bingyan remained silent.

"Fortunately, I am my mother's disciple." She sighed. As expected, the master had many moves that she was not familiar with.

While the couple was talking, a maid came to report that someone from the palace had arrived.

Wei Bingyan and Li Yuyan stared at each other. Why was there someone coming to the palace at this time? What happened?

Two people appeared in the main hall, and it was Thunder God.

"Eunuch Thunder." Wei Bingyan was not surprised and bowed to him.

"Master Li, Madam Li." Eunuch Lei, wearing the plain clothes of a minor official, returned a salute to Li Yuyan and Wei Bingyan.

Wei Bingyan and Eunuch Lei have been together many times, and have experienced life and death together. They can be said to be old friends, so there are not so many taboos when talking. "Eunuch Lei, is there something going on in the palace?"

Eunuch Lei said, "There's nothing wrong in the palace. We are just following the instructions of the Empress Dowager to deliver something to Madam Li."

The Queen Mother had already given her a lot of jewelry worth a lot of money before. What else should she give her now?

Wei Bingyan asked softly, "The Queen Mother is leaving... How is her realm?"

"The Queen Mother said that she was relieved to leave, but she felt regretful towards you." Eunuch Lei said according to the facts, "She ordered us to tell you that you don't need to be sad after she leaves, and she also hopes that you will not remember her bad things, and hope that you can think of the relationship between grandfather and grandson."

After hearing this, Wei Bingyan felt even sadder. The Empress Dowager indeed treated her like her granddaughter, but there was a difference in the sense of distance between them, even though the Empress Dowager and her grandmother were close friends.

Even though she loved herself like a granddaughter, it was still not as strong as the blood relationship between her and the Sixth Prince and the Emperor. That was why they kept her in the palace in the end, preparing to use her as a hostage if the situation changed.

Wei Bingyan bowed towards the seat in the palace and said, "I can no longer remember those things. I only remember the love that the Empress Dowager showed me."

Eunuch Lei's eyes were full of wrinkles and he smiled with relief. He took out a lapis lazuli jade box from his bosom and said, "Mrs. Li, this is a gift from the Empress Dowager to Miss Abao. She said that she hopes that when Miss Abao grows up, she will be as smart, generous, bright and lively as her mother."

"I thank the Empress Dowager for the reward." Wei Bingyan's eyelids were a little wet as she took the box from Eunuch Lei.

"This is the Empress Dowager's old thing. It has been with her for a lifetime." Eunuch Lei said softly.

Wei Bingyan opened the box, and inside was a string of lapis lazuli and jade sandalwood Buddhist beads that were already showing some age. Wei Bingyan remembered that every time she went to meet the Empress Dowager, she would hold this string of Buddhist beads in her hands.

In fact, Eunuch Lei could not have imagined that the Queen Mother would be so good to Wei Bingyan. Even if he felt regretful, he did not have to give all his valuable old things to her, as she was not his own granddaughter.

He thought of Old Master Wei and wondered if it had any connection with the Wei family.

Li Yuyan asked Eunuch Lei to serve him the best fragrant tea, but Eunuch Lei said he had to go back to the palace to report to the emperor.

They escorted Lei Gonggong outside, watched him get on the carriage and disappear from their sight, and then turned back to the house.

The next day, Mrs. Li entered the palace before dawn. Wei Bingyan held Abao, who had just returned that morning, and went to the imperial palace to pay her respects.

Abao held the string of Buddhist beads in his hand, his eyes smiling.

The empress dowager's coffin was buried in the magnificent imperial mausoleum seven days later. On that day, the common people of the entire capital city exercised self-discipline and restrained themselves as they knelt on the streets to mourn, with the sound of heartbroken wailing.

Mingyue, who was in Guanzhuang, heard the news of the Empress Dowager's death and burst into tears in Guan Hualang's arms. It can be said that she grew up under the Empress Dowager's eyes, but because of her own fake death, she could not keep vigil in her casket with dignity. She felt guilty and extremely distressed.

Guan Hualang was aware of her grief, so he could only hold her tightly and accompany her to keep vigil for the Empress Dowager.

Fifteen days after the Empress Dowager passed away, the Emperor also collapsed from illness.