Reborn to marry the emperor, I just want to confuse the emperor and seize the throne

The eighty-year-old woman living in Hengyang Palace should now be called the Empress Dowager. I wonder what she felt when she heard the news of Emperor Huijing's death.

Jiang Fenghua took the tiger-headed doll with him, hoping only to fulfill the late emperor's last wish. He should have no worries in this world and could rest in peace.

On this day, when they were only a few days away from Hengyang, Jiang Fenghua took the opportunity to find Xie Shang during a break.

There were piles of memorials around him. When he saw Jiang Fenghua coming, he said, "Ruan Ruan."

"Your Majesty, you have worked hard." Jiang Fenghua glanced at the memorial.

Xie Shang said, "They are all sent here from Shengjing City at full speed every day. I have to deal with them in time."

"I have something I would like to ask your majesty for help with."

Xie Shang put down the memorial, pulled her to sit beside him, and gathered her cloak, "Is it about going to Hengyang Palace to invite the Empress Dowager?"

"Your Majesty is really smart. I haven't said anything yet."

"These past few days you have been sighing every time you mentioned Hengyang Palace. I know you want to invite the Grand Empress Dowager to the Imperial Mausoleum to see my father for the last time." He said in a deep voice, "When my father passed away, I wrote a letter and also sent the imperial edict to confer the title of Grand Empress Dowager on my grandmother, but I didn't receive a reply. The official who delivered the edict said that my grandmother didn't want to meet, so I guessed that she wouldn't come. After so many years, if she wanted to return to Shengjing, she would have returned long ago."

Jiang Fenghua took out the tiger-headed doll from her arms and said, "Your Majesty, please take a look. This was given to me by my father before he died. He hoped that I would give it to the Empress Dowager."

Xie Shang frowned slightly, "I have never seen this before. Is this the toy that my father played with when he was a child?"

"That should be it! I guess this was sewn by the Grand Empress Dowager herself, so my father kept it for his whole life. He wanted to recognize the Empress Dowager very much, and he probably regretted breaking off the relationship with the Grand Empress Dowager."

Xie Shang pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll send someone to invite her again. If she doesn't come, there's nothing I can do." After all, the severance of the relationship between my father and my grandmother was so embarrassing.

Afterwards, the response Jiang Fenghua received was that the Empress Dowager still refused to see him.

She had no choice but to feel regretful. The late emperor's funeral was imminent, and with all the civil and military officials, royal relatives, and a huge funeral procession, it was impossible for them to stop and wait for the Empress Dowager to show up.

It was impossible for Xie Shang to issue an order to force her to come.

-

At the same time, in the Zhu family's carriage, Zhu Yiyi, wearing mourning clothes and with her hair combed like a maid, blended into the funeral procession.

Shengjing City is hundreds of miles away from Hengyang Palace. It is normal for Censor Zhu to have maids to take care of him. The Zhu family also sent a carriage to follow him, so Zhu Yiyi naturally would not get off and walk.

She had not expected that the Queen and Zhu Zhenzhen would ride in the same carriage to the Hengyang Palace Huangling. Since Zhu Zhenzhen had also left the palace, it would be great if she suddenly had an accident on the way.

Since that day, she had entered the palace several times under the pretext of delivering clothes and food to her father. Every time, she was able to see the emperor through her father, but the emperor seemed not to see her.

She knew that the emperor must have seen her, but he did not summon her due to the national mourning.

Now that the funeral procession has left Shengjing, how can she create opportunities to spend time with the emperor?

I wonder if the Queen and Zhu Zhenzhen will come to cause trouble.

In fact, during the ten days from Shengjing to the Hengyang Imperial Mausoleum, Zhu Yiyi had no chance to see the emperor, because the emperor would be with the queen wherever he stopped to rest.

The funeral procession took the official road, and the entire road was guarded by soldiers. Every post station was well prepared, and there was not even a single outsider in sight, so she had no chance to deal with Zhu Zhenzhen.

When Censor Zhu saw his second daughter beside the empress, he was also a little surprised. The funeral ceremony of the late emperor could not have any mistakes, so he also warned his eldest daughter not to go to the emperor for the time being and make plans only after the funeral.

-

The imperial mausoleum in Hengyang Palace had already been built, and officials had been sent here to make preparations. The auspicious day for burying the late emperor's body was the second day of the twelfth lunar month. The whole scene was majestic and solemn. The emperor and empress led the descendants of the Xie family and civil and military officials to send the holy body to rest.

The monks who protected the country wore robes and held instruments in their hands, constantly playing and chanting scriptures. Only after all the sacrifices to heaven and rituals were completed did they officially send the late emperor's coffin into the imperial mausoleum. Then a series of ceremonies such as kowtow to express gratitude for the emperor's grace were held. It was already afternoon when the tomb-sealing ceremony was completed.

Next, a ceremony of initiating the decree was held to request a tablet for the late emperor. After the tablet was ready, the emperor and empress knelt down and kowtowed three times. The emperor personally placed the tablet on the altar, burned incense and offered scriptures. The late emperor's children and grandchildren waited for the emperor and empress to finish the incense-burning ceremony before they came forward to burn incense and kowtow, and began to offer copied scriptures to show their respect and filial piety to the late emperor.

After the ceremony, the spirit tablet of the late emperor will be escorted back to Beijing and placed in the Xie clan ancestral hall, and the entire funeral ceremony will be completed.

Nanny Wang had been serving the queen closely, and Lian Ye was supporting her from the side. Except for the kneeling ceremony which was a bit strenuous, the other etiquette was not difficult for her as a pregnant woman.

Xie Shang had already sent people to Hengyang Palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager, but the Empress Dowager did not show up until the ceremony was completed.

She thought to herself: What kind of hatred is there between mother and son that even death cannot resolve?

So, she prepared to go to Hengyang Palace in person. She called Xie Shang to go with her, but Xie Shang did not come because he had some undecided matters.

She thought: This stingy man, isn't it just that your father's mother didn't come to your father's funeral? Is this also worth getting angry about?

Xie Shang also sent guards to protect her safety, and of course she also had her own people following her in secret to protect her.

When her carriage stopped at the gate of Hengyang Palace, she felt that the palace gate was quite grand and there were soldiers guarding it. The late emperor should not want to imprison the Empress Dowager!

Although the Hengyang Palace is not as big as the Shengjing Palace, it is not small either.

Lian Ye took the token and stepped forward, "The noble from Shengjing City wants to see the Grand Empress Dowager. Please go and tell her."

The guards were the Empress Dowager's men. They were startled when they saw the token, and one of them hurried inside.

Jiang Fenghua was holding the gold medal given to her by Emperor Hui Jing. The master should have known the news of the late emperor's death long ago.

After a while, a woman of about seventeen or eighteen years old walked out. The woman was wearing a black suit and had heroic features. She was followed by several guards.

The woman glanced at the carriage and asked, "Who is coming?"

Lian Ye said, "My master wants to see the Empress Dowager. Please be accommodating."

"The Empress Dowager does not see guests. Please go back." The woman stopped them.

Only then did Jiang Fenghua get out of the carriage. The guards hurriedly brought a stool, and Nanny Wang and Lian Ye supported her on the right and left. She was wearing a plain white mourning dress, and it was obvious that she had just come from the funeral of the late emperor.

He waited for her to stop and said in a deep voice, "We are here to see the Empress Dowager on the orders of the late Emperor..."

The woman gave Jiang Fenghua a deep look and said, "No matter who comes, the Empress Dowager will not see guests."

Jiang Fenghua said coldly, "You didn't even go to pass on the message, so how do you know she won't see guests? Or you put the Grand Empress Dowager under house arrest, so we can't see her. The emperor's army is in the imperial mausoleum. If anyone dares to harm the Grand Empress Dowager, I can guarantee that the entire Hengyang Palace will be buried with the Grand Empress Dowager. Miss, are you really not going to let us see the Grand Empress Dowager?"

Xie Minmin was stunned, and then said, "It's not that I don't let you in, but my grandmother doesn't want to see anyone. She hasn't spoken for more than a month."

Jiang Fenghua pondered inwardly, she hadn't spoken for more than a month. Could it be that the Empress Dowager only started not seeing guests when she knew that Emperor Hui Jing had passed away?

The girl in front of me calls the Empress Dowager "Grandmother". Is she also a member of the Xie family?