The palace was busy preparing for the Queen's funeral. Shortly after the Crown Princess gave birth, the Queen Mother issued an order allowing Hong Lingling and Qi Baixing to go and observe mourning.
Academician Hong Da wanted to make a fuss, but the Queen Mother personally issued an order and blocked their mouths, so there was nothing to cause a fuss about.
The Hong family is now in a dilemma. The current situation is very clear, but what choice can he make? He should support the prince, but the prince only dotes on the princess. Liang Yuan has been in the East Palace for so long, and she has never even touched the prince's sleeves.
Therefore, even if he got some news, he did not dare to express his position casually. Everything was based on wait and see.
The queen's body is placed in the Guangming Hall.
Qi Baixing and Hong Lingling stayed here for a day, listening to the private discussions among the ladies in the harem. They all said that they were in an awkward position in the East Palace. They had status but no real favor.
In fact, Qi Baixing was very happy when the queen died, because she had offended the queen and the queen hated her.
However, even if the queen died, she still couldn't do what she wanted to do, and the prince never looked at her.
She had no power or favor. People in the East Palace called her Liangdi, but they never regarded her as the real Liangdi.
Do we have to live like this for the rest of our lives?
She was very anxious and wanted to change, but how difficult was it to change? She was a weak woman with no one to help her. Concubine Xiao made a lot of promises, but they all sounded like empty words. Without actual help, what was the use of making nice words?
They are both women, why do the Crown Princess have such a blessing? The prince was a devoted pamperer and gave birth to three legitimate sons. Even his adopted son was so well-behaved and doted on that he was recognized by the royal family.
How is she worse than the Crown Princess?
What she understands, the Crown Princess must not understand. As long as the Crown Prince favors her once, she will know it. But even this time, she failed to get this opportunity.
How can we survive this day?
After waiting for a long time, she excused herself to go back to get something. When she returned to the East Palace, she met Apei sitting under the locust tree and crying. She walked over to ask, but Apei looked at her and got up and left.
Qi Baixing was a little suspicious. Ape probably didn't cry because of the queen's death. She had always seen her like this recently.
In fact, she couldn't penetrate the entire East Palace. She could only get some information from Ape, and then tell Concubine Xiao, hoping to stabilize her relationship with Princess Jin.
She couldn't ask Ape, so she turned around and saw the guard, and asked, "What's wrong with Miss Ape? She's not very happy."
The guard seemed to be extremely worried and said, "What else could it be for? I had a quarrel with a spiritual practitioner."
Qi Baixing suddenly became alert and asked, "Did you have a quarrel with Lingxiu? What was the quarrel about?"
"She advised Master Lingxiu to admit his mistake to His Highness and return to the East Palace, but Master Lingxiu disagreed. Yes, now that he is the minister of the Ministry of War, why would he be willing to return to the East Palace to be a guard?"
The guard shook his head as he spoke, looking disappointed with Ling Xiu.
"Call Master Lingxiu back. Could it be that His Highness has something to do?"
"Of course..." The guard suddenly became alert and glanced at her, "Nothing happened. Liang Di will take care of herself. I have resigned from my post."
Qi Baixing felt that this matter was a bit strange. Although she didn't know much about Apei and Lingxiu, she didn't persuade him to come back at first. How come she was quarreling now because she wanted to persuade him to come back?
After she returned, she secretly ordered someone to inform Concubine Xiao.
Concubine Xiao came over in the evening to observe the filial piety of the queen with her. Hong Lingling could not hold on any longer. She fainted on the grounds of excessive sadness and was quickly sent back to rest.
The concubines always remembered the queen's past love for each other, so they always stayed in the mourning hall.
In fact, in the past, the concubine was favored and the queen's majesty was not high, so everyone didn't think much of the queen. But now, kneeling in front of her soul, thinking of her past generosity, everyone still feels particularly sad.
