Chapter 294: Sincerity for Sincerity
The sky was somewhat overcast.
Commoners lined both sides of the roads inside and outside the capital, watching as funeral paper money continuously fluttered down from the sky.
"I heard the Empress Dowager committed suicide out of guilt for plotting rebellion."
"With the Empress Dowager dead, the entire Feng family has been imprisoned. They must have committed crimes."
"If the Empress Dowager rebelled, it must have been to pave the way for Prince Zhuang. Why is Prince Zhuang unaffected?"
"He's just a sickly man who needs support even to walk. I doubt he'll survive the journey to the imperial mausoleum before joining the Empress Dowager in death."
"What trouble can a sickly man cause? The Emperor is merciful, naturally sparing his life."
As the commoners discussed, they saw Chu Rui vomit a mouthful of blood and collapse to the ground.
A group of eunuchs rushed to persuade him: "Your Highness, please take the sedan chair. Her Late Highness wouldn't want you to torment your health like this..."
Chu Rui struggled to rise, saying weakly: "I am seeing the Empress Dowager on her final journey in my father's stead. I cannot fall."
He forced himself to continue walking forward.
Several attending eunuchs wiped their tears and did their best to support him.
Amid the somber gongs and mournful suona music, the funeral procession slowly approached the imperial mausoleum. What should have been a two-hour journey took four hours.
Finally arriving at the mausoleum, Yun Chu woke her two sleeping children.
What followed was the elaborate burial ceremony. The Ministry of Rites stood at the highest point reciting the eulogy while members of the imperial family stepped forward one by one to kowtow before the Empress Dowager's coffin.
Yun Chu and Chu Yi knelt together as their family of four slowly approached. They knelt on prayer mats, following the Ministry of Rites' instructions precisely - three kneelings and nine prostrations before rising to kneel at the side and wait.
By the time all imperial family members had finished kowtowing, the sky had completely darkened.
With the tolling of a bell, the Empress Dowager's coffin was carried into the previous emperor's mausoleum to be buried alongside him...
Sorrowful wails rose from the scene.
The day's exhausting journey finally ended. The mausoleum arranged a full vegetarian meal, allowing everyone to finally sit and rest.
Yun Chu brought Changsheng to sit at the women's seating area. This table included the Crown Princess with her three young daughters, the Gong Xi Princess Consort with her eldest daughter, Yun Chu, and Changsheng - exactly eight people at one table.
Everyone at the table was exhausted. Having departed before dawn and knelt continuously upon reaching the mausoleum, even someone made of iron would struggle to endure.
But the children clearly weren't tired. The Crown Prince's three daughters chattered incessantly, and Changsheng watched them curiously.
"Changsheng, I heard you can speak now?" The Crown Prince's eldest daughter, now ten years old and quite grown up, stood and came to hold Chu Changsheng's hand. "Would you like to play with us?"
Chu Changsheng glanced at Yun Chu, who nodded encouragingly. Only then did the little girl gather courage to say: "Okay."
"So you really can speak now." The Crown Prince's second daughter, six years old, spoke without filter. "I thought you were always a little mute."
Yun Chu interjected: "Changsheng just doesn't like speaking much. Actually, she knows many words."
"Come on, let's go play over there." The Crown Prince's second daughter grabbed Chu Changsheng's arm. "I saw many pretty stones there earlier. Let's go collect them."
The Crown Princess said smiling: "Since Changsheng has agreed, sister-in-law, please let Changsheng go play with them. With servants accompanying them, there's no need to worry."Yun Chu stood up: "Changsheng is timid, I'll accompany her."
She hoped Changsheng would integrate into the imperial clan, but also worried that the child might be overlooked due to her quiet nature, which could easily hurt her feelings.
She knew she needed to learn to let go of the child, but not now.
"Crown Princess, Princess Consort of Gong Xi, please excuse me for a moment."
Yun Chu took Changsheng's hand and followed several girls to another area.
There was a dried-up riverbed filled with small stones of various colors, which immediately captivated the young girls.
"Changsheng, do you like this one?" The Crown Prince's eldest daughter was particularly attentive to Changsheng, handing her a green stone. "This is for you."
Yun Chu knew Changsheng didn't like green.
She wanted to see how Changsheng would decline.
Instead, she saw Changsheng nod: "I like it, thank you, sister."
Then carefully closed her palm around the green stone.
Yun Chu felt a pang of sadness in her heart.
This was probably the first time an outsider had given Changsheng a gift. Even though the young girl didn't like it, she treasured it nonetheless.
This was a good beginning.
She smiled and said: "Changsheng, shall we find some pretty stones to give to the sisters too?"
Chu Changsheng's eyes lit up as she nodded.
From a distance, Yin Fei watched this scene and nodded with satisfaction.
She recognized once again that Yun Chu was treating the child with genuine sincerity. That Changsheng was improving so much was largely because of Yun Chu.
Yin Fei stood up and walked over to Yun Chu: "I noticed you haven't eaten much. After fasting all day, you must eat something. Go have your meal, I'll watch Changsheng."
At the beginning of the meal, she had seen Yun Chu feeding Changsheng throughout. After Changsheng finished eating and went to play, Yun Chu truly hadn't eaten a single bite.
Since Yun Chu was sincere with the child, she, as the mother-in-law, should naturally respond with equal sincerity.
Yun Chu nodded: "Then I'll trouble you, Mother Consort."
She knew that before she came along, Yin Fei had always been the one looking after Changsheng on such occasions, so she had no concerns.
She returned to her seat and continued her meal.
Though tired from the long day and without much appetite, she knew she had to eat because she needed to continue kneeling tomorrow morning, otherwise her body wouldn't hold up.
While eating, she suddenly heard crying.
Her fingers stilled abruptly, and she stood up immediately - it was Changsheng crying.
She threw down her chopsticks and rushed toward the riverbed, only to find the children were no longer there but had moved to a nearby flower garden.
In the twilight, the Crown Princess's three daughters, plus Gong Xi Prince's eldest daughter - four girls in total - had surrounded Changsheng.
Changsheng was crying loudly when she suddenly charged toward the Crown Prince's second daughter. The second daughter pushed hard, sending Changsheng stumbling backward.
Yun Chu never knew she could walk so fast - fast enough to catch Changsheng in her arms.
Had she been even a moment slower, Changsheng's head would have hit a stone. She didn't dare imagine the consequences.
"What happened here?"
Yun Chu suppressed the anger in her voice as she asked sternly.
"Just children being playful," the Crown Princess and Gong Xi Prince's Consort arrived belatedly. "All children quarrel sometimes."
"Four older girls bullying the youngest - that's not quarreling, that's bullying," Yun Chu enunciated each word clearly. "I want to know why?"
The Crown Prince's second daughter immediately hid behind the Crown Princess.The Crown Prince's eldest daughter spoke up, "It's nothing, just the two of them fighting over this stone. Here, it's for you, Changsheng."
Changsheng refused to take the stone, sobbing uncontrollably as she said, "The red jade pendant... she snatched it away..."
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