"Good Zhenâer, you must help me speak well in front of the Empress."
Suâer was also aware of the Empressâs resolute natureâonce she made a decision, only the Emperor could change it. However, she neither had the connections nor the courage to ask the Emperor for help. If the Emperor discovered todayâs incident was her doing, she would be punished, but worse, it might implicate the Empress.
"Alright, weâve been sisters for a while; I wouldnât just watch you leave the palace like this."
With Zhenâer reassuring her, Suâer didnât say much more and left the palace early the next morning when the gates first opened.
The palace didnât stir up much of a fuss over the departure of a lady and a maid.
The Empress initially thought Baili Yan would notice it was her doing, but Baili Yan never mentioned it, which set her mind at ease.
Mourning rituals three times a dayâmorning, noon, and night.
During this period, after staying in the palace for the first two days, Yang Chuxia bid farewell to the Empress and returned to her residence. Though a bit weary every day, she felt more at ease and didnât have to worry about hidden threats.
Quickly, seven days of mourning passed, and the next day was the funeral.
Originally, the passing of the late Emperor wouldnât have been followed by such a brief mourning period; it would have been at least half a month. However, the current season wasnât suitable, and even these few short days required countless ice blocks.
Even then, it wasnât very effective; when the wind blew past the kneeling Yang Chuxia and others, they could often smell the odor of decay.
"Itâs finally coming to an end."
"Lele and I will escort the late Emperor to the imperial tomb tomorrow."
Other than the imperial family, no women were allowed into the imperial tomb; Yang Chuxia and other wives of officials only had to escort them out of the city tomorrow.
"Alas, these past few days, Lele has lost so much weight," Yang Chuxia muttered, "He wasnât chubby to begin with, and these days heâs turned into a little monkey."
"After tomorrow, you should get some good nutrients for him. Even we adults find it hard to bear, yet this young child has remained silent throughoutâit truly is precious."
Yang Chuxia gently touched his face with some concern, "Youâve lost quite a bit of weight too."
"Itâs good to be thinner; saves me the trouble of dieting."
"Pfft..." Yang Chuxia couldnât help but laugh.
"By the way, thereâs something I must remind you of," Ye Ziâan suddenly said with a serious tone.
Seeing his solemn expression, Yang Chuxia tensed, "Whatâs the matter?"
"About the Empress, donât get too close," Ye Ziâan advised, "Even though the Emperor and I are cousins, we are ultimately ruler and subject, and the Emperor is still youngâwho knows what heâll think in the future? Getting too close to the people in the inner palace might lead us to being categorized into factions once the princes grow up, which would not be beneficial for the Ye Family."
"You donât need to tell me; I know the seriousness of this," Yang Chuxia replied, "Otherwise, I wouldnât have moved out of the palace."
"Thatâs good, Mu Shaoling will likely remind Dongyang too. Itâs best if we continue standing on the Emperorâs side; we canât concern ourselves with what comes later."
"Yes, I understand."
After a while, with nothing else to attend to, they washed up and prepared to sleep.
Just as Ye Ziâan turned off the light, someone came to call him, saying the Emperor requested his presence at the palace immediately.
"Why is he calling you to the palace at this hour?" Yang Chuxia also got up.
Ye Ziâan was a bit puzzled, "It must be something important; they wouldnât call for me at this time otherwise."
As he spoke, he had already tidied up his clothes.
"Iâll go see whatâs going on; you should sleep first and donât wait for me."
"Be careful, then."