On April 27 of that year, Concubine Xuan, who had died, was posthumously named Empress Xiaoci. Hu drove back to Weiyang Palace in the starry night, stopped in the funeral palace for three days, set up Mo to offer incense and candles, and hung the spirit flag on the right side of the palace gate.

The emperor dropped out of plain clothes, and the concubines and concubines were all vegetarian. The king, the princess, the princess and the three centimeters are listed in the funeral palace, and the king's clan is outside the palace, and the civil and military officials gather twice in the morning and evening according to the order of the Danqi, for three consecutive days.

On the first day of the first month of May, the queen's coffin was moved out of the funeral, the crowd knelt and mourned, and then settled in the Yongling Tomb in the former underground palace, the funeral was very long, and the military attache above the captain carried the public opinion by 80 people, and the emperor personally sent it.

In the Ziwei Palace, Cai Ling, who was dressed in a vegetarian dress, was telling the Queen Mother about today's funeral. She is neither a clan nor a wife, and she is not qualified to be sent to the funeral palace, thanks to the grace of the Queen Mother, she can be sent to Xuan Niangniang for the last time as a wife.

The Queen Mother waved her hand and said: "The queen Duanshu has a thin life, and the mourning family is uncomfortable to hear." Don't talk about it. ”

Cai Ling wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and buried her head in silence obediently.

The Queen Mother suddenly asked: "Can you see the prince's grief?" ”

It is rumored in the palace that the prince is serious, strategizing, controlling the overall situation, the internal harem, the court, and the envoys of various countries, and the number of courtesies is complete, and he bows and mourns three times a day, but he never sees his face sad.

"Your Highness supports the spirit, reads the toast, salutes, burns the sacrifice, etc., all bow down." Cai Ling replied.

At that time, she stood in the dense crowd of inner women, and could only look at him from a distance. Everyone else said that the prince was serious and personally handled the funeral, but he didn't see half of the sadness. But obviously, even at such a distance, she could clearly see the gloom in his eyes, as if she was a child who fell into the abyss and couldn't pull half a rope, but she didn't dare to cry and scream, for fear of attracting wolves, so she only endured it, but she couldn't find a way out anyway. People who have always been high-spirited are suddenly helpless, which makes people more and more protective.

"Why are you crying while talking?" The Queen Mother scolded lightly, but handed over a silk handkerchief.

Before Cai Ling wiped away her tears, the palace people said loudly: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the King of Dian are here." ”

The young prince and the extraordinarily generous king strode side by side, saluting as if they were ceremonial, "The grandson (son) greets the queen mother." ”

"Sit down." The Queen Mother held the prince's hand and said with concern, "Is everything all right?" ”

The crown prince nodded, and the queen mother made all the major events in the palace known to the queen mother in the past few days, and after a while, the queen mother patted his hand and said: "Do you have a heart, and you still remember your grandmother." Not like the emperor, the mourning family has not seen him for many days. You can't go without a king for a day, how should he be like this? ”

"My father will come out of his grief soon, and my grandson should do his best to help the community. The queen mother's health is important, don't worry too much about her father. The prince comforted the queen mother.

"Grandmother understands." The Queen Mother was in tears, and when she turned her eyes to the King of Dian, her face was as usual, "Old Thirteen, you rushed back to Beijing overnight, and you were tired, so you stayed in Beijing for a few more days, and often walked around in front of the mourning house." ”

"Thank you, Mother." The king of Dian was dressed in vegetarian clothes, and he couldn't hide his tired stubble.

Bidding farewell to the Queen Mother, the two left the hall one after the other. Cai Ling obtained the permission of the Queen Mother, and hurriedly chased out, shouting from afar: "Lord Wang." ”

The two turned back almost at the same time, and Yu Jian still didn't care, but Mu Chi was solemn, patiently waiting for her to approach. How could she forget that the crown prince was also a king in the past.

Cai Ling glanced at it, didn't dare to look at it again, and only said to Youjian, "Can the thirteenth prince take a step to speak?" ”

"Okay." You Jian glanced at the prince and nodded in reply.

Mu Chi turned around and left, walking quickly, and his long and clear back turned the corner and disappeared from view.

"Something big?" Today, although Youjian's face was solemn, he still seemed to smile when he saw Cai Ling.

"Hmm." Although Cai Ling hesitated, she said with an iron heart, "Empress Yang died, and the imperial court stipulates that officials are not allowed to marry and have fun within 27 days, and I am afraid that the marriage contract between you and me will be shelved." ”

"Twenty-seventh? How about this king waiting for you for three months or three years? The king of Dian was a little joking, and when he saw that Cai Ling was difficult to hide, he said seriously: "Are you not ready to go back to Yunnan with this king?" ”

"If the prince wants to blame, Cai Ling is willing to be a cow and a horse." Cai Ling hurriedly said.

"This king doesn't want you to be a cow or a horse. This king doesn't have many friends in Beijing, as long as he watches you do well. The attitude of the king of Dian was as usual, "But if you stay in Chang'an, can you get out of the way?" ”

"I don't know yet, I haven't thought about it. But the boat will naturally go straight to the bridge, and then find a way. "Cai Ling is relieved.

"Hmm." The King of Dian suddenly patted her on the shoulder and said, "Be more careful yourself." This king will come back to you another day. With that, he turned around and wanted to leave.

Cai Ling said, "If you think the palace is too big, there is still the prince's room upstairs in Dongxi." ”

"The king of knowledge is none other than you Jiang Cailing." The King of Dian sighed as if he was sorry, and Cai Ling felt indescribable gratitude in his heart.

The willow tops on the moon, the evening breeze is slow, the lights in each palace are turned off early, and Cai Ling walks on the quiet palace road with a food box. The purpose of this trip is the East Palace.

As soon as she walked into the palace gate, she saw Wei Wei standing outside the palace, revealing that she was thick, and the ladies formally advised her to go back to the dormitory to rest earlier. "His Royal Highness refuses to eat, how can the concubines rest in peace." The tone of crying and complaining, and the volume was deliberately raised by three points.

Cai Ling sighed slightly, and only passed by her.

"Miss Jiang?" Wei Wei shouted in a low voice, and in an instant he was already questioning, "What are you doing?" ”

"Come and see Your Highness." Cai Ling turned around and replied calmly.

"Your Highness is happy and quiet now, and you can't be disturbed, so the girl should please go back." Wei Wei raised her head and made a gesture of invitation, and someone from her palace came to urge her to leave.

"Bold!" Cai Ling whispered to the palace people, but her eyes were fixed on Wei Wei's face, "I came by the order of the Queen Mother, who wants to stop me?" ”

"Slave don't dare!" The palace people looked at each other and hurriedly retreated. Someone was about to go in to pass the word, Cai Ling called him to stop, and he had already strode into the temple.

"I said don't bother this king, what are you doing here?" The blue and white tea bowl was thrown over, and with a clang, it shattered all over the ground. The man sitting behind the desk on one side of the window did not raise his head. Cai Ling bypassed the debris, placed the food box on the small table, and only knelt on the seat.

"What are you doing? Why don't you go quickly...... the person who was writing raised his eyes, already sad and joyful, "Why are you here?" ”

"I came to see you." Cai Ling got up and saluted, walked to the desk, and looked at the row of words he wrote. Cai Ling was so bold that she crumpled the rice paper into a ball and tore it to shreds. The prince looked at her quietly and said nothing.

"Isn't it good to be sad in your heart, to cry and vent? Why only write here. Cai Ling frowned.

"How do you understand?" He teased lightly.

"My mother treats me kindly, and she is also my elder, how can I not understand!" Before he finished speaking, tears were like beads with broken threads.

The prince lowered his eyes and held her in his arms. Both of them were wearing vegetarian clothes, and Cai Ling's tears gradually stained the placket of the prince's clothes. She tried her best to control her sadness, and sobbed, "I was originally here to persuade you, but I made it look like this. ”

"I know." Although his tone was flat, two lines of hot tears welled up and fell on Cai Ling's face, and she wiped them dry at the hem of her clothes, before she held her head high and begged the prince, "What do you think in your heart, can you tell me?" ”

After being speechless for a long time, she felt that her neck was very sore, and she was about to give up, but the prince said: "It was my carelessness that killed my mother." ”

"Wealth is determined by fate, life and death are in heaven, and there is no certainty in the world." Cai Ling reached out and grabbed his back and patted him twice, "The dead are gone, and the living are like this." Niangniang is in the spirit of heaven, and she never wants to see His Highness blame himself. ”

"Hmm." He pondered for a moment, then nodded.

Then, the two sat opposite each other for about an hour, looking at each other without saying a word. Cai Ling pointed to the food box and said, "If you are hungry, you can eat two pieces of dim sum." Aunt Chun's handiwork, if I make it, you probably won't dare to eat it. ”

"Going?" He pulled out a wry smile and only asked.

"Hide it from the Queen Mother. If she knew that I broke into the East Palace at night, she should accuse me of not knowing the rules. Cai Ling said that she got up and saluted.

"What are your plans for the future?" The prince suddenly took her hand and asked.

"I don't know." Cai Ling stroked a trace of messy hair on his forehead, "I'm afraid I won't go to Yunnan." ”

A glimmer of light finally flashed in the prince's deep and gloomy eyes, and then disappeared after a moment, "In a few days, I will go to find you." ”

"Hmm. Your Highness take care. Cai Ling instructed.

Wei Wei outside the hall still stood unrelentingly in the moonlight wind.

"Miss Jiang." Yu An followed closely with the Su Silk Palace lamp.

"What's the matter with my father-in-law?" Cai Ling asked.

"His Royal Highness ordered the servant to send the girl back to Ziwei Palace."

"But I ......" Cai Ling is afraid that the people of Ziwei Palace will know where she has been.

"After His Royal Highness ordered it to be sent to the imperial garden, it was good to see the girl enter the palace gate from afar." Yu An said and walked to the front to lead the way.