Chapter 2008: Chapter 1946: National Mourning

On the seventh day of December, the people in Beiyan Imperial City were still immersed in the joy of purchasing for the New Year, with smiles on their faces, blissfully unaware of the impending change.

Suddenly, the sound of drums and gongs rang out, with guards on fine horses shouting and clearing the way. Passersby exchanged puzzled glances. What was happening?

Straining their necks to look, they saw the bright yellow carriage heading towards the palace. Was that the Emperor’s carriage?

Wasn’t the Emperor resting in another palace? Has he recovered already?

The common folk remained in the dark, but those who had received insider information, such as Prince Jin’s Mansion, quietly replaced festive items and brought out plain white ones, waiting for the bell to toll so they could hang them up.

Sure enough, in less than an hour, the entire capital was under strict control, and from the direction of the palace came the sound of the death knell.

Pedestrians stopped in their tracks, one toll, two tolls, three tolls... a full nine tolls.

This was the death knell for the Emperor’s passing.

Has His Majesty passed away?

Hulala, people fell to their knees in the direction of the palace, crying out: "Your Majesty..."

The Emperor has passed away. In an instant, the entire Imperial City replaced its festive reds with hanging white lanterns and white banners, a stark white against the snow.

Furthermore, the news of the Emperor’s passing and the Imperial Edict were sent to all provinces and prefectures, instructing military and civilians to discard official caps and sashes within twenty days, wear plain clothing, refrain from marriages for a month, and from festivities for three months.

Simultaneously, noble officials and noble ladies entered the palace to mourn, expressing their grief.

The palace was likewise filled with white.

The Late Emperor had already been placed in the great hall of the Qianqing Palace. Prince Dong and his filial sons and daughters knelt in heavy mourning garments, weeping bitterly, while the concubines also softly mourned.

With the Emperor’s death, they became the women of the former emperor. Those with children could follow them to live outside the palace, but those without had no choice but to stay in a palace chamber for the rest of their solitary lives.

Their sadness truly came from the heart, as their futures looked bleak.

Wufu also changed into plain white attire, wore white flowers on her head, and, following the decree from Empress Dowager Mo, she took charge of arranging mourning duties for the Noble Ladies with two imperial consorts and also helped with some palace affairs. There was no choice since the high-ranking consorts who could be relied upon had been ordered by the Empress Dowager to stay in the palace.

All these tasks piled together, leaving Wufu with no time to shed even two tears for The Late Emperor.

Equally busy was Ah Jiu. The news of Emperor Yan’s passing and his last will were only proclaimed upon arriving at the palace. As the Regent King, he was basically the master of the palace, even half of Beiyan’s territory. Now that the Emperor has passed, the responsibilities on his shoulders multiplied greatly.

The couple had been newlyweds for just over half a month, and now both had swapped their wedding garments for mourning clothes, busying themselves for this palace and for Beiyan.

The chill of December’s winter sank into the bones. In such weather, even men found it hard to bear the mourning rituals, which involved kneeling and crying on the ground, let alone women.

Moreover, among the Noble Ladies, there were those who were elderly, and in such cold weather, kneeling for just a shichen could cost them half their lives.

Thus, within a day, people began to collapse one after another, especially the elderly and those who were pregnant. Seeing this, Wufu requested another decree from the Empress Dowager, allowing them to mourn at home as an act of kindness, which earned her considerable gratitude.

In fact, if Wufu had not been bound by the customs of the time, she would let all the women come to mourn once, view The Late Emperor’s remains, and then allow them to mourn at home. However, she could only follow the local customs; otherwise, she would surely face the people’s denouncement.

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