Shu Ke puede recuperar una fortuna perdida

Capítulo 44

Having painstakingly found a slight connection between Wang Anshi and the case, Lü Huiqing naturally decided to exploit it. His confidant, Fan Bailu, had his men search and find poems that Li Shining had given to Zhao Shiju's mother, Kang, seventeen or eighteen years earlier. Fan immediately accused Li Shining of treasonous intent, ordering his arrest and imprisonment. Li Shining was subjected to severe interrogation about his relationship with Wang Anshi, hoping to implicate Wang Anshi. Unable to endure the torture, Li Shining confessed to every detail of his interactions with Wang Anshi, including letters and poems Wang Anshi had written to him. Lü Huiqing then tried to find evidence of "treason" in these poems and simultaneously sent his cronies to spread rumors in the court that Wang Anshi was "closely involved" in the case. Suddenly, many people began to suspect Wang Anshi, and his situation immediately became dangerous and awkward.

Wang Anshi was both shocked and helpless. At home, he repeatedly denounced Lü Huiqing for his ingratitude and betrayal. His son, Wang Pang, however, was not willing to sit idly by and wait for his death. Since returning to the capital, he had deliberately cultivated frequent relationships with influential ministers such as remonstrating officials and censors, gradually building up a force dependent on him and his father. Now, he felt that the time had finally come to put his power to use.

He first conspired with Xu Xi, the censor who was handling the case alongside Deng Wan and Fan Bailu, to devise a strategy to protect Wang Anshi. They believed that to completely exonerate his father from the case's impact, Li Shining's innocence should be proven. Therefore, he instructed Xu Xi to vehemently oppose Deng Wan and Fan Bailu, finding ways to cite evidence to prove Li Shining's innocence. Seeing the disagreement among the ministers, Zhao Xu ordered Li Kuan and Zhang Hu to investigate who was right and who was wrong. Fortunately, they eventually discovered that the poem Li Shining had given to Zhao Shiju's mother was actually an imperial poem bestowed upon Li Shining by Emperor Renzong years before. Therefore, Li Shining was spared death, only being sent to Hunan for exile on a military charge. Zhao Shiju was sentenced to death, and Li Feng and Xu Ge were executed. Fan Bailu, who had been instructed by Lü Huiqing to frame Wang Anshi, was also demoted by Zhao Xu to supervisor of taxes in Suzhou for submitting false reports.

Wang Pang successfully resolved his father's crisis through his own efforts, which was tantamount to giving Lü Huiqing his first heavy blow. However, he did not want to stop there. This matter was just a small test for him. He had extinguished Lü Huiqing's arrogance, and now it was time to teach him a lesson.

He realized that among the ministers currently allied with Lü Huiqing, the most powerful was the Censor-in-Chief Deng Wan. If he could win Deng Wan over and have him turn against Lü Huiqing at a crucial moment, it would be the most effective way to retaliate against Lü Huiqing in kind. Deng Wan was a weak and cowardly man, and by nature, he was opportunistic. He had originally been promoted by Wang Anshi, but after Wang Anshi was dismissed from his post, he saw Lü Huiqing's rising power and thus allied himself with him. After Wang Anshi was reinstated, Deng Wan hesitated between the two, but then he thought that Wang was already at his limit, while Lü Huiqing had a bright future, so he placed his bets on Lü. Unexpectedly, the rebellion case meticulously planned by Lü Huiqing for Wang Anshi was easily resolved by Wang Pang. Deng Wan was alarmed and realized that Lü Huiqing's intelligence and methods were simply child's play in front of Wang Anshi and his son. Therefore, when Wang Pang revealed his intention to recruit him back and even before he had presented his planned coercion and inducement, Deng Wan had already bowed his head and solemnly swore his loyalty.

Having subdued Deng Wan and Wang Pang, he had no more scruples. He immediately instructed his crony, the censor Cai Chengxi, to publicly present a memorial to Emperor Zhao Xu during the midday court session in the Yanhe Hall, impeaching Lü Huiqing: "Huiqing abuses his power, acts arbitrarily, and forms cliques to deceive the country. People like Zhang Dun and Li Ding are his henchmen, and Zeng Min, Liu Jing, Ye Tangyi, Zhou Chang, and Xu Shen are his lackeys. He is the most wicked of all."

This accusation caused a sensation throughout the court. Those who were usually dissatisfied with Lü Huiqing's actions, staunch supporters of Wang Anshi, and those who opportunistically attacked someone who was down on their luck all stood up to second the accusation. Han Jiang further fueled the flames, taking out a pre-prepared memorial from his sleeve and personally reading it aloud: "Huiqing's cunning is known to all. After two years in power, his faction has been formed, and the current obstruction of the court's internal affairs, making it difficult for communication between the top and bottom, is due to Huiqing's secret planning, which has not been leaked even under the most severe circumstances. Your Majesty, I am deeply apprehensive..."

Lu Huiqing suddenly became the center of everyone's attacks, unable to defend herself, looking around in panic, feeling surrounded by enemies.

Zhao Xu was momentarily at a loss for what to do, so he looked at Wang Anshi. Wang Anshi, who had been standing with his eyes downcast and expressionless, neither echoing the attack on Lü Huiqing nor speaking up for him, felt Zhao Xu's questioning gaze and sighed softly. He stepped forward and advised, "Huiqing is young, and perhaps he has acted without due care, but to say that he is forming cliques and deceiving the country is going too far. Huiqing has assisted Your Majesty and me in our vigorous reforms for many years, and his merits outweigh his faults. Moreover, the 'New Interpretations of the Three Classics' has not yet been completed. It would be inappropriate, both morally and logically, to punish the important reform minister who is compiling this book at this time."

Zhao Xu nodded in agreement and thus did not demote Lü Huiqing as suggested by others.

Wang Pang didn't understand his father's behavior. He felt that all the effort he had put into cornering Lü Huiqing had been wasted by his father's words, almost ruining everything. Wang Anshi explained to him, "I still maintain the same point: the current situation of the reform is still unstable, and the old party is eyeing us covetously, ready to strike back at any opportunity. We cannot allow internal strife at this time to give the old party an excuse to slander the new party's actions. It is not wrong to resolutely crack down on those who oppose the reform, but we should be lenient with our own members of the new party."

Wang Pang remained unconvinced, but seeing that his father had already asked the emperor to spare Lü Huiqing, he decided not to use the matter to attack him further. So he stopped talking and focused on the final revisions of the soon-to-be-completed "New Interpretations of the Three Classics".

In June of the eighth year of the Xining era, the compilation of *New Interpretations of the Three Classics* was completed. Emperor Zhao Xu rewarded those who had contributed, appointing Wang Anshi as Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and concurrently Vice Minister of the Chancellery, Lü Huiqing as Attendant Censor, and Wang Pang as Academician of the Dragon Pavilion. Wang Pang secretly felt that while the title of Academician of the Dragon Pavilion was prestigious, it held little practical significance and was not the powerful position he desired. Therefore, he feigned illness and resigned. Upon learning of this, Lü Huiqing went to the palace to meet with the emperor and advised Zhao Xu that Wang Pang was too young to be an academician and suggested approving his resignation to allow him to study and accumulate experience for a few more years. Having witnessed Wang Pang's formidable abilities after the failure of the rebellion, Zhao Xu believed he would become a more dangerous opponent than Wang Anshi in the future. Therefore, he resolved to eliminate any opportunity for Wang Pang's promotion to prevent him from threatening his own position once he gained power.

Zhao Xu accepted Lü Huiqing's suggestion and agreed to Wang Pang's resignation.

Wen'er learned of this through Zhu Xichan and hurriedly told her brother. Wang Pang was furious and said, "Although I resigned myself, what does it have to do with Lü Huiqing? How dare he be so despicable and shameless as to slander me behind my back, as if he's afraid the Emperor won't approve my resignation! I can't quell my hatred without killing such a villain!"

Therefore, he ordered Cai Chengxi, Lü Jiawen and other ministers who were loyal to him to secretly investigate Lü Huiqing's misdeeds, and kept it from Wang Anshi for fear that Wang would object if he found out.

Cai Chengxi first impeached Lü Huiqing, saying that when Lü Huiqing's brother, Lü Shengqing, took the imperial examination at the Imperial Academy, the examiner was actually Lü Huiqing's brother-in-law, Fang Tong. Knowing that he should have recused himself, he still did so, deliberately deceiving the emperor for personal gain. Zhao Xu then dismissed Lü Huiqing from his position as Vice Chancellor, but kept him in the court.

When Deng Wan was a close associate of Lü Huiqing, he knew many of Lü's misdeeds. Now that Lü's power had waned, he felt relieved and exposed them to curry favor with Wang Anshi and his son. After obtaining Wang Pang's approval, he reported to Zhao Xu that Lü Huiqing had taken advantage of the implementation of the new laws to abuse his power for personal gain. He had colluded with his brother, Lü Shengqing, a lecturer at Chongzheng Hall, Lü Heqing, the magistrate of Quyang County, and Zhang Ruoji, the magistrate of Huating County. They had forcibly borrowed five million coins from wealthy Huating residents such as Zhu Hua, using the money to illegally acquire five hundred hectares of land. Furthermore, they had his uncle, Zheng Ying, forcibly seize farmland from the people, and the monk Wenda forcibly seize the monastery of Wang Zhu, among other things. These despicable acts had aroused local resentment, causing the new laws to lose popular support, hindering their implementation, and even affecting His Majesty's reputation…

Emperor Zhao Xu was greatly surprised and furious: the key ministers he had always trusted, who were the backbone of the reform movement, were openly abusing their power for personal gain?! This was tantamount to ruining the reputation of reformers and would inevitably become a major stain on the history of the reform movement. He immediately issued an edict ordering their imprisonment and thorough investigation. Except for the Lü brothers, all those involved were arrested and imprisoned. In October, Zhao Xu finally decided to temporarily demote Lü Shengqing, the storyteller of the Chongzheng Hall, to the position of Deputy Transport Commissioner of Jiangnan West Circuit, while transferring Lü Huiqing out of the capital to the position of Prefect of Chenzhou. He also immediately abolished the "hand-operated" laws implemented by Lü Huiqing.

While Lü Huiqing's downfall removed the threat he posed to Wang Anshi, it also, as Wang Anshi had feared, triggered new attacks from the old party against the reformers. Zhang Fangping and Lü Gongzhu successively submitted memorials impeaching and questioning the new laws, using the internal strife within the new party as a pretext. Even Wang Anshi's younger brother, Wang Anli, submitted a memorial stating: "Those who seize the opportunity to seek profit exhaust themselves in poverty and ruin the nation, their actions are enough to disrupt the natural order and even cause celestial anomalies..." directly accusing the corrupt officials of the new party of abusing their power and seeking personal gain at the expense of the people's interests.

The current predicament was causing Zhao Xu considerable distress. He was also deeply dissatisfied with the infighting between Wang and Lü; the reforms had not yet truly succeeded, and the very reformers he had wholeheartedly trusted and supported were now openly and covertly fighting each other for their own selfish interests. Even more serious was the shocking reality he witnessed in this case: the rampant factionalism and collusion among court officials. Disheartened, pained, and horrified, he felt deeply. He summoned Wang Anshi, remaining silent, and presented him with a stack of memorials impeaching the new laws. Wang Anshi immediately understood that the emperor was expressing his dissatisfaction and reprimand in this cold manner. Unable to defend himself, he could only sigh deeply, realizing that the previous understanding and trust were gradually disappearing, and the distance between them, the emperor and his minister, was bound to grow ever wider.

However, Wang Pang was not yet willing to let Lü Huiqing off the hook after he had been exiled to Chenzhou. He conspired with Lü Jiawen and Lian Hengfu, another of Wang Anshi's students, to have Lü Jiawen and Lian Hengfu steal the case details of Deng Wan's impeachment of Lü Huiqing in the "Huating Case" and the emperor's edict to "imprison and investigate" from the Secretariat's Criminal Division. Then, under the guise of visiting his father in the Eastern Palace, Wang Pang would mix these documents into the documents issued by the Eastern Palace to the Criminal Division, hoping to create the illusion that the emperor had personally ordered an investigation, thus prompting the Criminal Division to severely punish Lü Huiqing. All of this was done without Wang Anshi's knowledge.

Unexpectedly, the clerk on duty at the court that day happened to be a former confidant of Lü Huiqing. Upon seeing this, he immediately sent someone to Chenzhou to inform Lü Huiqing of the matter. Upon hearing this, Lü Huiqing slammed his fist on the table and stood up in a rage, saying, "Wang Pang has gone too far! Don't blame me for being ruthless; I'll have to let you and your son down!"

So he rallied his spirits, ready to go all in, using his last remaining strong "evidence" as a weapon, determined to plunge Wang Anshi and his son into an abyss of no return.

Note: The title "New Interpretations of the Three Classics" was actually bestowed by Zhao Xu after the entire book was completed.

The Continued Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government records: (In June) on the day of Ji-You, Wang Anshi presented his work, "The Meaning of the Book of Poetry, the Book of Documents, and the Rites of Zhou." The Emperor said to Anshi, "Nowadays, people who discuss the classics all have different opinions. How can we unify morality? Your work on the interpretation of the classics should be promulgated so that scholars can unite as one." So it was promulgated to the educational officials and named "The New Meaning of the Three Classics".

For the sake of narrative convenience, I will refer to it as "New Interpretations of the Three Classics" from the beginning.

Mourning

Since the winter of the eighth year of the Xining era, Princess Shu's illness had become increasingly serious, and by the following spring, she was terminally ill and bedridden.

Whenever he had free time, Zhao Hao would visit the princess's residence, personally bringing her medicine and water and taking meticulous care of her. He also searched far and wide for renowned doctors and effective remedies to cure his sister's illness, but all his efforts were in vain. The princess's illness worsened day by day, and one day when Hao helped her sit up to drink her medicine, he discovered that she couldn't even open her mouth. She could only barely open her eyes and glance at Hao before fainting.

Hao was greatly alarmed. He immediately summoned the imperial physician and sent someone to the palace to inform Empress Dowager Gao and his brother, the emperor.

At that time, Emperor Xu was still discussing state affairs with his ministers in the Zichen Hall. Upon learning the news, Empress Dowager Gao immediately rushed to the princess's residence by carriage. She found the princess lying there in a daze, unconscious and without any awareness. The Empress Dowager hurriedly embraced her and called out the princess's childhood name. As she called out, tears welled up in her eyes. Seeing that the princess still did not respond, the Empress Dowager was both heartbroken and frightened, and she could not stop crying.

Hao hurriedly tried to comfort the Empress Dowager, but seeing his sister's weak and pitiful appearance, he himself was overcome with grief, his nose stung and his eyes welled up with tears, and his voice choked with emotion as he tried to persuade the Empress Dowager.

After a long while, the princess, who was still unconscious, finally heard her mother crying and gradually woke up. When she saw her mother guarding her side, two tears welled up in her eyes, but she still tried to smile and greet her mother. Then she said slowly and laboriously, "Your daughter is unfilial and I am afraid I will leave you first. Please forgive your daughter." She then turned to Hao and said, "Hao, from now on you will take good care of your mother and grandmother for me. I will take a break for the next few decades."

Hao shook his head with tears in his eyes and said, "No, I can't agree to that this time. I'm already taking care of my mother and grandmother with all my heart. Where can I find another heart to take care of them on your behalf? You must get better. No one can take your place."

"My dear daughter, why are you thinking so much now? The most important thing is to get well first," the Empress Dowager said, weeping.

The princess smiled sadly, "How can I get better when I'm this sick? If I say anything to comfort you, it would only be self-deception. I might as well say what I need to say now, so that I won't be too weak to speak later."

The Empress Dowager remained silent, only weeping more and more bitterly.

"Mother, Hao," the princess choked up, "I'm so reluctant to leave you all too!"

Hao covered her face with her sleeve and wiped away her tears, while the Empress Dowager hugged her daughter tightly, and the mother and daughter embraced and wept bitterly.

When Emperor Xu heard the news of the princess's critical illness after the meeting, he was extremely worried and hurriedly left the palace to visit her.

He hadn't seen his sister for many days, and now that he saw her, he felt heartbroken: the princess's face was as pale as paper, her breath was faint, her appearance was withered, her eyes were sunken and dull, and her once black and shiny hair had become dull, yellow and dry, completely losing her former beautiful and radiant appearance.

When the princess saw him arrive, she tried to sit up, but Xu quickly gestured for her not to be so polite and to lie down and rest. After briefly inquiring about her condition from the royal physician beside him, he asked her to extend her wrist so he could take her pulse himself.

Upon examination, I found her pulse to be disordered and weak, a sign that the illness was incurable. However, I couldn't say that out loud, so I forced a smile and comforted her, saying, "With careful treatment, this illness will get better."

The princess smiled faintly, thanked her, and did not reply.

Xu then asked Hao if she had eaten today. Hao replied that she couldn't even open her mouth when she drank the medicine, and she really couldn't eat any food.

Xu frowned and said, "How can this be? Even a healthy person can't stand not eating, let alone a sick person." He immediately ordered the servants to serve porridge, and then personally held the bowl and fed the princess spoonful by spoonful.

The princess was originally unable to eat anything at all, and even felt nauseous at the sight of food, but now that she saw her emperor brother taking such good care of her, she couldn't bear to disappoint him, so she tried her best to open her mouth and swallow the porridge spoonful by spoonful.

After Xu finished feeding her the porridge, the princess smiled faintly with relief and thanked him again. Xu felt a pang of sadness again, feeling sorry for his sister in such a state, and only hoped to find a way to make her as happy as possible. So he ordered that the princess be given six thousand taels of gold and silk.

The princess sighed softly, "Your Majesty need not bestow these material possessions upon me any further. My life is nearing its end; what use are they to me? It would be better to leave them in the national treasury for future use in strengthening the nation."

Xu then asked her, "Does your sister still have any wishes? Please tell me, and I will do my best to fulfill them."

“My greatest wish,” the princess replied, “is that Jinqing can return to the capital and not stay in those remote places anymore; he can’t get used to living there.”

Xu immediately nodded and said, "Good, this is easy. I will immediately issue an edict to send the prince consort back to the capital and reinstate him to his original position."

The princess's eyes lit up with joy, and she repeatedly thanked him for his kindness to her husband.

Emperor Xu immediately issued an edict summoning Wang Shen back to the capital, ordering him to depart immediately upon receiving the decree and travel day and night to return to Bianliang as quickly as possible. He secretly suspected that the princess's illness was related to Wang Shen's long-term neglect of her. In recent years, every time he saw the princess, he sensed a hidden melancholy in her eyes, and subsequent events confirmed his suspicions. He didn't think it was appropriate to easily reinstate Wang Shen, but the princess was currently ill, and this was her greatest wish, so he could only grant Wang Shen the favor to comfort her.

Suddenly, the princess seemed to remember something, and she grabbed Xu's hand, saying, "There's one more thing Your Majesty must promise me!"

The emperor hurriedly asked what was wrong. The princess said, "I fell ill because of my weak constitution, not because my husband did not take good care of me. If I am truly incurable... Your Majesty must promise me that you will not blame my husband... or anyone else."

Or someone else? Xu was a little puzzled, then he remembered the erotic toys found in the women's rooms.

Seeing his hesitation, the princess continued to plead. Xu finally nodded in agreement, but the princess was still worried and pressed him to confirm if his agreement was genuine, weeping as she said, "If someone instigates us in the future, I'm afraid the Emperor might even want to harm Jinqing!"

“No!” Xu hurriedly and solemnly told her, “I swear on the throne of the Song Dynasty that I will never pursue the crimes of the Prince Consort or anyone else and harm their lives.”

The princess was somewhat relieved and fell into a deep sleep under the comforting care of the Empress Dowager.

Emperor Xu and the Empress Dowager stayed by the princess's side until late at night before reluctantly leaving. They repeatedly instructed Hao, who remained at the princess's residence, to take care of her throughout the night and to immediately send someone to the palace to report any changes in her condition.

That night, Hao dared not leave the princess to sleep in another room. He remained in the small hall outside the princess's bedroom, sitting and guarding her. When he could no longer stay awake, he finally slumped over the table and took a nap, still dressed. At dawn, he suddenly heard the princess calling him from inside. He immediately woke up, got up, and went to see his sister.

"What do you need, sister?" he asked. He was worried that his sister was feeling unwell again, but upon closer inspection, he felt that she looked better than yesterday. Her face even had a rare rosy hue, her eyes were more bright, and she seemed to be in much better spirits.

"It's nothing, I just wanted to talk to you," the princess said with a smile. "What do you think of Pang Di?"

"Her?" Hao felt a slight flush rise to his face. "Why did you suddenly bring her up, sister?"

“It’s strange. Although she has been married into the royal family for many years, every time I see her, I feel that she is refreshing and pure, without any of the worldly dust that marriage has tainted her. She is still like an unmarried girl, so I can’t help but call her ‘girl’.” The princess said, “I like her very much. I think you like her very much too, right?”

Hao smiled helplessly and said, "Why do you say these things, sister? She is already married, so whether I like her or not is no longer relevant."

The princess sighed, "You two simply missed your chance. Actually, she was indeed more suitable for you than Wanji. To you, Wanji was like a perpetually aloof fairy, someone you always looked up to, afraid to approach for fear of offending her, silently waiting for her to take pity on you. Pang Di, however, was different. Her talent was no less than Wanji's, yet she lacked Wanji's aloofness. Wanji was like ice, while Pang Di was like warm jade. She was resilient and proactive, more compatible with you. You could look at each other as equals, and easily find a friendly and relaxed feeling together. Wanji was your first love, and you valued her too much, so much so that even years after her death, you couldn't let go and accept other women. But have you realized that simply because she was your first love, you inevitably viewed her as..." His love for her was so perfect that it became an unbearable infatuation. But I often wonder, did you truly love her, or the idealized image of a perfect woman you constructed in your mind? Did you love her as a person, or did you love your first love even more? She, your imagined perfect image, your first love, and all the loves in your life were all conflated, so when she died, you felt that all your love had gone with her. When Pang Di appeared and stirred your long-dormant feelings, you dared not face this reality. Fortunately, she was someone else's wife, allowing you to justify avoiding her and your feelings for her, only expressing genuine concern for her under the guise of friendship and a so-called sense of guilt. In truth, you loved her.

Hao was stunned and speechless. These were words he had never thought of before, or rather, had never thought clearly about. In particular, his sister's words, "You love her," shocked and shamed him, as if a deeply buried secret and private matter that he himself dared not look at had finally been dug up and exposed.

"She is someone you can walk hand in hand with and support each other through life." The princess continued, "Perhaps it's not too late now. If Prince Wang can change his ways and treat her well in the future, that will be fine. But if he continues to mistreat and neglect her... I think that Prime Minister Wang is a very enlightened person. Why don't you go and ask him for help..."

"Sister!" Hao interrupted her, guessing what she was about to say, and said, "How could I do such a thing?"

The princess smiled calmly and said, "Logically speaking, I shouldn't have said anything to persuade someone to break up their marriage. But I just don't want her to become a second me in the future."

Hao felt a pang of sadness and didn't know how to answer. The princess also fell silent, and the two remained so.

A gentle breeze suddenly blew in, affecting the curtains between the bedroom and the small hall, causing them to flutter slightly.

"Is Jinqing back?" The princess thought someone had come in, her eyes lit up, and she somehow managed to sit up on her own.

Hao quickly reached out to steady it. Looking back at the curtain, it had gradually smoothed out and returned to silence.

“Oh, it’s the wind,” the princess murmured. “I remember the first time I met Jinqing, I was sitting behind a curtain. The curtain was made of gauze, transparent, so I could see the person outside. That day, a breeze would occasionally blow in from outside the door, and the gauze curtain would flutter like that… no, much lighter… Jinqing was standing outside the gauze curtain, smiling at me…”

At that moment, a pure and joyful smile bloomed on her lips, her eyes filled with affection, as if she were seeing her beloved again and that scene from many years ago.

Hao held her shoulder, suppressing his sorrow as he comforted her, "It'll be soon, your brother-in-law will be back soon..."

However, he heard no reply from the princess. Hao stared intently at her and saw that her smile remained unchanged, her eyes still gazing tenderly beyond the curtain, her expression unchanging for a long time.

Hao was surprised and reached out to check her breathing, only to find that she had stopped breathing.

Note: Princess Shu actually died in the third year of Yuanfeng. At the time of her death, her official title was Princess Shu after her relocation.

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Punishment

When the news of Princess Shu's passing reached the palace, a wave of grief swept through the inner palace. The princess was gentle and virtuous by nature, always showing compassion to her clan and treating others with kindness. Not only her brothers, sisters, and elders, but even the concubines, maids, and eunuchs who had even a slight contact with her disliked and respected her. Therefore, it was not only her family members who were truly saddened and grieved to hear of her passing.

Empress Dowager Gao fainted several times from crying. Empress Dowager Cao, who was ill at the time, also forced herself to get up and rushed to Baoci Palace to embrace Empress Dowager Gao and weep together.

Seeing the two empress dowagers so heartbroken, Xu feared they would not be able to bear seeing the princess's remains again. Therefore, he tried his best to restrain his grief and comforted them with kind words, persuading them to stay in the palace for the time being, while he himself set off to see his sister one last time.

It was early morning, and the eunuchs had just prepared the morning meal. When Emperor Xu ordered the carriage to be prepared, the chief eunuch whispered, "Your Majesty is bound to be hungry and cold in the early morning. Why don't you have some food before you go?"

Xu angrily pointed at the food and said, "Take it away!" Then he strode out of the palace.

After traveling for a while without arriving, Xu, who was in the carriage, saw the gates of the princess's residence in the distance and could not help but burst into tears. He had not shown his grief in front of the two empress dowagers just now so as not to deepen their sorrow, but his heart was already breaking. Now he had no more scruples and even put aside his solemn and dignified identity as emperor. Recalling his sister's care and concern for him since childhood and the bits and pieces of their growing up together, he cried out like a big child.

Upon entering the princess's room, she saw that the maids had dressed her neatly, and she was lying quietly with light makeup on. There was a slight smile on her lips, and her complexion was just like when she was alive. She was overcome with sadness again and buried her face in her hands and wept. In the end, it was only when Hao, who was guarding her, came over with red and swollen eyes to comfort her that she was able to stop weeping.