Now the palace has turned into a sea of white, all the red is covered by white cloth, the maids and eunuchs all wear mourning clothes, and the Qianqing Palace has been dressed up as a white palace.
At this time, the emperor was kneeling next to the body of the Supreme Emperor, and as a filial son, he was keeping vigil at the Supreme Emperor's funeral.
The empress dowager next to her has cried unconsciously several times. Now she sees that her last supporter has fallen, and she has not left any protection for herself. He knows the hatred between her and the emperor, and he may not be able to do so this time. What a happy ending.
Next to the emperor, there were two beauties, one was the emperor's original wife and now the queen, and the other was the virtuous concubine Jia Yuanchun.
These two people had no relationship with the Supreme Emperor, but in order to show their filial piety, they still cried out with all their strength in tears.
The emperor was expressionless and kneeling there with a dazed look on his face. He didn't know whether he was lamenting the death of the Supreme Emperor, or thinking that he would become a puppet from now on and feel sad for the rest of his life.
At this moment, Xia Shouzhong came in from outside the palace and quietly came to the emperor's side, "Long live my lord, Jia Ke has arrived at the palace gate and asked the emperor whether he is allowed to come in to pay homage to the emperor."
When the emperor heard this, a cold light flashed in his eyes. All this happened to him was caused by Jia Ke. Now the emperor wanted to eat Jia Ke, but when he thought of the soldiers outside the palace gate, he immediately lost his temper.
The emperor took a deep breath, and then said: "Since Duke Yan has come back, and he has a close relationship with his father, let's invite him in quickly. And this time Duke Yan must have rushed back quickly. Go and greet him on my behalf."
Xia Shouzhong got the emperor's letter and quietly exited the main hall of Qianqing Palace. Then he quickly walked out of the palace gate with a few young eunuchs.
Not long after Jia Ke waited at the palace gate, he saw the palace door opened wide and Xia Shouzhong walked out.
The moment Xia Shouzhong opened the palace door, he saw Jia Ke's tall horse waiting at the palace gate.
Xia Shouzhong didn't dare to neglect. He quickly walked up to Jia Ke, knelt down on one knee and saluted him: "My servant Xia Shouzhong has come to pay tribute to Duke Yan."
Jia Ke sat on the horse and did not get off. He just nodded and said, "Where does the Supreme Emperor rest now?"
Xia Shouzhong knelt there and said in fear: "When I return to the Duke of Yan, according to the past rules, the Supreme Emperor is laying mortem in Qianqing Palace."
"Then you lead the way, and I'll go see the Emperor off on his last journey."
After Xia Shouzhong heard this, he stood up and led the way. Jia Ke did not dismount. Liu Yu, the captain of the soldiers, led the horse and followed Xia Shouzhong. The thousands of soldiers and horses behind Jia Ke did not stop advancing, but He followed Jia Ke into the palace.
Xia Shouzhong looked at Jia Ke like this. Although he was a little dissatisfied, when he saw the thousands of people behind Jia Ke, he immediately shut up and silently led the way for Jia Ke.
Jia Ke just rode his horse and led thousands of people straight into the palace and arrived at the square in front of Qianqing Palace.
At this time, people were coming and going in the square, and suddenly they saw so many troops coming in. They were all frightened and hid aside in panic.
Jia Ke's army began to form in the Qianqing Palace Square. After finishing, the deputy general who led the army came to Jia Ke and knelt on the ground.
"Commander-in-Chief, the entire army has been reorganized. Please give orders, Commander-in-Chief."
After Jia Ke heard this, he said: "Send an order to seal off the Qianqing Palace and search the inside and outside of the Qianqing Palace. No one is allowed to come in or out without my order."
After listening to Jia Ke's order, the deputy general immediately led his people there, and soon he surrounded the Qianqing Palace. Then he and his people broke into the Qianqing Palace and began to search everywhere, fearing that there was someone inside. What an ambush.
The reason why Jia Ke did this was because he was frightened by the emperor. He was afraid that he would arrange an ambush in the Qianqing Palace, and finally gave himself a blow in front of the emperor's soul, so he was so cautious.
Not long after, the deputy general came out of Qianqing Palace.
"Commander Qi, the general inside and outside Qianqing Palace has checked it out, and there is no ambush."
At this moment, Jia Ke turned over and dismounted. As soon as Jia Ke dismounted, he saw a person running up beside him. The soldier beside Jia Ke immediately pulled out his sword and stopped the man.
Jia Ke took a closer look and saw that it was Dai Quan, the eunuch who was a close confidant of the Supreme Emperor.
It was Jia Ke who waved to the soldiers around him and asked Dai Quan to come to his side.
As soon as Dai Quan arrived at Jia Ke's side, he immediately knelt down and said, "Dai Quan, my servant, kowtows to Duke Yan."
Jia Ke looked at the eunuch in front of him and smiled. The man he had to look up to a few years ago was now kneeling at his feet.
"Eunuch Dai, there's no need to be more polite."
After hearing what Jia Ke said, Dai Quan dared to stand up, and then stood carefully next to Jia Ke and said: "My lord, the virtuous concubine is in Qianqing Palace, guarding the mourning of the Supreme Emperor together with the emperor and the empress."
When Jia Ke heard this, he was a little puzzled. Logically speaking, although Concubine Xiande was a noble concubine, she was one level worse than the empress. How could she be at the emperor's side and watch the emperor's funeral together with the empress.
Dai Quan saw Jia Ke's doubts and said cautiously: "Before the death of the Supreme Emperor, he made a decree to depose the current queen and make the virtuous concubine the queen. The Emperor has already agreed, but the Supreme Emperor passed away too suddenly. We haven’t had time to issue an order yet.”
Jia Ke immediately understood what the Supreme Emperor meant. He wanted to use Jia Yuanchun to tie him up. If so, he had made the wrong calculation.
However, Jia Ke felt that before he became emperor, he should put this idea away for the time being.
Jia Ke was looking at Dai Quan who was constantly flattering him. He was looking for a home for himself after the death of the Supreme Emperor. He didn't need a eunuch yet, and even if he did, he wouldn't want someone like Dai Quan, but look Since I still need some manpower in the palace, I can just place him next to Jia Yuanchun. With Dai Quan's power, I don't think there will be any danger in bringing Jia Yuanchun, and it will also be very beneficial to Jia Yuanchun.
After thinking about this, Jia Ke asked Dai Quan, "The Emperor has passed away. Where will you work as an errand in the future?"
After listening to Jia Ke's questions, Dai Quan's face was full of sadness. He was not sad for the death of the Supreme Emperor, but sad for his future destination.
"If you return to your country, I am afraid that your slaves will either go to the Emperor's mausoleum to guard the mausoleum, or go to Yanfu Temple (when eunuchs grow old and have no one to support them, they usually become monks in Yanfu Temple) to take care of themselves." Dai Quan said here. I also felt desolate about the rest of my life.
Jia Ke smiled and said, "It hasn't come to this, but let's have a friendship after all. If you don't mind it, you can become the general manager of Concubine Xiande in the future."
Dai Quan immediately beamed after hearing what Jia Ke said. The virtuous concubine Jia Yuanchun will be named queen as soon as the mourning period of the Supreme Emperor is over. In addition, there is a powerful official like Jia Ke outside. In addition to the emperor, Jia Yuanchun is probably the only one in the palace. If he could become the steward around her, the eunuch's status in the palace would not be reduced much.
So Dai Quan quickly knelt down again and kept kowtowing to Jia Ke, "I would like to thank you, the Duke. I will serve my master wholeheartedly in the future and never let the Duke worry about justice."
Jia Ke nodded, and then said: "In that case, just go in with me and kowtow to the Supreme Emperor."
However, Jia Ke thought that the emperor would not be able to depose the queen so easily. After all, after many years of love, and the emperor was not a ruthless person, the final matter of making Jia Yuanchun the queen would probably go unsolved, but Jia Yuanchun is still The power in the palace will be strengthened.
As soon as Jia Ke finished speaking, Dai Quan came over to hold Jia Ke's arm like a dog, as if he was so weak and needed help, and followed Jia Ke cautiously towards the Qianqing Palace.
"You keep an eye on things in the palace. I think our emperor is also stubborn. I don't think it's that easy for our virtuous concubine to become the queen."
Although Jia Ke didn't say anything, it was already a very obvious hint.
Dai Quan is such a smart person. As soon as he heard what Jia Ke said, he already understood what Jia Ke meant. This is to say that if the emperor does not have Xia Zhi behind him, Dai Quan will help the emperor deal with the queen. , so that their virtuous concubine can ascend to the throne.
After Dai Quan thought about it, he quickly said flatteringly: "It seems to me, the Queen's health is not good, and she might pass away someday. Our virtuous concubine is blessed with great fortune, and she will be the Queen in a short time." .”
After listening to Dai Quan's words, Jia Ke smiled slightly and said nothing more, keeping everything in silence.
At this time, Xia Shouzhong, who had been waiting at the gate of Qianqing Palace for a long time, couldn't help curling his lips when he saw Dai Quan holding Jia Ke's arm in. He thought to himself that Dai Quan really knew how to look for opportunities. As soon as the Supreme Emperor was gone, he looked for him again. I met the next family. At the same time, I became more vigilant in my heart. This Dai Quan is indeed not that easy to deal with. It seems that I will have to fight with him in the future.
When Jia Ke arrived at the gate of Qianqing Palace, thousands of people had already surrounded Qianqing Palace, and dozens of soldiers followed Jia Ke into the main hall of Qianqing Palace.
Jia Ke entered the main hall and saw that the Emperor's Zi Palace had been arranged. However, it was still empty.
Jia Ke didn't understand these rules. He glanced at Dai Quan next to him, asking what was going on?
Dai Quan quickly explained to Jia Ke: "My lord, according to the rules, the Emperor will not bathe, change clothes, put on longevity clothes and enter the Zi Palace until the third day."
Jia Ke nodded and said, "Then where is the Supreme Emperor parked now?"
"For the sake of your Majesty, the Supreme Emperor is currently staying in the palace of Qianqing Palace."
After Jia Ke heard this, he said: "Lead the way, I'll see the Emperor off."
Dai Quan immediately supported Jia Ke and headed towards the palace of Qianqing Palace.
Along the way, I met many palace maids and eunuchs, and they were all shocked by Jia Ke's pomp and circumstance. He was no different from the emperor in the palace.