CHAPTER 686: CHAPTER 686: PASSING AWAY

Shih Jieyu passed away in the middle of the night.

When Zhaoer discovered it the next morning, the body was already cold.

Her hands, like withered branches, were folded over her chest, and her pale face still bore a slight smile.

She looked as if she were asleep, peaceful and serene.

"My lady!" Zhaoer cried, her heart breaking.

Her voice drew the attention of the other Palace Attendants.

They all rushed over, and upon seeing the scene inside the bed curtains, they froze.

A moment later, one by one, they fell to their knees and wept bitterly.

"My lady!"

Regardless of whether their feelings were genuine or feigned, the Emperor had visited just the day before. The arrangements following her death were bound to be grand, and they, as servants, would naturally share in the prestige. They might even receive a generous reward, so crying vigorously was the right thing to do.

News of Shih Jieyu’s death quickly spread throughout the Harem.

Zhao Junyao also received the news. Though he felt no affection, he did feel guilt.

He waved his hand decisively. "Li Shengan, command the Ministry of Rites to draft the decree! Confer posthumously upon Shih Jieyu the title of Consort, to be buried with the rites due to the Third Rank!"

"Yes! Your servant obeys the decree!" Li Shengan hurriedly left.

Two Shi Chen later, the Ministry of Rites had prepared the decree.

Li Shengan went with Palace Attendants to Lijing Pavilion to proclaim it.

The imperial decree was lengthy and filled with florid language. Terms like ’gentle and virtuous,’ ’intelligent, filial, and respectful,’ and ’dignified and graceful’ were all lavish praises for Shih Jieyu.

After the decree had been read, there were also a large number of rewards from the Emperor.

Led by Senior Palace Maid Zhaoer, the Palace Attendants were moved to tears, repeatedly kowtowing in gratitude.

Li Shengan sighed. Without another word and bowing to Shih Jieyu’s coffin, he too left.

With the Emperor’s stance clear, everyone in the Harem began to take action. According to their ranks, they sent appropriate gifts in succession. The Honored Ladies of lower rank also went to kneel before the coffin and mourn, but no one complained.

A deceased person, especially one who had died for the Emperor and received posthumous honor, hardly aroused envy. Besides, Shih Jieyu hadn’t really made any enemies.

The funeral was organized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and carried out in an orderly manner.

The Empress Dowager’s Ningshou Palace also received the news.

The next day, the Empress Dowager went to Lijing Pavilion in person, accompanied by Sister Qing.

As soon as she entered, the Empress Dowager began to shed tears. "Wanying, my poor child, it is I who have wronged you! For an elder like me to mourn one so young... my heart..."

Leaning on the coffin, the Empress Dowager cried as if her heart would break.

It took Sister Qing and the others a good while to console her. "Empress Dowager, if you grieve so, Shih Jieyu will not rest easy! No, I mean Consort Shih Pin; she is a Consort now!"

The Empress Dowager, wiping her tears with a handkerchief, said feebly and sorrowfully, "It is I who have failed her! I didn’t even let her see Yijing before she died. Go, have someone bring her here! After all, Wanying is her birth mother. If she doesn’t see her now, she never will!"

The Empress Dowager’s display of grief over losing a descendant touched most of those present. Those unaware might truly believe she deeply mourned Consort Shih Pin.

’The Empress Dowager is truly compassionate!’

’Yes, at such an advanced age, she still came to offer condolences—it seems she truly laments Consort Shih Pin’s passing!’

Such remarks spread among the servants, and the benevolent and kind image of the Empress Dowager was once again reinforced.

However, Sister Qing felt that something was amiss. "Empress Dowager, the Third Princess is not yet two years old. Such a place might frighten her!"

The Empress Dowager’s face was expressionless. "How would it scare her? Wanying is her own mother; it’s not as if she would harm the child, is it? Go on!"

Sister Qing had no choice but to suppress her unease and send someone.

It wasn’t long before the Third Princess was brought over. The Empress Dowager ordered someone to have her kowtow before the spirit tablet and offer incense to her mother, under the noble pretext of ’teaching her filial piety from a young age!’

After all these proceedings, the Empress Dowager left contentedly.

The Honored Ladies of lower rank not only had to send gifts but also had to mourn at the coffin. Those ranked higher than Consort Shih Pin, however, were not required to do so and could simply remain quietly in their own palaces.

Although the funeral rites for a Pin-rank consort were not overly grand, properly observing them still took ten to twenty days.

So, by the time Consort Shih Pin’s funeral was over, the twelfth lunar month was almost upon them.

Several heavy snowfalls came, washing over everything in the palace. The rooftops, branches, eaves, and the ground—as far as the eye could see—were all covered in shimmering white snow.

And then, with the Empress’s departure and Consort Shih Pin’s passing, the Harem became especially quiet.

None dared to guess whether the Emperor was in good spirits. But at this time, anyone who dared to stir up trouble was sure to meet a bad end, so everyone behaved themselves.

Actually, Zhao Junyao was in quite a good mood.

Fan You had confessed all his evil deeds over the years at the Ministry of Justice. Of course, Zhao Junyao would not let him go. After reading the confession submitted by the Ministry of Justice, Zhao Junyao issued a decree directly.

"Fan You is sentenced to death by immediate beheading! The rest of his male and female relatives shall be exiled to the bitterly cold regions beyond the Great Wall, never to enter the capital again. Their descendants, for three generations spanning nine degrees of kinship, shall not participate in the imperial examinations. Those already holding office shall be dismissed and must find their own means of survival."

The imperial edict was sent out that very day.

Xia Tingfeng, who had already been acquitted and released, was tasked with sealing off the Fan Residence. Together with Commander Xu, leading five hundred soldiers of the Imperial Forest Army, they went directly from the palace to the Fan Residence. In a short moment, they had surrounded the Fan Residence completely.

The men and women of the Fan Family were greatly panicked. Unfortunately, it was too late. Besides, even if they could escape, they couldn’t summon any aid! Who would dare to resist the Emperor’s decree? If the ruler orders a subject to die, the subject must die!

So, Fan You was beheaded on a snowy afternoon.

Lady Fan could not withstand the shock and also committed suicide by slitting her throat.

The eldest son of the Fan Family, Fan Changning, had never been very capable. Facing the successive deaths of his parents and an uncertain future, he fell into deep anxiety, became ill, and died a few days later.

The eldest daughter-in-law of the Fan Family still had a glimmer of the will to survive. Women may be weak, but a mother’s resolve is strong. She had two small children. If she died, what would become of them? Thus, she held on. She thought that even exile to the bitterly cold lands might not mean death. Perhaps she could survive. So, she endured in prison.

She made it through the ordeal of prison but ultimately died of a sudden illness on the way to the place of exile. Her two children also died from abuse, starvation, and the harsh cold.

The Fan Family’s fate was, as the classic saying describes, ’a vast expanse of white, the earth left truly clean.’

Meanwhile, the Empress, praying at Wanyue Nunnery, was completely oblivious. She prayed earnestly every day for Buddha to bless her with a son soon, to make her position as Empress even more secure. She had no idea such a tragedy had befallen her family. If she knew, would she still have the heart to pray for these things?

Of course, Zhao Junyao would never let her find out.

The palace was as stable as ever. The Ministers in the imperial court also became much more obedient. With such a bloody example before them, any further disobedience would be tantamount to suicide.

Sitting on the high throne, watching all the Ministers below too frightened to even breathe loudly, Zhao Junyao felt he was quite cruel.

In fact, what fault did those women and children have? But they had to die!

This had nothing to do with mercy or kindness. As the wielder of supreme power in the world, Zhao Junyao couldn’t save everyone. To ’kill the chicken to scare the monkey,’ someone had to be that unlucky ’chicken.’