The Female Psychology PhD Who Time Traveled to the Royal Harem-Chapter 502
The day Consort Liang passed away was supposed to be the coldest time of the year.
In previous years, the capital city would already be blanketed in snow, freezing people's hands and making them reluctant to come out.
However, on this particular day, the sun shone brightly, and the sky wascloudless—it seemed even the heavens knew that Consort Liang feared the cold and did not want her final journey on Earth to be marred by harsh weather.
All the masters and servants in the palace, as well as the ministers and the wives and daughters of noble families attending the funeral ceremony, were clad in white, which complemented the white snow covering the entire courtyard.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince leads Third Prince, Fourth Prince, Fifth Prince, and Seventh Prince to offer incense to Noble Consort Chunyi."
After her death, Consort Liang was posthumously honored as Noble Consort Chunyi, a recognition from the emperor.
Third Prince Shen Mingxuan was already twenty-one years old. If not for Consort Liang's passing, he would still be in the Ancestral Temple, observing abstinence and praying.
Due to years of chanting and burning incense, he had a faint aroma of sandalwood, and his demeanor was gentle and calm. His skin, having been rarely exposed to sunlight for many years, and his handsome features always conveyed an image of a compassionate Bodhisattva.
However, his looks resembled those of Consort De, blended with a touch of the emperor's frigidness, making him appear...
Like the innocent yet enigmatic little monk beneath the Buddha in the Hall of Eternal Longevity.
His appearance was not instantly striking, but it was very pleasing to the eye. One couldn't help but feel that any ill intentions towards him would be a desecration of the Buddha.
After the Crown Prince paid his respects, the princes followed in order of age.
Third Prince took the incense handed to him by Xiaoyue and inserted it into the bronze censer, kneeling and bowing three times. His face remained emotionless, and he stood behind the Crown Prince.
Fourth Prince Shen Mingman, who was nineteen years old, had sharp eyebrows and shining eyes, making him the most handsome and formidable of all the princes, most resembling the emperor.
He glanced at Third Prince before quickly inserting the incense into the vessel and stood beside him.
He had many things he wanted to say to his third brother, but this was not the place, so he suppressed his emotions and took a few deep breaths.
Noble Consort Chunyi had been very kind to all of them, and her departure was genuinely painful for Fourth Prince.
His Grandpa had also passed away two years ago, and he buried him in a picturesque place.
Knowing this, Chief Eunuch Wang Dequan also said that when his time came, he wanted to be buried beside Grandpa. They would be reborn as brothers in their next life, and instead of entering the palace and being castrated, they would want a family with many children and grandchildren.
Fifth Prince was brought back from the Eastern Imperial Mausoleum after celebrating his eighth birthday.
He was the frailest of all the princes, sixteen years old, not very tall, but strikingly different from Third Prince in terms of demeanor—he exuded a fierce and intimidating aura.
With thick eyebrows and big eyes, jet-black hair, and attire, anyone who saw him felt the urge to keep their distance, close to by his cold gaze a fatal wrath.
He had no emotional connection with Noble Consort Chunyi, as he had been sent to the imperial mausoleum when he was only two or three years old. When he returned, he disliked getting close to anyone.
Because his Aunt Yunyun had told him that the palace was full of traps and schemes. If he wanted to stay safe and survive in the palace until his marriage, when he would be granted a principality and leave the capital, he needed to distance himself from others.
Seventh Prince, the youngest among the princes, was fourteen years old. He was the most handsome of them all, inheriting the best features from both his father and mother. He had rosy lips, white teeth, and an alluring and striking beauty.
The wind blowing at the door stirred his exquisitely expensive cape, and the unmarried daughters of the ministers present held their breath.
They felt that the Seventh Prince had become a living painting.
His beauty was a sinful allure that seemed out of place in the solemn funeral.
"Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess leads Second Princess and Third Princess to offer incense to Noble Consort Chunyi."
After the princes paid their respects, it was the princesses' turn.
The Eldest Princess's tears had dried up over the past few days, but hearing the faint sobs around her, she couldn't hold back and threw herself onto the coffin of Noble Consort Chunyi, wailing bitterly.
From now on, she would no longer have a mother.
Second Princess and Third Princess were startled and quickly went to console her: "Sister... Sister, please take care of your health!"
Usually restrained and dignified, the Eldest Princess's emotions collapsed. She struggled out of Second Princess's grasp and, with reluctance, reached out to touch Noble Consort Chunyi's face, but she feared disturbing the makeup and didn't truly touch it.
She tried to widen her eyes to look at Noble Consort Chunyi's abdomen: "Ming Zhu, Minglan, look... look, is Mother's stomach still moving? It's still moving... she's not dead, she's just asleep, isn't she?"
Second Princess knew that she was so deeply grief-stricken that she was unwilling to accept reality and had begun to hallucinate.
But Third Princess didn't think so; she leaned over the coffin, her gem-like eyes wide open, carefully examining Noble Consort Chunyi's abdomen.
It wasn't moving... it really wasn't moving...
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She broke down in tears, realizing that Aunt Consort Liang was truly gone.
"Waaaahhh..."
Her cries reached the Eldest Princess's ears, who quickly hugged her: "Why are you crying so bitterly?"
Third Princess wailed uncontrollably: "Waaaahhh... Eldest Sister, waaaahhh... I miss... I miss Aunt Consort Liang, waaaahhh..."
The Eldest Princess and Third Princess hugged each other and wept, and Second Princess, unable to hold back any longer, joined in the torrent of tears.
Influenced by the emotions of the three princesses, everyone present began to cry.
The emperor, seated at the head, bore red eyes, proving that even if he didn't love Consort Liang, he had a sense of kinship for her.
After seven days of mourning, Consort Liang's remains were taken to the Eastern Imperial Mausoleum for burial. Only then did the princes have the opportunity to gather and talk.
Fourth Prince organized a gathering at the Star-Gazing Tower, inviting all his siblings.
The Eldest Princess and Second Princess had not yet left the palace, all to see Third Prince once more.
"You've grown so tall," Second Princess said, touching Third Prince's head. "You heartless one, you never came out to see us all these years. If we met somewhere, your sister wouldn't even recognize you."
Third Prince's eyes welled up with tears: "Sister... I heard you got married and had two little nephews. That's wonderful... Sister, I'm really happy for you."
"Third Brother, you won't go back to the Ancestral Temple this time, right?" Fourth Prince asked, and everyone's eyes turned to Third Prince.
"Yes," the young man smiled warmly. "Father said that next spring, the spirit tablets of the late Empress and two older brothers will be moved to the Imperial Mausoleum for enshrining, and he told me not to go back."
There would be no more ancestral tablets for him to venerate/worship/offer sacrifices to.
"That's great!" The most excited were the Crown Prince and Fourth Prince: "Third Brother, there will be a Spring Banquet next spring. I'll have Mother find you a suitable princess."
This way, the emperor wouldn't constantly worry about him and secretly plan for him to marry and ascend the throne early.
Good heavens, he hadn't even found a suitable Crown Princess yet!
Mother had said that when it comes to women, it's better to be without than to settle for less. He couldn't just pick any random one, or else both of them would be unhappy, and that would be terrible!
