In the early morning, as the rising sun appeared, today was the day of the Empress Dowager’s funeral. All the common folk of the Capital came out to watch the spectacle, every street, tea house, and restaurant was crowded with people.
"Dong dong dong...!"
The sound of the soul-guiding copper gong echoed. The originally whispering crowd of commoners quieted down, craning their necks to look down the street...
At the corner, first appeared a person striking the copper gong, and gradually a procession appeared. At the very front was a bright red coffin, the red was extremely dazzling, causing some children to shut their eyes in fear.
The funeral procession was no less than several thousand people, majestically heading towards the Imperial Mausoleum in the suburbs...
Behind the coffin was a long procession, filled with cries loud enough to shake the heavens. Those unaware would think it was the Princes mourning, but in reality, these were palace maids from the empress’s palace, temporarily offered by the Empress as burial accompaniments.
A sudden disaster had befallen them, and before they could react, they were already on their way. Filled with grief and anger, they couldn’t help but cry out loudly. It just so happened to be the Empress Dowager’s funeral, and no one stopped them, allowing them to wail as long as they didn’t speak carelessly.
Sure enough, the uninformed commoners whispered among themselves, saying the Princes were truly filial, crying so sorrowfully over the Empress Dowager’s death.
Xuexue and Long Rui were dressed in ordinary coarse cloth garments, mingling within the crowd.
The symbolic mask of Long Rui’s identity was missing from his face, revealing bronzed skin. His features were slightly disguised, appearing as just an ordinary farmer.
Meanwhile, Xuexue also donned the attire of a village girl, her pink skin unseen, now yellowish and unremarkable.
"Big Bull, didn’t we already release the palace maids who were to be buried alive? Why are there more? Could they have been captured again?" The commoners couldn’t see, but Xuexue comprehended clearly that those being escorted by the Imperial Guard Army were all burial accompaniments.
Long Rui shook his head, leaned in, and whispered, "No, they are the Empress’s people."
"What?"
At first, Xuexue didn’t understand, so Long Rui explained the cause and effect to her.
There were spies of the Emperor in the War Prince’s Mansion, and also his spies within the Imperial Palace. As the saying goes, ’in the enemy’s camp, there are my people, and among my people, there is the enemy.’
Xuexue was amused. Last night’s actions by her and Long Rui were quite unintentional, yet they managed to pull out even the Empress’s forces.
Xuexue smiled with crescent eyes, "Turns out, rescuing those palace maids wasn’t in vain."
Long Rui: "We must thank Noble Consort Wang for this. She was instrumental in stirring the waters."
Xuexue: "Thank her for what? She’s benefiting from it too. With the Empress’s downfall, the harem position is vacant, and she’s most likely to take it. Otherwise, do you think Noble Consort Wang would have easily taken on the Empress?"
Long Rui nodded and added, "Wife, let’s follow the funeral procession out of the city."
Xuexue nodded, "Alright!"
Today, they were leaving the city to visit a Hermit Expert. This person didn’t know martial arts but was exceedingly skilled in strategy. It was said that neighboring countries had once tried to recruit him as a Military Marshal, but this person had an eccentric temperament, uninterested in gold and silver treasures, and indifferent to beauties. He did things at his whimsy, unpredictable to the point that when pleased, he wouldn’t take even a wen money, helping you devise a strategy. When displeased, even when offered 10,000 taels of gold, he remained unmoved.
Such a capable figure, Long Rui had always wanted to bring him under his command, to serve him.
The neighboring country was once again becoming restless, and a hard battle was inevitably looming. By then, having a Think Tank to devise plans would make everything achieve twice the result with half the effort.
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