Xie Qian knew about the condition of Empress Dowager Zhou in the morning. The Imperial Hospital has a detailed record of the disease. In severe cases, it was unconscious and breathed weakly, which made Zhu Youzhang worried. He mentioned it many times when he met three Grand Secretary of the Cabinet that it would be difficult for Xie Qian to care whether he was concerned.

But before the prince ran away from Jiangnan and Xie Qian left Beijing to find him, the famous doctors in the Imperial Hospital were treated properly, and Empress Dowager Zhou's health had gradually improved. She could go downstairs and thought it would be no problem to recover. When Xie Qian came back from Jiangnan, he had never heard of this, so he naturally forgot to clean up.

But now Jin Gui said this, Xie Qian suddenly realized that the matter might be related to Empress Dowager Zhou, otherwise the emperor would never have been able to suddenly withdraw... If it was a major military event, the emperor would definitely have discussed it while the officials of the court gathered, and at most he would summon officials from the Ministry of War and the Governor's Office of the Five Army to the palace. But now the emperor just left in a hurry and said nothing, and the possibility of an accident in the inner palace was even greater.

Xie Qian thought to himself: "As long as it doesn't matter to Chen Xi's child, the Empress Dowager Zhou is old and is over 70 years old. Even if he dies, it is due to fate. The death of ordinary people is already a joyful depressed person at this age! I guess His Majesty won't be too sad..."

Although Xie Qian maintained respect for the Empress Dowager Zhou on the surface, he might not think so in his heart. Empress Dowager Zhou has respected his status, but has been fading out of the government for a long time. What can truly threaten the stability of the court is the safety of the emperor, empress, and prince. The remaining royal members respect them mostly for the sake of the world and the face of the court.

...

...

When Zhu Youzhao arrived at Ciqing Palace, Empress Zhang and Zhu Houzhao had just arrived, and they came from both sides almost to the back.

Because it was involved in the funeral, Queen Zhang did not come with the little princess.

With Xiao Jing's support, Zhu Youzhang entered the Ciqing Palace hall, but saw the eunuchs, palace maids, and even the imperial physicians responsible for treating the Empress Dowager Zhou, kneeling down.

There was a choking sound of "woof" sound from the curtain. When the palace maid and eunuch kneeling outside heard it, they burst into tears. Even if they didn't cry out, they were wiping their tears... I don't know whether these people were sad for the death of the Empress Dowager Zhou, or because they felt afraid that they might be punished if they were not taken care of themselves.

Zhu Youting didn't talk too much nonsense, and went straight to the bedroom to check the situation of Empress Dowager Zhou. When he saw that his grandmother had no breath and her body gradually became cold, his face instantly turned gray. The Queen Mother, who was waiting in front of the bed, advised: "Your Majesty, don't be sad. Your grandmother is old, and you must know your destiny..."

Over the years, the Queen Mother of the King has always believed in Buddhism and has taken birth, old age, sickness and death very lightly.

The Empress Dowager himself had no son, and when he was the queen, he did not receive too much favor from Emperor Chenghua. Even though he was the lord of the harem, he was suppressed by Concubine Wan... The first empress of Emperor Xianzong, Wu, was deposed when he opposed Concubine Wan and died in the cold palace. The Empress Wang had a lesson in the past and did not dare to compete for favor with Concubine Wan, but she had the title of queen and lived a difficult life.

When Emperor Xianzong passed away, Empress Wang's only reliance in the palace was her nominal son, the current emperor Zhu Youzhang. However, Zhu Youzhang also had some concerns about his father's empress and concubines because of the death of his biological mother Ji. The Empress Dowager was a person who had no support in his life and could only rely on the Qinglantern Ancient Buddha to spend the rest of his life.

...

...

Xie Qian stayed in the main hall of the Ganqing Palace. He didn't want to discuss with others why the emperor left. No matter what others said, he would not respond, except that Jin Gui took the initiative to come and said a few words about the Empress Dowager Zhou.

Until the sunset, Xiao Jing came over quickly, with tears on his face and sobbing, "Sir, let's go back to the mansion first. The Empress Dowager passed away. God will not bless me to the Ming Dynasty... Woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo w

The many Hanlin officials present only understood what had happened at this time. Although everyone showed a sad look on their faces, in general, the news about Empress Dowager Zhou's Bintian did not cause much reaction. After all, Empress Dowager Zhou was old and the court officials were mentally prepared no matter what happened.

When Jin Gui heard the news, he couldn't help but look at Xie Qian, and was a little lustful, as if saying, "Gei Master Xie, do you think I'm right?"

At this time, Xie Qian's thoughts were not on Jin Gui. As the one with the highest status among the ministers present, he had to go to Ciqing Palace to express condolences and pay attention to the royal family's reaction.

In fact, what Xie Qian is more concerned about is the issue of the title of Empress Dowager Zhou.

The main reason is that, as the biological mother of Emperor Chenghua, the Empress Dowager Zhou did not come from the Empress Dowager. In the Ming Dynasty, only the Empress Dowager was qualified to be buried with the emperor. Otherwise, even if the mother became the Empress Dowager because of her son, there would be no precedent for her to be buried with the Empress Dowager.

This incident will inevitably affect Xiaozong's idea of ​​governing the country with kindness and filial piety. Xie Qian thought carefully and immediately went over to ask Xiao Jing, the eunuch in charge of the seal.

Xiao Jing cried and said, "Gei Xie, please ask Your Majesty personally. How can our family know about these things? Besides, it's important to do so, and our family dare not care..."

At any time, Xiao Jing likes to protect himself and will not take the initiative to take responsibility. Even if he becomes the eunuch in charge of the seal, he is in power, but he still likes to be a fence-bearer. Even if the emperor reminds him many times that he can be more arrogant and domineering, Xiao Jing is not strong at all.

Of course, this is mainly because the cabinet ministers of the Hongzhi Dynasty were all very capable and prestige. Xiao Jing knew that he could not compete with the cabinet ministers for his position in the emperor's mind, so he simply became a person who was loyal and did not offend the old eunuch. What he wanted was not that he was powerful in the court, but that he could beg for the old man to return to the land with good beginning and end.

Xie Qian frowned when he heard Xiao Jing's words. He didn't want to like to listen to such ambiguous words, but he has heard a lot of these words recently because others always treat him perfunctorily, such as cabinets, court officials, and local officials. Even old friends Liu Daxia and others like to play puzzles with him.

Xie Qian said in his heart: "If you don't want to say it, I will still be able to do it. At worst, I will put the matter in the cabinet, and I will ignore it!"

Emperor Hongzhi's compromise with Liu Jian and Li Dongyang, and the two became more and more stubborn in the court, Xie Qian, who was capable and loyal to the court, became discouraged and stopped working hard.

...

...

When a group of Hanyuan ministers learned that the Empress Dowager Zhou had died, they left the Ganqing Palace one after another. Most of them went out of the palace, either going to the Daming Gate or taking a shortcut to the Donghua Gate.

Xie Qian did not go home or went to his other courtyard on Chang'an Street, but went directly to Wenyuan Pavilion. He wanted to find out the issue of giving the Empress Dowager Zhou a posthumous title. As a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, he had to worry about this matter because the emperor's grandmother died this time, and he had a blood relationship.

Zhu Youzhang has always been a filial son. After becoming emperor, he can be said to be kind and righteous to the people around him. Even if his mother-in-law dies, he will be handled according to the national mourning standards, not to mention that the one who dies now is his own grandmother.

Xie Qian originally thought that Liu Jian was not here, but when he entered the backyard of Wenyuan Pavilion, he found that Liu Jian and Li Dongyang had a good chat. It seemed that they had been discussing the matter for a while.

Liu Jian, who was sitting opposite the door of the office, saw Xie Qian's figure, immediately closed his mouth, gave Li Dongyang a wink, and then asked with a smile: "Why did Yu Qiao come?"

A bitter smile appeared on Xie Qian's lips that was not easy to detect, and he thought to himself: "As a Grand Secretary, is it wrong to come to the cabinet?"

Since others are hostile to him, he will not respond with a good face. Xie Qian said coldly: "Empress Dowager Zhou passed away, Your Majesty will probably call us to discuss, but just come and wait..."

Li Dongyang said: "You Qiao don't have to worry. The funeral of the Empress Dowager should be held in a hurry. The funeral should be presided over by Neiwei. We need to make suggestions on the matter of additional seals. It is not too late to discuss it when the court meeting tomorrow!"

Xie Qian narrowed his eyes and looked at Li Dongyang, not knowing why the other party was so sure that the next day's court meeting would be held smoothly. In Xie Qian's opinion, with the death of Empress Dowager Zhou, Emperor Hongzhi should not be involved in the government affairs in a short period of time. In addition, mourning will never be just a matter of the inner palace. After all, Zhu Youzhang will try his best to get his grandmother and his grandfather to be buried together.

As a filial son and filial grandson, Zhu Youzhang cannot do this, especially when setting an example for his son. If his son makes trouble in the future and does not allow his mother to be buried with him after his mother dies of illness, it will be a big trouble.

Xie Qian asked, "I really don't have to stay in Hanyuan?"

Li Dongyang was about to reply on behalf of Liu Jian, but Liu Jian suddenly stood up, his tone seemed a little gloomy: "I am old and exhausted, so I can't wait here. Binzhi, please stay with Yu Qiao. I will go back and rest first, and come back after night..."

This is nothing wrong with this. After all, Liu Jian is old and needs more rest. But Xie Qian looked at the sky outside and smiled even more bitterly... It's already dark. What does it mean to come back after nightfall? Should I wait for it to dark tomorrow? Or did I say the wrong thing to wait for it to come back tomorrow?

Liu Jian was about to leave, but Xie Qian could not stop him, so he stood up and saw him off.

Liu Jian did not show any big boycott of Xie Qian, and even stopped and explained carefully to Xie Qian, asking him to stay and stay with Li Dongyang to watch the night.

Xie Qian said in his heart: "It was just a hard work to think of me. Today's cabinet watch is a hard work. Maybe when will His Majesty start to make a list of people who are mourning. If the imperial tomb is opened to order the Empress Dowager Zhou and Emperor Yingzong to bury it together, it would be a waste of money!"
Chapter completed!