Hu Xiaotian had not expected Zong Tang to invite him and was secretly delighted. It seemed Zong Tang truly harbored no suspicions of him. Viewed from another angle, did this mean Zong Tang had already lost faith in Great Yong? If so, wouldn't that be a tremendous stroke of luck?
On the very day the new sovereign, Xue Daoming, granted his permission, Yuchi Chong arrived at Empress Dowager Jiang's tomb to observe mourning. Empress Dowager Jiang had been buried alongside the former Retired Emperor, Xue Shengkang's father. Master Craftsman Zong Yuan had originally designed the tomb, but the imperial mausoleum remained unfinished even when the Retired Emperor passed away. Later, Empress Dowager Jiang proposed numerous alterations in preparation for her own burial. The subsequent renovations continued intermittently for decades, and all the work was only completed a year before her death. Since Master Craftsman Zong Yuan had already died, the responsibility for laying Empress Dowager Jiang to rest in the tomb fell to his disciples. Zong Tang was only responsible for completing the exterior work and had never been able to enter the mausoleum's interior.
Hu Xiaotian remembered that, to prevent the secrets of their mausoleums from leaking out, emperors throughout history often disposed of the designers after construction was complete. Master Craftsman Zong Yuan had been fortunate to live out his natural lifespan. He and Zong Tang braved the biting wind to reach the imperial mausoleums thirty li beyond the Yong Capital's North Gate. The hills rose and fell here, people were scarce, and there were no villages nearby. After Zong Tang presented his passage token, they entered the mausoleum grounds without difficulty. Hu Xiaotian had previously visited Great Kang's imperial mausoleums and found that Great Yong's were considerably smaller in scale. This was connected to the frugal governance