The empress dowager's change of character

"Lord Dongfang!"

"It's just a little water; you can touch it if you want!"

Wei Qing followed Zhang Xuezhou into the palace, walking almost in silence along the way.

But on his way to Anle Palace, Wei Qing saw Zhang Xuezhou approach a water vat, then look around before sweeping his sleeve into the vat.

The Taiping vat was a water container in the palace, suitable for drawing water nearby. It could be used for washing, irrigation, and was also an essential device for preventing fires.

These vats are enormous and are always filled with water; even wiping your sleeve on the vat will soak it.

Wei Qing, puzzled, also looked to the left and right, then quickly flicked his sleeves and pulled them back, before hurrying to catch up with Zhang Xuezhou.

"The dew on the leek, how easily it dries! The dew dries and falls again tomorrow morning; a person dies and is gone, when will they return?"

As I hurried along the palace, I came into view a large number of officials, both high and low, dressed in black mourning clothes. Some stopped in awe, some knelt down in worship, and some chanted funeral verses.

Wei Qing saw Zhang Xuezhou raise his wet sleeves with practiced ease, and then chant funeral verses in unison. This finally made Wei Qing understand why Zhang Xuezhou had wet his sleeves.

He steeled himself, raised his sleeves, and then joined in singing the funeral dirge.

These mourning verses are nothing new; they're just a few lines repeated over and over, and they're very easy to sing.

From an ordinary person's perspective, these mournful cries are similar to "Oh my god, dear mother!"

Wei Qing sang a few lines and got used to it. When Zhang Xuezhou turned around and glanced at him, he heard the sound of funeral chants getting louder.

"Your voice is too deep!"

Zhang Xuezhou gestured and his lips moved as if to convey his thoughts, but then he gave up trying to persuade him.

"Sing it however you want, everyone's singing along to your funeral songs!"

Zhang Xuezhou blended seamlessly into the group of officials while singing funeral songs, but Wei Qing's performance was more challenging.

Firstly, Wei Qing's wailing was loud, and secondly, Wei Qing was the Grand Master of Ceremonies who led the rituals.

Upon seeing Wei Qing sing funeral hymns, many officials, both high and low, had no choice but to follow suit, lest they make a mistake during the funeral rites.

Everyone knew that the era of the Empress Dowager had come to an end.

The turnover rate of personnel in the imperial court has been very fast in recent years. Even the top officials, such as the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, have not been able to escape appointment and dismissal. Many people have lost their lives in such changes, and some have even had their entire families exterminated when they were caught in internal power struggles.

In the current court, those in power are almost all from the Anle Palace faction, so it's no wonder that many people are filled with anxiety.

Anyone who makes a mistake in full view of the public will inevitably become a target of punishment.

Officials' salaries, when converted into monetary value, are limited, but their privileges are immense, and what they possess is beyond the reach of ordinary people. No one thinks about stepping down from their established position; instead, they only think about how to choose sides to avoid being purged.

At this moment, almost everyone is trying to avoid making mistakes, and no one wants to be the first to step forward.

"I practiced a vocalization and exhalation technique; when I vocalize..."

"The dew will fall again tomorrow, and I have practiced a technique... that brings death..."

Wei Qing was about to cover his face and explain, but as a martial artist, he was not as flexible and convenient as Zhang Xuezhou in using Technique Method. Before he could finish explaining in a low voice, Wei Qing heard the official next to him who was reciting the funeral dirge also repeat the same mistake.

"Don't panic, keep your eyes wide open and look at them!"

When Zhang Xuezhou's voice came, Wei Qing's wildly beating heart finally calmed down.

He glared at the officials who had followed him in chanting the funeral dirge incorrectly, which immediately startled the four men, forcing them to raise their voices even louder.

For a time, the sound of mourning chants outside Anle Palace rose and fell like waves, growing louder and louder.

Outside the main hall of the Anle Palace, which could accommodate thousands of people, were officials. The voices of thousands of people began to converge into a stream, and the mourning chants became increasingly unified.

Later on, not only Zhang Xuezhou, but even Wei Qing could hardly hear his own voice clearly.

"Dongfang Shuo really knows how to be an official; I would never have acted this way before!"

Wei Qing rolled up his wet sleeves and looked around. He saw Zhang Xuezhou slowly squeezing into the group of palace officials.

"Those are people from the Eunuch's Office... Why did Han Yan, Guo Sheren, Sang Hongyang, and Mei Gao go over there too!"

Wei Qing wanted to follow, but seeing the crowd of minor officials standing in groups, he touched his official hat and had no choice but to continue forward.

Zhang Xuezhou was free from officialdom, but Wei Qing was the Grand Master of the Palace, second only to the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers. There were only thirty or forty officials at his level, and there was a place where officials gathered, which was even located at the very front of the main square of Anle Palace.

The funeral arrangements for the Empress Dowager had only been underway for a few hours when high-ranking officials, including those at the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers levels, gathered in the main hall of Anle Palace.

Wei Qing didn't know what these people were discussing, but he guessed that it probably involved funeral rites, or perhaps some disputes, which was why the main hall of Anle Palace had been locked.

"Whose land is this, where souls gather without regard to wisdom or folly? The ghost lord urges us on relentlessly, for human life cannot be delayed even slightly."

The wailing outside the hall was like a tidal wave, while Xu Chang inside the Anle Palace had a lifeless gaze and was also muttering incantations.

The atmosphere in the main hall was extremely heavy.

A heavy coffin carved with a phoenix was placed in the center, the lid of which was not closed, revealing the Empress Dowager dressed in a jade burial suit.

The officials of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers stood in two rows, with the new emperor in front and the empress kneeling under the coffin, wailing loudly. On either side were the Empress Dowager and Princess Dou, who were on the verge of exchanging blows.

"Concealing news of a death is a capital offense!"

The sound of mourning from the officials outside Anle Palace drifted into the hall. The Empress Dowager glanced at Princess Dou, then frowned as she looked at the Grand Empress Dowager in the coffin. Her face was grim and filled with unspeakable emotions.

The time frame is neither one year nor two years.

From her youthful vigor to nearing fifty, the Empress Dowager had waited far too long.

Time was too harsh on Emperor Jing, and it was also too harsh on her.

Her near-lifelong caution was simply because the Empress Dowager was too powerful and controlled too much.

"I have explained repeatedly that this is my mother's dying wish!"

Princess Dou frowned.

As arranged by the Grand Empress Dowager, Princess Dou and the Empress Dowager supported each other, and Princess Dou then took over everything from the Grand Empress Dowager.

Even though her daughter was the current emperor's empress, and Princess Dou and the Empress Dowager could address each other as sisters, things did not go according to the Empress Dowager's script.

Zhenyuan's intimidating presence, though effective against external threats, failed to subdue the Empress Dowager, who had suddenly changed her temperament.

Looking at the once diligent and dutiful Empress Dowager, Princess Dou found it hard to imagine the ruthlessness she would display now that she had something on her hands.

But Princess Dou knew the other party's purpose.

"Where is the imperial edict?" the Empress Dowager pressed, repeating her question.

"After her illness, the Empress Dowager was unable to move, and all her last instructions were given orally," said Consort Dou.

"Then isn't that just something you said offhand?" the Empress Dowager roared. "You've used the Empress Dowager's name to pursue your own interests, and you've secretly concealed the date of my death, bringing countless sums of money home!"

"That's utter nonsense," Dou Taizhu denied.

"I won't go into other details, but Gillian's health treatments alone cost hundreds of millions of dollars each time. I roughly estimate that she has already spent at least 60 million dollars. Where did she get all this money?"

The Empress Dowager's face was filled with anger.

A glimpse into the whole picture reveals the true nature of the situation. The Empress Dowager only needed to look at the Empress, who was crying her eyes out, to realize that the Dou family was constantly draining the Great Han Kingdom.

The entire court was filled with people from Anle Palace, and Anle Palace was also the beneficiary of the court's wealth. A steady stream of money, heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and treasures flowed into Anle Palace, while the Empress Dowager, the new emperor, and others gained very little over the years.

If the Empress Dowager doesn't seize this opportunity to put pressure on the other side and force them out, then she will have wasted so many years of following Emperor Jing.