The wedding garnts were stealthily stolen just like that.
Jun Yang exerted quite so effort, dragging out several spies her father had once cultivated in the palace, to take a bunch of things out of the palace.
From start to finish, Jun Yang did not go to pay her respects to the Grand Empress Dowager; her visit to the palace was entirely for the gold and silver treasures.
...
It was deep into the night, and Jun Yang and Jing Shu, the aunt and niece, were kneeling in front of the Grand Empress Dowager’s coffin, watching over the vigil, alongside so concubines and princes.
Three years had passed, and Jun Ning had grown a little taller. Though she seed thin, she was poised and graceful, with fair skin and beautiful features. Kneeling beside Jing Shu, they looked like a pair of lovely sisters.
For so reason, Jun Ning’s right eye kept twitching. She rubbed it, feeling uneasy in her heart.
Seeing her rub her eye, Jing Shu asked, "Little Aunt, are you tired? If you’re tired, just go back and sleep for a while. You’re not in good health; no one will say anything."
"It’s okay." Jun Ning continued to kneel, showing no intention of going to rest.
Jing Shu tried to persuade her for a while longer, and seeing no success, she simply stopped.
She leaned her shoulder slightly towards Jun Ning, "Little Aunt, if you’re really too tired to handle it, just rest your head on my shoulder and take a nap."
Jun Ning refused again.
She took the vigil seriously.
She knelt upright, without a mont’s slacking, for three consecutive days.
On the third day, during the burial, Jun Ning couldn’t help but start crying.
It was at this mont that she belatedly realized she would never see her Grand Empress Dowager again. No one would make the cilantro mung bean cake she loved anymore, hoping for her to eat it.
No one would ever embroider wedding garnts for her with the world’s best needlework.
No one would look at her with such love, as if she were the most precious treasure in the world.
No one...
The more Jun Ning thought, the harder she cried.
But this ti, her tears were different from the sudden profound sorrow upon hearing the news of the Grand Empress Dowager’s death; it was reluctance. A reluctance for soone so warm, so loving, suddenly unable to speak to her anymore, to be forever buried beneath the earth.
"Grand Empress Dowager..."
Among the princes and princesses escorting the procession, Princess Zhaoning and Jun Ning cried the loudest, both fainting several tis, nearly unable to escort the Grand Empress Dowager to the Imperial Mausoleum.
Seeing their difficulty, Imperial Concubine Hua specially dispatched people to support them both.
When they reached the Imperial Mausoleum, it started snowing heavily. Jun Ning knelt in the snow, watching from a distance as the Grand Empress Dowager was buried. Upon her return, she fell seriously ill again.
However, perhaps due to the Grand Empress Dowager’s protection, she recovered after taking dicine for a few days, with no lasting impact on her health.
With the Grand Empress Dowager’s passing, everyone in the Eastern Chu Kingdom, from the Emperor down to the commoners, had to observe national mourning. The mourning period wasn’t long, ending with the spring of the following year.
However, in the hearts of those who rembered the Grand Empress Dowager, the mourning never ended.
Princess Zhaoning and Jun Ning wore plain white clothes daily, ate simply, no longer indulged, and did not enter lively places. For three consecutive New Years, no firecrackers were lit at the gates of their palaces.
Jun Ning’s birthday hadn’t been celebrated for three consecutive years.
Over those three years, she rembered the Grand Empress Dowager, searched for the wedding garnts stolen by Jun Yang and sold at auction, and investigated Qi Qin’s death.
She had been investigating this matter for many years, but after returning from Sairu City, the trail suddenly went cold. The granddaughter of Granny Gu, whom she had sent to search, also died.
The information was completely cut off.
She tried nurous tis to open the coffin for an autopsy, but was thwarted each ti.
As the National Guardian General, Qi Qin was young and accomplished, having rendered significant services to Eastern Chu. Hence, after his death, no one in the court would allow his body to be disturbed, wishing only for him to rest in peace.
Jun Ning ntioned several tis to Emperor Yongning about performing an autopsy, but Emperor Yongning refused every ti. Later, she planned to do it secretly, attempting a formal approach first.
However—
Emperor Yongning seed to have foresight, assigning people to safeguard Qi Qin’s grave, even constructing a mausoleum and posting watch to ensure the peace of the National Guardian General’s afterlife was undisturbed.
Jun Ning found the Crown Prince and dejectedly said, "Brother, I’m afraid Uncle Qi’s death is just going to end like this. Without an autopsy, we can’t find out anything."
By this ti, Jun Ning had already turned fifteen, had reached marriageable age. She could now discuss marriage.
The Crown Prince, however, had entered middle age, his stature much more robust than years ago, with even the beginnings of a belly. The once elegant young man in white was no more.
Still, he treated Jun Ning as kindly as ever.
Faced with Jun Ning’s inquiries, he reached out to touch Jun Ning’s head and said, "Ah Ning, don’t worry, take it slow."
"Take it slow, take it slow, years have gone by, and still taking it slow..." Jun Ning couldn’t bear it anymore, "I can’t wait any longer, we must find a ti to forcefully open the coffin for an autopsy."
"Father has dispatched Death Warriors to guard it, we can’t forcibly break in for an autopsy."
"Then why don’t we poison those Death Warriors, then we can go in for an autopsy."
The Crown Prince shook his head again, "Ah Ning, it won’t work. Those Death Warriors are specially trained, with an alertness to poison even surpassing that of a poison master. We can’t do it..."
"If that won’t work, then..." Jun Ning wanted to propose a thod she had recently thought of.
But the Crown Prince interrupted her first, "Ah Ning, I’ve thought of all the thods you’ve thought of. Even thods you haven’t considered, I’ve thought of..."
"So, brother, what do you want to say?"
"I want to say, none of these thods are feasible." The Crown Prince sighed, "The guards around the mausoleum are incredibly strict. It’s impossible to penetrate it."
Jun Ning suddenly beca suspicious, "Brother, have you ever wondered why Father guards Uncle Qi’s mausoleum so tightly? Could it be that he knows sothing but doesn’t want it revealed?"
If said this way, it seed Emperor Yongning might be protecting the person who hard Qi Qin.
The Crown Prince quickly said, "Ah Ning, don’t say anything reckless. Father appreciated Qi Qin and cherished his talents. If Qi Qin truly was murdered, I believe he is the one most eager for the truth to co out and the perpetrator to be punished."
"Then what to do? How to investigate?" Jun Ning sighed.
The Crown Prince pondered for a long ti, eventually coming up with a good thod, but what good thod was it?
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