fifth form

Chapter 2494: Front and Back of the Palace
In the main hall of Anle Palace, Empress Dowager Dou left because she was unsteady on her feet. The Empress Dowager simply gave instructions and left, leaving the three dukes and nine ministers in charge of everything.

Xu Chang's eyes swept over the bloodstains on the ground. He touched his belt, but for a moment he didn't dare to pull it down and urinate on the spot like Zhang Xuezhou.

Zhuang Qingzhai's eyes moved back and forth, constantly looking behind the screen in the hall.

The fight between the Empress Dowager and Empress Dou was almost one-sided.

But no one came out from behind the screen to stop them, nor did anyone help Empress Dou, which made Zhuang Qingzhai a little nervous. It was hard to know whether the magic cloth the other party had obtained had been completed.

"It's less than half a month. It takes more than this time to create an ordinary magic weapon, not to mention that it needs to be nurtured. How can it exert its power? Damn it..."

The people of Xuchang were in panic, and Zhuang Qingzhai was calm but a little nervous.

But he had built an agreement in advance, knowing that no matter how bad the other party was, he could still contribute 50% of his strength, so there was at least some guarantee, and he could barely stabilize it for the time being.

Zhuang Qingzhai was obviously very dissatisfied with the Empress Dowager for starting the funeral in Anle Palace so early, as it was far from giving him enough time to prepare.

But things have come to this, and he has to accept it no matter how unwilling he is.

As long as he could survive and complete the funeral, he would happily accept being demoted.

"Brother Xu, the Emperor Taihuang left behind a will that 'the tomb of the emperor should be built with earthenware, and gold, silver, copper, and tin are not allowed to be used as decorations. We don't want to build a tomb, in order to save money and not trouble the people.' Can we use this will to hold the funeral?"

No one dared to intervene in the fight in the Weiyang Palace. The Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager Dou, the new Emperor, and the Empress all left, with the Three Dukes at the head of the crowd.

It was obviously impossible for the corpse to remain in the main hall of Anle Palace forever, so Prime Minister Xu Chang and Imperial Censor Zhuang Qingzhai had to take charge of the funeral.

Without clear requirements, if a funeral is grand, it will be criticized as extravagant and wasteful, and if a funeral is simple, it will be criticized as disrespectful and unfilial.

This is something that cannot be done well no matter what you do, not to mention the high probability of confrontation.

Zhuang Qingzhai thought for a few seconds and had no choice but to ask Xu Chang about the late emperor's will.

"That's how it should be!"

Xu Chang nodded.

The infighting in the Anle Palace was so direct and obvious that even a newcomer to officialdom could see it clearly.

No matter what grudges there are between the Empress Dowager and Empress Dou, few of their group can withstand it.

They are all third or fourth generation officials, and on the surface they are pretty strong, but few of them can show real skills. Only Cheng Buzhi, the Weiwei of Anle Palace among the Nine Ministers, and others are genuine and can fight with real guns and swords.

Not to mention forcibly suppressing them in the court, there were only a few people who could even compete with the Empress Dowager.

Everyone is willing to change sides, but whether they can be favored by the Queen Mother is another matter.

Knowing what will happen to you, it becomes important to exit gracefully.

No matter how you hold a funeral, it will be a mess, so it is natural to hold a simple funeral.

Xu Chang directly agreed with Zhuang Qingzhai's suggestion, and then looked at everyone.

"What the Prime Minister said is absolutely right," said Chen He, Marquis of Quni, with a bow.

"We take the will as the standard, and no one can dispute it," agreed Fu Yan, Marquis of Yangling.

"The Empress Dowager arranged the funeral of the Grand Emperor in the same way. How can she make things difficult for us?" Yingyin Marquis Guan Jiang said with a bad face.

"I listen to your opinions!"

Cheng Buzhi bowed his hands. Being conservative by nature, he thought there was nothing wrong with this move.

Grand Coachman Gongsun He also nodded but did not comment on this. After all, it would be useless if he did.

Everyone echoed, and Zhuang Qingzhai and Xu Chang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The two pointed to the main entrance of the Anle Palace, and several calmed old eunuchs stepped forward and opened the door. A series of funeral calls suddenly rushed into the Anle Palace.

"Summon the historian to observe the celestial phenomena!"

"Summon the Grand Master to burn the tortoise shell to predict the date of burial!"

"Make a five-layer coffin, draw a map of the twenty-eight constellations, make nine sets of bronze chimes, and twelve sets of plain gauze Zen robes!"

"The emperor mourns for three years, but according to the previous emperor's will, 'replace the days with the months', it will be changed to thirty-six days!"

"The princes shall wear mourning clothes for three months, and all officials shall wear mourning clothes for fifteen days. No one shall violate this rule!"

The door of the hall opened, the funeral singing gradually faded away, and many officials knelt down in unison.

Xu Chang and Zhuang Qingzhai looked at each other, and they both started reciting together.

Observing the celestial phenomena, determining the burial date, determining the funeral specifications, and the number of days for everyone to mourn, many words involving rules were constantly announced by the two.

Compared with the 49-day funeral period of Emperor Jing, the funeral period of the Empress Dowager was shortened to 15 days.

This time still seems very long, but it is only twice as long as the first seven days after the death of an ordinary person. If the area is mountainous and the roads are steep, some officials may not even receive the news before the Empress Dowager has been buried.

The funeral of the Empress Dowager was even simpler. One only had to carry the corresponding items to the Taimiao to complete the sacrifice, and then send the coffin into the Ba Mausoleum where the Empress Dowager was buried.

Everything could not be simpler. As long as he could get through these fifteen days safely, and then take the initiative to make some small mistakes, he could instruct someone to impeach him at the morning court on the first day after the funeral, and then he could step down according to the previous rules for dealing with Zhang Xuezhou, and everything would go smoothly.

Xu Chang's face turned pale, while Zhuang Qingzhai's face turned slightly red.

He stared at the thousands of civil and military officials outside the hall, his eyes searching continuously until he saw Zhang Xuezhou who was almost marginalized. He felt much more at ease.

"Lord Xu, I will go and urge the Grand Historian Sima Tan to determine the astronomical phenomena and choose as good weather as possible," Zhuang Qingzhai said with a bow.

"Then I will go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple and wait for divination to find out the auspicious time to enter the mausoleum!"

Xu Chang nodded and also walked out of the hall.

No matter how big the disaster is, it will not come today, and there will be no lunatics who will directly attack the palace right now, and face thousands of civil and military officials in an extremely depressing atmosphere.

For Xu Chang and Zhuang Qingzhai, the real trouble came a few days later.

The two men issued the order, and the previously confused officials of all ranks also understood the procedures. The officials involved in the summons went to work, while the others wore mourning clothes for fifteen days, which involved participating in rituals at specific times and seeing off the deceased at auspicious times.

Xu Chang and Zhuang Qingzhai's leaving the hall involved a time limit, and many people also needed to wait here for a result.

The funeral of the Empress Dowager was extremely simple and everything could not have been done any faster.

But for Xu Chang and others, the trouble was identified much earlier than they imagined.

In the back hall of Anle Palace, Zhenyuan God was holding two unfinished magic weapons in his hands, his face showing embarrassment and silence.

Opposite him, a Taoist priest in a green robe stood in the air, also gazing at the number one human god in West Kunlun, whom he had heard of but never met.

"Give me the Nine Dragon Cauldron and I'll leave!"

Daojun pointed to the large tripod placed in the back hall, which made Zhenyuan Shenjun shake his head.

"This is one of the things I promised to do for Fellow Daoist Dou. I can't give you the Nine Dragon Cauldron!"

Zhenyuan Shenjun looked at Daojun, and then looked at the other's feet standing in the air.

The Taoist Master was wearing a green shirt, but he was not wearing shoes. Even now, he was still standing in the air without touching the ground.

The opponent's flying behavior without touching the ground at all made Zhenyuan Shenjun feel very pressured, but Zhenyuan Shenjun felt that the Daojun in front of him seemed to be limited in strength.

If he struck out with one sleeve, he felt that this former number one god of Kunlun would most likely be killed by him.