Funeral Procession

Shen Yijia put on her clothes and went out for a walk. She found no trace of anyone around.

She then walked to the front courtyard and saw only an empty mourning hall. The coffin that had been there was gone.

Thinking of something, Shen Yijia smacked her forehead. Yesterday, the eunuch said that he would send everyone back to their hometowns in three days.

Since they were leaving tomorrow, the funeral had to be held today. How could she have forgotten something so important?

She wasn't fully to blame. No one had told her.

Shen Yijia belatedly realized that she seemed to have been forgotten again…

The capital city has always been the most prosperous place in the country.

The streets of Chang'an were usually bustling with people.

However, today was an exception.

The entire street was quiet. Both sides of the road were filled with commoners, all looking sadly at the funeral procession that was slowly approaching.

There were also many commoners who hung white lanterns outside their houses!

As far as these people were concerned, it was none of their business whether the deceased were plotting a rebellion or not. Who became emperor was even less of a concern to them.

All they knew was that the God of War, who had protected them their entire lives, had left.

He had protected them all their lives so that they could live in a time of peace. It was only right that they came to see him off.

Song Jingchen was carried in a chair at the front of the procession, followed by Madam Li and the crying twins.

The entire funeral procession added up to no more than ten people, looking extremely comical.

If not for the fact that the procession had come out of the Bulwark Duke's residence, who would have thought that the person lying there would be the old Duke, who was once second only to the emperor of Great Xia?

The commoners' eyes turned red. When the group passed by, they spontaneously followed behind.

When the team reached the city gate, it was already a rather spectacular scene.

Seeing the citizens behaving like this, Madam Li's dry eyes turned red again.

Song Jingchen's hand, which was holding the memorial tablet, secretly tightened. The words in his grandfather's letter came to his mind.

"Yes, the people of this country are innocent." he thought to himself.

This scene was shocking to many people, but to the lightly-dressed Emperor Chong'an, it was extremely ironic.

Anyone with a brain would understand that someone must have framed the victims.

After all, the Crown Prince was not stupid enough to place the incriminating evidence in the Eastern Palace where it could easily be found.

So what? He was the emperor, and all of Great Xia belonged to him. As long as he believed it, then it was the truth.

What these citizens were doing now was simply a slap in the face.

Emperor Chong'an sat in the carriage and looked at the growing funeral procession.

He snorted. "Do you think this group of people will be the same in a hundred years?"

How could Eunuch Li dare to answer that? If he did, wouldn't he be cursing Emperor Chong'an to die?

If he gave the wrong response, then he probably wouldn't live to see the day.

He would probably go missing from the carriage on the way back to the palace later.

Everyone knew that he was the most popular person by Emperor Chong'an's side. However, no one knew how tiring it was for him to wrack his brains to survive every day.

"Can't you see how much gray hair I've grown in the past two years?" Eunuch Li thought to himself.

Eunuch Li was sweating with anxiety. Fortunately, Emperor Chong'an did not seem to expect him to answer.

With a disdainful smile, he continued. "This is the reason why."

These citizens only recognized the old duke, even daring to disrespect the emperor to join the funeral procession.

If he really let his crippled son sit on the throne, it was hard to say if his surname would be Shangguan or Song.

He did not say this, but Eunuch Li understood.

When the birds are gone, the good bow is stashed away. When the cunning rabbit dies, the dogs are cooked and eaten.

He was willing to sacrifice his son to achieve his goal.

Therefore, it was natural for everyone to say that there were no familial ties in the royal family.