Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 488 Mourning in Plain Clothes

As the new year passed and the snow lingered, Empress Dowager Zhou's illness worsened day by day.

Empress Dowager Jiang would visit Cining Palace every two days, and the Emperor would personally attend to her with medicine after court. Civil and military officials would submit memorials to inquire about her well-being every day, and members of the imperial family, noblewomen, and wives of officials who had received favors from the Empress Dowager would also send invitations to the palace to pay their respects.

Empress Dowager Zhou was known for her kindness and benevolence, and treated her subordinates with great compassion. Now that she is seriously ill, the people of the capital spontaneously go to Guangci Temple near Longshou Canal on the outskirts of Beijing to burn incense and pray for her well-being.

The Imperial Medical Academy staff worked day and night, but Empress Dowager Zhou's pulse grew weaker each day. The Emperor issued a special decree of amnesty and ordered various regions to hold religious ceremonies to pray for blessings, hoping that Heaven would have mercy and grant the Empress Dowager good health.

In the imperial harem.

Aunt Mei and Mingyue stayed by Kang Ge'er's side in Huining Palace, while Consort Chun and Meng Shu went to Shou Kang Palace to attend to him almost every day.

Before the New Year, Rongxiu had been frowning. That afternoon, when she saw Consort Chun coming alone, she could no longer hold back her tears as she curtsied: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager had little appetite last night, and this morning she... only managed to drink half a bowl of porridge."

"Has the imperial physician arrived? Aunt, please send someone to the Funing Palace to inform the Emperor." Consort Chun frowned slightly, her speech quickening. "The tonic pills Mother sent a couple of days ago, were they given to the Empress Dowager today?"

Rongxiu nodded hurriedly: "I have already sent someone to Fu Ning Palace and Ci Ning Palace to deliver the message. Doctor He and several imperial physicians are in the side hall. I have also taken the Gu Ben Wan as instructed by Physician Zhen, but... it is not effective."

Consort Chun did not ask any further questions and, supported by Mengzhu, quickly walked towards her bedchamber.

Before even entering the flower hall, a strong, bitter medicinal smell wafted over, mixed with the pungent aroma of the burning charcoal inside, making one feel suffocated.

She stepped into the bedchamber, reached out and lifted the heavy brocade curtain. The Empress Dowager was leaning against the soft couch, her face sallow, as if only one night had passed, her eye sockets had become deeply sunken.

"Why is Wan'er here again? It's been snowing heavily these past few days, why bother running back and forth?"

Empress Dowager Zhou's voice was weak, yet still carried her usual gentleness, "You're the one who comes to Shou Kang Palace the most. Why don't you just stay here?" As she spoke, she raised her eyes and gave Rong Xiu a reproachful look.

Rongxiu quickly turned her head away and wiped away her tears with a handkerchief.

Consort Chun suppressed the stinging in her nose and forced a smile as she sat down on the brocade stool beside the couch: "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager still has the energy to joke around. It seems you are in better spirits today."

Empress Dowager Zhou slowly reached out her hand, paused at the cuff of her sleeve, and Consort Chun quickly reached out and grasped it.

These hands, which could still hold an infant before the Lunar New Year, have become withered and thin in just two months. Life seems to be burning out at any moment.

"You..." Empress Dowager Zhou gently patted the back of her hand, "You've only just finished your confinement period and you're always coming to my place. Be careful not to catch a cold. How has Kang'er been these past few days?"

“The wet nurse is with him, and he’s very well-behaved.” Consort Chun gripped the hand tightly, her voice trembling slightly. “When the Empress Dowager is feeling better, I’ll bring him over for you to see. In a few more months, he’ll be able to recognize people.”

Empress Dowager Zhou twitched the corners of her mouth, but the smile vanished as soon as it appeared. "...I can't wait for that day."

She took a deep breath and murmured, "Last night... I dreamt of the late Emperor and his beloved Consort Min... Ha... It was really bad luck."

Consort Chun held her breath and lowered her head, listening quietly.

After a while, Empress Dowager Zhou suddenly smiled, and her withered hand trembled as she raised it again.

Upon seeing this, Consort Chun quickly bent down and pressed her cheek against that icy hand.

"But... the dream had a good ending,"

Empress Dowager Zhou's voice softened, and her eyes softened with a hazy warmth.

"I also dreamt of your great-aunt, Yue'er. She was standing under the pear tree in the backyard of the Zhou residence, her hair styled in double buns, just like she did when she was young, just... just as beautiful as you are now. She told me... she had been waiting for me for decades, and if I didn't go soon, she would leave..."

After saying this, Empress Dowager Zhou couldn't help but cough twice. Once the coughing subsided, she sank into the brocade quilt.

Consort Chun burst into tears. She was not by her grandmother's side when she passed away, and now the Empress Dowager, who truly loved her, had also come to this point so quickly.

She gripped the Empress Dowager's hand tightly, choking back tears, and said, "Your Majesty, it's already the first month of the lunar calendar. When the pear blossoms in the Imperial Garden bloom in spring, I'll help you go admire the flowers, and I'll have Shuer style my hair in a double-loop bun so you can see how it looks."

Meng Shu heard the news and just then came over with Donggua and Lvliu. Rong Xiu, with red eyes, led her inside.

As soon as Meng Shu stepped into the inner room, she saw the Empress Dowager's appearance and her heart clenched.

Empress Dowager Zhou heard footsteps, her eyelids trembled, and her cloudy gaze lingered on her before recognizing Meng Shu.

A slight smile played on her lips as she reminisced, "When I first met you two in the Ciyuan Palace... I felt that you two... were just like me and Yue'er back then."

"We've known each other since childhood... She's the legitimate daughter of a high-ranking official, while I'm merely a member of the Zhou family... used as a pretext..."

Seemingly unwilling to mention it, Empress Dowager Zhou paused for a moment before saying haltingly, "...One of us is a bit cold-hearted, and the other is a bit mild-mannered, yet we hit it off immediately...and became inseparable."

Meng Shu walked gently to the bedside. Empress Dowager Zhou moved her arm, and Meng Shu quickly leaned forward. However, the Empress Dowager placed her hand and Consort Chun's hand together.

"...Later...the Zhou family received the imperial decree to enter the palace, and I was so panicked. But knowing that Yue'er would also be entering the palace, I thought, the deep palace is so lonely, every step is fraught with anxiety...having a close friend by my side would make it a little easier...but alas, what a pity..."

The last words turned into a murmur and dissipated into the fading light of the sky.

Meng Shu and Consort Chun exchanged a glance, their eyes both filled with the same tears.

......

As dusk settled, the sunset glow spread across the sky like blood, dyeing the entire imperial city a poignant crimson.

The rosy glow was so intense, it seemed to burn away the last of its light and heat. The layers of clouds were edged with gold, then gradually faded to dark purple.

He Yizheng and several imperial physicians knelt before the bed, their fingers trembling slightly as they took the pulse. In the end, they all lowered their heads and shook their heads, their faces full of grief.

The Emperor stood by the bed, silently watching for a moment. His gaze swept over the Empress Dowager's gaunt face, and finally he raised his hand and silently dismissed the imperial physician.

In her final moments, only Empress Dowager Jiang, her son, and Consort Chun remained by Empress Dowager Zhou's side.

But Empress Dowager Zhou was no longer able to speak.

The setting sun slanted through the carved window lattice into the inner room, casting dappled light and shadow on her pale face. Her breathing grew lighter and lighter, each faint rise and fall like a final farewell to this world.

Perhaps she never intended to leave any words for others; the words hidden in her heart had already been spoken in her conversation with Consort Chun.

After an unknown amount of time, the last rays of dawn faded away, and the entire imperial city sank into the rapidly spreading darkness of night.

A suppressed sob broke the silence as Consort Chun knelt by the bed, her shoulders trembling violently.

Immediately afterwards, the sounds of weeping from Rongxiu, Granny Kong, and other palace maids of Shou Kang Palace rose and fell outside the bedchamber. At first, they were suppressed sobs, but soon they blended into a chorus, mingling with the rising cold wind outside the palace, making one's heart tighten.

On the day of Ji-Mao in the first month of the third year of Zhenghe, at the end of You hour.

Empress Dowager Zhou passed away at Shou Kang Palace at the age of fifty-six.

The Emperor suspended court for five days, dressed in mourning clothes, and held a mourning ceremony. The capital was covered in white, as white as snow, and all who witnessed it wept. Seven days later, the Ministry of Rites deliberated and bestowed upon her the posthumous title of "Empress Dowager Xiaoci Renxian Zhuangsu," and she was enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple and buried in Yongling Mausoleum.