Chapter 285 The Dust Settles

Chapter 285 The Dust Settles

Having received clear instructions from the emperor, the two concubines, however unwilling, still had to temporarily shoulder this responsibility.

After all, their future and the fate of their families are still in the hands of the Emperor on the throne.

In order to leave a good impression on the emperor, the two of them actually started to cooperate again after the incident with Lady Tong.

Considering that the Prince of Nanyang was a murderer who would be executed by the court in the autumn even if he was not dead now, the two concubines did not hold a grand funeral for him. Instead, they simply bought an ordinary coffin that was only of average price and quality and had the Prince of Nanyang's personal servant carefully transfer his body, which was surrounded by ice, into the coffin.

The subsequent procedures, such as setting up a mourning tent, announcing the death, and waiting for people to come and pay their respects, were naturally omitted by the two concubines. Their reason was the same as when they bought that ordinary coffin before—the Prince of Nanyang is now a murderer, who would dare to hold a grand funeral for him at such a critical moment?

The Nanyang Prince's mansion was surrounded by government troops. This group of people couldn't even go out to buy a coffin for the Nanyang Prince in person. Could someone else possibly come in to burn paper money for the Nanyang Prince?

Rather than humiliating themselves and bringing trouble upon those in their household who were awaiting the court's judgment, they might as well be sensible and keep a low profile.

The servants and guards in the mansion, who were all in a state of panic and preoccupied with their own survival, as well as the concubines and maids of the Prince of Nanyang, naturally had no objections to this. They dared not risk being seen as accomplices of the Prince of Nanyang by standing up to fight for any posthumous honors for him.

The only one who had a complaint, the old Princess Nanyang, was disqualified from expressing her opinion by the two concubines because she was bedridden.

Not only that, the old nanny who tipped her off and relayed her messages, making various demands of the two concubines, was also imprisoned by the two concubines.

Since she can't see the situation clearly, she should go hungry for a few more meals to clear her head. When she has figured things out, she can come out and serve her master who is on his last breath.

As for her master, who was on his last breath, whether he could wait for her to return and serve her again was not something the two concubines needed to consider.

Not long after the hasty burial of the Prince of Nanyang, the two concubines were met by the imperial court's raiding squad.

Everyone, including them, who was allowed to leave the palace did so under the watchful eyes of the raiding team, taking whatever they could with them as soon as possible.

The remaining people of low social status were all driven by the soldiers of the raiding squad to an empty courtyard, where they waited for the other party to count, pack, and transport away the valuables in the mansions according to the register before taking them to a brokerage to be sold openly.

The old princess was neither among those who could leave freely nor among those who were to be sold off. So she could only watch helplessly as her trusted servants were dragged away and the vast wealth she had painstakingly accumulated over the years was packed up and moved outside.

Perhaps because she was anxious and heartbroken that her vast wealth had benefited unrelated people, or perhaps because she had finally given up on her situation and was completely disillusioned, the old Princess of Nanyang, with her old eyes wide open, reluctantly breathed her last as the raiding party took away her first batch of belongings.

The raiding team didn't notice she was dead at first. It wasn't until they had moved all the registered items and were looking for some small things they could keep as petty cash that the leader realized the owner of the house was dead.

At that time, the body of the old Princess Nanyang had already turned cold and stiff, indicating that she had been dead for quite some time.

After a moment's thought, the leader abandoned the old Princess Nanyang and continued his swift looting.

Who cares? She's just a dead old woman; he can't let that stop him from scavenging for her.

Only after stuffing all the valuables he could take with him into his chest pockets, sleeve pockets, purses, money pouches, and even his boots did the man beckon one of his subordinates and tell him to ask their superior what to do with the old woman's body.

Although their superior did not participate in the raid, he, as their direct superior, still received a share of the spoils these people plundered. In particular, he had priority in selecting items that were not easy to hide on their person but were not on the ledgers, which they could secretly take away and dispose of themselves.

When his subordinates came to ask, he hesitated for a moment and then shifted the blame to the local government.

Most of the local government officials and runners were also part of the raiding squad. Only the prefectural governor and this local military commander sat calmly in the main hall of the government office, drinking tea and waiting for their subordinates to automatically hand over generous extra money.

Upon hearing from the commander's subordinate that the former Prince of Nanyang's mother had died during their ransacking of the house, the prefect couldn't help but curse his bad luck.

Although the old lady was no longer a high-ranking royal, she had not personally participated in the murder case. Even though the emperor took away the title and property of the Prince of Nanyang, he did not say how he would deal with the old lady.

If she had died before or after the confiscation of her property, the local government could have let the matter slide. But now... it can only be said that some people are not only annoying when they are alive, but they also continue to cause trouble for others even after they die.

However, he couldn't just abandon this matter. Unlike the commander of a thousand men who came from the military and only cooperated with the state government in searching and confiscating the Nanyang Prince's Mansion, he, as the prefectural governor, had to be responsible for handling the minor accidents that occurred during the confiscation process.

So even though he felt the person had died at an inopportune time, he still had to put on a sympathetic face and send someone to buy a coffin for the old woman.

The coffin wasn't much better, of course, but at least the government had a hasty burial and buried her next to the Prince of Nanyang, which was a perfunctory explanation to the court, especially to the royal family.

They dared to be so perfunctory because the emperor had not specifically instructed them not to offend the old Princess of Nanyang or take away her private property during the confiscation of her property.

Given that the emperor no longer wished to grant the old lady dignity and honor, the local government naturally ceased to treat her with the respect due to an old princess.

If it weren't for the need to maintain some decorum for the other members of the royal family, the prefect would have even considered simply rolling her up in a straw mat and sending her away.

As for the only one who was escorted to the capital, the Princess of Nanyang, she was sentenced by the court to be executed in the autumn.

Some of her maternal relatives still lived in the capital, but without exception, they were extremely dissatisfied with her and her brother, who was originally the head of the family. So, although she still had relatives in the capital, none of them came to collect her body or give her a proper burial after her death.