Chapter 889: Formally Abolished

Empress Dowager Sun was especially favored by Emperor Xuanzong; even as Consort, she controlled the inner palace, and after becoming Empress, then Empress Dowager, both her son and daughter-in-law treated her with great filial piety, and anything she wished to accomplish within the inner palace was effortless.

Orders were given, and the late emperor's harem was placed under control, even Empress Qian's comings and goings were restricted.

Empress Dowager Sun truly feared Empress Qian would commit suicide, for since the emperor's capture, she had displayed excessive grief.

When her son was alive, the couple had indeed been deeply devoted, but she never imagined he could be so devoted.

For although her son respected Consort Qian, she knew that if it came to affection, he had loved Consort Liu the most.

The inner palace, believing the time for live burial had arrived, waited in terror for poison and white silk.

They waited, waited, but instead of poison and white silk, they received an imperial edict.

The new emperor, fulfilling the late emperor's will, abolished the practice of live burial; henceforth, no member of the imperial family shall ever again practice live burial.

Xiao'e knelt among the crowd; she could not understand the edict, but caught a few key words—she could hardly believe it, until the eunuch announcing it knelt down, and her fellow maid Qiaozhen rushed over, face alight with excitement: "Xiao'e, Xiao'e, did you hear? The emperor has abolished live burial—we won't die!"

Xiao'e sat down hard, her hands still trembling: "Really?"

Qiaozhen nodded fiercely: "Really!"

Both were only fourteen, the lowest-ranking palace maids, but five days ago, they had been suddenly chosen as ladies-in-waiting to serve the late emperor.

They had been in the palace a year, had never seen the emperor, barely seen any concubines—Xiao'e washed clothes for the female officials, Qiaozhen swept a stretch of palace corridor, and each month half their meager stipend went to their superiors, the other half their own.

But palace maids still had monthly expenses.

They had never dreamed they might become the emperor's concubines.

In truth, they were not.

The emperor was dead; he had been noble in life, and so must be noble in death, requiring more concubines, maids, and eunuchs to serve him underground.

Xiao'e and the others were elated; the concubines living in separate halls were no less so.

Consort Liu, her limbs weak, was helped up by her senior maid, and even after being seated on the wooden bed, she remained dazed.

The senior maid's face glowed with excitement, but mourning forbade overt display—she forced back joy, feigning sorrow, and her expression looked twisted.

"Your Highness—"

Consort Liu snapped back to awareness, confirming again: "The practice of live burial… has been abolished?"

"Abolished! Sealed with the jade seal—it's the emperor's will!"

Consort Liu immediately corrected: "No, this is the late emperor's final wish! The late emperor was benevolent!"

The senior maid froze, then quickly nodded in agreement.

"Go, clean out the Buddhist chapel—I shall pray for the late emperor. Close all palace gates; see no one for now."

The senior maid obeyed, immediately gathering staff to shut the gates and prepare the chapel.

Other concubines may not have Consort Liu's wisdom, but they knew to keep low now, so all shut their doors and refused visitors.

Kunning Palace was silent; Empress Qian had sat motionless in her chair since receiving the edict.

The female officials watched her, anxious and uneasy.

A young female official stepped forward, took her hand, and whispered: "Your Highness, please bear your grief with composure. The emperor always cherished you—he would be glad to know this, and even if lonely, you shall meet again after a hundred years."

Empress Qian suddenly laughed, her tense expression relaxing.

An older female official turned pale, avoiding the young woman's gaze, then fell to her knees with a thud, forehead pressed to her clasped hands: "Your Highness! If you choose to die with him, the edict is void—twenty-eight concubines, forty-six maids, sixteen eunuchs on the list must all be buried alive; from now on, live burial in the Ming palace will never again be abolished—generations of concubines, princesses, maids, and eunuchs shall die with their lords—Your Highness—"

Empress Qian's expression softened; she nodded: "I know, Aunt Sui, rest easy."

Hearing this, the older woman's face eased; she bowed three respectful bows before rising and stepping aside.

The young female official's face had grown pale since the moment the elder stepped forward, but she quickly composed herself, lowering her eyes and standing still.

Sui also stepped back, but Empress Qian called her: "Aunt, stay and attend to me."

Sui stiffened her face and agreed.

Emperor Zhu Qiyu's edict spread like a storm across Great Ming; the first to feel its impact were the imperial clans in Jingcheng.

Among the clans, princes and commandery princes all erupted in outrage.

More than half opposed: "This is the law of our ancestors—how can it be changed?"

A small minority supported it, retorting bluntly: "Have we not changed our ancestors' customs before? Why not this one? I've long despised live burial."

"Don't speak nonsense—when have we ever changed our ancestors' ways?"

"Have we not? Forget the distant past—look at live burial: our ancestors only mandated it for childless concubines, but how many concubines with children have been buried alive these past years?"

Over generations, how many concubines with children were forced to die because of the late emperor's final decree, the new emperor's edict, and the new empress dowager's hints? At this, the shouting clans fell silent—this could not be probed too deeply; if it were, not only would they offend Zhu Qiyu's line, but also other princely houses with similar cases.

Zhu Qiyu, face grim, said: "The edict is issued; my will is firm. This is also my elder brother's final wish. Henceforth, no member of the imperial family, not even servants, shall practice live burial."

The edict had been issued—Zhu Qiyu's first official decree since being forced onto the throne after returning to the capital—and it claimed to fulfill the late emperor's will, effectively representing two emperors' wishes; the clans' opposition was useless.

The princes and commandery princes quickly realized: opposing the new emperor now was unwise. Besides, they heard Empress Dowager Sun had agreed to secure the late emperor's posthumous title—why provoke both the new emperor and the empress dowager?

Oh, and also countless concubines' families.

Though the late emperor's concubines were few, and their families' highest rank was only Third rank, future emperors will have concubines too.

If they now fiercely oppose, they might unknowingly offend those officials.

Ming imperial clans rarely entered officialdom; none wished to offend those in power.

After all, the King of Hell is easy to appease, but the minor demons are hard to deal with—so they merely shouted, saw the new emperor would not relent, and swiftly abandoned resistance.

They called this: wisdom in recognizing the times.

Zhu Qiyu stared in disbelief—so easily? They really did just jump around, just as Pan Yun had said.

Zhu Qiyu looked utterly puzzled.

Whenever he had doubts, he could not help but seek out Pan Yun.

"When my elder brother lived, the clan meetings I attended most often dragged on for ten days or a month over every dispute—sometimes half a year or more. Especially the older clan elders—they could curse with terrible venom. Why did they agree so easily this time?"

Pan Yun: "They're not stupid—they're just heartless. Opposing the abolition of live burial means offending the new emperor, the empress dowager, today's officials, tomorrow's officials, the officials after that, countless scholars, and even within the clans themselves, many agree."

She said: "There are many clansmen who, like the former Zhou Wang, find this cruel and wish their wives and concubines to live—but they lack the power, or simply don't want trouble, so they stay silent. Now that you have the edict, they will gladly obey."

"Only someone truly dim-witted and cruel would insist on burying living people with the dead."

Zhu Qiyu let out a breath of relief; he understood.

Pan Yun asked with a smile, "Have the ministers settled on a new posthumous title?"

Zhu Qiyu gave an "Mm" and said, "They've only just settled on the character 'Ying,' and it's already been submitted to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager."