The entire hall was silent. Everyone was trembling because of this. They could not believe that Li Lingling, who had always been the head of the noble ladies, was beheaded just like that. Empress Zhou said, “A treacherous official and a thief, everyone should be punished! Princess Huai was rampant, and she died in her place!” Qiao Jinniang used a handkerchief to wipe away the blood on her face and said loudly, “Mother, you are wise. You are right. Li Lingling deserves her punishment.” The group of noblewomen also knelt on the ground and praised the empress. On the ground, Li Lingling’s head, which had not yet closed its eyes, was picked up by the guards with a rag and carried away in their hands. In the mourning hall, although there were Taoist priests reciting scriptures, the kneeling people felt extremely gloomy. Qiao Jinniang followed the empress to the resting place in the side hall and asked in a low voice, “Mother, just now Li Lingling said that she had poisoned father’s body. This……” The empress replied, “Your father is fine, you can rest assured.” Seeing that the empress was not worried, Qiao Jinniang was relieved, “Mother, there is one more thing. My eldest sister has gone missing. I think that eldest sister’s disappearance may be related to King Huai. I have already sent the Eastern Palace Secret Guards to investigate, but I am not at ease……” Empress Zhou said, “You do not need to worry too much about Qiao Ruoyun’s disappearance. Since King Huai Needs Qian Yin’s troops, he will not attack the woman he loves.” “The Empress Dowager’s funeral is complicated. In the next few days, you will follow me to manage the palace affairs and share my worries.” Qiao Jinniang agreed immediately. The Empress Dowager’s funeral had to be stopped for seven, seven, and forty-nine days. Every day, there were many rituals in the Daoist rite temple. All the women of different ranks had to stand guard in front of her. However, people were not made of iron, so they could not guard at all times. As usual, these women could go home and keep watch for a few hours every day. However, because of the rebellion of the Huai King in Chang ‘an, these women of court officials could not go home and were left in Ziwei City. Fortunately, there were not many masters in the palace and there were not many concubines left. Most of the palaces were empty, so these women could live in them. However, with so many wives, they could not wait to eat and drink. The palace still needed to sew the empress dowager’s shroud and prepare jewelry and other items for the empress dowager to be buried with. For a time, they were really busy. Qiao Jinniang was a little free, so she went to see Zheng Xiao, old madam Qiao, and the others, second Madam Qiao saw the Jinniang and said, “Jinniang, His Majesty has not shown up for five days. Now all the wives are wondering if the emperor has really been poisoned.” “What should we do? I heard that the war in the southwest is not going well. King Huai has already ascended the throne in Chang ‘an. His army may come to Luoyang at any time. What about you and Xi’er? What should our Qiao family do?” Zheng Xiao also held onto the Brocade Lady’s hand and said, “Now that the people are unstable, mother has heard the news from outside. Many courtiers are willing to abandon their wives who are locked up in the palace and go to Chang ‘an to join King Huai. “You and Xi’er are in grave danger. You’re still pregnant…… but the Qiao family still has hundreds of death warriors in Luoyang. “Why don’t we let them protect you and Xi’er and hide in the mountains? It’s better to keep you and your Mother Alive!” Qiao jinniang asked, “Do the Qiao family also have Death Warriors? Then does big sister have the Qiao family’s death warriors by her side?” Zheng Xiao said, “Yes, you wanted to have them by your side. After the Crown Prince Found You, your father found out that you had the secret guards of the Royal Family by your side and dismissed the Qiao family’s death warriors. “After Ruoyun and Li returned, we sent ten men of Sacrifice to stand by her side.” Qiao Jinniang felt more at ease. The Qiao family had thousands of years of history and their men of sacrifice were naturally not ordinary people. Hence, Qiao Ruoyun would probably be fine. Qiao Jinniang said to Zheng Xiao, “Mother, Xi’er is the emperor’s great-grandson. She will definitely not run away in fear of traitors. You can rest at ease.” Second Madam Qiao’s eyes reddened as she said, “Things have come to this point. How Can We Rest Well? I heard that southwest has suffered repeated defeats. I wonder how my Feng ‘Er and Wan ‘Er are doing?” Old Madam Qiao held back her tears and said in a sonorous voice, “The Qiao family are all strong-willed men and women. As long as Feng ‘Er and Wan ‘er can persevere until the last moment on the battlefield, their trip to the battlefield will not be in vain!” Second Madam Qiao could not help but burst into tears. “My child.” After a few words of consolation, Qiao Jinniang returned to the Mourning Hall. In a corner of the mourning hall where the wives were given a place to rest and drink, there were people whispering among themselves. “When Li Lingling was alive, she said that the emperor had been poisoned. His Majesty has indeed not appeared for five days now. I just heard the news that the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, the Supreme Court minister, and other officials have all gone to Chang ‘an to seek refuge with King Huai.” “Ah! But isn’t their wife still in Luoyang?” “If they go to Chang ‘an to seek refuge with the king of Huai, there will be no lack of wives in their future career!” “Ptui, what kind of plaything can such a traitor be? To say something disrespectful, if His Majesty is in danger in Luoyang, there is still the emperor’s great-grandson.” When the empress dowager stopped her mourning for the 77th and 40th day, the weather had already gradually warmed up. A large amount of ice had to be used to keep the mourning hall warm. With her pregnancy, Lady Qiao was even more afraid of the heat. At night, she could not sleep peacefully. When she was pregnant with Lu Xi, it was not easy for her. She also had the grief of her parents’recent deaths. It was just that Lu Chen was by her side at that time. For some reason, she missed Lu Chen very much tonight. It had been so long since they last met, and he did not know if there was a letter from him. There were many beauties in Xiliang. Would he take advantage of her absence to flirt in Xiliang…… Jin Niang could not fall asleep. Hong Ling brought her a bowl of tranquilizer and said, “Your Majesty.” After Qiao Jin drank the tranquilizer, she fell asleep in a daze. Halfway through her sleep, she felt her body getting hotter and hotter. She opened her eyes and almost screamed in fear. She was covered with a heavy object, which looked like a ghost pressing down on a bed. It was only by the soft light of the full moon that she could see the man clearly. “You scared me to death! Why Are You Back?” Lu Chen smiled and said, “I heard from Hong Ling that you missed me very much today.” Qiao Jin put her arm around Lu Chen’s neck and said, “I’m afraid that after you have obtained the land of West Liang, you will be accompanied by a beauty. You will be so happy that you won’t even want to be the Crown Prince of Great Tang.” Lu Chen kissed her forehead and said, “The beauty of West Liang is not even one-tenth of the beauty of the Eastern Palace.” Qiao jinniang asked, “Why did you come to Luoyang? Have you been to Chang ‘an? King Huai has been the emperor of Chang ‘an for more than a month. When do you plan to deal with him?” Lu Chen said, “When the Empress Dowager was alive, she cared about King Huai the most. No matter what, she had to make him accompany her in hell before she was buried in the ground……” Qiao jinniang said, “I thought you were going to say that you would only deal with King Huai after the Empress Dowager was buried in the ground!” “That old witch has repeatedly harmed me. Before she died, she even tried to scheme against me. How could I let her off so easily?” Lu Chen had heard the empress dowager’s last words on the road that she looked down on Qiao Jinniang as the Crown Princess Consort. It was clear that this old witch was unwilling to let him spoil Qiao Jinniang alone before her death.