Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 84: The Final Wish

   In Chengqian Palace the red candles burned high.

In Chuxiu Palace, however, white candles were lit one after another.

Coupled with the increasingly desolate atmosphere of Chuxiu Palace, stepping inside felt like entering a funeral hall.

“Zhilan.” Noble Consort Hui sat on the bed, dressed entirely in white, her long hair hanging loose over her body. Her tone was eerily calm. “Fetch water. I want to bathe and change clothes.”

“Niangniang…” Zhilan looked at her in both shock and fear, terrified that she had already lost her mind. She spoke cautiously, “Please don’t worry. Everything will be all right.”

“Since even Ye Tianshi could not cure this palace, no one else can. Even if they could, this palace would still be left covered in scars.” Noble Consort Hui slowly turned her head to look at her. A ruthless determination—to break like jade rather than live like tile—flickered faintly in her eyes. “Hurry and prepare. This palace doesn’t have much time left.”

Fetching water was easy; bathing with such severe injuries was difficult. Although Zhilan tried her utmost to avoid the wounds, the injury on Noble Consort Hui’s back was so large that some water inevitably touched it. The pain made sweat bead on her forehead and her face turn deathly pale. By the time the bath was finished, she had already lost half her vitality and lay across the bronze mirror like a corpse.

While combing her hair, Zhilan wept and said, “Niangniang, please forget about it. Your health is the most important. Once your body recovers, there will still be time to deal with that wretch Consort Xian.”

“No… I don’t have much time left. I can’t waste any more of it on her.”

Noble Consort Hui slowly raised her head, staring at her own pale and haggard reflection in the mirror. With a trembling hand, she opened a box of rouge, hooked a bit of the remaining red with her pinky, and slowly applied it to her lips.

“Go… Go invite His Majesty to come.”

With tears in her eyes, Zhilan ran all the way to the Yangxin Hall, only to be told that the Emperor was staying at Chengqian Palace tonight. So she turned and ran again, heading toward Chengqian Palace.

Thinking of Noble Consort Hui in Chuxiu Palace, barely clinging to life with just one breath left, and then looking at Consort Xian, who was currently basking in the Emperor’s favor, a surge of poisonous resentment flashed through Zhilan’s eyes. For a moment she almost exposed the woman’s true face right then and there.

But the words reached her lips and were swallowed back down.

She glanced at the hand wrapped around Consort Xian’s waist… Even if she said it, would he believe her?

“Your Majesty.” Zhilan knelt before the owner of that hand and sobbed, “Your Ladyship Noble Consort wishes to see you. She says… it will be the last time.”

Hongli froze. “Isn’t Noble Consort recuperating in Chuxiu Palace? What do you mean ‘the last time’?”

Zhilan sobbed even harder. “Your Majesty, Master Ye Tianshi said that Your Ladyship Noble Consort’s illness cannot be cured. Noble Consort she…”

Hongli’s expression changed dramatically. Before she could finish, he sat up from the bed and strode quickly toward the door.

Behind him, Consort Xian opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing. She only watched him leave with a complicated look in her eyes.

Hongli hurried to Chuxiu Palace. The palace was deathly silent; all the palace maids and eunuchs who usually attended her had long been dismissed by Noble Consort Hui.

Pushing open the door, he saw Noble Consort Hui, dressed in snow-white robes, sitting upright beneath the candlelight. Her face was heavily made up, with long, finely drawn eyebrows and lips painted the color of vermilion — like an actress on stage, fully costumed and waiting for the sovereign to appraise her performance.

She slowly raised her head and said softly, “Your Majesty, you’ve come.”

Hongli took several steps forward and reached out to support her. “Noble Consort, instead of resting properly, what are you doing now?”

Noble Consort Hui gently pushed his hand away. “I know my days are numbered. I wish to dance one final dance for Your Majesty. I hope that one day, when I am gone, you will still remember how I look at this moment… and never forget me.”

Hongli was stunned. “Noble Consort…”

She lifted her head to look at him, then gave a gentle smile — filled with both seductive charm and heartbreaking sorrow. “Perhaps I have always been lost in my own play, never truly awake. Please allow me to be willful one last time.”

With that, Noble Consort Hui slowly rose, forcing her failing body to dance for Hongli.

Like a mermaid who had crawled ashore, like a celestial crane with broken wings — every step dripped blood, every bend of the waist pierced her heart. This desperate, dying dance surpassed every performance she had ever given before. Its tragic and majestic beauty held Hongli’s gaze from beginning to end, as if a mortal had been bewitched by a mermaid, or a monk ensnared by a demonic crane.

Only when the dance finally ended did Hongli realize that her white robes had long been soaked through with blood.

“Ning Xin’er!” Hongli rushed forward and caught her in his arms, deeply moved. “Rest and recover properly. From now on, Zhen will treat you well. Let us forget all the unpleasant things, alright?”

Noble Consort Hui leaned against his chest, breathing heavily for a moment before slowly raising her sweat-drenched face. She reached out and gently touched Hongli’s cheek.

“No, Your Majesty. It’s too late. Ning Xin’er cannot wait any longer. As the saying goes, ‘When a person is about to die, their words are kind.’ There is one thing I begs of you!”

Hongli’s heart ached unbearably. “I will definitely find the culprit for you!”

Noble Consort Hui shook her head. “That no longer matters to me…”

Hongli asked, “Then what do you want?”

At that moment, if Noble Consort Hui had asked to sit on the Empress’s throne — even for a short while — Hongli would have hesitated and seriously considered it, instead of immediately rejecting her as he once would have, scolding her for delusional fantasies.

Yet Noble Consort Hui only said mournfully, “I know that although Your Majesty is lord of all under Heaven, you cannot interfere in the private affairs of your subjects. That is why I never asked for anything before… Back then, I was still dreaming — dreaming that one day, when I became Empress, I could openly confer posthumous honors on Mother, give her a grand burial! I wanted the entire Gao clan to wear mourning for her, kowtow, and apologize to her! But dreams are only dreams… Now, this concubine can only shamelessly beg Your Majesty to grant my mother a proper funeral, so her soul will not wander homeless forever.”

Hongli was silent for a moment, then said firmly, “Very well. I promise you.”

A single tear hung at the corner of Noble Consort Hui’s eye. With her wish granted, she let out a soft sigh of relief.

“My father is far away, thousands of li from here. I wish to see my two younger sisters. I beg Your Majesty’s grace — allow them to enter the palace!”

Hongli: “I will immediately issue a decree summoning the Gao family into the palace!”

The imperial edict reached the Gao residence. Before dawn had even broken, a carriage was already waiting outside the palace gates. As soon as the gates opened, Lady Ma stepped down from the carriage, leading her two flower-like, jade-beautiful daughters. They were guided by a eunuch straight to Chuxiu Palace.

“Mother,” Gao Ningxiu quietly asked her mother, “I heard that Big Brother also wanted to come, but Big Sister refused him. Why?”

Gao Heng and Noble Consort Hui were full siblings born of the same mother, raised together through hardship and mutual dependence. Their bond was naturally far deeper than what she and her half-sister could share with them. Upon hearing that Noble Consort Hui was gravely ill, Gao Heng had nearly rushed into the palace overnight, only to be turned away by the messenger eunuch, who said that Your Ladyship Noble Consort only wished to see her two younger sisters.

“What other reason could there be?” Lady Ma gave a light laugh. “The Gao family’s favor cannot be broken. Your eldest sister wants to find someone to take her place—naturally she can’t choose a man like him…”

They soon arrived at Chuxiu Palace. Zhilan was already waiting outside the door. Seeing the three of them approach, she stepped aside gracefully and said:

“You two young misses, Your Ladyship Noble Consort is waiting for you inside.”

Lady Ma also wanted to follow them in, but Zhilan subtly blocked her way. With no other choice, she could only give her daughters a few final instructions and watch as they entered.

The carved wooden doors opened to both sides, revealing a square table laden with fine wine and exquisite dishes—and one peerlessly beautiful woman.

“You’ve come,” Noble Consort Hui said lightly.

On her head was a magnificent peony-shaped ceremonial headdress in full bloom; from her ears hung long East Pearl tassels; around her arms were strings of emerald beads. Her five-colored brocade robe shimmered with pearls and jewels, exuding an overwhelming aura of nobility and splendor. If there had ever been any flaw in her appearance before, it was that her presence had always been too sharp, too dazzling. Now, the slight pallor on her face added a touch of fragile, pitiable softness—making her utterly flawless, peerless in the world.

Even the two young women were momentarily stunned by her beauty, only recovering after a long pause.

Gao Ningxiang asked curiously: “Big Sister, weren’t you supposed to be gravely ill? How come you don’t look sick at all?”

Gao Ningxiu quickly tugged at her: “Mind your manners! You must address her as Your Ladyship Noble Consort.”

“Your Ladyship Noble Consort,” Gao Ningxiang corrected herself immediately. “The entire Forbidden City is saying you suffered terrible injuries and are bedridden, unable to rise. But from what I see, you are still as radiantly beautiful as ever—utterly breathtaking.”

Noble Consort Hui smiled slightly, gesturing for her to come closer. She personally poured her a cup of wine.

“My two little sisters,” she said, then poured another cup for Gao Ningxiu, “I am indeed seriously injured. Even putting on these clothes took a full hour. I’ve only been sitting for a short while, yet my undergarments are already soaked with sweat, and my whole body trembles.”

Gao Ningxiang was horrified: “Niangniang, does it really hurt that much?”

Noble Consort Hui smiled: “Every breath I take feels like steel needles piercing bone—unbearable pain. Every step is like walking on razor blades, blood flowing freely.”

Gao Ningxiu said worriedly: “We are all one family. Niangniang need not rush to host a banquet. Whatever you wish to say can wait until later.”

Noble Consort Hui: “I do not have much time left—we cannot afford to waste it. I’m sure my two little sisters are curious why I summoned you here.”

Gao Ningxiang: “Mother said you were…”

Gao Ningxiu quickly silenced her: “Be quiet!”

Gao Ningxiang, frank and outspoken by nature: “It’s true, isn’t it? Mother said the Gao family’s favor cannot be allowed to end. Since your health has failed, someone new must be chosen to take your place!”

Gao Ningxiu shot her a glare, inwardly furious at her sister’s foolishness. Even if the matter really was as she said, one should still know how to carry the sedan chair properly—speak carefully. Noble Consort Hui was an arrogant and domineering person. If she were angered, something that might have succeeded could easily fall apart…

Quietly stepping on her disappointing younger sister’s foot, Gao Ningxiu looked at Noble Consort Hui with slight apprehension, trying to think of how to salvage the situation. But then she heard Noble Consort Hui let out a long sigh:

“Mother is right. I am clearly not going to last much longer. Of course I must choose one of my two little sisters—the most suitable one—to take my place in attending to His Majesty and continue the Gao family’s glory.”

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