Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 124: Keeping Distance Yet Close

   Men are proud by nature, and Hongli was prouder than all the men in the world combined by a factor of three.

He knew full well that he was in the wrong, yet he couldn’t bring himself to say “sorry,” nor could he swallow his pride enough to go to Yanxi Palace.

So day after day, he went to Shoukang Palace instead.

What was in Shoukang Palace? Besides the Empress Dowager, there was Wei Yingluo.

Perhaps because she was older now, the Empress Dowager preferred liveliness over quiet. This Wei Yingluo was especially favored there—not only did she dress up as Jia Baoyu or Du Liniang, but today she would perform a scene from Dream of the Red Chamber, tomorrow she would sing an aria from The Peony Pavilion.

Today Hongli came to Shoukang Palace to pay his respects again. His gaze swept quickly past the people beside the Empress Dowager. A flash of disappointment crossed his eyes before he swiftly concealed it and said to the Empress Dowager with composure: “This son respectfully greets the Empress Dowager and wishes Her Ladyship well.”

The Empress Dowager did not rise. The concubines beside her all stood up and curtsied: “We pay respects to Your Majesty.”

Everyone had their own little calculations.

Hongli came to pay respects so diligently that the concubines from every palace could only be even more diligent.

In the past, Shoukang Palace had rarely been so lively. Now half the harem had practically moved in. Every concubine had something to say to the Empress Dowager. If they couldn’t find words, they would find some excuse to wait nearby, hoping Hongli would come by.

“You’ve come at just the right time. I was just talking with Noble Consort Chun about the scenery of Jiangnan.” The Empress Dowager saw through everything but said nothing, smiling as she spoke to Hongli. “Unfortunately, I never got to visit Suzhou in my lifetime, so I’ve never seen the landscapes of Jiangnan. Fortunately, I’ve just acquired a painting of the beautiful scenery of Jinan. Emperor, why don’t we admire it together?”

Aunt Liu brought over a scroll. When it was unrolled, strange mountains and wondrous waters unfolded before everyone’s eyes.

But upon seeing the layered peaks of Changting, fishing boats appearing and disappearing, and two mountain peaks rising and falling amid the water and clouds—grand, perilous, and majestically imposing—Noble Consort Chun only gave it a single glance before recognizing the painting. “This is… Zhao Mengfu’s Autumn Colors on the Que and Hua Mountains?”

She quickly turned her eyes toward Hongli, only to see his gaze fixed on the painting, his expression visibly darkening. Gritting his teeth, he said, “This is the painting Noble Lady Wei presented to the Empress Dowager?”

Why would he suddenly bring up Wei Yingluo?

The Empress Dowager was extremely perceptive. After a brief moment of surprise, she immediately understood the underlying issue and smiled warmly, saying, “Yes… Emperor, don’t you always particularly like this kind of landscape painting? Then I shall give this painting to you.”

Hongli forcibly suppressed his anger and forced a smile. “Since it is the Empress Dowager’s kind intention, your son naturally cannot refuse.”

This “kind intention” left Hongli furious the entire morning.

He barely ate any lunch—whatever was brought in was sent back out untouched.

“Li Yu.” Hongli stood with his hands behind his back, facing the wall where Autumn Colors on the Que and Hua Mountains now hung. His expression was extremely gloomy as he said, “Tell me—even if I wronged her, even if I treated her unjustly—she could have come to me like Concubine Xiaojia did, crying and pleading her case. Why did she stubbornly refuse to speak and instead blame me for neglecting her?”

Li Yu cautiously glanced at him. “Your Majesty, shall this servant… deliver these words to Yanxi Palace for you?”

“Insolent!” Hongli roared.

“Yes, this servant deserves death!” Li Yu thought he had misread the imperial intention and immediately dropped any mention of going to Yanxi Palace.

He thought he had finally gotten it right this time, but moments later he received another angry rebuke from Hongli: “Why are you still standing there?”

Li Yu dropped to his knees. They say accompanying a ruler is like accompanying a tiger—he truly understood the misery of that saying today. Go or not go—Your Majesty, please just give a clear order.

In truth, Hongli himself had no clear answer in his heart.

One moment he thought of apologizing; the next, his pride roared at him not to do so. One moment he was furious that she had given away something he personally bestowed; the next, he couldn’t help but make excuses for her: “…She’s merely a Noble Lady.”

Li Yu no longer dared respond—anything he said would be wrong—so he simply kept his mouth shut and listened.

“When she suddenly received imperial favor, naturally the other consorts were jealous. She has no powerful family background, so it’s inevitable she would be bullied. Not long ago, didn’t she injure her knees from kneeling?” Hongli didn’t need a reply. When one hates a person, everything they do is wrong; when one likes a person, everything they do has a reason. “At that time… she probably wanted to come to me, but before I had sorted things out clearly, I punished her.”

He paused, then let out a soft sigh. “She must have been afraid, and so she no longer placed her hopes in me, but instead turned to the Empress Dowager for protection.”

As for why the painting ended up in Shoukang Palace, he no longer wanted to pursue the matter.

Perhaps she had sent it to curry favor with the Empress Dowager. Or perhaps the Empress Dowager had seen it and casually expressed a liking for it, and given her lowly status, how could she possibly refuse such a request from the Dowager?

“Go,” Hongli said softly. “Go to Yanxi Palace.”

Li Yu acknowledged the order with a “Yes” and withdrew.

The waiting was the most agonizing part. Hongli paced back and forth in front of Autumn Colors on the Que and Hua Mountains, glancing toward the door with almost every step.

Only when Li Yu’s figure reappeared at the doorway did he finally stop. He quickly returned to his desk, picked up a memorial as a pretense, and pretended to be indifferent: “What did Noble Lady Wei say?”

Li Yu noticed that the memorial in His Majesty’s hand was upside down but pretended not to see it. Lowering his head, he replied, “Noble Lady Wei said… she already knows she was wrong.”

“Is that so?” Hongli immediately set the memorial down and stood up almost eagerly. “I’ll go see how she is admitting her fault.”

He left so hurriedly that the servants below had no time to announce his arrival.

In Yanxi Palace, candles were hastily lit. Ming Yu hurriedly tidied herself and, holding a hexagonal palace lantern, came out to greet him: “Your Majesty, Her Ladyship has just retired for the night…”

Hongli raised a hand to silence her and strode directly toward the inner bedchamber.

Wei Yingluo had just gotten up, still draped in a sleeping robe, her long hair uncombed and cascading down her back like a length of jet-black satin that reflected the flickering candlelight, dazzlingly beautiful. She smiled and said, “Your Majesty, why have you come?”

Hongli took a deep breath, his whole body radiating arrogance, yet the moment she turned and smiled at him, he bowed his head in submission. Before she could even apologize, he spoke first:

“I’ve ordered Concubine Xiaojia to be confined to her palace for one month of self-reflection and to copy the Rules for Women one hundred times.”

This was the utmost limit of what he could bring himself to do. He could never actually utter the words “I’m sorry,” but these words and this action were already his equivalent of an apology.

Wei Yingluo understood this perfectly. She froze for a moment, then gave a soft, amused smile and deliberately provoked him:

“Your Majesty, are you… apologizing to me?”

Hongli’s eyelid twitched.

This woman… she sees right through everything but refuses to stay quiet!

Irritated, he strode over, suddenly pinned Wei Yingluo down onto the bed, and looked down at her from above, his eyes filled with helplessness and annoyance:

“Wei Yingluo, you always manage to infuriate me!”

Wei Yingluo burst into giggles. Her laughter was so charming that it smoothed away even his anger.

“Your Majesty,” she reached up, hooked her arms around Hongli’s neck, pulled his lips toward hers, and gave him a light peck, playful as a little kitten, “this is just the way your concubine is. Even if you dislike it, I’m afraid I can’t change!”

Hongli was momentarily stunned. His heart felt as though a cat’s claws had lightly scratched it—how could he possibly want her to change?

She had always been like this: visible yet untouchable, touchable yet unattainable, coming close yet remaining distant, like a solitary cat that comes and goes as it pleases. It was always him who went to find her, never her who came looking for him or begged for anything.

All the women in the palace belonged to him, and of course she did too… yet somehow she never truly felt like his.

   How could he possibly tame this elusive, independent cat?

   One night of tender intimacy passed.

   When night gave way to dawn, Wei Yingluo was curled up in the blankets like a contented cat. Hongli sat beside her, gazing at her in fascination, then suddenly spoke in a low voice:

“Li Yu, come transmit a decree.”

Li Yu stepped forward, but secretly resolved that this time he would not act too quickly—lest the Emperor change his mind again and he himself end up taking the blame.

Hongli said:

“Appoint Minister of Works Hadaha as chief envoy and Grand Secretary of the Cabinet Wu Ling’an as deputy envoy. They shall carry the imperial credentials and invest Noble Lady Wei as Concubine Ling. Also, Concubine Xiaojia is to remain confined for one month of self-reflection and copy the Rules for Women one hundred times.”

The title “Ling” comes from the Book of Songs (Greater Odes): “Like a jade tablet, like a scepter, of excellent fame and excellent dignity”—pure and beautiful as jade, worthy of such an honorific.

   Li Yu was astonished: “Yes, Your Majesty.”

In his heart he thought: His Majesty was just thundering with rage a moment ago, and now in the blink of an eye he bestows such a title! Noble Lady Wei has been in the palace less than three months—she’s practically riding a ladder to the clouds. It’s truly frightening. Once word gets out, the harem will surely be thrown into unrest again.

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