Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 144: Falling from the Horse

   Inside the racetrack, endless green turf stretched from underfoot all the way to the horizon. Horse hooves clopped over a white flower. Wei Yingluo and Hongli rode one behind the other, both changed into hunting attire. The palace’s luxurious trappings were gone, replaced by a vigorous, heroic air.

Wei Yingluo complained: “This horse is no good—it doesn’t listen at all! To the left, to the left!”

The horse snorted loudly and stepped to the right instead.

Hongli held back a laugh, tightened the reins a little, and guided its steps back: “This is my favorite Akhal-Teke blood-sweat horse. No one else is even allowed to touch it, and here you are still picking faults left and right. Why don’t you just admit you’re clumsy yourself?”

“Aiya! Aiya!” Wei Yingluo let out a series of loud yelps on horseback.

“Hold the reins tight—tight!” Hongli was truly exasperated, thinking her head must be made of elm wood—impossible to teach no matter how hard he tried. Who could have guessed that in the very next second, a pair of arms would wrap around his waist like vines? Wei Yingluo clung to him like ivy twining around a tree: “I’m going to fall!”

Hongli’s heart immediately softened. Fine, fine—he thought—what’s the point of her learning to ride? At worst they could ride double: he would handle the horse, and she could just cling to him and keep shrieking.

“Your Majesty!” A guard suddenly hurried over. “Military report incoming!”

Hongli was taken aback and had no choice but to dismount. Before leaving, he instructed: “Ride by yourself for a while. Li Yu, find a gentle horse for Consort Ling.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Li Yu waved his hand, and a little eunuch immediately led over a small brown pony.

Wei Yingluo walked to the horse’s side, reached up to stroke its ear. From the corner of her eye she glanced at the unfamiliar-looking little eunuch, then gave a strange smile and swung herself up onto the horse.

“Huo Zhanjí diverted water to flood our camp. Our army dug trenches to drain it and held out bitterly for ten days. Finally Lord Fucha arrived with reinforcements outside Heishui Camp and, together with General Zhaohui, attacked from inside and out, successfully annihilating five thousand of the enemy. However, General Zhaohui’s warhorse became mired in the mud and he unfortunately fell from the saddle, sustaining a minor leg injury. Lord Fucha is currently leading troops in pursuit of the fleeing Huo Zhanjí; no definite news has come back yet.” At one side of the racetrack, the guard presented the military report to Hongli.

Hongli listened with a frown, about to ask for more details, when suddenly a sharp scream came from behind: “Consort Ling, Your Ladyship!”

He whipped around. Amid a chorus of shrieks, he saw the brown horse let out a long neigh, rearing up on its hind legs, four hooves kicking high. A flash of red was hurled from its back.

“Yingluo!”

Inside Yanxi Palace, candles burned from nightfall straight through to dawn.

The imperial physician looked extremely tense—not because Wei Yingluo was in mortal danger, but because every half hour Hongli sent Li Yu over to ask him: “How is Consort Ling?”

The more concerned the Emperor was, the more constrained the physician felt. He revised the prescription over and over, inserted needles with the utmost caution. Only now did he finally breathe a sigh of relief, wipe his sweat, and say: “It’s done. You can report back to His Majesty like this…”

Li Yu’s legs were nearly worn out from all the running back and forth. Now that he had a definite answer, he too relaxed and hurried back to Yangxin Hall to report. Seeing the door tightly closed, he knew a discussion was underway inside, so he stood guard at the entrance.

“Speak.” Inside Yangxin Hall, Hongli’s face was extremely dark. “What have you found?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty.” Hailancha knelt on the ground. He had just returned from the racetrack and now reported everything he had discovered to Hongli: “This servant inspected the entire racetrack. The problem was in the horse’s feed trough—someone tampered with the fodder, causing an originally very docile horse to suddenly go berserk. That was how Her Ladyship Consort Ling came to fall.”

Hongli clenched his fingers until they cracked audibly. He said coldly: “From top to bottom of the Imperial Stables—arrest and rigorously interrogate the supervising minister, along with all the bureau directors and section chiefs!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After the guards withdrew, Li Yu entered:

“Your Majesty, Consort Ling has already woken up.”

Hongli immediately started to rise to go over, but a guard came to report urgent military affairs. He had no choice but to sit back down. By the time he finished dealing with the matters at hand, the moon had already risen above the willow tips. Without even bothering to eat, he hurried to Yanxi Palace. As night deepened, palace servants hung paper lanterns one by one under the eaves—each one shining brightly like a small moon. He stepped in under the moonlight until he reached Wei Yingluo’s side.

With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the attendants and slowly sat down beside her, his voice full of guilt:

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have let you go riding.”

Wei Yingluo said nothing, lying with her back to him inside the bed curtains.

Thinking she had already fallen asleep, Hongli didn’t want to disturb her. He lowered his voice to the softest whisper:

“Setting the bones must have hurt terribly. I wasn’t even there with you. Tonight I won’t leave—I’ll stay with you the whole time, all right?”

“No.” Wei Yingluo replied.

Hongli was startled, then laughed helplessly:

“You’re awake?”

Wei Yingluo gave a soft humph and still refused to face him, keeping her gaze fixed on the wall.

“Since you don’t want to see me, then I’ll go.” Hongli pretended to stand up.

In an instant Wei Yingluo rolled over on the bed, tumbling straight into his arms. The movement tugged at her injury; she immediately grimaced in pain and began to sob quietly.

“You, ah, you.” Hongli gently helped her up, his heart aching. “Even now you’re still being mischievous.”

“Your Majesty.” Wei Yingluo clung tightly to his waist as if grasping a lifeline, sobbing as she spoke: “Someone wants to kill me.”

Hongli was stunned. He comforted her:

“Don’t let your imagination run wild. It was just an accident!”

She trembled violently in his arms. This woman, usually so stubborn and fearless, now showed such vulnerability in his embrace—it made him feel an extraordinary tenderness and pity. Her voice shook:

“Your Majesty, she wants me dead. That person… wanted me to fall from the horse!”

Suddenly she lifted her tear-streaked face and looked up at him with extreme unease and attachment, seeking a promise:

“Your Majesty, will you protect me?”

“Yes.” Hongli pulled her into his arms and gently patted her back. “I will protect you. I will definitely protect you…”

He coaxed her for a long time until she finally fell peacefully asleep in his embrace once more. Hongli carefully laid her back on the bed, drew the quilt over her, and gazed at her sleeping face for a long while. Just as he was about to leave, he felt a tug on his sleeve. Looking down, he saw her small fingers clutching his sleeve tightly—even in sleep, she wouldn’t let him go.

He found himself unable to leave after all. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he said in a low voice:

“Come in.”

Li Yu entered, glanced at Wei Yingluo on the bed, and instinctively lowered his voice:

“Your Majesty, Hailancha has reported back. The ministers in charge of the Imperial Stables—along with the assistant directors, section chiefs, and eunuchs—have all been thoroughly interrogated. The only thing they got out of anyone was the word ‘wronged.’ Nothing else.”

Hongli pondered for a moment:

“Give the eunuch who was specifically in charge of feeding that horse eighty heavy strokes. The rest will have their salaries docked for one year—then let them go.”

Li Yu was surprised:

“Let them go?”

Hongli gave a cold smile:

“Yes. Let them go.”

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