Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 163: The Loser

When the news of Qian Zhengyuan’s sudden death arrived, it shocked the Empress Dowager so much that she immediately fell ill.

“Empress Dowager.” Aunt Liu came over carrying a bowl of medicine, worriedly saying, “The imperial physicians have all said that this is acute anger attacking the heart, with qi deficiency and disharmony. You must calm your mind, settle your emotions, and focus on recuperating.”

The Empress Dowager waved her hand, refusing the medicine in her grasp: “I’m fine. It’s just that I always feel as though a huge stone is pressing on my chest, making it hard to breathe… Has His Majesty visited yet?”

Aunt Liu gave an apologetic smile: “His Majesty is currently busy with morning court affairs. Once he has a moment, he will certainly come to visit the Empress Dowager.”

The Empress Dowager sighed: “In the past, even if I merely coughed once, he would immediately set aside state affairs and rush over. Now that I’m truly bedridden, he shows complete indifference.”

“Empress Dowager, you misunderstand.”

Both the Empress Dowager and Aunt Liu turned toward the voice. They saw the new Empress approaching gracefully with a smile on her face: “Today the Grand Council ministers are all in the Western Warm Pavilion discussing affairs. His Majesty truly cannot get away. But since the Empress Dowager is ill, His Majesty is extremely worried and anxious, so he immediately sent me to come and attend to you.”

The Empress Dowager stared at her, her eyes seeming to shoot arrows.

The Empress took the medicine bowl from Aunt Liu’s hands, scooped up a spoonful, thoughtfully blew on it to cool it, then brought it to the Empress Dowager — every gesture perfectly that of a dutiful daughter-in-law.

Yet the Empress Dowager scoffed with icy disdain: “Empress, that letter was delivered to His Majesty by you, wasn’t it?”

The Empress smiled coyishly: “Empress Dowager, the person who sent the letter was Prince He, and the one who hid the letter was Dowager Consort Yu. I would never have such great audacity.”

“Prince He and Dowager Consort Yu?” The Empress Dowager now understood everything clearly. “One of them lacks the brains, the other lacks the courage.” In this harem, the only person with both the courage and the intelligence to devise such a vicious scheme against her was one person alone.

Looking at the woman smiling gently before her, the Empress Dowager said in a deep voice: “You endured silently for so long, and finally found an opportunity to avenge your father. Lady Nara… all this time, I have truly underestimated you!”

The Empress replied softly: “Empress Dowager, excessive worry and overthinking are the greatest taboos for the sick. Please don’t let your imagination run wild. Take your medicine properly…”

Before she could finish speaking, the Empress Dowager raised her hand and knocked the spoon and bowl out of her grasp. The dark brown medicinal liquid splashed all over the Empress, steaming hot.

The Empress Dowager said viciously: “Get out!”

“Yes.” Not a trace of anger appeared on the Empress’s face. She lightly brushed the medicine stains off her clothes with a handkerchief, then turned to leave — only to suddenly turn her head again. “Oh yes, I almost forgot one thing. Your nephew has been accused of participating in the disaster relief grain embezzlement case and has been thrown into the Ministry of Justice prison. Because the amount embezzled is enormous, I’m afraid he will be sentenced to beheading.”

The Empress Dowager was stunned upon hearing this.

“Your brother and sister-in-law rushed into the palace and have been kneeling outside Shenwu Gate for an entire day.” The Empress still wore that gentle smile on her face. “But His Majesty said that the Empress Dowager is deeply righteous and understands the greater principle. Knowing that her own nephew committed a crime, the first thing she must do is place righteousness above family ties. That he is not pursuing their responsibility for failing to educate him properly is already extraordinary mercy. Even if they kneel until the end of time, a head that deserves to be cut off will absolutely not be spared!”

Place righteousness above family ties? That phrase sounded familiar.

Upon thinking carefully — wasn’t that exactly the reason her own father was executed?

The Empress Dowager took several deep breaths, her voice trembling: “Empress, do you really think that back then I insisted on having your father killed just to protect my nephew?”

“Oh?” The Empress looked at her curiously. “Was it not?”

“Was he the only one who embezzled disaster relief grain? It was easy for His Majesty to kill him — but could he kill every single prince and minister in the imperial clan? He couldn’t. And neither can you!” The Empress Dowager said sharply, “The one I was protecting was not someone else — it was His Majesty, and the rivers and mountains of Great Qing! The one truly indulging in personal vengeance… is you!”

The Empress scoffed with icy disdain. Such high-sounding words could only deceive newly arrived young palace maids — they could never deceive someone whose parents had already been killed.

“Empress Dowager, you really have worked hard,” the Empress said mockingly. “But from now on, you no longer need to trouble yourself.”

Hearing the implication in her words, the Empress Dowager’s voice began to shake: “…Do you think you can drive a wedge between me and His Majesty’s mother-son bond?”

“Why can’t I?” The Empress laughed lightly. “His Majesty’s temperament is such that when he loves someone, he wants them to live; when he hates someone, he wants them dead. Now he believes you are the murderer of his birth mother, and that you have deceived him for so many years while wearing the mask of a loving mother. Do you think he will ever forgive you?”

Before the words “The Emperor will never believe…” could fully leave her mouth, the Empress Dowager herself froze.

Because she suddenly remembered the intelligence that Aunt Liu had brought earlier—Qian Zhengyuan, of all people, had to go and die by falling from his horse… and at exactly this moment?

“You finally remembered?” The Step Empress’s voice sounded right beside her ear, dripping with malice. “The Emperor originally didn’t believe it. Unfortunately—such a pity—Lord Qian Zhengyuan just happened to fall off his horse at this precise time. Tell me… who do you think he will suspect first?”

By now the Step Empress had completely seen through the secret. She immediately glared at the other woman and spat:

“Poisonous woman—it was you who killed Minister Qian—”

“Hahaha!” The Step Empress threw her head back and laughed, utterly delighted. “Rest assured, Empress Dowager. The Emperor definitely won’t kill you, but he will absolutely never forgive you! From this day forward, you may continue to sit high as the exalted Empress Dowager—like a Bodhisattva enshrined in Yinghua Hall—but nothing more than a noble ornament! Enjoy the rest of your life in peace!”

The Empress Dowager was so enraged her eyes turned bloodshot. With a sudden roar she lunged forward, hair disheveled, completely shedding her usual saintly Bodhisattva demeanor and looking instead like a vicious ghost that had crawled out of hell.

But the Step Empress simply stepped aside. The Empress Dowager, carried by momentum, overshot and crashed headlong into the bedpost. In an instant her mouth twisted to one side, her hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

Aunt Liu cried out in alarm: “Empress Dowager! Empress Dowager!”

Wei Yingluo happened to arrive at that exact moment. She rushed forward at once, feeling for the Empress Dowager’s pulse while urgently shouting: “Quick—go summon the imperial physician!”

In stark contrast to their frantic panic, the Step Empress remained perfectly composed. She bent down, smiled, and said sweetly:

“Consort Ling, your last backer has fallen. From now on… what exactly are you going to do? Hahahaha!”

The Step Empress laughed heartily as she left. On her way out, Yuan Chunwang drew close and spoke in an extremely calm voice, issuing a cool reminder:

“Empress, right now the Emperor detests the Empress Dowager, but after all they are mother and son with many years of deep affection. If one day he recalls the kindnesses of the past and begins to feel tender toward her again, wouldn’t you have made an enemy for nothing?”

Those words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing the triumph on the Step Empress’s face. She calmed down, thought for a moment, then turned to Yuan Chunwang with a smile:

“Since you ask that question, do you already have some plan in mind?”

Yuan Chunwang lowered his gaze. His eyes were perfectly tranquil, yet the words that came out carried a rolling murderous intent:

“Court Physician Zhang’s son died young, leaving behind only one little grandson, whom he regards as the apple of his eye, his very lifeblood…”

And the physician who had always come to take the Empress Dowager’s peaceful pulse was precisely Court Physician Zhang.

Especially as the Empress Dowager grew older—although she took excellent care of herself—various ailments common to the elderly inevitably appeared. Whenever anything happened, she would summon him. This time was no exception.

“Court Physician Zhang,” Aunt Liu asked anxiously, “how is the Empress Dowager?”

Court Physician Zhang withdrew his fingers from her wrist, frowning:

“The Empress Dowager has a deviated mouth and eyes, clenched jaw, and intermittent trembling in the right hand’s sinews. In my humble opinion, I fear this is obstruction of the meridians.”

Obstruction of the meridians had another name: minor stroke.

In severe cases it could lead to hemiplegia, inability to swallow even liquids—little different from death.

Aunt Liu trembled all over at the words, but fortunately Court Physician Zhang continued:

“Fortunately the Empress Dowager’s condition is very mild. As long as we prescribe a decoction to soothe the sinews and activate the collaterals, calm the liver and extinguish wind, and unblock the channels, recovery is still possible.”

Wei Yingluo, who had been holding the Empress Dowager’s hand, finally let out a breath of relief—only to immediately sense something wrong. Looking down, she saw the Empress Dowager’s hand twitching slightly. The woman kept opening and closing her mouth with great difficulty, as though struggling to say something.

But with her mouth crooked and drool running freely, she could not speak. In the end she could only stare fixedly at Court Physician Zhang with wide, intense eyes.

Wei Yingluo seemed to understand. Once Court Physician Zhang had left to prepare the medicine, she asked softly:

“Empress Dowager, you do not trust him?”

The Empress Dowager still could not speak; she could only blink forcefully in confirmation.

Wei Yingluo nodded, then turned to Aunt Liu:

“I will go find Physician Ye.”

“This…” Aunt Liu hesitated. “How can he possibly enter?”

Because he had once boiled the contraceptive decoction for Wei Yingluo, Ye Tianshi had been stripped of office but allowed to remain in service—in other words, he was kept on as a criminal in name only. Out of consideration for his past merits they did not execute him, yet they had no intention of ever employing him again. He was simply another mouth to feed in the palace, given food and drink and nothing else.

It was a form of punishment—to let a man of outstanding talent waste away until he died.

“I have my own way.” Wei Yingluo walked toward the palace gate.

After a while, she led several palace maids and eunuchs inside. Some carried trays, others held towels. Because Wei Yingluo was leading them, the supervising eunuch only glanced once and let them pass.

The items were placed in the sleeping chamber. Wei Yingluo pointed at one of the palace maids and said, “You stay and attend to the Empress Dowager. Everyone else, leave.”

Once the others had withdrawn, the “palace maid” raised her head, revealing the unmistakably bitter face of Ye Tianshi: “What exactly are you people doing?”

Wei Yingluo didn’t waste time on small talk. She directly handed him the prescription left by Court Physician Zhang. Ye Tianshi took it, read it, then felt the Empress Dowager’s pulse, and fell silent in thought.

“What is it?” Wei Yingluo asked. “Is there something wrong with the prescription?”

“No problem.” Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, Ye Tianshi continued, “But if she really takes it this way, I’m afraid recovery will be hopeless.”

“How so?” Wei Yingluo asked.

“This prescription is less a medicine and more of a tonic,” Ye Tianshi gave a dry laugh. “She won’t die from taking it, but she won’t get better either—it makes no real difference whether she takes it or not.”

Upon hearing this, Aunt Liu’s expression immediately turned cold: “So Court Physician Zhang really was up to no good?”

“Not exactly,” Ye Tianshi said with a wry smile. “There’s an old saying in the capital: ‘Hanlin Academy essays and Imperial Academy prescriptions—beautiful on the surface only!’ After all, the Empress Dowager is of noble body. Who would dare use fierce, attacking drugs on her? So they can only slowly nourish and tonify. Even if this prescription is investigated from top to bottom, it’s all perfectly good medicine—no one can find the slightest fault!”

Wei Yingluo sighed. “Physician Ye, I must trouble you—please write a prescription for the Empress Dowager.”

The two had known each other for many years, and this was a matter of saving a life—a deed of great merit. Ye Tianshi did not refuse. He wrote two prescriptions for her, left a few medical instructions, then disguised himself as a palace maid again, picked up a basin of water, and left.

After seeing him off, Aunt Liu returned and said to Wei Yingluo with a sigh: “In the situation we’re in now, Shoukang Palace can no longer protect you. If you can leave, leave quickly—don’t get dragged down with us. The Emperor, he…”

Wei Yingluo smiled and cut her off: “The Emperor has never favored me anyway—what is there to fear? Besides, the Empress Dowager once protected me and spared me from humiliation. If I abandon her at a moment like this, what kind of person would that make me?”

Aunt Liu fell silent. The Empress Dowager, lying weakly on the bed, also quietly watched her.

“Empress Dowager,” Wei Yingluo slowly sat down beside her and gently took her hand. “The Empress has planned this for a long time and is coming with overwhelming force. If we are to respond, could you tell me about the past?”

The Empress Dowager looked at her with a complicated expression. After a long moment, she turned toward Aunt Liu and gave her a slight nod.

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