Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 165: Departure

The guard whom the Empress Dowager had summoned was named Wang Tianyi.

Upon entering Yangxin Hall, he immediately tried to kneel and pay respects, but his knees simply wouldn’t bend. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he grimaced in pain.

Hongli frowned deeply at the sight until Li Yu leaned close to his ear and murmured softly:

“Your Majesty, Lord Wang once took a firearm shot to the knee while protecting the late Emperor. In his old age, the old injury flares up repeatedly…”

Looking at the elderly man with graying temples below, Hongli sighed inwardly and said:

“Grant him a seat.”

Li Yu personally brought over a chair. Wang Tianyi sat down very carefully, occupying only the edge of the seat, ready at any moment to rise and kneel again.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“…You once personally taught me riding and archery. You can be considered my teacher. Whatever I ask you now, you must answer truthfully.” Hongli had already investigated the man’s background and was surprised to discover they shared a past connection. “Back then, when the late Emperor made a private visit to Shanxi, Lady Qian accompanied him. Are you aware of this matter?”

Wang Tianyi hesitated for a moment before replying:

“Yes, Your Majesty, that did happen.”

Hongli couldn’t help clenching his fingers:

“When you went to greet him, did the late Emperor return together with Lady Qian?”

Wang Tianyi: “Yes.”

Hongli exploded in fury and slammed his palm on the desk:

“The Empress Dowager actually dared to deceive me!”

Wang Tianyi dropped to his knees with a thud. The sudden movement caused a sharp crack from his knee. He clutched his right knee in agony, sweat dripping to the floor. It took him a long while to find his voice again. Hoarsely, he pleaded:

“Your Majesty, please calm your anger…”

By this time Hongli had already stepped out from behind the desk and hurried to his side. He personally helped the old man up, his gaze earnest:

“Wang Anda, you followed the late Emperor for decades. When I was small, you carried me around the courtyard on your back… For the sake of our past bond…”

He paused, and a thread of chilling coldness suddenly entered his voice:

“Tell me… was Lady Qian killed by the Empress Dowager?”

Wang Tianyi froze for a second. He had only just stood up before dropping to his knees once more.

Hongli said nothing. Li Yu said nothing. Everyone waited for Wang Tianyi to speak.

One could say that in this moment, this elderly man with inconvenient legs and graying temples held the power to decide life and death. A single sentence from him could determine the fate of the Empress Dowager—and the fates of many others…

“Your Majesty…” Wang Tianyi said through tears, “Lady Qian, in order to save the late Emperor, submitted her body to the Ming bandits, causing the late Emperor to lose all face. She… was granted death by the late Emperor himself!”

Hongli went rigid at the words.

A buzzing filled his ears. Whatever Wang Tianyi said afterward, he barely heard any of it.

In truth, when he first heard Lu Wanwan tell that story of chastity and righteousness, a vague answer had already formed in his heart. But because of Qian Zhengyuan’s death, and because of the new Empress’s deliberate interference, his preconceptions had deepened, causing him to place suspicion on the Empress Dowager first.

Yet once he brushed aside those prejudices, wasn’t the answer… quite obvious?

A woman who had lost her chastity—how could she possibly continue to live in the rear palace, under the endless gossip and condemnation of the world?

If she were allowed to live, how could she possibly go on living in the days to come? And what would become of her child?

Hongli could not help but recall the words the Empress Dowager had once spoken: “Right up until the moment of death, she held my hand tightly, refusing to close her eyes until I promised her that I would treat you as my own son. Only then did she finally close them.”

   …Yes. Apart from death, what other path was left for Lady Qian?

Apart from entrusting her son to the Empress Dowager, what other path did she have?

   “…Empress Dowager.” Hongli suddenly murmured the words and rushed out the door.

Guilt weighed heavily on his heart; he wished he could immediately kneel before the Empress Dowager and beg forgiveness. Yet when he reached Shoukang Palace, it was completely empty. Hongli stared at the deserted palace, at the vacant carved windows, then slowly turned around and demanded of the rows of kneeling palace maids and eunuchs:

“Where is the Empress Dowager?”

A palace maid answered tremblingly: “The Empress Dowager… the Empress Dowager has taken Consort Ling and left the palace to recuperate from illness.”

“What did you say?” Hongli exclaimed in shock. Then, already striding hurriedly outward, he shouted: “Prepare the horses! Prepare the horses at once!!”

He galloped out of the palace gates, Hongli at the very front, a group of guards trailing behind. Seeing him whip his horse as if his life depended on it, the guards grew tense and closed ranks tightly around him, afraid he might fall if he lost control for even a moment.

“Whoa!” Suddenly Hongli reined in hard. The horse reared, hooves kicking up dust, then settled into restless small steps. From atop the saddle, Hongli looked at the person blocking the road.

“…Noble Lady Qing, what are you doing?”

Lu Wanwan, her face deathly pale, gave him a respectful curtsy: “Your Majesty, this concubine has been ordered by the Empress Dowager to wait here and convey several urgent words to Your Majesty. I beg Your Majesty to dismiss your attendants.”

Hongli waved his hand. The guards immediately turned their horses and withdrew. He dismounted, walked up to Lu Wanwan, and asked: “What did the Empress Dowager say?”

“The Empress Dowager instructed this concubine to tell Your Majesty: The late Emperor reigned for thirteen years and rested only on the day of his birthday. He never once went on the Mulan autumn hunt, nor indulged in pleasure excursions. He governed with utmost diligence, all because he wished to be a good emperor. The late Emperor once said that in this life he bore the infamous reputation of plotting against his father, forcing his mother, killing his brother, and slaughtering his younger brothers—like carrying a towering mountain on his back while walking against the wind. He knew full well how crucial it was, for any heir, to have a legitimate and unsullied name!”

Lu Wanwan sighed. “He did not lack pity for Lady Qian—he simply could not bear to let Your Majesty be stained by shame!”

Hongli listened in silence.

“That day, when the Empress Dowager was ordered to bring the poisoned wine to see the Lady, the Lady said not a single word. She merely bowed three times to the Empress Dowager, then calmly drank the poison and died.” At this point Lu Wanwan’s own eyes filled with tears, as though she felt the pain herself. “The Empress Dowager said that since she had accepted those three bows, she had taken on a thousand-boulders burden. She would care for Your Majesty her whole life as though You were her own flesh and blood…”

Hongli let out a long sigh. He lifted his head high; tears glistened at the corners of his eyes.

After finally forcing the tears back, he abruptly remounted and galloped off in the direction the Empress Dowager had gone. Behind him, Lu Wanwan called out urgently: “Your Majesty! Your Majesty! The Empress Dowager said the Forbidden City is no longer peaceful. She is going to the Yuanmingyuan to recuperate. Consort Ling will take good care of her. She asks that Your Majesty not pursue her…”

But how could Hongli listen? Again and again he lashed the horse; hooves thundered, raising clouds of dust as he chased after the Empress Dowager’s carriage.

   Yet when someone has already resolved to leave, how can they ever be chased back?

   Clop-clop-clop. On the road to the Yuanmingyuan, the Empress Dowager reclined against a welcoming pillow, sipping the tea Aunt Liu offered her. She looked perfectly at ease, calm and composed—not at all like someone who was ill.

“What is it?” She set down the teacup and smiled at Wei Yingluo sitting opposite her. “Do you have something to ask me?”

Wei Yingluo asked curiously: “When did Your Majesty recover?”

The Empress Dowager laughed. “You should be asking when I fell ill.”

Wei Yingluo was somewhat puzzled. Aunt Liu gave a gentle smile and offered her a hint: “Consort Ling, if the Empress Dowager had not fallen ill, how could she have made the Empress lower her guard?”

It was more than just making the Empress lower her guard…

   This illness of the Empress Dowager’s had come at exactly the right moment. Not only did it cause the Empress to relax her vigilance, it also won Hongli’s pity—buying precious breathing room for the decisive counterstrike that would come later.

   When something happens with such perfect timing, nine times out of ten someone is pulling strings behind the scenes.

   Wei Yingluo finally understood. “Your Majesty, how did you manage to deceive the imperial physicians’ eyes?”

Court Physician Zhang might be bribable, but after him, Ye Tianshi also came to take the pulse. If Zhang could be bought off, Ye Tianshi was certainly not someone so easily purchased.

“The Empress thinks herself clever, having bought off Court Physician Zhang—but who would know…” The Empress Dowager turned her head to look at the unremarkable Aunt Liu beside her. “The one by my side, Aunt Liu, happens to be an expert in the use of medicines?”

Aunt Liu smiled. “Her Majesty flatters me. Using golden needles to manipulate things can deceive for a moment, but not forever. That is why Her Majesty must leave the Forbidden City.”

The Empress Dowager had fallen ill at just the right moment, and departed at just the right moment.

Leaving at this precise time was the surest way to make Hongli regret it bitterly. Given that monarch’s temperament, he was probably already galloping on horseback right now, chasing after the carriage.

“Empress Dowager, you are wise,” Wei Yingluo praised.

But the Empress Dowager shook her head, took her hand, and said, “Consort Ling, relying only on a few words from Aunt Liu, you managed to tell the Emperor a fine story. We understood each other at once… but your story is still not complete. I must help you finish it.”

Wei Yingluo was startled upon hearing this.

Was there some flaw in her plan—or in the story she had told?

“Your Ladyship Consort Ling,” Aunt Liu asked with a smile, “do you know why the Empress Dowager is taking you with her when she leaves?”

Wei Yingluo shook her head.

The Empress Dowager looked at her fondly. “Consort Ling, you are very clever, but your methods are still too immature. You have thoroughly offended the Emperor. The more you linger in front of him, the more you will annoy him. You need to make him think of you, miss you—and yet be unable to see you.”

In that instant, one phrase flashed through Wei Yingluo’s mind: The older the ginger, the spicier it gets.

   Aunt Liu seized the moment and said, “Your Ladyship Consort Ling, why don’t you thank the Empress Dowager? She is helping you.”

Wei Yingluo rose from her seat and solemnly bowed to the Empress Dowager. “I thank Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.”

In the past, the Empress Dowager had merely used Wei Yingluo. But after sharing hardship together, genuine affection had begun to grow. She personally helped her up and let her sit close beside her, speaking softly: “In the entire Forbidden City, no one is better at winning people’s hearts than you. I am bringing you to the Yuanmingyuan because I want someone to keep me company.”

Wei Yingluo hesitated for a moment, then finally asked cautiously, “Empress Dowager, there is one thing… I venture to ask.”

The Empress Dowager saw right through her. “You want to ask why Lady Qian really died?”

Hearing it stated so plainly, Wei Yingluo suddenly didn’t dare press further. She only dared to steal glances from the corner of her eye.

   A kindly, benevolent smile gradually appeared on the Empress Dowager’s face. If the current Empress were present, she would surely recognize it—the very same smile the Empress Dowager had worn when she persuaded Hongli to execute her innocent father.

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