Story of Yanxi Palace, Side Story Chapter 1: The Brother-Obsessed One in the Well

In the mountains, there are no days or months—let alone in the depths of a well.

A skeleton gazed upward at the well’s mouth. Jinxiu thought to herself: How many days has it been since I was murdered?

The murderer was Yuan Chunwang. After killing her to silence her, he had used his authority to find an excuse to seal the well opening. Day after day she looked up and saw no sky—only darkness… Huh? Who moved the well cover?

Splash—

A body fell into the well with a loud thud, sending water splashing everywhere.

It was a palace maid whose face was somewhat unfamiliar. Jinxiu had never seen her before. Either she was a newcomer punished into the Cleansing Division after Jinxiu’s death, or she came from outside Yong Alley.

—Either way, she was now someone on the verge of death.

The body floated on the water’s surface. A flower of blood bloomed on her chest, gurgling and bubbling as blood poured out. The scene… and especially the location of the wound… looked strangely familiar. Jinxiu couldn’t help but ask, “Excuse me… was the person who killed you Yuan Chunwang?”

The body turned its head and spoke the last words she had uttered while still alive in the mortal world: “How did you know?”

The well mouth was sealed again. Another skeleton now lay in the well.

Whether one had been an emperor or a general, man or woman—after death, everyone was the same: two hundred and six bones, and a pair of empty, pitch-black eye sockets.

“My name is Jinxiu. I was originally an embroiderer in the embroidery workshop, but later I was implicated by someone and punished by being sent to the Cleansing Division.” Jinxiu introduced herself. “By chance, I discovered a secret… Wei Yingluo is actually the true culprit who killed Noble Consort Hui! Before I could pass the information on, I fell victim to Yuan Chunwang’s poison.”

Perhaps because they shared the same misfortune, or perhaps because there was no one else in the well to talk to, the palace maid gave her a deep look and finally spoke slowly: “I am one of Her Ladyship Consort Chun’s people. My surname is Rong. I was sent by Her Ladyship to the Cleansing Division to find fault with Wei Yingluo…”

Fuheng had gotten married, and Consort Chun was furious.

Since she couldn’t vent her anger on Fuheng or Erqing, she turned her wrath on Wei Yingluo instead.

How best to deal with her? Consort Chun chose Palace Maid Rong.

Palace Maid Rong appeared ordinary, but she had one exceptional skill: she was an expert with needles—not for embroidery, but for stabbing people… With just a single needle, no matter how stubborn or unruly a palace maid was, she could teach her a lesson in manners.

“I don’t know how that little palace maid offended Her Ladyship Consort Chun, but Her Ladyship specially had someone administer ninety-nine and eighty-one needles to me.” Palace Maid Rong patted the bulging pouch at her waist; inside were bundles of silver needles. “She ordered me to use every single one on her, without leaving a single one behind.”

“And then?” Jinxiu asked excitedly.

Palace Maid Rong: “And then… I ended up here…”

Jinxiu: “…”

Was it simply bad luck, or was Yuan Chunwang simply too good at disguise?

As soon as Palace Maid Rong entered Yong Alley, she ran into Yuan Chunwang. Her face flushed, and she lowered her head slightly, thinking to herself how handsome this little eunuch was—wondering what his surname and given name were, how old he was, and whether he already had someone special…

“I heard that you are looking for Wei Yingluo?” His voice was gentle and pleasant, almost like sweet nothings. “I’ll take you to find her.”

From the entrance of Yong Alley to the side of the well was only a short distance, yet in that time Palace Maid Rong had already thought up names for their future children.

“I’ll just adopt one from my cousin,” she thought dreamily as she gazed at his profile. “His family is poor and he has many children—he surely won’t refuse. Why not adopt two? One can take his surname, and one can take mine…”

Her beautiful fantasy ended with the thrust of a dagger.

Palace Maid Rong looked down at her chest, then up at his face.

The man she had just silently confessed her love to smiled tenderly at her: “You like me so much… Would you be willing to die for me?”

Yuan Chunwang reached out. The hand she had wanted to hold for a lifetime gently pushed against her chest.

Splash—

A sudden rush of love, a sudden first love, shattered into countless pieces along with the moon’s reflection in the well.

“Ah…” Palace Maid Rong and Jinxiu sighed in unison. Having suffered similar fates, they suddenly found each other much more agreeable. Just as they were about to comfort one another, light suddenly appeared above their heads.

Both of them looked up at the same time—only to see that the well cover had somehow been moved aside again.

Splash—

Together they watched as a new person fell to the bottom of the well.

It was a young palace maid whose face looked half familiar. After thinking for a moment, Jinxiu finally remembered who she was: “You’re… Hetao Girl from Changchun Palace?”

There was a bloody hole in Hetao’s chest, blood bubbling out in gurgles. She opened her mouth, but well water mixed with blood poured in, and she couldn’t manage a single coherent sentence.

Looking at that all-too-familiar wound, Jinxiu couldn’t help but sigh: “No need to say it. The one who killed you… was it Yuan Chunwang?”

Hetao looked at her and uttered the very last words she would ever speak in this world: “How did you know?”

Another corpse had appeared in the well.

Compared to Jinxiu and Palace Maid Rong, Hetao was much younger and had far less resilience. For half a day she refused to accept the fact that she was already dead, crying without stop until her tears ran dry and not a single drop more could come from her hollow eyes. Only then did she choke out:

“Erqing killed me!”

“The important palace maids by the Empress’s side are all named after precious stones—such as Ming Yu, Zhenzhu, Hupo, and so on,” Palace Maid Rong whispered into Jinxiu’s ear.

The implication was clear: a maid named Hetao… could only be a lowly, unimportant little palace girl.

“Exactly,” Hetao said with a sigh, having caught the meaning in her words. “I was just an errand-runner. In ordinary times I couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the Empress’s face. The one who always gave me orders was Erqing.”

Later, after Erqing married out of the palace, Hetao got a new superior.

She had thought she would never see her again in this lifetime, yet a few days ago Erqing suddenly entered the palace. On the surface she came to reminisce with the Empress, but in reality she came looking for Hetao.

“Erqing found me,” Hetao said through gritted teeth. “She wanted me to come to the Cleansing Division and do something for her…”

Jinxiu and Palace Maid Rong exchanged a glance and spoke in unison:

“She wanted you to harm Wei Yingluo?”

“How did you know?” Hetao looked at them in surprise.

As people who had already been through it, Jinxiu and Palace Maid Rong merely smiled without answering, gesturing for her to continue.

“There were rumors that Wei Yingluo had a ‘food-and-sleep eunuch companion’ in the Cleansing Division. Erqing told me to come here and find out who that person was.” Since she was already dead, there was no longer any need for secrecy. Hetao spoke frankly: “And she said… if I couldn’t find anyone, just frame someone at random.”

After marrying into the Fucha family, Erqing’s days were far from enviable.

On the surface everyone envied her, but the bitterness within was known only to her, the one living it.

…Fuheng never shared her bed.

Only on their wedding night had the two of them lain together on the same bed. Though they were side by side, Fuheng had not touched her. No matter how Erqing tried to seduce him, he remained like a block of wood—completely unresponsive.

If he had truly been an impotent cripple, Erqing might have forced herself to accept her fate. But he was not. She had personally seen him blush, seen his heart stir, seen the tender, longing look in his eyes when he gazed at a certain woman…

That woman’s name was Wei Yingluo.

So Erqing sought out Hetao, handed her a hairpin made of pure gold, and quietly instructed her to do one thing: “I hear Wei Yingluo has a lover who is a eunuch. Find that person for me, and I will reward you handsomely—”

 

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