Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 136: May It Be as It Was at the Beginning

   One month later, at the martial training ground.

   Because he needed to secretly look after Wei Yingluo, Fuheng would occasionally make trips into the palace.

Of course, he could not go to the inner palace. Every time he came, it was to the training ground, under the same pretext—to spar with his good friend Hailancha.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Sword met sword in sharp clashes. Both Fuheng and Hailancha were dressed lightly, yet fine beads of sweat flew from them. Their powerful stances and soaring battle spirit made them resemble two untamed wild lions.

Hailancha’s martial skill was formidable, but in the end, Fuheng held the clear advantage.

With a resounding clang, the long sword in Hailancha’s hand was suddenly struck flying.

“Your Majesty, be careful!”

Both Hailancha and Fuheng were startled. They turned and saw—oh no! —the sword was flying straight toward Hongli.

Before the guards could even react to save him, Hongli had already deftly raised his hand and caught the hilt.

The force of the sword carried his steps backward several paces. Once he steadied himself, Hongli casually flourished the blade in a sword flower, his eyes coldly fixed on the two men in the arena.

Fuheng and Hailancha immediately knelt together: “This servant has startled His Majesty’s presence—deserves ten thousand deaths!”

Hongli lifted the sword and walked forward step by step until he stood before Fuheng. Coldly he said, “Fuheng, it has been many years since I last witnessed your swordsmanship. Why don’t you let me test it for myself—see exactly how much you’ve improved!”

With those words, a streak of cold light slashed downward.

Fuheng dared not block it, nor did he dare dodge. Thus his arm took the blow squarely.

Hongli withdrew the sword and said coldly, “If you retreat without fighting, it will be considered deceiving the sovereign!”

Helpless, Fuheng had no choice but to raise his sword to meet him.

The two blades clashed. One side reflected Hongli’s face as he spoke casually: “In the past, when Neqin was still here, he always came alone to audience and discuss affairs. But after you entered the Grand Council, every time it requires all the Grand Council ministers to appear together before the throne. Fuheng—are you perhaps being a little too cautious?”

On the other side, reflecting Fuheng’s face, he said, “Your Majesty, this servant once made a grave mistake, leading to one wrong step after another—I truly regret it beyond measure. If private matters are like this, how much more so public affairs. Now I am cautious and careful, precisely because I take responsibility for the affairs of state.”

Hongli: “What you mean is—never mind!”

He had come full of anger, but at this moment his rage suddenly dissipated. His movements lost their vigor, and he abruptly tossed the sword aside. “I’m tired. Li Yu, return to the palace.”

He had just taken one step toward the door when he heard Fuheng behind him say, “Your Majesty, why do you not ask where the mistake lay? If back then you had granted this servant’s request for marriage, the Concubine Ling of today would be Lord Fucha Fuheng’s wife!”

Hongli suddenly bent down, snatched up the long sword from the ground, turned, and pointed it at him. “Lord Fucha Fuheng, you are outrageously presumptuous!”

Fuheng showed no fear whatsoever. “This servant once admired Wei Yingluo. Perhaps to Your Majesty this constitutes a kind of blasphemy—but she never agreed to marry this servant. Everything was merely this servant’s one-sided wish!”

Hongli: “Enough! I don’t want to hear it!”

Fuheng: “The past cannot be recalled. Your Majesty has always been magnanimous. Before the Borjigin woman entered the palace, she had been widowed, yet the moment she entered she was granted the rank of Noble Lady. Your Majesty did not even mind that she had been married before. Why, then, when it comes to Wei Yingluo, do you harbor such resentment?”

Hongli said darkly, “Lord Fuheng, do you truly believe I won’t kill you?”

Fuheng: “Because this woman is Wei Yingluo, you refuse to recall her past—because you did not participate in it, did not understand it! The angrier Your Majesty becomes now, the more you coldly neglect Concubine Ling, the more it proves that you are jealous and at a loss!”

Hongli: “Lord Fucha Fuheng, back then I stopped you only because…”

Fuheng: “Because Your Majesty believed Wei Yingluo was vain and greedy for power, clinging to the influential? Yet deep in your heart you know very well—if she were truly that kind of person, she would have long since used Your Majesty to climb higher! Yet you still insist on saying so. Why?”

Hongli gave a mocking laugh. “You suspect that I deliberately broke you two apart? Lord Fuheng, you really have gone mad—to utter such absurd words!”

Fuheng: “This servant dares not presume to guess the sacred will. Only Your Majesty knows best what is truly in your heart.”

Hongli was momentarily stunned.

The Empress’s words suddenly rang in his ears: Your Majesty, you were so determined to break off this marriage—do you truly have no selfish motives? Perhaps Your Majesty took a liking to Wei Yingluo and wanted her for yourself!

   Before him stood a face strikingly similar to the Empress’s, looking at him calmly. “Your Majesty, since you have obtained her, you should cherish her properly. Otherwise, this servant will only regret even more why I did not persist to the very end back then!”

The story branches here, each thread told separately.

While these two men stood in tense confrontation, inside a palace corridor, Ming Yu and Wei Yingluo walked one behind the other. Ming Yu carried a large armful of silk brocade, grumbling as she went: “Finishing the Guanyin embroidery wasn’t enough—now they’re making you embroider Buddhist sutras too. It’s clearly deliberate harassment! Your hand was injured in the Cleansing Division, and now you’re embroidering day and night. The cuts on your hand have all split open again. If you damage the brocade even slightly, everything has to be started over!”

“Enough!” Wei Yingluo said helplessly.

“I’m going to say it anyway!” Ming Yu was so angry her face was almost distorted. “Having someone embroider is one thing, but making us supply the materials too—this time if Momo Zhang hadn’t helped, we wouldn’t even have had any satin. What Buddhist embroidery are we supposed to do…”

She broke off mid-sentence.

An uninvited guest had appeared at the far end of the long corridor. Upon seeing them, he did not avoid them at all—he walked straight toward them.

It was none other than Wei Yingluo’s mortal enemy—the very Prince He who had caused the death of her sister—Hongzhou.

Truly, when the roof leaks, it pours all night. At this moment Yanxi Palace was already in the most precarious, windswept state—hardly a match for this prince standing before them.

Wei Yingluo hated him to the bone, yet she also understood her current position. She would not choose this moment to clash head-on with him. Instead, she chose to ignore him entirely and led Ming Yu to pass right by his side.

But Hongzhou was not willing to let her go so easily. With a sudden flick of his hand, he knocked the pile of silk brocade from Ming Yu’s arms and sent it tumbling to the ground.

The ground was still wet from the recent snowfall. Ming Yu, fearing that the silk would get soaked and ruined by the snowmelt, hurriedly bent down to pick it up. But just as her fingers touched the fabric, a pair of official boots stretched out from the side and mercilessly crushed down on her fingers.

“Ah!” Ming Yu cried out in pain, caught completely off guard.

Wei Yingluo’s expression changed. She forcefully shoved Hongzhou’s foot away and shielded Ming Yu in front of her: “Prince He, treating a woman this way—isn’t that far too despicable?”

She had assumed that since they were still within the palace, her status as a concubine would serve as protection. No matter how arrogant and domineering Prince He might be, he wouldn’t dare do anything to her. But to her surprise, he scoffed with icy disdain. Suddenly, one hand shot out, seizing her throat in a vicious grip and slamming her back against a pillar.

The eunuch who had been escorting him out of the palace trembled in fear: “P-Prince He, this… this cannot be done…”

“What do you mean it cannot be done?” Hongzhou lifted his hand, and Wei Yingluo’s feet rose off the ground along with it, leaving her dangling in midair against the pillar. She gasped desperately for breath like someone on the verge of death. He sneered coldly: “This Concubine Ling has completely lost favor. Now she’s nothing but a stray dog anyone can trample!”

Still, he didn’t dare kill her openly. His fingers loosened, and Wei Yingluo collapsed to the ground, clutching her throat and coughing violently. It took her a long while to catch her breath. But instead of being frightened by what had just happened, she slowly raised her head and stared straight at him: “Even a stray dog can bite.”

Hongzhou burst into loud laughter and reached for her again: “Go on then—bite me and let me see!”

Just as that hand was about to clamp around Wei Yingluo’s throat once more, another hand suddenly shot out from the side—like iron tongs—locking tightly around his wrist. A faint sound of cracking bone could be heard.

Hongzhou cried out in pain: “Fuheng! Have you gone mad? Let go!”

The person who had rushed over in a hurry to stop all of this was none other than Fuheng.

He appeared to have run the whole way; his breathing was slightly ragged, and the sweat on his forehead—whether from the run or from the shock of the scene—was unclear. Hearing Hongzhou’s words, he only tightened his grip further and said coldly: “Out of consideration for the fact that we grew up together, I’ve already been very polite to you! Hongzhou, you’ve done so many things and only with great difficulty managed to change His Majesty’s opinion of you. Are you planning to throw it all away and go back to how things were before?”

A flicker of struggle crossed Hongzhou’s face: “…I understand. Let go.”

Seeing that he finally knew to restrain himself, Fuheng slowly released his grip—but his eyes remained full of wariness, fixed on him.

Even if Hongzhou wanted to make trouble for Wei Yingluo, he wouldn’t choose this time or this place—because… he simply couldn’t beat Fuheng. All he could do was toss out one final sentence: “Fine. I’d like to see just how long you can keep protecting her!”

With that, Hongzhou shot Wei Yingluo one last vicious glare, clutched his wrist, and stormed off in fury.

Only then did Fuheng let out a breath of relief. He turned back to help Wei Yingluo: “Are you all right?”

But Wei Yingluo avoided his hand and turned her face toward Ming Yu: “Ming Yu, let’s go back.”

Ming Yu hurried over to support her. The two of them gathered up the silk from the ground, held it in their arms, and were about to leave when Fuheng suddenly spoke from behind: “Wait!”

Immediately after, his footsteps caught up. A very low, deep voice fell beside Wei Yingluo’s ear: “Hongzhou harbors deep hatred toward you. Be extremely careful. Also… I saw His Majesty today. I hope… everything goes as you wish.”

Wei Yingluo’s heart stirred, but she didn’t turn back. She simply continued walking forward, leaving his voice and his figure behind her.

Fuheng remained rooted in place, motionless, watching her departing silhouette. After a long while, he lowered his head and looked at his own sleeve. A trail of fresh blood snaked down from inside it.

—It was the sword wound left by Hongli during practice on the training ground.

Drop by drop it fell onto the snow, blooming like plum blossoms.

Inside Yanxi Palace, a similar plum tree was also in bloom—twisted diseased branches dotted with red plum blossoms.

Wei Yingluo returned to the palace with a heavy heart. There was too much work on her hands, so she continued embroidering while lost in thought. Although the window was closed, the wind and snow had blown a small hole in it. She hadn’t had time to patch it yet, so voices from outside drifted in.

“Xiaoquanzi, what is this bottle of medicine?”

“Sister Ming Yu, this was delivered by Lord Soulun at noon. He said it’s the best hand cream—made with cardamom and white sandalwood—so it can restore your hands to smooth and flawless condition.”

“That’s perfect! I was just in need of a bottle like this!”

The door creaked open. Ming Yu came in holding a porcelain-white medicine bottle, closed the door behind her with a backward motion, and walked over to Wei Yingluo’s side.

“Keep the person, take away the medicine.” Wei Yingluo said without lifting her head.

Ming Yu was stunned for a moment, then gave a wry smile. “True enough. Even someone as slow as me figured it out—how could you not see it?”

It wasn’t that she had discovered it entirely on her own. Rather, Soulun—that big, blunt oaf—was simply terrible at lying, and even worse at deceiving the girl he liked. After holding it in for several days, he finally couldn’t bear it anymore and confessed the truth to Ming Yu.

At first she blamed him, but later she felt that his straightforward honesty was actually quite nice, so she stopped holding it against him. All along, though, she had been quietly wondering whether she should tell Wei Yingluo the real story.

Now, as it turned out, she had guessed it herself.

“It’s easy to add flowers to brocade, but hard to send charcoal in a snowstorm,” Ming Yu said meaningfully. “I really wish I had someone who understands when I’m cold or warm, who’s gentle and considerate, always thinking of me!”

Wei Yingluo smiled slightly. “Isn’t your Guard Soulun exactly that kind of person?”

“That big blockhead!” Ming Yu glared. “That big blockhead only thinks about going to the battlefield to earn merit all day long. How would he ever understand a girl’s tender feelings? Flirting with him is less effective than flirting with a blind bear!”

Whenever she mentioned Soulun, she took on this lively, animated expression. Wei Yingluo let out a soft laugh and pushed the medicine bottle back toward her. “Put it away for now.”

Ming Yu was startled. “You don’t need it now?”

“Right, no need,” Wei Yingluo said, her gaze shifting to the brazier at her feet. “And this one too—put it away.”

Ming Yu looked shocked. “W-why? The weather is already so cold…”

These days the cold grew harsher by the day. A month ago she could still wrap herself in a quilt to get through the night, but now even bundling up in a quilt wasn’t enough—her teeth would chatter from the chill. Without the brazier, how could anyone survive the night? She feared that before dawn, her entire body would turn ice-cold.

Why?

In Wei Yingluo’s mind there suddenly flashed the words Fuheng had left behind earlier: “I saw His Majesty today. I hope that… everything goes as you wish.”

“Do as I say.” While speaking, Wei Yingluo walked over to the table, lit a cluster of candle flames, then slowly pinched the wick thinner and thinner.

—just as she had done a month ago, when Yanxi Palace had become so destitute that not even a single candle could be used.

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