Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 151: Choices and Sacrifices

   Hongli finally set down the memorial in his hand and said calmly, “Empress, you have lost your composure.”

The Empress was kneeling on the ground, her forehead pressed to the floor. She had maintained this posture for a very, very long time.

“You claim your father has been wrongly accused.” Hongli sighed, walked over, and helped her up. “The disaster victims smashed the relief workshop to pieces. He and nine other relief officials were helpless; the situation spiraled out of control, resulting in countless casualties. The officials I sent to investigate discovered that the grain newly allocated to the granary was less than thirty percent of what it should have been. Tell me—who has wronged your father? The disaster victims? The censors? Or… me?”

The Empress suddenly raised her head and stared at Hongli. “Your Majesty, for more than twenty years my father has never understood how to climb the ranks or amass wealth, never understood how to scheme and scramble. Whatever Your Majesty said, whatever the people needed, that was how he handled affairs! Three years ago when the river dikes in Zhili burst, he was merely passing through, yet he stayed behind to help the local officials and people. At the most dangerous moment, he personally went down to the dike and used sandbags—even used his own body—to block the breach! Tell me, would a man like that embezzle the people’s disaster relief grain?”

Hongli was stunned.

“Your Majesty.” Tears finally fell from the Empress’s eyes as she pleaded miserably, “I beg you—give him one more chance. Investigate once more, please?”

Humans are not made of wood or stone; how can one be without feeling?

   “So you agreed to her request?” In Shoukang Palace, the Empress Dowager continued trimming her potted plants without turning her head.

Hongli paused, then gave a wry smile. “I hadn’t even finished speaking, and Royal Mother you already guessed.”

“What’s so hard to guess?” The Empress Dowager laughed, her expression kind and benevolent. “Emperor, you dislike most when the inner palace interferes in government affairs—that is the thing you resent above all. Yet you tolerated the Empress weeping and pleading. Doesn’t that mean, deep in your heart, you already believe Naerbu is innocent?”

“And the facts bear it out.” Hongli said calmly, “Hongzhou, together with the Ministry of Justice, conducted multiple investigations and confirmed that even before the relief grain reached the granary, it had already been skimmed away layer by layer. Naerbu was trying to cook without rice—how could he provide relief?”

With a crisp snip, the golden shears cut off a camellia blossom. The Empress Dowager turned back coldly: “So what?”

Hongli was taken aback. “Royal Mother, what is your view?”

Casually tossing the flower and shears aside, the Empress Dowager slowly walked to the chair and sat down. With extreme calm she said:

“Naerbu has more than enough loyalty and integrity, but far too little ability. In the Zhejiang–Fujian region alone, 126 congee kitchens were set up—yet only his congee kitchen met with disaster. When he discovered the victims rioting, he not only failed to control the situation, he allowed it to spread rapidly, resulting in countless dead and injured among the disaster victims and shaking the entire court. If everyone were as incompetent as he is, what kind of chaos would the Great Qing fall into?”

Her meaning could not have been clearer. Hongli stared at her: “…Royal Mother, you wish me to execute Naerbu?”

The Empress Dowager smiled slightly and countered with a question: “If he is not killed, how can the people’s anger be appeased?”

The room was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood incense. On the table stood a statue of Maitreya Buddha, and even the walls bore hanging portraits of the compassionate and merciful Guanyin Bodhisattva. Looking at the benevolent smile on the Empress Dowager’s face, Hongli felt a chill creep into his heart.

“You have spent years eating vegetarian meals and reciting the Buddha’s name. Even when palace maids and eunuchs make mistakes, you are reluctant to punish them lightly.” He asked slowly, “Yet now, for a clearly wronged loyal minister, you urge me to kill him?”

The Empress Dowager sighed, like an elderly mother gently instructing her young, ignorant child. “Emperor, if you do not kill Naerbu, then you must thoroughly investigate this case—and that means punishing many more people, including your imperial uncles, your cousins, and even thousands of disaster-relief officials. The grain passed through their hands, bit by bit, like sand slipping through an hourglass—leaving less and less behind.”

Imperial uncles? Cousins?

Hongli finally understood. The Empress Dowager was merciful—merciful only toward her own blood kin. As long as she could protect that group of imperial relatives who had embezzled the disaster-relief funds, what did the sacrifice of a mere servant matter?

“Empress Dowager!” Hongli said through gritted teeth. “From top to bottom, layer upon layer of exploitation—this is how things have come to this. They must pay the price!”

“Those who embezzled the relief grain are indeed guilty of a crime deserving ten thousand deaths,” the Empress Dowager said, suddenly shifting her tone. “But you cannot execute them all in a single day.”

She gently swirled the lid of her teacup and continued in an orderly, persuasive manner: “The imperial clan is bound together like branches of the same tree. Move against one, and nothing happens. Move against two, and trouble arises. Move against three, and the realm falls into chaos. Think of your late father, the previous emperor!”

Hongli was stunned. Memories flooded back of the previous emperor’s reign—opposed at every turn by his own brothers and the imperial clan, every policy met with extreme difficulty in implementation. Many measures clearly intended to benefit the common people were twisted by those below into harsh exploitation, until eventually the entire populace blamed the emperor himself.

In the end, the only thing the previous emperor could do was to stop killing with more killing.

“Are you going to follow his example now?” the Empress Dowager pressed relentlessly. “And end up like him… abandoned by all, kin and subjects alike?”

“…So by killing the innocent Naerbu and shielding this pack of corrupt officials, the Great Qing will somehow become better?” Hongli mocked. “I fear they will only grow bolder next time and hollow out my country completely.”

But the Empress Dowager deliberately redirected the conversation, focusing all the contradictions on Naerbu alone, making him the scapegoat for the entire clan.

“I have already said—he is not innocent. He is incompetent!” She emphasized her words. “The people only believe what they see, hear what they hear, and understand what they can understand! They have decided that Naerbu embezzled the funds—so you present them with Naerbu’s head. It is the simplest principle in the world!”

Hongli said in deep pain, “Empress Dowager, he is the last remaining blood relative of the Empress!”

The Empress Dowager smiled slightly—exactly like the Maitreya Buddha beside her, like the Guanyin portrait behind her. “If he were anyone else, he might be allowed to linger on in life. But precisely because he is the Empress’s closest kin, he must be killed. Kill Naerbu, and the world will believe that the laws of the Great Qing show no favoritism, and that the Emperor is utterly impartial and selfless!”

Hongli’s fist clenched tightly, then slowly loosened. Finally, he rose abruptly. “I will consider your words, Empress Dowager.”

He truly did not wish to quarrel with his own mother, nor did he wish to hear any more of such cold-hearted counsel. He could only lift his foot and leave.

“Emperor!” From behind, the Empress Dowager called after him. “The border wars have not yet been pacified, natural disasters strike everywhere—kill one Naerbu, and others will praise you for your swift and decisive action in punishing the chain of disaster-relief officials. But the court officials and imperial clan will blame Your Majesty for being ruthless and heartless, while the common people will begin to doubt the integrity of the Great Qing’s administration… Which outcome do you want?”

Hongli’s footsteps paused for a moment, then he continued walking out.

The Empress Dowager was not the only one urging him in this way.

Afterward, memorials impeaching Naerbu flew into the Yangxin Hall like snowflakes.

In the end, there even came a joint petition—a long scroll densely covered with names.

“This is a ten-thousand-word petition from the people of eastern Zhejiang demanding that I execute the chief culprit, Naerbu.” Hongli wearily sank back into his chair, rubbing his temples as he asked, “Hailancha, if you were me, what choice would you make?”

Hailancha hemmed and hawed for a long time. Hongli, growing impatient, spoke in a low voice: “Speak!”

“If this servant were handling this matter…” Hailancha hesitated, then finally said resolutely, “This servant would kill Naerbu.”

Hongli had originally thought that, at the very least, he could hear a different answer from him. Who would have expected that Hailancha—always straightforward and honest by nature—would actually say such words? He couldn’t help opening his eyes wide in surprise as he looked at him: “Why?”

Hailancha gazed at him, his face still bearing the same loyal and devoted expression as always: “Your Majesty, killing one person can appease public anger. Killing a group of people, however, will incite chaos. As for the real vermin, we can settle accounts with them one by one later. But that Naerbu right now… must be killed!”

Hongli remained silent. After a long pause, he waved Hailancha away, then turned and asked Li Yu: “Go outside and see—has the Empress… left yet?”

Li Yu went and quickly returned, reporting cautiously: “Reporting to Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Empress is still kneeling outside. She has already… been there for a full day.”

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