Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 162: Storm

   Upon hearing that Hongli had come to Chengqian Palace, the Step Empress hurried out to greet him.

“Emperor?” Seeing his dark and gloomy expression, she asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”

Hongli dismissed everyone else with a wave, then hesitated, seemingly on the verge of speaking but holding back.

The Step Empress gently guided him to sit in a chair, took both his hands in hers, and refused to let go. The warmth of her palms flowed into his. She said nothing, simply gazing at him with gentle, loving eyes—as if to say: We are husband and wife, one body and one heart. I am right here. You can tell me anything at any time; I will always share your burdens.

Hongli looked at her in silence for a long while before finally speaking. “This matter concerns my own origins. Right now my heart is in turmoil—I no longer know who to believe…”

After hesitating again and again, he finally told her everything the Empress Dowager had said. When he finished, the Step Empress looked astonished. “The Empress Dowager really said that?”

Seeing Hongli nod, she immediately hesitated, as if wanting to speak but holding back.

Hongli: “Empress, do you have something to say?”

The Empress spoke somewhat haltingly: “Your Majesty, in Your Majesty’s heart, the Empress Dowager is a kind and benevolent mother. I do not wish to speculate about her with malice.”

Hongli said gravely, “Speak. I want to hear the truth.”

Only then did the Empress sigh and continue: “Your Majesty, think about it. Although the Niohuru clan is from a prestigious family, the branch that the Empress Dowager comes from is only a collateral line. Her own father was merely a fourth-rank ceremonial official, and there are no particularly prominent figures in her branch of the clan…”

Hongli frowned, not fully grasping her meaning, but he continued to listen.

“When the Empress Dowager entered Prince Yong’s household, she was merely a a secondary consort of lower rank. Above her were the primary wife and side wife. Especially later, when the Empress Xiaojingxian (Consort Ulanara) lost her only legitimate son in the 43rd year of Kangxi’s reign, her position became even more precarious. If the late Emperor truly wanted to find a high-born birth mother for you…” She looked at him and asked word by word, “Why would he have chosen the present Empress Dowager at that time?”

Hongli pressed his lips together. “…The Empress Dowager said it was because she was entrusted by Lady Qian.”

“Your Majesty, at that time in Prince Yong’s household, the only son was the one born to Side Wife Lady Li. The Primary Wife, side wife, and all the lower rank consorts had long been green with envy. If Lady Qian was frail and unable to raise the child herself, wouldn’t that have sparked fierce competition from all sides?” The Empress spoke hesitantly. “Yet the Empress Dowager emerged victorious and even leapt to become Your Majesty’s birth mother — and for all these years, no one has ever questioned it. I truly cannot imagine… Perhaps there was no real competition in Prince Yong’s household, nor any entrustment of the child, but rather…”

Hongli asked sharply, “Rather what?”

Pressed by him, the Empress seemed to let it slip out unintentionally: “Rather… it was a re-enactment of the old tale of the civet cat exchanged for the crown prince!”

Her words landed like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. Hongli’s face turned deathly pale. Unconsciously, he gripped the Empress’s hand so tightly that her bones creaked. Only slowly did he come back to himself, murmuring as if to himself: “Could it be… just as Lady Wenshu said — that Lady Niohuru killed the mother and stole the son, and that is the real truth?”

On the other side, at the Imperial Guard Station.

   Ever since Hailancha left Yangxin Hall, he had been waiting anxiously inside the guard station.

“Hailancha!”

He turned abruptly, looking as if a weight had been lifted yet also as if he were sighing. “You’re here.”

Ming Yu came in carrying a food box. As she set it on the table, she smiled and asked, “Did the old madam like the forehead band I sent you last time?”

Following Wei Yingluo’s suggestion, Ming Yu had made two forehead bands: one for Hailancha to wear, and one sent to his mother.

“She loved it!” Hailancha answered without hesitation. “Of course she loved it!”

Ming Yu shyly lowered her head, opened the lid of the box, and began taking out dish after dish of steaming-hot food. “These are little side dishes I made myself. The wild vegetable seeds Xiaoquanzi brought back — we planted them all in the backyard. They’re nothing rare, but they’re very fresh.”

“There’s so much — I can’t finish it all by myself.” Hailancha pulled her down to sit beside him. “Let’s eat together.”

So many dishes, yet only one pair of chopsticks.

But for a pair of lovers, it was just right.

You feed me a bite, I feed you a bite. Plate after plate was quickly emptied, though Ming Yu had a small appetite, so most of the food ended up in Hailancha’s stomach.

   Accepting a mouthful of vegetables from her chopsticks with his mouth, Hailancha asked, “Are Concubine Shu and the others still bullying you all now?”

Ming Yu shook her head and smiled. “Although our master no longer enjoys the Emperor’s favor, she spends every day by the Empress Dowager’s side. Who would dare give her a sour face?”

Unexpectedly, Hailancha fell silent upon hearing this. After a long pause, he suddenly spoke: “Ming Yu, I’m afraid Shoukang Palace will not be peaceful in the future either. You’d best advise Consort Ling to keep some distance from the Empress Dowager, so as not to bring disaster upon herself.”

Ming Yu was startled. She knew Hailancha’s character well — he was not someone who spoke without reason. For him to say such words meant there must be something serious behind it.

“Why?” Ming Yu asked, searching his face.

Hailancha pressed his lips together and did not answer.

“Is it related to some secret that you can’t tell me?” Ming Yu tossed her chopsticks into the food box in a fit of pique. “Then pretend I never asked!”

She stood up to leave, but Hailancha grabbed her arm. “No! It concerns His Majesty’s origins. The fewer people who know, the safer they are…”

Perhaps realizing that continuing to conceal it would not only drag Consort Ling deeper into danger but would also leave Ming Yu unable to escape, Hailancha gritted his teeth, looked up at her, and lowered his voice: “Consort Ling has attached herself to the Empress Dowager; sooner or later she will find out anyway. I’ll tell you everything so she can prepare in advance…”

Yanxi Palace.

   It was already past noon. Wei Yingluo, having eaten and drunk her fill, lay reclining on a rocking chair, gently swaying back and forth to aid digestion. Without even opening her eyes, she asked, “Did he really say that?”

Ming Yu stood beside her with a grave expression. “Yes. His Majesty suspects that the Empress Dowager was the mastermind behind the death of Lady Qian. That’s why Hailancha asked me to warn you: do not go to Shoukang Palace again in the near future, or you will be implicated.”

“Master, Guard Soulun is right,” Xiaoquanzi added. Though he did not have a direct source like Hailancha that Ming Yu had, he was on good terms with many palace servants. By piecing together their fragments of conversation, he could more or less sense that something was off. “This servant feels the wind in the Forbidden City is about to change direction. We need to turn the rudder quickly!”

As the center of this brewing storm, the Empress Dowager’s days were even more difficult.

“Empress Dowager.” Aunt Liu stepped into the Buddhist hall. “It’s already this late—you must come up with a plan!”

Tap, tap, tap. The Empress Dowager continued striking the wooden fish, kneeling motionless on the prayer cushion, saying nothing.

Aunt Liu sighed. “Empress Dowager, if His Majesty were to meet with Minister Qian, all the years of effort you have poured in would be ruined in an instant.”

The sound of the wooden fish stopped. The Empress Dowager slowly opened her eyes. “Go and make inquiries. Find out where Minister Qian is right now.”

A river may appear clear on the surface, but once the Emperor gives the order, countless hands will reach in and dredge up even the deepest silt at the bottom.

“Your Majesty.” Inside Yangxin Hall, Hailancha reported, “This servant carefully questioned the old servants who once waited on the prince’s household. Some still remember Lady Qian from back then. She did indeed come from Jiaxing. At nine years old she was sold through various hands into the prince’s mansion. In the sixteenth year, when the prince fell ill with an epidemic, she nursed him devotedly and thus gained favor.”

Hongli sat in his chair, fingers drumming lightly on the tabletop. “Did she… have any family?”

Hailancha hesitated for a moment. “Qian Zhengyuan is her own elder brother.”

“Qian Zhengyuan?” Hongli was startled. Almost unconsciously, he unfurled the scroll of the Spring Radiance Painting that Qian Zhengyuan had previously presented. On it was depicted a mother holding thread, and a wandering son wearing clothes.

“Yes.” Hailancha lowered his head. “The Qian family was poor and feared their young daughter would starve, so they entrusted her to relatives. But that year there was a severe drought, and she ended up being sold instead. Lady Qian’s mother searched for her daughter across a thousand li, spending several years before finally locating her at Prince Yong’s mansion. By then, however, Qian had already become a lower consort—they could not take her away. Later, Qian Zhengyuan pursued the path of the imperial examinations, and only then did the Qian family begin to rise again.”

Halfway through listening, Hongli suddenly unfurled the Spring Radiance Painting with a rustle.

He had not examined it closely before. Now, scrutinizing it inch by inch, he sighed. “Indeed, it is so.”

Hidden behind the woman in the painting was the small figure of a little girl, peeking out curiously with an adorably innocent expression.

“Spring Radiance Painting… Spring Radiance Painting…” Hongli gently stroked the little girl’s face in the picture. Whether it was psychological suggestion or not, the more he looked, the more he felt she resembled him. A sense of blood connection surged up; his voice trembled slightly as he said, “Qian Zhengyuan offered this painting to remind me that the one I truly ought to repay… is not Lady Niohuru…”

It took him quite a while to calm his surging emotions. Then, in a grave voice, he ordered: “Issue an edict. Summon Qian Zhengyuan for an audience. I want to ask everything clearly!”

Hailancha accepted the command and left.

Hongli waited anxiously in Yangxin Hall. For several consecutive days he felt restless and uneasy; he could not even focus on the memorials. Finally, when Hailancha returned, he looked eagerly behind him but saw no sign of Qian Zhengyuan. He quickly asked, “Where is he?”

Hailancha’s face was ashen. He cupped his hands and reported: “Your Majesty, the guards came galloping back with urgent news. Lord Qian, the Vice Minister of Rites, unfortunately fell from his horse. His skull was fractured… and he did not survive.”

At these words, Hongli’s expression changed dramatically.

After a long pause, she finally gritted her teeth and said bitterly: “Empress Dowager…”

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