Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 174: Musk Pills

   An uninvited guest had arrived at Chengqian Hall.

The Step-Empress leaned lightly against the back of her chair, her eyes filled with wariness:

“Concubine Rong, what is so urgent that you had to come see me?”

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but today Chenbi seemed even more beautiful.

Other women grew more haggard with age—hair turning white, crow’s feet appearing at the corners of their eyes. Even the Step-Empress herself, burdened with managing so many affairs in the rear palace, had prematurely grayed several strands of hair. Yet the woman before her, already nearing thirty, showed not the slightest sign of aging. Instead she grew more beautiful and radiant with each passing day. Merely looking at her for an extra moment filled the Step-Empress with an additional pang of fear and jealousy.

Chenbi curtsied:

“Greetings to Your Majesty Empress. I have come uninvited today in order to clear up a misunderstanding.”

The Step-Empress came back to her senses and laughed mockingly:

“There has never been any interaction between us—how could there be a misunderstanding?”

Chenbi shook her head:

“No, there is a misunderstanding. Your Majesty has misunderstood that I wishes to compete for favor, and misunderstood that I would threaten your position.”

What kind of misunderstanding was that? The Step-Empress said with faint sarcasm:

“Concubine Rong, the very day you entered the palace, the Emperor overruled all objections to build the Baoyue Tower for you. Within three months of entering the palace, you enjoyed the Emperor’s sole and exclusive favor, causing resentment to fill the entire rear palace. And now you stand here and tell me that all of this is just a misunderstanding? Ha—this really is the funniest joke I’ve ever heard.”

Chenbi: “Empress, I have always been puzzled as to why you would condescend to make things difficult for me. It was only recently, after slowly coming to understand the past of the Forbidden City, that I finally grasped the mystery behind it! You are afraid that I will monopolize the Emperor’s favor, and that if I give birth to a son in the future, it will repeat the calamity of the time of Taizong Emperor Wen!”

The Step-Empress raised an eyebrow. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about!”

“Taizong Emperor Wen doted solely on Boerzigit Hailanzhu. Because of the birth of the Eighth Prince, he issued a general amnesty throughout the realm, causing unrest in both court and country. Shunzhi Emperor was infatuated with Consort Dong E, treating the Fourth Prince almost as his legitimate heir and even contemplating naming him heir on three separate occasions. As for the previous Emperor, because he favored Consort Nian excessively, even an emperor as decisive and ruthless as he treated Prince Fuhui as if the boy were a treasure beyond price! If those beloved children had not all died young, who knows what might have happened afterward!” Chenbi sighed. “Now, the Emperor’s favor toward me far surpasses what he once showed Consort Ling. You are worried that if I have children in the future, they will block the path to the throne for your two noble princes!”

The Step-Empress sneered. “Listen to that. See how spoiled the Emperor has made you—you dare to utter such treasonous words!”

Chenbi smiled coyishly. “Your Majesty deals with me precisely because of the matter of heirs. If I can remove this future threat for you, would you then let it go and never make trouble for me or Consort Ling again?”

The Step-Empress: “And how would you remove it?”

Chenbi took out a small bottle. “It is said that musk herb has the effect of rendering one childless. This bottle contains musk pills. Your Majesty, please look carefully!”

The Step-Empress had been calm and composed until this moment. No matter what Chenbi said or did, the initiative had remained firmly in her own hands. But now, seeing the medicine bottle in Chenbi’s hand, her expression changed abruptly. She gripped the armrests of her chair tightly and shouted toward Yuan Chunwang, who was standing closest to Chenbi: “Quick, stop her!”

But Chenbi had already moved with lightning speed. She poured all the pills from the bottle into her palm, tilted her head back, and swallowed them in one gulp.

Yuan Chunwang arrived too late. By the time he reached her, he could only seize her throat and try to force her to spit out the pills she had already ingested. In the struggle that followed, this chief steward of the inner palace proved no match in strength for Chenbi, who had grown up on horseback.

After shoving him away, Chenbi wiped the corner of her mouth and smiled sweetly at the Empress. “Your Majesty, if I can no longer bear children, will you finally let us go?”

A beautiful woman is not frightening. What is truly frightening is a beautiful woman who is ruthless even toward herself.

The Step-Empress felt a chill run through her entire body. Of all the places this woman could have taken the medicine, she deliberately chose to do it right here in Chengqian Palace. Clearly, she intended for the entire capital to know that the Empress, out of jealousy over her favor, had driven her to such desperate measures. What would the Emperor think? What would the Empress Dowager think?

From now on, the moment she so much as caught a cold or complained of a headache, everyone would immediately suspect the Step-Empress.

What cunning. What audacity!

“Summon the imperial physician…” The Step-Empress ground her teeth in hatred, forcing the words out one by one through clenched jaws. But before she could finish the sentence, a crowd surged in from outside the door: Chenbi’s maid Yizhu, Li Yu, and… Hongli.

In that instant, two words flashed through the Step-Empress’s mind—It’s over.

Hongli was furious to the core, yet he knew this was not the moment to lose his temper. He shot the Step-Empress a fierce glare, then bent down and lifted Chenbi into his arms. Perhaps because she had swallowed so much medicine, her body had gone limp, and her face was covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

“Summon Ye Tianshi at once!” Hongli ordered, carrying her back to Baoyue Tower.

Ye Tianshi hurried over. He took her pulse, administered medicine, and worked from morning until evening. Chenbi vomited again and again, until her stomach was almost completely emptied.

Hongli could not bear to watch her suffer. He stepped outside and, on his way, gave Yizhu a meaningful look.

Yizhu followed him. Once they were both outside, Hongli turned and asked her: “Where did the musk herb come from?”

Yizhu: “My mistress told the Imperial Pharmacy that she needed it to compound the Supreme True Red Jade Ointment. It took a full month before they could gather enough of the ingredient.”

Hongli: “Supreme True Red Jade Ointment? No wonder she has been studying fragrance recipes so intently. Tell me—where did this book come from!”

Yizhu answered nervously: “My mistress brought it back from the Yangxing Study in the Imperial Garden.”

Hongli scoffed with icy disdain. “Drag her away.”

Li Yu: “Yes, Your Majesty!”

Li Yu waved his hand, and two eunuchs hurriedly entered, clearly about to drag Yizhu away.

Yizhu panicked: “No, no! Your Majesty, it was Yanxi Palace! The incense recipe was brought back from Yanxi Palace!”

Hongli’s expression subtly changed. “Yanxi Palace?”

Yizhu kowtowed frantically like pounding garlic: “Your Majesty, Her Ladyship Consort-Ling was teaching this servant’s mistress how to make incense, and this very incense manual was given to the mistress. But this servant truly didn’t know that the mistress would harbor such intentions! The mistress was afraid of implicating Consort-Ling, so she strictly instructed this servant not to speak of it. This servant would never intentionally deceive Your Majesty!”

Hongli’s gaze lingered on the incense manual lying at the edge of the table. He remained silent for a long time.

Li Yu: “Your Majesty…”

Yingluo, was it Chenbi who harbored such thoughts, or was it you? Hongli closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly tossed the incense manual in his hand to Li Yu. “Burn it!”

Li Yu: “Yes, Your Majesty!”

The incense manual was burned, and the only piece of evidence pointing to Yanxi Palace vanished into smoke. Yet the spark of suspicion drifted into the depths of Hongli’s heart—he didn’t know whether he should suspect Chenbi or Wei Yingluo. Fortunately, at that moment a guard came to report urgent military affairs, which conveniently extricated him from the situation.

Hongli had barely left when Wei Yingluo arrived right after.

She hadn’t received the news too late, but neither had she come especially early, so she only hurried over at this moment. Seeing Chenbi lying weakly on the bed, she couldn’t help but sigh: “Chenbi, why did you go to such lengths?”

Chenbi lifted her sweat-drenched face and gave a playful smile: “A concubine who can no longer bear children—no longer a threat. The Empress won’t come after me anymore, and she won’t be able to drag you down either!”

Wei Yingluo: “You were far too reckless! Musk pills are for treating external wind-damp invasion and bodily pain—whoever said they cause infertility!”

Chenbi hesitated, then admitted: “It wasn’t just musk. I also added a bit of mercury to the pills.”

Wei Yingluo: “You—”

“On the grasslands, there were women who wore musk herbs year after year and became permanently infertile—so that’s how I came up with the idea.” Chenbi’s smile turned somewhat sly. “There, there, don’t make that face. No matter what the actual effect of the musk pills turns out to be, as long as everyone believes the Empress forced me to take them, that’s enough!”

Wei Yingluo stared at her for a long time: “You… why would you do this?”

This method was one that killed a thousand enemies while wounding oneself eight hundred. If it was merely to deal with the Step-Empress, wasn’t it far too shocking and extreme? Wei Yingluo asked herself whether she could ever do such a thing, and she couldn’t understand why Chenbi dared to go this far.

“Yingluo, for my sake, you were willing to make an enemy of the Empress.” Chenbi looked at her gently. “I won’t let you regret helping me. From now on, because of her own reputation, she will have to think twice before acting… You can finally be at ease.”

Just as she said, for a very long time afterward, the Step-Empress would have to watch her every word and deed. With the precedent of “forcing” a favored consort to take musk pills hanging over her, she would either do nothing at all—or if she did act, people would interpret her every move in the worst possible light.

Was this Chenbi’s goal? To tie the Step-Empress’s hands and feet, thereby granting freedom to everyone else? It certainly sounded like her style—just like the day she first used force and then reason, roping Yongcheng to a tree with a sheep-herding lasso before finally talking sense into him.

After a long silence, Wei Yingluo asked softly: “But… what if you really can never have children again?”

Chenbi replied indifferently: “Then I won’t have any!”

Wei Yingluo was both exasperated and amused: “Childish!”

“Having children hurts too much. I don’t want to hurt anymore.” Chenbi murmured dreamily.

Wei Yingluo froze: “What did you just say?”

“Did I say something?” Chenbi smiled again, innocent and guileless, as though the murmured words had been nothing more than Wei Yingluo’s imagination. She affectionately hugged Wei Yingluo’s arm. “I’m tired. Stay and sleep with me.”

Wei Yingluo was pestered by her until she had no choice. Remembering that Chenbi had ended up in this predicament because of her, after some reluctance and evasion, she finally nodded in agreement. The two lay down side by side, pressed close together—one leaning against the other—so that any outsider who saw them would surely think they were an inseparably intimate pair of sisters.

In the dead of night, at the third watch, Chenbi suddenly opened her eyes wide. Perhaps because of her foreign bloodline, her eyes gleamed with a faint green light in the darkness.

From outside came the faint sound of conversation. Both voices were deliberately hushed, but she could make out that it was Ming Yu speaking with Ye Tianshi. Chenbi listened for a moment, then silently removed the ankle bells from her feet and slipped off the bed.

She was skilled at dance, and thus masterful at controlling her body: she could make the bells all over her sing in harmony with her steps, or she could move so that her footsteps were as silent as a cat’s.

Barefoot and soundless, she drew near the two people outside the door. They remained completely unaware.

Ming Yu: “…Is there really no way to cure it? If it’s just missing some medicine…”

Ye Tianshi: “There is no medicine that can save her.”

“What should I do? How am I supposed to tell Yingluo?” Ming Yu murmured, her voice gradually taking on a sobbing tone. “She knows my family is poor, so she personally prepared my dowry for me. Even my wedding dress—she sewed it with her own hands. She said she wanted me to marry in grand style, but I… I…”

Chenbi listened quietly, her eyes sparkling brightly, like a child who had just heard a fascinating story.

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