Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 185: Madness

   Ever since hearing those words from Wei Yingluo, Hongli had been mad with joy.

Everything under heaven, every inch of land within his domain—as long as it was something he possessed—he wanted to place it before Wei Yingluo to win her favor.

Even when she wanted to enter Baoyue Tower to see Chenbi one last time, he hesitated only briefly before agreeing—though he refused to let her go alone and sent a large group of people to accompany her.

The grand procession arrived at Baoyue Tower amid great bustle. Almost every window and door were surrounded by several eunuchs, some holding wooden planks, others raising hammers, busily nailing the doors and windows shut. Since Hongli had been able to build Baoyue Tower for Chenbi, he could just as easily build her a prison that would never see daylight again.

When they saw Wei Yingluo approaching, the eunuchs immediately stopped their work: “This servant greets Your Ladyship Consort Ling.”

Wei Yingluo paid them no attention. She stared blankly at the nailed-shut doors and windows.

“Your Ladyship, you mustn’t feel any sympathy for Consort Rong,” Xiaoquanzi hurriedly leaned in beside her. “All the suffering you endured while confined—she ought to taste some of it too!”

Wei Yingluo shook her head with a faint smile, not bothering to respond.

Xiaoquanzi, that opportunist, had ultimately bet on the right side. Though he had once defected to the Step-Empress, in the end he had firmly planted himself on Wei Yingluo’s side and even helped her severely sabotage Chenbi. For that reason, Wei Yingluo had ultimately kept him by her side.

“Stand guard outside,” Wei Yingluo ordered, then prepared to step into Baoyue Tower.

“Your Ladyship, no—please don’t!” Xiaoquanzi was greatly alarmed. “I’ve heard Consort Rong has gone mad. She cries and screams all day, and she scratches people without warning!”

“Stand guard outside!” Wei Yingluo spoke with the authority of a mistress. Once she had made up her mind, he only needed to obey.

Sure enough, Xiaoquanzi proved himself a useful servant. Seeing that Wei Yingluo’s decision was final, he shut his mouth and stood motionless at the entrance like a wooden statue.

Wei Yingluo ascended the stairs of Baoyue Tower step by step.

The higher she climbed, the dimmer the light became. Only an occasional thin ray of sunlight slipped through the gaps between the wooden planks, drawing crisscrossing lines on the floor.

She found Chenbi on the top floor.

The vast open space—once her dancing hall—was now empty except for dust. Chenbi sat in the center of the room with her back to Wei Yingluo, her head tilted as she hummed a childish nursery rhyme.

Wei Yingluo walked around to face her, sat down, lifted her chin, and stared at her for a long moment before suddenly smiling: “You’ve grasped the art of feigning madness as a means of survival quite well.”

The singing stopped abruptly. The crooked head slowly straightened. Chenbi brushed the disheveled hair from her face. Having been deprived of sunlight for so long, her skin was pale as paper. “You came.”

Wei Yingluo: “Yes, I came.”

Chenbi giggled: “Why have you come?”

Wei Yingluo: “I came to tell you that because of this assassination attempt, your three elder brothers have been implicated. Those who were to be beheaded were beheaded; those sentenced to exile were exiled.”

The moment Chenbi heard this, she suddenly covered her face. Sobs leaked out from between her fingers, as though in the next instant she would burst into loud weeping.

Yet Wei Yingluo said: “There’s no need to act in front of me.”

“…Ha…” Chenbi slowly lowered her hands, revealing—not tears—but a smiling face. “Hahahahaha!!”

Wei Yingluo stared fixedly at her: “Chenbi, at first I didn’t understand. You had so many opportunities to kill the Emperor—why choose to assassinate him in public? You clearly knew that once you did it this way, your brothers would surely lose their lives!”

Chenbi was still laughing—laughing unrestrained, wildly, joyfully!

Seeing her like this, an answer finally rose in Wei Yingluo’s mind. She murmured: “So… what you’ve wanted all along… was their lives.”

Perhaps because she was in such a good mood, Chenbi actually laughed and gave her a straightforward confirmation: “Yes. I wanted their lives.”

Wei Yingluo was silent for a moment before asking: “Can you tell me why?”

“I’ve already gotten what I wished for—there’s nothing I can’t tell you now.” Chenbi seemed like a horse that had finally shaken off its reins, a bird released from its cage; her whole body radiated ease. She casually sat down right on the floor—as though the cold marble of Baoyue Tower were instead the lush, green grassland. Smiling, she said: “Tuerdu day and night coveted the great authority of the Huolan tribe. After helping the Qing army exterminate the rebel leaders, he scoured the entire tribe for beauties to present as tribute to the Emperor of Great Qing! In the end, he chose me!”

Wei Yingluo: “I already know about this!”

Chenbi: “Then do you know that he got me drunk with wine and put me on a carriage? When I woke up, they told me: if I wanted my son to live safely, I had to obey obediently. With no other choice, I agreed.”

Wei Yingluo: “Since you agreed, why stir up trouble?”

Chenbi giggled again: “Halfway along the road, the maid accompanying me could bear it no longer. She told me that my son, Asha had secretly slipped out to search for me, but was discovered by Tuerdu and the others. They pursued him through the night. In a moment of carelessness, he fell into a trap set for catching wild beasts! He fell… fell until his flesh was mangled and bloody!”

What happened afterward needed no further explanation.

Chenbi had originally intended to follow her son in death, but unexpectedly she was rescued by Fuheng. Since he wanted her to live a life worse than death, she saw no reason not to repay him in kind—using his own methods against him.

“I came to the Forbidden City not to win favor, but for revenge. I wanted to see the Emperor kill Fuheng, then kill you, and finally tell him the truth—so he would live the rest of his life in torment.” Chenbi sighed. “I was only one step away from succeeding. That one step… so close, yet worlds apart.”

The word “love” runs deep once it takes hold.

Chenbi had been only one step away from entering Hongli’s heart. Yet even if she had crossed that step, she would have found that in that not-particularly-large heart there was already someone living inside—leaving no room for anyone else.

That was the true meaning of “so close, yet worlds apart”—utterly despairing… From the very beginning, Chenbi’s plan was doomed to fail. Because that proud and fiercely protective heart would desperately shield the one person who truly resided within it.

“Enough.” Wei Yingluo stood up. “We’ve said all there is to say. It’s time for us to part ways.”

Chenbi watched her retreating back and giggled: “By the way, I heard you’re pregnant.”

Wei Yingluo’s footsteps halted.

“Congratulations,” Chenbi said. For the first time, a trace of envy colored her voice. “Your child will have a proper name and identity—and the most powerful, yet also the most petty and fiercely protective father in the world.”

“…Why have you never once mentioned a husband?” Wei Yingluo turned back to ask. “Where is your husband?”

Chenbi lowered her eyes for a moment, then said calmly: “I have no husband.”

Wei Yingluo was stunned: “No husband—then where did the son come from?”

An extremely strange smile appeared on Chenbi’s face: “A beautiful face isn’t always a good thing. They call her the tribe’s Holy Maiden, but in truth she was nothing more than a woman for entertaining guests. Where would a husband come from?”

Wei Yingluo stared fixedly at Chenbi. She opened her mouth as if to speak, yet no words came out—she didn’t know what to say.

   Beauty is a woman’s greatest weapon. Sometimes it can wound others; sometimes it only wounds oneself. Was Chenbi not intelligent enough? Was her background not distinguished enough? Or was her personality simply unlikable? No—she was clever, of noble birth, and her temperament was charming. Otherwise, she could never have toyed with so many people in the rear palace, making them love her to the depths of their souls while hating her with equal intensity.

   Yet such a rare person in this world—almost like a celestial maiden—had lived a life no different from that of a prostitute.

   She didn’t even know what surname her own child bore…

   Chenbi laughed: “Wei Yingluo, you are very fortunate. You met two men who truly love you. No matter how hard I tried with every trick I had, I still couldn’t make the Emperor fall in love with me. My tongue may be as eloquent as blooming lotuses, yet Fucha Fuheng still wants to protect you. I really want to know—which of these two men do you actually love?”

“Chenbi,” Wei Yingluo called softly.

Chenbi tilted her head, looking at her as though waiting for an answer.

But Wei Yingluo did not give her what she wanted. She buried the answer to that question deep in her heart and only said lightly, “Go mad. Stay mad for a lifetime—and that way, you can go on living.”

Chenbi froze.

Yingluo: “Take care of yourself.”

She descended the Baoyue Tower step by step. When she stepped out through the main gate, sunlight once again fell upon her. Behind her, that eerie nursery rhyme started up again—mingled with weeping and laughter, seeping out through the cracks in the windows and doors, echoing in everyone’s ears.

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