Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 188: Take Care

   “Your Ladyship,” Xiaoquanzi reported, “the Fifth Prince has arrived.”

“Oh?” Wei Yingluo slowly walked over to a large chest, lifted the lid, and climbed inside.

Xiaoquanzi: “…”

“Hurry up and close the box, will you?” Wei Yingluo urged from inside. “Then tell Fifth Brother that I’m not here!”

The moment the lid was shut, Yongqi walked in. He glanced around the room and asked, “Where is Mother Consort Ling?”

His mother was right at his feet, yet Xiaoquanzi could only force a smile and reply, “Her Ladyship lay down in the courtyard for a while, complaining of a headache, and then went to the bedchamber to rest.”

Hearing this, Yongqi frowned. “When I was little, Mother Consort Ling specially sent people to the Prince Residence to take meticulous care of my meals—everything was handled perfectly. How is it that when it comes to herself, she doesn’t know how to take care of her own health?”

When he was only seven or eight years old, he already carried himself like a seventy- or eighty-year-old man—mature beyond his years and especially fond of lecturing others. Even Wei Yingluo was somewhat afraid of him because of it.

“Amitabha, go away, go away quickly.” Inside the box, Wei Yingluo put her hands together and began to pray.

Sure enough, last-minute praying was useless. Yongqi started lecturing again: “Look at all of you—it’s only early summer, yet all the ice from the icehouse has been sent to Yanxi Palace. Ice grapes, ice watermelon—does she really think she can eat those? Put them all away immediately.”

“When will Mother Consort Ling wake up?”

“I received a family letter from my birth mother today. I want to read it to Mother Consort Ling, so I’ll just sit here and wait for her to wake up.”

The box was quite small. Hiding for a short time was bearable, but staying inside for long made Wei Yingluo feel suffocated. Hearing this, she almost couldn’t catch her breath.

“Three Pure Ones above, Mazu protect me, hurry up and leave, hurry up and leave.” She simply switched to praying to several different deities.

Last-minute praying was bad enough, but changing the deities one after another—who knows whether it was because her heart wasn’t sincere or because she had offended the gods—but the very next moment, Hongli’s voice suddenly sounded outside the box:

“Yongqi, I figured you’d be here. What’s wrong? Another fruitless trip?”

“Nothing escapes your eyes, Royal Father. The servants said Mother Consort Ling was taking an afternoon nap and hasn’t woken yet.”

But Hongli was not so easily fooled. Or perhaps after decades as husband and wife, he simply understood her personality too well. With one sweep of his eyes around the room, he immediately understood everything.

“Half a grape bitten and then discarded here, and she went to take a nap?” Hongli sat down grandly in the chair. “Fine. We’ll wait here for her… Yongqi, we didn’t finish that game of chess the other day. Let’s continue.”

Xiaoquanzi quickly said, “This servant will prepare the chessboard at once. Please allow Your Majesty to move to the main hall.”

“No need. Right here is fine.” Hongli raised one finger and pointed with a smile at the box right beside his leg. “Bring it over.”

With those imperial words spoken, the box was immediately moved to the middle between the two of them.

A chessboard was placed on top of it, and the two began to play, placing pieces one by one. No one knew how much time passed—until Hongli placed another piece, the chessboard suddenly tilted to the side, chess pieces scattered all over the floor, and Wei Yingluo struggled out of the box with great difficulty:

“Haven’t you two had enough?!”

Yongqi stared in shock. Hongli, however, crossed his arms and laughed. “You’re already a mother, yet you still pull stunts like this. Do you want the entire Forbidden City to laugh at you? Truly undignified as a mother!”

Wei Yingluo retorted irritably, “Your Majesty clearly knew I was in the box and still deliberately tormented me. Truly undignified as an emperor!”

The two of them bickered and bantered back and forth like an ordinary married couple. Finally, Hongli personally stepped forward and helped her out of the box. But the moment she emerged, she was met with Yongqi’s displeased face:

“Mother Consort Ling, do you drink your bowl of mutton soup every morning?”

Wei Yingluo hemmed and hawed. Not far away was a table covered with scattered grape and melon peels.

“When you gave birth to Zhaohua, you suffered postpartum illness. Whenever you catch a draft you get headaches. Were you sitting in the wind earlier?”

Xiaoquanzi hurriedly shifted his body to block the window, using his back to shield her from the breeze coming in.

“How can you not cherish your own health at all?” Yongqi’s expression was serious, even carrying a trace of disappointment. “If you were in good health, Zhaohua and the others could have stayed at Yanxi Palace to be raised by you. Why must mother and children be separated?”

Wei Yingluo was his elder, yet in front of him she felt unable to lift her head. After being thoroughly lectured by him, she only sighed as she watched his departing figure:

“I really don’t know who this child takes after. Always nagging and lecturing… He wasn’t like this when he was little.”

“He only cares about you too much. Otherwise, who would bother asking whether you ate lamb soup or grapes today?” Hongli smiled faintly, took her hand, sat down, and continued, “Besides, he’s still young and doesn’t understand… but I do.”

Wei Yingluo glanced up at him, her eyes seemingly asking: What exactly do you understand?

“In these ten years, we’ve had two sons and two daughters. It’s a pity Yonglu couldn’t be kept. The night Yonglu passed away, you stayed by his side alone, not sleeping a wink—I saw it all,” Hongli said slowly. “A month later, you sent Zhaoyu to Shoukang Palace to keep Zhaohua company, and you entrusted Yongyan to Consort Qing to raise. Everyone says you’re heartless and selfish, that you’re currying favor with the Empress Dowager and winning over Consort Qing. Only I know the truth. Zhaohua is your eldest daughter. You sent her to Shoukang Palace to comfort the Empress Dowager. Yingluo, ever since the incident with Chenbi, you’ve always carried deep guilt toward the Empress Dowager, haven’t you?”

Wei Yingluo shook her head firmly. “Your Majesty, Zhaohua is a person. I would never use her to atone for my guilt.”

Her denial only confirmed something for Hongli even more clearly: “So you’re worried that your own health is failing, and you want to find new protectors for them?”

Having her innermost thoughts suddenly exposed, Wei Yingluo was momentarily stunned.

“I’m warning you, Wei Yingluo—no such inauspicious thoughts, not even the slightest!” Hongli said sternly. “Your body was only injured when you gave birth to Yongyan. Didn’t the imperial physicians say that as long as you recover slowly, you’ll be as good as new? I want you to stay with me, for a very, very long time. If you leave me halfway like Rongyin did, I will never forgive you!”

Though his words sounded harsh, every line was filled with irrepressible tenderness.

Wei Yingluo couldn’t help but grip his hand in return. Pretending to be relaxed, she smiled and said, “Your Majesty, didn’t you once say that calamities live for a thousand years? I’ll do my best to live a very, very long time!”

Everyone in the world longs for things that last forever, yet even a lifetime has its end.

Caw——

A piercing, shrill scream rang through Chengqian Palace. Step-Empress hurried over and saw an empty parrot perch. Suddenly Zhener’s hand reached from behind her and covered her eyes: “Your Ladyship, don’t look…”

Step-Empress pushed her hand away. What she saw was the cold corpse of a bird lying on the ground.

She closed her eyes for a moment. Suddenly her head felt dizzy; she swayed a few times and collapsed into Zhener’s arms.

That night, Chengqian Palace summoned the imperial physician.

Yuan Chunwang was not on night duty, but when he received the news, he hurriedly dressed and rushed to the sleeping chamber. Just as he arrived at the door, he heard the Empress roaring inside: “Get out!”

The palace door flew open. Court Physician Zhang came scrambling out, practically rolling on the ground.

Yuan Chunwang stood at the doorway for a moment before stepping inside. He saw Step-Empress sitting on the bed with her long hair disheveled, clutching a bronze mirror and staring at her own reflection. She asked, “What did he just call me?”

Zhener looked at her worriedly. “Your Ladyship…”

“Old woman.” Step-Empress ground out the words through clenched teeth. “He called me an old woman!”

“Your Ladyship!” Zhener hurried to say, “Court Physician Zhang didn’t mean it like that…”

“Listen to what he said: ‘The Huangdi Neijing states that a woman’s heavenly gui arrives at two times seven and ceases at seven times seven. Your Ladyship is now forty-eight—your age is about right. That is why the sea of blood has declined; it is also called old-woman blood collapse—’ Hah…” Step-Empress scoffed with icy disdain, slowly turned her head, her slightly reddened eyes fixed on Zhener. “I really am an old woman now, aren’t I?”

Zhener felt both fear and pity; for a moment she didn’t know how to comfort her. At that moment Yuan Chunwang approached, holding a horn comb. In a gentle, unhurried voice he said, “Your Ladyship, your hair is in disarray. Allow this servant to comb it for you.”

His combing movements were as gentle and slow as his voice.

The teeth of the comb glided over her scalp again and again. Gradually, Step-Empress’s mood began to calm.

Zhener brought over a tray filled with pearl hairpins and phoenix ornaments. Yuan Chunwang selected a dangling-pearl phoenix hairpin and placed it in her coiffure. “Look—you are still the Empress whom His Majesty respects and loves most.”

Step-Empress gazed at her reflection in the mirror for a long time. Suddenly she said, “Zhener, help me change my clothes. I’m going to Yangxin Hall.”

To gain the evaluation of being “respected and beloved,” Step-Empress had nearly exhausted all her energy and effort. Wherever Hongli noticed something, she noticed it too; wherever Hongli failed to notice, she still noticed. The entire rear palace was managed by her in perfect order—every palace’s food, clothing, and daily necessities all depended on her arrangements.

Even the Empress Dowager, who hated her to the bone, could find no fault with her on the surface.

A hundred years from now, her posthumous title would surely include the character “Duan” (端, meaning upright/proper) or “Xian” (賢, meaning virtuous/wise).

…No, no. That was not what she wanted. What she desperately craved right now was nothing more than the embrace of a husband, the comfort of a husband.

The group hurried to Yangxin Hall. Step-Empress personally carried a bowl of iced lotus seed soup in her hands. The guarding eunuch was just about to announce her arrival when a sigh from Hongli came from inside.

“Lately I feel… the Empress has aged much more than before.”

As the Son of Heaven, Hongli took excellent care of himself. Compared to more than ten years ago, he looked almost unchanged—not because he lived without worries, but because whenever troubles arose, there was always someone to share the burden with him.

“In these past two years, her temperament has become increasingly strange,” Hongli said with a sigh. “When I talk to her, the more we speak, the less we seem to understand each other. Yet the moment I leave, she throws tantrums and becomes like a completely different person.”

On the table sat a bowl of iced lotus seed soup. Originally prepared by the Imperial Tea Bureau for Hongli, Wei Yingluo had eyed it greedily and taken it to eat herself. Worried she might upset her stomach with something so cold, Hongli had ordered it taken away to be warmed. Now it had become a bowl of braised lotus seed soup, steaming hot and placed on the table.

Wei Yingluo gave the soup a regretful glance, then withdrew her gaze and looked at him. “Your Majesty is in excellent health, in the prime of your years. You look no older than thirty-four or thirty-five. But for a woman at this age, it’s completely different. Facing the loss of youthful beauty naturally puts one in a bad mood—it’s only human.”

Hongli gave a snort of laughter. “Yingluo, you’ve aged too!”

Wei Yingluo rolled her eyes. “No matter how old I get, I’m still sixteen years younger than Your Majesty… Ah!”

“Still dare to say it?” Hongli reached out and pinched her cheek as if pinching a lump of rubber.

“No more, no more!” Wei Yingluo struggled. “I’m already this old—Your Majesty, please stop pinching my face! What if you pinch wrinkles into it? Let go! Let go!”

Step-Empress stood silently outside the door, listening to the laughter and cheerful voices inside.

In an instant, the bowl of iced lotus seed soup in her hands felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. Her ten fingers could no longer bear the weight; it seemed the bowl would slip and fall at any second.

“…No need to announce me,” Step-Empress called out to stop Li Yu, who was about to go in and report. Forcing a smile, she said, “I’ll go back first. Make sure His Majesty doesn’t drink too much of this iced lotus seed soup—it might upset his stomach.”

Li Yu acknowledged with a “Yes, Your Ladyship,” took the bowl from her hands, and watched her somewhat desolate retreating figure. He couldn’t help shaking his head and thinking to himself: How pitiful.

She commanded the six palaces with awe-inspiring authority, yet the way His Majesty treated her compared to the way he treated Noble Consort Ling was like heaven and earth.

Back at Chengqian Palace, Step-Empress stood in front of the mirror for a moment. Suddenly she shed every trace of the dignified, virtuous demeanor she usually wore. With one sweep of her arm, she sent all the rouge, powder, and cosmetics on the table crashing to the floor. Then, like someone gone mad, she roared:

“They’re laughing at me! They’re all laughing at me!”

“Your Ladyship!” Zhener rushed over and hugged her tightly. “Every woman will grow old. Noble Consort Ling will grow old too!”

“Her?” Step-Empress gave a scornful laugh and turned her head. “But she’s ten years younger than me—ten years younger than this old woman!”

Zhener was at a complete loss for what to do when a man’s voice suddenly cut in, calm and light:

“The Empress Dowager has also grown old.”

Both women turned toward the sound. Yuan Chunwang had entered the room at some point. He closed the door behind him with one hand, then smiled at the two of them.

“Your Ladyship the Empress, the Empress Dowager is nearly seventy, yet she never worries. Do you know why?”

The topic was growing increasingly dangerous. Zhener’s expression changed; she was about to speak up to stop him when Step-Empress quietly said:

“…You mean to say she relies on her son, not her husband—is that it?”

“Your Ladyship is wise.” Yuan Chunwang smiled. “The difference between the two… Your Ladyship, have you truly thought it through?”

The Step-Empress stared at him coldly for a long moment before suddenly saying, “Go to the Bureau of Careful Punishment and receive forty strokes.”

Whether she had thought it through or not, a mere servant—a servant with a stained record—daring to instigate such greatly irreverent thoughts in his master deserved punishment.

“Yes.” Yuan Chunwang did not defend himself; he accepted the penalty with perfect obedience.

Zhener, however, who loved him deeply and could not bear to see him suffer, opened her mouth to plead for him—only to be met with a fierce glare from the Step-Empress. The words died on her lips.

“Zhener, if what he just said ever gets out, it will inevitably implicate me. If not for your sake, I would have him beaten to death on the spot!” The Step-Empress’s face was dark and grim. “Do not plead for him, and do not mention this matter again!”

She kept insisting that no one speak of it again, yet for several consecutive days she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Whether her eyes were open or closed, the same thought haunted her—Yuan Chunwang’s words.

“The difference between the two… Your Ladyship, have you truly thought it through?”

The Step-Empress refused to think about it, yet she could not suppress the idea. Tormented, more white hairs appeared. When she opened the drawer and saw the growing pile of white strands inside, she began taking dried placenta—essentially, dried infant placenta. The substance had an extremely strong, fishy smell; even when covered with thick layers of scented powder, a faint odor still clung to her.

Hongli naturally noticed it, but he only shook his head and said to those around him, “Never mind. The Empress wants to preserve her youth forever. As Yingluo once said, it’s only human nature—no need to pursue the matter.”

Since he knew, Wei Yingluo naturally knew as well. After a sigh and a few words of lament, she set it aside and picked up a fan painted with a scene of a small bridge, flowing water, and a beauty washing gauze.

“I like this one.”

Then she picked up a piece of zongzi candy, held it up to the sunlight, and examined it. “I like this too.”

“The zongzi candy is for Ninth Sister.” A hand reached over from the opposite side, took back the candy, and then went for the fan in her other hand. “The fan is for Seventh Sister.”

Both of Wei Yingluo’s hands were suddenly empty. She hurriedly hugged the last item—a wooden New Year picture print—to her chest.

“This is for Little Fifteen,” Yongqi said, leaving her with nothing at all.

Wei Yingluo’s eyes widened. “And mine?”

On the table and floor lay a large pile of gifts: brightly colored silks, a craftsman-made wooden horse, fragrant and soft pastries. Yongqi pointed to them one by one:

“Seventh Sister’s… Ninth Sister’s… Little Fifteen’s… Little Fifteen’s again… still Little Fifteen’s…”

Wei Yingluo waited eagerly the whole time. When the very last gift was assigned, she immediately flared up: “Look at you—so biased! Not only do I get nothing, but even my younger sisters got fewer things than Little Fifteen!”

“Seventh Sister and Ninth Sister have the Empress Dowager doting on them; they get the very best of everything in food, clothing, and daily use. But Little Fifteen—” Yongqi advised gently, “when he was little his health was poor. You took him running around wildly for two whole years. Now he’s a very healthy child. Still, he can’t keep idling like this forever. As a prince, if he remains uneducated and unskilled, how will he establish himself in the future? Once he grows sensible, he will blame you. From now on, I’ll take charge of his studies.”

This child was good in every way except that he loved to lecture. Halfway through, Wei Yingluo grew impatient and hurriedly interrupted: “I know, I know! Isn’t there a firearms demonstration today? Let’s go already! Leave all these gifts here—I’ll give them to the children.”

Yongqi looked at her suspiciously. “Really?”

Wei Yingluo quickly swore, “Really!”

“Fine then.” Yongqi stood up. “I’ll ask Little Fifteen later and see whether you secretly kept any for yourself.”

Wei Yingluo replied with perfect seriousness: “I’m not a child. Do I really care about these little trinkets?”

The moment Yongqi left, she immediately turned to Xiaoquanzi, still wearing that same solemn expression: “Hide everything.”

Xiaoquanzi blinked. “Hide what?”

Wei Yingluo chuckled with a slyness to the face, rapidly fanning herself with the fan that had been intended for her daughter, then took out the zongzi candy meant for her son and ate it—two pieces at once. “Look how stingy he is! I was planning to pocket it all anyway!”

Xiaoquanzi also chuckled. “The gifts for the two Princess and Fifteenth Prince were already sent over this morning. All of these are actually for you. Just now, Fifth Prince was deliberately teasing you!”

The chewing motion stopped abruptly. Wei Yingluo looked at the table and floor covered with gifts, feeling both touched and stifled. After a long while, she finally sighed, “Yongqi really is such a good child…”

“Isn’t he just?” Xiaoquanzi helped gather up all the zongzi candies, smiling as he said, “Fifth Brother said you’ve been coughing a bit lately. Although these mint zongzi candies are cooling and soothing to the lungs, they’re still sweets—too much isn’t good. You can only have one a day. Today’s portion is already finished… oh, and tomorrow’s portion is finished too.”

Wei Yingluo immediately withdrew her touched feeling: “All the praise I just gave—taken back!”

The older Yongqi grew, the more mature he became, while she seemed to be growing younger with age. Right now she was actually throwing a childish tantrum—refusing to let her eat, yet insisting on eating anyway. Xiaoquanzi tried to stop her for quite a while. Suddenly, Zhenzhu rushed in from outside, drenched in sweat, her face deathly pale, and cried out, “It’s bad! Fifth Brother—he, Fifth Brother he…”

Wei Yingluo froze. “What happened to Yongqi?”

Almost at the same moment, inside Chengqian Palace.

“Your Ladyship.” Yuan Chunwang stood behind the Step-Empress, holding a horn comb and slowly combing through her long hair. “Today Fifth Brother’s bird gun misfired. He fell from a startled horse and broke his leg. The imperial physicians said… it can’t be healed.”

The Step-Empress was stunned for a long time before suddenly asking, “…Was this your doing?”

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