Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 19: A Man and a Woman Alone

   With a heavy clang, the door of the storeroom slammed shut.

“It’s too dark,” Wei Yingluo murmured.

Behind her came the sharp hiss of a fire striker being lit.

The candlestick on the table was ignited; a small flame danced on the wick. The warm yellow candlelight illuminated a strikingly handsome face.

Long, narrow brows; long, narrow eyes; and similarly long, slender fingers. He resembled a refined scholar painted in fine-line white—an elegant, noble figure from an ancient scroll—except that a faint melancholy lingered between his brows.

That melancholy did not diminish his beauty; on the contrary, it made him stand out even more distinctly among the crowd.

“When Uncle Wei said you were in the palace, I didn’t dare believe it,” he said, shielding the candle flame with his right hand until the flickering light gradually steadied. “I never expected to actually see you today.”

Among the six guards they had encountered in the corridor earlier, the one walking at the very front had been Fucha Fuheng. The one in second position was the man standing before her now.

“And then?” Wei Yingluo asked without turning her head.

“I was also deeply grieved by Yingning’s death.” The man lifted his gaze to her back, his eyes gentle. “But this is the Forbidden City. You cannot act recklessly. You should listen to your father—leave the palace soon, go back out, and find a good family to marry into…”

“Enough!” Wei Yingluo finally turned around; her gaze was as cold as ice and snow. “Who are you to tell me what to do?”

The man sighed. “Because Yingning and I were once close…”

“Don’t you dare mention her name again!” Wei Yingluo cut him off sharply. She hated many people, but she hated the man in front of her most of all. “You and my sister were once close—then why, when she needed you the most, did you abandon her without a moment’s hesitation?”

The melancholy between the man’s brows grew heavier. “She was a bondservant of the Imperial Household Department. Sooner or later she would have to enter the palace. Did you expect me to wait until she was twenty-five?”

“No, Young Master Qingxi.” Wei Yingluo gave a mocking laugh. “It wasn’t that you couldn’t wait for her to leave the palace. It’s because we come from lowly origins. No matter how beautiful my sister was, no matter how virtuous, intelligent, and capable she might have been, a lofty young master like you would never formally marry a woman of inferior birth!”

Seeing the other party fall silent, Wei Yingluo stepped closer and pressed, “What? Did I hit a nerve? Your surname is Qijia—you’re noble Manchu aristocracy. Though my sister came from humble origins, she still had backbone. Since you’ve made a clean break, the two of you have no further connection!”

Qingxi let out a deep sigh. “But I’ve never stopped thinking about your sister…”

“Thinking about her?” Wei Yingluo gave a scornful laugh. “And then when something happened to her in the palace, you just stood by and watched… When clearly you were the only one by her side, the only one who could have helped her—and you just stood there and watched!”

Qingxi closed his eyes in pain. The agonizing memories made even this warrior, strong enough to wrestle a tiger, tremble. “I… after all, I’m a guard. I cannot have dealings with palace maids.”

“I’m a palace maid too,” Wei Yingluo said coldly, taking in his reaction without the slightest softening. “We shouldn’t have dealings either. Now kindly step aside.”

What dealings could there be?

   When her sister needed him most, he had walked away.

   If he had only been toying with her sister, she would hate him for that.

   But if he truly loved her sister, then she hated him even more—for being such a coward!

   As she brushed past him, a sigh came from behind her.

“Every five days,” Qingxi’s voice sounded at her back. “I stand guard once every five days. If there is ever trouble, you may come to the guards’ station and find me!”

Wei Yingluo’s footsteps paused for a moment, then she continued forward. Her hands had just reached the door bolt and she had not yet opened it when suddenly there came a frantic pounding—bang bang bang—followed by Aunt Fang’s voice: “Open the door! Open this door right now!”

Wei Yingluo started in alarm. She turned and exchanged a quick glance with Qingxi.

A man and a woman alone together in a room—if they were truly caught like this, a hundred mouths couldn’t explain it away.

Qingxi’s lips moved as though he were about to speak, but a hand shot out from the opposite side and stopped him. Wei Yingluo mouthed silently to him: Do exactly as I say.

Bang bang bang, bang bang bang—Aunt Fang was still hammering on the door. But in the next instant the door flew open. Before she could react, a bamboo basket came crashing down over her head, followed by a flurry of punches and kicks, accompanied by Wei Yingluo’s voice—half frightened, half furious: “You dare follow me? You dare follow me, you shameless creep, you rogue!”

“Stop! Stop it!” Aunt Fang, who was used to being the one doing the beating, never the one receiving it, scrambled desperately to escape, squealing like a stuck pig. “Wei Yingluo, you’ve gone mad! Stop it—stop right now! Help! Somebody help—save me!”

A group of young palace maids rushed forward at once, some grabbing arms, others hugging legs, and finally managed to pull the two apart.

Aunt Fang yanked the bamboo basket off her head. Her face was livid as she glared at Wei Yingluo. “Yingluo, you’ve lost your mind—how dare you raise a hand against me!”

Wei Yingluo let out an “Ah!” Her own face turned even darker than Aunt Fang’s. “Auntie… how—how could it be you?”

Before Aunt Fang could explode, she dropped to her knees first and began to sob pitifully. “Auntie, please do justice for me! I only came out to look for a lost handkerchief. I never expected someone would follow me on the way—I didn’t know whether it was some lustful little eunuch or some ill-intentioned guard. In a panic I locked myself in the storeroom. Thank goodness you came… sob sob…”

“Some lustful little eunuch or some ill-intentioned guard?” Aunt Fang laughed in furious disbelief. “Listen to your nonsense—couldn’t you recognize my voice? Or does my voice sound so much like a man’s to you?”

“I was truly terrified,” Wei Yingluo said, her shoulders trembling slightly as though she had suffered a great fright. She lifted her sleeve to wipe her tears. “In the moment I couldn’t tell at all. I beg Auntie’s forgiveness…”

“Look at the bruises on my arm.” Aunt Fang rolled up her sleeve, revealing the dark marks from being pinched earlier, and said coldly, “How am I supposed to forgive you for this?”

Wei Yingluo promptly kowtowed without hesitation. “I am willing to accept Auntie’s punishment.”

And so the matter was dropped. Though Wei Yingluo was still punished, it was only for unknowingly beating Aunt Fang. And because Aunt Fang was greedy for money, the punishment fell heavily on fines in coin and goods. After paying a sufficient amount, she only received a token two strokes of the board on her body.

It was far better than being discovered alone in a room with a young imperial guard.

That wasn’t something that could be settled with just a few strokes of the board or a bit of money.

“Fortunately, Qingxi is a true Baturu—quick and agile. He was able to slip away unnoticed amid the chaos I caused.” Wei Yingluo lay face-down on the bed. The wounds on her back had just been medicated, but they still burned fiercely, so painfully that she couldn’t sleep. She could only close her eyes and let her thoughts wander. “But… who was the one who informed on us…?”

Moonlight slanted in through the window, falling in a straight, silver beam across the head of Wei Yingluo’s bed. Slowly, she reached into her bosom and drew out a small braided cord. She spread it open in the moonlight and gazed at it quietly.

“It wasn’t entirely without reward.” Wei Yingluo spoke softly to the cord, her gaze gentle. “Sister, after so long in the palace, I’ve finally found a clue.”

Memories of the past flooded back, vivid and clear.

Last night’s stars, last night’s breeze—it had also been a night when moonlight flowed like silk. She had rested her head on Wei Yingning’s lap, watching her sister’s ten fingers dance as a delicate plum-blossom braided cord gradually took shape at her fingertips.

That plum-blossom cord had entered the palace together with her sister, yet it had not left the palace with her.

Instead, during today’s fight, it had fallen from Aunt Fang’s person.

“Aunt Fang…” Wei Yingluo’s five fingers clenched, gripping the plum-blossom cord tightly in her palm. “How could my sister’s plum-blossom cord end up in your hands?”

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