Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 198: The Trap

   Chaos erupted across the imperial boat, yet the area around the Step-Empress remained strangely calm.

“Your Ladyship,” said the eunuch sent by Hongzhou, “the ship is dangerous. Please follow this servant onto a small boat and leave at once.”

He had thought this would be a mere formality, but unexpectedly a sudden change occurred.

“I’m not leaving,” the Step-Empress said calmly, then turned and walked toward the deck. The eunuch was shocked and, fearing something might happen to her, quickly called several guards to follow.

The deck was in utter disorder — everywhere the sounds of fighting, everywhere corpses. One White Lotus cultist charged straight at the Step-Empress but was intercepted by the guards.

Under the protection of this group, the Step-Empress reached the outside of the Empress Dowager’s cabin.

“Why are you here?” Seeing her, Hongzhou dropped the relaxed expression he had worn and frowned.

The Step-Empress looked at the blazing cabin door; a trace of regret flickered through her eyes. “…Hongzhou, he is, after all, your own blood brother.”

“What — now that things have come this far, you’re regretting it? It’s too late!” Hongzhou suddenly raised his voice and shouted, “The Emperor is no longer here — I must take charge of the situation! If the fire spreads, the entire ship will be reduced to ashes! Empress, please consider the bigger picture and think of the hundreds of lives aboard this vessel!”

The arrow was already on the string; it had to be released. Even if the Step-Empress regretted it, he did not. So he continued to play out the act.

“Get out of the way!” But the Step-Empress refused to go along with him. Seeing that he would not help, she charged toward the flames alone. The fire surged forward and licked her fingers, instantly blistering them with several burns. She clenched her teeth and was just about to rush through the door when — with a deafening boom — her mind spun…

Hongzhou withdrew the hand that had struck her unconscious. The Step-Empress swayed and fell into his arms.

“My lord,” Yuan Chunwang quietly reminded him, “the White Lotus rebels will be upon us any moment.”

Hongzhou looked down at the unconscious Step-Empress in his arms. For a long while he was unwilling to let go. Finally, reluctantly, he handed her over to Yuan Chunwang and instructed: “The flower hall is heavily guarded. Escort the Empress there. Leave the White Lotus rebels to me. After suppressing the rebellion, I will join you.”

Even without her cooperation, he would finish this performance alone.

Hongzhou led his men to the deck, drew his sword, pointed it toward the sky and declared: “The White Lotus cultists have set fire to the ship and committed treason! Kill them all on the spot — leave none alive!”

Yet the people he truly intended to kill were not this group of White Lotus followers he had deliberately lured here.

“How are things going?” While everyone else was busy slashing and killing, he asked the little eunuch beside him.

The other man replied nervously: “The latest report just came in — it says the Fifth Prince is not in his own cabin…”

“What did you say?” Hongzhou’s face instantly darkened.

The eunuch cautiously explained, “Just now there was chaos and fighting all over the ship. He must have taken advantage of the confusion to escape. This servant will immediately send people to pursue him!”

“Search the entire ship,” Hongzhou said, enunciating each word heavily. “Not a single person must be allowed to slip away!”

But before the man could leave, another person came to report: “Your Highness, the Prefect of Hangzhou has sent reinforcements!”

Hongzhou was stunned. “So quickly?”

Plans can never keep up with changes. The Step-Empress’s sudden change of heart, the Prefect of Hangzhou’s unexpectedly early arrival—one unexpected event after another—caused a trace of foreboding to rise in Hongzhou’s heart. But he quickly forced it down, thinking to himself: No matter how many surprises occur, it doesn’t matter. After all… Hongli is already dead.

As long as he was dead, no matter what unexpected things happened, his plan could still be considered a success.

“Let’s go.” Hongzhou straightened his robes. “Accompany this prince to meet the Prefect of Hangzhou.”

The White Lotus cultists had only relied on their numbers. When it came to real skill, they were no match for regular troops. Now, with the addition of Hangzhou’s soldiers, they were quickly defeated. As dawn approached, more and more blood pooled on the deck, the sounds of slaughter grew quieter and quieter, and most of the White Lotus followers had become corpses.

Yet inside the flower hall, the atmosphere was thick with gloom; not a single face showed a smile.

“Last night, a fire broke out in the Empress Dowager’s cabin. His Majesty, disregarding his own safety, rushed into the blaze to rescue her. Who could have known that a beam would collapse and block the cabin door? His Majesty and the Empress Dowager both…” Hongzhou choked with sobs. “It is all my fault. If only I had charged into the fire ahead of Imperial Brother, how could such a thing have happened!”

When Lu Wanwan and Naran Chuxue heard this, they could not help but burst into tears together. Naran Chuxue cried while cursing: “Useless trash! You’re all useless!”

The Prefect of Hangzhou had already turned deathly pale. He had arrived too late to rescue the Emperor, and the Emperor had died within his jurisdiction—his official hat was certainly lost, and who knew what other punishments awaited. His legs gave way; he dropped to his knees and pounded his chest, wailing: “Your Majesty! This minister is incompetent! I came too late to save you—all because of my incompetence!”

The Step-Empress, who had previously fainted, was awakened by their weeping and shouting. She said nothing, merely watching Hongzhou’s performance with cold eyes.

Halfway through his act, Hongzhou gave Yuan Chunwang a meaningful glance. Understanding immediately, Yuan Chunwang spoke up: “Now is not the time for grief. Prince He must take charge of the overall situation! The officials along the coast are all awaiting the imperial procession. What should we do now?”

All the previous drama had merely been groundwork. Hongzhou shook out his robes, ready to step fully onto the stage—when suddenly the ink-wash painting hanging on the wall of the flower hall trembled. Then it emitted a long creak—squeeeak.

Behind the painting was a door. The panels slid open to both sides, and Hongli emerged, supporting the Empress Dowager. His gaze swept across the room and finally settled on Hongzhou’s face. With a half-smile that was not quite a smile, he said: “Oh, everyone is here.”

Hongzhou snapped out of his shock and, forcing himself to remain calm, bowed: “Imperial Brother, this younger brother failed to arrive in time to protect you and nearly caused a great disaster. I beg Imperial Brother to punish me. But how is it that Imperial Brother came out from…”

Hongli smiled. “When this dragon boat was designed, a secret passage was built in.”

…Why didn’t I know about it? A chill ran through Hongzhou’s heart.

Seeing that Hongli was still alive, no one was happier than the Prefect of Hangzhou. Not only had he kept his official position, he had also saved his entire clan. Overcome with joy, he wept: “This minister arrived too late to rescue you and felt deep fear and shame. But now that Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager are safe, it is a blessing for the people and for the realm!”

Hongli nodded. “You did very well—faster than both the Shanpu Battalion and the Imperial Guards stationed on shore.”

The Prefect of Hangzhou was startled and cast an almost imperceptible glance toward the Step-Empress.

The Empress Dowager asked in confusion, “The Imperial Guards are responsible for security on shore. Even if their camp was far away and they couldn’t see the fire on the boat, every day riders accompany the vessel, specifically tasked with surveillance. How could they not have reported it?”

Hongli said coldly, “Bring him in.”

A soldier was dragged forward and forced to kneel before the assembly.

“Empress Dowager,” Hongli said calmly, “this man was the soldier responsible for communication between the shore and the imperial boat. He was changed every four hours and rode alongside. When the incident occurred on the imperial vessel, instead of reporting it immediately, his first action was to flee.” Hongli looked at her. “In your opinion, why would that be?”

The Empress Dowager, having narrowly escaped death, looked at him as if he were her mortal enemy and said viciously: “Speak! Are you colluding with the White Lotus Sect?”

The soldier trembled in fear: “No, this humble servant has not!”

“You still dare deny it!” The Empress Dowager grew even angrier. “If you weren’t colluding with the White Lotus Sect, how could you dare neglect your duty so flagrantly?”

Hongli sighed: “He did not neglect his duty. He received orders from his superiors to turn a blind eye when the imperial boat caught fire. And who could have given such an order from above?”

In an instant, every gaze in the room converged on Hongzhou’s face.

He was the one in charge of security for this southern inspection tour. He was the one who could dispatch and contact the soldiers. He was the one who could issue commands to the imperial guards as their superior.

“Hongzhou!” The Empress Dowager exploded in fury. “You actually dared to commit treason!”

Hongzhou’s face filled with panic as he dropped to his knees: “Imperial Brother, the White Lotus Sect is a rebel faction plotting to overthrow our Great Qing dynasty. How could this younger brother possibly collude with them? This younger brother has not—I truly have not!”

“You ordered the extermination of every White Lotus follower, leaving not a single one alive,” Hongli said with a smile. “Unfortunately for you, the Hangzhou prefect is not under your command. They captured several alive—including those from the boat and those on shore. They can be brought here at any moment to confront you face-to-face. I, too, would like to know sooner rather than later exactly who leaked the details of the imperial boat’s defenses and who secretly colluded with the rebels. Of course… perhaps the so-called White Lotus followers—”

He narrowed his eyes, the smile slowly fading from his face as his voice turned icy cold: “—were merely assassins you yourself had raised!”

The look of panicked fear gradually drained from Hongzhou’s face. He slowly lifted his head and stared expressionlessly at Hongli: “Your Majesty… so you had already set a trap long ago, deliberately luring me in.”

The mantis stalks the cicada—yet who can know which is the mantis and which is the cicada?

   He had believed his plan flawless: first incite local officials to present slender-waisted singing girls, loudly proclaiming that Hongli’s southern tour was nothing but a pretext to select beauties and expand the inner palace. Then, when the boat was set ablaze, even if Hongli did not burn to death, he would be killed by the White Lotus followers who boarded afterward. In the eyes of the common people, an emperor addicted to pleasure and utterly debauched would truly deserve to die.

Afterward, he would eliminate every witness, return to the Forbidden City, support the Fifteenth Prince in ascending the throne, and rule from behind the curtain as Prince Regent and Imperial Uncle.

In the end, however, all his meticulous schemes had backfired and cost him his own life.

“I never imagined you would plot rebellion,” Hongli said slowly, turning his head to look at the Step-Empress. “And I never imagined you were involved as well.”

The Step-Empress’s heart jolted: “Your Majesty, Prince He committed treason—what does that have to do with me?”

Hongli said coldly: “In the chaos on the boat, Prince He sent men to surround and kill Noble Consort Ling and Yongqi. Consorts Qing and Shu received no rescue. Yet you, the Empress, had prepared a small boat from the very beginning for your own escape! I imagine that if something had happened to me, the two of you were fully prepared to install the Twelfth Prince on the throne!”

“…When the cabin was engulfed in flames, I did not leave. When the White Lotus followers attacked and massacred, I still did not leave—because you were still on the boat! And now you dare suspect me?” The Step-Empress, holding back tears, spoke with a trembling voice. “Lord Liu! Tell His Majesty—who exactly sent you the message warning that His Majesty was in danger, prompting you to rush to the rescue?”

The Hangzhou prefect hurriedly replied: “Your Majesty, it was Her Majesty the Empress who first sent word to this humble official, which allowed me to hurry here overnight!”

Hongzhou looked at the Step-Empress in disbelief. But she did not even glance at him—her eyes remained fixed unwaveringly on Hongli.

“Your Majesty and Prince He have long been at odds, and Prince He attempted to win me over—but I rejected him outright! I wanted to warn you in advance, yet Your Majesty placed such deep trust in Prince He that I dared not startle the snake by striking the grass. I also feared that both the Shanpu Battalion and the imperial guards had already been bought off. In the end, I could only send word to the nearest authority—Hangzhou!” The Step-Empress spoke with anguished sincerity. “Your Majesty, even if you suspect everyone in the world, you should not suspect me!”

Yet Hongli merely stared at her coldly. He did not believe a single word that came from her mouth, nor a single syllable she offered from her heart.

Li Yu hesitated for a moment. He was about to speak up—to tell His Majesty that no matter what the Step-Empress had done before, in the moment of crisis she truly had not fled, just as she claimed.

But the moment he opened his mouth—before he could make a sound—there was a heavy thud beside him. Yuan Chunwang had dropped to his knees ahead of him and cried out loudly: “Your Majesty! At this point, this humble servant no longer dares conceal anything for Her Majesty the Empress. She has been carrying on a private affair with Prince He. Their intention was to assassinate Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager during the southern tour, plotting to place the Twelfth Prince on the throne as emperor. It is truly detestable—she deserves to die!”

The Step-Empress looked at him in utter disbelief.

“If the Emperor does not believe me, you may search Prince He’s person.” Yuan Chunwang said in his soft, effeminate tone, “…One search and the truth will be known.”

Hongli ordered sharply: “Search him!”

“Don’t touch me!” Hongzhou struggled fiercely, but he could not break free. A jade pendant slipped from his robes and fell to the ground with a clear “clink,” cracking open with a visible fissure.

The moment Step-Empress saw the jade pendant, her face turned deathly pale. She started forward to pick it up, but Hongli was faster. He took the jade into his hand, turning it over slowly. His expression grew darker and darker as suspicion filled his eyes when he looked at her. “Empress, I personally saw you wear this jade pendant before. Now… what do you have to say for yourself?”

Step-Empress’s face was as white as paper. Suddenly she whirled around and slapped Zhener hard across the face. “You actually betrayed me!”

Though Yuan Chunwang was useful, he was a white-eyed wolf who could never be truly tamed. Therefore Step-Empress used him but never trusted him, and she certainly would never allow him near her personal belongings. Only Zhener…

“Empress, this servant did not! Yuan Chunwang said everything was for Your Ladyship’s sake, for the sake of the Twelfth Prince!” But what use were such words now? Even someone as foolish as Zhener finally understood at this moment—she had been deceived by Yuan Chunwang, and worse, she had implicated the Empress. Tears streamed down her face as she crawled on her knees to Hongli. “Your Majesty, this servant stole the jade pendant. The Empress knew nothing about it—she truly knows nothing! If Her Ladyship truly intended treason, how could she have let the plan leak out?”

Hongzhou was silent for a long moment before he slowly spoke as well: “Imperial Brother, it was this younger brother who harbored improper feelings for the Empress. It has nothing to do with her. She once risked being burned to death to save you—you should not suspect her!”

But how could Hongli not suspect?

The jade was stolen by Zhener. The treason was plotted between Prince He and Yuan Chunwang. Everyone else was guilty—only she remained pure and innocent?

Hongli turned his gaze to Step-Empress and found that she was also looking at him.

“Your Majesty.” Step-Empress gazed deeply into his eyes. “I care nothing for what others think. I only want to ask you one question: do you believe me or not?”

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