Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 26: Substitute

   The embroidery workshop quickly filled with people.

“Oh my God, the peacock feather thread is missing! Serves her right—all the good luck always lands on her, and now she’s finally in deep trouble!”

“Exactly! Let’s see how she explains this! If Mama had given the work to me, I wouldn’t have messed it up like her!”

“Hehe, this time she’s definitely getting kicked out of the palace, right?”

“More than that—she’s going to lose her head!”

Yingluo suddenly spun around and coldly swept her gaze over the crowd: “On the road to Hell, I’ll have all of you accompanying me—I won’t feel lonely at all!”

The others had been gleefully kicking her while she was down, but this sudden remark instantly soured their mood. Linglong stepped forward from the group and spoke the thought on everyone’s mind: “What nonsense are you spouting! You lost the item yourself—why should we be buried with you?!”

“She’s not wrong.” A cold, sharp voice suddenly rang out behind her. Linglong turned her head and, to her horror, saw Momo Zhang standing right there, staring at her with eyes like knives. “The phoenix robe is the embroidery workshop’s offering gift. We are all in this together—upper and lower as one. If the Empress asks about it, do you think she’ll only punish her alone? Instead of gloating over someone else’s misfortune, you’d better touch your own neck and see if it’s sturdy enough to withstand a single stroke!”

If those words had come from Wei Yingluo’s mouth, most people would have dismissed them.

But coming from Momo Zhang—and said a second time—no one could afford not to believe them.

This matter was truly one of shared glory and shared ruin. If anything went wrong, the entire embroidery workshop could be doomed.

One palace maid, terrified, began to cry: “What are we going to do? I don’t want to die!”

The maid beside her hurriedly covered her mouth: “Pah! You’re not allowed to say that word in the palace!”

Another maid gritted her teeth: “Which damned, knife-worthy thief stole it? Hurry up and return it—unless you want to keep it as a burial offering?”

At those words, everyone began looking around suspiciously, eyeing one another with distrust, each wishing they could immediately drag out the little thief who had ruined them all.

“Momo, it’s my fault!” Jixiang suddenly dropped to her knees with a thud at Momo Zhang’s feet. Unlike the others, she had always thought of Wei Yingluo first. To spare her sister some suffering, she was willing to take the blame herself. “It was me who insisted on dragging Sister Yingluo away, which gave the thief the chance. If you’re going to punish someone, punish me!”

Wei Yingluo glanced at her, then knelt down beside her and addressed Momo Zhang: “Momo, one person should bear the consequences of their own actions. The peacock feather thread was lost while in my hands. I am willing to take full responsibility.”

Momo Zhang sighed. “And how do you plan to handle it?”

“The urgent priority is to rally the entire workshop and finish the phoenix robe first.” Wei Yingluo thought for a moment, then gritted her teeth. “As for the peacock feather thread… I hope Mama will grant me one request.”

“What is it?” Momo Zhang asked.

“Please open the doors to the storeroom!”

The last time Wei Yingluo had entered the storeroom was when she had overeaten kaolin clay and her belly had swollen, making her clothes no longer fit. Momo Zhang had specially allowed her to go to the storeroom to fetch an old but properly sized garment.

There, she had not only seen many old and new clothes, but also countless old and new threads. Almost every embroidery thread that had ever been fashionable in the world—or was currently in vogue—was gathered in that place. Among them, there was always something that could serve as a substitute.

The storeroom doors were opened. Wei Yingluo walked slowly past the shelves, carefully inspecting box after box of embroidery threads.

Gold thread—no, not suitable. Peacock feather thread shimmered with seven colors under sunlight; gold thread had only one hue. The moment sunlight hit it, the difference would be glaringly obvious.

The same applied to silver thread, red thread, and threads of any other color.

Although multicolored threads could somewhat approximate the hue, they lacked that innate, heaven-bestowed aura of nobility and luxury—indeed, they fell short even of gold and silver threads.

Jixiang held a lamp for her, her voice trembling with tears: “This won’t do, that won’t do either… Why don’t you just blame it on me? I’m thick-skinned and tough—I can take a beating…”

“I won’t let you get beaten.” Wei Yingluo continued sorting through the embroidery threads, her gaze resolute and unwavering. “And I won’t let Momo Zhang get beaten either.”

She knew full well that if she ultimately failed to produce the phoenix robe, two people would surely try to shoulder all the blame themselves.

One was Jixiang, and the other was Momo Zhang.

“Hey! Why are you so stubborn!” Jixiang was so anxious she spun in circles. In her distraction, she bumped into a wooden rack beside her. A bag that had been loosely tied slipped off, and the cord came undone at once, spilling its contents onto the floor.

Wei Yingluo paused. “This is…”

Amid the gold and silver threads scattered around, the items on the ground looked unusually plain.

“Oh, these are furs for making winter capes—low-grade stuff, completely useless!” Jixiang bent down to gather the white pelts. “Everything else at least gets a proper box, but these don’t even rate that. They just get tossed into any old bag.”

After picking them up, she casually tied the bag shut again with the cord. She stood on tiptoe to put it back on the rack when a hand suddenly reached out from the side and stopped her.

Jixiang blinked in surprise and turned. “Sister Yingluo?”

Wei Yingluo took the bag from her hands, loosened the cord once more, pulled out a piece of fur, and held it up for closer inspection.

It really was inferior quality—still carrying a faint animal odor. Without proper treatment, even a palace maid would probably turn her nose up at wearing it.

Seeing the thoughtful look on her face, Jixiang asked in disbelief, “Sister Yingluo, you… you’re not thinking of… No way—this is the most useless thing here!”

“There is no person without value in this world, and no object without use,” Wei Yingluo replied with a smile. She gently ran one finger over the soft fur; a gleam of intelligence passed through her eyes. “It all depends on how you use it—and where you put it!”

One month later—

   “The Gold and Jade Workshop presents four jade objects in two boxes, and two lai-stone ruyi scepters.”

“The Ceramics Workshop presents a pair of jade phoenix vases and a pair of crystal double-fish vases.”

“The Glass Workshop presents a carved ivory dressing case and an enameled pocket watch with mirror.”

“The Screen Workshop presents a pair of palace fans with peacock feathers on purple sandalwood stands, a carved purple sandalwood throne, and a pair of cloisonné enamel crane candlesticks.”

Outside Changchun Palace, long lines of eunuchs and palace maids sent by the various workshops stood waiting to present their gifts. Wei Yingluo stood among them, holding a tray covered with a piece of yellow silk that completely concealed what lay beneath.

“Relax,” she told herself silently. “Man proposes, Heaven disposes.”

At that moment, two young eunuchs emerged from the main hall, bowing as they walked. Perhaps because they were still inexperienced, they didn’t bother lowering their voices or avoiding eavesdroppers nearby.

“Did you see Her Majesty the Empress’s face? It was really something—ugly from start to finish. Not a single smile the whole time!”

“Her Highness Noble Consort really went too far,” the other said. “Of all things to send, she gave Her Majesty a golden statue of the Child-Giving Guanyin.”

Everyone in the palace knew: ever since the premature death of her eldest son, Empress Fucha had borne no more children. What Noble Consort Hui had done was equivalent to publicly ripping open the Empress’s deepest wound and then rubbing salt into it.

Wei Yingluo had originally been standing in the middle of the crowd. Hearing this, something stirred in her heart, and she quietly fell back a few steps.

Though man proposes and Heaven disposes, if one wants success, it’s best to avoid man-made disasters as much as possible.

After receiving such a “grand gift” from Noble Consort Hui, the Empress might not say anything outwardly, but she was surely suppressing a bellyful of rage. Anyone who went in to present a gift now—whatever it was—wouldn’t win any favor.

They might even end up bearing the brunt of her anger…

“Unless…” Wei Yingluo glanced back over her shoulder, “…unless the gift is presented right after that person.”

Her steps fell further and further behind, and before she realized it, Wei Yingluo had retreated to the very end of the line.

One by one, the palace maids ahead of her entered carrying their trays, while inside the hall the continuous sound of ceremonial announcements echoed.

Unknowingly, she was the only one left…

“Embroidery Workshop tribute—”

The eunuch’s summons rang out from within the hall.

Though there was clearly no one behind her, Wei Yingluo kept turning her head anxiously, eyes searching.

“Embroidery Workshop tribute—”

The eunuch’s call sounded again.

Three times is the limit; if a third summons were to ring out, even proper etiquette would turn into a breach of protocol.

Wei Yingluo could only take a deep breath and murmur to herself, “Man proposes, Heaven disposes!”

Holding the tray in both hands, she walked into Changchun Palace with heavy, slow steps.

Though the palace was usually frugal, on this birthday celebration day Changchun Palace was lit with lanterns and decorated lavishly, gleaming in gold and splendor. Noble Ladies she recognized and some she did not sat high at the banquet tables. Human-height coral trees, Western mirrors smoother and more flawless than a calm lake surface, and rare treasures that common folk could only dream of seeing were piled high throughout the hall—all of them gifts presented to the Empress.

The summoning eunuch announced: “The Embroidery Workshop presents one phoenix-amid-peonies women’s robe, and one pair of stone-blue satin embroidered phoenix-head high-heeled women’s shoes!”

Yingluo knelt down and raised the tray high above her head: “I respectfully congratulate Her Majesty the Empress on eternal youth and endless blessings of longevity.”

The tray remained held high for a long moment, with no one stepping forward to receive it.

Perhaps because it was her first time seeing so many Noble Ladies, she was so overwhelmed that she forgot what came next? Empress Fucha kindly reminded her: “Once inside the hall, why haven’t you uncovered the yellow silk yet?”

Wei Yingluo pressed her lips together. She had deliberately fallen to the back of the line, slowed her pace, and delayed lifting the yellow silk as long as possible—she had done her utmost, yet she still hadn’t been fast enough. With a silent sigh in her heart, she was just about to lift the yellow silk when, at that very moment, a long, drawn-out announcement came from behind her:

“The Emperor bestows a gift!”

It was as if an electric current surged through Wei Yingluo’s entire body.

She had to summon every ounce of strength she possessed just to suppress the wild joy surging in her heart.

That person… had finally come.

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