Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 29: Good Sisters

   “Have you heard?” A palace maid quietly leaned close to Linglong’s ear. “Her Majesty the Empress took a real liking to Yingluo. That day Chief Steward Wu specially instructed Momo Zhang to transfer Yingluo to Changchun Palace!”

Her finger trembled; the needle pricked out a tiny bead of blood. Linglong unobtrusively wiped it away.

“To be able to serve Her Majesty the Empress—she really is blessed.” The palace maid sighed. “Linglong, it’s truly a pity for you.”

Linglong smiled lightly, as calm as a breeze. “What is there to pity about me?”

“In terms of looks, in terms of embroidery skill—you’re no worse than her at all. Yet Momo Zhang is so blatantly partial! If you had been the one to present the tribute that day, the person heading to Changchun Palace now wouldn’t be Wei Yingluo!” Seeing Linglong’s expression growing darker and darker, the maid hurriedly changed her tone to comfort her. “But it’s good that she’s leaving. Once she’s gone, it’ll finally be your turn to shine!”

Who cares about shining in this rundown embroidery workshop!

On the surface Linglong could still maintain her composure, but the needle in her hand grew increasingly erratic. The scene she had accidentally glimpsed that day kept replaying before her eyes.

“Momo, you’ve been far too kind to me.”

“That foolish senior sister of yours is my most accomplished disciple. For her sake alone, I’ll give you two extra points of care.”

Two points? That was far more than just two!

The best resources, the best opportunities—all of them were tightly reserved for Wei Yingluo alone! Everyone else didn’t even have the slightest chance to stand out!

“If only Momo Zhang would take care of me like that, then I too could win the Empress’s favor. Those two bolts of silk and that hairpin would have my name on them too! Aiya!”

Linglong sucked her freshly pricked finger into her mouth again. She stared at the embroidery frame in front of her, at the messy, chaotic pattern on it, and a surge of anger rose in her heart. She grabbed the scissors beside her—snip!

“Linglong!”

Her hand jerked. The scissors tore a long gash across the embroidery frame. It had been her best skill—the brocade cat design. The tear ran straight from left to right, slicing right across the cat’s neck, neatly severing its head. The whole picture instantly turned bloody and ominous. The cat’s two eyes now seemed to glare at her accusingly.

Linglong hurriedly flipped the frame face-down on the table and stood up to greet the newcomer. “Yes, Momo? I’m here. What do you need me for?”

“It’s not me who’s looking for you,” Momo Zhang said. “It’s Chief Steward Wu.”

Two beams of light flashed in Linglong’s eyes. Her heart leaped—could her luck finally be turning? Was it finally her turn to be noticed by a Noble Lady?

“…The Empress has issued an order. She has instructed Chief Steward Wu to find the thief who stole the peacock feather threads.” But Momo Zhang’s next words shattered her hopes. “Starting with you. One by one, you will all go and answer his questions. Whatever Chief Steward Wu asks, you answer truthfully. Understood?”

With every additional word Momo Zhang spoke, Linglong’s face grew one shade paler.

Even her legs felt weak and soft.

It was as though a headless cat had wrapped itself around her leg, staring up at her with those ill-omened feline eyes.

Not everyone was summoned for questioning—at least Wei Yingluo was spared.

In fact, when Chief Steward Wu arrived, the very first person he met with was her.

“With these eyes of mine, I have never misjudged a person,” he said kindly. “From the very first time I saw you, I knew you were no ordinary carp in the pond. Sooner or later, you were destined to leap out of this little embroidery workshop.”

“All thanks to your grace, sir,” Wei Yingluo replied, still maintaining the same respectful demeanor she had shown him from the beginning. She bowed and lowered her head. “If it hadn’t been for you upholding justice that day, where would I be now? I would likely have been expelled long ago by Aunt Fang and Zhu Chugong over those baseless accusations. This kindness I will never forget. In the future, if there is any place where I can be of use to you, Chief Steward Wu, please feel free to command me.”

“Haha, no need to be so polite! We help each other, that’s all!” Chief Steward Wu laughed heartily.

In the palace, no one offered kindness without reason. Favors given today were investments expecting repayment tomorrow.

Chief Steward Wu had very high hopes for Wei Yingluo and had no intention of cashing in that valuable favor just yet. He spoke to her gently for a while, even obliquely hinting at some of the Empress’s preferences. Finally, he patted her shoulder and said:

“When you reach the Empress’s side, you must serve her well. Don’t think that because she appears gentle and kind-hearted, you can slack off. The Empress may be merciful, but the people around her are not necessarily so.”

Wei Yingluo’s heart stirred. She nodded and said, “Yingluo understands. Thank you for the reminder, Chief Steward Wu.”

The higher a person’s position and power, the more cautious their words become. Every sentence they utter has passed through nine twists and turns in their mind, been weighed and measured countless times before finally being spoken.

Every single word carries deep meaning.

“Never mind. I’ll think about it later.” Wei Yingluo glanced at the sky and smiled. “There are more important things to do today.”

In the palace maids’ dining hall, a bowl of long-life noodles was gently placed in front of Jixiang.

Snow-white noodles curled in the broth, topped with rich, savory red minced meat and bright green vegetables.

“Know that on ordinary days it stirs the gods’ greed; this dish surpasses even fresh flat peaches. Thread after thread of fate can be tied, year after year our thoughts remain entwined. Dragon whiskers softly sway three thousand feet, crane lifespan eternally prosperous for eight hundred years. On this auspicious birthday, long-life noodles are worthy of celebration; family harmony and the moon share perfect reunion. One bowl of longevity noodles—please accept it with my humble regards.”

Wei Yingluo winked at Jixiang across the table.

“Wishing you a hundred years of life, and peace every single year.”

“Yingluo-jie…” This was a huge surprise. It took Jixiang quite a while to come back to her senses; she was so moved that her speech even stuttered a little.

“You—you—how did you know that t-today is my birthday?”

“When we first entered the palace, didn’t the managing eunuch specially read out everyone’s names and details while checking the roster?” Wei Yingluo smiled.

“He only said it once and you remembered?” Jixiang looked at her with admiration. “Your memory is really good.”

“Yes, I have a very good memory.” Wei Yingluo laughed.

How could her memory be that good? In truth, she had noticed Jixiang looking depressed lately, so she deliberately went to ask the managing eunuch about it.

Even this small bowl of noodles had not come easily.

The masters could eat whatever they wanted whenever they wanted, but if palace maids wanted something extra, they had to slip silver to the imperial kitchen cooks. Wei Yingluo had entered the palace practically empty-handed—where would she get any money? So she had traded her labor: several sleepless nights spent embroidering a few pieces for the cooks in exchange for this one bowl of noodles.

“Eat quickly, it’ll get cold if you wait any longer.” Wei Yingluo handed the chopsticks to her. “You have to eat the whole strand in one go, okay? That way you’ll live a hundred years.”

“Mm!” Jixiang took the chopsticks, picked up the noodles, put them in her mouth and slurped. Suddenly tears began to fall.

“What’s wrong?” Wei Yingluo was startled. “Does it not taste good?”

She dipped another chopstick into the broth, tasted it… the flavor was actually very nice, well worth the embroidery she had given up. So why was the other girl crying over it?

“Yingluo-jie, you’re really so good to me.” Jixiang choked out through sobs. “In the whole palace, only you truly care about me. Wuwu… once you go to Changchun Palace, no one will care about me anymore.”

“I’m not leaving forever.” Wei Yingluo’s heart softened. She hugged her and said, “Even if I don’t come back, can’t you just come visit me?”

“I… can I really come see you?” Jixiang looked at her with both hope and worry. “Wouldn’t that make things difficult for you? I may be slow, but even I know that not just anyone can enter Changchun Palace…”

“What difficulty could there be?” Wei Yingluo pressed a handkerchief she had already prepared into the other girl’s hand. “Take this. It’s your birthday present. In the future, if you miss me, come to Changchun Palace. If you can’t get in, just ask someone to pass this handkerchief inside. The moment I see it, I’ll know you’re thinking of me and I’ll immediately ask for leave to come see you. All right?”

Jixiang felt her chest grow warm; fresh tears fell again. The slightly salty drops landed in the soup, yet when she tasted them in her mouth, all she could taste was sweetness like honey.

“Wei Yingluo! Wei Yingluo!” A palace maid’s voice called from outside the door. “Are you there?”

“Yes, what is it?” Wei Yingluo turned and answered.

“Someone from Changchun Palace is here. Come with me quickly.”

“Yingluo-jie, go quickly.” As soon as Jixiang heard, she became even more anxious than Wei Yingluo. She pushed her arm gently. “I’ll stay here and finish the noodles. There’s plenty in this bowl—it’ll last me a long time.”

“Mm, I’ll be right back.” Wei Yingluo gave her an apologetic glance, then followed the maid out.

After she left, Jixiang didn’t rush to eat the noodles. Instead she gazed fondly at the handkerchief in her hand.

Embroidered on it was a yellow dog—the very one she had raised back in her hometown. Life had been hard for her in the palace, but it had also been hard back home. Her parents favored her younger brother; he ate the rice while she could only drink the soup—and sometimes there wasn’t even soup left. She would cry from hunger until her grandmother, unable to bear it, took her under her wing and squeezed out whatever little food she could from between her teeth to feed her.

It wasn’t her parents who supported her grandmother in her old age—it was the old yellow dog at home. Though plain-looking, he was an excellent hunter and often brought back sparrows and field mice from outside. Otherwise she and her grandmother would have starved to death long ago.

She rarely told anyone these rambling, trivial memories—because no one liked to listen.

Only Wei Yingluo not only listened, but kept them in her heart.

“Thank you.” Jixiang pressed the handkerchief to her burning heart, silently repeating over and over, “Thank you, Sister Yingluo. To be able to enter the palace, to be able to meet you… it’s truly wonderful… Jixiang only needs to live to fifty. All the remaining years of my life, I give them to you. I wish you a long life of a hundred years, safe and peaceful year after year.”

“Sigh.”

A soft sigh interrupted Jixiang’s thoughts. She turned her head and immediately pulled a long face.

At some point, Linglong had sat down beside her. No one knew what she had just been through, but her face was pale as paper, and a trace of panic and unease lingered between her brows.

Jixiang picked up her bowl of longevity noodles and was about to leave when Linglong reached out and pulled her back.

“Jixiang, how did you become this kind of person?” Linglong said with quiet sorrow. “You weren’t like this when we were little.”

The two were from the same hometown and had even been neighbors. However, Linglong’s family was much better off than Jixiang’s. Sometimes she would toss the sweets she couldn’t finish to her. Because she craved those little treats, little Jixiang would obey anything she said—climb a tree when told to climb, bark like a dog when told to bark.

“We used to be so close, but ever since we entered the palace, you’ve kept your distance from me.” Linglong sighed again. “Is it because of Wei Yingluo?”

“Hmph, so you do know!” Jixiang replied bluntly and quickly. “She never did anything to you, yet you’re always gossiping about her behind her back!”

Linglong’s expression turned cold. To hide the chill on her face, she lifted a sleeve as if wiping away tears. “You blame me for targeting her, but have you ever thought about how hard I’ve tried? My embroidery isn’t that much worse than hers, yet the mama always favors her. How could I not feel resentful?”

“It’s actually a big difference. You’re only really good at embroidering cats—everything else is just average. But Sister Yingluo can embroider any pattern and knows every stitch.” Jixiang looked at her strangely, speaking as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “If you want the mama to value you, just work harder. Stop focusing only on cats and try more varieties… Wait, don’t tell me the reason you keep embroidering cats is because you can’t compare to Sister Yingluo in anything else?”

Linglong’s tear-wiping motion froze. A cold, sinister chill seemed to radiate from her body.

“…Fine.” After a long silence, she slowly lowered her sleeve and said in a pitiful, fragile voice, “I’ll embroider more varieties from now on.”

Jixiang wasn’t one to hold grudges. Seeing her childhood friend looking so pathetic, her heart softened and her tongue loosened as well. “Forget it, forget it. As long as you stop targeting Sister Yingluo in the future, we can still be good sisters.”

“Good. Then I swear to heaven right here.” Linglong pressed three fingers together and pointed to the sky. “If I ever harbor the slightest ill intent toward you or toward Wei Yingluo, may heaven punish me by making me smash into a wall and die a horrible death!”

Jixiang hurriedly pressed her pointing hand down and whispered reproachfully, “Don’t say that—it’s taboo!”

“So… we’re friends again?” Linglong looked at her expectantly.

Having already gone this far, what else could Jixiang do? After grumbling for a long while, she finally nodded reluctantly.

“Good Jixiang!” Linglong reached out and hugged her, resting her chin on her shoulder. Her eyes glinted with ferocity, yet her voice was sweetly soft as she smiled and said, “By the way, today is your birthday. I prepared a gift for you…”

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