Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 30: The Little Thief

   “I really don’t know what Her Ladyship sees in you. A mere little embroideress, yet somehow you’ve stepped straight through the gates of Changchun Palace!” Ming Yu looked Wei Yingluo up and down, her gaze far from friendly.

The person sent by Changchun Palace turned out to be… her.

Ming Yu sat in the chair with a plate of pastries beside her—glutinous rice balls, green bean cakes, rose pastries, sesame candies—a colorful four-kind assortment that looked delicious just from appearance.

She was savoring the sweets with great concentration, looking less like someone on official business for the Empress and more like someone taking advantage of the errand to enjoy a leisurely half-day.

She had been sitting for as long as Wei Yingluo had been standing. Remembering the earlier warning from Chief Steward Wu, she couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: “The King of Hell is easy to deal with; the little devils are the difficult ones.”

The steps into Changchun Palace were probably not going to be easy to climb.

“Alright, I’ve delivered the message.” Ming Yu finally seemed to have had her fill. She popped the last piece of pastry into her mouth, clapped her hands, and said, “Finish up your business in the embroidery workshop quickly. Come to Changchun Palace by the end of the month.”

“Yes, I’ll see you off, Sister Ming Yu.” Wei Yingluo accompanied Ming Yu all the way to the entrance of Changchun Palace. The round trip took nearly half an hour, yet just walking and chatting like this made her feel more exhausted than working five or six hours straight in the embroidery workshop.

The most bitter and tiring work in the world is none other than serving others.

Dragging her utterly weary body back to the palace maids’ quarters, Wei Yingluo suddenly frowned.

Something was wrong…

The noisy chatter that had filled the room stopped the instant she stepped through the door.

The palace maids who shared the same quarters—some standing, some sitting, some near, some far—all turned to look at her with the exact same strange gaze. That look made Wei Yingluo extremely uncomfortable: it carried mockery, sarcasm, pity, and sympathy all at once.

Why were they looking at her like that?

Full of confusion, Wei Yingluo walked back to her bed. Two quilts lay side by side, two pillows pressed close together.

“Where’s Jixiang?” Wei Yingluo asked. “She hasn’t come back yet?”

Even eating a bowl of noodles shouldn’t take this long. By her calculations, Jixiang should have finished and returned ages ago.

A young palace maid who had been fairly close with Jixiang answered in a low voice: “She was taken away.”

Wei Yingluo froze. “What did you say?”

“She was taken.” The young maid had to repeat it, hesitated, then added, “…The item was hidden on her person…”

“What item was on her?” A bad premonition rose in Wei Yingluo’s heart.

“…A sachet.” The young maid sighed. “Inside it was the peacock feather threads that had gone missing earlier…”

“That’s impossible!” Wei Yingluo strode right up to her, eyes blazing. “You’re lying!”

“I’m not lying! It was Chief Steward Wu himself who searched her and found it!” The young maid was truly frightened by the terrifying look in Wei Yingluo’s eyes. Panicking, her gaze darted around the room and suddenly landed on one person. She pointed and cried out, “It’s said that it was Linglong who reported it!”

Wei Yingluo slowly turned her head. “Linglong!”

Linglong was lying face-down on her own bed, half her pillow soaked with tears. Her swollen red eyes looked back at Wei Yingluo. It was unclear whether she was explaining to her or to everyone else:

“I grew up together with Jixiang. Her family was poor; they often didn’t know where the next meal was coming from, so she sometimes had sticky fingers… I never imagined that after entering the palace—having food and clothes—she still hadn’t broken that bad habit…”

Before she could finish, a hand seized her by the collar and yanked her up from the bed.

“Nonsense!” Wei Yingluo’s furious face was inches away.

“I’m not talking nonsense! I didn’t want to believe she was that kind of person either… I just… I just mentioned it to Chief Steward Wu.” Linglong sniffled, sounding aggrieved. “Later I found out that Her Majesty the Empress had only given Steward Wu two days to solve it. He must have been anxious to catch the thief and decided to search everyone. Who could have known it would actually turn up…”

“Ha!” Wei Yingluo scoffed with icy disdain. “Do you think I’ll believe that?”

Linglong looked at her in shock.

“The peacock feather threads have been missing for so long. Now the moment Steward Wu comes and asks around, they’re suddenly found.” Wei Yingluo dragged Linglong right up to her face—eye to eye, like two crossed war blades sparking with the intensity of a fight to the death. “Linglong, do you think I would believe it? Do you think Steward Wu would believe it? Steward Wu… he just wants to close the case as quickly as possible, that’s all.”

With a violent shove, she threw Linglong to the ground. Without looking back, Wei Yingluo stormed out of the palace maids’ quarters.

Trees flashed past her on both sides. The path rushed backward beneath her feet.

Suddenly someone dashed out and blocked her path, stopping her frantic run.

“…Momo.” Wei Yingluo finally saw who it was. Panting hard, she said, “I have to find Chief Steward Wu. If I’m too late, it’ll be over…”

If she had been even a moment later, Jixiang’s life would have been beyond saving.

Even if it meant using up the hard-earned favors she had painstakingly accumulated, even if it meant owing Chief Steward Wu an enormous debt of gratitude, she was willing to pay any price.

As long as she could save that child’s life…

“Don’t go.” Momo Zhang’s hands clamped down like iron pincers, holding Wei Yingluo firmly in place.

“Momo, let go of me!” Wei Yingluo struggled with all her strength.

Halfway through her struggle, her entire body suddenly froze.

“Don’t look!” Momo Zhang hurriedly raised one hand to cover her eyes, only for Wei Yingluo to forcefully pull it away.

Ahead lay the path leading to the Palace Discipline Office.

Palace maids and eunuchs who had committed offenses were inevitably sent there to suffer.

The great doors of the Palace Discipline Office stood wide open. A nauseating smell drifted out from within—like old tears mingled with fresh blood.

Two eunuchs emerged from the doorway, one in front and one behind, carrying a stretcher between them.

A white cloth covered the person on the stretcher from head to toe. The cloth rose and fell in the rough outline of a woman’s face. As they passed by Wei Yingluo, the stretcher jolted slightly. A pale, lifeless arm slipped from the side and dangled limply.

A embroidered handkerchief slid from the fingertips and fell to the ground.

Wei Yingluo bent down and picked it up. Her eyes immediately blurred with tears.

On the handkerchief was an adorably chubby yellow dog—the very one Jixiang had raised back in her hometown. People said it was unusually intelligent; it would go out and catch sparrows and field mice, then bring them home to feed the old and the young.

This was the birthday gift she had given Jixiang.

“May you live a hundred years, safe and sound year after year.” Wei Yingluo cradled the handkerchief and murmured, “May you live a hundred years, safe and… sound year after year.”

   By the end her voice had broken into sobs. Suddenly she turned and rushed toward the Palace Discipline Office, only to be dragged back hard by Momo Zhang.

“Let me go!” Wei Yingluo cried in fury. “I’m going to find Chief Steward Wu! I want to ask him why he did this! He knew perfectly well there was something suspicious about the whole affair—why couldn’t he handle it impartially the way he did with my case before?”

“Silly child, everyone has their own difficulties,” Momo Zhang sighed. “If the Empress hadn’t set a strict deadline, of course he would have handled it fairly and taken his time to find the real culprit. But the Empress only gave him two days. He had no choice but to protect himself first, and then protect others.”

Wei Yingluo understood the logic perfectly; it was just that her heart refused to accept it. “But even if he couldn’t find the thief, at worst he’d receive some punishment. Yet Jixiang… she had to lose her life…”

“No one will take a punishment for someone who means nothing to them,” Momo Zhang said. As she spoke, tears began to roll from the corners of her eyes, crisscrossing through the deep fish-tail wrinkles on her face. Her voice grew hoarse and broken. “No one… will shed tears for someone who means nothing to them.”

In that instant, Wei Yingluo’s tears came pouring down.

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