Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 66: Compensation

   Hongzhou’s legs went weak. He stood rooted to the spot, utterly horrified, murmuring to himself, “It’s her… it really is her…”

The dark shadow and fear buried deep in his heart seized him in that moment, reminding him of what he had once done. Hongzhou staggered a couple of steps and collapsed into the muddy water. When he opened his eyes again, the palace maid on the wall had vanished. He had just begun to breathe a sigh of relief when, in the blink of an eye, a pair of dripping embroidered shoes appeared right in front of him. He jerked his head up—only the woman’s snow-white chin and vivid red lips were visible. Around her waist dangled a plum-blossom tassel, swaying gently in the wind.

In a panic, Hongzhou screamed, “It’s you! I’m not afraid of you! Don’t come any closer! Stay back! I’m not afraid of anything!” As he shouted, he grabbed his umbrella and swung it wildly to keep the “female ghost” away.

In the midst of the storm, someone suddenly seized his arm and pulled him to his feet. Fuheng said, “Hongzhou! Hongzhou! Snap out of it!”

Hongzhou, completely pale with terror, shrieked, “A ghost! A ghost! There’s a female ghost!”

Fuheng wiped the rain from his face. “Where?”

Hongzhou, eyes squeezed shut, pointed at the wall. “Right there! On the wall!”

Fuheng strode quickly to the wall. The surface was perfectly smooth, showing nothing unusual. He reached out and ran his hand over the spot. Under the washing rain, all he felt was a faint sticky residue.

Hailancha hurried over and asked, “Well? Did you find anything?”

Fuheng hid his hand behind his back to conceal the sticky substance, replying calmly, “Nothing for now.”

Hongzhou rushed forward and began frantically slapping the wall again and again, as if possessed, repeating obsessively, “It was right here! Just now—right before you arrived—there was a palace maid with disheveled hair covering her face! I saw her with my own eyes! It was her! How could there be nothing? Come out! Come out right now!”

Hailancha asked in astonishment, “Her? Fifth Master, who are you talking about? Do you actually know this ‘female ghost’?”

The next moment, Hongzhou’s voice abruptly cut off.

Fuheng pressed down on Hongzhou’s shoulder and said, “Hongzhou, I already checked just now. It’s only a wall—there’s nothing there.”

Hailancha also chimed in, “Fifth Master, you must have seen wrong.”

Hongzhou, his face full of fury, kicked the wall hard. “It wasn’t just me who was there earlier—so many people saw it with their own eyes!”

Fuheng shouted loudly, “Enough!”

Hailancha asked in surprise, “Fuheng, what’s wrong?”

Fuheng exhaled heavily and said, “Go back first. I still have something to take care of!” With that, without looking back, Fuheng plunged straight into the rain.

The rain stopped.

Fuheng waited outside Changchun Palace until Wei Yingluo returned. His gaze was as dark and deep as the night. He asked, “Where were you?”

Wei Yingluo avoided his eyes and answered, “I felt stifled and went out for a walk.”

Fuheng was silent for a moment before asking, “The person playing tricks with ghosts and apparitions just now—was that you?”

Wei Yingluo replied lightly and breezily, “What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

Fuheng said, “I found adhesive on the palace wall. The clan members all said they saw a ghost. Clearly, it wasn’t a ghost—someone stuck something reflective on the wall, which created the so-called ghostly shadow. Because it was a stormy night with flickering light, no one could see clearly, so they believed it was real!”

Wei Yingluo suddenly burst out laughing. Finally looking at Fuheng, she said, “Reflective? You mean a bronze mirror? How would a mirror be stuck on a palace wall? Imperial Guard Fucha, your imagination is really running wild, isn’t it?”

Fuheng took out a piece of glazed glass and showed it to Wei Yingluo. “Not a bronze mirror—a piece of glazed glass. I just went to the Imperial Household Department. You requisitioned glazed glass.”

Wei Yingluo laughed in amusement. “Imperial Guard Fucha, you’ve really misunderstood. I requisitioned the glazed glass to replace the broken pieces on the palace lanterns for Her Majesty the Empress. Why would I use it to play ghost and scare people? You should hurry back to Qianqing Gate before people start gossiping.” With that, she quickly walked into Changchun Palace.

Fuheng stood rooted in place, his voice low and suppressed as he pleaded, “Yingluo, don’t act rashly against Hongzhou! He is the Emperor’s closest brother. As long as he doesn’t commit the crime of treason, the Emperor will tolerate him for life!”

Wei Yingluo walked through the door without the slightest hesitation.

Hongzhou was still standing in front of the supposedly haunted palace wall, muttering to himself, “Impossible. There has to be something wrong.”

A hand suddenly clapped down on his shoulder from behind. Hongzhou jumped in fright. Turning around and seeing it was Fuheng, he patted his chest and complained, “Can’t you not sneak up behind me? Haven’t I been scared enough already?!”

Fuheng looked at him with an odd expression and asked, “What are you doing?”

Hongzhou patted the wall. “Last night I also thought it was a ghost at first, but thinking it over carefully, something’s not right. Someone’s playing tricks with ghosts on purpose—trying to dig up old matters! Hmph, when I catch the culprit, I’ll flay her alive and tear her to pieces!”

Fuheng raised an eyebrow and slowly asked, “The ‘old matter’ you’re talking about—is it the night of the tenth day of the first lunar month?”

Hongzhou froze completely, staring at Fuheng in shock and horror.

Fuheng’s expression grew heavy and cold. “That night was supposed to be my shift, but Mother fell ill, so I had to trade with someone. My clothes and court belt were left at the guard station. Because I left in such a hurry, I even forgot to take off my jade pendant. That night you went to the guard station and took my clothes—didn’t you?”

Hongzhou guiltily rubbed his nose. “Fuheng—”

Fuheng cut him off impatiently. “Don’t bother explaining. I don’t want to hear it! Do you want to know who was behind the tricks yesterday?”

Hongzhou immediately said, “Of course!”

Fuheng said calmly, “I can tell you. Come with me.”

The moment Wei Yingluo stepped into the main hall, she knew something was wrong. The Empress was looking at her with worry written all over her face. Hongzhou stood nearby, glaring like a tiger ready to pounce. He took one furious step forward and said indignantly, “So it was you pulling strings behind the scenes all along!”

Wei Yingluo immediately took a step back.

Hongzhou tried to press closer again, but Fuheng raised a hand to block him, frowning as he said:

“Enough!”

Hongzhou said unwillingly:

“Last night she scared me half to death, and I haven’t even done anything yet—you’re already protecting her like this?”

Fuheng said sternly:

“Hongzhou, don’t forget what you promised me!”

Hongzhou gave a tsk and stepped back one pace.

“I remember—settle this peacefully, right? I promised you I wouldn’t make things difficult for her anymore, so I absolutely won’t lift a finger! As for her sister…”

Hongzhou clapped his hands once. A eunuch came forward carrying a tray covered with red silk. Hongzhou pulled back the silk, revealing a dazzling pile of gold that lit up the entire hall.

Wei Yingluo’s gaze swept over the gold; she already had an idea in mind. She asked:

“What does this mean?”

Hongzhou grinned cheekily.

“An apology to you and your sister.”

Wei Yingluo asked coldly:

“With gold?”

Fuheng spoke with difficulty:

“Yingluo, Hongzhou was drunk and lost control that night—he committed a grave mistake in a moment of impulse. Hongzhou!”

Hongzhou helplessly raised both hands.

“Fine, fine, fine—I’m sorry. I was too drunk and muddle-headed; I hurt your sister. Afterward I regretted it very much and even went back looking for her! But to avoid the patrolling guards, I sneaked into the Imperial Garden to admire the night-blooming cereus and specially changed into Fuheng’s clothes. It wouldn’t have been proper to make a big fuss about it! By the time I found her, she had already left the palace!”

The Empress frowned, displeased.

“Hongzhou, do you know that after A-Man was expelled from the palace, she was strangled to death by someone?”

Hongzhou hurriedly said:

“I can swear to Heaven—that wasn’t me! I’m a straightforward person. If I really wanted to kill someone, I wouldn’t need to sneak around, much less disguise it as suicide!”

Wei Yingluo stared at Hongzhou and asked in a cold voice:

“Defiling a palace maid’s chastity—what difference is there from murdering her? My sister died, and she can’t even enter the Wei family ancestral grave—she can only be buried in a random burial ground!”

Hongzhou immediately said:

“I’ll make compensation!”

Wei Yingluo asked furiously:

“This is a human life—how exactly are you going to compensate?”

Hongzhou thought for a moment and said:

“Ms. Wei, I’ll take your sister as my wife and give her a proper status—how about that?”

Wei Yingluo said in disbelief:

“What did you say? Take her as your wife?!”

Hongzhou seemed to have hit upon a brilliant idea. He slapped his fan and said:

“That’s right! If I take her, a side consort has to be recorded in the jade register—the Wei family doesn’t qualify for that, but she can be a concubine! That way, no one will ever say she lost her virginity before marriage or question her virtue!”

Wei Yingluo stared fixedly at Hongzhou. Suddenly she scoffed with icy disdain, turned, and started to leave.

Hongzhou asked in confusion:

“Hey—where are you going?”

Just as Wei Yingluo stepped out the door, she ran straight into Wei Qingtai. She froze and called out blankly:

“Father…”

Wei Qingtai didn’t look at her. He simply saluted:

“This slave pays respects to Her Majesty the Empress and to Prince He.”

The Empress gave Wei Yingluo a surprised glance before saying:

“Rise.”

Wei Yingluo asked:

“Why are you here?”

Wei Qingtai didn’t answer. Hongzhou eagerly boasted:

“Your father has been without a good position all this time, hasn’t he? I personally wrote a letter of recommendation. Starting today, he’ll serve as an inner steward in the Imperial Household Department. As long as he does his job well, there’s no worry about promotions in the future!”

Wei Yingluo looked at Wei Qingtai, her expression complicated. She asked:

“You agreed to this?”

Hongzhou chimed in from the side:

“He’s already taken up the post!”

Wei Yingluo let out a short, sharp laugh and asked:

“Father, how does it feel to trade your own daughter’s life for a better future prospects?”

Wei Qingtai let out a heavy sigh and asked:

“Yingluo! Are you still going to be this stubborn? Do you really want to watch your sister’s soul wander with nowhere to rest?!”

Wei Yingluo’s whole body shuddered. She stood frozen.

Wei Qingtai’s eyes were full of sorrow as he said, “Yingning did not die a peaceful death, and she has been left with a sullied, unclean reputation. She can never be buried in the ancestral grave. Our entire Wei family will never be able to hold our heads high again! But Prince He has promised to welcome Yingning’s spirit tablet into his mansion! With this, no one in the entire Wei clan will dare speak ill of her anymore, and she can finally rest in peace down below!”

Hongzhou chimed in from the side, chattering away: “Exactly! I will definitely find her an excellent feng shui site and bury her properly so she won’t become a lonely wandering ghost. Consider this my sincere apology!”

Fuheng looked at Yingluo with worry and softly called her name: “Yingluo…”

Wei Qingtai turned to his youngest daughter and said, “Yingluo, if you are willing to let this matter go today, I will forgive you for your earlier willful and reckless behavior. But if you remain stubbornly obsessed, I will have no choice but to expel you from the family to prevent you from causing more disasters! Think carefully: is a moment of anger more important, or is your sister’s peace in the afterlife and our father-daughter bond more important?”

Wei Yingluo bit her lip. Ignoring everyone else, she looked toward the Empress—like a small child seeking shelter from a trusted adult: “Your Majesty, you have always taught this servant to be forgiving and tolerant. This time, I would like to ask you: is forgiveness possible?”

The Empress took a deep breath, looked at her with heartache, and said, “Yingluo, I am not you. I cannot forgive someone in your place.”

Wei Yingluo lowered her head and thought for a moment before saying, “This servant understands.” She turned to Hongzhou and said, “For the sake of my sister finding peace in the afterlife, Prince He, I can forgive you. However, you must keep the promise you made today and never forget it!”

Hongzhou grinned so widely his eyes narrowed into slits. “That’s more like it! It’s better to resolve enmity than to keep it alive. From now on, the Wei family can be considered half my in-laws. Lord Wei’s promotion, and your own marriage once you come of age and leave the palace—I’ll take care of everything!”

Wei Yingluo smiled slightly. “Then many thanks to Prince He.” But right after, as though she could no longer bear it, she turned and walked away.

Fuheng quickly called, “Yingluo!”

She paid no attention and hurried off. Fuheng started to follow, but the Empress said sharply, “Stop!”

Fuheng had no choice but to halt. He turned back to his sister, puzzled. “Empress—”

The Empress’s face was full of anger. “Who gave you permission to do this!”

Fuheng knew exactly what she was referring to. He answered calmly, “Sister, you have seen with your own eyes how much the Emperor favors and trusts Hongzhou. If Yingluo insists on taking revenge, what do you think her fate will be? Now that she is willing to let go of her hatred—isn’t that something we should all be happy about?”

The Empress said in disappointment, “Coercion and bribery are not the ways of a gentleman.”

But Fuheng suddenly raised his voice: “I only want her to be safe!”

The Empress was stunned. Erqing’s face showed even greater shock.

Fuheng looked in the direction Yingluo had left and repeated, “Even if she hates me, even if she blames me, I must make sure she lives in peace and safety.”

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