Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 153: Heart-to-Heart

After returning from Chengqian Palace, Hongli felt a deep sense of bewilderment.

He didn’t want to go back to the Yangxin Hall. The table there was covered with memorials singing praises—on the surface lauding Naerbu’s death as well deserved, but in reality praising him for the killing itself.

And when he looked at the names of those who had submitted the memorials—ha! —they were precisely the real culprits who had embezzled the disaster-relief funds.

A wave of nausea rose in Hongli’s heart—disgust toward them, and disgust toward himself. His feet wandered aimlessly until, without realizing it, he found himself at Yanxi Palace.

A strain of music drifted out from inside—not the zheng, not the qin, neither flute nor drum.

Hongli paused, then stepped inside and saw the music box on the table.

Inside the music box, a pair of doll-like lovers with golden hair and blue eyes, dressed in Western formal attire, held each other’s hands and twirled gracefully to the melody. Beside it, Wei Yingluo had taken Ming Yu’s hand; both wearing palace-style qipao, they too twirled to the music—until with an “Ouch!” Wei Yingluo exclaimed, “Wrong, wrong! Yin said it’s not supposed to turn like that. Let’s start over.”

Ming Yu’s fingers were nimble—she could make all kinds of delicate snacks—but her feet were far less cooperative. After a few more stumbling steps, she gave up. “This servant isn’t dancing anymore. I can’t do it!”

Wei Yingluo: “Come on, just try again!”

Hongli watched for a while. The two of them kept stepping on each other’s skirts and toes, hopping around like shamans in a ritual dance. He couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Hearing his voice, both women hurried over to curtsy.

“What are you doing?” Hongli waived the formal greeting, reached over, and wound the music box to play a different tune.

Wei Yingluo smiled brightly. “This Western gadget was just gathering dust in the Imperial Household Department. I specially asked Yin—the Frenchman—for advice. He even demonstrated a segment of the dance for me.”

Hongli was both annoyed and amused. “I had the French missionary stay in the Forbidden City specifically to revise the calendar and improve firearms—not to entertain you with dancing lessons.”

Wei Yingluo didn’t answer his words. She simply smiled, stepped forward, placed her hands on his waist, and led him into the dance.

A waltz—much like the relationship between man and woman: you advance when I retreat, you retreat when I advance.

It was precisely the kind of dance well suited to couples. Even if one partner had no idea what they were doing, under the other’s guidance they quickly picked it up.

“How is it?” Wei Yingluo smiled. “Isn’t it fun?”

By now Hongli was already dancing quite decently. He had just begun to smile when his face suddenly darkened again. “Did you dance like this with that foreigner too?”

“Like what?” Wei Yingluo asked on purpose.

Hongli scoffed with a sneer and pinched her waist.

That spot was especially ticklish. Wei Yingluo burst out laughing from the pinch and hurriedly grabbed his fingers. “No, no! Yin only demonstrated it to a little eunuch for me to watch.”

Only then did Hongli’s expression clear, shifting from cloudy back to sunny.

“Your master really has her ways,” Li Yu observed quietly, noting the change. He leaned toward Ming Yu and whispered, “His Majesty has been in a foul mood these past two days. Only here, in your palace, has he finally shown a smile.”

Ming Yu watched the two people spinning nonstop in front of her, covering her mouth and laughing continuously.

Li Yu was puzzled by her laughter: “What are you laughing at?”

“Wait a moment.” Over there, Hongli also sensed something was off. He frowned in confusion. “It feels like… something’s not quite right, doesn’t it?”

Wei Yingluo blinked innocently: “What’s not right?”

“…” Hongli’s hand slowly slid down, catching the hand that Wei Yingluo had placed on his waist. He raised an eyebrow with a hint of danger. “I’ve heard that when Westerners dance, the man places his hand on the woman’s waist—so why are you—Wei Yingluo, you’re deliberately teasing me again!”

Wei Yingluo obligingly took his hand in return and placed it on her own waist.

Hongli: “…Do you think doing that will stop me from getting angry?”

“Your Majesty, don’t be angry anymore.” Wei Yingluo slowly leaned her head against his shoulder. “I just wanted to make you happy.”

They leaned close together, performing the most intimate steps of the waltz. Accompanied by the roundelay tune from the music box, they spun and spun and spun…

A bright full moon rose into the sky.

Tired from dancing, the two sat side by side at the window, gazing at the bright moon outside.

“Your Majesty.” Wei Yingluo looked up at him. “You’re unhappy again?”

Hongli was often unhappy; only rarely could he laugh freely. Now he had returned to his usual solemn expression and said lightly: “Yingluo, if there is someone who absolutely must be killed, what would you do?”

Wei Yingluo smiled: “Kill him.”

Hongli was stunned and lowered his head to look at her: “What if he has been wrongly accused?”

Wei Yingluo: “Release him.”

Hongli: “…And if he has been wronged, but for the sake of the greater good he still must be killed?”

Without the slightest hesitation, Wei Yingluo replied: “Both kill and release.”

At first Hongli thought she was speaking reasonably, but when she said that, he felt she was just brushing him off: “What kind of answer is that!”

“On the surface, carry out the execution without fail; in secret, swap him with a substitute.” Wei Yingluo said, “Your Majesty could find a death-row prisoner who resembles him closely and secretly exchange the two—wouldn’t that work?”

Hongli was stunned at first, then burst into loud laughter: “Do you think the Ministry of Justice’s prison is a vegetable market? When someone is beheaded, their identity must be verified!”

“Of course I know that before a beheading the identity must be confirmed. And I also know exactly who the ‘he’ in your words refers to,” Wei Yingluo said.

Hongli’s smile froze.

After a long silence, Wei Yingluo spoke first: “…Lord Naerbu. In the end, Your Majesty still wanted to kill him.”

Hongli grumbled in a muffled voice: “Nonsense! I’ve never thought any such thing!”

“But even if you granted the Empress a favor and changed the sentence from beheading to exile, would he be safe on the road to exile? There is no one in the world the Son of Heaven cannot eliminate if he truly wishes it. You simply—” Wei Yingluo paused, but still finished the sentence, “—did not want him to live!”

Hongli stared at her with a dark expression for a long time before giving a faint smile: “You’re right.”

He rose from beside Wei Yingluo and walked alone to the window. Placing both hands on the railing, he looked down at the scenery below—pavilions, towers, palace maids, and eunuchs—all shrinking in his gaze.

“…Naerbu did not embezzle disaster relief grain. But he committed two wrongs: first, he knew of the corruption and failed to report it; second, he was muddled and incompetent. In various places across eastern Zhejiang, similar situations existed to a greater or lesser degree, yet not a single riot broke out elsewhere, and no disaster victims starved to death.” Hongli gripped the railing tightly and spoke slowly. “Sometimes an incompetent and muddle-headed official does no less harm than a corrupt one. He may have been wrongly accused, and the Empress may plead for him—but who will speak for the disaster victims who died unjustly? I sentenced him to exile only out of consideration for the Empress’s feelings, giving him a relatively dignified way to die. I simply never expected that the Empress Dowager would act one step ahead…”

After a slight hesitation, he asked in a low voice, “Yingluo, do you think I am a very cruel emperor?”

“Yes.”

Hongli’s expression darkened.

A pair of hands slowly reached out from behind him and wrapped around his waist.

“But so what?” Wei Yingluo pressed her face against his back. “Your Majesty, you always want to be a perfect person, but where in this world is there such a thing as a perfect person? Execute corrupt officials, and the corrupt officials will hate you. Execute incompetent ministers, and the incompetent will resent you. Let them hate if they must hate; let them resent if they must resent. Once the move is made, there is no regret—never look back!”

Hongli slowly began to smile. “Well said. Once the move is made, no regret—never look back!”

Moonlight shone upon the mortal world. Beneath the railings, beneath the pavilions, Zhener rushed about like a headless fly. In her distraction, she suddenly collided with someone.

“Zhener?” Seeing her dazed and disoriented appearance, Hongzhou frowned. “Why aren’t you attending to the Empress? What are you doing running around here?”

“Chengqian Palace, the Imperial Garden, the Household Department…” Zhener’s eyes were unfocused as she rattled off a long string of places. Then she suddenly lifted her head, looked at him, and burst into tears. “None of them! I can’t find Her Majesty the Empress anywhere!”

Hongzhou’s heart jolted. Forgetting all propriety, he seized her arm. “What did you say? What’s happened to the Empress?”

“The Empress is missing.” Zhener had been searching all day; she was already frantic and at her wit’s end, sobbing uncontrollably. “This servant has looked everywhere—everywhere—and can’t find her. I didn’t dare tell anyone else…”

Hongzhou shot a fierce glare at the eunuch who had been leading the way. The eunuch understood at once and immediately lowered his eyes, pretending he had heard and seen nothing.

Turning back, Hongzhou said gravely to Zhener, “We’ll split up and search two separate paths. We must find Her Majesty the Empress before anyone else notices she’s gone.”

Though the Forbidden City was vast, once they excluded the places Zhener had already searched, the area became much more manageable. The two quickly divided the remaining locations between them and set off in different directions.

Not here. Not here. Not here either… Hongzhou hurried past the base of a corner tower, then suddenly stopped. He looked up. When he clearly saw the figure standing atop the tower, he cried out in shock, “Empress!”

Thump, thump, thump—his boots pounded rapidly up the wooden stairs.

In almost an instant, Hongzhou reached the top of the corner tower, breathing hard. He stared at the Empress standing barefoot on the railing ahead, his voice trembling. “Empress, what are you doing? Please come down first, all right?”

The Step Empress slowly turned her head. In the moonlight, her face looked deathly pale. “…Did you think I was going to jump from here?”

With that, she turned back around, spread her arms wide, and took one step after another toward the edge of the tower.

With every step she took, Hongzhou felt his heart rise into his throat. Without thinking, he followed her forward.

If the Step Empress were to lose her footing at this moment… the palace servants would likely discover two bodies the next day.

“I’ve been standing here all day,” the Step Empress suddenly stopped and gazed into the distance. “I just wanted to know what it felt like for Fucha Rongyin when she stood in this very spot.”

Then she laughed—a laugh that was unusually light and carefree.

“Fucha Rongyin and I entered the household one after the other. She was the gentle, dignified principal wife; I was the cautious, careful side wife. We had many things in common, yet we were also very different. What we shared was entrusting our true hearts to our husband. What differed…” The Step Empress lowered her head to look at the drop below. “…was that she jumped from this very place, while I became the lofty Empress.”

No wonder this spot had been so deserted all along the way—palace maids and eunuchs seemed to deliberately avoid it.

   This was the very place where the late Empress had fallen to her death.

   The ground below looked clean and spotless, yet it bore blood, tears, and the lingering souls of the departed.

   Hongzhou said gravely, “Empress, what is past is past. Why bring it up again? You are not Fucha Rongyin, and you will never become her.”

“Indeed, I am not Fucha Rongyin. Even standing here, I have never once wished to die.” The Step Empress sighed and turned to look at him. “Do you know why?”

Hongzhou gazed at her.

“Because I’m not willing to accept it,” the Step Empress said softly. “I once thought that by becoming the mistress of the six palaces, by becoming the Empress of Great Qing, I would never again be trampled upon, never again have to tread so carefully. But I was wrong. In the past, Consort Xian could not protect my mother and brothers. Now, as Empress, I still cannot protect my father… because the power I hold is too little, far too little…”

“No, it’s not like that…” Hongzhou wanted to comfort her, yet he didn’t know how.

He had personally investigated the matter of Naerbu. He knew the truth better than anyone.

Even the reason for his death—he could guess seven or eight parts of it…

Everything was just as the Step Empress had said. Even as Empress, she still could not protect her own father—because the one who wanted her father dead was her husband, the current Emperor.

“It’s not like that… You just…” Hongzhou said miserably, “You simply still held hope in His Majesty…”

And he had let down your hopes…

The Step Empress said nothing.

The moonlight fell on her thin shoulders, making her appear all the more solitary and pitiful.

And her husband? He was probably staying at Yanxi Palace again tonight…

Hongzhou looked at those shoulders. As if possessed, he reached out his hand, yet stopped a palm’s distance away, not daring to place it there.

“Go back,” the Step Empress suddenly spoke without turning her head. “Both you and I should return.”

With that, she slowly turned around, once again resuming her usual dignified and virtuous demeanor. If not for the tear stains on her cheeks, no one would have guessed she had been crying.

Hongzhou could only follow suit and revert to the role of a subject. Respectfully, he stepped aside to let her descend the stairs first. Watching her lonely figure gradually move farther away, his expression was complicated. His fists clenched and unclenched, until finally he could no longer hold back and called out:

“Empress, in the future, if there is ever anything Hongzhou can do for you, please tell me. I want to… do something for you.”

The Step Empress’s steps paused for a moment. She did not turn back, and continued walking forward.

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   Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 152: The Empress Dowager and the Empress

   The Empress felt utterly useless.

   She held the power of life and death over an entire harem of women, yet she could not save her own father’s life. On the surface she stood above ten thousand people, second only to one—yet at the most critical moment, all she could do was kneel on the ground, powerless to accomplish anything else.

She had taken not a single drop of water nor a morsel of food, kneeling for a full day and night. Finally, the door opposite her creaked open.

“Empress.” Hongli slowly walked up to her. “You have knelt here all night long—are you trying to threaten me?”

Li Yu held a lantern in his hand; its light fell on the Empress’s face, stinging her eyes until tears welled up. She raised her head and said: “Your Majesty, the disaster relief grain has been skimmed away layer by layer. By the time it reached my father’s hands, almost nothing was left.”

Hongli was taken aback.

“Do you know how the other relief kitchens are operating?” the Empress questioned him word by word. “Either they extort the local gentry and wealthy merchants, or they fill the quotas with tree bark and grass roots, then suppress the starving people with heavy troops so that the disaster victims dare to be angry but dare not speak. My father was the stupidest of them all—he went door to door visiting the powerful families, yet he was no good at threats or inducements, so he collected far too little. In the end, he took out all of his own family assets—including the residence and fields bestowed by Your Majesty, all sold off. Even… the very house he himself lived in, his last remaining piece of property.”

The Empress had never been someone willing to sit and wait for death.

She knew that relying on emotion alone would hardly move Hongli, so she desperately needed to prove one thing… to prove that her father was innocent. To that end, she had even gone to Hongzhou and asked him to help her gather information about what was happening outside.

As for why Hongzhou obeyed the woman who belonged to his older brother… for the time being, she refused to think about it.

“…When the disaster victims rioted, he delayed sending out the soldiers for the longest time, terrified of injuring unarmed common people. But they nearly beat him to death! Only when the soldiers were finally enraged by the mob’s brutality did the casualties occur afterward.” The Empress spoke as though her heart were bleeding like a cuckoo crying blood. “Was it really incompetence? He could not bear it. He simply could not!”

Hongli sighed. “I know.”

That answer instantly chilled half of the Empress’s heart.

He knew…

He clearly knew, yet he had still refused to release her father.

In that moment the Empress understood everything. Hongli’s delay in freeing him was not because he did not believe, but because he could not.

The realization made her blood run ice-cold in an instant; her vision went blank and her body swayed unsteadily. After a moment she fiercely bit the tip of her tongue, clinging to one last shred of hope: “…I understand. You face many difficulties. Therefore I dare not beg for complete forgiveness—only that, considering how hard he tried with all his heart… please spare his life!”

Hongli looked at the woman before him. She was not the woman he loved most, yet she was the best Empress. She possessed every virtue that Wei Yingluo lacked: respectful and obedient, virtuous and gentle, never complaining and never demanding. The entire harem, entrusted to her hands, was managed with perfect order.

Even if he set aside her merits, he could not ignore her hardships. Hongli truly could not bear to refuse a woman who had given so much—for him, and for the harem. With another sigh, he reached out to help her up: “Very well, I will not execute him. Get up first… Empress—Empress! Someone, come! Summon the imperial physician!”

Perhaps because she had knelt on the ground too long and gone without food for too long, in the surge of great joy she suddenly fainted.

When she slowly regained consciousness, she was already lying in the bedchamber of Chengqian Palace.

Zhen’er personally served her a bowl of medicinal soup. The Empress took only a few hasty sips before asking her: “Has my father been released?”

“The Emperor has already issued an order: Lord Father’s death sentence is commuted, and he is to be exiled to Ningguta.” Zhener brought a spoonful of medicinal decoction to her lips. “The one handling this matter is Prince He.”

The Step Empress pushed the spoon away. “When was the order issued?”

Zhener: “Just today.”

The Step Empress: “Quickly, help me pack some things. Let Prince He deliver them to my father for me.”

Zhener had originally wanted the Empress to remain lying down while she packed everything herself, but how could the Step Empress stay in bed? She struggled to get up and, together with Zhener, packed a bundle.

“Ningguta is a place of bitter cold.” The Step Empress stuffed a thick garment into the bundle. “We need to bring more warm clothing… What about the medicine?”

“Here.” Zhener handed over a bottle of wound ointment.

As the Step Empress tucked the medicine bottle inside, she murmured incessantly: “His leg was injured by someone. There won’t be any good doctors along the way, nor time to recover properly. I only hope these wound medicines can lessen some of his pain…”

Sending the old generation burying the young generation is tragic; burying the old generation by the young generation is equally tragic. Ningguta is ten thousand li from the capital—once parted today, they might never meet again in this lifetime.

One bundle could never hold all a daughter’s sentiments. She packed item after item in, then took some out again, only to repack them. In the end the bundle was stuffed full, with many more things left beside it that simply couldn’t fit.

“Go now,” the Step Empress said wearily. “Deliver this bundle to Prince He for me.”

Zhener hugged the bundle tightly, nodded, and before leaving asked, “Is there any message you would like Prince He to convey to Lord Father on your behalf?”

The Step Empress gave a bitter smile. Through the cloth of the bundle, she gently stroked the knee pad inside. “Tell him… your daughter is unfilial and cannot personally see him off. Please ask him to take good care of himself.”

Zhener nodded and departed.

Left alone in the room, the Step Empress picked up the unfinished bowl of medicinal decoction and slowly finished it, spoonful by spoonful.

“Is there hot soup in Ningguta?” She couldn’t help letting her thoughts wander. “Are the clothes I prepared thick enough… Ningguta is truly very cold, so very cold…”

The door creaked open.

The Step Empress turned her head and asked with a weak smile, “How did things go?”

“Your Ladyship…” Zhener hesitated, her expression strange.

The smile on the Step Empress’s face faded bit by bit. Her ice-cold fingers tightened around the medicine bowl. “Speak! What happened?”

“Your Ladyship…” Zhener hesitated for a long while before finally choking out, through sobs, “the Old Master… has taken his own life.”

In the prison cell, there was no daylight—only the torches on the walls and in the jailer’s hands burned, their flickering light illuminating the corpse ahead.

Hongzhou held the blue cloth bundle Zhener had given him, standing before the body with a dark and gloomy face.

Blood flowed from all seven orifices; the face was twisted in agony. One hand still clutched fiercely at the throat, as though desperately trying to claw something out from inside.

Poison suicide?

“…Where would poison come from in a prison cell?” Hongzhou ground his teeth, roaring inwardly. “He absolutely did not kill himself!”

If even he refused to believe it, how could his daughter possibly believe it?

After two days of fasting, Hongli finally had no choice but to visit Chengqian Palace.

“Your Majesty.” On the bed, the Step Empress—with her long hair unbound and wearing only a plain white garment—slowly turned her head. Her clear black-and-white eyes fixed straight on him. “You have finally come.”

Hongli stood with hands behind his back. “Empress, my decree arrived one step too late.”

Hearing this explanation, the Step Empress said nothing. She simply continued to stare straight at him.

“…I have already issued an edict to have Naerbu’s funeral affairs properly arranged,” Hongli said. “If you wish to handle them personally, I can permit that as well.”

Despite all these explanations, the Empress remained silent, simply staring at him—staring until a chill crept into his heart.

“…Rest well,” Hongli finally said. But just as he turned to leave, the Empress behind him spoke.

“Did Your Majesty kill him?”

Hongli’s footsteps halted. “No.”

The Empress fixed her gaze on his back. This time it was no longer a question, but a statement: “Then it was the Empress Dowager who acted.”

Hongli whipped around. “Empress! Your father took his own life!”

His explanation—or rather, his cover-up—caused the Empress to burst into uncontrollable laughter.

“My father was loyal and straightforward; he was dull-witted, yes—but he was still a human being. And any human being clings to life.” The Empress wiped away the tears that had come from laughing so hard. “Otherwise, a few days ago he would not have set aside his dignity to come beg me… Tell me, how could a man like that possibly commit suicide?”

“Empress,” Hongli said gravely, “the man is already gone. Pursuing this further is meaningless.”

The Empress smiled at him. “Your Majesty, my father suffered an injustice. He has become, in the eyes of the world, a great corrupt official who, fearing punishment, hanged himself in prison. As his daughter, am I supposed to pretend I saw nothing and say not a single word?”

Hongli fell silent.

No matter how virtuous or how deferential she was, the Empress was still a person. And any person has parents; they can be filled with towering rage at the injustice done to their father or mother—even to the point of throwing caution to the wind.

“…Empress, I know you are deeply grieved.” Hongli understood this and could not bear to blame her—yet he also could not bear to blame the other woman. “You may blame me, hate me—but do not blame the Empress Dowager.”

But how could the Empress not blame her? How could she not hate her?

If Naerbu had truly embezzled the relief funds and met such an end, she would have had nothing to say.

The problem was that he had not.

Her father not only had not embezzled a single grain of relief money—he had used his entire family fortune to fill the shortfall, and in the end he had paid with his life. And the result? Utter disgrace, reviled by all.

“Your Majesty.” The Empress refused to swallow this bitterness. She scoffed with icy disdain. “Do you truly believe the Empress Dowager acted without any selfish motive?”

Hongli’s expression darkened. “Empress, no matter how heartbroken you are, you should not be disrespectful to the Empress Dowager.”

The Empress scoffed. Through Hongzhou she had already had the truth investigated—and what she learned went far beyond her father’s innocence. Now that her father was dead, there was no longer any need to conceal anything for others. She immediately said:

“Do you know that the Empress Dowager’s own nephew was also involved in the embezzlement case?”

Zhener gave a start and quietly tugged at the Empress’s sleeve.

“…As soon as Father’s case broke, the Empress Dowager’s brother and sister-in-law entered the palace to plead for mercy. If the investigation were carried to the end, the Empress Dowager’s Niohuru family would also be implicated.” The Empress paid no heed and continued, “That is why she unhesitatingly pushed my father forward to be the scapegoat!”

“Master!” Zhener was terrified and immediately seized her hand. “Don’t say any more!”

The other palace servants either knelt or bowed their heads, wishing desperately that they had gone deaf so they would not have to hear such a terrifying secret.

Yet the Empress pushed Zhener aside, stepped down from the bed, and walked straight up to Hongli. Her face wore a smile, but her eyes brimmed with tears:

“Your Majesty, the officials are mediocre, greedy, muddle-headed, and cunning—and the splendid, flower-filled rear palace is exactly the same! Everyone is an actor, performing the grand spectacle of a flourishing age and an enlightened era. They band together to deceive you, to fool you. Even though you rise before dawn and retire long after dusk, working tirelessly day and night, you still cannot protect the wronged ministers, and you cannot eradicate all the insatiable corrupt vermin!”

This time it was Hongli who stared at her for a long while.

“…Li Yu,” he finally spoke. “The Empress is ill. Summon the imperial physicians to diagnose and treat her.”

After he left, Zhener was drenched in cold sweat and no longer had the strength to stand. She collapsed onto the edge of the bed and let out a long breath:

“Your Ladyship… please, never say such things again. Today His Majesty did not punish you, but next time… who knows what might happen…”

“Yes, exactly—I didn’t say anything wrong, yet I’m the one being punished.” The Empress said in a faint, distant voice. “Clearly it was the Empress Dowager who did wrong, but because her son is the Emperor, she doesn’t have to face any consequences…”

“Empress!” Zhener rushed over, wishing she could reach out and cover her mouth.

Fortunately, after that remark, the Empress fell silent again. A single candlestick burned on the table, and she stared fixedly at the flickering flame, lost in thought.

When the candle went out, Zhener brought a new one and relit it.

The newly born flame leaped into the Empress’s eyes, illuminating a wild ambition that had sprung from nowhere.

“I used to think that once I became Empress, I could rest easy—that I could protect myself and my family.” The Empress thought to herself. “It turns out being Empress isn’t enough. I need to become Empress Dowager… and have a son who becomes Emperor. Only then can I truly protect myself and my family…”

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   Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 151: Choices and Sacrifices

   Hongli finally set down the memorial in his hand and said calmly, “Empress, you have lost your composure.”

The Empress was kneeling on the ground, her forehead pressed to the floor. She had maintained this posture for a very, very long time.

“You claim your father has been wrongly accused.” Hongli sighed, walked over, and helped her up. “The disaster victims smashed the relief workshop to pieces. He and nine other relief officials were helpless; the situation spiraled out of control, resulting in countless casualties. The officials I sent to investigate discovered that the grain newly allocated to the granary was less than thirty percent of what it should have been. Tell me—who has wronged your father? The disaster victims? The censors? Or… me?”

The Empress suddenly raised her head and stared at Hongli. “Your Majesty, for more than twenty years my father has never understood how to climb the ranks or amass wealth, never understood how to scheme and scramble. Whatever Your Majesty said, whatever the people needed, that was how he handled affairs! Three years ago when the river dikes in Zhili burst, he was merely passing through, yet he stayed behind to help the local officials and people. At the most dangerous moment, he personally went down to the dike and used sandbags—even used his own body—to block the breach! Tell me, would a man like that embezzle the people’s disaster relief grain?”

Hongli was stunned.

“Your Majesty.” Tears finally fell from the Empress’s eyes as she pleaded miserably, “I beg you—give him one more chance. Investigate once more, please?”

Humans are not made of wood or stone; how can one be without feeling?

   “So you agreed to her request?” In Shoukang Palace, the Empress Dowager continued trimming her potted plants without turning her head.

Hongli paused, then gave a wry smile. “I hadn’t even finished speaking, and Royal Mother you already guessed.”

“What’s so hard to guess?” The Empress Dowager laughed, her expression kind and benevolent. “Emperor, you dislike most when the inner palace interferes in government affairs—that is the thing you resent above all. Yet you tolerated the Empress weeping and pleading. Doesn’t that mean, deep in your heart, you already believe Naerbu is innocent?”

“And the facts bear it out.” Hongli said calmly, “Hongzhou, together with the Ministry of Justice, conducted multiple investigations and confirmed that even before the relief grain reached the granary, it had already been skimmed away layer by layer. Naerbu was trying to cook without rice—how could he provide relief?”

With a crisp snip, the golden shears cut off a camellia blossom. The Empress Dowager turned back coldly: “So what?”

Hongli was taken aback. “Royal Mother, what is your view?”

Casually tossing the flower and shears aside, the Empress Dowager slowly walked to the chair and sat down. With extreme calm she said:

“Naerbu has more than enough loyalty and integrity, but far too little ability. In the Zhejiang–Fujian region alone, 126 congee kitchens were set up—yet only his congee kitchen met with disaster. When he discovered the victims rioting, he not only failed to control the situation, he allowed it to spread rapidly, resulting in countless dead and injured among the disaster victims and shaking the entire court. If everyone were as incompetent as he is, what kind of chaos would the Great Qing fall into?”

Her meaning could not have been clearer. Hongli stared at her: “…Royal Mother, you wish me to execute Naerbu?”

The Empress Dowager smiled slightly and countered with a question: “If he is not killed, how can the people’s anger be appeased?”

The room was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood incense. On the table stood a statue of Maitreya Buddha, and even the walls bore hanging portraits of the compassionate and merciful Guanyin Bodhisattva. Looking at the benevolent smile on the Empress Dowager’s face, Hongli felt a chill creep into his heart.

“You have spent years eating vegetarian meals and reciting the Buddha’s name. Even when palace maids and eunuchs make mistakes, you are reluctant to punish them lightly.” He asked slowly, “Yet now, for a clearly wronged loyal minister, you urge me to kill him?”

The Empress Dowager sighed, like an elderly mother gently instructing her young, ignorant child. “Emperor, if you do not kill Naerbu, then you must thoroughly investigate this case—and that means punishing many more people, including your imperial uncles, your cousins, and even thousands of disaster-relief officials. The grain passed through their hands, bit by bit, like sand slipping through an hourglass—leaving less and less behind.”

Imperial uncles? Cousins?

Hongli finally understood. The Empress Dowager was merciful—merciful only toward her own blood kin. As long as she could protect that group of imperial relatives who had embezzled the disaster-relief funds, what did the sacrifice of a mere servant matter?

“Empress Dowager!” Hongli said through gritted teeth. “From top to bottom, layer upon layer of exploitation—this is how things have come to this. They must pay the price!”

“Those who embezzled the relief grain are indeed guilty of a crime deserving ten thousand deaths,” the Empress Dowager said, suddenly shifting her tone. “But you cannot execute them all in a single day.”

She gently swirled the lid of her teacup and continued in an orderly, persuasive manner: “The imperial clan is bound together like branches of the same tree. Move against one, and nothing happens. Move against two, and trouble arises. Move against three, and the realm falls into chaos. Think of your late father, the previous emperor!”

Hongli was stunned. Memories flooded back of the previous emperor’s reign—opposed at every turn by his own brothers and the imperial clan, every policy met with extreme difficulty in implementation. Many measures clearly intended to benefit the common people were twisted by those below into harsh exploitation, until eventually the entire populace blamed the emperor himself.

In the end, the only thing the previous emperor could do was to stop killing with more killing.

“Are you going to follow his example now?” the Empress Dowager pressed relentlessly. “And end up like him… abandoned by all, kin and subjects alike?”

“…So by killing the innocent Naerbu and shielding this pack of corrupt officials, the Great Qing will somehow become better?” Hongli mocked. “I fear they will only grow bolder next time and hollow out my country completely.”

But the Empress Dowager deliberately redirected the conversation, focusing all the contradictions on Naerbu alone, making him the scapegoat for the entire clan.

“I have already said—he is not innocent. He is incompetent!” She emphasized her words. “The people only believe what they see, hear what they hear, and understand what they can understand! They have decided that Naerbu embezzled the funds—so you present them with Naerbu’s head. It is the simplest principle in the world!”

Hongli said in deep pain, “Empress Dowager, he is the last remaining blood relative of the Empress!”

The Empress Dowager smiled slightly—exactly like the Maitreya Buddha beside her, like the Guanyin portrait behind her. “If he were anyone else, he might be allowed to linger on in life. But precisely because he is the Empress’s closest kin, he must be killed. Kill Naerbu, and the world will believe that the laws of the Great Qing show no favoritism, and that the Emperor is utterly impartial and selfless!”

Hongli’s fist clenched tightly, then slowly loosened. Finally, he rose abruptly. “I will consider your words, Empress Dowager.”

He truly did not wish to quarrel with his own mother, nor did he wish to hear any more of such cold-hearted counsel. He could only lift his foot and leave.

“Emperor!” From behind, the Empress Dowager called after him. “The border wars have not yet been pacified, natural disasters strike everywhere—kill one Naerbu, and others will praise you for your swift and decisive action in punishing the chain of disaster-relief officials. But the court officials and imperial clan will blame Your Majesty for being ruthless and heartless, while the common people will begin to doubt the integrity of the Great Qing’s administration… Which outcome do you want?”

Hongli’s footsteps paused for a moment, then he continued walking out.

The Empress Dowager was not the only one urging him in this way.

Afterward, memorials impeaching Naerbu flew into the Yangxin Hall like snowflakes.

In the end, there even came a joint petition—a long scroll densely covered with names.

“This is a ten-thousand-word petition from the people of eastern Zhejiang demanding that I execute the chief culprit, Naerbu.” Hongli wearily sank back into his chair, rubbing his temples as he asked, “Hailancha, if you were me, what choice would you make?”

Hailancha hemmed and hawed for a long time. Hongli, growing impatient, spoke in a low voice: “Speak!”

“If this servant were handling this matter…” Hailancha hesitated, then finally said resolutely, “This servant would kill Naerbu.”

Hongli had originally thought that, at the very least, he could hear a different answer from him. Who would have expected that Hailancha—always straightforward and honest by nature—would actually say such words? He couldn’t help opening his eyes wide in surprise as he looked at him: “Why?”

Hailancha gazed at him, his face still bearing the same loyal and devoted expression as always: “Your Majesty, killing one person can appease public anger. Killing a group of people, however, will incite chaos. As for the real vermin, we can settle accounts with them one by one later. But that Naerbu right now… must be killed!”

Hongli remained silent. After a long pause, he waved Hailancha away, then turned and asked Li Yu: “Go outside and see—has the Empress… left yet?”

Li Yu went and quickly returned, reporting cautiously: “Reporting to Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Empress is still kneeling outside. She has already… been there for a full day.”

STORY OF YANXI PALACE CHAPTERS HOME

  

   Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 150: Impermanence

   “Yingluo, why aren’t you hurrying to go apologize to His Majesty?” Ming Yu asked anxiously, at the same time giving a meaningful glance to Xiaoquanzi beside her.

Xiaoquanzi immediately took the hint and chimed in: “Exactly! Dragging it out like this isn’t a solution. Today Shu Bin composed a new piece and invited His Majesty to appraise it together. Before he goes…”

Without needing him to say it, Ming Yu was the first to speak indignantly: “They even sent people to our Yanxi Palace to take back the qin they gave you! If that qin ends up staying with her, how will Yanxi Palace ever show its face again… Hey! Why aren’t you anxious at all!”

Truly it fits the saying: the emperor isn’t worried to death, but the eunuch is worried sick.

The two of them were like ants on a hot pan, yet Wei Yingluo leisurely ate her snacks, only setting down her bowl and spoon after finishing an entire bowl of creamy yogurt. Then she walked over and sat in front of the bronze mirror.

Ming Yu thought she had finally changed her mind. Delighted, she came over: “That’s more like it! Let me redo your hair and makeup—we’ll hurry to the Yangxin Hall…”

But Wei Yingluo merely yawned. “I’m sleepy. Take off my accessories for me. I want to rest.”

Night fell, and Yanxi Palace was wrapped in silence.

Wei Yingluo lay on her side inside the bed curtains, sleeping soundly, when suddenly a zheng note rang right beside her ear. She frowned, turned over, and continued sleeping.

“Thump thump thump!”

“Thump thump thump thump!”

“Thump thump thump thump thump!”

Wei Yingluo shot upright from the bed as if jolted awake from a nightmare.

They say the sound of the qin is graceful, like the tinkling of a mountain spring.

But when it tinkles too urgently, too chaotically… it turns into the sound of firecrackers exploding.

Wei Yingluo clapped both hands over her ears and stormed furiously to the door. She yanked it open and shouted at the person outside: “Your Majesty! It’s already the third watch of the night. Instead of resting at Concubine Shu’s place, what are you doing here?”

The only person in the entire palace who had the audacity to show up at this hour, dancing like a madman at the door of Yanxi Palace’s bedchamber without being dragged away and beaten to death by the guards, was one man alone.

Hongli sat ramrod straight in front of the door, an ancient qin laid across his knees. At first glance he appeared calm and composed, his bearing elegant and outstanding—like Boya by the spring. Then his hand strummed… thump thump thump thump thump!

Not only Wei Yingluo—even the corner of Li Yu’s eye twitched at the explosive racket.

“How is it?” Hongli glanced at her with feigned nonchalance. “My newly acquired piece. I came especially to play it for you. Give me your critique.”

Critique? This was auditory torture! Wei Yingluo planted one hand on her hip and said irritably, “Your Majesty really knows how to joke. Playing music in the middle of the night—what exactly do you want to lecture me about?”

His hand slowed on the strings. Hongli gave her a cool look. “So you do know you’ve done something wrong?”

“Didn’t Your Majesty suspect me of killing Noble Consort Chun—so much so that you wouldn’t even let me fly a kite? I’m already confining myself here to reflect on my faults.” With that, Wei Yingluo moved to close the door and go back to sleep.

“I know.” Hongli said, “You didn’t kill her.”

Her hand paused on the door. Wei Yingluo turned back and stared at him, trying to read the truth in his eyes. “Right now everyone in the palace is saying I killed Noble Consort Chun.”

Hongli gently shook his head, completely unmoved by the gossip. “Given your usual temperament, you wouldn’t deign to kick someone when they’re already down. Moreover, with Noble Consort Chun banished to the cold palace—stripped of everything—you would let her live a couple more years so she could suffer a couple more years of torment.”

Wei Yingluo burst out laughing. “Your Majesty… is that supposed to be praise, or an insult?”

Hongli glanced at her. “Wei Yingluo, in my heart, that’s exactly how petty you are.”

Wei Yingluo sighed inwardly. He was right—she really was that petty.

Death is too easy: eyes close, legs kick once, and it’s over.

That was not what Wei Yingluo wanted.

The previous Empress suffered so much and died in such lonely helplessness—how could she possibly allow Noble Consort Chun to die so easily? She had to make her experience the same pain, the same loneliness, the same despair before permitting her to go underground and accompany the previous Empress.

“Also, I’m very angry,” Hongli suddenly said.

Wei Yingluo was stunned. “Your Majesty knows it wasn’t me who did it—so what are you angry about?”

“It wasn’t you who did it…” Hongli slowly walked up to her; the faint, distinctive scent of ink that belonged only to him drifted over. “Then why didn’t you explain it to me?”

Wei Yingluo remained silent.

“If you don’t explain, it proves you don’t care what I think of you in my heart.” He still wore that calm, unruffled expression, yet for some reason it carried a trace of childish sulkiness. “I… am very unhappy.”

It was as though, in his awkward, roundabout way, he was saying: I did come to explain to you—I do care about you.

“I…” For a moment, Wei Yingluo didn’t know what to say.

She had used every trick in the book, even deliberately offending other consorts, all to seize Hongli’s favor.

But now that he had truly opened his heart and placed it in front of her, she found herself at a complete loss.

Because she had always been someone who repaid kindness with kindness and enmity with enmity. Hongli himself might not even realize it, but the Wei Yingluo standing before him now was actually half a performance—he wanted a woman like this, so she had played the part of such a woman.

…Wei Yingluo knew exactly how to be a favored consort, but she had no idea how to be a lover in a mutual, loving relationship.

Hongli suddenly sighed and pulled the still-dazed woman into his arms. Perhaps unwilling to appear at a disadvantage in this romance, he deliberately spoke in a firm tone: “You’re being completely unreasonable. I shouldn’t have come looking for you!”

Wei Yingluo reflexively replied, “But you still came…”

Hongli: “…”

“Just treat it as an exception this once?” Wei Yingluo offered him an easy way out.

“…It’s not the first time.” Hongli was silent for a long moment before slowly speaking again. “I don’t like making exceptions. I don’t like this version of myself that keeps wavering.”

Before meeting Wei Yingluo, he had always been a man of strict self-discipline.

He never spoke while eating or sleeping; no matter how much he liked a dish, he would eat at most two bites and never take a third. He attended court on time and left on time. Even when bestowing favor on his consorts, he tried his best to be fair—never excessively favoring one, nor coldly neglecting another.

But then Wei Yingluo arrived—like a hammer, she smashed all his persistence, and even smashed himself.

“…Then you—you don’t have to be like this.” Wei Yingluo hesitated. “You can go back to Concubine Shu.”

You’re in turmoil, and so am I… Why don’t we separate for a while and each calm down?

Hongli glanced at her, seemingly misunderstanding her meaning: “Li Yu!”

Li Yu: “This servant is here.”

Hongli: “Tell Concubine Shu not to wait for me tonight. I will be staying at Yanxi Palace.”

Li Yu: “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Hongli pulled Wei Yingluo straight into the bedchamber. Outside, Li Yu shook his head, went off to inform Concubine Shu, and on the way gave Ming Yu a gentle reminder: “Hurry up and put the qin away.”

Ming Yu glanced at the “Moonlit Companion” qin that Hongli had left behind and asked, “Shouldn’t we take it to Concubine Shu?”

“Throughout all this time, it’s only ever been your mistress who takes things from other people’s hands,” Li Yu said with a cheerful chuckle. “Have you ever seen anyone manage to take something from her hands?”

The next day, Chengqian Palace.

   The Step Empress sat by the window, head lowered, sewing a pair of knee pads.

Outside came a few soft knocks at the door. Zhener rose to answer it. After a moment, she returned to the Empress’s side and whispered a few words in her ear.

Having heard what had happened in Yanxi Palace, the Step Empress smiled slightly. “Let them fight and scramble all they like. I will simply keep sewing these knee pads in my hands.”

Zhener had originally assumed the knee pads were being made for Hongli. Hearing this, she asked in surprise, “Your Ladyship, these knee pads are…?”

The needle in the Step Empress’s hand passed through the fabric once more; her gaze beneath the candlelight appeared exceptionally gentle. “My father is getting on in years, and his old cold-leg ailment is growing worse. The ones my mother used to make for him must be very worn by now…”

Suddenly her movements stopped. She stared blankly at the knee pads, lost in thought. Zhener couldn’t help asking, “Your Ladyship, are you thinking of Madam again?”

The Step Empress let out a soft laugh. “Keep sewing. When I was little, Mother was especially strict with me. Every movement—walking, sitting, lying down—had to follow the rules. She tolerated not the slightest carelessness. Only Father doted on me the most; he was always protecting me…”

A palace maid suddenly entered, paid her respects, and said, “Her Majesty the Empress, Lord Naerbu is waiting outside the Qianqing Gate. He requests an audience with Your Ladyship.”

The Step Empress was startled. “Isn’t he in eastern Zhejiang providing disaster relief? Why has he suddenly returned?”

The palace maid replied, “Lord Naerbu said the relief efforts have been properly concluded. Because the anniversary of Madam’s death is approaching soon, he specially requested leave to return to the capital.”

The Step Empress glanced out the window. The sun was already setting; night would fall soon. By the time she reached the palace gate, the gates would likely already be locked for the evening. She sighed softly. “Go tell him it is too late tonight. He may come see me tomorrow.”

Zhener tried to persuade her. “Your Ladyship, Lord Father has traveled long and hard through wind and dust. What harm would there be in making an exception just this once?”

The Step Empress gently shook her head. At least in front of outsiders, in front of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, she had to appear as self-disciplined as Hongli had once been. “I am the Empress. I must observe palace regulations all the more, lest I give others cause for gossip. Go now.”

The palace maid bowed once more to her, then left to deliver the message at the Qianqing Gate.

A man with slightly graying temples was pacing back and forth outside the gate, hands clasped behind his back, clearly preoccupied with heavy thoughts. When he saw the palace maid approaching, he hurried forward to meet her. Not seeing his daughter behind her, a look of profound disappointment crossed his face.

After hearing the message, he let out a long sigh. “Heaven’s will… it is Heaven’s will.”

The palace maid, noticing his strange expression, asked, “My lord, what is the matter?”

Naerbu said nothing. Suddenly he turned toward the direction of Chengqian Palace and knelt deeply, bowing low, tears choking his voice. “This old minister only wished to see Her Ladyship one last time, but alas, it cannot be. I can only offer distant blessings: may Her Ladyship henceforth enjoy peace, prosperity, good fortune, longevity, and health.”

His words were vague and cryptic, sending the palace maid’s heart pounding. The moment he left, she hurried back toward Chengqian Palace, determined to report this strange behavior to the Step Empress.

At the same time, outside Yangxin Hall, two men stood in tense confrontation.

“Hand it over!” Hongzhou blocked Hailancha’s path and said coldly, “Give me the memorial accusing Lord Naerbu!”

Hailancha looked at him strangely. “Hongzhou, have you gone mad? This is a memorial presented to the Emperor!”

Hongzhou actually reached out to snatch the memorial from his hand. But Hailancha was a first-rate martial artist—how could something in his grasp be taken so easily? When brute force failed, Hongzhou resorted to verbal threats. “It’s nothing but a false accusation! Don’t forget—the ringleader who slandered Lord Sun was beheaded!”

Hailancha was not one to be intimidated. With a wave of his hand: “Step aside!”

Hongzhou still refused to yield and continued to tangle with him. Suddenly, from inside the hall came Hongli’s voice: “Hailancha, come in!”

Hailancha strode quickly inside. Behind him, Hongzhou gritted his teeth and followed.

The memorial was very long. Halfway through reading it, Hongli tossed it aside in fury. “What a fine Lord Naerbu! Of all the things he could have embezzled, he actually set his sights on disaster relief grain!”

Hongzhou hurriedly explained, “Your Majesty, Lord Naerbu has always been diligent, honest, and incorruptible. This matter is surely a frame-up. I beg Your Majesty to grant your younger brother a little time so that I may thoroughly investigate…”

“Frame-up?” Hongli interrupted with a cold laugh. “Every day he distributed what was little more than plain water as congee, provoking a riot among the disaster victims—185 dead, more than 500 injured. Is that also a frame-up?!”

Hongzhou was rendered speechless.

Hongli scoffed with a sneer and turned his gaze to Hailancha, issuing the order: “Immediately throw Naerbu into prison and have the Ministry of Justice interrogate him rigorously!”

Hailancha: “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Inside Chengqian Hall.

   The Empress was still seated by the window, in the same spot as yesterday, at the same time of evening as yesterday. The only difference was… the knee pad in her hands had now been fully sewn.

The news brought back by the palace maid yesterday had left her weighed down with worry; she hadn’t slept at all the entire night.

Since she couldn’t sleep, she stopped forcing herself. She simply got up and continued sewing the knee pad in her hands, planning that as soon as daybreak came, she would summon her father and give the knee pad to him.

The knee pad was made of the finest material, with no elaborate patterns on the front—only two characters embroidered on the back: “Peace and Safety.”

Her expectations of this father were not high. If he truly were a capable and competent man, his wife would not have died early, and his daughter would not be left alone in the palace, fighting until her head bled and her face was torn…

“Peace and safety are enough,” the Empress murmured to herself, clutching the knee pad tightly. “Peace and safety are enough…”

“Your Ladyship!” Zhener rushed in from outside. “Niangniang, something terrible has happened! The Old Master—the Old Master has been thrown into prison!”

Thud—the knee pad suddenly fell from her hands.

   STORY OF YANXI PALACE CHAPTERS HOME

  

   Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 149: The Great Dream Comes to Nothing

   The Cold Palace is a place for storing things no longer in use.

   Old tables no longer used, old chairs no longer used, old beds no longer used—and… Noble Consort Chun.

Noble Consort Chun sat alone on an old chair. As the sky gradually darkened, her figure was slowly swallowed by the shadows until, with a creak, the door opened. A beam of light pierced through the crack and fell across her face.

“I thought the person who would come here tonight would be Wei Yingluo,” she said with a smile toward the newcomer. “I never expected it to be you.”

Leaving the palace servants to guard outside, the Empress entered alone. “Wei Yingluo?”

Noble Consort Chun sighed. “I finally understand why Wei Yingluo went to such lengths to compete for favor, even deliberately stirring up jealousy throughout the harem.”

“Of course it was to make you jealous, to make you anxious—no, more precisely, to make you afraid. Afraid that she would use the Emperor’s favor to expose what happened to Seventh Prince all those years ago.” The Empress set the six-sided palace lantern she carried down on the old table. “The more ostentatious Wei Yingluo became, the more terrified you grew, and the more likely you were to strike. And the moment you acted, you were bound to reveal your flaws.”

“She deliberately leaked the news about horseback riding to provoke me into making a move. In truth, this time it really wasn’t me who acted. But so what? The Emperor still became suspicious of me.” Noble Consort Chun gave a self-mocking laugh. “Rather than waiting every day for her next scheme, I decided to go all in. Unfortunately, I failed… But tell me, Empress—what role exactly did you play in all of this?”

“Me?” The Empress smiled. The candlelight illuminated half her face, leaving the other half in shadow. “Noble Consort Chun, you and Consort Ling had enmity between you. As the mistress of the Six Palaces, naturally I had to uphold justice.”

Noble Consort Chun stared at her profile. After a moment, she suddenly burst into loud, bitter laughter. “How foolish I was—to have been nothing more than a pawn in your hands all this time. The death of the previous Empress… was it truly unrelated to you?”

The Empress smiled calmly. “Of course.”

“You’re lying!” Noble Consort Chun suddenly shouted at her. “The one who instigated me to kill—was you!”

Hongli had always been fond of Noble Consort Chun’s transcendent, otherworldly aura. And Noble Consort Chun had truly once been like that—devoted entirely to playing the qin and gazing at the moon, unlike the other consorts who were obsessed with vying for favor. That is, until she gave birth to Yongrong—

At that time, the Empress who had succeeded as the new Empress (still Consort Xian back then) used this as an excuse to frequently visit her, constantly reminding her: Yongrong was intelligent, the Emperor liked him very much. It was just a pity that the Empress had given birth to the Seventh Prince; she could never outcompete the Empress, and Yongrong would never outcompete the Seventh Prince either.

“A mother is always too greedy, wanting to leave the very best for her son.” Noble Consort Chun stared at the Empress and said, “Later on I did many things, but without your secret support behind the scenes, I could never have accomplished any of them. Even when Wei Yingluo left the palace to visit her family, it was you who specially sent someone to notify me, hinting that Changchun Palace was short of manpower and that it was time to make a move.”

In the past she had thought herself extraordinarily clever and resourceful; only now did she suddenly realize there had been an invisible hand guiding everything from behind.

Yuhu had seduced Wang Zhong, but the Fire Department wasn’t managed by Wang Zhong alone. Yet within just one short month, the other two stewards—one fell ill and the other was transferred elsewhere. With them gone, everything fell under Wang Zhong’s sole control.

Later she bribed a little eunuch to secretly replace all the charcoal in Changchun Palace with highly flammable chrysanthemum charcoal. Everything went unbelievably smoothly. Looking back now, it filled her with icy dread. Back when the Empress gave birth, it was the Step Empress who was in charge of managing the Six Palaces. The charcoal substitution happened right under her nose, yet she pretended not to see, turning a blind eye and deaf ear from beginning to end.

“I was the one who killed the Seventh Prince—but the knife that killed him was handed to me by you.” Noble Consort Chun began to laugh, laughing uncontrollably, slapping the armrest over and over. “No—no, that’s not all. The Seventh Prince was the late Empress’s most precious treasure. Once he died, the late Empress was finished! Lady Nara—you step by step by step forced the Empress to her death. Right from the very beginning, your goal was to take her place!”

The Step Empress gazed at her with a smile—a smile that sent chills down the spine, like the face hidden behind a shadow-puppet screen, fingers twitching to manipulate the joy, anger, sorrow, and joy of the puppets on stage, and the emotions of the audience below, while that face itself laughed silently in the shadows.

“Kill the Seventh Prince, drive the late Empress to suicide, entice Wei Yingluo and me into a fight to the death, and finally use her hand to plunge me completely into the abyss. Yet your own hands remained spotlessly clean from start to finish! Hahaha, oh heavens, it’s too funny! Who exactly was I fighting for? Who was I working myself to death for?” Only now did Noble Consort Chun awaken from her great dream. As she laughed, tears poured out. “It was all one vast, empty dream—I ended up making wedding clothes for someone else! Succeeding Empress, what superb skill! At this point, I have nothing more to say. I only want to ask you one thing: after I die, will it be Wei Yingluo’s turn next?”

The affairs of the world are but one great dream—how many autumn chills does a life endure?

   “What did you say?”

In Yanxi Palace, upon hearing the news delivered by Yuan Chunwang, everyone froze.

Yuan Chunwang: “…Blood was everywhere. Her neck was almost completely strangled off.”

Ming Yu couldn’t help touching her own neck, as though she had just heard a ghost story; her face turned deathly pale. “Strangled off?”

Yuan Chunwang: “I didn’t see it with my own eyes either. The palace maid in charge of cleaning fainted from sheer terror.”

Ming Yu’s teeth were chattering. “What kind of thing could strangle a person’s neck… until it was hanging by a thread?”

Inside Yangxin Hall, Hongli’s expression was unreadable.

Since even Yanxi Palace had already heard the news, there was no way he could remain ignorant.

Li Yu, while bringing the dreadful tidings, had also brought something else…

Hongli lowered his head to look at the bloodstained half-length of kite string lying on the table.

Kite string seemed innocuous, yet when pulled taut, it became an extremely thin, razor-sharp blade—capable of easily slicing through a person’s throat.

No one in the room dared breathe loudly until Hongli slowly spoke: “This matter ends here. No one is permitted to discuss it privately. Anyone who violates this will be punished according to palace regulations.”

Afterward, he left Yangxin Hall and walked straight, without pause, to Yanxi Palace.

He didn’t even know why he had come here, nor what words he wanted to ask her. The moment he stepped through the door, he saw Yuan Chunwang holding a tray of kite-making materials and kneeling before him: “This servant respectfully greets Your Majesty.”

Hongli looked at the bundle of kite string on the tray; his smile suddenly vanished. “Take it away!”

“What’s wrong?” Wei Yingluo was sitting at the table, an unfinished iris kite laid out before her. A length of kite string was still wrapped around her finger. “My kite isn’t finished yet.”

Hongli strode over in a few steps, snatched the kite string from her hand, and threw it to the ground. “Stop making it!”

Seeing Wei Yingluo look at him in confusion, he sighed inwardly and softened his tone: “Your hand was injured before. The bamboo strips can easily hurt you. Don’t do this anymore.”

Wei Yingluo: “Then let Ming Yue do it for me.”

Hongli: “I said, stop! No one in Yanxi Palace is allowed to make them!”

Wei Yingluo: “Why?”

Hongli: “No reason.”

The two stared at each other for a moment. For some reason, Hongli was always the one to yield first. He casually swept the kite on the table to one side, then had Li Yu place a long qin (ancient zither) on top.

Wei Yingluo came from a humble family and was not familiar with such things. She couldn’t tell what era this ancient qin was from; she only knew its grain was intricate and it gave off a faint, unique woody fragrance—like the scent distilled by the passage of years.

“Yingluo, last time I taught you to play the qin, you said the instrument wasn’t good enough. So I had someone fetch the Yuelu Zhiyin that I used when I was learning.” Hongli sat down in front of her and said gently, “Use this qin to practice from now on, alright?”

But Wei Yingluo merely smiled coyishly: “I don’t feel like learning the qin today. I just want to make a kite.”

Hongli’s expression gradually cooled. Li Yu, standing beside him, hurriedly spoke up: “Consort Ling Niangniang, this qin was specially brought back by His Majesty from the Yuanmingyuan Gardens. Ordinary people aren’t even allowed to touch it!”

Wei Yingluo smiled at him, then—in the same careless manner Hongli had used earlier—pushed the precious ancient qin aside. She picked up the kite that had been swept away and continued working on it with her head lowered.

Only after Hongli flung his sleeve and left did she finally raise her head again.

“Yingluo!” Only then did Ming Yu speak. Her face was still a little pale, clearly frightened by Hongli’s earlier expression. With a mix of reproach and worry, she said, “You already know the cause of Noble Consort Chun’s death. At a time like this you should be avoiding suspicion—why are you still making a kite?”

Wei Yingluo gazed in the direction Hongli had gone, her eyes cool and clear: “If I don’t make a kite, will others stop suspecting me?”

In the palace, the most common thing, the most habitual thing, and the thing they were best at… seemed to be suspicion.

Back at Yangxin Hall, Hongli tossed the bloodstained kite string to Li Yu: “Get rid of it.”

Apparently not expecting that he would return from Yanxi Palace in such a mood after hitting a wall, Li Yu reacted half a beat late: “Yes, Your Majesty.”

While clearing the kite string from the table, Li Yu carefully observed Hongli’s expression and ventured cautiously: “Your Majesty, although Consort Ling Niangniang has a rather stubborn temper, she doesn’t seem like someone so cruel.”

Hongli scoffed with a sneer. Li Yu immediately slapped himself: “This servant spoke out of turn!”

He was about to withdraw when Hongli spoke coldly: “I’m angry because she doesn’t care at all—not even half a sentence of explanation!”

After a pause, he added with a sigh: “…Is she really so certain that I will definitely believe her and protect her?”

Li Yu let out an inward sigh as well. Precisely because suspicion was the most common, most habitual, and most skillfully practiced thing in the palace, such trust had become something especially precious.

“Your Majesty, once Consort Ling comes to her senses, she will surely come to apologize,” he could only say what he knew the other most wanted to hear, going along with his mood.

Hongli looked unconvinced, yet the moment Li Yu stepped out the door, he stiffly tossed out one sentence: “If she comes, don’t let her in… Make her stand at the door as punishment.”

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   Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 148: The Truth Comes to Light

   That night, in Consort Yu’s sleeping quarters.

The palace was empty and desolate. Wei Yingluo had been there for quite a while, yet not a single palace servant came to serve tea. In the end, it was Consort Yu herself who poured the tea for her—yesterday’s cold tea.

“Although I wasn’t the one who masterminded this, the Emperor will never want to see me again.” Consort Yu seemed completely unperturbed. She lifted the teacup and took a sip. “I imagine I’ll soon be sent out of the palace—either to guard the imperial tombs or to a temple to pray for the ancestors. I’ll never return to the Forbidden City in this lifetime.”

Wei Yingluo drank a sip of the cold tea along with her, tasting the bitter flavor of abandonment, then set the cup down and said, “Consort Yu, you lost too quickly.”

Consort Yu smiled at her—warmly, like Boya after finishing a piece of music, listening to Zhong Ziqi appraise its merits.

“Noble Consort Chun instigated you to use an excessive amount of ginseng—how could she possibly let Fifth Prince discover it? Yet he suddenly became clear-headed, waking at exactly the right moment, delivering a fatal blow to Noble Consort Chun.” Wei Yingluo looked straight at her and said with certainty, “Consort Yu, everything was designed by you.”

Consort Yu burst into laughter—a bright, unrestrained laugh, the laughter of someone who had finally been truly understood.

“Exactly right,” she admitted frankly. “Noble Consort Chun used Fifth Prince’s life to threaten me, demanding that I help her deal with you. So I simply went along with her plan, lurked by her side until the very end, and then turned against her.”

“Just as I thought,” Wei Yingluo sighed. “Unlike the rest of us women in the harem, Fifth Prince is exceptionally intelligent and has always been highly valued by the Emperor. Having him personally speak of Noble Consort Chun’s crimes—the Emperor would certainly believe him… But why didn’t you tell the Emperor this yourself?”

“I couldn’t,” Consort Yu said calmly. “If I had told the Emperor that I had only pretended to be close to Noble Consort Chun in order to gain her trust and gather evidence of her crimes, he would surely have believed that you and I had conspired together to frame her.”

Hongli could never have imagined that the woman in the Forbidden City who understood him best was actually Consort Yu. She knew exactly how to make him suspicious, and she knew exactly how to make him believe. It was a pity that she possessed neither the stunning beauty of Noble Consort Hui, nor the grace of Noble Consort Chun, nor even the cunning cleverness of Wei Yingluo. In the end, she remained merely an insignificant Consort Yu.

“Why go to such lengths?” Wei Yingluo sighed deeply. “Even though you brought down Noble Consort Chun, you’ve ended up in this miserable state—truly gaining nothing at all…”

“I don’t need any gain.” Consort Yu gave a gentle smile. Though she was the one most in need of comfort, she turned around to console the still-troubled Wei Yingluo. “Yingluo, I am a cowardly woman. In the past, I could only watch helplessly as my dearest friend died a tragic death, unable to avenge her. If not for the late Empress and you reaching out to help, even Yongqi’s life would not have been preserved. But no matter how cowardly I may be, I still understand the principle of repaying a drop of kindness with a fountain of gratitude. Since I have received favor from others, I should repay it with loyalty until my dying breath. I am not clever enough to think of a better way—only this.”

She paused for a moment, then suddenly stood up, went into the inner room, and retrieved a pastry box. With both hands, she offered it to Wei Yingluo.

“After today’s parting, it will be hard to meet again in this lifetime. In my heart, I have no other worries—only one person… whom I wish to entrust to you.” Consort Yu gazed at her with earnest longing, then opened the pastry box in her hands. Inside lay four neat rows of lotus cake.

It was exactly the box of lotus cake that Wei Yingluo had given to Yongqi three days earlier—seven pieces in total, and now only four remained. Yongqi ate just one piece per day, treasuring them greatly.

Wei Yingluo received the box with both hands, her expression solemn as if she were accepting Consort Yu’s very life. She promised, “Leave him to me.”

Tears welled in Consort Yu’s eyes. She was about to bow when a voice suddenly came from outside: “Consort Ling Your Ladyship, His Majesty summons you to Yangxin Hall. The matter has finally come to light.”

Wei Yingluo had originally thought that “coming to light” referred to Noble Consort Chun’s false accusation of her poisoning someone. But after arriving at Yangxin Hall, she realized the matter was far more complicated.

Hongli’s face was colder than ever before. Wei Yingluo had never seen him so furious—like a volcano on the verge of eruption. The Empress stood beside him and addressed Yuhu, who was kneeling below: “Repeat to Consort Ling what you just told me.”

Yuhu was drenched in sweat from head to toe. In a wooden voice she said, “Noble Consort Chun ordered this servant to approach Wang Zhong, the manager of the fire-preparation section, and secretly bribe him to work for us. That New Year’s Eve, the late Empress was merciful and dismissed us servants early to rest. Noble Consort bribed a little eunuch from Changchun Palace to replace the chrysanthemum charcoal with highly explosive fireworks charcoal. She also arranged for Wang Zhong to tamper with the bottom of water tanks, causing the fire that melted the ice to go out midway—leading to the Seventh Prince perishing in the flames.”

Hongli had clearly already heard this once before, yet hearing it again still filled him with rage. His right hand gripped the armrest of the chair so tightly it seemed it might break. In a deep voice he said, “I originally only ordered the Empress to thoroughly investigate Consort Yu’s case. I never expected that this investigation would unearth such an old tragedy… Back then, if the Seventh Prince had not met with disaster, Rongyin would not have…”

He paused, still half believing and half doubting, and murmured, “But… would she really do something so vicious?”

Why had she worked so hard to get close to Hongli? Why had she gone to such lengths to oppose Noble Consort Chun? Why had she risked her life by falling from a horse, just to drag Noble Consort Chun down? — All for this very day! How could Wei Yingluo let this opportunity slip away? She immediately knelt and declared, “Your Majesty, I have a witness!”

Ming Yu was quickly brought into Yangxin Hall and laid out everything she knew. Thus, the full sequence of events behind a murder case was spread out before Hongli.

Suddenly, Hongli hurled the teacup in his hand at her, almost in a fit of displaced anger: “Why didn’t you speak up back then?”

Ming Yu did not dodge. The cup struck her body, and scalding tea poured over her. Wei Yingluo hurriedly shielded her and said, “Ming Yu has endured in silence for a long time. She had no evidence—only her word. To accuse a greatly favored Noble Consort Chun with nothing but words would have been like throwing an egg against a stone. Your Majesty, even palace maids have parents and family. Even if she did not cherish her own life, she had to think of her family.”

At the mention of “family,” Yuhu, still kneeling on the ground, suddenly shuddered violently and began kowtowing nonstop: “Your Majesty, every word this servant has spoken is true. This servant is willing to testify against her master and is willing to die—only begging Your Majesty, in consideration of allowing this servant to atone with meritorious service, to spare this servant’s family!”

Seeing her like this, Wei Yingluo suddenly understood. She had previously found it strange—Yuhu was not Consort Yu; she had served Noble Consort Chun for so many years and had been her most capable right-hand woman. How could she betray her so easily? It turned out… someone had threatened her with her family’s lives.

And as for who that someone was… Wei Yingluo glanced at the kind and gentle-looking Empress.

You think she was helping Wei Yingluo?

   No. Noble Consort Chun ranked only below the Empress and had given birth to the Sixth Prince. If she fell, the greatest beneficiary would be precisely the kind and gentle-looking Empress standing before them.

   Otherwise, why would she be so invested in this matter?

   Sensing Wei Yingluo’s gaze, the Empress returned a smile—a knowing smile that passed between the two of them—then said to Hongli, “After Yuhu confessed, I interrogated Wang Zhong. His account matched perfectly.”

Hongli’s expression grew extremely dark; his hand clenched into a tight fist. “Then… the matter of Consort Ling’s fall from the horse was most likely also instigated by her?”

When you love someone, you love everything about her. When you doubt someone, you doubt everything about her. The only thing that wasn’t actually done by Noble Consort Chun somehow still ended up being pinned on her head. But at this point, what difference does one more crime or one less crime make?

   Seeing the Empress nod, Hongli could no longer suppress the rage inside him. He slammed the table and declared: “Very well—Noble Consort Chun, how truly vicious you are! Li Yu! Transmit my decree! Noble Consort Chun is guilty of plotting to murder Seventh Prince—a crime that cannot be forgiven. Effective immediately, her title is stripped, she is demoted to the rank of Attendant, and she is to be confined in the Cold Palace.”

The events of that night seemed to have drained all of Hongli’s strength. After issuing the order, he waved his hand, signaling everyone to withdraw. Wei Yingluo lagged a step behind, gazing thoughtfully at the Empress’s retreating figure.

Many things had finally come to light, but there was still one matter she couldn’t quite figure out.

The murder of Seventh Prince had originally been a tightly guarded secret. Very few people knew about it—only Wei Yingluo herself, Ming Yu, Noble Consort Chun, Yuhu, and one Wang Zhong. No one else. And even if there had been others, they had most likely been quietly dealt with by Noble Consort Chun long ago.

Yuhu would never have voluntarily revealed such a huge secret without reason. If she had kept silent, given Hongli’s former deep favor toward Noble Consort Chun, there was a real chance the consort might have staged a comeback later.

Unless… the Empress had already learned of the matter beforehand and used Yuhu’s family as leverage to force her to confess.

“But Empress… how exactly did you come to know about this?” Wei Yingluo murmured to herself.

One person stands on the bridge admiring the scenery, while others below the bridge watch the person on the bridge. Wei Yingluo had been so focused on the Empress in front of her that she failed to notice the complicated gaze fixed on her from behind.

The doors of Yangxin Hall slowly closed behind her, yet Hongli’s eyes continued to rest on her through the closed doors.

“Do all women have two faces?” In the now-empty Yangxin Hall, his muttered words echoed. “Noble Consort Chun wears a kind face but harbors an evil heart. And you… you have been deliberately guiding me all along, making me see her true face clearly so that I would punish her.”

Hongli was no fool. He could not possibly have remained completely unaware of Wei Yingluo’s actions. He did not blame her—the Empress had shown her immense kindness, and it was only natural that she would repay that debt with loyalty. What worried him was…

With a sigh, Hongli slowly moved the brush in his hand, and on the xuan paper he wrote a single character:

“恩”

(Grace / Kindness)

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   Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 147: Poison

“Yes.” Denial was impossible—Consort Yu had come openly to visit the sick, and countless palace servants along the way could testify to it. Wei Yingluo simply admitted, “Consort Yu ordered him to come see me and brought lingzhi and deer antler.”

Noble Consort Chun went straight to the point: “Did he eat some pastries there?”

Yingluo: “He ate one piece of lotus cake.”

Noble Consort Chun smiled. “That matches perfectly. Imperial Physician Liu!”

A certain imperial physician had already been waiting inside the palace. Upon being summoned, he stepped forward and said, “Consort Ling, the Fifth Prince has been coughing somewhat recently. I prescribed a formula centered on Sichuan fritillary bulb for treatment. However, the bulb has one key characteristic—it must never be taken together with any aconite-class medicines. Herbs such as monkshood root, aconite root, aconite daughter root, and the like are all strictly forbidden.”

The Empress: “And if they are taken together, what happens?”

Imperial Physician Liu: “In reply to Her Majesty the Empress, if taken together, it is highly likely to cause poisoning due to conflicting medicinal properties—such as whole-body paralysis, unrelenting pain, or even loss of life. When I just now took the Fifth Prince’s pulse, I already detected signs of monkshood poisoning.”

Noble Consort Chun said meaningfully, “Whether the lotus cake in Yanxi Palace contained monkshood is something only Consort Ling herself knows!”

“Why would I want to harm the Fifth Prince? Back then, it was I who saved this child.” Seeing her every word trying to tie the evidence to herself, Wei Yingluo frowned and said, “Besides, where in Yanxi Palace would such a medicine come from?”

“Consort Ling, are you pretending not to know?” Noble Consort Chun seemed to have anticipated this very question. She immediately replied, “In the entire Forbidden City, aside from the Imperial Medical Bureau, isn’t the only place that has this medicine your Yanxi Palace?”

What did she mean by that? Hongli looked toward Imperial Physician Liu, who hurriedly explained, “Your Majesty, I have heard that Consort Ling fell from a horse and injured her right hand. Imperial Physician Ye then prescribed her a monkshood head ointment specifically for treating dislocation pain, traumatic swelling, and stagnant blood. That ointment requires monkshood, so naturally… Yanxi Palace has it.”

Hongli’s brows furrowed. Consort Yu clung to his leg and began to cry again, while Noble Consort Chun leaned close to his ear and fanned the flames: “Your Majesty, Consort Ling has received such profound imperial grace yet shows no gratitude in return. Instead, she harbors jealousy toward Consort Yu and poisons the Fifth Prince to death. A woman so narrow-minded and vicious in her methods is truly outrageous and hair-raising. I understand that Your Majesty is reluctant to punish Consort Ling, but if everyone follows her example, what will become of the rules in the Forbidden City? What chaos will descend upon the harem? I venture to earnestly beg Your Majesty to punish her severely, as a stern warning to all above and below, so they will know that plotting against an imperial heir is a crime that cannot be forgiven!”

“Without even a trial, you want to convict me?” Wei Yingluo looked toward Hongli. “Your Majesty, since it was the medicine prescribed by Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi, let Imperial Physician Ye come here.”

“With both witnesses and physical evidence, what is there left to interrogate?” Noble Consort Chun also turned her gaze to Hongli. “Your Majesty, do not listen to her sophistry.”

The two of them placed themselves on opposite ends of the scale, tilting back and forth in Hongli’s heart. They waited quietly; the entire hall waited quietly. Finally one side fell, the other rose. Hongli said gravely, “Summon Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi!”

Noble Consort Chun’s face turned pale.

Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi was quickly summoned. Hongli asked, “Imperial Physician Ye, did you prescribe monkshood head ointment for Consort Ling?”

Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi: “Yes.”

Hongli: “Does monkshood head ointment conflict with Sichuan bulb?”

Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi: “Yes.”

Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Hongli looked at Wei Yingluo in puzzlement. “Yingluo, what exactly do you want Imperial Physician Ye to tell me?”

Wei Yingluo’s expression was extremely calm. “Imperial Physician Ye, I do not understand medicine, but when a person has eaten something wrong, what is the very first thing that should be done?”

Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi’s peripheral vision glanced toward Yongqi lying on the bed. “Eaten something wrong?”

Yingluo: “Yes—whether a small dose of poison or food that conflicts in nature.”

Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi immediately answered, “Induce vomiting.”

Everyone turned to look at Imperial Physician Liu. From the beginning, this man had fed the Fifth Prince decoctions and, from head to toe, had never once attempted to induce vomiting.

“This… this…” Imperial Physician Liu, thinking quickly, said, “The Fifth Prince’s body is weak. I did not dare to induce vomiting lightly, so I could only administer a detoxifying decoction.”

Wei Yingluo: “Has the young prince now escaped danger?”

Imperial Physician Liu glanced at Noble Consort Chun: “This…”

“It seems Imperial Physician Liu’s skills are inadequate.” Wei Yingluo immediately turned to Hongli and said, “I beg Your Majesty to allow Master Ye Tianshi to examine Fifth Prince and diagnose his condition.”

Upon hearing this, Imperial Physician Liu’s face turned ashen. Noble Consort Chun repeatedly shot glances at Consort Yu, who hurriedly stepped forward: “Your Majesty, Yongqi’s body is frail; he cannot endure any more torment! If anything happens to him, I will have no reason to go on living! How can Your Majesty believe the words of a murderer? Consort Ling, that vile woman, clearly intends to harm Yongqi!”

Since the balance had already tilted to one side, Hongli was hardly going to listen to her easily—especially since he had not missed the meaningful looks exchanged between her and Noble Consort Chun. He said coldly, “Master Ye Tianshi, he is in your hands.”

After inducing vomiting, although Yongqi still had not woken up, his complexion looked much better than before; he was no longer groaning incessantly in his sleep. Master Ye Tianshi held the spittoon and studied its contents for a long time before concluding: “Your Majesty, there is no aconite monkshood in here.”

Imperial Physician Liu interjected: “Once aconite enters the stomach, it dissolves quickly—that’s why it cannot be seen.”

“Aconite may have dissolved, but the ginseng is still there. And I found a large amount of undissolved ginseng slices—this is truly strange,” Master Ye Tianshi said, looking toward him.

“Fifth Prince suffers from lung deficiency leading to cough, which is why ginseng was used to tonify qi,” Imperial Physician Liu said with difficulty. Anyone could hear the guilt in his voice.

“If Fifth Prince needed to tonify qi, steeping ginseng in tea would have sufficed—why swallow so much of it!” Master Ye Tianshi sneered. “Abusing ginseng causes external pathogens to linger for a long time. Especially since Fifth Prince is young and fundamentally healthy, excessive ginseng consumption instead causes qi stagnation, reversal of stomach blood, and severe damage to the body—naturally leading to unconsciousness! Imperial Physician Liu, you specialize in pediatric formulas—how could you make such a grave mistake!”

The Empress had been standing by with folded arms, not involving herself in the matter until this moment, when she spoke a single sentence—one sufficient to seal Noble Consort Chun’s fate. Smiling, she said: “Unless he was instructed by someone else and deliberately framed Consort Ling!”

Imperial Physician Liu could no longer bear the pressure—especially after realizing that both Hongli and the Empress were standing on Wei Yingluo’s side. With a thud, he knelt down: “Your Majesty, spare my life! This subject… it was Consort Yu who insisted on using ginseng slices. This subject tried to dissuade her, but Her Ladyship would not listen! Today she also insisted that Fifth Prince had taken aconite, which is why this subject misdiagnosed the pulse!”

“Your Majesty, I didn’t know that taking too much ginseng could be dangerous. I was ignorant—I am guilty! It’s all my fault. I harmed Yongqi for no reason and wrongly accused Consort Ling!” Consort Yu said in panic.

“You are guilty. As his own birth mother, you were willing to harm Yongqi’s health just to frame Consort Ling—you are utterly unfit to be Yongqi’s mother!” Hongli sneered coldly. “I know you wouldn’t have the courage to do this on your own. Speak—who gave you the nerve?”

Wei Yingluo added: “Consort Yu, if you do not confess honestly, you will become the chief culprit.”

To her surprise—she had expected Consort Yu to struggle desperately for a while—Consort Yu immediately turned and cried out: “It was her! It was Noble Consort Chun! Everything was instructed by Noble Consort Chun!”

Noble Consort Chun clearly had not expected her to confess so quickly. For a moment she couldn’t even think of an excuse to defend herself, only managing a dry denial: “Consort Yu, I have always treated you generously. You acted out of momentary jealousy and framed Consort Ling—that I can understand. But now, to save yourself, you want to drag me down with you!”

“Your Majesty,” Consort Yu said, suddenly extremely calm—calm in a way that made Wei Yingluo feel something was odd. “The plan came from Noble Consort Chun. Naturally, the ginseng was also provided by her. If you do not believe me, please investigate the records of the Imperial Household Department storehouse—you will surely find the record of ginseng issued to Zhongcui Palace.”

Noble Consort Chun was furious and was about to rush forward to argue when she suddenly heard Hongli exclaim in delight: “Yongqi!”

It turned out that Noble Consort Chun’s sharp cry had awakened Yongqi, who had been in a deep sleep. Hongli quickly walked to his side and placed a hand on his forehead: “How are you? Feeling better?”

“Royal Father…” Yongqi’s face was covered in fine sweat. His condition was neither terrible nor particularly good, yet he still forced himself to sit up, enduring the coughs, and spoke to Hongli in halting, broken sentences: “Father… cough cough… it was Noble Consort Chun… I personally heard her force mother to use ginseng every day. Mother was always crying… always crying… cough… mother was forced!”

“You—” Noble Consort Chun looked at him, then at Consort Yu kneeling nearby, and suddenly realized. “You mother and son… you mother and son joined forces to harm me!”

Hearing her actually say such words, the disgust in Hongli’s eyes grew even stronger. In the treacherous intrigues of the inner palace, he did not trust the consorts—but he did trust his own son. Yongqi enjoyed an excellent reputation both among the scholars at the study hall and among the servants: talented, upright, intelligent, and most importantly—Hongli had never once seen him tell a lie.

“How could such a child end up being used to frame you?”

“Come!” Hongli closed his eyes. “Take Noble Consort Chun and Consort Yu back to their respective palaces and imprison them. As for everyone else—send them to the Bureau of Careful Punishment. Before the sun sets today, I want answers!”

Noble Consort Chun collapsed on the floor. Together with Yuhu and the others, they were all dragged away by the eunuchs. One of the eunuchs approached Consort Yu. Before he could help her up, Yongqi staggered off the bed and threw himself onto Consort Yu. His small arms clung tightly to her as he cried, “Don’t take my mother away! Mother! Don’t go, mother!”

Consort Yu held back her tears, gently stroked his temple, and whispered something into his ear. Yongqi froze, even forgetting to cry.

Wei Yingluo took in the entire scene, and a wave of doubt rose in her heart.

Compared to Noble Consort Chun, Consort Yu’s behavior seemed unnatural in many ways—even contradictory. If she was truly loyal to Noble Consort Chun, she had confessed far too readily. If she wasn’t loyal, then her involvement in the whole affair had been far too deep. After thinking it over again and again, Wei Yingluo suddenly shuddered as an extremely absurd possibility occurred to her…

“Impossible,” she murmured to herself, yet she could not convince herself otherwise.

Because when everything was connected, this was almost the only plausible explanation.

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   Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 146: Fighting with Back to the Water

Idly tapping chess pieces as lamp flowers fall, waiting and waiting — in the end, two visitors arrived as persuaders.

“Yongqi.” Consort Yu said gently, “This is Her Ladyship Consort Ling. Go and pay respects to Her Ladyship.”

The child beside her stepped forward and kowtowed solemnly to Wei Yingluo: “Yongqi pays respects to Mother Consort Ling.”

Wei Yingluo reclined on Noble Consort Chun’s couch, looking at him with some curiosity. The boy was about eight or nine years old, with rosy lips and white teeth, jade-snow skin, and an adorably cherubic appearance — like the golden boy in New Year paintings. Yet his movements were precise and measured, like those of an elderly court minister in his eighties or nineties. It was quite amusing to watch.

Consort Yu said: “Yongqi, when you were born, your whole body was golden yellow. Everyone thought you were some monstrous creature. Only your Mother Consort Ling risked her life to protect you. If not for her, you wouldn’t have grown to this age.”

Yongqi had already stood up, but upon hearing this, he knelt down again and solemnly gave Wei Yingluo a resounding kowtow: “Yongqi thanks Mother Consort Ling for saving my life. When I grow up, I will surely be very filial to you.”

Ming Yu couldn’t stand the sight of this mother and son pair. She scoffed with icy disdain: “In the future, our Ladyship will naturally have princes to be filial to her. There’s no need for the Fifth Prince to trouble himself.”

Yongqi’s small face froze. Consort Yu’s expression changed as she said: “Ming Yu, how old is Yongqi? He spoke with sincere heart. If you won’t accept it, fine — but saying such things is really going too far!”

Ming Yu scoffed, her tone dripping with sarcasm: “Last night I kept hearing strange noises. I was wondering what it was — turns out we haven’t even reached New Year yet, but the weasels are already coming to the door. Master, this servant should go take a look and quickly block up the hole, so they don’t disturb your rest tonight!”

“Ming Yu.” Wei Yingluo gave her a glance, then beckoned to Yongqi. “The little infant from back then has grown so much in the blink of an eye. Come here.”

Yongqi obediently walked over. Suddenly he coughed once, hurriedly raising his slightly chubby little hands to cover his mouth. He looked at Wei Yingluo somewhat bashfully.

“What’s wrong? Is your throat uncomfortable?” Wei Yingluo asked with concern.

“He’s had a bit of a cough lately. The imperial physician already prescribed fritillaria bulb for him to take,” Consort Yu said, gazing at the Fifth Prince with tender affection.

Her look made Wei Yingluo momentarily dazed. Unconsciously, she was reminded of the way the former Empress had held her own child.

After a long moment, she came back to herself. She noticed Yongqi staring fixedly at a plate of hibiscus pastry on the table. When he sensed her gaze, he quickly looked away, adopting the posture of a proper gentleman who would never look askance.

Wei Yingluo pushed the pastries toward him: “If you clearly want to eat the pastry, and it’s right there in front of you, why pretend not to see it?”

Yongqi: “Mother said that taking something without asking is impolite.”

Yingluo laughed. She picked up a piece of hibiscus pastry and handed it to him: “Eat it. I’m giving you permission.”

“Thank you, Mother Consort Ling.” Yongqi bowed properly to her before taking the lotus pastry from her hand. He ate it with perfect manners, catching every single crumb in his hand so none would fall to the ground.

Wei Yingluo herself was nowhere near as proper when she ate, and she couldn’t help but watch him and smile.

“Ahem, ahem.” Yongqi suddenly covered his mouth and coughed twice.

Yingluo: “If you’re coughing, don’t eat too many sweets.”

Yongqi nodded obediently and quietly set down the second piece.

Wei Yingluo liked this child very much, but she did not like his mother.

Children tire easily. After Wei Yingluo exchanged a few meaningless words with Consort Yu, Yongqi began to yawn. Wei Yingluo said: “Ming Yu, take the Fifth Prince to the side hall for his afternoon nap.”

With the innocent child gone, the adults no longer needed to mince words.

“Since you’ve already chosen to stand with Noble Consort Chun, why come back to find me?” Wei Yingluo idly stirred the lid of her teacup; the fragrance of Biluochun tea rose in misty curls.

“Yingluo, not everyone is as fortunate as you—first protected by the Empress, then favored by the Emperor.” Consort Yu looked at her with a complicated expression. “I have nothing. To survive and stand firm in the Forbidden City, besides throwing in my lot with Noble Consort Chun, is there any other path for me?”

Wei Yingluo knew life had been hard for her, but that was no excuse for betraying the Empress.

“Do you know?” Wei Yingluo suddenly slammed the teacup down on the table; a flash of severity passed through her eyes. “Noble Consort Chun is the true murderer of the Seventh Prince—she is the chief culprit who forced the previous Empress to her death!”

Consort Yu gasped sharply.

Wei Yingluo stared at her intently, hoping for anger, hoping for tears. But instead, Consort Yu slowly exhaled that breath and said in a timid, submissive tone: “I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. For someone as lowly as me, the only thing that matters is staying alive so I can protect Yongqi—protect my son! As for other people, other matters, I simply don’t have the ability to interfere.”

Wei Yingluo had never really expected her to be of any help.

Or rather, she had never intended to drag a mother with a child into this affair in the first place.

All she had wanted was a spark of rage, a single tear…

But Consort Yu wouldn’t even give her that!

Wei Yingluo clutched her chest, feeling a sharp, unbearable pain from the old wound; cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

“Enough! What’s the point of talking to someone like her!” Ming Yu stormed in, glaring fiercely at Consort Yu. “Even a dog, when given a piece of meat, knows to guard the house and protect its master. The previous Empress sheltered you again and again, yet you turned around and sided with Noble Consort Chun! Consort Yu, you’re truly worse than a dog!”

When Consort Yu heard this, she gave a bleak, miserable laugh: “A dog? Yes, exactly. In the Forbidden City, an unfavored woman really is worse than a dog, isn’t she?”

She truly was a pitiful woman with neither luck nor ability.

She had watched her closest sister die right in front of her, then had no choice but to bow and scrape before her enemy. After finally outlasting Noble Consort Hui, she still hadn’t managed to rise at all. Even Wei Yingluo—a former lowly palace maid of Changchun Palace—had overtaken her, climbing to a height she could only look up to from afar.

“…Yingluo, have pity on this dog of mine. Just answer me one question.” Consort Yu pleaded pitifully. “Was it you who told the Emperor that the person who caused your fall from the horse was Noble Consort Chun?”

Wei Yingluo’s chest still ached. She rubbed it slowly while staring at her with icy cold eyes.

“Right now I am Noble Consort Chun’s dog. If this matter continues to be investigated, sooner or later she will push me forward to take the blame.” Consort Yu stepped closer, trying to grasp Wei Yingluo’s hand. “It doesn’t matter if I die—but what about Yongqi? Yingluo, back then you went to such lengths to save him from Noble Consort Hui’s hands. Now can you really bear to watch him lose his mother and live alone and miserable?”

“Have you gone mad?” Ming Yu pushed her away forcefully. “You want Yingluo to let Noble Consort Chun go?”

“No, not let her go—turn swords into plowshares.” Consort Yu shook her head, then looked toward Wei Yingluo with a face full of expectation. “Yingluo, stop opposing her. No longer pursuing the cause of the late Empress’s death. Let everything pass, and the two of you can live in peace together—wouldn’t that be good?”

Wei Yingluo just practically spat the four words through gritted teeth: “No longer pursue it?”

Consort Yu nodded with tears in her eyes: “Yes. Now that you enjoy such deep imperial favor and are rising like the sun at noon, why cling so stubbornly to the past? If you reconcile with Noble Consort Chun and bear a son or daughter of your own, who in the palace could possibly contend with you? This is for my sake, for Yongqi whom you personally saved, and most of all—for yourself!”

Wei Yingluo remained silent.

Ming Yu, seeing her utter such shameless words, could no longer hold back. She was about to explode in curses, but the words caught in her throat. The door creaked open just a crack, and Yongqi rubbed his eyes as he slipped in from behind it: “Mother.”

Everyone fell silent at once and stopped discussing the matter.

“…It’s getting late. Ming Yu, prepare a plate of lotus cake for Yongqi to take back and eat.” Wei Yingluo spoke up to send them off.

A plate of lotus cake was quickly prepared and neatly arranged in a brocade box. Yongqi’s face remained calm, but his hands clutched the box tightly—clearly overjoyed inside.

Consort Yu took his hand and led him away. At the door, she suddenly turned back to look at Wei Yingluo with profound meaning: “Yingluo, as long as you are willing to protect Yongqi, I will never let Noble Consort Chun harm you again. I guarantee it.”

Wei Yingluo could not take her words seriously. A woman who could barely protect herself was boasting that she would shield her? In her heart, Wei Yingluo felt both tragic and ridiculous. After a long pause, she finally said: “Consort Yu, do you truly not regret it?”

Abandoning your dignity, abandoning your benefactor, even abandoning your own humanity to become a mere lapdog—do you truly feel no regret?

“For the sake of taking good care of Yongqi, even if the world curses me as a vile villain, even if I must kneel and serve my enemy, I can endure it all.” Consort Yu stroked Yongqi’s head, then smiled at Wei Yingluo. “Once you have a child of your own, you’ll understand how I feel today.”

Wei Yingluo was stunned.

“Your Ladyship, ignore that traitor!” Ming Yu slammed the door shut, locking the mother and son outside. Then, still fuming, she returned to Wei Yingluo’s side and forced a smile onto her face. “Let me tell you some jokes.”

Ming Yu’s jokes were not funny at all. They only made Wei Yingluo drowsier and drowsier until, without realizing it, she fell asleep.

In the days that followed, she spent most of her time in bed. The medicinal decoctions came day after day, and her injuries gradually healed. Finally, she was able to get out of bed and, supported by Ming Yu’s arm, take a slow walk in the courtyard.

As they walked, she suddenly saw someone hurrying toward her.

“Your Ladyship Consort Ling.” It was Li Yu. He held his fly-whisk and stood before Wei Yingluo with a face like frost. “His Majesty requests your presence at Yonghe Palace.”

Wei Yingluo looked at him. Sometimes he was simply an extension of Hongli’s face—whatever expression His Majesty used toward others, Li Yu mirrored it. Seeing his icy expression now, she knew whatever awaited her in Yonghe Palace would not be good.

The reality proved worse than she had imagined.

Waiting for her in Yonghe Palace was Yongqi, lying on the bed barely clinging to life.

“Consort Ling, Yongqi is still so young—how could you lay such a vicious hand on him!” Consort Yu knelt beside the bed, weeping. “Your Majesty, you must seek justice for this mother and son!”

Wei Yingluo was stunned: “Lay a vicious hand? What do you mean!”

“Consort Ling.” Noble Consort Chun stood beside Consort Yu, assuming the posture of someone upholding justice for her. “A few days ago, didn’t the Fifth Prince visit Yanxi Palace?”

Wei Yingluo looked at her. Their gazes met like clashing blades—both understood perfectly. Noble Consort Chun had finally made her move.

   This piece, this battle, was one fought with backs to the water: either you die, or I die.

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   Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 145: Black Pieces, White Pieces

When news arrived that Consort Ling had fallen from her horse, Noble Consort Chun felt extreme joy in her heart, yet she didn’t let the slightest trace show on her face.

Because Hongli was sitting right across from her. For a long time he said nothing. When he finally spoke, it was:

“You’re very happy?”

Noble Consort Chun’s heart jolted. She quickly lowered her head and sighed:

“When Your Majesty comes to Zhongcui Palace, of course I am happy. But Consort Ling has suffered a serious injury, and the imperial physicians have been coming and going from Yanxi Palace without stop. When I heard about it, I was deeply worried. If not for Your Majesty’s strict order forbidding anyone from disturbing her lightly, I would have gone long ago to visit my younger sister Consort Ling.”

Between them lay a red sandalwood chessboard, black and white pieces arranged across it. It was Hongli’s turn to move. Slowly he picked up a white piece from the box, but he didn’t place it right away. Holding it between two fingers, he lightly tapped it against the edge of the board: tap, tap, tap…

Just like the sound of Noble Consort Chun’s heartbeat at that moment.

“Someone tampered with the horse Consort Ling was riding.” Tap—he finally placed the piece on the board.

“Who would dare to be so bold?” Noble Consort Chun lifted a black piece.

“I thought that the Empress, as the Mother of the State, could not have her position threatened no matter how favored Wei Yingluo became. As for the other consorts, they wouldn’t easily have the nerve to do such a thing.” Hongli quickly placed another piece on the board and said calmly, “So tell me—who do you think it could be?”

Noble Consort Chun hesitated over her move, her chest rising and falling for a moment. Suddenly she knelt down and said:

“Your Majesty must not suspect… me. From the time You were still at Your princely residence, I have served You, spending my days with the qin and chess, keeping company with poetry and painting. Apart from a little of Your Majesty’s pity and affection, I ask for nothing! Even if You suspect everyone else in the world, You should not suspect me!”

Hongli looked down at her from above: “Before Consort Ling, you were the one who received the most favor. After she entered the palace, wasn’t the drop in status the greatest for you?”

Noble Consort Chun’s eyes brimmed with tears as she said softly:

“Your Majesty, in the past when I was favored, I often felt pity for my sisters’ loneliness and frequently urged You to spread Your affection evenly, so that the harem could live in harmony. Consort Ling may be wonderful in every way, but she has never been willing to let Your Majesty visit anyone else’s palace—she is truly overbearing to an excessive degree. I have advised her many times, yet she remains willful and unrestrained, flaunting herself too much. It is not impossible that someone, driven by momentary jealousy and hatred, would deliberately retaliate. But I can swear to Heaven—this matter truly has nothing to do with me!”

Her weeping appearance was the most moving, like the gentle Jiangnan rain, pattering softly onto the bluestone steps, washing even the surrounding air clean with her tears.

It was precisely this image of solitary elegance, untouched by worldly dust, that had once moved Hongli and allowed her to rise all the way to Noble Consort. Yet now, as he looked at her tearful face, his heart remained remarkably calm. He gave a mocking smile and said:

“Last night, I ordered that all the eunuchs from the Imperial Stables who had committed offenses be released. Guess where they went?”

Noble Consort Chun’s face gradually paled; she already knew the answer in her heart.

“Most of them went back to sleep. But one… the little eunuch who once led a horse for Consort Ling.” Hongli stared at her, enunciating each word clearly. “In the dead of night, he ran straight to your Zhongcui Palace!”

“I have never seen this person!” Noble Consort Chun said, her face ashen.

“That little eunuch was extremely alert. The moment he realized someone was following him, he immediately turned back. My guards caught him and questioned him for a long time, and he insisted he had never seen you. But if he had never seen you, why did he come to your Zhongcui Palace in the middle of the night?” Hongli leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes with weary disappointment, and said, “I also want to believe your words. I also hope this has nothing to do with you…”

Hongli did not act against her immediately—first, because there was still no concrete evidence; second, because they had once been husband and wife for many years, and that bond of affection remained. They even shared a son they had raised together.

Even so, the position of Zhongcui Palace in his heart was no longer what it once had been, and the small ambition that had existed in Noble Consort Chun’s heart would now come to nothing.

“Mother.” The Sixth Prince rubbed his sleepy eyes as he walked out, his hands small, his feet small, his steps small—like an adorable little doll.

“Child.” Noble Consort Chun reached out and embraced him, choking with sobs against his shoulder.

“Mother, why are you crying?” The Sixth Prince raised his little hand to wipe the tears from her face.

“Mother isn’t crying.” Noble Consort Chun smiled at him, thinking to herself: I haven’t lost yet. I cannot cry.

After coaxing the Sixth Prince back to sleep, Noble Consort Chun gently wiped the tears from her face. Her expression turned extremely cold as she said:

“Yuhu, go and invite Consort Yu here.”

Among all the consorts in the harem, few had any real connection with Wei Yingluo. Consort Yu was one of the few who could be considered on relatively good terms with her.

Unlike Wei Yingluo and Noble Consort Chun, both of whom had been granted consort titles because of favor, Consort Yu was different. She had only toiled bitterly her way up to consort rank after bearing a son. Out of three hundred and sixty-five days in a year, she could see Hongli only on major festivals and holidays; at all other times, he almost never set foot in her residence.

A person like her naturally stood lower in the presence of someone like Noble Consort Chun, who had both a son and a high consort rank.

Now she sat upright and proper in the chair. Beside her was placed a jade box containing a root of century-old ginseng. Its tendrils resembled hands and feet; among the common folk, such a ginseng root was called a ginseng baby or a ginseng spirit.

Consort Yu lived frugally and had no means to present such a grand gift. On the contrary, this was a gift from Noble Consort Chun to her.

“I heard the Fifth Prince has fallen ill,” Noble Consort Chun said with a smile. “Take this ginseng back and use it to nourish him.”

There is no courtesy without a reason—either treachery or theft. Consort Yu replied nervously:

“This consort is deeply grateful for Your Ladyship concern and will remember it in her heart. However, Prince Yongqi is only suffering from a cough. The imperial physicians have been treating him steadily with fritillaria. I truly dare not use such a strong tonic as ginseng and can only disappoint Niangniang’s kind intentions.”

Noble Consort Chun: “Ordinary coughs indeed should not use ginseng. But I have already consulted the imperial physicians. The Fifth Prince’s cough is caused by lung qi deficiency. This particular root was specially selected to supplement his qi. The Imperial Storehouse has thousands of pounds of ginseng—I chose the one most suitable for the Fifth Prince. You may use it with complete peace of mind.”

Consort Yu looked at her, then at the ginseng, and suddenly stood up and knelt down, saying: “Whatever Your Ladyship commands, I will certainly obey. I only beg Your Ladyship to spare the Fifth Prince…”

“The one who understands the times is the wise one.” Noble Consort Chun beckoned to her. “Come here. I have something to instruct you to do.”

…

“Ming Yu.”

Inside Yanxi Palace, Wei Yingluo suddenly opened her eyes and asked Ming Yu, who was attending her: “Guess what Noble Consort Chun’s next move will be?”

The inner palace was like a chessboard. She and Noble Consort Chun were opponents — one holding white pieces, the other black.

Click — Wei Yingluo made the first move.

   She deliberately let the news of riding lessons spread, hoping to provoke Noble Consort Chun into acting. But even if the other side didn’t take the bait, it didn’t matter.

   Wei Yingluo could arrange to fall from the horse herself.

   Then she would bribe a little eunuch from the Imperial Stables to lead Hailancha to Zhongcui Palace.

   One move after another, ultimately forcing Noble Consort Chun into a desperate position. Now it was the other side’s turn to move — and this next piece would decide the outcome of the entire game.

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   Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 144: Falling from the Horse

   Inside the racetrack, endless green turf stretched from underfoot all the way to the horizon. Horse hooves clopped over a white flower. Wei Yingluo and Hongli rode one behind the other, both changed into hunting attire. The palace’s luxurious trappings were gone, replaced by a vigorous, heroic air.

Wei Yingluo complained: “This horse is no good—it doesn’t listen at all! To the left, to the left!”

The horse snorted loudly and stepped to the right instead.

Hongli held back a laugh, tightened the reins a little, and guided its steps back: “This is my favorite Akhal-Teke blood-sweat horse. No one else is even allowed to touch it, and here you are still picking faults left and right. Why don’t you just admit you’re clumsy yourself?”

“Aiya! Aiya!” Wei Yingluo let out a series of loud yelps on horseback.

“Hold the reins tight—tight!” Hongli was truly exasperated, thinking her head must be made of elm wood—impossible to teach no matter how hard he tried. Who could have guessed that in the very next second, a pair of arms would wrap around his waist like vines? Wei Yingluo clung to him like ivy twining around a tree: “I’m going to fall!”

Hongli’s heart immediately softened. Fine, fine—he thought—what’s the point of her learning to ride? At worst they could ride double: he would handle the horse, and she could just cling to him and keep shrieking.

“Your Majesty!” A guard suddenly hurried over. “Military report incoming!”

Hongli was taken aback and had no choice but to dismount. Before leaving, he instructed: “Ride by yourself for a while. Li Yu, find a gentle horse for Consort Ling.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Li Yu waved his hand, and a little eunuch immediately led over a small brown pony.

Wei Yingluo walked to the horse’s side, reached up to stroke its ear. From the corner of her eye she glanced at the unfamiliar-looking little eunuch, then gave a strange smile and swung herself up onto the horse.

“Huo Zhanjí diverted water to flood our camp. Our army dug trenches to drain it and held out bitterly for ten days. Finally Lord Fucha arrived with reinforcements outside Heishui Camp and, together with General Zhaohui, attacked from inside and out, successfully annihilating five thousand of the enemy. However, General Zhaohui’s warhorse became mired in the mud and he unfortunately fell from the saddle, sustaining a minor leg injury. Lord Fucha is currently leading troops in pursuit of the fleeing Huo Zhanjí; no definite news has come back yet.” At one side of the racetrack, the guard presented the military report to Hongli.

Hongli listened with a frown, about to ask for more details, when suddenly a sharp scream came from behind: “Consort Ling, Your Ladyship!”

He whipped around. Amid a chorus of shrieks, he saw the brown horse let out a long neigh, rearing up on its hind legs, four hooves kicking high. A flash of red was hurled from its back.

“Yingluo!”

Inside Yanxi Palace, candles burned from nightfall straight through to dawn.

The imperial physician looked extremely tense—not because Wei Yingluo was in mortal danger, but because every half hour Hongli sent Li Yu over to ask him: “How is Consort Ling?”

The more concerned the Emperor was, the more constrained the physician felt. He revised the prescription over and over, inserted needles with the utmost caution. Only now did he finally breathe a sigh of relief, wipe his sweat, and say: “It’s done. You can report back to His Majesty like this…”

Li Yu’s legs were nearly worn out from all the running back and forth. Now that he had a definite answer, he too relaxed and hurried back to Yangxin Hall to report. Seeing the door tightly closed, he knew a discussion was underway inside, so he stood guard at the entrance.

“Speak.” Inside Yangxin Hall, Hongli’s face was extremely dark. “What have you found?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty.” Hailancha knelt on the ground. He had just returned from the racetrack and now reported everything he had discovered to Hongli: “This servant inspected the entire racetrack. The problem was in the horse’s feed trough—someone tampered with the fodder, causing an originally very docile horse to suddenly go berserk. That was how Her Ladyship Consort Ling came to fall.”

Hongli clenched his fingers until they cracked audibly. He said coldly: “From top to bottom of the Imperial Stables—arrest and rigorously interrogate the supervising minister, along with all the bureau directors and section chiefs!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After the guards withdrew, Li Yu entered:

“Your Majesty, Consort Ling has already woken up.”

Hongli immediately started to rise to go over, but a guard came to report urgent military affairs. He had no choice but to sit back down. By the time he finished dealing with the matters at hand, the moon had already risen above the willow tips. Without even bothering to eat, he hurried to Yanxi Palace. As night deepened, palace servants hung paper lanterns one by one under the eaves—each one shining brightly like a small moon. He stepped in under the moonlight until he reached Wei Yingluo’s side.

With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the attendants and slowly sat down beside her, his voice full of guilt:

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have let you go riding.”

Wei Yingluo said nothing, lying with her back to him inside the bed curtains.

Thinking she had already fallen asleep, Hongli didn’t want to disturb her. He lowered his voice to the softest whisper:

“Setting the bones must have hurt terribly. I wasn’t even there with you. Tonight I won’t leave—I’ll stay with you the whole time, all right?”

“No.” Wei Yingluo replied.

Hongli was startled, then laughed helplessly:

“You’re awake?”

Wei Yingluo gave a soft humph and still refused to face him, keeping her gaze fixed on the wall.

“Since you don’t want to see me, then I’ll go.” Hongli pretended to stand up.

In an instant Wei Yingluo rolled over on the bed, tumbling straight into his arms. The movement tugged at her injury; she immediately grimaced in pain and began to sob quietly.

“You, ah, you.” Hongli gently helped her up, his heart aching. “Even now you’re still being mischievous.”

“Your Majesty.” Wei Yingluo clung tightly to his waist as if grasping a lifeline, sobbing as she spoke: “Someone wants to kill me.”

Hongli was stunned. He comforted her:

“Don’t let your imagination run wild. It was just an accident!”

She trembled violently in his arms. This woman, usually so stubborn and fearless, now showed such vulnerability in his embrace—it made him feel an extraordinary tenderness and pity. Her voice shook:

“Your Majesty, she wants me dead. That person… wanted me to fall from the horse!”

Suddenly she lifted her tear-streaked face and looked up at him with extreme unease and attachment, seeking a promise:

“Your Majesty, will you protect me?”

“Yes.” Hongli pulled her into his arms and gently patted her back. “I will protect you. I will definitely protect you…”

He coaxed her for a long time until she finally fell peacefully asleep in his embrace once more. Hongli carefully laid her back on the bed, drew the quilt over her, and gazed at her sleeping face for a long while. Just as he was about to leave, he felt a tug on his sleeve. Looking down, he saw her small fingers clutching his sleeve tightly—even in sleep, she wouldn’t let him go.

He found himself unable to leave after all. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he said in a low voice:

“Come in.”

Li Yu entered, glanced at Wei Yingluo on the bed, and instinctively lowered his voice:

“Your Majesty, Hailancha has reported back. The ministers in charge of the Imperial Stables—along with the assistant directors, section chiefs, and eunuchs—have all been thoroughly interrogated. The only thing they got out of anyone was the word ‘wronged.’ Nothing else.”

Hongli pondered for a moment:

“Give the eunuch who was specifically in charge of feeding that horse eighty heavy strokes. The rest will have their salaries docked for one year—then let them go.”

Li Yu was surprised:

“Let them go?”

Hongli gave a cold smile:

“Yes. Let them go.”

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