Story of Yanxi Palace

Chapter 53.2: A Turn of Events

“Consort Chun!” Hongli looked down at the body on the stretcher and said coldly, “What did this man die of?”

   “With the example of Fourth Prince, this humble woman naturally suspected Noble Lady Yu's diet and ordered a search, only to find out that the cook ad already killed himself when he arrived at the Imperial Tea House!” At this point, Consort Chun's eyes swept in the direction of Noble Consort Hui and said, “If you ask who was behind this, it is clear who wanted to bury Fifth Prince alive!”

   “Consort Chun, you're spitting blood and slander!” Noble Consort Hui snapped.

   No evidence but Consort Chun's one sided words, do count as slander.

   But as the saying goes: “Three ladies can make a rumour true and when there are many who speak with one voice, even a falsehood can become a truth and even a bloody mouth can spout slander.

   “Your Majesty, Fifth Prince is only a baby in swaddling clothes, what sin is there in that, unless someone doesn’t want to see him born safely.” Wei Yingluo suddenly spoke up, the Little Brother in her arms, like a kitten, made a faint sobbing sound and said, “Come to think of it, Noble Lady Yu has been in trouble since she was conceived, Noble Consort Niangniang… First the Imperial Garden scare, then the Lychee Banquet, as soon as Noble Lady gave birth, Noble Consort Niangniang was the first to come to the Changchun Palace and advocated burying Fifth Prince alive, if she had nothing to do with this scheme… it's unconvincing.”

   “Bitch, don't slander this Palace Mistress there!” Noble Consort Hui said urgently, “Your Majesty to convict this humble woman on the basis of a corpse alone, this humble woman is not convinced! Who knows if he was forced to die and deliberately framed this humble woman!”

   “Noble Consort Niangniang, at this point, you still don't want to give up your defence.” Consort Chun sighed.

   Noble Consort Hui stared at her unafraid face and a slight fear grew in her heart.

   Consort Chun took a letter out of her pocket and presented it to Hongli with some gold ingots, saying: “Your Majesty, this humble woman ordered a search of the Imperial Tea House and found a bloody letter and twenty taels of gold. This humble woman had a premonition and left evidence!”

   Hongli took the letter, opened it up, inside was a page of blood, someone had written with his finger in blood: The murderer, must be the master of the Chuxiu Palace!

   Noble Consort Hui felt her eyes go black, her body swayed, Zhilan reached out to help her but she pushed Zhilan away and ran towards Hongli saying: “False, this humble woman has never seen this man! He's a fake and so is this letter!”

   Hongli raised his hand, avoiding her hand and then coldly ordered: “From now on, Noble Consort Hui is imprisoned in the Chuxiu Palace, no one is allowed to enter or leave unless it is Zhen's order!”

   With these words, as if he could no longer stand the pandemonium of the palace, he lifted his feet and left.

   “Niangniang, Niangniang!” Behind him, came Zhilan's cries, “Your Majesty, Niangniang has passed out!”

   Her cries did not stop Hongli's footsteps.

   “Your Majesty!” A figure seemed to be waiting at the door, as soon as it saw him, it rushed over and knelt before him, stopping him in his tracks, “This lowly servant wants to report someone!”

   Hongli was annoyed, another one, couldn't help but speak in a cold tone: “Who are you suing?”

   The one kneeling before him was Mingyu, Mingyu fell to her knees and said: “Earlier Noble Consort was going to execute Fifth Prince and one man tried to stop her, by taking out the Golden Seal of the Empress but in fact, the Empress Niangniang was never granted the Golden Seal of the Empress, this woman was clearly faking the decree!”

   “Oh?” Hongli said lightly, “Who is this woman?”

   Mingyu raised his head and said: “Wei Yingluo.”

   “Wei Yingluo...” Hongli slowly turned his head back, looking behind him at the young girl with the baby in her arms and said, “Do you know your crime?”

   The child was strange, anyone who held him would cry but in her arms, at most he only sobbed gently, as if he knew who to trust, who truly protected him. Wei Yingluo knelt down with the child in her arms, afraid of frightening him and whispered softly: “Your Majesty, I deserve to die, I have deceived Noble Consort Niangniang, please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

   “Deceive Noble Consort?” Hongli heard her words at once, “So you did not deceive Zhen?”

   “How dare this lowly servant use the Golden Seal of the Empress, it is a great crime to use on an imperial decree so I did not use the seal.” Wei Yingluo said obsequiously, “But in those circumstances, if this lowly servant had not protected Noble Lady Yu and Fifth Prince, they would not have waited for his Majesty, the sake of Noble Lady and Prince's lives, this lowly servant had to take the plunge! Of course, this lowly servant has been at fault for deceiving Noble Consort, I beg Your Majesty's pardon.”

   Her words seemed obedient but nothing she did was obedient.

   Hongli looked at her without speaking and suddenly raised his hand and said: “Drag her off and punish her with fifty strokes of the cane!”

   The eunuchs swarmed over her, Mingyu was confused for a moment, before she cried out in panic: “How, how could it be? Your Majesty, Your Majesty, have mercy!”

   Since the golden seal was not in the box which Wei Yingluo presented, Mingyu's action was a blatant frame up, that was not the worst of it, the worst of it was that her intentions were seen by Hongli, she was trying to use Hongli  the emperor to get rid of the thorn in her side, Wei Yingluo.

   Do you think she should be beaten?

   Hongli gave Wei Yingluo a hard stare, he was one of those who deserved to be beaten, he just couldn't find a reason to issue the punishment to her for a while, in frustration, he just walked away.

   The rest of the group left with her, Consort Chun was half way to the door, when Wei Yingluo flashed up beside her without a word and said in a voice only two people could hear: “Consort Chun Niangniang, may I have a word?”

   Perhaps because Consort Chun was in a good mood, or perhaps because she was the Empress' favourite, Consort Chun raised her hand and waved away the palace staff and walked with Wei Yingluo to the side hall.

   “This lowly servant dares to ask a question.” To avoid ears on the wall and long dreams, Wei Yingluo opens the door, “Fifth Prince's jaundice, is it really due to Noble Consort Hui?”

   Consort Chun looked at her with a smile.

   “When I saw the Mongolian cook's body, this lowly servant already felt something strange in his mind, if he wanted to kill someone, why did he choose this moment, would it not be a fallacy?” She did not answer, Wei Yingluo then said to himself, “And if Noble Consort really wanted to kill, how could he have handled it so badly and let him leave a bloody letter?”

   “You knew there was something wrong with this, why did you say that, so that Noble Consort Hui was punished so severely?” Consort Chun suddenly asked.

   I had come to question her but I did not expect her to question me, Wei Yingluo was silent for a moment, before replying slowly: “The child is innocent, if she is safe, then something will happen to Little Brother in the future, on the other hand, I can only let Noble Consort Niangniang be punished, so as to save Little Brother.”

   “It's just a temporary peace.” Consort Chun smiled lightly and said, “The boy was born in the Forbidden City, he was destined to be involved in a struggle for power, if he died young, it was his fate, even if he grew up, he would still have to face the battle for the throne. He will have to pay the price someday.”

   Wei Yingluo stared at her.

   She didn't say it explicitly but between the lines, it was almost as if she had admitted it herself, that she had used the Mongolian cook and Little Brother to set Noble Consort Hui up.

   “... Consort Chun Niangniang's words, Yingluo understands but does not agree.” Wei Yingluo said slowly, “Only fierce beasts devour their young and a man who preys on a young child is no different from a beast, forgive Yingluo for taking her leave early!”