Your Majesty is Poisonous – Chapter 141
by Little PandaThe Empress Dowager Refuses
“Mmm…” Yao Xi was too exhausted to open her eyes, mumbling half-asleep in the Empress Dowager’s arms.
She hadn’t closed her eyes at all the night before. Lying alone on the small cot, she had stared wide-eyed at the screen between the bedchamber and the warm pavilion, listening to the Empress Dowager’s breathing all night long. She knew exactly how many mountains, trees, and bridges were painted on those few screen panels.
She had gone out of the palace early this morning and told stories for a long while, then come back and been worn out by the Empress Dowager for half the day. Yao Xi truly didn’t have a scrap of strength left.
“Xiao Yaozi?” Wan Bi called softly.
Hum — snore —
Yao Xi had started snoring from sheer exhaustion. She seemed to feel cold; shortly after falling asleep, she curled up, the small figure burrowing entirely into the Empress Dowager’s embrace.
Wan Bi wrapped Yao Xi’s clothes around her and carried her into the bedchamber. It was just as well that the girl hadn’t heard what had been said a moment ago — this way, Wan Bi could first ask Yao Shuanglan whether the Yao family, besides the two siblings, had a daughter who had gone missing as a child. If so, this matter was all but certain.
The next morning, Yao Xi woke again before dawn. After she and Wan Bi had been together the evening before, she had fallen fast asleep — and slept straight through to the next day. She woke to find herself wearing Wan Bi’s clothes, lying in the wide bed in the bedchamber, held from behind in Wan Bi’s arms.
Yao Xi shifted carefully, trying to slip out of Wan Bi’s embrace. She still had to hurry out of the palace for her storytelling. Before, it had been just for fun — early or late didn’t matter. But yesterday she had set the rules with the teahouse proprietor. Since she was taking tea money, it was a proper livelihood now, and she had to show up on time.
“Don’t move. Sleep a little more.” Wan Bi’s arm tightened around Yao Xi’s waist.
Yao Xi turned and nuzzled Wan Bi’s nose with her own. “Your Highness, go back to sleep. If I’m any later, I’ll miss my time.”
“You are not going! Your voice was completely ruined when you came back yesterday. This bereaved one1 was just speaking foolishly in anger the night before last — how could I truly want you to go out and earn silver?” Wan Bi held Yao Xi tighter, her heart aching. “Storytelling as an occasional outing for amusement is fine, but you may not go every day. Five or six shichen2 without seeing you — this bereaved one can’t bear it.”
“Your Highness wasn’t speaking foolishly. You were truly hurt by Miss Tao’s matter. I know all about it.” Yao Xi burrowed stubbornly into the crook of Wan Bi’s neck. “Don’t try to talk me out of it, Your Highness. I must give you an answer.”
“You…” Wan Bi was incensed.
She had made a mistake. She shouldn’t have brought up the matter of 10,000 taels. She knew Yao Xi’s stubborn mule temper well enough — the girl couldn’t be provoked even a little. Now it was done. The dead girl wouldn’t return to the palace until she had earned 10,000 taels. Ten thousand taels? The girl would destroy her throat before she ever earned that much. “This bereaved one doesn’t want you to give any answer. I only want you to stay properly by my side. Do you understand?”
Yao Xi said uneasily, “But… I’m afraid Your Highness’s mood will swing back and forth, afraid you’ll think of Miss Tao from time to time and feel sad like the day before yesterday, and not want to talk to me…” Her eyes reddened with grievance as she spoke. Since they had been together, the Empress Dowager had been too, too good to her — so good that she couldn’t bear even a trace of coldness.
“I won’t. This bereaved one was previously…” Wan Bi didn’t know how to explain the Feng Qing matter to Yao Xi, so she could only say gently, “It’s not that this bereaved one forbids you from storytelling, only that you can’t push yourself so hard. Going for one or two shichen like before would be about right. Didn’t you say you owed this bereaved one and would repay slowly over this lifetime? What’s the rush? Besides, this bereaved one would love nothing more than for you to owe more — best to rack up debts for the next lifetime, and the lifetime after that too.”
Yao Xi blushed crimson, grinning foolishly as she leaned in and kissed Wan Bi soundly, then said with a wicked gleam, “I’m just afraid of owing so much that Your Highness won’t be able to keep track.”
Wan Bi was inflamed by Yao Xi’s words. She had the girl’s soft, slender little body right there in her arms and wanted nothing more than to pin her down and have her way.
But Imperial Physician Fu had explicitly instructed that Yao Xi should rest quietly for several days. Yesterday’s passion had already been improper. And she was having her monthly letter too, so she could only suppress the urge and knead Yao Xi’s small shoulders instead. “Aren’t you going out? Take more people with you. You must return within two shichen at the latest. I’ll have the kitchen brew extra Snow Pear Soup3 — bring it to the teahouse to drink.”
“Will Your Highness sleep a little more? If you don’t want me to go, I can stay.” Yao Xi was reluctant to leave.
Wan Bi remembered that she still needed to ask Yao Shuanglan about a few things, and Yao Xi’s presence would be inconvenient, so she urged her to go.
After Yao Xi left, Wan Bi slept a while longer. When the sun had climbed halfway up the sky, she called for someone to come help her wash and dress.
Seated before the vanity mirror, Wan Bi selected a pleasing set of hairpins and ornaments from the gilded silver cosmetic case the maid had opened. “I’ll wear these today.” After finishing her toilette, she casually pointed at one of the maids. “You — go to Longyi’s side and invite Jieyu4 Lan over.”
Yao Shuanglan was close to her in age, quite a bit older than Yao Xi. When Yao Xi had gone missing, Yao Shuanglan had already been a young woman. If the Yao family had any other daughters besides her, Yao Shuanglan would certainly know.
Wan Bi finished washing and was eating her morning meal in the dining hall when a maid reported at the entrance, “Your Highness, Jieyu Lan has arrived.”
“Mm. Invite her in.” Wan Bi picked up a cloth and dabbed the corners of her lips, then told the serving maid, “All of you leave. Without this bereaved one’s orders, no one may enter.”
When Wan Bi looked up, she saw that the person who had entered was not just Yao Shuanglan, but also Longyi.
“Why are you here?” Wan Bi looked at Longyi in surprise. “This bereaved one is looking for her. What are you tagging along for?”
Longyi wrinkled her nose and said sullenly, “I thought it had been some days since I came to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager.”
“Oh—” Wan Bi felt a bit awkward. She still wasn’t used to being on amicable terms with Longyi. She missed the old days, when they simply ignored each other — so much simpler, no need to put on a benevolent mother act with a kind face. “How thoughtful of you. But this bereaved one has matters to discuss with Shuanglan. You may go back first.”
Longyi racked her brain and couldn’t imagine what the Empress Dowager and Shuanglan could possibly have between them that she wasn’t allowed to hear. But since the Empress Dowager had spoken, she couldn’t very well make a nuisance of herself. She could only murmur to Yao Shuanglan, “Then I’ll sit outside and wait for you, so we can go back together?”
“Mm-hmm.” Yao Shuanglan smiled at Longyi and reminded her softly, “Be good and sit still. Don’t walk around too much. Remember the physician’s instructions.”
“The physician’s instructions?” Wan Bi frowned. “Is Longyi unwell?”
“A minor thing — accidentally twisted my waist.” Longyi squeezed Yao Shuanglan’s hand and mouthed silently: Be careful. If anything happens, call for me.
“Twisted your waist and you still come to pay respects? When you were perfectly healthy, I never saw such devotion from you.” Wan Bi shot Longyi a look of distaste and coldly summoned a maid. “Help the Eldest Princess out to rest properly.”
Only after Longyi had left did Wan Bi gesture for Yao Shuanglan to sit. “Sit. This bereaved one asked you here today because there is something I wish to ask you.”
“Please speak, Your Highness.” Yao Shuanglan sat up straight. She had come today feeling rather anxious, for she couldn’t imagine why the Empress Dowager would summon her. Longyi hadn’t come to pay respects either — she had insisted on accompanying her, worried that the Empress Dowager might make things difficult for her.
“Are you the only daughter in your family?” Wan Bi asked.
Yao Shuanglan did not answer immediately, instead trying to guess the Empress Dowager’s intent. She couldn’t figure it out, so she could only nod truthfully.
“Only you?” Wan Bi was confused. Yao Xi could recall the Yao family house, and bore a resemblance to Yao Shuanglan — she had thought it all but certain that Yao Xi was Yao Hezheng’s daughter. But Yao Shuanglan said the Yao family had only one daughter? “You truly never had a younger sister? One who disappeared over ten years ago?”
A flash of grief crossed Yao Shuanglan’s face. “Is Your Highness asking about my late sister? My little sister didn’t disappear — she was murdered and her body thrown into the river.”
“Was your sister’s body ever found?” Wan Bi already had her answer.
Yao Shuanglan shook her head, bewildered, and asked, “Why is Your Highness suddenly asking about my late sister? Did Ah Xian say something to you?”
“This is a long story. Listen carefully.” Wan Bi lifted her tea and took a sip, then told Yao Shuanglan everything — how Yao Xi had entered the palace, what Sun Ergou had said, and how Yao Xi had dreamed of the Yao family ancestral home. “That girl Yao Xi doesn’t know whether she was truly drugged by traffickers or was simply too young when she left home, but many things she can no longer recall. So this bereaved one wished to ask you — did your sister have any birthmarks, moles, or anything of the sort that could prove her identity?”
The Empress Dowager’s words left Yao Shuanglan reeling. Yao Xi wasn’t her younger brother Yao Xian, but her younger sister Yao Shuangzhu? But the convicted murderer had personally confessed to killing her sister and throwing the body into the swollen river during the rainy season — how could her sister still be alive? Yao Xi did look far too much like her brother Yao Xian, and the age at which Yao Xi had been found by the Sun family was precisely the age at which her little sister Shuangzhu had been killed…
“My little sister had a red mark on her pubic area. She was scalded by a careless servant’s hot water when she was two years old. After it healed, it left a red mark about the size of a thumb. Your Highness…”
Before Yao Shuanglan could finish, Wan Bi said in sudden realization, “That spot was actually a scar?” When she had helped Yao Xi bathe, she had wondered why the other red marks on the girl’s body had faded while that one persisted.
An awkward silence suddenly fell — the pubic area was not something just anyone could see.
“It seems there can be no mistake.” Yao Shuanglan’s embarrassment didn’t last long before she was swept up in the joy of finding her little sister. The Yao family had actually had far more than just her and Ah Xian. Shuangzhu was Ah Xian’s twin younger sister, and before her there had been an eldest sister who died young, named Yao Shuangmei. Their father had said that when they had daughters, they would name them after Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum5. Shuangmei had died of illness in childhood, Shuangzhu had been murdered, and Shuangju had never been born. In the end, only she and Ah Xian had grown up safely.
“Your Highness, you said Shuangzhu entered the palace under Ah Xian’s identity. Then what about Ah Xian? He couldn’t have escaped his crime.” Yao Shuanglan’s joy at recovering her little sister didn’t last long before worry for her brother Yao Xian set in.
Wan Bi didn’t want to extinguish Yao Shuanglan’s hope. She shook her head. “There is no word on his whereabouts yet. Don’t worry too much. With death, one must see a corpse — sometimes no news at all is good news.”
“When will Your Highness tell my sister?” Yao Shuanglan still had many questions. For instance, at their first meeting, if her sister didn’t remember anything from the past, why had she pretended to be Ah Xian and acknowledged her as a sister?
Wan Bi gathered her thoughts and said, “When she returns, I’ll tell her.”
Yao Xi told stories for one shichen, then rose to head back to the palace. The teahouse proprietor hurried over to persuade her. “Young Master Wan, could you stay and tell a while longer? The tea money is negotiable — how about you take seventy and I take thirty?”
“Truly sorry.” Yao Xi insisted on leaving. She bowed to the proprietor and the audience, then led Meng Li’an out of the teahouse. She stood at the entrance for a while, not immediately climbing into the carriage, and asked Meng Li’an anxiously, “Li’an-di6, has Eunuch Gui’s shopping party not returned yet?”
“Should be soon, I think.” Meng Li’an was somewhat distracted. He kept up conversation with Yao Xi while his eyes darted around, surveying their surroundings. Eastern Depot agents had arrived — and not just a few. Disguised as pedestrians and vendors, they stole glances toward the teahouse from time to time. They were clearly here for Yao Xi.
Right now, besides himself, two eunuchs from Ning’an Palace who knew martial arts could hold their own against the Eastern Depot agents. But that made only three of them, and there was no telling how many Eastern Depot operatives there were, in the open and in the shadows.
Footnotes
- A self-referential used by widowed empresses in imperial China, literally meaning 'this bereaved one.'
- A traditional Chinese unit of time equal to two hours.
- A traditional Chinese syrup made from snow pears, used to soothe sore throats and coughs.
- An imperial consort rank, higher than Talent and Beauty.
- In Chinese culture, plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum are known as the 'Four Gentlemen,' each representing a season and embodying noble virtues.
- A pinyin kinship suffix meaning 'younger brother,' attached to a name to signal warm, informal address.
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