Your Majesty is Poisonous – Chapter 47
by Little PandaThe Empress Dowager is So Wicked
How could Yao Xi know the Empress Dowager was thinking so much?
Seeing Noble Lady Lan staring at her, she quickly shifted her gaze away. She had to admit, Noble Lady Lan was truly a great beauty. Yao Xi had half a mind to steal a few more glances to feast her eyes, but unfortunately, she didn’t have the guts. That was the Emperor’s woman. For a eunuch like her to stare at the Emperor’s woman right in front of the Emperor? Just how lecherous and audacious would she have to be!
In truth, even now, Yao Xi wasn’t entirely sure what the Empress Dowager looked like.
Every time she served before Her Highness, she only dared to let her gaze sweep hastily past the Empress Dowager before either staring elsewhere or lowering her head, not daring to let it linger on Her Highness’s phoenix visage1.
It was the rule of the palace. Servants were forbidden from looking directly at the masters’ faces—not just the Emperor’s dragon visage, but the faces of all masters in the palace, great and small.
With that thought in mind, driven by curiosity, Yao Xi stole a glance at the Empress Dowager’s back.
The Empress Dowager was seated in a chair diagonally to her right, just a step away, wearing a lilac casual dress. Her slender waist shifted with a lazy, subtle sway, completely devoid of a mature woman’s allure; instead, every movement and gesture brimmed with a young girl’s delicate charm. What a pity she couldn’t see Her Highness’s face. That morning, she had been so focused on the apricot blossom resting in Her Highness’s hair that she hadn’t even paid attention to her features.
Now that her curiosity was piqued, she couldn’t see even if she wanted to. But it didn’t matter. She would be serving by Her Highness’s side from now on; there would be plenty of opportunities to look her fill.
Yao Xi mused that the Empress Dowager must be incredibly beautiful! For a remarkable woman to make the Late Emperor depose his empress and leave behind such a posthumous edict, she must possess not only an interesting (or rather, bizarre) soul but also a world-shaking beauty.
Wan Bi had no idea Yao Xi was secretly watching her. Or rather, in her mind, Yao Xi was always secretly watching her. Now that Yao Xi was actually looking, she didn’t realize it. All of Wan Bi’s attention was focused on Noble Lady Lan sitting opposite her. As if making post-meal small talk, she asked, “The Emperor mentioned that Yu-shi set herself on fire in Jingling Palace last night? You didn’t suffer a fright, did you?”
Yao Shuanglan rested her hands on her lap and replied slowly and methodically, “This subject-concubine thanks the Empress Dowager for her concern. The fire was discovered early, and everyone escaped quickly. I did not suffer any fright.”
“Did Yu-shi truly set herself on fire?” Wan Bi pressed aggressively. “This bereaved one doesn’t think she looks like someone with the courage to do such a thing.”
“So I have heard.” Yao Shuanglan calmly answered every question the Empress Dowager threw at her.
“Heard from whom?”
“It was chaotic after the fire started. This subject-concubine only heard someone shout a phrase in passing and did not catch whose voice it was.”
“Oh?” Wan Bi smiled meaningfully. “Then this bereaved one will have to investigate who first spread that news. That person is very likely the one who killed Yu-shi!”
Yao Shuanglan smiled at the Empress Dowager, but her heart tensed. She could feel the animosity radiating from Her Highness, though she didn’t understand why. Before entering the Cold Palace, she had met the Empress Dowager a few times while accompanying the Emperor, and the Empress Dowager couldn’t even remember her name back then. Aside from those who were particularly obnoxious, the Empress Dowager paid no mind to the women in the inner palace.
What was going on today? The Empress Dowager kept interrogating her about the Jingling Palace fire. Had Her Highness discovered something?
The more Yao Shuanglan thought about it, the more worried became. She tried to change the subject, lifting the teapot from the table to pour the Emperor a cup of tea. “Please have some tea, Your Majesty.” The words were directed at Emperor Ming Cheng, but both her mind and her gaze were elsewhere.
Wan Bi suddenly realized why she couldn’t bring herself to like this Noble Lady Lan.
When they had bumped into each other in the Cold Palace, Wan Bi had actually thought that a person who could still live with such dignity and grace while confined there was quite extraordinary. But the moment this woman stood next to Emperor Ming Cheng, she gave Wan Bi a very bad feeling. It took her a long time to figure out what that feeling was.
This Noble Lady Lan’s mind wasn’t on the Emperor at all.
Not all the women in the inner palace loved the Emperor; most harbored their own ulterior motives and only flattered him to curry favor. But regardless of their goals, their attention was still somewhat focused on the Emperor. After all, how could one win the Son of Heaven’s favor without putting in some effort?
This Noble Lady Lan was different. Throughout the duration of the meal, she had spent more time looking at the little castrated donkey than at the Emperor, and even more time staring blankly into space. Only the foolish Emperor kept his eyes glued entirely to this woman.
Wan Bi finally understood the meaning of the phrase, ‘marrying a wife and forgetting one’s mother2.’
The Directorate of Imperial Meals sent over a few more post-meal pastries. Emperor Ming Cheng personally picked up a plum blossom cake, breaking it apart to feed Noble Lady Lan.
Jealous of her son, Wan Bi pointed at a pastry in front of Emperor Ming Cheng and demanded, “This bereaved one wants some too!”
Emperor Ming Cheng smiled and shot a meaningful look at the palace maid serving behind him. The maid hurriedly brought the pastry the Empress Dowager had eyed and set it before her. The Emperor said with filial piety, “Whatever the Empress Dowager likes is all yours.”
“Does the Emperor expect this bereaved one to hold it and eat it herself?” Wan Bi was weeping tears of frustration in her heart. A cheap, adopted son was truly no match for a biological one. She had made herself so clear, yet he refused to even feed her a piece of pastry.
Emperor Ming Cheng glared at the innocent palace maid. “Why are you just standing there? Serve the Empress Dowager her pastry!”
“Qian’er! Break it apart for this bereaved one!” Wan Bi acted as awkwardly as a child throwing a tantrum, inexplicably starting a petty rivalry with Noble Lady Lan.
Used to being submissive in front of Wan Bi, Emperor Ming Cheng didn’t think there was anything wrong with breaking a pastry for her, but he was worried about something else entirely. Even a blind man could see Wan Bi was picking a fight with Noble Lady Lan. She had never paid much attention to his concubines before, yet today she was brimming with hostility toward Lan.
Emperor Ming Cheng suspected that this wench Wan Bi truly harbored feelings for him. Seeing him treat Noble Lady Lan differently than the others must have made her exceptionally bothered, leading to this bout of jealousy.
Alas! It was a pity he could only let this wench down. Still, for the Empress Dowager to covet her own family members was a bit too desperate; he really needed to quickly find a male favorite for her! Emperor Ming Cheng looked with pity at Wan Bi, whose loneliness had clearly become a sickness. He placed the broken pastry into the dish in front of her and said, “The Empress Dowager should find someone to accompany you for meals too! Don’t keep coming to Qianqing Palace all the time.”
Having just brought Noble Lady Lan back, Emperor Ming Cheng had temporarily settled her in Qianqing Palace. It wasn’t that he was in a rush to be intimate with her, but rather out of concern for her safety. Seeing her regain the Emperor’s favor, those who framed the Yao family back then might strike again. The most dangerous place in the inner palace was Ning’an Palace, and the safest was Qianqing Palace.
Emperor Ming Cheng reasoned that, as he and Noble Lady Lan were enjoying a deeply affectionate reunion after a long separation, it wasn’t good for Wan Bi to constantly come over for meals. Not only did it interfere with his time with Noble Lady Lan, but it must also be agonizing for Wan Bi to sit there all alone, watching them be so loving.
“What did you say?” Wan Bi suddenly felt like a mother-in-law whose wicked daughter-in-law had incited her unfilial son to kick her out of the house. “Are you telling this bereaved one to never come to Qianqing Palace again?”
“Not never come again, just don’t come all the time. Look at you, always mishearing things.” Seeing Wan Bi’s expression darken, Emperor Ming Cheng didn’t dare say anything more.
Wan Bi was genuinely furious! She had always thought that, beyond their mutual exploitation, there was at least a bit of mother-son affection between her and the Emperor. To think that simply retrieving a favored concubine would turn the Emperor so unfilial.
“All of you, get out! Noble Lady Lan, excuse yourself for a moment; this bereaved one has a few words for the Emperor. Yao Xi, you get out too. Don’t come back in until this bereaved one calls you.” Wan Bi planned to have a thorough talk with the blind Emperor, to make him clearly see just what kind of wicked demon he had brought back!
Yao Shuanglan hadn’t heard clearly, but had the Empress Dowager called that little eunuch who looked like her brother ‘Yao Xian’ or ‘Yao Xi’?
She walked out of the dining hall and looked at the little eunuch following closely behind her, suddenly feeling uncertain.
Her brother had only been thirteen when she entered the palace. Calculating the time, it had been two or three years since they last saw each other. Young men grew quickly, and their features changed drastically. It was highly possible the person before her was her brother. But why would her brother enter the palace to become a eunuch? And why didn’t he dare recognize her? Did he have some unspeakable hardship?
Yao Shuanglan organized the clues in her mind. If this person was her brother, he definitely hadn’t entered the palace willingly; he must have been framed and forced to become a eunuch. The reason he didn’t dare acknowledge her was because he was the son of a condemned official, someone who should have been exiled to the Southern Frontier in the fourth year of Yongtai.
With red eyes, Yao Shuanglan looked at Yao Xi with heartache and carefully probed, “Is your surname Yao, gonggong?”
Yao Xi respectfully replied, “To answer the Noble Lady, this slave’s surname is indeed Yao.”
“Mine is as well.” Yao Shuanglan felt a sharp ache behind her eyes. Smiling through her tears, she asked Yao Xi, “What year did you enter the palace, gonggong?”
Yao Xi answered, “Around the Mid-Autumn3 of the fourth year of Yongtai.”
Mid-Autumn of the fourth year of Yongtai… That was precisely when the Yao family was exiled to the Southern Frontier, and when her brother went missing. Yao Shuanglan was almost certain that the little eunuch standing before her was her grown-up brother. He hadn’t grown much taller; she wondered if it was because he had been castrated.
After a man was castrated, his voice would thin, his facial hair would thin out, and it would be very difficult for him to grow taller. Hearing her brother’s voice sound just like a young girl’s, Yao Shuanglan almost couldn’t hold back her tears.
“Is the Noble Lady feeling unwell?” Yao Xi asked with concern, noticing Noble Lady Lan’s ghastly pale complexion.
Yao Shuanglan fought back her tears and shook her head. Her brother must be forcing a smile right now; his heart was surely in even more pain than hers. He had clearly recognized his sister but was forced by his identity as the son of a condemned official to pretend not to know her. This wasn’t a convenient place to talk. She needed to find an opportunity to speak with him in private and find out exactly what had happened over the past year.
Once everyone had left the dining hall, Wan Bi sat up straight. Without any nonsense, she directly addressed Emperor Ming Cheng, “This bereaved one suspects the Jingling Palace fire is very likely connected to Noble Lady Lan.” Wan Bi wasn’t entirely certain yet, so she only phrased it as a suspicion.
The smile vanished from Emperor Ming Cheng’s face.
“It is impossible that Yu-shi set herself on fire. The very day after the Jingling Palace fire, this Noble Lady Lan returned to the Emperor’s side. Doesn’t the Emperor think that fire was deliberately set to draw you there?” Wan Bi’s fixation on this matter wasn’t out of a desire to avenge Yu-shi; Yu-shi deserved to die a hundred times over.
She simply didn’t want a woman like Noble Lady Lan remaining by the Emperor’s side. One woman with a complex, scheming mind was enough; adding another would only drive a wedge between her and the Emperor.
Wan Bi made up her mind. She was going to send Noble Lady Lan right back to the Cold Palace.
Footnotes
- Fèngyán (凤颜), literally 'phoenix visage.' The phoenix is the traditional symbol of the empress, just as the dragon represents the emperor. Looking directly at the faces of imperial rulers was strictly forbidden and punishable as a severe breach of etiquette.
- Qǔle xífù wàngle niáng (娶了媳妇忘了娘). A common Chinese idiom expressing the grievance of a mother whose son neglects her after getting married, prioritizing his new wife's affections over his filial duties.
- Zhōngqiū (中秋). The Mid-Autumn Festival, held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. It is a major traditional holiday centered around family reunions, moon viewing, and eating mooncakes.
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