Your Majesty is Poisonous – Chapter 70
by Little PandaThe Empress Dowager Refuses
After Imperial Physician Fu finished administering acupuncture to the unconscious Yao Xi, he said to Her Highness the Empress Dowager, “The Yao girl will wake tomorrow morning. This humble subject has prescribed some formulas to replenish qi and blood. She will be fine after two days of rest.”
“You should continue to address her as Eunuch Yao in the future. The matter of Yao Xi being a girl is for you and this bereaved one to know alone.” Wan Bi gazed at Yao Xi’s sleeping face.
“Yes. Then this humble subject will take his leave?” Imperial Physician Fu packed his medical kit and bid farewell to Her Highness the Empress Dowager.
After Imperial Physician Fu departed, Wan Bi sat down heavily in the chair before the bed. She still had no answer for why a girl like Yao Xi would enter the palace. Yao Xi had said she was abducted by human traffickers as a child. Selling a girl to a brothel should have been far more profitable than selling her into the palace as a eunuch.
This matter required thorough investigation.
She believed Yao Xi was not someone with ulterior motives. Otherwise, she would not have risked death to save her—twice. But keeping someone of unknown background by her side made her uneasy, especially when that girl of unknown origin was her “male favorite.”
She had thought she could never touch Yao Xi again, terrified that the wounds “down there” would tear open at the slightest provocation. She had even felt revulsion and fear. She hated eunuchs. After growing fond of her little castrated donkey, she had wished more than once that he were not a eunuch. The gods seemed to have heard her heart’s desire. Her little castrated donkey truly was not a eunuch—she was a girl.
That knot in her heart had finally loosened. Now when she wanted to embrace her little castrated donkey, she would no longer have to suppress feelings of disgust and discomfort.
Yet her emotions remained complicated—some surprise, some joy, and anger at having been deceived. She could understand Yao Xi’s helplessness in concealing her identity, but being deceived was still being deceived. If Yao Xi trusted her enough, she would have dared to tell her. If Yao Xi loved her enough, she would not have thought of leaving.
She even suspected that Yao Xi felt only gratitude toward her, not love. She had started believing Yao Xi loved her after receiving those gold paperweights engraved with love poems. But her little castrated donkey was so uncultured—what if she had simply picked them at random from a gold shop? What if it was all a misunderstanding?
But Yao Xi had saved her life twice, clearly and unmistakably. The first time at Ning’an Palace could be blamed on strong wine. How could this time be explained? Someone about to leave the palace who still risked death to rush back and save her—if that was not love, what was? She had always assumed Yao Xi dared not declare her love because of their disparate stations, because she felt ashamed of her body.
Only after learning Yao Xi was a girl did Wan Bi realize she had been wrong. Burying her love deep, not daring to respond to her kisses—all because she had entered the palace disguised as a eunuch and had always intended to leave.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard Yao Xi tried, she could not help falling hopelessly in love with her.
It was just that the secret of Yao Xi’s identity was something she would have to wait for Yao Xi to tell her voluntarily. Trust could not be forced. She wanted Yao Xi not only to love her but to trust her, and then willingly reveal everything. But thinking of Yao Xi continuing to play the fool before her, pretending to be a eunuch, Wan Bi wanted to laugh. From now on, Yao Xi would be in the light and she in the dark. She would see how she would not tease her to death!
Longyi had not slept all night, waiting for Yao Xi to arrive.
But instead of Yao Xi, she received the news that assassins had entered the Empress Dowager’s palace. Unfortunately, this time she could not watch from across the river and gloat. She did not care about Wan Bi’s life or death, but she did care about her little brother-in-law Yao Xi’s. If Yao Xi met with some mishap in her palace, she would have no face to face Noble Lady Lan in this lifetime.
From the direction of the stream, someone shouted at the top of their lungs: “Assassins! Protect Her Highness!!!”
Longyi recognized Yao Xi’s voice immediately and hurriedly led everyone in her palace, armed with whatever they could find, toward the commotion. Before she could even step onto the small bridge over the stream, several earth-shaking bangs rang out from Wan Bi’s palace.
“What was that?” Longyi covered her ears and stopped in her tracks.
A eunuch clutched his shovel tightly and said, “Master, that sounded like… handguns.”
Another tremendous bang rang out as he spoke.
Would assassins bring firearms? Longyi looked uneasily at the sparse dozen or so people from her palace.
Scrawny little eunuchs…
Young palace maids in their early teens…
Old matrons who could barely walk…
And their weapons?
Hoes, shovels, brooms, and rakes from the garden…
Firewood, cooking ladles, jars, and tongs from the kitchen…
Longyi genuinely wanted to retreat to her palace and hide. But thinking of how heartbroken Noble Lady Lan would be upon learning her younger brother’s death, she gritted her teeth and decided: “Let’s go take a look first! If we truly cannot fight, we will withdraw.”
When she arrived, corpses lay scattered across the steps of the main hall. One was burning with raging flames while Wan Bi’s people worked to clear the scene. Longyi led her people closer and examined the bodies—Wan Bi was not among them. Disappointment rose instinctively. Wan Bi’s life truly was hard! Nothing could kill her.
After confirming Yao Xi’s body was not there either, she instantly breathed easier.
The gugu directing the cleanup came forward and curtsied to Princess Longyi. “Thank you, Eldest Princess, for bringing people to help. Her Highness is safe and sound. However, Her Highness has ordered that she will see no one tonight…”
Whether Wan Bi lived or died was none of her business. Longyi gazed at the tightly closed palace doors and asked indirectly about Yao Xi’s condition: “Were there any casualties in your palace?”
“Replying to Eldest Princess. No significant casualties. It is only that Junior Director Yao fainted from a fall and is waiting for Imperial Physician Fu to arrive.” The gugu answered.
“Fainted?” Longyi’s worry returned. “Then tell the Empress Dowager that this palace will return tomorrow.” Since Wan Bi did not want to see anyone, no matter how worried Longyi was about Yao Xi, she could not force her way in. She would have to come back tomorrow. As for getting Yao Xi out of the palace, it would be better to wait until the investigation into fake eunuchs blew over. If Yao Xi left the palace at this critical moment, she might be hunted down. Although she and Noble Lady Lan planned to settle Yao Xi in her fief, fewer complications were better.
While Wan Bi kept watch over Yao Xi waiting for Imperial Physician Fu to arrive, a gugu came in to report that Princess Longyi had brought people from her palace, armed with whatever they could find, to help.
“Longyi?” Wan Bi was more than surprised—she thought she was dreaming. Longyi wanted her dead. Why would she risk coming to help? “Are you certain it was Longyi?”
The gugu nodded, deeply moved. “The Eldest Princess is staying temporarily in her palace and has few servants to begin with, let alone swords or spears. When she heard assassins had entered Her Highness’s palace, the Princess led her people here with brooms and shovels.”
“…” Wan Bi still found it hard to believe, but the facts were right before her eyes.
Did this mean Longyi no longer hated her? Since Longyi had shown goodwill, she would have to treat Longyi better too.
When Yao Xi woke, the sky had just brightened. The candlelight inside the room had not yet been extinguished. She opened her eyes and found herself looking up at unfamiliar warm yellow bed curtains. The room was decorated with extravagant luxury, yet looking closely, it seemed somewhat familiar…
Was this not the Empress Dowager’s bedchamber? Yao Xi sucked in a cold breath of shock. She thought of the trickle beneath her and her heart tightened again.
The cotton pouch had been changed just last night—please do not let there be any leaks that would soil Her Highness’s phoenix bed! She bolted upright and jumped from the bed, not bothering to find her shoes, standing in her socks beside the bed to lift the quilt and check.
Thank goodness! She had not soiled the Empress Dowager’s mattress.
She immediately remembered her chest binding cloth—after fainting last night, had anyone untied it? Yao Xi reached up to feel. It did not seem to have been touched, but… where were the silver notes she had hidden at her chest? She searched carefully. The silver notes were truly gone. Had they fallen on the ground last night while she was protecting Her Highness?
Yao Xi was not overly anxious about losing her entire fortune. Those silver notes had been rewarded by the Empress Dowager. Even if they had fallen outside the hall and someone found them, no one would dare keep them without reporting to Her Highness. Thinking this way, Yao Xi felt much more at ease. Her entire future depended on that silver.
“Is the eunuch awake?” Wan Bi had rested briefly in the warm pavilion1 last night after growing drowsy. Hearing movement in the bedchamber, she came over. She sat down in the chair with a smile, gazing at Yao Xi, whose face was flushed red from just waking up.
Now that she knew Yao Xi was a girl, she looked even more pleasing to the eye.
“This slave pays respects to Her Highness the Empress Dowager.” Yao Xi hurriedly knelt and performed the ritual greeting.
“Rise! Eunuch, be careful—do not tear those wounds down there again.” Wan Bi teased, then added with malicious intent, “The eunuch is fortunate indeed. The wounds keep splitting and bleeding, yet they have not taken your life. Should we have the imperial physician take a look? Injuries must be treated, must they not?”
“This slave is truly fine.” Yao Xi, who had just risen, was so frightened she knelt again and kowtowed in gratitude. “This slave gratefully accepts Her Highness’s kindness, but the wounds are unsightly and I dare not show them.”
Act! Keep acting! Wan Bi glanced down at Yao Xi and said coldly, “In the letter the eunuch left for this bereaved one yesterday, you said you wanted to leave the palace to live a simple, ordinary life?”
“This slave deserves death!” It had come after all. Yao Xi prayed that Her Highness, in consideration of her merit in saving the imperial personage, would at least not kill her, if not release her from the palace.
“Tell this bereaved one. Why did you want to leave the palace?” Wan Bi’s tone grew much more serious. She wanted to tease Yao Xi longer, but she wanted even more for Yao Xi to confess the truth to her right now.
“Speak without fear. This bereaved one remembers your merit in saving the imperial personage. Whatever the reason, I will not punish you for the crime of attempting to flee the palace privately.” Fearing Yao Xi might have reservations, Wan Bi had already smoothed the path. All Yao Xi had to do was walk down this flat road straight toward her.
Yao Xi looked up at the Empress Dowager and found Her Highness also gazing at her. Did her eyes hold… expectation?
She absolutely could not reveal the matter of taking Yao Gongzi’s place to enter the palace. Whether Yao Gongzi was dead or alive, he had entered the palace to escape punishment. If this matter became known, it would not only implicate Noble Lady Lan, it could bring ruin to the entire Yao family. By extension, she could not reveal she was a woman either.
How had she, a woman disguised as a eunuch, entered the palace? The palace was currently investigating the matter of fake eunuchs infiltrating the harem. They would certainly trace her origins. Her entry into the palace was inextricably linked to Yao Gongzi, so she could say nothing. Of course, she could tell only the Empress Dowager and beg Her Highness to keep the secret. But the Empress Dowager hated Noble Lady Lan so much. With such an excellent opportunity to use against Noble Lady Lan, how could she possibly keep quiet just because of a little eunuch’s words?
“After this slave entered the palace, I was bullied by people from the Bureau of Imperial Gardens, targeted by people from the Directorate of Ceremonial. I was framed once by people from Beauty Yu’s palace, then framed again by people from Lady Lin’s palace. After experiencing so much, this slave was afraid. That is why I wanted to risk leaving the palace, to live a simple, peaceful life outside without wind or waves.” These words were also from her heart. She truly feared the open and hidden arrows of palace life.
“Oh.” Wan Bi’s expression darkened. “Do you feel that this bereaved one did not protect you well enough, and yesterday’s matter made you feel wronged?”
Yao Xi hurriedly said, “This slave dares not think so. If not for Her Highness, this slave would have been wrongly executed yesterday.”
“Not necessarily! That palace maid named Yunxiang—she stepped forward to take the blame for you as soon as His Majesty ordered you sent to the interrogation chamber. The eunuch certainly has good connections!” Wan Bi said sourly. “Rise!” Wan Bi thought of Imperial Physician Fu’s instructions and deflated. Yao Xi’s body was still weak; she could not kneel for too long.
Empress Zhu had sat before the window all night, staring anxiously toward Longyi Palace. Inside the room, it was pitch dark without a single lamp lit.
Chun Yang kept her mistress company in the darkness and urged, “Your Highness, please sleep. Tomorrow we will know whether the matter succeeded.”
“This palace cannot sleep.” Zhu’s tone held both helplessness and despair. “Yang Qishang has already traced the matter to my father. The Zhu family is already finished—from the moment my father foolishly plotted to assassinate the Empress Dowager, the Zhu family was doomed. My father thought that once the Empress Dowager died, I alone would control the harem, and Yang Qishang would have something to fear. But he forgot—if Yang Qishang cannot produce the culprit, His Majesty will punish the Yang family. What is a little fear compared to life and death? My father forced himself onto a path of no return!”
“Your Highness…” Chun Yang heard the Empress speak this way and was somewhat puzzled. “Then why did you still attempt to assassinate the Empress Dowager?”
“The assassins had already been smuggled into the palace. Why waste them?” Zhu collapsed onto the small table before her and murmured. “But the matter is not entirely without hope. If the Empress Dowager had died, I could have had my father negotiate with Yang Qishang to find a scapegoat and pin both assassination attempts on that person. Perhaps the Zhu family would still have had a thread of survival…”
That thread was quickly extinguished. When news came that assassins had entered the Empress Dowager’s palace, Zhu had immediately gone to Qianqing Palace to join His Majesty. Upon learning the Empress Dowager was safe and sound, Zhu’s heart died in that instant.
The Zhu family had not even a shred of hope left.
Returning to her palace, Chun Yang carefully attended to the Empress, who sat in a daze.
Zhu suddenly cried out and tightly grasped Chun Yang’s hand. “No, no, no. This palace still has Xin’er. My father is Xin’er’s maternal grandfather. This palace is Xin’er’s mother empress. His Majesty will not destroy the Zhu family completely, not when his own son is concerned. He certainly will not. Right?”
“Yes. Your Highness is right.” Chun Yang gazed at her mistress with heartache and helped her change for bed.
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