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Story of Yanxi Palace - Chapter 16

Published at 14th of August 2019 10:45:49 PM


Chapter 16

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SYP 16 – The Young Leaves are Poisonous

 

A while passed before Noble Lady Yu finally summoned Wei Yingluo, Jinxiu, and Granny Zhang inside her residence.

Most pregnant women would be glowing with happiness, hormones promoting their beauty. Not Noble Lady Yu. She had on a somber expression. She was like a puppet, motionless once its strings were cut. When Granny Zhang told her to lift a hand, she lifted a hand. When Granny Zhang told her to turn around, she turned around.   

“We’re done,” said Granny Zhang after taking all her measurements. In a soft voice, she asked, “What kind of pattern does Noble Lady prefer? Pomegranates to depict bountiful children? Cranes among the clouds”   

Noble Lady Yu was unfocused. Her lips parted, a string of low mutterings escaping.

“Noble Lady, what did you say?” Granny Zhang brought her ear closer to the other woman’s mouth. Strained to hear.  

“Loquat paste, loquat paste, loquat paste…” Noble Lady Yu repeated these two words without end.  

After a moment of daze, Granny Zhang said, “Loquat paste?”  

These two words seemed to spur Noble Lady Yu into a frenzy. “There’s definitely something wrong with that loquat paste!”  

Her outburst frightened Granny Zhang. She quickly whipped her head around, checking if anyone was listening by the door. Outside, Imperial Concubine Yi’s punishment had yet to end. Noble Consort Hui’s cheap and lowly servants had also stuck around. Who knew if there were any with an incredible sense of hearing?  

“Noble Lady.” Granny Zhang turned back around to the twitching woman. “Head Physician Zhang’s knowledge of medicine is impeccable. How could he make a mistake?”  

“No, no, no! There has to be something wrong! There must be a mistake!” Noble Lady Yu kept her stare on Granny Zhang. Suddenly, her gaze froze over. She thrust out both her hands, grabbing the old servant’s shoulders in a vice-like grip. “I remember you. You were also there that day.” She swept her gaze through Jinxiu. “You too. And you as well…”  

Her gaze fell upon Wei Yingluo after moving past the other two. And stayed. It was empty, dull, and dark. She smiled. “You all were present. You all saw what occurred. Noble Consort Hui wants to harm me. There’s definitely poison mixed in with that loquat paste. But… But why wasn’t the poison detected? Why? Why?!”

Her voice grew louder by the second, ending in a scream.  

Beads of sweat started to accumulate at the tip of Granny Zhang’s nose. She really wished she could muffle Noble Lady Yu’s mouth with her hands. But because her identity was too low, she could only turn around. To check outside the door and say, “Noble Lady, this slave begs you to stop talking…”   

“The young leaves are poisonous.”  

The moment they heard that statement, Granny Zhang and Noble Lady stood there shocked. Then their gazes converged on the person who had spoken.  

Wei Yingluo lowered her head. Her voice was soft. “The adult loquat leaves are not poisonous. But that’s not the case with the young leaves…”  

A chill ran through Granny Zhang’s spine. “Be quiet!”  

“Shut up!” Noble Lady shouted at the older woman. Then she sprinted to Wei Yingluo. Voice trembling, she said, “Continue speaking.”  

Wei Yingluo kept her head low, keeping her gaze on the foot of the dress before her. More specifically, the light gold osmanthus pattern. “When I was young, I liked to eat loquats.” Her voice was soft. “One time, I swallowed a pit by accident. My breathing became difficult and I couldn’t stop vomiting. In the end, a doctor was able to cure me and told me this: other doctors followed a list to make their medicines. And on that list, adult leaves of loquats were an ingredient of loquat paste. Yet for some reason, not many people knew why it was specifically the adult leaves. He himself found out by accident. That adult loquat leaves were not poisonous while the young leaves and pits were. Eating too much of the latter would harm the body…”  

“So that’s the reason. So that’s the reason. The young leaves are poisonous. The young leaves are poisonous,” said Noble Lady Yu quietly. “The loquat paste Noble Consort Hui sent definitely must have used new leaves. The toxicity was low. No wonder Head Physician Zhang wasn’t able to discover it. Even if it was found out, the fault could be pushed on to the imperial medical staff for not handling their ingredients well…”  

Noble Lady Yu suddenly grabbed the upper arm of Wei Yingluo, expression lit up in excitement. “Come! Follow me to see the empress!”  

“This mustn’t be done!” said Granny Zhang as she blocked them from the exit. “Noble Lady, how can the words of a little palace maid be considered evidence? Is she more knowledgeable than Head Physician Zhang? Yingluo, you know what happens if you run your mouth in the palace. Now kneel!”  

Wei Yingluo obediently did as told.  

“Noble Lady,” she said as she kowtowed. “This slave’s identity is low. It is only because of your kind heart that you listened to what this slave had to say. However, at the empress’ side, this slave perhaps will not even have the chance to open the mouth.”   

Indeed, the empress would not believe the words of a servant.   

“…I understand.” Noble Lady Yu came back to her senses. Expression complicated, she stared at Wei Yingluo. Then she slowly let go of her arm. “I’ll visit the empress myself. You…”  

She paused, then she slowly and deliberately said, “What’s your name?”  

“This slave is Yingluo.”  

Noble Lady Yu nodded, before quickly walking out the door.  

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Once she left, Granny Zhang glared at Wei Yingluo. “Why did you say that to Noble Lady Yu?!”   

Why?  

Wei Yingluo watched the shrinking figure of Noble Lady Yu.

“To protect oneself, one must stay quiet. I can turn a blind eye to most things, However, things like those two, bonds like those two share…” I can’t help but do something. Seeing them is like seeing myself and my sister… 

For this reason, for the sake of such hard-to-come-by sisterly bond, she braved danger.

It’s not like there won’t be any benefits in doing this. There are many cliques within the imperial harem. The largest two belong to the empress and Noble Consort Hui respectively. If I did in fact offend Noble Consort Hui with my actions then naturally I would enter the empress’ clique with ease… The result will be better than directly asking to join her clique. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. 

Prior to this, Wei Yingluo had thought she was very adaptive to her surroundings.  

However, now she quickly realized her ignorance about the imperial harem. She could have handled this situation better if she hadn’t overestimated herself.  

Once they returned to the embroidery workshop, Granny Zhang dismissed everyone, only keeping Wei Yingluo around. Then she approached her with a ruler in hand. “Kneel!”  

Granny Zhang was different from Aunt Fang. Her mouth was as sharp as a knife but her heart was as soft as tofu. The ruler in her hand seemed like it was only for show. Never had she used one to smack a little palace maid. That said, she was truly furious at the moment. Wei Yingluo quickly fell to her knees then lifted her head to look at Granny Zhang. Fear and anger were absent from her gaze, only concern existing.  

“Granny,” she softly said. Like a young granddaughter calling out to her grandmother. “Don’t be angry. I know my wrongs.”  

Granny Zhang’s heart softened, though her expression grew ever more serious. “Do you know where you were wrong?”  

“I shouldn’t have told Noble Lady Yu to her face that the young leaves are poisonous.” Wei Yingluo thought for a moment. “I should have wrote it down instead. Then when it’s time to deliver the new clothes, secretly drop the note on the floor in the same room as her. This way would be safer.  If the noble Lady picks it up and asks me about it, I would say I do not know who’s responsible—”  

“Enough! No matter how you put it, aren’t you just bent on letting Noble Lady Yu know that the young leaves are poisonous?”  

A moment of silence. In the end, Wei Yingluo did not lie. “Yes.” 

She thought Granny Zhang would punish her, either by hitting or yelling. She would have taken it with no complaints. Never did it cross her mind that after waiting for so long, what came after was the sound of Granny Zhang’s laughter.  

“Okay.” The laugh was tinged with both mockery and pity. “Then use your eyes to see this clearly and see this well. Yingluo, personally look head on to what the results of your actions are.”  

A few days later, things were calm.  

Because of Granny Zhang’s previous words, Wei Yingluo had been lost in her thoughts.  

However, there were many things she desired. And she couldn’t ignore the tasks as a seamstress of the palace. The clothes she had to tailor, she tailored. The patterns she had to embroider, she embroidered. Finally, she finished two sets of new clothes in the time allotted. One set had a pattern of pomegranates depicting bountiful children. Another had the pattern of cranes soaring among clouds. Then Wei Yingluo delivered the clothes to Noble Lady Yu’s residence.

“I’ll keep this one,” said Noble Lady Yu as she pointed to the clothes with the pomegranate design. Then she pointed to the second set. “Send this one to Imperial Concubine Yi.”   

Wei Yingluo studied her expression. It was different from how she had looked previously. The Noble Lady Yu of today had on pale makeup, her abdomen slightly protruding. Her face glowed with happiness.  

“On your way, tell Imperial Concubine Yi this for me,” Noble Lady Yu said as she handed a hairpin to Wei Yingluo. “Endure a few more days. Soon the empress will help us unearth the truth.”

Yingluo wanted to refuse but did not have the opportunity to. She could only reluctantly receive the twin lotus hairpin, one red flower and one white entwined. Like the world’s most affectionate sisters.  

Once Wei Yingluo arrived at Imperial Concubine Yi’s residence, she said to the servants at the door, “I am a palace maid of the embroidery workshop, Wei Yingluo. Noble Lady Yu has sent me to deliver a set of clothes to Imperial Concubine Yi.”

They servants of Imperial Concubine Yi and Imperial Concubine Yi herself shared weal and woe. Now that she had been punished, her palace maids were twitchy and wary as well. Their eyes trembled with fear. Like newly-fledged chicks about to leave the nest.

After hearing Yingluo’s words, one of the palace maids by the door put on a fake smile. “It must have been hard for Noble Lady Yu to remember our master. Just leave the items to me.”  

“Noble Lady Yu also has a message for Imperial Concubine Yi,” Wei Yingluo said, tightening her lips. “She specially ordered me to personally deliver the message.”

The palace maid watched with a suspicious and vigilant gaze.  

“What about you ask Imperial Concubine Yi first?” Wei Yingluo was talented at thinking for others, at seeing from others’ viewpoints. “If she is willing to see me, I’ll go see her. If she is not, I will return to Noble Lady Yu and let her know. This way it won’t waste your time or cause problems for you.”  

“…Fine.” The palace maid reluctantly nodded. “Wait here for a moment.” 

She turned around and went inside. A short while later, a frightening wail.   

The people in the house all shared a look. Then they rushed further within the residence. Men and women alike. Eunuchs and palace maids.

Wei Yingluo was among the frantic crowd. Then she stopped right before the door to the main room.  

She peered through the doorway. Reflecting on her eyes was a pair of floating feet.  

It belonged to a reserved woman who liked cranes, cranes in flight embroidered onto her shoes.  

Slowly, Wei Yingluo moved her gaze up from the feet…  

“Imperial Concubine Yi…”   

A long piece of white silk curled around her neck, suspending her from the ceiling.   

 

 

 





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