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Story of Yanxi Palace - Chapter 41

Published at 17th of April 2021 05:09:04 PM


Chapter 41

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“How could she be a traitor?” said Noble Lady Yu, startled. “Fangcao has always been attending to me. She did not leave me even during my days of most suffering…”

“T-that’s right!” Fangcao rubbed her hands. “This slave is faithful and true toward the noble lady. How could this slave be a traitor?”

 

“Really?” Then Wei Yingluo applied more strength as she dragged Fangcao before Noble Lady Yu. Forced her to open and show her hands. “Look, Noble Lady. Pearl powder is pure white in color. But the fine powder underneath Fangcao’s fingernails is clearly yellowish. This isn’t the color pearl powder should be!”

“Pearl powder is this color!” said Fangcao, clenching her teeth.

In a flash, Wei Yingluo brought out the pearl powder she had carried with her today. There was no need for words. When compared side by side to spot genuine from fake, one was pure white without a stain, like the first snow of winter. The other was darker in shade and gave off a hint of yellow, like a yellow muddy footprint upon snow.

Noble Lady Yu wasn’t blind. The moment she saw the difference, her face grew ashen.

“Noble Lady, do you still have the pearl powder pills that Fangcao made in the past?” asked Wei Yingluo.

“Yes.” She went over to her pillow and flipped it over. In the end, she took out a porcelain bottle. Handed it over to Wei Yingluo. “It’s this. I’ve had more than half, so there’s only a few pills left.”

Wei Yingluo pulled free the stopper to the bottle, pouring the remaining three pills into the hollow of her palm. Once they came into view, they appeared to sparkle white as snow. Unexpectedly, all three pills were snow-white and round as a ball.

“I told you that you misunderstood…” said Fangcao, seizing the opportunity to dispute.

Wei Yingluo cast her a glance. She dropped two of the pills back inside the bottle. Then she crushed the remaining one between two fingers, crushing it to pieces. Fine powder fluttered about as it fell onto the table, spreading over the surface like snow. 

Such snow resembled stars in the sky, slight in its shine.

“This is definitely not pearl powder.” Using a finger, Wei Yingluo touched the powder on the table’s surface. Held out that finger in front of Noble Lady Yu’s face. “This slave is unable to concretely determine what this is. But the imperial physicians definitely can.”

There were no genuinely stupid or ignorant people in the palace. Even the Noble Lady Yu who had endured humiliation had some knowledge. As Wei Yingluo watched her touch the powder and bring it to her nose for a smell, she saw something flash in her eyes. In an instant, Noble Lady Yu knew what it was.

“…This is certainly not pearl powder. Rather, it is shell powder!” Noble Lady Yu stared at Fangcao with bloodshot eyes. “Fangcao, why are you passing off fake products as genuine? Why did you swap out the empress’ pearl powder?!”

Aware that she couldn’t hide things any longer, Fangcao immediately dropped to a kneel, kowtowing over and over again. She sobbed as she said, “This slave is guilty! This slave’s mother has fallen ill with no money to treat it. There really was no other option. This slave knew that shell powder is inexpensive and pearl powder precious, and so substituted the empress’ pearl powder with it in order to exchange it for money! Begging Noble Lady to spare this slave on account of this slave’s wholehearted service until now!”

Seeing her pitiful appearance and recalling their mutual affection in the past, Noble Lady Yu felt rather pained as she said, “You oh you. If your mother is ill, you could have just told me. Or did you think I wouldn’t care? I am so disappointed in you for what you’ve done!”

Picking up on Noble Lady Yu’s intention to let her off, Fangcao was overjoyed. “This slave was momentarily confused…”

“Momentarily confused?” Wei Yingluo smiled. “No, you’re very shrewd.”

Such words startled Noble Lady Yu and Fangcao.

“Look, Noble Lady.” Wei Yingluo poured the remaining two pills from the bottle onto the table. “She swapped out pearl powder for the cheap shell powder. On the surface, it’s theft, but look carefully, your honored self. Shell powder gives off a yellow tinge, so pills made from it should be a mix of colors. But the shell powder pills that Fangcao gave you were snow-white in their exterior. Inside was a slightly shiny powder. If I didn’t crush the pill with my fingers, there’s no way anyone can tell the difference…”

Slowly, she raised her head. Stared at the women whose face paled. “Money simply wasn’t her motive. Rather, it’s to have you eat these pills without suspicion.”

Noble Lady Yu could not help but raise her hands and grip her throat.

It were as if those pearl pills she had taken in the past days returned to her throat, shedding off their snow-white exterior and revealing a green and liquid poison.

She felt like throwing up.

“Speak!” said Wei Yingluo in a severe tone toward Fangcao. “Your plan has already been foiled, and the master behind you would absolutely not come out to protect you. The only way out for you is to tell us everything and hope that Noble Lady will forgive you. That she would plead for your sake in front of Her Majesty the empress!”

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If things were truly brought in front of the empress, would she still have a way to survive?

This time, Fangcao was truly afraid. She dared not cover up the truth anymore, yelling, “Imperial Concubine Jia. It was Her Highness Imperial Concubine Jia who ordered this slave to do this!”

Originally, Noble Lady Yu had thought that the name leaving her lips would be that of Noble Consort Hui. Who would have imagined another name would jump out? Shocked, she said, “Imperial Concubine Jia?”

“Yes.” In order to keep her life, Fangcao came clean. “A few days ago, Her Highness Imperial Concubine Jia looked for this slave and said that since Imperial Concubine Yi was already dead, Yonghe Palace only had one master left: you. But your honored self would remain shut up indoors, trembling with fear all day long. Even if you gave birth to an imperial prince, you would definitely not receive the emperor’s favor. Our Yonghe palace is bound to become a Cold Palace for the rest of our lives!”

Noble Lady Yu was so furious that trembles wracked her body. “And so you betrayed me?”

“No wonder, no wonder.” Wei Yingluo realized something. “Previously, when a dog attacked Noble Lady Yu in the imperial gardens, not only did you fail to protect her and bring her away, you pushed her closer to the dog from behind. You were already working for Imperial Concubine Jia at that time, right?”

Sobbing and whimpering, Fangcao was too afraid to reply. She only hoped that her tears were able to stir Noble Lady Yu’s pity somewhat.

“Fangcao, I’ll ask you this. Just what did you add to the shell powder?” said Noble Lady Yu, ice-cold.

For a good while, she hesitated, until finally saying in a low voice, “In order to change the color of the shell powder, you need to wash it with a dye…”

“Shameful!” Noble Lady Yu could no longer hold back her anger. “You’re actually this malicious!”

She was pregnant right now. Dye contained poison in its composition. If she had eaten pills with dye for a long period, could she still have birthed a healthy child?

Fangcao’s all sorts of malicious schemes had whittled away to the nothing the old affection Noble Lady Yu still had for her. Noble Lady Yu ruthlessly turned her head, not sparing her a single glance as she said with hatred and revulsion, “Yingluo, bring her to the empress!”

“No! No!” Fangcao threw herself over as she sobbed. “This slave has already confessed everything. Don’t bring this slave to the empress!”

Noble Lady Yu closed her eyes, callously refusing to look at her. But the Wei Yingluo by her side pondered for a moment, before saying all of a sudden, “Fangcao, were there any witnesses around when Imperial Concubine Jia gave you those things?”

To which Fangcao shook her head.

Sure enough, that was the case. Wei Yingluo said to Noble Lady Yu, “The other party is an expert in scheming. There are no witnesses and the material evidence is insufficient. If we report it rashly to the empress, one would fear they’d counterattack and say that Yonghe Palace was framing them.”

In a daze, Noble Lady Yu said, “This…”

“Rather than taking care of this traitor now, and allow the other party to use another person to continue harming you, why not let Fangcao remain temporarily?” Wei Yingluo shot a cold glance at the person in question. “This way, she’d think your honored self is still taking those poisonous shell powder pills…”

After a moment of deep thought, Noble Lady Yu came to the conclusion that this was indeed the best method. At the very least, it wasn’t a case where “the enemy knew but I was blind.” Where she had to constantly be on the alert for people trying to kill her in secret.

“We’ll do as you’ve suggested.” Noble Lady Yu nodded. “Fangcao, if Imperial Concubine Jia sends anyone to ask, tell them that I’ve eaten all the shell powder she sent…” 

“There has to be a set time limit…” Wei Yingluo thought for a moment. “Let’s go with half a month later. Go and personally tell Imperial Concubine Jia that all the shell powder pills are finished and ask her to send a new batch! Did you hear me?”

How could Fangcao have any other choice but to obey? She could only pose as a double agent, kneeling as she pressed her body to the ground. “Yes!”

Then that’s good.

From above, Wei Yingluo looked at her, heart cold as ice. 

This move of hers was not only to save Noble Lady Yu but to save the empress who trusted her so much as well.

After all, if something happened to Noble Lady Yu, when people investigated this case, they would discover in almost no time that the pearl powder had come from Changchun Palace. In fact, whether it was pearl powder or ginseng or some other nourishing ingredient, as long as there was a traitor like Fangcao around, they would have tampered with them.

This, Wei Yingluo had long since anticipated.

The mastermind wants to frame you and the empress. Our Changchun Palace sent pearl powder, and there’s an eighty percent chance she tampered with it. To beat them at their own game, we indeed grabbed onto you, Fangcao. But who knows when Noble Consort Hui would discover that there was a traitor by her side. One who seemed loyal and devoted…

In a grandiose manner, a procession passed through a walled-in path.

Every two court eunuchs carried a cask, each covered tightly with red silk. A glance, and it seemed like a bride with a red veil, carried by others with her feet never touching the ground.

“What’s that? It’s so mysterious.” Noble Consort Hui sat at a pavilion, pointing at the procession from far away.

“It’s the annual tribute from the inspector-general of Fujian Province. Lychee trees,” replied Imperial Concubine Jia not a beat later. “There are a hundred trees in total. Other than the ones that are to be bestowed to the members of royalty, aristocrats, and high-ranking officials, the rest will be sent to Changchun Palace.”

Jealousy flashed through Noble Consort Hui’s eyes. “I didn’t even get one tree. All of them went to her.”

These tributary lychee trees came from far, far away. They traveled from Fujian Province all the way to the Forbidden City. Because these trees were not acclimated with the climate present, more than half their fruit had fallen. The remaining fruit were divided among the empress dowager, the empress, the imperial concubines, and the favored imperial clan members and high-ranking officials. Anyone who could have a taste of one fruit would consider it an enormous serving of good fortune. From this, it could be seen that the empress held a huge portion of the emperor’s heart.

“It’s only a few fruit trees,” said Imperial Concubine Jia to appease her.

“Yes, it’s only a few fruit trees.” Noble Consort Hui stroked the puppy, Snowball, in her arms. “The emperor truly treats the empress well. This palace treats you… truly well too, right?”

Imperial Concubine Jia fell into a daze. She wasn’t sure if there was a hidden meaning to her words. In a haste, Imperial Concubine Jia said with much caution, “Of course. It is thanks to Noble Consort that this concubine is what I am today.”

A smile bloomed on Noble Consort Hui’s lips. She stared at her with a beautiful and malicious gaze. “Then why did you betray me?” 





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