The Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 34: Young Master

   The Story of Yanxi Palace《延禧攻略》Yanxi Gonglue

   The Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 34: Young Master

   Wei Yingluo came to the Changchun Palace for her first job, which was cleaning.

   Someone seems to be afraid that she will overstep herself and be liked by the Empress, so the work assigned to her is always the hardest and furthest from the Empress.

   “Her Highness Empress is only a novelty for a while anyway and after a month or so, I guess we’ll forget about her.”

   Overhearing what Mingyu said, Wei Yingluo frowned and didn’t say anything.

   Mingyu sweeps the floor when she is told to, not only on her own but sometimes for others and today too, amidst the jokes of others, she sweeps the floor alone near the main gate of the Changchun Palace.

   The advantage of sweeping through places like this from time to time is that you can bump into someone and be noticed by someone without arousing anyone’s suspicion.

   “Lord Fucha, you’re here.” Mingyu greeted him with a smile, “I’ll go and report to Zhuzi!”

   Fucha Fuheng entered through the door, still dressed in martial arts clothes but the teardrop under his eye added an aura of wealth and grace, like a gentleman carrying poetry and wine, whose horses’ hooves broke the flowers of Luoyang, or like a journeyman dancing his sword against the moon on the shores of the West Lake.

   As a favorite of the Emperor and brother of the Empress, he had the privilege of entering and leaving the Changchun Palace and suddenly seeing a strange face at the door, he took a few more glances.

   His gaze dropped to gaze at the old jade pendant dangling from one side of her waist.

   “... Lord Fucha?” Mingyu’s eyes darted between him and Wei Yingluo and said, “What’s wrong with you, Zhuzi is waiting for you inside.”

   Fucha Fuheng looked back, smiled at her and said: “I’ll be right there.”

   He stepped inside the door first and Mingyu gave Wei Yingluo a vicious glare before hurrying to follow.

   As she watched the two of them leave, Wei Yingluo, broom in hand, continued to sweep the fallen flowers on the ground unhurriedly; the time had come, the flowers that should fall would surely fall and the people who should come would surely come.

   She didn’t have to wait long.

   The fallen flowers piled into a small flower mound were suddenly preceded by a pair of men’s boots.

   Wei Yingluo’s lips curled and she slowly lifted her head, the wind blew through in a flash, a light wisp of sideburns, a very pale white flower blew across her cheek, she smiled at the man standing before her and said: “Royal Guard Fucha, what brings you here?”

   Fucha Fuheng stood before her, his gaze always falling on the jade pendant at her waist.

   Wei Yingluo thanked the jade pendant and held it in her hand, handing it slightly closer towards him and said: “What’s wrong with this jade pendant?”

   Fucha Fuheng reached for it reflexively but Wei Yingluo withdrew her hand quickly.

   “This jade pendant, which I lost.”  Fucha Fuheng returned helplessly.

   “Oh??” Wei Yingluo looked at him suspiciously and said, “When and where did you lose it?”

   “Time ... I don’t remember but I think it was in ... the Royal Gardens.” Fucha Fuheng replied ambiguously, “Give it back to me.”

   “I can’t just give it to you when and where I can’t even tell you.”  Wei Yingluo laughed and shook her head.

   Fucha Fuheng pursed his lips with a look of extreme distress.

   Once a handsome man like him, with such a look on his face, nine out of ten women under the sky would not be able to refuse any of his requests.

   It’s just a pity Wei Yingluo is the hard hearted one.

   Seeing that the woman in front of him was unmoved, Fucha Fuheng could only sigh and say: “The jade pendant has my name on it and apart from that, there is a small crack in the bottom right corner, which I accidentally dropped on the ground and broke, so you can see it clearly.”

   Wei Yingluo looked down at the jade pendant in her hand.

   There was really no need to examine it, she knew the other side was right.

   For countless nights, countless days, countless nightmares, she looked down at the name on the jade pendant and rubbed her fingers over the cracks in it.

   I hate that this jade pendant can’t speak and answer a question for her.

   “Are you something left behind by the real killer!”

   Wei Yingluo looked up again, her heart full of hate and suspicion but her face did not show half of it but smiled more sweetly and beautifully, as if it were a flower emitting the scent of honey and said: “Reach out.”

   Fucha Fuheng flinched and held out his right hand to.

   Wei Yingluo placed the jade pendant in his palm, intentionally or not and the soft fingertips landed on his palm like a dragonfly, scratching it like a cat’s claw.

   Fucha Fuheng’s right hand trembled and the jade pendant nearly fell out of his hand; in his haste, he closed his fingers but accidentally closed Wei Yingluo’s small hand in his five fingers as well.

   The man’s large hand, wrapped around the woman’s small hand. The calluses left by years of sword holding touched the calluses of her years of embroidery.

   “I’m sorry!” Fucha Fuheng let go of her hand quickly and darted back a few steps, his ears flushing light red with flesh.

   Wei Yingluo was taken aback at first, took a few steps back, shook her head and said: “It’s okay, Young Master.”

   This address made Fucha Fuheng raise an eyebrow and say: “Young Master?”

   “Her Highness Empress is my Zhuzi, you are her brother, so naturally you are my Young Master!” Wei Yingluo has a clear bite, especially the word Young Master.

   Any word that comes out of the mouth of a beauty as delicate as she is a trifle more appealing, not to mention such a melodious Young Master.

   Fucha Fuheng touched her smile and darted away from her eyes, leaving only one side of his reddened ear to her and said in a deep voice: “Don’t smile at men like that, it’s rude.”

   Wei Yingluo flinched at the words.

   She originally thought he was eating this up.

   But to my surprise, this man’s nature is the opposite of his appearance. He seems to be a flamboyant veteran and a prodigal male but when we actually get along, we find that he seems to be very raw in this respect.

   With a sneer in her heart, Wei Yingluo said to herself in her mind: “Who knows if it’s pretend, just like me in front of him.”

   “Royal Guardian has something else to do, I’ll leave first, thank you for helping me retrieve the jade pendant.”  Fucha Fuheng turned and left, rather than having something to leave, he ran away.

   Wei Yingluo looked at his back, her expression changing until a cold female voice rang out behind her saying: “Yingluo, how dare you!”

   When she turned around, she saw Mingyu standing not far away with a sullen look on her face and said: “How dare you seduce Royal Guard Fucha in broad daylight!

   Wei Yingluo said with a tentative smile, not knowing how long she had been standing there, watching: “Not only is it broad daylight but there are all eyes on me and with you watching, I dare not say a word to Royal Guard Fucha, so how can I dare to seduce him?”

   “How dare you talk back!” Mingyu’s hand went up and said, “I heard you call him Young Master with my own ears, what are you and what is he, how dare you tease him with such unpleasant words?”

   So, that’s all she saw and heard ...

   Wei Yingluo’s heart immediately settled and since she had no leverage in her hands, she refused to be slapped by her for nothing, so she immediately clutched her hand and said with a smile: “Sister Mingyu, if I really did something wrong, you can sue Her Highness Empress. Empress but for no reason, I can’t be taught!”

   Mingyu is clearly reluctant to make a big deal out of it.

   Or perhaps she was even more reluctant to let Wei Yingluo near Her Highness Empress.

   “Good, very good, a little court lady, how dare you contradict me at every turn, do you really think the Changchun Palace is your home, do you think you are Zhuzi?” Mingyu shook off her hand and commanded with a sneer, “It seems that there is not enough work in hand to give you time to think and forget your own identity--go! Clean up the whole hall! I’ll come and inspect it later and if it’s not clean, I’ll skin you!”

   If there was some cover up earlier, from today Mingyu is blatantly targeting Wei Yingluo.

   She did the hardest work and the toughest work and when she was done, she picked and chose and whenever she found a drop of dust in a window, she made Wei Yingluo wipe the whole of the Changchun Palace over again.

   Even Erqing, another of the Grand court maids, could not stand it any longer and found time to say to Mingyu: “Don’t go too far, if she can’t handle it and goes to Her Highness Empress, you won’t look good either. It won’t look good on your face either.”

   “You think I would give her that chance?” Mingyu laughed.

   If Wei Yingluo had only been hung out to dry before and not allowed to meet the Empress to talk to her, now it’s different. Now Mingyu finds an opportunity to arrange Wei Yingluo's not in front of the Empress.

   “Zhuzi, the wash water is ready.”

   A bright mirror in the room, the surface of which was as flat as a lake, in which the Empress frowned and said: “Mingyu, why are you here to bring water, where is Yingluo?”

   Mingyu rested the copper basin with hot water on the table, the hot water swirled slightly as she sighed and said: “Who knows where she’s gone to be lazy, if I hadn’t gone ahead and asked, Zhuzi wouldn’t even have water to freshen up!”

   The Empress’ brow furrowed even more and said: “Is she really that lazy?”

   “No, she doesn’t know how to do things but she’s a good talker.” Mingyu put her handkerchief in the basin to wet it and her mouth kept turning over and over, saying, “Last time I only said a few words to her, she dared to give me a scowl! Zhuzi, how can such a person stay at the Changchun Palace?”

   The word of man is fearful.

   Once or twice, the Empress can turn a deaf ear.        After a few more times, the stigma grows.

   “Erqing, what do you think?” the Empress did not believe whatever she was told, so she looked into the mirror and asked, “Is Yingluo so bad?”

   The fingers brushing her hair paused for a moment.

   Where the mirror could not shine, Mingyu winked frequently at Erqing.

   Erqing glanced at her, not wanting to offend her but not wanting to cast stones either, so she weighed her words and said: “Perhaps I’m not quite used to life in the Changchun Palace and there’s quite a bit of friction between me and the old man.”

   “If that’s the case, let her go back to the Embroidery Workshop first thing in the morning.” the Empress said, with some hatred, “Wait, is it thundering outside?”

   A thunderclap streaked across the sky, illuminating the heavens and the earth with snow-white.

   The Empress rises from her chair, not even bothering to brush her hair and rushes towards the door saying: “My flowers, my Jasmine!”

   “Zhuzi, Zhuzi Slow down!”  Erqing and Mingyu rush after them.

   The rain came out of nowhere and got heavier and heavier and the Empress and the others walked along, with countless leaves falling along the way, spreading a long green river on the ground.

   “Quick, get the tarpaulin! Cover the flowers!” the Empress, anxious as fire, rushed into the flower garden but suddenly froze.

   Under the pouring rain, Yingluo, dressed in a straw raincoat, pulls hard at the tarpaulin, which has already covered most of the jasmine.

   “... Her Highness Empress.” At the sound of a voice, she turned her face, her cheeks, washed white by the rain, like jasmine in full bloom in a flower garden and said with a smile, “What brings you here?”

  

  

   The Story of Yanxi Palace《延禧攻略》CHAPTERS