{"id":3440,"date":"2026-05-18T13:34:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/song-of-yongan-19\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T13:34:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:34:57","slug":"song-of-yongan-19","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/hi\/chapter\/song-of-yongan-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Song of Yong\u2019an 19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter Nineteen

When we reached the Jia Yu Hall, we ran into the Crown Princess and Consort De. I hurriedly bowed. The Crown Princess smiled at Consort De and said, “This is Princess Yong’an.

I’ve been thinking of finding a chance to ask Mother Empress to make her my son’s bride.” Consort De narrowed her lovely eyes and laughed, “Sister, you’re so fortunate.

Longji is still young; if you’re to grant a marriage, you’ll have to wait a year or two.”

I rose awkwardly, and the Crown Princess gently said, “Come into the hall\u2014don’t keep Mother Empress waiting too long.”

I followed the two of them into the hall, but found the silence around us oddly unsettling.

By rights I hadn’t arrived late, yet only the Crown Princess and Consort De were present\u2014no one else from the palace had come to pay New Year greetings.

After I performed the kowtow and exchanged pleasantries, the Imperial Grand-Aunt waved me over to stand before her; I hurried forward and took my place beside Wan’er.

The Imperial Grand-Aunt deliberately glanced at me once, then turned to look at the Crown Princess and Consort De and said, “You may rise.”

The Crown Princess and the Virtuous Consort rose, but were not granted seats.

The Emperor scrutinized the two of them for a long moment before saying, \u201cTuan\u2019er showed me some items yesterday that I found rather interesting.\u201d As he spoke, Wei Tuan\u2019er stepped forward holding a jade tray, offering it for their close inspection.

On the tray lay an exquisitely crafted wooden doll. The Crown Princess did not dare pick it up; after a single glance her face went deathly pale. She exchanged a look with the Virtuous Consort and did not speak.

Seeing their expressions, the Emperor said, \u201cThis was found by a palace maid in the Eastern Palace and given to Tuan\u2019er.

The birthdate written on it does indeed match mine, but who in the Eastern Palace hates me so much that they\u2019d make a talisman or perform sorcery to rid themselves of their resentment?\u201d His voice was calm and even, but carried a thread of chilling cold.

I had been guessing what it was, but at those words I suddenly understood\u2014Wei Tuan’er, Wei Tuan’er had struck first! Even though the Crown Princess herself showed favor, she had still set a trap!

The Crown Princess and Consort De fell to their knees with a thud, foreheads to the ground, voices trembling: “May the Empress Mother judge us clearly \u2014 there is absolutely no one in the Eastern Palace with so malicious a heart.”

The Emperor looked at the two of them, his expression unexpectedly calm.

I couldn’t bear to imagine what my grand-aunt the Imperial Princess would say or do; I kept my eyes tightly shut and bowed my head, not daring to look. Would my grand-aunt truly believe only Wei Tuan’er\u2019s words?

Without a shred of doubt? The Eastern Palace houses not only the Crown Prince, but also the various princes and princesses \u2014 not only the Crown Princess and Consort De, but many other women of the household.

But whoever it was, it would implicate the entire Eastern Palace!

“Wan’er, how should this matter be handled?” the emperor asked suddenly.

Wan’er hurriedly replied, “Send people to thoroughly investigate the Crown Prince’s palace, find the true culprit behind the curse, and interrogate them severely.” The emperor nodded and asked, “If the one who cast the curse is the Crown Prince, what punishment should be meted out?” Wan’er hesitated for a moment and said, “According to precedent, the ringleader should receive lingchi; accomplices should be dismembered by chariots or cut in half at the waist.

All involved should be implicated.”

I snapped my eyes open, ears ringing with a high-pitched buzz.

The trap Wei Tuan’er had set was definitely not aimed at one or two servants; once this was investigated, it would implicate the entire Eastern Palace\u2014no one could escape association…

It felt as if someone were gouging my heart with a knife stroke by stroke, the pain unbearable, yet I didn’t dare move an inch.

The emperor said lightly, “The Eastern Palace is the Crown Prince’s residence\u2014spare the collective punishments.

Go investigate.” Wan’er bowed quickly, “Yes.” She received the edict, glanced at me once, then turned to leave the hall.

At that moment, the Crown Princess, already limp on the ground, suddenly lifted her head and said in a trembling voice, “Wait,” she bit her lip hard, her eyes already withered, “You needn’t investigate further, Your Majesty.

I confess; this matter has nothing to do with anyone else \u2014 it was done by me alone.” When she finished speaking, she struck her forehead heavily on the ground; the thuds echoed through the hall, and after only a few knocks blood was already seeping from her brow, sliding down from her eyes.

I stared at her, my mind still holding onto the gentle smiles and words from earlier in the hall\u2014yet I hadn’t expected that once inside she would step into death.

At this moment, only her confession could call the East Palace back to life. She had no choice but to admit guilt. Whether it meant the slicing punishment or those bone-chilling tortures Dr.

Di Renjie had described from prison, she would have to endure them.

The Crown Princess, who rarely left the East Palace and had lived with the Crown Prince for years, had yielded the empress’s position yet still failed to win an ounce of mercy from the imperial grandaunt; in the end she would die, under the harshest of penalties.

The Emperor looked at her with cold eyes and asked, “You and Consort De are always together. Could this matter be connected to her?”

The Crown Princess looked up; a desolate streak of blood crossed her pale cheek, and her voice was already hoarse as if she had drunk poison: “Everything was done by me alone.

It has nothing to do with Consort De!” After she spoke, she struck her forehead down again, her back straightening as she knelt in the hall.

Consort De knelt at one side, never raising her head; her thin back was deeply bowed, her hands clenched against the ground, her fingers white.

I looked at the crown princess, who was determined to die, and for a moment I felt as if I were seeing the Prince of Yongping kneeling outside the Changsheng Hall last year.

The same indifferent gaze, as if she had seen through her fate, calm and serene.

The Imperial Aunt spoke coldly, “Since you have confessed, you do not wish to implicate the Crown Prince and my imperial grandson.” She looked at Consort De and said, “Consort De, lift your head.” Consort De raised her head and looked at the Imperial Aunt.

The Imperial Aunt said, “I do not want the Crown Prince to know what happened today.”

Concubine De clasped her hands tighter and, with great weight, kowtowed: “I beg Your Majesty to grant this servant’s daughter-in-law death.” When she finished speaking, she was not calm like the Crown Princess; instead she stared intently at the Imperial Aunt, her eyes full of grievance and hatred, of unwillingness and of spite.

The Emperor was silent for a moment, then said to Wan’er, “Wan’er, order the Crown Princess and Consort De to be taken away.

No one is to mention today’s matter again, or they will all be punished by lingchi.” Wan’er hurriedly knelt and acknowledged the order.

The two of them kowtowed together once more, then rose and followed Wan’er. The gentle words they had just heard in front of Jiayu Hall now marked their final journey.

The Crown Princess’s eyes were unusually calm, as if what awaited her ahead was not lingchi at all, but the Crown Prince who had long awaited her in the Eastern Palace, and the son everyone praised.

The Emperor watched the two of them leave, then let out a deep sigh and said, “She is my daughter-in-law\u2014there’s no need to want to bring about my death.” The chill in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by a greater weariness.

Rubbing his temples, he took the hot tea from Wei Tuan’er’s hand and said, “Yong’an, since you wish to marry into the Li family, I do not want you to harbor such resentment in the future.”

I forced down the grief in my chest and bowed my head to reply, “No matter whom I marry in the future, Yong’an will always be a member of the Wu family.”

Imperial Grand-Aunt was silent for a moment, then said lightly, “Yes, you are different from them\u2014you are of the Wu family.” After she spoke, she set down her teacup and left without another word.

I watched her go on my knees, and only then realized my body had already gone limp, utterly drained of strength.

Before this night, I had never looked upon a person from life to death in such a way.

I could not imagine how the crown princess, whose presence was like ink blooming on paper, could endure the agony of quartering\u2014bound to a bamboo frame as her flesh was scraped away until only bare white bone remained, then beaten to death.

Just thinking of it took my breath away; my hands braced on the ground as I tried repeatedly to stand, but they were of no use.

That was his mother, the madam of the palace. I had seen with my own eyes his madam being forced to confess, unable to speak a single word.

The palace maid inside the hall, seeing me like that, wanted to step forward to help but I shoved her away; at last I steadied myself and stood up.

When we returned to the palace, Yiping originally greeted me with a smile, but the moment she saw me her face changed instantly and she said, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong, the lady? Why do you look so pale and ashen?\u201d

I squeezed her hand, drawing warmth from her, and after a long while finally let go: \u201cIt\u2019s nothing, I\u2019m just cold.\u201d

Yiping didn\u2019t dare say more and helped me sit on the bed. Having only a little composure left, I motioned for her to drop the curtain, then, trembling, climbed into bed and hugged my knees, curling into a ball.

There was no one else here now, only me, though the palace maids outside were still pacing back and forth, whispering about tomorrow\u2019s early meal.

I bit my lip hard, my vision already a blur, but I dared not make a sound. No one could know, not even Yiping, that there was only one way out.

But the two consorts of the Eastern Palace had vanished without a trace from Daming Palace \u2014 how could that be hidden?

Was it to be treated like the Crown Princess and Virtuous Consort, who accepted death willingly, and pretend nothing happened? Allowing one\u2019s own birth mother to disappear into thin air?

I pulled the embroidered quilt up and wrapped it around myself, and with my mind a blank haze, sat dazed until dawn.

Only when Yiping called softly from outside did I answer, \u201cTired, let me sleep a little more.\u201d My voice was hoarse and ruined; Yiping seemed to have heard something and hesitated before saying, \u201cDoes the Jun Princess want the imperial physician?

From the sound of it, perhaps you were frozen last night.\u201d My throat did feel sore, but I did not want to see anyone, so I said, \u201cI\u2019m just very tired. Sleep will help.\u201d

When the figure outside the curtain walked away, I finally felt a wave of drowsiness and, fuzzily, lay down on the bed. In the thick cloak of darkness there was only the Crown Princess\u2019s gentle smile and calm gaze.

Gradually that gaze grew warmer; in the distance Prince Yongping stood in the snow watching me, quietly smiling.

He opened his mouth to say something I couldn\u2019t catch, and I hurried a step forward, asking what he was saying, but he shook his head and did not continue. The more he wouldn\u2019t speak, the more anxious I became.

Step by step I tried to draw near; the soles of my feet were icy, as if my shoes had been soaked in snow. Like that night before the Changsheng Hall, I stumbled in panic and nearly fell to the ground.

I scrambled to grab something, but caught nothing; with a sudden cry I fell to the ground.

“Lady,” Yiping called at my side, “Lady, Lady.”

At last I clutched something and opened my eyes; blurred at first, then clearing, I saw her sitting before me, my hand clamped around her wrist so tightly a purple-red mark had formed.

I drew several deep breaths, released her, and sat up in bed, supporting myself. “It’s nothing\u2014just a nightmare.”

She nodded, took a warm wet towel and wiped my face, and said softly, “The three princes are outside.” My heart lurched; I took several more deep breaths before I could steady myself. “When did they arrive?” I asked.

She answered in a low voice, “They arrived just half an hour ago. The lady of the manor has slept all day; it’s already past dinnertime.”

Already a whole day?

I stayed stunned for a long while before suddenly coming back to myself. They had never come to me before; today, at this time, it was surely about what happened yesterday.

More than thirty hours had passed\u2014they must know I was in Jiayu Hall last night too, infer that I had seen the Crown Princess and Consort De, and no longer bothered to avoid any suspicion and came to ask.

I rose in a haze. I had been sleeping in my clothes, only my hair a little tousled; Yiping tidied it a bit and drew back the curtain.

I walked out, fully aware they were just outside, yet I didn’t dare take a step forward. It wasn’t until Yiping finished arranging things and came out and saw me still stunned that she lowered her voice to call me.

I looked at her blankly, forced a faint smile, and stepped toward the outer room.

I had just stepped out the door when a figure rushed up and grabbed my arm tightly.

Li Longji stared at me with bloodshot eyes, and after a long while he said, “Tell me, where did the crown princess and my mother go?” He squeezed my arm until it hurt, and I, dazed, smiled and said, “Why does the prince look so haggard?

What happened?”

He froze for a moment, grit his teeth and looked at me, so furious he couldn’t find the words.

I looked up to see Li Chengyi sitting there with a dark expression. Li Chengqi had been standing at the palace gate with his back to me, but now he’d turned.

His right hand clenched the gate as if trying to drive it in, and his eyes were full of a grief that ate into his bones, thick and suffocating.
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