TPNCQ CHAPTER 40
Jai Fei set fire to the Chunxi Palace
Lamei was teaching a young palace maid in the courtyard how to brew tea for Jia Fei when she was startled by Moli's voice. She quickly rushed into the palace and was shocked to see her mistress doing such a thing in a fit of rage. Her heart pounded. She quickly invited Jia Fei to the courtyard. Seeing Jia Fei's frightened expression, Lamei suddenly had an idea. "Stop, all of you, stop! Don't pour cold water on it, let the fire burn."
"Are you crazy? If you burn like this, the entire palace will be destroyed!" Moli shouted anxiously, supporting Jia Fei.
"Perhaps..." Jia Fei looked at Lamei and guessed her plan in an instant, "Quickly help me to the side hall and bring me pen, ink, and paper. Lamei, you stay here and keep an eye on it. Seize the opportunity to invite the Emperor."
Jia Fei went to the side hall, opened the paper, and began to write a letter again. After calming down, she became more and more sincere, and her longing for the Emperor overflowed onto the paper.
As soon as Jia Fei finished writing, Lamei also led people to guide the fire to the small desk next to the warm pavilion. After burning the gauze curtains and some books, they extinguished the fire with cold water.
The weather was dry, and it was about to snow. The sky was gloomy, and Chunxi Palace was right next to Changchun Palace. Further on was Xian Guifei's Yikun Palace, so the people of these two places were the first to see the black smoke billowing from Chunxi Palace and rushed to report to their mistresses.
Lamei also hurried to find the Emperor. As she left Chunxi Palace, she saw the Emperor's imperial carriage not far away, seemingly at Changchun Palace, so she went straight to Changchun Palace.
Hearing the palace maid report that there was a fire, Emperor Qianlong and Empress Fucha came out to inspect. They were about to send someone to check when they heard Lamei shouting at the palace gate that she wanted to see the Emperor.
"Let her in," Emperor Qianlong ordered.
"Your Majesty, there's a fire in Chunxi Palace, and our niangniang is terrified. I'm here to ask Your Majesty to come and preside over the situation," Lamei said, almost crying.
Seeing that her expression did not seem fake, and knowing Jia Fei's usually impulsive nature, Emperor Qianlong was afraid that she would do something foolish. Although he was angry, he couldn't bear to see her after so many years of affection. He said to Empress Fucha, "I'll go take a look. Your body is weak, don't go. If you inhale more smoke, it won't be good for you."
Seeing the soot on Lamei's face that didn't seem fake, Empress Fucha was also afraid that something would happen. "Your Majesty, hurry up and take a look. Don't let anything really happen."
As soon as Emperor Qianlong stepped into the gate of Chunxi Palace, he saw Jia Fei and a group of people standing with their backs to him in the courtyard. He watched as three or four eunuchs in the warm pavilion were carrying water to extinguish the fire, and the flames were gradually dying down.
"What happened?" Li Yu asked.
Hearing Li Yu's voice, Jia Fei asked incredulously, "How did I hear Li Yu's voice? Has the Emperor come? No, the Emperor will never come again. He must have grown tired of me... I know I was wrong. I will definitely serve the Emperor and the Empress well from now on, and I will never be disrespectful again..."
Jia Fei turned around, and seeing the bright yellow figure behind her, she was stunned. She quickly took a few steps and threw herself into Qianlong's arms, crying until she was almost speechless before looking up at the Emperor, "Chenqei thought she would never see Your Majesty again."
Looking at the person in his arms, with no makeup or jewelry, her eyes were swollen like peach blossoms from crying, making him both angry and pitying her. He involuntarily softened his heart a little.
"Your Majesty, this evening, niangniang was writing a letter to Your Majesty in the warm pavilion. No matter how she wrote, she was not satisfied, for fear that Your Majesty was still angry with niangniang, so she threw away one sheet after another. Who knew one of them fell onto the candlestick, and it immediately caught fire, and the nearby gauze curtains also caught fire. Niangniang was so frightened that she stumbled and bumped into the charcoal brazier, and the warm pavilion caught fire in an instant. Everything happened too fast, and there was no time to react. The servants rushed to put out the fire, and there were many books on the desk in the warm pavilion, and it took a lot of effort to save them." Shuangjiang (T/N: I think there should be the name of Jia Fei maids name Moli or Lamei) said word by word, handing over three sheets of paper.
Qianlong glanced at them. Each sheet had different sentences written on it, begging for his forgiveness or expressing her longing for him. Qianlong couldn't bear it anymore, and looking at Jia Fei in his arms, he said, "Why are you doing this to yourself?"
"Chenqei didn't expect the warm pavilion to catch fire. She just wanted to write a good letter to ask Your Majesty to forgive your concubine's ignorance. In the past three months, Your Majesty has ignored your concubine, and your concubine is really panicked and restless. If Your Majesty never sees your servant from now on, your servant might as well follow the fire and be gone." Jia Fei choked back her sobs.
Looking at the soot on Jia Fei's face and her frail body, she looked so pitiful and helpless, no longer the radiant and vibrant woman she used to be. Qianlong's heart softened. "It's almost the New Year. I'll lift your confinement. And have the Internal Affairs Department repair the warm pavilion."
"Your Majesty~" Jia Fei gratefully threw herself into the Emperor's arms again, holding him tightly, afraid that the Emperor would change his mind after leaving this room.
*
Xian Guifei heard the report and walked towards Changchun Palace. Seeing the imperial carriage entering Chunxi Palace from afar, she knew that she didn't need to worry about this matter. She turned and entered Changchun Palace. Seeing Empress Fucha standing in the corridor, she stepped forward to pay her respects and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the Emperor can't resist the ploy of playing the victim. Last time, Jia Fei's scheme failed, but today she tried again. I'm sure this time the Emperor..."
"It's only a matter of time. I didn't expect to suppress Jia Fei just by relying on that incident. It's just a lesson for her. And since it's almost the New Year, there are many things to do. You should also keep a closer eye on things. Don't let anything like a fire happen again." Empress Fucha ordered.
"Chenqie understands. Please rest assured, Empress." Xian Guifei said, the dimples on her face gradually faded, and a gleam flashed in her eyes as she looked in the direction of Chunxi Palace.
*
The news of the self-inflicted fire in Chunxi Palace and Qianlong lifting the confinement of Chunxi Palace spread throughout the six palaces.
I wonder how many people would toss and turn tonight, unable to sleep, and how many people would have to pay the price for what they had done a few days ago. The first to bear the brunt would probably be Wang Fu, the general manager of the Internal Affairs Department, whom Jia Fei had thought she had cultivated and supported.
It was worse when someone you were close to and trusted made a mistake than anyone else.
When Su Limo heard the news, she was sitting at the table having dinner. Tonight's dinner was all her favorites: eight-treasure porridge cooked with dried longan, lotus seeds, pitted red dates, and lilies until it was soft and sweet, three kinds of refreshing cold sauces, half a salty duck egg, winter bamboo shoots braised in meat, eggplant with minced meat, sour and spicy cabbage, and small steamed bun with scallions and a slightly salty taste.
"A fire, a fire! If it's so easy for the palace to catch fire, the Forbidden City would have burned down long ago. It's clearly Jia Fei who set the fire herself. Who is she trying to fool? A piece of paper floated onto the candlestick and caught fire, burning the curtains. How could it be such a coincidence? Were all the palace maids and eunuchs serving nearby dead? They watched the fire but didn't rush to put it out. They even burned half a bookcase. Was the large vat filled with water in the yard just for decoration? No one would believe it wasn't intentional." Dongxue said angrily.
"Look how angry you are. Come on, come on, eat a steamed bun to calm down." Su Limo said as she handed a steamed bun to Dongxue.
Dongxue took it and stuffed half of it into her mouth, still not feeling relieved, as if she wanted to swallow this little steamed bun alive.
"Slow down, there's still more in this plate, don't choke..." Before Su Limo could finish her sentence, she heard Dongxue pounding her chest with her right hand, and quickly handed her a cup of tea to rinse her mouth.
Dongxue took small sips of water until she swallowed the food stuck in her chest, her little face flushed red.
Shuangjiang estimated that the lady had almost finished eating, so she came in to clean up. Seeing Dongxue's appearance and the half-eaten steamed bun in her hand, she couldn't help but chuckle and shook her head, saying, "You're already seventeen years old, but you're still so clumsy. You can even choke on a steamed bun."
"I'm just angry. Jia Fei's trick is so clumsy. The Emperor is too, how could he be so easily deceived by Jia Fei?" Dongxue lowered her voice and took another sip of water.
"Whether it's clumsy or not, it wasn't performed for us. It doesn't matter what we think. As long as the Emperor doesn't think it's clumsy." Su Limo finished eating, put down her chopsticks, and rinsed her mouth with the water that Shuangjiang handed over.
"Besides, the Emperor is originally a man of many affections, even though he has a deep affection for Empress Fucha as a young couple, he also cares for other concubines quite a bit. Over the years, Jia Fei has enjoyed the Emperor's favor, and naturally, she has her benefits. Didn't she say she was as weak and pitiful as a drowned chicken today? The Emperor probably hasn't seen Jia Fei like this before, so it's natural for him to feel soft-hearted for a while. With such a weak and boneless body, leaning on you and begging for your pity, any man, let alone the Emperor, would find it difficult to resist, right?" Su Limo got up and sat on the brocade couch and spoke again.
"But too much affection often turns into indifference. When they like you, they're all sweet and tender. When they get tired of you, they discard you like an old shoe and ignore you, looking for the next emotional anchor. What's the use of such affection..." By the end of the sentence, Su Limo's voice had gradually lowered, almost inaudible, and the smile on her face became even more gentle.
Men only hinder their speed in drawing their swords. Women who can't see through this layer will only be immersed in love and never achieve great things.
*
For two consecutive days, Qianlong went to Chunxi Palace to visit Jia Fei in the afternoon. Although he didn't stay overnight, it was clear that he was showing favoritism.
The damaged part of the main hall's warm pavilion was being repaired as quickly as possible by the Internal Affairs Department. Jia Fei had moved to the west side hall first. Although it was smaller, as long as the Emperor was willing to come and see her, a temporary inconvenience didn't matter.
Wang Fu, the chief eunuch of the Internal Affairs Department, tied his head to his belt and personally led people to repair the main hall of Chunxi Palace every day. He also carefully selected some good items to fill the place, making it even more luxurious than before. Even the Emperor praised him for becoming more and more capable.
In a hurry, on the fourth afternoon, the main hall was completely repaired. Wang Fu personally knelt at the door of the side hall and invited Jia Fei to inspect the main hall, "I respectfully invite Jia Fei niangniang to move to the main hall. Your servant has already had people take care of everything. The curtains are also the best moonlit gauze from the warehouse. No matter how bright the sunlight is, it will be as soft as moonlight when it penetrates, and it will definitely not disturb niangniang's sleep. The burned bookshelf has also been replaced with a high-quality rosewood bookshelf. You can smell a faint fragrance from a distance, whether you're sitting there to read or write, it's the most elegant."
Jia Fei was sitting on the brocade couch. Hearing Wang Fu's report outside, she put down the tangerine in her hand, clapped her hands, and walked gracefully to the door of the hall. Seeing Wang Fu kneeling on the ground according to the rules, not daring to make a mistake, Jia Fei's anger immediately rose to her heart, and she raised her foot and kicked Wang Fu on the shoulder.