Story of Yanxi Palace Episode 57 Recap
> Story of Yanxi Palace Recap
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After the Emperor questioned the Empress Dowager about his birth mother, she tearfully explained that his biological mother, on her deathbed, entrusted him to the Empress Dowager, who promised to raise him as her own son. The Emperor, initially softened, still asked if her words were entirely true. The Empress Dowager reiterated that she had treated him like the apple of her eye for years, asking how he could now interrogate her.
Though the Emperor apologized for his recklessness and promised to investigate further, he quickly took his leave. Distraught, the Empress Dowager felt everything was falling apart, while Wei Yingluo tried to reassure her that the Emperor would not harbor animosity. However, the Empress Dowager worried that the letter’s content was far more serious than it appeared, causing the Emperor's distressed reaction. Confused and seeking guidance about his origins, the Emperor confided in the Empress.
She feigned sympathy, offering to share his burden, but subtly began to plant seeds of doubt. While claiming not to maliciously comment on the Empress Dowager, she pointed out that the Lady of the Niohuru clan, to which the Empress Dowager belonged, was merely a side branch, and her father was only a fourth-rank military official.
She questioned why the late Emperor would choose someone of such status to be the Emperor’s mother, especially when there were other higher-ranking consorts in the Prince Yong’s Mansion. The Empress suggested that Lady Qian’s supposed weakness to raise a child might have sparked intense conflict, making it unimaginable that the Empress Dowager could have risen to become the Emperor's apparent mother without question for so many years.
She implied that the truth might be a "substituting a raccoon for the Crown Prince" scenario, where the Lady of the Niohuru clan killed the birth mother and seized the child. Meanwhile, a servant overheard Hailancha's warning to Wei Yingluo that the Palace of Longevity and Peace was no longer safe and that the Emperor suspected the Empress Dowager of orchestrating Lady Qian's death, advising Wei Yingluo to stay away.
The Emperor’s trusted aide, Li Yu, confirmed that Lady Qian indeed came from Jiaxing and meticulously tended to Prince Yong during an illness, earning his favor. Hailancha further revealed that Qian Zhengyuan, the Assistant Minister of Rites who presented the "Spring Sunshine" painting, was Lady Qian’s older brother. The Emperor, realizing the painting was a veiled message, immediately summoned Qian Zhengyuan for clarification.
However, before the meeting could happen, a report came that Qian Zhengyuan had fallen off his horse, fractured his skull, and died. This sudden death intensified the Emperor's suspicion that the Empress Dowager was eliminating witnesses. Overcome with worry, the Empress Dowager fell ill, lamenting that the Emperor, who once rushed to her side even for a cough, now showed no concern.
The Empress, however, arrived promptly, claiming the Emperor was too busy to visit but sent her out of deep concern. Feigning tenderness, the Empress urged the Empress Dowager to take her medicine. The Empress Dowager then directly accused the Empress of delivering the incriminating letter. The Empress cleverly deflected, attributing the letter's delivery and concealment to Prince He and Elderly Concubine Yu, respectively.
Realizing the Empress had orchestrated the entire scheme to avenge her father, the Empress Dowager accused her of long-standing malice. The Empress, undeterred, revealed that the Empress Dowager’s nephew had been arrested for extensive corruption and was facing execution, and that the Emperor had praised the Empress Dowager for her righteousness in disavowing her nephew.
The Empress Dowager retorted that she had sacrificed the Empress’s father not for her nephew, but to protect the Emperor and the Great Qing dynasty, accusing the Empress of truly acting out of personal resentment. The Empress, now openly hostile, declared that she could alienate the Emperor from her and ensure he never saw her again. She twisted the Emperor’s character, claiming he would never forgive someone he now believed had murdered his birth mother and deceived him for years.
As the Empress gloated about Qian Zhengyuan’s timely death confirming the Emperor’s suspicions, the Empress Dowager, in a fit of rage and distress, suffered a stroke. The Empress, watching, triumphantly told Wei Yingluo that her last backer had fallen. Yuan Chunwang, observing the situation, subtly advised the Empress that despite the Emperor's current animosity towards the Empress Dowager, their long-standing mother-son bond might lead to a future reconciliation, rendering the Empress’s current efforts useless.
The Empress hinted at using Physician Zhang's beloved grandchild to ensure his cooperation. Physician Zhang, diagnosing the Empress Dowager with a minor stroke, prescribed a "safe" but slow-acting remedy. However, the Empress Dowager secretly instructed her attendant Liu to summon Physician Ye, distrusting Physician Zhang's approach.
Physician Ye, discreetly brought in by Wei Yingluo in disguise, examined Physician Zhang's prescription, confirming it was designed to avoid fault rather than cure, and provided a more effective treatment to restore the Empress Dowager's speech and health. Liu, fearing for Wei Yingluo's safety, urged her to leave the perilous Palace of Longevity and Peace. Wei Yingluo refused, affirming her unwavering loyalty to the Empress Dowager, who had once protected her.
She then sought out the Empress Dowager, urging her to reveal the full story so they could formulate a counter-strategy against the Empress. Meanwhile, Noble Lady Qing visited Wei Yingluo, offering a special "amber enveloping the dragon" pill for the Empress Dowager.
She confessed her position, being a subordinate of Nalan Chunxue and forced to follow her, but her conscience compelled her to offer assistance to the Empress Dowager, hoping to secure a future "alternate path" for herself and her family. Wei Yingluo, seeing Noble Lady Qing's sincerity and recognizing her quiet intelligence, offered to help her gain power, asserting that true protection comes from inner strength, not reliance on others.
Still consumed by the belief that the Empress Dowager had murdered his birth mother, the Emperor visited the Palace of Longevity and Peace. However, the Empress Dowager refused to see him, sending Noble Lady Qing instead with a book of stories.
The Emperor dismissed it as mere "storytelling," but Noble Lady Qing began to recount a tale of Madam Guo, a farmer's wife who sacrificed her chastity to provide for her in-laws, raising questions about the true meaning of "chastity" versus "righteousness."
She then transitioned to the story of Lady Qian, explaining that during a private visit to Shanxi with Emperor Yongzheng, Lady Qian had risked her reputation by luring away bandits to save the late Emperor from an ambush, leading to rumors of her capture or suicide. Noble Lady Qing explained that the Empress Dowager had kept this secret to protect Emperor Yongzheng’s honor and shield the current Emperor from scandal.
She suggested summoning Wang Tianyi, an old imperial bodyguard who was the first to find Emperor Yongzheng, to verify the story. Swayed by the narrative, the Emperor promised to personally apologize to the Empress Dowager if her account proved true. Later, the Emperor summoned Wang Tianyi. Wang Tianyi confirmed that Lady Qian had indeed returned with the late Emperor after the incident. This initial confirmation infuriated the Emperor, making him believe the Empress Dowager had lied again.
Desperate for the absolute truth, the Emperor implored Wang Tianyi, leveraging their old teacher-disciple bond. Wang Tianyi then confessed the heartbreaking truth: Lady Qian had indeed lost her chastity to save the late Emperor and was subsequently granted death by him, as her compromised honor had thoroughly disgraced the late Emperor. Realizing the immense sacrifice and the burden the Empress Dowager had carried, the Emperor was overcome with remorse and rushed to apologize.
However, the Empress Dowager had already left the palace with Wei Yingluo to recuperate. Noble Lady Qing, delivering a message from the Empress Dowager, explained that the late Emperor, burdened by a lifetime of calumnies – scheming against his father, pressuring his mother, murdering his elder brothers, and slaughtering his younger ones – understood the paramount importance of legitimacy for a crown prince.
He did not grieve Lady Qian lightly, but acted to prevent the current Emperor from suffering public shame. The Empress Dowager, who was ordered to deliver the poisoned wine to Lady Qian and received three bows from her before her death, took those bows as a sacred trust, vowing to care for the Emperor as her own son for life.
Overwhelmed by guilt, the Emperor begged the Empress Dowager to return, but she, speaking through Noble Lady Qing, stated that the Forbidden City was not quiet enough for her recovery and that she would recuperate at the Summer Palace, promising to return once fully healed. Despite the Emperor's tearful pleas, the Empress Dowager's screen remained closed, and she insisted he return.
