Chapter 18: The Magpie

“I told you early on to find a new master, so why did you have to be so stubborn?”
“Magpie, wake up. Please don’t sleep anymore, alright?”
She couldn’t—she could not lose another loved one.
Wen Changying knelt by the bedside, sobbing weakly.
Just a few moments later, she lifted her head, snatched up her whip, and rushed out.
She would bind a court physician and bring one back, no matter what.
The chief guard’s eyelid twitched. “Your Majesty, you are still under house arrest. You cannot go out.”
“Step aside.”
Wen Changying’s heart hardened. “Whoever blocks me will be the one I strike down.”
The man hesitated, gritted his teeth, and stretched out his arm to block the way.
Wen Changying raised her whip and struck his calf.
The whipping sound cut through the air with a sharp crack.
The other guards, afraid of accidentally getting hit, didn’t dare to move forward.
They formed a circle around Wen Changying and retreated outside the Cien Palace.
Bi Gui happened to be outside resting his eyes, and upon seeing this from afar, thought, “This is bad.”
Just as he was about to enter and report, he saw Wen Changying’s whip lash someone, sending a guard at the palace gate flying.
“Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is inside attending to the Empress Dowager’s illness. If you rush in like this and something happens to the Empress Dowager, it will be difficult to handle…”
Wen Changying looked at Bi Gui, who hurriedly approached her. “So you’re the one stopping me from going in?”
Bi Gui was flustered and didn’t notice anything unusual.
“Your Majesty, please return to Cheng’en Hall. Once the Crown Prince is finished, he will come to see you. Don’t make a grave mistake out of impulse.”
Wen Changying lowered her eyes, smiling coldly. “What use is he to me?”
Her words carried a double meaning.
“Either you go in and bring a court physician out, or I’ll break in and drag one out myself.”
“Bi Gui, your choice.”
Bi Gui’s thoughts raced. He guessed something had happened at Cheng’en Hall.
The only ones who could stir the Crown Princess’s emotions so much, aside from General Wen Zaiye, were Magpie and no one else.
He quickly bowed his head. “I’ll go fetch one, Your Majesty. Please wait.”
Wen Changying didn’t push forward any further.
But Bi Gui remained inside for a long time without returning.
Growing impatient, she stormed in.
Anyone who tried to stop her was struck aside by her whip.
Each step she took was urgent; as she kicked open the door, her whip immediately hooked onto a court physician at the very back.
Inside the hall, the physicians knelt all over the floor.
They had insisted that the Empress Dowager was gravely ill, that the Crown Prince was attending to her.

But the Empress Dowager sat calmly in the hall.
Cheng Yu was massaging acupressure points on her hands.
Even Xie Genghe merely sat sipping tea quietly, without any sign of urgency.
Wen Changying laughed. “Is this what you call a grave illness? Could it be that the Empress Dowager is merely having a moment of clarity before death?”
The physicians’ faces turned pale, and they all pressed their foreheads to the ground.
The Empress Dowager’s expression darkened. “How dare you!”
“Wen Shi, when will you learn some manners? I only asked for a simple pulse reading. Why this big commotion? What are you trying to do?”
Wen Changying didn’t want to argue. “Do you need a dozen court physicians to consult for a simple pulse check?”
“Physician Lin, come with me!”
She casually pointed to a physician who often came to the Eastern Palace for consultations.
Cheng Yu hurriedly said, “But Physician Lin has special insights into the Empress Dowager’s pulse.”
Wen Changying was not picky. “Then Physician Wang.”
“Physician Wang is best at relieving fatigue. The Empress Dowager’s mood is unsettled right now; she probably won’t let him leave.”
“Then Physician Zhu, Physician Li, Physician Zhang! None of them can be spared?”
Wen Changying felt a chill all over her body.
She was not foolish.
This was clearly the Empress Dowager deliberately targeting her.
She just didn’t know whether Xie Genghe was involved in this.
Wen Changying’s eyes flickered. “You won’t let me take anyone with me?”
Xie Genghe was silent for a long moment. “Physician Lin may go.”
“Your Highness!” Cheng Yu showed some displeasure.
But the Empress Dowager lightly patted Cheng Yu’s hand, and Cheng Yu reluctantly held back.
The two looked down from above as Wen Changying hurriedly grabbed Physician Lin and left.
Xie Genghe gave Bi Gui a subtle signal.
Bi Gui followed after them.
The Empress Dowager said softly, “He’er, you have seen it too. She doesn’t care for you, so why persist?”
Xie Genghe slowly stood, pinching the flesh on his palm, smiling gently:
“Grandmother, you never liked her, so naturally, you can’t see her good qualities. Ah Ying is loyal and affectionate; she simply cannot be without me.”
“Since you are ill, it’s best to rest well. I will report to Father and have Consort Lan manage affairs.”
The Empress Dowager’s expression shifted slightly. “I am not so old that I cannot manage palace affairs! Crown Prince, are you threatening me?”
Xie Genghe lowered his eyes. “You were the first to be discourteous.”
The Empress Dowager glared at him fiercely.
After Cheng Yu tugged at her sleeve, she suddenly softened.
“Enough. I only can’t bear for the imperial chef Du’s hands to be broken, unable to make the almond pine pollen dew I love.”
“Since that palace maid has been taught a lesson, I will no longer trouble the Eastern Palace.”
The Empress Dowager intentionally extended an olive branch: “Your Father is seriously ill, and the Imperial Medical Department has been working on remedies. Better not let him overexert himself.”
Xie Genghe nodded. “Since Grandmother knows, next time, please do not mobilize so many people and trouble the physicians of the Imperial Medical Department.”
His blunt admonition made the Empress Dowager’s expression flicker repeatedly.
In the end, she gritted her teeth. “Noted.”
Xie Genghe glanced once more at Cheng Yu, then turned and left.
At Cheng’en Hall, Physician Lin did not catch his breath the entire way. Upon arrival, Wen Changying pushed him to the bedside.
“That’s not allowed, not allowed—Miss Magpie fell into the water. The curtains haven’t been drawn down; I…”
Wen Changying paid no heed. “This is a matter of life and death!”
She did not dare imagine how long Magpie had been submerged in the lake.
Only after being pulled out could she be so faint and breathless.
Having held on so long, she still could not regain warmth.
Physician Lin saw the urgency and immediately took out golden needles.
The fire in the furnace inside the hall blazed higher.
Wen Changying felt Magpie’s hand gradually warm, her forehead growing hot and sweaty, and finally breathed a slow sigh of relief.
She asked, “Will this leave a lasting illness?”
Physician Lin hesitated. “Wind-cold has entered her body. I’m afraid it will be difficult for her to conceive in the future.”
Magpie was only seventeen.
In eight more years, she could leave the palace to marry.
In truth, the girl did not wish so much to marry and bear children; she simply longed for family.
In the years since coming to Bianjing with Wen Changying, Magpie had countless times missed her family at the border.
But whenever Wen Changying gave her leave to go home and see them, Magpie always wiped away tears.
“Your Majesty, you are here alone. I’m worried about you.”
They were not sisters by blood, but closer than sisters.
Wen Changying stroked Magpie’s cheek, laughing and crying at once.
“It’s alright, it’s alright. With time and care, she will surely find a husband who loves and protects her.”
Physician Lin said nothing.
After the treatment, he went to write prescriptions and gather medicine.
Cheng’en Hall fell silent once more.
Without Magpie’s chirping, Wen Changying felt suffocated and oppressed.