Wei Yan’s smile faltered slightly, but he swiftly composed himself and replied: “I find my current state very much to my liking — leisurely and free, without the burdens of a household. I am able to devote myself wholeheartedly to the study of medicine without distraction.”
The same old explanation again.
Wei Jieyu wore a look of helpless resignation: “A’Yan, I know you are devoted to medicine. With the level of skill you have now, becoming the head of the Imperial Medical Bureau in future would be no difficult matter. But you are no longer young. At your age, other men are already fathers of two or three children. You cannot go on living alone like this indefinitely. How can you manage without someone by your side to look after you?”
“And beyond that — there are only the two of us in the Wei family. I have entered the palace as a consort, and with An’ya beside me, I can be said to have something to depend on for this lifetime. The Wei family line must be continued, and that falls to you.”
Wei Jieyu spoke earnestly and at length, every word reasonable and heartfelt.
Wei Yan could not argue against her, so he simply fell silent and let Wei Jieyu talk on.
“…When you were eighteen, the Empress wished to act as matchmaker for you — to have you marry the legitimate daughter of a Xu family branch household. You were reluctant and swore an oath before the Empress that you would never marry. That was only a momentary stratagem to extricate yourself — you cannot take an oath like that seriously. Six years have already passed since then. If you do not marry and have children soon, you truly will have let your whole life’s affairs come to nothing.”
Wei Jieyu lamented aloud, yet in her mind’s eye a scene from that time surfaced.
Empress Xu had wished to marry a girl of the Xu side branch to Wei Yan. Wei Yan had refused the match with firm resolution.
She appeared favored in the palace, but her footing was unstable — like walking on thin ice. She had no power whatsoever to resist Empress Xu. She had known full well that Empress Xu was using this matter to probe the two of them as siblings, yet she had been powerless to protect her younger brother. She could only stand by and watch as Wei Yan made his vow of lifelong celibacy.
Through all these years, whenever she recalled this matter, her heart felt as though it were being cut by a knife.
It was all because she, his elder sister, was of no use!
“My Lady, the oath I made that year I made of my own free will, with not the slightest reluctance. You need not dwell on it.”
No one understood his sister better than her own brother. Having glimpsed the trace of self-reproach at the bottom of Wei Jieyu’s eyes, Wei Yan had already guessed what she was thinking. He spoke to reassure her: “As long as you and An’ya live in peace and happiness — that is enough for me.”
Wei Jieyu knit her brows slightly: “But as long as I do not see you settled with a family, I cannot set my heart at ease. A’Yan — even if only for my sake — please marry soon!”
Wei Yan’s heart could be called hardened and cold; the people who could truly move him were few and far between. Even under Prince Yan’s endless provocations that very day, he had not changed countenance.
Yet that cool composure and steadiness, when faced with his elder sister’s eyes full of pleading, proved entirely useless.
Wei Yan finally set aside his smile and said in a low voice: “Elder Sister — what the situation in this palace truly is, you understand better than I do. The two of us appear to navigate it from all sides, yet in truth we are caught in peril, with no means of escaping on our own. In circumstances like these, if I were to marry and have children, I would only be giving others more weaknesses and handles against me. Should someone ever use pressure to force me into some treasonous act — at that point, it would not only be harm to you and me, but innocent others would be dragged in as well.”
“I have never had any inclination to start a family. Precisely because I do not wish to entangle yet another innocent woman.”
Wei Jieyu’s heart trembled. She fell silent.
Indeed.
Others saw only the surface glamour of the two of them, with no one knowing the hardship of their lives within the palace. She was this Jieyu who appeared favored, but in truth was Wei Yan’s support only in appearance — the true backbone of the two siblings had always been Wei Yan himself.
Wei Yan, by means of his exceptional medical skill, had won the Emperor’s reliance and trust, becoming the Emperor’s personal physician. This post carried no great official rank, yet it was of considerable importance.
He could have an audience with the Emperor every day, was intimately familiar with the state of the Emperor’s health, and all the medicinal decoctions the Emperor took were formulated at Wei Yan’s careful discretion. Wei Yan also regularly examined Empress Xu and the Crown Prince.
As the only imperial physician who had access to the three most exalted persons in the Great Zhou dynasty, the network of relationships Wei Yan had quietly cultivated behind the scenes was far more extensive than most people could imagine.
In circumstances like these, Wei Yan’s every move and action was under the eyes of all. In all things he had to be careful and meticulous, and could not afford the slightest misstep.
It was no wonder he had continued to put off marrying and having children.
Under such constant and exhausting vigilance day and night — where would he find the heart for it?
“When all is said and done, it is I who have implicated you.”
Wei Jieyu’s eyes turned faintly red, and her voice grew a little choked: “That year I was forced into the palace against my wishes. Unable to bear leaving you behind, I petitioned the Emperor for the grace of allowing you to enter the Imperial Medical Bureau. I had originally thought that the two of us would have the chance to see each other within the palace walls, and that I was securing a good future for you. Who could have imagined that I was in fact dragging you into this muddy swamp…”
As she spoke, tears quietly slid down her cheeks.
Empress Xu held dominion over the inner palace, propped up the Xu family, secretly formed cliques, and harbored boundless ambition.
Because of her, Wei Yan had also been, in an indirect fashion, brought under Empress Xu’s control.
Once the winds began to rise and roil, a merciless storm would come sweeping in. The two of them as siblings might perhaps be lucky enough to preserve their lives — or they might be swept into the tempest and left with not even their bones intact.
A single careless decision made in those days had created the situation of no way forward and no way back that they now found themselves in.
With memories of the past flooding in, Wei Jieyu was overcome with sorrow and her tears fell freely.
Wei Yan let out a soft sigh, his voice dropping even lower: “Elder Sister, I have already told you many times. Being able to enter the Imperial Medical Bureau that year was something I had long desired. I had the great fortune to study medicine under the Bureau’s head physician, to read through every medical text the Imperial Medical Bureau held — and that is what gave me the medical skill I have today.”
“Without that year, there would be no me as I am now.”
“The fortunes and misfortunes of a life are impossible to foresee. Until one reaches the very end, no one can know who the final victor will be. You need not be pessimistic. With me here, I will certainly ensure the safety of both you and An’ya.”
Wei Jieyu raised her tear-blurred eyes, and Wei Yan’s handsome, resolute face came immediately into view.
Through all these years, whenever she had been low and despondent, it had always been Wei Yan who stood by her.
The anxiety and unease in her heart gradually settled.
She wiped the traces of tears away with her handkerchief, and Wei Jieyu’s emotions calmed considerably. She sighed once more: “These years, the number of women inside and outside the palace who have admired you is truly not small — and among them, there are no shortage of remarkably talented and beautiful ones. I still remember Lüzhu, the female official at the Empress’s side — she was born to an official’s family, excelled in poetry and verse, and was quite beautiful. She was rather taken with you, and I could see that you treated her with a measure of warmth as well. I had been thinking of asking on your behalf for that match.”
“Who would have thought Lüzhu had such a hard fate — she contracted smallpox and was sent out of the palace. She passed away from illness before she even reached home.”
Having said this, she sighed once more, her voice full of regret.
Wei Yan was not one to show warmth to women, but because he frequently came and went through Empress Xu’s Jiaofang Palace, he had dealings with Lüzhu, who oversaw the Jiaofang Palace’s female officials. She had noticed this and quietly rejoiced in her heart.
It was a pity Lüzhu had such a short-lived fate, and that she and Wei Yan had no destiny as husband and wife.
At the mention of Lüzhu, Wei Yan seemed to think of something, and for the briefest of moments a strange, cold glint flashed through his eyes. But his voice remained light and casual: “All of that is in the past now — no need to speak of it.”
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