BU BU JING XIN
EPISODE 29
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DEATH OF CONCUBINE DE, YONGZHENG AND YINTI’S MOTHER:
YONGZHENG’S THORN IN THE FLESH IS REMOVED
Yongzhen is informed that his mother is dying. He rushes to see
her.
He wants to bestow on her the title, ‘Empress Dowager’. He holds her but she rejects his offer.
His countenance becomes icy-cold.
  
She spits, ‘You are not my son. I don’t have a mongrel son like you. And I don’t want any of your titles. I am unworthy to meet my ancestors. The one thing I regret is raising an immoral son like you. In my heart, I have only one son. He is Yinti, the Fourtheenth Prince. You are not my son!
Her highly derogatory comparison of him to a common breed dog is
like a knife slicing through his heart. Although both are her biological sons,
her negative treatment of him is
odious unlike Yinti whom she perceives as pedigree and of upper class
ancestry. His pride must have been hammered.
Shocked by her unforgiving words even in her last moments, he lets
go of her, but recovers enough to place her properly on her bed. He takes his
headgear off.
Yinti is informed of her impending death but arrives home too
late.
 
In his grief, he loses his control and bellows that he does not
allow the Yongzheng Emperor to touch his mother.
Ruoxi thinks, ‘Why must it end with the three of them being hurt?’
 
Yinti falls ill after the death of his mother.
Ruoxi tends to him. He asks her, since she had been at Kangxi’s
bedside, whether Kangxi had actually handed the throne to Yinzhen.
Ruoxi replies in the affirmative.
Yinti is relieved. Probably, he wants to believe too. Thinking
the opposite requires continual suffering and strife against his biological
brother. It might lead him to exact revenge on his brother. He finally lets
go of his burden. He now accepts being a common man while Yongzheng continues
to play his role as the emperor.
 
Ruoxi, prays in the temple for telling a lie. She prays to be
forgiven.
Since when has she been telling lies? She has made an informed decision to tell a
lie about Luwu’s background to ease Yinxiang’s pain and suffering. She has
made the postulation based on her knowledge of history and surprisingly, her
lie becomes the truth. Her lie about the Kangxi Emperor’s mandate is
motivated by her desire to prevent further and deadlier conflicts. Since
history cannot be changed, it is better this way for everybody.
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INJUSTICE: PUNISHMENT OF YINSI - RUOXI KNEELS
AND BEGS FOR MERCY
When asked whether they should bestow a posthumous title to his
deceased mother, Yongzheng replies in the negative. The huge thorn in his
flesh has finally been removed.
Yinxiang vists Ruoxi and he teases her about helping Cheng
Huan to wrap a birthday present for Hong Li, the fourth son of Yongzheng.
Yinxiang is inquisitive about why she is doing that for Hong Li
and she says playfully, 'You will know in the future.' He itches to say that she is spouting
nonsense again but stops short of it.
(Of course, the viewers
understand her. They know Hong Li would one day succeed his Imperial Father,
the Yongzheng Emperor, as the Qianlong Emperor.)
Ruoxi invites Yinxiang to stay for dinner and confides that the
emperor wants all sorts of formalities to be dispensed with between them.
But Yinxiang says, ‘Yongzheng
is now the emperor and will have to face and slowly have to accept the
changes. We are no longer the Fourth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince. He
will have to understand and accept the nature of power and the loneliness at
the top. Respect is paid to him. Our relationship, being put on a different
footing, has caused a dynamic shift, morphing into an emperor-subject
relationship. He’s the emperor, I’m his subject.’
After some prodding, Yinxiang confides in Ruoxi that Yongzhen
has hollered at Yinsi about something that he has been responsible for. It has not
been carried out to the emperor’s satisfaction and is punished to kneel and
to do menial things.
   
Ruoxi intends to beg the Yongzheng Emperor for mercy but Yinxiang
stops her.
Unable to bear the suffering of Yinsi, she prays to the gods
for four hours in the temple. She does not have the stomach for her meals,
so, the servants are obviously anxious.
  
In his anxiety, Yongzheng goes to see her and overhears her prayers. She pleads with him.
‘Covertness, anger, hate and blame
will lead to regret,
In the flash of an eye, the
splendour disappears,
Many years will swiftly go by,
Why can’t you just forget what
happened in the past?’
Yongzheng replies impatiently, ‘Every action has its consequences.’ What he means is punishment
is meted out for all mistakes, big or small.
Things have gotten worse between them. Since he cannot personally
persuade her to leave the temple, he leaves in frustration.
Later, he approaches her again. Yongzheng, wearing his voice
like his emperor’s robes, orders her to rise. Unable to resist the emperor’s
commands, she immediately obeys.
He notices her shaky legs. Anger makes his lips quiver. He does
not miss the chance to ask her whether she still wants her legs or not. Does he not realise that he is the one causing
pain to Yinsi and ruining his legs?
In his fury, he flings the teapot with its tray and tells her superciliously
that he has already allowed Yinsi to return home. He then storms off.
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STALEMATE: YONGZHEN AND RUOXI – YINXIANG ADVISES RUOXI TO LET
GO OF HER ENTANGLEMENT IN THE PRINCES’ CONFLICTS
Ruoxi realises that the Yongzheng Emperor is like a different
person. There seems to be a demon in his brain. She is afraid and makes a big
decision not to return to the Yongzhen’s Emperor’s Yangxin Palace.
She returns to her own residence. She thinks to herself, ‘Things remain the same but people change. I
want to live quietly, peacefully like this till the end.’
Yutan tells her Tibet is at war again, so the emperor is too busy
to visit her.
General Nian Genyao is highly popular at court because of his
various military successes, and Yinxiang is cold-shouldered by the court officials. This can
only mean that General Nian is becoming more powerful and influential.
There is news that her father and brother have been sent to the far
southwest and demoted to do minor court work. Could it be that the Yongzheng
Emperor is so vengeful? ‘Why bother
about such rumours!’
She is sleeping outside under the sun but the weather has
suddenly changed.
  
Yinxiang visits her and asks why she is sleeping in the cold.
‘Are you and General Nian not on
good terms?’ she enquires.
‘He earns favours from the emperor
through his hard work but I have not done much.’
She learns that her father and
brother are away from the court doing minor jobs.
‘Doing less important work means fewer mistakes. My father is
already old and should retire peacefully.’
Yinxiang says philosophically, ‘Once the moon is full, it starts to wane. Once at the top, the only
place to go is down.’
Ruoxi thinks to herself. ‘Nian
Genyao is an example. He doesn’t comprehend that he invites the jealousy of
the emperor and Yinxiang.’
Yinxiang mentions, ‘Ruoxi, these
few days, the Yongzhen Emperor has not mentioned you. No one dares mention
your name. The emperor is despondent that you are not with him. No matter how busy he
is at court, when he returns to Yangqin Palace, he can relax, but these days
he does not have joy. Why can’t the two of you get along? If there are some things
you have to let go, then let go!’
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THE POEM, ‘THE LAMENT BY LI SAO: THE REASON WHY YONGZHEN LIKES
MAGNOLIAS
The lovers' quarrel ends. The Yongzheng emperor sends for Ruoxi. She goes
back and stands in his presence.
 
He cajoles her, ‘Let the
past be the past! You didn’t miss me at all? He asks accusingly. ‘I miss you all the time.’
‘Why didn’t you go and find
Concubine Nian?’ she
murmurs snidely.
‘Don’t cry, don’t be sad.’
‘Aren’t you the emperor?’
‘The emperor is also human. Life
passes by too quickly.’
She, then, recites a short stanza of the long poem, ‘Li Sao’ or ‘The Lament’ by Qu Yuan.
‘When did you memorise this poem?
‘I often wonder why you like
magnolia flowers so much. You have given me a hairpin, a pair of earrings and a necklace with
magnolia flowers. I’m curious why you like magnolias, so I studied the poem.’
‘There’s one part in the poem, ‘Li
Sao’ which mentions an unknown person who does not like fame and fortune and
only wishes to wear magnolias.’
They then go to bed.
When she wakes up the next morning, she notices a letter with a
sketch of magnolia flowers on it.
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