“If a maid is dismissed by the empress, is she simply sent to serve someone else or is she removed from the palace completely?”
“They are removed completely,” he said. “If the empress were to see the maid again, she would be quite angry. They are sent back home to their parents.”
“With a ruined reputation?” the inspector asked.
“Usually,” Eunuch Liu replied.
Inspector Gong sighed and rolled his eyes. So the killer could be a disgraced former maid, but that would be too long of a list of people to narrow down.
“Come, come,” the inspector said, rushing the eunuch. “Anyone actually ill?”
The eunuch continued scanning his notes. “Umm…no,” he said. “That…hmm…well that is odd.”
“In what way?” Inspector Gong asked.
“Well, just look at us. A household of this size, someone is always sick.”
“Is it possible the list of the sick is somewhere else?” he asked.
“No,” the eunuch replied. “It should be right here.”
“So were the notes tampered with? Or the report stolen?”
“It was either stolen or never recorded in the first place. When the list of the ill was pulled from the other files that day, they just weren’t listed or they were on a separate sheet and stolen.”
“Is there a way to recompile the list?” Inspector Gong asked.
Eunuch Liu looked around the room at the stacks of scrolls and whimpered. “It would be…possible,” he said. “But it would take time, a considerable amount of time.”
“Probably more time than we have, you are telling me,” the inspector said.
“Depending on how quickly the empress wants you to solve this case, yes,” the eunuch said.
Inspector Gong rubbed his head. “All right, then tell me who could tamper with the notes? Who would have been in charge of compiling the information?”
“I have several scribes who help with that sort of work,” the eunuch said.
“Can I interrogate them?” he asked.
“Perhaps,” the eunuch said. “But…”
“But what?” the inspector asked.
“Ugh, you are so brutish. You are not a member of the court…” he began.
“So I have heard,” the inspector replied.
“You aren’t familiar with our ways here. I trust my assistants to do a good job, for the most part. But everything in here is for sale. Anything you could possibly want, from a piece of jewelry to opium to a night outside the walls to information to silence can be bought.”
“So you are saying a bribe would be a better way to get information?” the inspector asked.
“Everyone in here has a sick mother who needs expensive medicine or a disgraced cousin who needs to pay off a massive debt. For myself, my dear sister’s husband recently died and left her with four children to raise. Can you imagine?”
“So, for a price, you think I can find out who paid your scribe to tamper with the records?”
“Indeed,” the eunuch said.
“Fine. Tell me which one of your assistants I should talk to and I’ll find a way to get the information out of him, one way or another.”
Eunuch Liu cleared his throat and cocked his head, waiting for something.
“Oh, shit,” Inspector Gong said. “Not you too?”
“Did I tell you what happened to my poor sister?” he asked. “She has four of the loveliest children but her husband…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” the inspector said, reaching for a few coins in his bag. “Save the sob story and point me in the way of which assistant you think it is.”
“Of course, sir,” the eunuch said with a polite bow. “Follow me.”
The eunuch led Inspector Gong to an adjacent room, this one also filled with scrolls, but there were also several desks where men were sitting, hunched over writing in new scrolls. They were extracting information from the scrolls and compiling it together.
“When the scrolls arrive,” Eunuch Liu explained, “they come to this room and work their way around. This first fellow will see how much food the household consumed that day. By the end of the day, we will know how much food the entire palace consumed. That way we can make sure we are growing enough food on the imperial farms or ordering enough from other farmers. Or we can see if we need to cut down on anything the ladies are consuming too much of.”
“That is impressive,” Inspector Gong said.
“Quite,” Eunuch Liu replied. “This next fellow tracks any textile usage. Silk, linen, rabbit fur, sewing needles, shoe forms, that sort of thing.”
Inspector Gong nodded. He was somewhat familiar with the duties that went into running a household from watching his mother when he was a child. This was a household on an industrial scale.
“And on and on,” the eunuch said. “Each man tracking different things. But this fellow,” he said stopping in front of a desk near the end of the row, “would be in charge of noting any maids or eunuchs or residents who reported ill.”
The boy immediately kneeled down and was visibly shaking from nerves.
“Stand up and look at me,” Inspector Gong ordered. The eunuch did so, but kept his chin to his chest. Inspector Gong reached out and forced the boy to look at him. Well, he thought he looked like a boy but there was no telling how old he really was.
“Do you know why I am here?” Inspector Gong asked.
“You are investigating the murder of that girl,” the boy replied.
“But why would I be talking to you about it?” the inspector asked.
“I…I don’t know,” the boy stammered. He had spoken clearly before, so the stutter made Inspector Gong assume the boy was lying. Inspector Gong just nodded and then turned to the rest of the scribes, who were all watching him.
“Why don’t you all go get some fresh air,” he said. Their chairs scraped the floor in near unison as they all quickly fled the room.
When Inspector Gong turned back to the boy, tears were running down his cheeks.
“Are you sure I can’t beat a confession out of him?” he asked Eunuch Liu. “Look at him, he’s about to crumble. Just a few slaps and he’d tell me everything.”
The boy began audibly weeping. Inspector Gong couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He reached into his bag and pulled out a few coins.
“So who is this money for?” he asked. “Your sick mother? Disgraced sister?”
“My brother,” he said. “My family is so poor that if I cannot make enough money to support them, they will cut him like they did to me.”
Inspector Gong felt a small tug at his stomach. While being a palace eunuch did have some perks—a stable job with a good income—the loss of ever having a normal life was excruciating torture. Many Han people saw the practice as barbaric, just like the Manchu despised foot binding. He could understand why the boy would be willing to go to such lengths to protect his brother.
Inspector Gong took out a few more coins and put them in the boy’s hand. “So who asked you to alter the records?”
“Alter the records?” he asked, confused.
“Yes,” Inspector Gong said. “Who asked you to alter the records to omit anyone who has been ill after eating the empress’s food?”
“No one,” he said quickly enough that Inspector Gong believed him. “I admit that it was odd that no one has been sick lately, but when the weather is pleasant and people are not trapped indoors, illnesses usually abate.”
“Then who was bribing you? And why?”
“Miss Chu, the maid for Lady Yun.”
“Chu?” Inspector Gong asked, shocked. “What did she want you to hide?”
“She wanted to make sure that the blue sapphire hairpin jewel that Lady Yun owned was added to the inventory for Lady Kwan. I think…” He dropped his voice and leaned in as he spoke. “I think she stole the hairpin but didn’t want anyone to know it was missing when they inventoried Lady Yun’s belongings. I added the hairpin to Lady Kwan’s invent
ory.”
Inspector Gong began to pace. Lady Li told him about the hairpin. It hadn’t been stolen, but was used to kill Suyi. But if Suyi had been killed with her own hairpin, why would Chu want it added to Lady Kwan’s inventory?
She must have wanted to frame Lady Kwan for Suyi’s murder. But why? Well, framing anyone would be better than getting caught. But did she have a reason for pointing the finger at Lady Kwan? And were the hairpin and murder of Lady Yun related to the poisoning of the empress?
Only Chu would be able to answer that.
21
Lady Li returned to her room with a new energy. With the empress’s support, nothing would stand in her way of finding Suyi’s killer and the empress’s poisoner. Maybe she would even solve the crimes herself, without the help of Inspector Gong. Wouldn’t that just annoy him to no end. But where to begin?
She had to start with Lady Kwan. All the evidence—well, the only evidence Lady Li had—pointed to her. The blue hairpin had belonged to her. But was there a connection to Minister Song? There had to be one. Maybe Chu was right and it would only take a little more digging to find the connection and motive. She would go to see Lady Kwan under the guise of a social visit and somehow wrangle a confession out of her.
“Chu,” she called out when she arrived back at her rooms. “We must dress our best. We are going to confront Lady Kwan. Chu?”
Chu did not reply.
“Jinxi?” she called. Still nothing. Where were they? It was not uncommon for servants to run errands, but for both of them to be gone at the same time? Someone should always be at the beck and call of a lady.
Well, they did have separate duties. And Lady Li was not a harsh mistress. She was perfectly capable of getting herself ready. That way she and Chu could visit Lady Kwan as soon as Chu returned.
Lady Li headed to the area of the room where her clothes, hair accessories, and shoes were kept. She would need to change her chaopao and shoes before heading out. She opened one trunk, but didn’t find what she was looking for. Nor did she find it in the next trunk. She was about to give up since Chu was the person who kept everything organized. She would be able to find what Lady Li wanted without a second thought. But then another trunk, stashed in a corner, caught her eye. It wasn’t one of hers. She pulled it out and lifted the lid. On the top was a chaopao that wasn’t hers, but she knew who it belonged to. Suyi! It was the chaopao that she and Suyi had been working on together just before she left for the Forbidden City. But what was it doing here?
Lady Li lifted the chaopao from the crate, and as she did so she heard something clatter to the ground. Lady Li looked at her feet and saw a hairpin...a hairpin decorated with blue jewels. Lady Li picked it up and got something black on her fingers. It wasn’t dirt, but when she held her fingers to her nose, she smelled the unmistakable scent of blood.
“Ai-yo!” Lady Li gasped. This was the pin that had been used to kill Suyi! But what was it doing here? In her quarters? In this trunk with Suyi’s things?
She looked at the chaopao again and realized it was streaked with blood, but there was a large bloody area where the hairpin had been wrapped. Whoever killed Suyi must have wrapped the bloody hairpin in the chaopao and then stashed it in this trunk. But whose trunk was it?
She kneeled down and examined the other items in the trunk. There was nothing significant. Some plain silk flowers, flat soled shoes, and some very plain garments. Women’s garments. Just then she realized that the trunk belonged to Chu. But why would Chu have the hairpin that killed Suyi? Was it possible that Chu had killed Suyi? And then wrapped the hairpin in the chaopao and hid it in this trunk?
Of course it was possible. But Chu? She was so young, and had seemed so sweet. And she said she had been fond of Suyi. Had it all been a lie? But what motivation would Chu have?
Lady Li rummaged through the trunk again, in case she missed anything. As she swept aside a handkerchief she saw what looked like a perfume box. It was small, round, and the lid was studded with tiny jewels. Lady Li picked it up, knowing full well that a servant would have no reason for owning such a thing. She twisted the cap, expecting to find a solid white sweet smelling perfume, but she found something much worse.
The substance inside was black as tar and smelled of death, a fetid combination of blood and other ingredients Lady Li had no desire to identify. Gu. This had to be the gu poison.
So Chu was behind both crimes? The murder of Suyi and the poisoning of the empress? But why? What motivate could sweet little Chu possibly...
“I didn’t have time to hide it in Lady Kwan’s quarters yet,” a voice behind Lady Li said softly. Chu. Lady Li turned around slowly and saw the girl standing there.
“I was able to bribe the scribe to put the hairpin on Lady Kwan’s inventory, but I still needed to make sure you found it on her property somehow. I hadn’t quite worked that part out yet. The fact that you found the jewels there had been a happy accident. I didn’t realize they broke free in the struggle.”
Lady Li stood and held the hairpin on her outstretched palm. “But why, Chu? Why? How could you?”
“It...I didn’t mean to. I didn’t want to. She...she caught me...I was...I was letting Eunuch Bo touch me. They like to do that, you know? The eunuchs. Even though they can’t feel pleasure, they like to pretend. They like to look at us, touch us. It makes them feel like real men.”
Lady Li shook her head in disbelief, but she remembered what she had seen between the empress and Te-hai.
“So that was how you snuck the gu into the empress’s food, with the help of this eunuch.”
“Yes,” she said. “He was in charge of delivering the empress her food after it had been tested by a taster. But Lady Yun had followed me that night. She had been getting suspicious. I knew she thought that someone had been poisoning the empress. She had mentioned to me that the empress had appeared ill. So I had started poisoning her too. I guess she started to suspect me after she started feeling sick.”
“But the poison didn’t work quickly enough, did it?” Lady Li asked.
Chu sighed and shook her head. “I thought she had fallen asleep, but I guess she wanted to catch me. She followed me, she saw me. I heard her step on some leaves. I saw her. She ran and I chased her. She tripped. She fell out of those ridiculous shoes, so I was able to catch up with her.
“We struggled for a moment. I held my hand over her mouth. But then I grabbed the pin from her hair and I stabbed her.” She struck her hand, as if reliving the moment, causing Lady Li to flinch. “I stabbed her again and again!” Chu said, punctuating her words with her fist.
“She finally stopped struggling. We were deep in the garden. It was dark and we must have gotten turned around. But I stumbled my way back to our quarters without being seen. I wrapped the hairpin in the first thing I could find, which was the chaopao she had been wearing earlier that day. I wrapped it up and threw it into my chest. Then I cleaned myself and went to bed.”
“But why, Chu? Why were you poisoning the empress? Why take the risk? You have a good life here and...”
“Good life?” Chu snorted. “Do you even know why I am here? How I came to be a palace slave?”
Lady Li shook her head.
“I’m the daughter of the emperor!” she nearly shouted. “The Xianfeng Emperor was my father!”
“The late emperor? How is that possible?” Lady Li asked. She had to keep Chu talking. Where was Jinxi? He had to return soon.
“You know that all women who serve in the palace are the property of the emperor,” she stated.
Lady Li nodded her head. Even though the emperor’s consorts were usually chosen for him from the elite maidens of the land, he could have any woman he wished. It was not uncommon for a pretty maid to catch the eye of the emperor, who would then elevate her to the level of lady. That was why every woman dreamed of serving in the palace. Even a worthless peasant girl could rise to the position of consort if the emperor showed her favor, which was why all women in the Forbidde
n City, no matter their station, had to be Manchu. There could be no chance that a non-Manchu woman might find favor with the emperor and make her way to his bed.
“Mother said that the emperor forced himself on her. She said she had a sweetheart back home so she wasn’t trying to get his attention like every other girl in the palace. She was only working here to save money so they could marry. But he saw her and was determined to have her. She fell pregnant with me. She couldn’t return home after that.
“Her only consolation was that she would not be shamed. It was customary for the emperor to make her a rank seven lady upon the child’s birth.”
A seventh-rank lady was the lowest ranking lady, but it would at least ensure that the lady and her children would be provided for for the rest of their lives.
“But since I was a girl, the emperor did not fulfill his obligation to my mother or me. Mother always said that the empress was a jealous woman and would tolerate no rivals. Had I been a boy, the emperor would have to recognize me. But since I was a worthless girl, the empress told him to forget about me.
“When the emperor, the empress, and the rest of you nobles fled the Forbidden City when the White Devils attacked, most of us servants were left behind. Do you remember that?”
Lady Li did not confirm or deny Chu’s accusations. She knew that many people had been left behind as they fled to the Summer Palace, but many servants had accompanied them as well. She had never given any thought to the people left behind.
“They were vile beasts. I watched as they brutalized my mother until there was nothing left. She died in my arms. I was eight years old.”
Lady Li held her hand to her mouth as tears started to fall. That would mean Chu was only fifteen years old. She was the same age as Suyi. She had no idea that the British had dealt cruelly with the slaves and servants left behind. She didn’t know...
“I’ll never forget that day,” Chu said. “If the empress had allowed the emperor to recognize my mother, we would have been taken along with the royal family. We would have been saved. My mother’s death and my whole wretched existence are because of the cruelty of the empress!”
The Qing Dynasty Mysteries - Books 1-3 Page 14