I peered into the mirror, delighted to see the black loops and delicate twists of the wig. The gold birds glittered on the top of my head, and the long strands fell behind my back like dyed dark cloth. I liked how the wig softened my face and how it swayed behind me with a pleasant rhythm. I looked gentle and graceful. “Thank you, Gaoyang. This is such a splendid gift. I never would have expected it.”
“So you like it.” She grinned. “It was Apricot’s suggestion. I didn’t think you would favor it. It’s so fancy but cumbersome, and I think it’s quite heavy when you wear it. Is it heavy?”
I nodded. I felt as though a fat rooster were sitting on my head, but I did not mind. “Where did you get it?” I combed the long hair with my fingers. It felt good. The hair was smooth and fine.
“I paid ten wig makers to craft it,” Gaoyang said. “It took them seven days and seven nights.”
“Oh, I hope you rewarded them handsomely. They certainly did a beautiful job.” I walked carefully, balancing the wig on my head. Now I did not need to feel like a spring sparrow standing among peacocks when I sat next to the ladies with long, sleek hair. I decided I would never leave my chamber without it. “This is the second precious gift I have received this month.”
Gaoyang laughed. “Well, Luminous Lady, you deserve much more.”
It was very kind of her to say that. I wanted to hug her. Steadying the wig on my head, I walked toward the flower beds near the stone bench. “But, Gaoyang, have you heard the petitions from the Empress and her uncle?”
“My husband told me.” Gaoyang’s husband was a fifth-degree minister and had been unhappy in the court, I had heard. Because the court was crowded with the Empress’s men and the Regent’s relatives, many young ministers like the princess’s husband did not have a chance to advance or to demonstrate their skills. “But do not let the petitions bother you, Luminous Lady. They will not change anything.”
“I’m not sure, Gaoyang.”
“I wouldn’t let them bother me, if I were you.”
I admired her spirit, and I wished I could brush aside the opposition like she did. But she was a princess, and she did not need to fight for her title. I took a rake near the flower beds and began to gather the weeds scattered on the path. It was good to use my arms again after months of sitting around and doing nothing. I could feel the loose skin on my stomach shaking as I worked. That was the price of having a child.
“The Empress is a powerful woman, Gaoyang.”
Princess Gaoyang shook her head. “Not everyone is on her side. Many ministers in the court do not like her. They mock her behind her back, saying she’s an embarrassment because she has failed Confucius’s cardinal rule of producing a son. They are losing patience in her after all these years.”
“Who is losing patience?” I turned my head, and my wig slid. I held it and set it upright carefully on my head.
She shrugged. “Many ministers. I don’t go to the Audience Hall, so I can’t give you the names. But my husband said loyalty is shifting in the court.”
I had not heard the news. “What do you mean?”
“When she became the Empress four years ago, the Regent gave many important court positions to her family members. She was very powerful, and many people flocked to her, believing that she would have a son to inherit the throne, and the Wang family’s blood would bear the imperial blood. They swore their loyalty to her and listened to her uncle’s every order. But now people are not so sure.”
“I see.” I nodded. Since the Empress could not conceive, the heir to the kingdom would be someone else. It was too early to speculate who would inherit the throne, since Pheasant was still in his prime, but the Empress’s barrenness had become her weakness, and it did not matter that she was sitting next to Pheasant. As long as she did not produce a male heir, the phoenix crown she wore would become a crown of needles. “Will she lose her support soon?”
“My husband believes so. He said some ministers also dislike the Empress’s family members. It is said they are incompetent. No one likes her uncle, the Secretary, either. So even if she threatens to strip you of the title, she will not succeed.”
I was glad to hear the Empress was not as powerful as I believed, but I was not optimistic that I was safe from her. “She banded with the Chancellor. He wrote a petition for her. He is determined to drive me away.”
“The Chancellor? He is nothing. He only follows the Regent.”
I sighed. Of course, the Regent. He was, after all, the man whom I feared the most. “What is your opinion of the Regent, Gaoyang?”
“That weasel?” She waved her hand. “I hate him. He was unkind to my mother.”
“He is unkind to all women.” Especially Emperor Taizong’s women, and especially if they had Pheasant’s favor.
“He exiled my half brother Prince Ke. Said it was my father’s will. We all know it’s not true. He got rid of him because he was worried Prince Ke would challenge him.”
I remembered the prince. The Regent had exiled him, other princes, and ministers after Emperor Taizong’s death. The Regent also imprisoned all of the Emperor’s daughters who had not yet reached the betrothal age in a building in the Yeting Court, claiming it was for their safety, and they would receive exclusive care there. The married princesses, like Princess Gaoyang, had escaped the fate of being imprisoned.
Prince Ke was the late Noble Lady’s son. He was still in exile, but Pheasant’s other brother, Prince Wei, I heard, had contracted pneumonia and died. Pheasant had mentioned his brothers to me a few times. He missed them.
I leaned on the rake and sighed. “The Regent has the kingdom in his hands now, and no one will challenge him. If he says I am not worthy of my title, then it will be stripped away instantly.”
Gaoyang nodded. “I can’t argue with you about that. So what are you going to do, Luminous Lady?”
A shadow flew across the path. I raised my head. High in the sky a large shape fluttered. A falcon? Or perhaps a vulture?
I had to do something. Or it was possible that I would become the vulture’s meal.
I took a deep breath, more resolved than ever. “I am going to the Audience Hall. I will not let them take away my title.”
11
I waited near the stone stairs that led to the Audience Hall, my eight maids standing behind me. I needed their presence to show the Regent and the ministers that I was Luminous Lady, whether they liked it or not.
I had put on the wig Princess Gaoyang gave me. It was difficult to part with it now, and I was accustomed to its weight and the motion of the long strands swaying at my knees. I also wore the splendid red gown Pheasant had given me for my son’s thirty-day celebration. I was determined to show myself in the most magnificent form so the Regent and the ministers could not deny my worthiness.
It had been almost four years since I had last come to the hall in the Outer Palace. I stared at the building, a wide edifice with a blue roof and flying eaves. I had come here many times while serving Emperor Taizong, and the building still looked majestic.
Pheasant would be surprised to see me. I had not told him I would be coming today. I did not need his help. I would handle the Regent and his men alone.
I wondered what the Regent would say to me when he saw me. Would he denounce me? Would he attempt to get rid of me? But I was not a girl of thirteen anymore. I could face him, and I could throw myself into the fray if necessary. But somehow, against my will, uneasiness crept into my mind, and I grew nervous. I was alone, and he had so many servants—the Chancellor, for instance, who had called me “a morally corrupted woman,” and there was also the Secretary, the Empress’s uncle. He might not be liked by the ministers, but he certainly hated me for taking Pheasant away from the Empress.
I glanced at the Gold Bird Guards standing at the corners of the vast yard paved with white stones. Wearing maroon capes and bronze breastplates,
they held their swords and bows still and did not turn their heads to me. I wondered where the General was. He was the commander of the ninety-nine legions of the Gold Bird Guards, as well as serving as the minister of war.
When the court announcer appeared at the corridor outside the hall, I knew the audience was over. I watched the ministers descend from the stairs, but Pheasant was not among them. Perhaps he was changing his formal gown or talking with some ministers.
I spotted the Regent immediately, wearing a black hat and a long, purple robe with voluminous sleeves that draped to his knees. He had not seemed to age much over the past four years, and his steps were agile, his chest thrust toward the sky.
A minister whispered in the Regent’s ear, and he raised his head in my direction. Rapidly, he descended the stairs, his eyes on me.
I stepped forward and bowed. “Zao an, esteemed Regent. I was taking a stroll in the palace and happen to pass by. How marvelous you look today. I’m so pleased to see you in good health.”
He frowned, his eyes landing somewhere over my shoulder, refusing to meet my eyes. “Ah, Talent.”
Of course he remembered me. “Esteemed Regent has an astounding memory for my history in the palace.”
“And you are a woman who has an astounding lifespan.”
So he had expected me to die in the monastery, as so many of the other Talents had.
“Much with your blessing, esteemed Regent,” I fired back. Since he was closer to me, I saw he had aged after all. His face was spotted with black dots, his beard speckled with white, his teeth were rotten, and his breath could have made a weak woman faint. Only his eyes had not changed, still shrewd and dangerous.
“What are you doing here, Talent?”
I bowed again, the black hair falling from my shoulders to my arms, reminding me I must remain humble if possible. “Perhaps esteemed Regent has not heard—” Of course he had heard of my son, but he had not said a word of acknowledgment or sent a note of good wishes. “The palace has recently celebrated a great addition to our imperial family. My son and I would be forever in your debt if his great uncle would honor us with a drink.”
He threw his sleeves behind him. “I regret to tell you, Talent, I am too busy.”
Again, not a word of my son. I straightened. “Perhaps, esteemed Regent, you have heard I am not a Talent anymore. Our Emperor has bestowed on me the title of Luminous Lady.”
“You!” a voice shouted behind me. I turned around. An old minister with cloudy white eyes stood beside me. He was the Chancellor, Chu Suiliang. “You should be ashamed, woman. You have no moral standards or sense of decency. How dare you show your face here?”
A gaggle of ministers gathered around him. They snarled, baring their teeth. I knew these faces. Among them was the Secretary, the Empress’s uncle, a stout man with a fat, round face and a thick black mustache, a man who looked like a butcher. I had met him only once, when he came to visit Emperor Taizong while he was ill. Princess Gaoyang had said the Empress’s family’s power was being questioned, but her uncle still looked formidable.
And beside him were the Regent’s two brothers-in-law, Minister Han Yuan and Minster Lai Ji, and several other advisers.
For a moment I recalled how the ministers had besieged me many years before when they believed I had something to do with the assassination plot against Emperor Taizong. My knees grew weak.
The Chancellor jeered at me. “Shame on you, unscrupulous, debauched woman! You served Emperor Taizong, and now you will deceive his son and seduce him?”
He jabbed his finger in my face, and I stepped back, shocked by his ferocious hostility.
“You despicable, low-born, vile woman!” the Secretary, the Empress’s uncle, shouted at me. “You defile the name of the palace that shelters you!”
He wielded his fists in my face. I staggered back more, my heart pounding. But I could manage them. I had gone through many ordeals in my life. I had survived the rebels’ attack on the palace. I had lived with the silence of a monastery, suffered the loss of a faithful companion, and overcome the pain of childbirth.
I raised my sleeve to block them. “Ministers! May I have your attention—”
More colorful robes surged around me. “Serpent woman!” one man snarled.
“Harlot!”
“Thrash her!”
“Ministers… Ministers!” I looked from one to another as they loomed closer, their fingers jabbing in the air, their open mouths spewing venom. They were ruthless, and they would not stop. I wanted to cover my face, to run away and never see these people again.
I turned but stumbled, falling to the ground. My wig slid askew, covering my right eye. A roar of laughter burst around me. My cheeks burned with humiliation. I hurriedly put the wig back on my head, but my hands trembled, and the wig kept slipping. All the while the men around me roared with laughter.
I wanted to cry, but then I understood the men would be pleased to see me in tears. They would be delighted that they had defeated me. I straightened and set the wig on my head again—whether it was askew or not, I did not care. They would not tear me to shreds so easily. I stood up, and with my hand covering my mouth, I laughed too. Loudly.
They fell silent and gaped at me.
“Excellent,” I said calmly. “Now that I have your attention, I would like to have some civil discussions please, ministers. Let me ask you. Why do you hate me so? Did I torture your parents? Did I poison your concubines? Did I cripple your children?”
They looked taken aback, and the Empress’s uncle pointed at me again. I did not give him a chance to speak. “Secretary Liu Shi, you accused me of low birth. May I remind you, my father Wu Shihuo was the governor of Shanxi Prefecture, the one who funded Emperor Gaozu’s war. He opened my family’s gates to shelter Gaozu’s army when he was betrayed and fleeing. Would you not say my father helped found this great dynasty? Would you not agree my birth is equally as noble as any shi class? Did you or your family offer such help when Gaozu was in need?”
He scowled, and I turned away from him. “Yes. I served our Emperor Taizong.” I faced the other ministers, keeping my voice even. “It was a great honor, and I am not ashamed of it. Dutifully, I served him, and I have accomplished many things. I called for help when an assassin attacked him. I saved his life when no one was beside him. Where were you, Chancellor, when Emperor Taizong needed you?”
The Chancellor’s cloudy eyeballs rolled, and he opened his mouth to speak. I did not give him the chance. “I served Emperor Taizong faithfully for eleven years and tended to him while he suffered great pain in his bed. I comforted him while he struggled against the demons of the otherworld. I feel no shame in my service. Besides…” Some middle-ranking ministers had gathered around, watching me. I turned to the Regent. “May I remind you, Regent, you served Emperor Taizong as well.”
He scowled. “That is a vastly different matter.”
“Why is that?”
“I am a man!”
“And a great friend of Emperor Taizong, so we know. Then I trust you must understand, I did not have the honor to win our late Emperor’s favor.” Now they knew the Emperor had not taken me. But after this day, I should never mention my service to Pheasant’s father again.
“It does not matter, Talent.”
The Secretary stepped closer and spat at me. “Your slippery tongue will not fool anyone, woman. You have seduced our emperor, Emperor Taizong’s son! You’ve committed an unforgivable sin. You should be hanged!”
The sticky phlegm caught the strands of my wig, slid, and dropped to my shoulder, scorching me like a fiery stone. I was stunned. These were the type of men I had to deal with. When they lost their arguments with words, they tried to drown you with spittle!
“What is this commotion, ministers?” Pheasant’s voice rang out. The men parted, and Pheasant, still in his court regalia, appeared before me.
“Is there a problem? Luminous Lady? I did not know you were here. Uncle, what’s going on?”
“Nothing serious, Nephew. We are ready to leave,” the Regent said, his voice steady.
“Do I see this correctly?” Pheasant came beside me and brushed aside the hair that covered my eye. “Has the Luminous Lady been treated unkindly?”
The Regent did not reply, but the Chancellor snorted. “She gets what she deserves, Your Majesty. This wicked, lascivious woman is dooming our kingdom and corrupting all souls.”
I felt Pheasant tense beside me, and I lay a hand on his arm. He had to be cautious, or he would bring trouble to himself as well.
“Luminous Lady will doom our kingdom? How?” Pheasant asked, his voice slow and measured but filled with anger.
“It is plain to see, Your Majesty. You have breached the code of propriety and fallen to a woman’s witchery, and now how can we instruct our people to follow the moral codes?”
Pheasant breathed hard, the pearls of his mortarboard jingling, and I remembered that years ago, Emperor Taizong had ordered a priest’s tongue to be cut off when the man inadvertently hinted at his mental state. The Chancellor had challenged Pheasant’s reign. But Pheasant was not his father. He would not act ruthlessly. “I could have you beaten, Chancellor, for your utter disrespect to your emperor.”
“Beat me as you will, Your Majesty. I shall not forget the duty and my responsibility that your father bestowed on me.”
Pheasant frowned. “My father died four years ago.”
“He still has my loyalty.”
“You are my chancellor now, Chancellor.” Pheasant’s voice grew louder.
“Yet I am wary of a morally corrupted emperor. The ancestors of the Li family will not forgive you for sharing your bed with your father’s woman.”
Pheasant stepped closer to the minister. “Perhaps you should not serve in your position anymore.” His face grew dark, and his chest rose and fell in anger.
Silence fell in the vast yard, and the brainless Chancellor appeared shocked and confused, as though he had never considered that Pheasant might threaten him. His cloudy eyes rolling hesitantly, he turned to the Regent.
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