Chu gritted her teeth and her nostrils flared. She was not of a mind to be placated.
“But don’t do this,” Lady Li pleaded. “Don’t make it worse for yourself. If you kill me, you will be caught. And the empress will make sure you suffer. If you let me go, I can plead mercy for you, as a victim of terrible circumstances and as a member of the imperial family.”
“You would...try to spare my life, even though I killed Lady Yun, the girl you loved so much?”
Her blunt admission struck Lady Li to the core. She meant what she said, but she couldn’t help but gasp at the pain that struck her heart.
“Y...yes,” she finally said. “More deaths...more deaths won’t bring her back.”
Lady Li and Chu stared at each other for a moment. Lady Li tried to convey strength and warmth in her eyes. Yes, she was heartbroken over the death of Suyi, but she wanted Chu to trust her. Chu’s death would not bring her peace.
Lady Li could not read Chu’s expression. She seemed to be debating Lady Li’s words and her own future. Should she cut her losses now and hope to live but never have a chance at the throne—the empress would see to that—or should she kill Lady Li and hope her original plan still worked?
“I don’t believe you,” Chu said.
She had opted for the latter.
22
As Inspector Gong, Eunuch Liu, and several other men headed for Lady Li’s rooms, they ran into Eunuch Jinxi.
“What are you doing?” Inspector Gong asked him.
He held out his basket of fruit. “Just collecting our ration of fresh fruit for the day, sir,” he said.
“Where is Lady Li, and her maid Chu?” he asked.
“Lady Li was visiting with the empress, and Miss Chu was doing the laundry.”
“Then hopefully Lady Li is still safe,” Eunuch Liu said. “We can lie in wait for Chu’s return.”
“What is going on?” Eunuch Jinxi asked, looking concerned. “What is happening?”
“We are sorry, Eunuch Jinxi,” Inspector Gong said, “but we think Chu might have been behind the murder of Lady Yun.”
“What?” he asked. “But…but how is that possible? Chu and Lady Yun were friends. Chu is a sweet girl. She’d never hurt anyone.”
“I am afraid we found evidence to the contrary,” Inspector Gong said. “You should come with us. You will need to be questioned as well.”
“Me?” he asked, trembling. “W…wh…why me? What have I done?”
“Just routine,” Inspector Gong said, taking Jinxi’s arm and leading him toward Lady Li’s small palace.
As they neared the door, the men all heard a crash from inside, like a porcelain item thrown against a wall. They all looked at each other and then rushed through the door.
When they entered, they saw Lady Li and Chu struggling. Chu was holding a knife over her head in striking position while Lady Li was using all her strength to keep her from plunging the knife into her chest.
Inspector Gong moved to grab Chu, but he was too slow. In one quick movement, Lady Li’s knees bent slightly, letting Chu think for a split second that she had won, but Lady Li then used the give in her knees to bounce back, throwing Chu off of her. She then grabbed Chu by the wrist and twisted her arm behind her back, forcing her to drop the knife.
Inspector Gong and the other men stood aghast, wondering what they just saw. Even though Lady Li had Chu in a firm grip, Chu continued to struggle.
“Don’t just stand there!” Lady Li yelled to the men. “Help me! Arrest her!”
Inspector Gong motioned for two men to restrain Chu. They grabbed her by the arms and forced her to her knees. Inspector Gong went to Lady Li’s side.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just a little shaken. Please, don’t hurt her,” she said to the men.
“Let me go!” Chu yelled. “I’m a member of the imperial family! How dare you treat me this way?”
Inspector Gong looked at Lady Li with his eyebrow cocked. “What is she blabbering about?”
“She might not be lying,” Lady Li said. “She claims to be the illegitimate daughter of the Xianfeng Emperor.”
Inspector Gong walked over and stood in front of Chu. “Is what you say true?”
“Let me go!” she demanded again.
“You promise not to try and run?” he asked. Chu nodded. He motioned for the men to release her. She rubbed her wrists. “Go on, then,” he said. “Tell me what happened. Why did you kill Lady Yun?”
“She already knows everything,” she said, jutting her chin out toward Lady Li.
“Well, now I want to hear it,” Inspector Gong said.
“Will you convince the empress to spare my life?” she asked.
“That depends on what you tell me,” he said. “Just how high this plot goes. You killed Lady Yun, but were you also involved in the plot to kill the empress?”
“How did you know I killed Lady Yun?” she asked.
“You paid a eunuch in the Ministry of Household Affairs to have the blue hairpin added to Lady Kwan’s inventory. You would have only done that if you were trying to make it look like Lady Kwan killed Lady Yun. Have you hidden the hairpin on Lady Kwan’s property already?” he asked.
Chu shook her head. “She has it,” she said, motioning to Lady Li again.
Lady Li reached down and picked up the hairpin by her feet. It was covered in what looked like black dirt, but Inspector Gong knew was dried blood that had been darkened by the gu.
“So, you were right,” Chu said to Lady Li. “They would have caught me. I’m glad I didn’t kill you. You are one of the nice ones. I’m sorry for Lady Yun too. She was kind to me. She didn’t…she didn’t deserve…” She held her hands to her face as she began to weep.
Inspector Gong looked to Lady Li, who was wiping a tear from her own eye.
“So you admit to killing Lady Yun?” Inspector Gong asked.
Chu nodded.
“Say it!” he yelled.
“I did it!” she screamed back. “I killed Lady Yun!”
“And do you admit to trying to kill the empress with gu poison?”
“Yes. I poisoned the empress. I hope she dies an agonizing death, worse than my mother did!”
“Anything else you wish to tell me? Anyone else you want to implicate? Will you tell me how you got the gu poison?”
Chu stopped crying and looked up at the inspector. “If I tell you everything, will you spare my life?”
“Unfortunately, that is not up to me,” he said. “As a member of the Inner Court, the empress has the final say over what will happen to you.”
Chu scoffed. “Of course she does. The empress holds the life and death of every person in this country in the palm of her hand, doesn’t she? Well, I’d not give her the satisfaction!”
“Stop!” Lady Li yelled as Chu reached down and grabbed the knife she had dropped earlier. Before anyone could react, Chu stabbed herself in the neck, sending a stream of blood down her chest.
Inspector Gong grabbed the knife and held his hand to her throat, but it was too late.
Lady Li ran to Chu’s side, taking the girl in her arms as she collapsed. “No! Chu, no!” she wailed.
“I…I meant it…” Chu whispered to Lady Li. “I’m sorry…”
23
“Chu?” the empress asked. “Who is Chu?”
Lady Li looked down, unable to concentrate on what was being said around her as she could not stop seeing the blood that drenched her clothes and hands. Even though Eunuch Jinxi had washed the blood away and had put Lady Li in a new chaopao, the image of the blood in her hands and the girl dying in her arms was seared into her eyes.
Inspector Gong was attempting to explain to the empress what they had pieced together about Chu and how she was responsible for both Suyi’s death and the empress’s poisoning, but it was all gibberish to Lady Li. How could this have happened? she wondered. Of course, Lady Li had not been in the Forbidden City when Chu ki
lled Suyi. She could not have seen any warning signs. But could she have saved Chu? Not that it would have mattered. If Chu hadn’t killed herself, the empress certainly would have seen it done. Chu must have known that. It had to be why she took her life. She would rather leave this world by her own hand than at the whim of the empress.
“Lady Li!” the empress screamed, jarring her from her thoughts.
“What?” Lady Li asked. “I…I’m sorry. What?”
“The kitchen eunuch!” the empress stated, as if she was repeating herself for the umpteenth time. She probably was. “What was his name?”
“I…I don’t know,” Lady Li stammered, trying to recall what the empress was talking about. She held her hand to her forehead, but then quickly jerked it back, afraid of smearing the blood on her face, only to remember that her hands had been washed already.
Inspector Gong leaned over and softly said, “The boy who was sneaking the poison into the empress’s food. Did Chu name him?”
“Oh, that eunuch,” Lady Li said, her mind clearing as she looked at Inspector Gong’s kind and calm face. “I…I don’t…umm…oh, Bo. She called him Bo.”
“Find him,” the empress said to no one in particular, but two guards and some eunuchs immediately left the room. “He will pay for what he did. Death by bastinado,” she screamed after the guards.
No one argued with her. After all, he did slip the poison into the food. He would be executed without trial. A death by bastinado meant he would be beaten with a cudgel until he was dead. It was a prolonged and painful way to die but was a standard method of execution for a eunuch who deserved it.
“Who else was involved?” the empress demanded. “I want names!”
She was on a blood hunt. Deprived of the opportunity to kill the mastermind behind the plot, she would take down anyone else she could. While Lady Li had never considered the empress to be a bloodthirsty or violent tyrant, no one had ever gotten so close to actually killing her.
“Your Majesty,” Lady Li carefully spoke up, trying to calm her friend, “killing more people will not make this right. What Chu did was terrible, but she is dead. She had been horribly wronged in life and…”
“She had been horribly wronged?” the empress shrieked. “How dare you?”
Lady Li shut her mouth. She was not in the right frame of mind to try and talk reason into anyone.
“That little wretch tried to kill me. She killed Lady Yun. Your own kin! The girl you raised. Do you have more love for that murderer than Suyi?”
Lady Li let out a sob she could no longer hold inside. Of course the empress was right. How could Lady Li feel such sympathy for Chu after the terrible things she had done? Why did she feel so guilty for Chu’s death?
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Inspector Gong. He then pulled his hand away—it was most inappropriate for a man to touch a woman who was not of his family—but no one spoke against him, not even the empress. The warmth of his touch slowly coursed through her, and she was able to calm herself once more.
“I believe Lady Li is simply in a state of shock, Your Majesty,” said Inspector Gong. “Even though the young lady was evil and deserved death, seeing someone die in your arms is never an easy task.”
The empress let out a long, exasperated sigh. “I know this situation has not been easy on you, Lady Li,” the empress said. “I will forgive you for misspeaking.”
This was the closest Lady Li would ever get to an apology from the empress, and she would gladly take it. The empress was also in a difficult situation. She was still feeling ill from the effects of the gu poison and just learned that an assassin had been living in her very walls. She had to cope with feeling sad, angry, and scared, and she had to mete out justice as well. It was a balancing act Lady Li was glad she did not have to attempt. Not for the first time was she thankful that she was not in the empress’s shoes.
“So who else was involved?” the empress asked. “She could not have carried this plot out alone.”
“There…was another eunuch,” Inspector Gong said. “But he was not involved in the poisoning. Chu paid him to frame Lady Kwan for Lady Yun’s murder.”
“Arrest him as well,” the empress said, and two more guards ran off.
“Please, Your Majesty,” Inspector Gong said. “The boy was very cooperative. He is the reason I was able to solve the crime and get to Lady Li in time. I beg of you to show him mercy.”
“Very well,” the empress said. “I will sentence him to death by beheading. It will be quick and painless.”
“Your Majesty,” Inspector Gong interrupted again. “I must insist. The boy is not a threat and did not act maliciously. Dismiss him if you must, but there is no reason to put him to…”
“Would you like to be next?” the empress asked in a voice so low it was much more frightening than when she screamed.
Inspector Gong stopped speaking, and no one else dared to speak on the boy’s behalf.
“Good,” the empress said. “Anyone else?” she asked. “Was anyone else involved in the plot against my life?”
No one spoke up. Even though Lady Li wanted to implicate Minister Song, without evidence she could not do so.
“Very well,” the empress said, standing. “Inspector Gong, I thank you for your service in rooting out this threat. I will see to it that you are fairly compensated.”
Inspector Gong kaotaoed. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“And Lady Li,” she said. “My dear friend. I release you from your service to me so you may return home and see to the funeral of Lady Yun.”
“Thank you,” Lady Li said, also kaotaoing.
“Please do not stay away so long again,” the empress said as she walked off her dais and left the audience chamber.
Inspector Gong let out a long audible sigh. “At least that is finally over,” he said.
“For you,” Lady Li said as she stood.
“What do you mean?” he asked, standing next to her.
“As she said,” Lady Li said, not looking up at him, “I must prepare the funeral for Lady Yun. I have not even told my daughters of their aunt’s death. And I must make sure the funeral rites are performed in time.”
“I didn’t mean to sound callous,” Inspector Gong replied. “I only meant that the crime is solved and we don’t have to stay here a wretched moment longer.”
“That is true,” Lady Li said. “Except for Minister Song. Will you continue to investigate him?”
“I am not under orders to. I don’t have just cause or access to him,” Inspector Gong explained. “There is nothing I can do.”
Lady Li nodded her head. “I see. Well, I should be going.”
Inspector Gong reached out and touched her hand. “Wait. Will I see you again?”
Oh how she wanted to see him again. In this moment she wanted nothing more than to collapse into his arms. She wanted him to comfort and console her. She wanted to make love to him again. She wanted him in her life and in her bed. But she could not give in. She was still a lady and had her family to consider. Here in the Forbidden City, she had been given a taste of freedom, but now she had to return home, return to normalcy.
“You may attend Lady Yun’s funeral,” Lady Li said. “But other than that I doubt I will see you again.”
She slid her hand from his and left the audience chamber even though it broke her heart to do so.
24
The chanting of the monks and the wailing of Suyi’s mother could be heard from down the road. As Inspector Gong reached Lady Li’s mansion to attend the funeral rites for Suyi, he was surprised to see a red banner hanging over the doorway. It stood as a stark reminder that Lady Yun and her family were Manchu to the end, not Han, who would have hung a white banner over the door.
The door to the housing complex was open to welcome mourners, but Eunuch Bai stood by, stoically watching each person who entered. He was dressed in white, as were all the other mourners. He entered the courtyard and saw the coffin la
id in the middle, with the lid still open. In front of the coffin, many people were prostrating themselves to the young woman and to her mother. Lady Li and her two daughters were among them.
Inspector Gong took several joss sticks from a monk who was standing by handing them to mourners as they arrived. He walked to the foot of the coffin, bowed three times, and then placed them among the alter that had been placed there.
On one side of the courtyard was a large pile of clothes, money, food, and other items. Inspector Gong walked over and placed a beautiful pair of pot-bottom shoes on the pile. When the body was taken to the burial place, all of these items would be burned so the deceased could use them in the afterlife.
He then went to the coffin, situated himself behind Lady Li, her daughters, Concubine Swan, and Lady Yun’s mother and prostrated himself before it.
The cries of Lady Yun’s mother could make the strongest man weep. He knew the woman was ill and had now lost her last child. Her only family now was her daughter-in-law and her two granddaughters. It did not take long for the woman to wear herself out. She had to be carried away by several servants.
After she was gone, the mourners began to leave or talk among themselves. Since Lady Yun was so young and unmarried, she did not have many friends and did not hold a very high station in society, so most of the mourners were there to support their fellow Bannermen—as Manchu nobles were called since they were all descendants of the eight Manchu banners.
Eventually, Lady Li and her daughters stood up as well. When she turned and faced Inspector Gong, she seemed surprised to see him even though she had given him permission to attend the funeral.
Her little girls, who had always seemed happy to see him, looked exhausted and their faces were stained with tears. Even though Lady Li had had several weeks to process Lady Yun’s death, her daughters only found out about it after she returned home after discovering her killer. They were clearly heavily distraught over the loss of their aunt.
Murder in the Forbidden City (Qing Dynasty Mysteries Book 1) Page 15