Father said I had an affinity with the immortals and sent me up the mountain to become a nun when I was little.
Only as I grew older did I learn that the place where I lived was Mount Tai.
And the nuns of Mount Tai were no proper nuns.
Just as the “slender horses” of Yangzhou were not horses, and the boatwomen of West Lake did more than row boats.
Men came for the thrill of doing the most profane things in a sacred place.
Then the emperor himself climbed the mountain to pray for an heir.
And I became pregnant with his only child.