Chapter 2
“His Majesty is right,” Chu Ying said after only a heartbeat. Her smile returned as she looked at me. “Sister Yun’s station has always stood so far above mine. How could I ask you to bow? We met several times when we were young. Do you remember Yingying?”
Qin Bai looked surprised. “You two know each other?”
“Her Majesty’s station is exalted. This subject’s daughter would not dare claim familiarity.”
Father was the late emperor’s personally appointed Grand General Who Guards the Realm, a first-rank official. Her father had merely been a fifth-rank secretary until his daughter became empress and lifted him into a third-rank ministerial post. By birth alone, Chu Ying and I should never have crossed paths.
But her mother and mine both ran businesses in the capital. Bai Xinrou’s family had lived here for generations and accumulated considerable property. Even Mother, formidable as she was, sometimes found it difficult to contend with a local power. Their commercial strength was evenly matched, and competing shops often sparked small quarrels.
I had met Chu Ying several times as a child, always when our mothers were at each other’s throats. She had never shown me a pleasant face, and I had never cared enough to win one. How curious that after all these years, the palace had taught her to smile at me.
“Sister, why be so distant?” Ignoring my chill, she stepped closer and seized my arm.
I disliked being touched. I had only begun to pull away when she swayed and fell to the floor.
“I know our mothers do not get along, and I know Sister dislikes me. But Yingying is empress now, no longer the insignificant daughter of a fifth-rank official whom Sister could bully. How can you still dare push me?”
Had age made her stupider? When had I pushed her?
She clutched her chest. “I stole Sister’s place as empress, and for that I wronged you. But it was His Majesty’s decree. Is Sister dissatisfied with the emperor’s decision?”
Qin Bai crouched and gathered her into his arms, then glared up at me. “Yun Qing, I truly was blind. Mother returned yesterday asking me to cancel our engagement. For the sake of our old affection, I refused. I believed you gentle and well mannered. I intended to follow the example of an ancient emperor and establish eastern and western empresses. You would have held equal rank and never needed to kneel before Yingying.”
His face twisted. “I never imagined you were such a vicious woman!”
Looking at the finger he had thrust in my face, I nearly cursed aloud. The first part of his speech was perfectly true. I had been blind. How had I failed to see what an idiot he was?
Chu Ying’s fall had been so obviously staged, yet he could not tell even when it happened beneath his nose. Could this fool truly hold a throne? Eastern and western empresses, indeed. His shamelessness could contain mountains and rivers.
“I did not push her. If Your Majesty refuses to believe me, then break our engagement. Beat me to death if you please; I will not confess to something I did not do.”
Qin Bai stared at me, chest heaving. A eunuch rushed in and whispered in his ear. After a long moment, Qin Bai pointed at the door.
“Get out! Get out of my sight!”
I left without looking back.
At the palace gate, I found Father, Mother, and my brother waiting beside the carriage. Mother kept trying to speak on the ride home.
I patted her hand. “It’s all right, Mother. Anything that can be stolen was trash to begin with.”
Only then did she relax.
The following day, Qin Bai issued a decree ending our engagement and branded me jealous and unvirtuous. He stopped just short of calling me a shrew.
Invitations from noble young ladies poured into our home. I knew how ravenous their curiosity was. Even if I felt nothing, I refused to become their entertainment, so Mother declined them all.
My maternal grandmother’s eightieth birthday was approaching. I shut myself indoors for half a month to embroider her a picture of one hundred forms of the character for longevity.
I assumed the scandal would fade. Instead, it grew. Though I was the victim, gossip transformed Qin Bai and Chu Ying into tragic childhood sweethearts cruelly kept apart, while I became the powerful general’s daughter who had forced an unwanted engagement.
Black had become white.
At lunch one day, the steward entered with a troubled face. “Madam, the Empress has sent an invitation for you and the Young Lady to attend tomorrow’s Hundred Flowers Banquet.”
Mother could refuse ordinary invitations on the strength of Father’s rank. A summons from the palace was harder to evade.
I could guess Chu Ying’s purpose. After Father claimed illness and refused to return to the frontier, Qin Bai had appointed Chu Ying’s eldest brother, Chu Feng, as Cavalry General and sent him to replace Father. The day before yesterday, her second brother, Chu Jie, had taken my brother’s post as Deputy Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.
Chu Ying invented trouble even when she had no reason. How could she resist this chance to gloat?
“Mother, perhaps I should pretend to be ill?”
These days Father cooked every delicacy he could think of, and my brother’s strange and talented acquaintances often sent me amusing trinkets. I was happy at home. Mother alone still had to go out each day to manage her shops. I did not care whether I visited the palace, but I hated the thought of her enduring more abuse for my sake. Imagining Bai Xinrou lording it over her made my blood boil.
Mother slapped the table. “Pretend? Absolutely not! I have been waiting for somewhere to avenge your humiliation, and now that blind fool has walked straight into my hands.”
“Your maternal grandfather taught nearly every civil official above the third rank. Your grandmother is the daughter of the richest man in Jiangnan. Your father commands eight hundred thousand troops, and my shops cover the empire. Except for Bai Xinrou’s local advantage in the capital, where can their family compare to ours?”
“If Chen Xian and Qin Bai stand by while that Chu girl mistreats you, I will make them regret it.”
Father hurried over to soothe her. “Do not be angry, my dear.”
My brother spoke in his usual unfathomable tone. “Mother, there is no need to rage. The Chu family will destroy itself soon enough. Qing’er, you cannot feign illness tomorrow. You must attend. Otherwise, you will miss a very fine spectacle.”
He rarely smiled, but the faint satisfaction at the corner of his mouth made my skin prickle. His predictions never failed.
The next day, Mother and I entered the palace.
We arrived late. Nearly every wife and daughter of the capital’s high officials was already present. At first, their gazes were mocking or pitying. Once we drew near and they saw our gowns and jewelry, mockery turned to envy.
Mother casually tossed a South Sea pearl to the eunuch who had guided us. “For your trouble.”
He caught it and knelt, thanking her profusely. Even after rising, he remained behind us, plainly hoping to serve us throughout the banquet. The other eunuchs and maids in the imperial garden looked equally eager, and more than one noblewoman went red with jealousy.
“A few filthy coins,” sneered the wife of the Minister of Revenue, a woman close to Bai Xinrou. “What is there to flaunt?”
Mother gave her a dismissive glance. “Reward them yourself, then. You pinch pennies so hard you cannot spare a single gold nugget. Where did you find the face to bark at me?”
“You—”
“You what? You are merely the wife of a third-rank minister, yet you fail to salute me and show no respect for rank. Do you mean to defy the law?”
The woman’s mouth twisted. She pointed at Mother, but no words emerged.
A soft voice drifted over. “Come now. The weather is too lovely for anger.”
I knew Bai Xinrou without looking. She wanted to play peacemaker, but Mother had no intention of letting her.
“True. Birds of a feather flock together, and dogs run in packs. I should not lose my temper at beasts.”
Bai Xinrou’s expression changed. “What did you say?”
“Nothing important. I simply enjoy the sight of people who hate me but cannot do anything about it.”
Mother adjusted the ruby in her hair and led me away without another glance.
Before the banquet began, the minister’s wife sat two or three places below Mother—far above the seat her own rank warranted, thanks to Bai Xinrou’s influence.
“A family of useless people clinging to two empty titles,” she spat. “Let us see how long they remain proud.”
Mother did not even turn. “Whose dog is barking?”
The woman nearly overturned her table.
I relaxed, sat beside Mother, and watched the maids serve the dishes. Under the table, I gave her a thumbs-up. I had underestimated her ability to fight.
Music began. Everyone fawned over Chu Ying and Bai Xinrou, praising Chu Feng and Chu Jie while insulting the Yun family to elevate theirs. The mother and daughter were almost dizzy with delight.
Mother and I ignored them and concentrated on our food.
“The shrimp is not as good as Father’s,” I whispered.
“I agree.”
Our pleasant discussion was interrupted by Bai Rong, one of Chu Ying’s closest friends.
“Yun Qing, why have your father and brother not left their home for more than ten days? Surely they are not dying?”
“Watch your mouth.”
She laughed. “Are we forbidden to speak now? Your mother’s sharp tongue is the only weapon your family has left. The whole capital knows your father’s old wounds have worsened and he has only days to live. As for your brother, the moment that ghost-murder case appeared, he hid at home. People at the Court of Judicial Review say the ghost frightened him senseless.”
Her voice rose with every sentence. Those who disliked us joined in, especially the Minister of Revenue’s wife.
Bai Rong walked to Chu Ying and poured her wine. “Her Majesty’s elder brother is a great hero defending the realm. Her second brother took charge of the Court of Judicial Review and bravely assumed responsibility for the ghost case. How can that household of sick, foolish weaklings compare?”
“Rong’er, that is too harsh,” Chu Ying chided, though the look in her eyes and the cup she accepted told another story.
The other ladies understood and began cataloguing the Yun family’s failings.
Mother listened in silence, memorizing every face that spoke ill of Father and my brother.
Bai Xinrou approached with a handkerchief to dab at nonexistent tears. “Sister Luo, we have competed for many years. I wanted to defeat you, but I never imagined your family would fall so low. How tragic. After all our struggles, I almost wish I could suffer in your place.”
“Do you truly?” Mother asked with a meaningful smile.
“I would, but Heaven would never allow it. Heaven has eyes and knows good from evil. The wicked always receive their punishment. A husband with days to live and a son gone mad—is that not retribution, Sister Luo?”
Behind her handkerchief, Bai Xinrou could barely contain her smile.
Mother smiled too. “I also believe Heaven has eyes. When I return home tonight, I shall burn incense in gratitude.”
Bai Xinrou’s smile stiffened. “Have you lost your mind?”
Her words drew a crowd.
“No,” Mother said. “You are about to lose yours.”
At that moment, a eunuch stumbled into the garden, gasping for breath.
“Your Majesty, summon the imperial physicians! General Chu Feng was found outside the city, barely alive. The guards have carried him into the palace!”
A servant raced in behind him. “Madam, hurry home! Second Young Master Chu Jie fainted while investigating the case. Since waking, he calls every person he sees ‘Father.’ The master is beside himself!”