Chapter 5
One month later, two events set the capital abuzz.
The first was Liu Qingyan’s coming-of-age ceremony. As the chancellor’s legitimate daughter and the apple of his eye, she was honored with an extravagant banquet attended by virtually every noble and powerful family in the capital.
The second concerned a wandering Daoist who stood outside the chancellor’s estate for an entire day and night. Before departing, he pronounced, “The phoenix has come to grace this house. One within the chancellor’s residence bears the destiny of a phoenix. He who weds her shall win the realm.”
The prophecy spread through every alley and teahouse. Though the Daoist had not named the woman, everyone assumed it could only be Liu Qingyan.
At any other time, the Liu household would have rejoiced. After all, Liu Qingyan and the Crown Prince had privately pledged themselves to each other long ago.
But this was a delicate moment. The emperor was still in the prime of life, and his only sons were the Crown Prince and Prince Liang.
Until recently, all had been peaceful. Then the emperor caught a chill. It began as a mild illness, but rather than improving, it grew steadily worse. He had not attended court for an entire month.
The court and the common people seethed with speculation. Both the Crown Prince and Prince Liang began to wonder whether the emperor was failing. For that very reason, each became exceptionally cautious, terrified of arousing their father’s suspicion. Nothing was more dangerous than an emperor’s mistrust—especially the mistrust of an emperor who believed he was dying.
Thus, the revelation that Liu Qingyan bore the destiny of a phoenix was deeply troublesome. Everyone already considered her and the Crown Prince a pair. Had the emperor been in good health, he would have welcomed the news that his future daughter-in-law was destined to become empress. He might even have decreed their marriage himself.
But now that he was gravely ill, he would inevitably suspect that the Crown Prince could no longer wait to take the throne.
Once that seed of doubt took root, one misstep could plunge both the Crown Prince and the Liu household into disaster.
Sure enough, no more than half a month after the rumor began, an imperial decree arrived. The woman of phoenix destiny in the Liu household was to enter the palace and serve at the emperor’s side.
The decree threw the entire estate into chaos. Liu Qingyan threatened to kill herself rather than go.
“I won’t enter the palace! The emperor is already forty—how many years can he possibly have left? If I marry him, my whole life will be ruined!”
Liu Qingyan stared at Lady Wang with red-rimmed eyes.
Lady Wang said nothing. Father was silent too. A suffocating gloom hung over Liu Qingyan’s courtyard, and all of us maids knelt outside the door, scarcely daring to breathe.
A month earlier, I had gone to Lady Wang and asked to serve in the household. Perhaps Mother’s death had put her at ease, because she agreed. Quite naturally, I was assigned to Liu Qingyan’s courtyard.
When neither parent answered, Liu Qingyan continued tearfully, “Father, Mother, are you truly going to stand by and watch your daughter die?”
Lady Wang gathered her into a distressed embrace and wiped away her tears. Then she turned to Father. “My lord, that wandering Daoist only said someone in our residence possessed the destiny of a phoenix. He never said it was Yan’er. Why not send someone else in her place?”
Father answered darkly, “Who else in the Liu household could possibly be described that way? Yan’er is our only daughter. If we send some random girl and the emperor charges us with deceiving the throne, what then?”
Liu Qingyan pointed at me in protest. “Father, don’t you have another daughter? Send her…”
At her words, Father and Lady Wang both turned their eyes on me. I bowed my head and pretended to tremble with fear. Inside, however, I was elated. I knew they were tempted.
They had placed all their hopes on Liu Qingyan. Marrying the Crown Prince and becoming the future empress was far better than entering the palace now as one concubine among many.
Sure enough, two months later, I entered the palace under the identity of the Liu household’s eldest legitimate daughter. The story given to the public was that Lady Wang had registered me under her name at birth, making me the eldest legitimate daughter.
I had been sickly as a child, so an enlightened master had supposedly warned that I would survive to adulthood only if I cultivated in seclusion at a temple. My grief-stricken parents had therefore sent me away. After more than ten years there, I had amassed such blessings that the prophecy of my phoenix destiny emerged.
Some believed the tale, and some did not. It made no difference. I entered the imperial harem with the rank of Jieyu.
Before I left, Father spoke directly to me for the first time in my life. “Know your place. If you dare make a single move, I will see that you die without even a grave to hold your bones!”