chapter 8
By day, the Empress forced herself to care for Princess Jingyi. At night, heart palpitations kept her from sleeping. At last, her body collapsed completely.
Outside the bedchamber, sweat poured down the imperial physician’s face.
“Your Majesty… Her Majesty was already weak and depleted after childbirth. Then she exhausted herself caring for the twins day and night.
“Added to the illness that took root several years ago, I fear…”
The Emperor grew impatient with his stammering. “Say it.”
The physician bent even lower. “I fear Her Majesty will never conceive again.”
The Emperor went still.
A medicine bowl shattered inside.
As if sensing something, he turned and met the Empress’s eyes. Her face was pale as paper, her gaze empty.
“Your Majesty, I have failed you…”
The Emperor went to her and gathered her skeletal body into his arms.
“Chenxiang,” he promised, enunciating every word, “no matter what happens, you will always be Our Empress.”
The Ninth Princess’s illness receded and returned, tormenting the Empress without pause. She grew more haggard by the day, and white appeared prematurely in her hair.
Lizhi and I took turns watching beside her bed, helpless as she continued to waste away.
After every shift, I went to the side hall. Since I could not sleep, I kept trying to repair the cracked white-glazed vase.
Only while restoring porcelain could I find a measure of my old peace.
Yet although I filled the missing piece at the rim, the cracks in the body continued to spread.
With the Empress gravely ill, the Emperor permitted her family to visit.
I thought it would comfort her.
But Madam Shen did not come alone. She brought Third Miss Shen—the Empress’s younger half sister, Shen Liluo.
At first sight, I faltered.
She resembled the Empress so closely that for an instant I thought I was looking at Shen Chenxiang as a young girl.
I was still bewildered when Lizhi understood.
Her eyes reddened. “Madam, how could you…”
The Empress, her face bloodless, interrupted Lizhi and dismissed every servant.
After the Shens left, she sat alone and unmoving for the rest of the day.
That night, I kept the first watch.
“Ah Fu?”
A gentle, exhausted voice drifted from within the bed curtains.
I rubbed my sleepy eyes. “Your Majesty?”
“Jingyi…?”
“The Ninth Princess is much better,” I hurried to assure her. “The physician says a few more days of quiet recovery may see her completely well.”
The Empress nodded faintly. “Did His Majesty come today?”
Almost at once, she answered herself in a murmur. “The court is in an uproar over deposing the Empress. His Majesty must be terribly busy. He likely has no time for the harem.”
She had not spoken so many words at once in days.
Seeing her alert and thinking she might be improving, I brightened. “Your Majesty, the Emperor loves and honors you. He will withstand the pressure for your sake.”
She did not answer. Instead, she turned her head and looked toward me through the curtains.
“Ah Fu, you have a pair of clever hands. You mend the worn and revive the ruined until old things appear new again.
“Even you are unchanged from the day I met you.
“I envy you.”
Unease tightened my chest.
“Your Majesty is unchanged too,” I said. “You are still as kind and beautiful as the day I first saw you.”
The Empress seemed to laugh softly.
Silence settled for a moment. Then she suddenly asked about the white-glazed yuhuchun vase.
“I’ve nearly finished restoring it,” I said quickly.
“Would you like to see it?”
“Yes,” said the Empress.