Chapter 4
In the days that followed, I disobeyed Shen Ning.
Once I had gathered the evidence, I laid everything before the prince. If he would give Shen Ning justice, I was prepared to die for it.
But nothing changed, except that Mincheng was sent to be raised by the empress dowager.
No—that was not entirely true.
After the prince took the throne as he had wished, Su Yuling became empress as she had wished.
I was granted the rank of consort and given the principal residence in Zhongcui Palace.
Zhongcui Palace was far from the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and the emperor disliked making the journey. Most of the women who lived there had lost his favor.
The emperor raised my rank but moved me to Zhongcui Palace. Many took it as a promotion in name and a demotion in fact.
My eldest uncle was serving on the frontier, and I had committed no offense. Giving me a high title and tucking me away somewhere quiet was reasonable enough.
Rumors were already flying. Then, on the day I moved palaces, news suddenly spread that the emperor had removed my name plaque from consideration. Everyone in the harem became certain that he truly despised me.
Zhui’er fretted. “Who could have let the news slip? Winter is almost here. What will we do if the Imperial Household Department cuts our charcoal allotment…?”
I studied the weiqi board. Black had played first, yet now clung to life by a single liberty.
“Who else? The emperor issued the secret decree himself. Other than the empress, who governs the harem, who else could have known?”
“But if it was secret, how dare the empress make sure everyone heard? Isn’t she afraid His Majesty will punish her?”
“You do not understand His Majesty, but the empress understands him perfectly. Or rather…” I placed a black stone on that final liberty. It looked like a desperate, humiliating move.
“You do not understand power. The empress understands it perfectly.”
An emperor possessed all beneath heaven. A few insignificant lives within this square enclosure called the harem were hardly worth his concern.
At sunset, when the candle flames had grown dim, Zhuting, the empress’s head maid, came from Kunning Palace with a message. Su Yuling congratulated me on my move and bestowed a pair of cinnabar bracelets upon me.
Their red was almost painful to look at. It was the color of the blood that had spilled from Shen Ning’s lips.
When I froze, Zhui’er accepted the gift for me and respectfully saw Zhuting out.
“Your Highness, what is wrong?”
I lowered my eyes and tightened my grip on the bracelets.
They had belonged to Shen Ning.
I slid one cinnabar bracelet onto each wrist. For a moment, I could not tell whether they were jewelry or shackles.
Su Yuling knew I hated her. What intrigued her more was how a consort who had lost the emperor’s favor could possibly shake the position of the empress herself.
She had sent Shen Ning’s bracelets to test whether I had truly fallen from favor.
It was almost funny.
The emperor would not avenge Shen Ning, yet for the sake of the bond we had shared, he treated me with unusual consideration. Though I had no child, he made an exception and named me Consort Xian.
But he would give me no more than that.
The promotion, the move, the removal of my plaque—these were his warnings.
If I let the matter die, I could enjoy wealth and splendor for the rest of my life. If I insisted on revenge, Zhongcui Palace would become the next cold palace.
The candle flame wavered. Zhui’er draped a cloak over my shoulders. “Your Highness, the wind is rising.”
I looked out the window. Dead leaves scattered across the ground.
The triennial selection had ended in June, and the new women were entering the palace one after another. It was time for the winds of the harem to rise as well.