Chapter 5
The newcomer assigned to Zhongcui Palace was the most beautiful of all the women chosen that year.
They said that the moment the emperor saw her, he praised her beauty with a poem:
“Clear rivers and marshes gleam like fields of glass; mist and clouds, now pale, now dark, wash the heavens in ink.”
For a beauty so pure and unworldly, only the name Ying—luminous—would do.
Noble Lady Ying came to pay her respects as soon as she moved in.
Her manners were impeccable, naturally. But she came from a humble family and had seldom seen grand occasions, so she could not help being timid.
The moment I saw her slight frame and stubborn eyes, I knew she was the person I had been looking for.
This new Noble Lady Ying strongly resembled Su Yuling in her youth, only she was even more beautiful.
I was pleased, but I kept my manner cool and politely dismissed her.
Zhui’er was baffled.
“Your Highness, didn’t you want to form an alliance with Noble Lady Ying? Why were you so cold to her?”
I turned one of the bracelets around my wrist. “If you had just entered the palace and the empress dowager suddenly invited you to dine with her as though you were old friends, what would you think?”
Zhui’er blinked. “That my death was near?”
I burst out laughing.
“Exactly. I hold the rank of consort, while she is only a newly appointed noble lady. I stand high and she stands low. If I were the one smiling and fawning over her, it would make no sense. When something is unnatural, there is always mischief behind it. Her guard against me would only rise.”
“But if Your Highness keeps her at a distance, when will you ever become close?”
“Silly girl. Alliances are not built on closeness. They are built on a common enemy.”
Since the reign of Emperor Gaozong, imperial consorts had been forbidden to hold private property. Everything they ate, wore, and used depended on the emperor’s favor.
The women of the harem did not seek favor for love. They sought it to survive.
Noble Lady Ying’s beauty was a thorn that would keep the entire harem awake at night. Why should I worry that no opportunity would come?
After moving palaces, I had pleaded illness and withdrawn for a time. Everyone assumed I was too ashamed to show my face after losing favor.
They did not expect me to appear on the morning when the new women first paid their respects to the empress. Every face in the room soured in its own particular way.
But Su Yuling had mastered the art of composure. Though surprised, she smiled and made a show of asking after my health.
Smiling in return, I took the seat Imperial Concubine Xin offered me. I pointed to Noble Lady Ying, who was kneeling in the reception hall. “What did she do wrong? Why is she the only one in this room still on her knees?”
No one answered.
On one side stood a consort who had offended the emperor. On the other stood the empress who ruled the Six Palaces. Even a pig would know which side to choose.
Su Yuling’s smile became much more sincere.
She was waiting for me to lose my mind.
There was no need for ghosts or tricks to drive a person mad. You merely had to ignore her.
Turn her into a mute who could speak but never be heard.
The louder she shouted, the deafer everyone around her became. Soon enough, hysteria would follow.
And when she finally broke, everyone would be convinced that she was mad.
Su Yuling wanted me to see my situation clearly: every woman in the Six Palaces stood behind her and treated me as though I did not exist.
Fortunately, this puzzle was not without a solution.
“If no one will answer, then Noble Lady Ying can hardly have committed an offense. Zhui’er, help her up.”
Noble Lady Ying gave me a timid glance, then lowered her head again. She did not dare rise.
Su Yuling still said nothing.
I waited. Soon, the only sound in the room was breathing, and the silence pressed down on us all.
I swept a teacup off the table. The crack of shattering porcelain made everyone jump.
Scalding tea splashed across Imperial Concubine Xin. Unable to restrain herself, she snapped, “Consort Xian, what are you doing?”
“Oh, so you can hear. I thought you had all gone deaf.”
Then I turned to Su Yuling.
“Your Majesty, when a woman of higher rank asks a question, those beneath her must answer. To do otherwise is to scorn palace law. I asked them twice today, and not one replied. Is that not rather unruly?”
Without waiting for Su Yuling to answer, I looked at Imperial Concubine Xin and gave a derisive laugh. “A senior woman of the palace cannot observe the rules, yet she presumes to teach them to a newcomer?”
I appeared to be condemning the consorts for their lack of discipline, but in truth, I was condemning the empress for failing to govern them.
Su Yuling heard it too.
When the other women saw her expression darken, they all dropped to their knees.
With the empress and me at swords’ points, Noble Lady Ying hurried to confess that she had arrived late and deserved punishment.
I smiled. “Noble Lady Ying may not know that Her Majesty is generosity itself. If you keep kneeling, you may damage her reputation for virtue.”
Now Su Yuling had no choice but to accept the escape I had offered her. “Consort Xian is right. A minor punishment is warning enough. All of you, rise.”
Zhuting was Su Yuling’s confidante for good reason. Seeing her mistress cornered, she immediately stepped in. “His Majesty will be coming for the midday meal. Kunning Palace must begin preparations. Your Highnesses should return to your own palaces and rest.”
Su Yuling was empress in truth as well as name. She possessed not only power, but the emperor’s favor.