Chapter 22

Chapter 22

One by one, palace lanterns rose out of the darkness. Thus began the court banquet for my twenty-sixth birthday.

Danchi occupied the seat of honor, flanked by the two beauties who had most recently become his favorites. They fed him from either side, but he had grown so old and fat that wine mingled with saliva often dribbled from the corner of his mouth.

The envoys entered in order and took their assigned seats. Most dared not raise their heads. Danchi had once imagined a minister was looking at him disrespectfully, seized a sword, and beheaded an entire row of men.

Naihe alone showed no fear. Dressed in white monastic robes, he sat quietly with his back straight, like a solitary moon. I could sense the women stealing glances in his direction.

“What do you plan to do with him, Princess? Are you truly going to keep him in the palace?” Youchun was watching him too as she whispered.

“What else can I do? He is still a child. One look tells you he understands nothing but his Buddha. Keep an eye on him. He is General He Sulong’s disciple, after all. We cannot let him lose his life without even understanding how.”

I looked his way. He immediately raised his head to meet my eyes and smiled serenely.

For some reason, the smile made my heart ache. I said to Youchun, “I keep thinking this boy resembles someone I know, but I cannot remember who.”

Youchun studied him blankly for a moment, then exclaimed, “He – he looks like the First Prince!”

“What?”

“He does. He truly does. Look at their noses and eyes – they are exactly alike. It’s only that the First Prince is rough and dark, nowhere near as handsome.”

I did not know whether to laugh or scold her. “Be quiet. Go receive the envoys at the front. Nothing can go wrong tonight.”

Whatever factions they supported in ordinary times, the ministers’ wives all offered enthusiastic birthday wishes. I found that the women of Southern Xu who had married Northern Qian nobles were now indistinguishable amid the warm and false pleasantries. I could no longer tell them apart from the other ladies.

That was for the best. People had to grow. Everyone had a road fate required them to walk. Who did not look up along the way to find absurdity on every side, the places unchanged and all the people gone?

A quiet murmur of admiration suddenly swept through the crowd. Following their gazes, I saw Chen Dong’s wife, Yu Ning.

She was no longer the trembling woman who had first returned to Nancheng. Tonight she was the grandest and most beautiful woman present. Her already vivid features had been exquisitely painted, making her dazzling enough to steal the soul. Her sky-blue brocade robe bore a white peacock gazing at the moon. It was woven using a lost Southern Xu technique, so light and translucent that it shimmered softly as she moved. Even in Southern Xu’s finest days, it would have been worth a thousand pieces of gold.

“The First Prince brought it back for me from his inspection of Zha County the other day. Such valuable cloth is too precious for ordinary wear, but I thought it would please him if I wore it today. Imperial Mother does not mind, does she?” she asked shyly.

“Of course not.” I reached out and pinched Donglin’s cheek. “How old are you?”

He hid bashfully behind his mother and held up six chubby fingers.

“Donglin, what did Mother teach you? Hurry and greet your imperial grandmother,” Yu Ning said softly, stroking his head.

I froze, then smiled. “It doesn’t matter.”

Nothing unexpected happened that day, except that I drank too much.

Ordinarily, I consumed very little food or wine. But on an occasion like this, every cup could signal an oath of allegiance or the collapse of an alliance. What had to be drunk could not be refused.

Northern Qian wine was fierce enough to set the soul aflame. I could not afford to disgrace myself. When the wine had taken hold, I withdrew to the third-floor terrace for fresh air.
From the third floor, the entire banquet lay open below me. I saw Danchi’s ugly excesses, the envoys whispering among themselves, and the hidden currents seething between the women. Not even the most accomplished painter could have captured so intricate a scene.

Footsteps sounded behind me.

“Did you see the First Princess Consort?” Thinking it was Youchun, I spoke without turning, my words blurred by wine. “Her sky-blue brocade dress was so beautiful. But I could never dress that way.”

The footsteps drew closer. The person stopped beside me and said softly, “Your Majesty, I have something to tell you.”

It was a young man’s voice.

I turned. In the gathering darkness, I saw him.

“Does your head still hurt at night?” I asked dazedly.

“What?”

“Do you know? I hate you. I want to kill you.” My voice was soft. “But I want so badly to wear a beautiful dress for you.”

The evening wind snapped at my clothes. He stared at me in bewilderment.

You must be a dream.

I tilted my head and kissed him on the lips.

Thunder murmured across the sky. I surfaced from my stupor, my skin filmed with sweat. The terrace was empty. I was alone.

“Princess.”

It was Youchun. She climbed the stairs slowly and called to me. “It’s going to rain. We may have to end the banquet early.”

My head felt ready to split. As I rose, I asked, “How long was I asleep? That was terribly discourteous.”

“Not long. I doubt anyone noticed.”

I hesitated. “Did anyone come up here?”

“No. The third floor can only be reached by a hidden passage. No one knows about it but you and me.”

Leaning on her hand, I slowly stood. “I think I had a dream. A very strange dream.”

We were about to descend when a scream rang out in the distance, followed by a roar of voices and chaotic footsteps. Youchun and I exchanged a look and hurried downstairs.

A crowd had gathered. When they saw me, their expressions turned peculiar. A shrill wail tore through the air like a beast’s blood-soaked claw.

“I – I was leaving with the palace attendants, but I saw him sitting in the middle of the road and went to look out of curiosity. It had nothing to do with me! Nothing!”

“The gelu is Northern Qian’s great shaman. The fate of Great Qin depends on him! You cannot escape responsibility!”

I approached, and the crowd opened a path. At its end were the envoy and palace guards, collapsed in terror. Beyond them, I saw a black shape sprawled on the ground. From a distance it resembled an animal on all fours. Up close, it proved to be a man.

It was Old Ge, the ninety-year-old Northern Qian shaman. Beneath him, blood formed a strange totem. His limbs were planted on the ground, but the most unnatural thing was his face. It had twisted into the hideous snarl of a roaring wolf. His cataract-clouded eyes had filled with blood and turned pitch black, bulging sightlessly even in death.

Part wolf, part man.

“The Wolf-Headed Buddha!” someone from Northern Qian screamed behind me. At that same moment, thunder cracked and the first torrential rain of summer came pouring down.

“It is a curse! The gelu transformed into the Wolf-Headed Buddha to punish an evil spirit!”

“What evil spirit could there be inside the imperial palace?”

“They say the gelu quarreled with the empress before this.”

“The empress is the evil spirit!”

“The empress is a demon!”