Chapter 5
Qingping flung the dancer’s clothes I had taken off onto the floor.
The banquet had not yet begun, but more than half the officials’ wives had arrived. Knowing Leyi’s usual behavior, they looked at me with sympathy.
Madam Cui, in particular, looked deeply ashamed.
The empress dowager frowned in displeasure. Minister Li was one of the emperor’s most trusted officials, diligent and upright.
The emperor needed capable men, yet a princess was humiliating one of their daughters in the palace without cause.
Had the victim been a more sensitive, thin-skinned girl and taken her own life after such treatment, wouldn’t that have turned a loyal official against the throne?
The empress dowager glanced at me, kneeling in trepidation, and spoke gently.
“Don’t be frightened, child. There are rules in this palace. You will not be mistreated without cause.”
Leyi was not her daughter, but her maternal family, the Shis, commanded a formidable army.
Had Noble Consort Shi borne a son rather than only this daughter, there was no telling who would have inherited the throne.
For that reason, the empress dowager usually turned a blind eye to Leyi’s misconduct.
She summoned the princess, who predictably denied everything. With little else she could do, she ordered the maids who had taken me there punished.
But Leyi stepped in front of them.
“Mother, you would punish my people for some lowborn country wench of unknown origin?”
Her insolence enraged the empress dowager.
“Mind your tongue, Leyi! Miss Li is Minister Li’s adopted daughter, entered in his family register. How dare you speak so rudely?”
Qingping broke in indignantly.
“What grand airs, Elder Sister! What do you mean, your people? They’re palace maids and must obey palace rules. Is the empress dowager supposed to seek your permission before punishing a maid?”
The empress dowager’s expression darkened.
“Instead of serving their mistress properly, these servants encouraged her in this absurdity and disgraced the imperial family. Take them out and beat them to death!”
The maids went ashen, knocking their heads against the floor as they begged for mercy.
Their offense had not deserved death. But today the empress dowager intended to use their lives to assert her authority before Leyi and the assembled ladies. How could she spare them?
They were dragged away.
Leyi seethed. She might not care about the maids, but the public loss of face left her simmering with anger.
She shot me a vicious look and sat down in a fury.
Perhaps to soothe me, the empress dowager showed me particular favor.
She placed my seat nearer the front and repeatedly had servants replenish my food and wine.
Yet throughout the banquet, a cold gaze tracked every move I made.
When the young ladies performed their accomplishments, each brought out her finest skill, hoping to win the empress dowager’s favor.
Then one aristocratic girl rose and looked at me.
“This is Miss Li’s first palace banquet. She must have a particular talent. We can hardly wait to see it!”
Several others promptly agreed.
I laughed coldly to myself. Leyi would not give up.
I had just seen her secretly send a maid to speak to those girls.
Certain that a country girl would have no respectable accomplishment, she meant to leave me embarrassed and disgraced before everyone.
But she had no idea how long I had been waiting for this opportunity.
The empress dowager knew Leyi was deliberately making things difficult. Having just ordered her maids beaten to death, however, she did not wish to oppose her at every turn. She merely looked at me and said,
“It’s only for our amusement. Don’t be nervous. Show us whatever you can do.”
I stood up shyly.
“I come from the countryside and know nothing of music, chess, calligraphy, or painting. I can only cook a few dishes. If Your Majesty doesn’t mind, I should like to make something for everyone to try.”
Leyi scoffed.
“We ask you to perform, and you offer to cook? Mother is the empress dowager. What hasn’t she tasted? Do you imagine your cooking is finer than the imperial kitchen’s? How ridiculous.”
I blushed.
“I only know country dishes. How could I compare them to imperial cuisine? But in midsummer, every family at home makes these little refreshments for their elders. My grandmother loved them, and I often cooked them for her. I’ve only just arrived in the capital and have nothing to offer but my devotion to my elders. I hope Your Majesty will not disdain it.”
The empress dowager looked faintly moved.
“This summer heat has robbed me of my appetite. I should like to try these country refreshments.”
She asked what ingredients I needed.
I smiled.
“At home, we use whatever is close at hand and in season.”
I pointed to the broad expanse of lotus flowers in the pond beyond the pavilion.
“Lotus seedpods and seeds will do.”
Neither the empress dowager nor the ladies had seen food prepared from ingredients picked on the spot. They found it rather entertaining.
Young eunuchs went to gather them, while the imperial kitchen supplied a table, pots, bowls, and a clay stove.
Since I could not use a knife in the empress dowager’s presence, I shelled the seeds and broke up the pods by hand, making a simple lotus-leaf soup.
After the food taster tested it, the soup was presented to her.
She took one small sip, and her expression changed at once.