“There are only three. Minister Jung, who has been serving since my father was still alive, Minister Huang, who is also old and doesn’t leave his house much anymore, and Minister Song. Minister Song is about my age. He has quickly climbed the ranks. He was put forth and sponsored by my younger brother, Prince Chun.”
“Why would Prince Chun do that?” the inspector asked.
“My brother is trying to promote himself, raise himself in the court. By promoting other ministers, they will in turn support him. It’s all guanxi, connections, you know that.”
“Would this Minister Song have a reason to harm the empress?”
“I don’t think so,” the prince replied. “It is clear he doesn’t like her. He always disagrees with her. He thinks every decision she makes is a mistake. The empress is not above criticism. She even welcomes it if she thinks it can help her. But Minister Song seems to think it is his personal job to always point out her flaws and her weaknesses.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Inspector Gong asked. “If he angers the empress, couldn’t she just demote him…or worse?”
“It’s…complicated,” Prince Kung said. “The higher men rise in the court, the more power they accumulate. More money, more friends. The higher a minister rises, the more difficult it is to demote him. Some of them even have their own armies.”
“Is Minister Song such a man?” Inspector Gong asked. “Is he someone powerful enough that he could challenge the empress? Would he benefit from her death?”
“He can’t rise any higher. Even if she died and I was made sole regent, first-rank ministers can only be princes, royal family. I don’t know what he would get out of it.”
“Does he have another motive? To help someone else rise or just to get a woman off the throne? What about your brother? Could her death help him?”
Prince Kung’s eyes grew dark. “Careful, inspector.”
Inspector Gong threw his hands up in surrender. “I have to ask. The empress tasked me with finding the killer. I think Lady Yun was an unfortunate casualty in a much bigger game. If the empress was the real target, then the killer had to be someone high-ranking, and someone with a lot to gain. The empress’s death wouldn’t benefit many people. In fact, it could cause more problems. There could be a fight for the throne or the foreign powers could nullify the agreements they signed with her. The empress’s coup wasn’t bloodless. A lapse in power is a lapse in control, and power always requires blood.”
The prince shook his head. “You may be right, but what are we to do? This is all supposition. You don’t have any proof. I can’t just walk in and accuse my brother of trying to kill the empress. He is married to her sister!”
“Family members kill each other all the time. Most murder victims are killed by people they know, not a stranger.”
Prince Kung put his elbows on his knees and rubbed his head in frustration. “How can you do this every day? It is maddening! You are never going to solve this case.”
Inspector Gong sighed. “I appreciate your confidence.”
“Maybe the empress will just lose interest.”
“Lady Li won’t.”
“Oh, yes, Lady Li. We forget what started all this. You’re right. Lady Li won’t drop this.”
“Have you been helping her in any way?”
“My spies are keeping an eye on her,” he said.
Inspector Gong felt his heart drop. Did Prince Kung know he had been in the Forbidden City? Had been in her bedchamber? “Oh? And what have they observed?”
The prince smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
The inspector shifted uncomfortably.
“I know you were there, Anguo,” the prince finally said. Inspector Gong swallowed. “How long has it been going on? Did you know her before all this began?”
“We only just met when I told her about Lady Yun’s death,” Inspector Gong replied, his mouth dry.
“You work fast,” the prince replied. “I’m not going to tell you what you and she can and can’t do. She is a gorgeous woman, and highly capable. You know I would have married her in a shot. But, and I say this as a friend, you are not one of us.”
“So everyone keeps reminding me,” the inspector said.
“I mean it,” the prince said. “If it gets out, her reputation would be ruined. Not only because she is not a chaste widow, but also because she laid with a Han. The disgrace would be…well, she would never recover. Her daughters would never recover. Right now, both of her girls are on the short list of consorts for the little emperor. They would be ruined if what their mother did got out.”
“Why do you care so much?” the inspector asked. “What exactly does she mean to you?”
“You don’t work together to overthrow a government and not develop feelings,” the prince replied. “It was a...passionate time.”
“You…you loved her?” Inspector Gong asked, his mouth agape.
“Shocking, I know,” the prince replied. “I don’t even love my own wives. They are pleasant enough, but…you know how it is. Marriage is just an arrangement, nothing more. But Lady Li, yes, I loved her. I was furious when I found out her family wouldn’t let me take her as a wife. We were so certain that we would be together after the coup. But it was not meant to be. At least the man she had been betrothed to had been a close friend, so I was able to make sure she was taken care of. Then the poor bastard went and he got himself killed. And now here we are. A woman like that shouldn’t spend the rest of her days alone. I won’t judge her for taking a man to her bed. She is still young. But you…you better be careful. If any harm comes to her or her children because of you…I will kill you.”
The inspector paused for a long time. He was shocked at the prince’s words. There was a lot of history between Lady Li and Prince Kung, perhaps more than he could ever know or should want to know. He was amazed that she could engender such passion, such loyalty from a man. No. Actually, he wasn’t. He was passionate about her as well. Had he not risked his own life by bedding her in the heart of the Forbidden City? He had lost his senses. But he would be loyal to her. He would never hurt her. He would do all he could to protect her. He had to solve this case, for her.
“I would never intentionally hurt her,” the inspector said cautiously. “She…it was her idea for me to stay in her room that night. Not that I objected. But I didn’t take advantage of her in her grief, if that is what you are worried about. And I would never reveal what happened. I care for her a great deal.”
Prince Kung laughed and waved him away. “You could never take advantage of her. That woman knows her own mind and only does exactly what she wants. You know her better than that. If she wanted to sleep with you, my friend, you didn’t stand a chance.”
“We have to solve this case and get her out of that palace,” the inspector said. “She is in danger every minute she is in there.”
“I agree,” the prince said. “Tell me what we must do.”
19
Lady Li paced in her chambers. She had to protect the empress from the poison without alerting the assassin. There simply was no way to avoid alerting the empress to the danger. In fact, maybe the empress would be willing to help Lady Li in her investigation. The empress was no stranger to danger and espionage, and they were friends. Surely the empress would understand. Lady Li shored up her courage and went to see the empress.
She had Chu prepare a bowl of simple broth so they could be sure no poison was added to it, then she carried the bowl to the empress’s palace. When Lady Li entered the empress’s sitting room, she noticed that the empress did not look well. Her eyes were closed and her skin seemed a sickly shade of green. Lady Li had a flash of panic. What if it was too late to warn her? She would never forgive herself.
One of the court ladies was massaging the empress’s forehead and another was fanning her. Another lady was sitting over to the side by herself working on her embroidery. That third woman must have been Lady Song, the daughter of Minister Song. Who else woul
d be minding her own business while the empress was obviously in distress? She must have despised the empress as much as her father did.
Lady Li walked over and took the empress’s hand. “My lady,” she whispered. “You look unwell. May I help you eat something?”
The empress opened her eyes and grimaced. “Oh, I feel terrible. I couldn’t eat anything.”
“I prepared this myself, my lady,” Lady Li said. “I am sure you will feel better after you eat it.”
The empress shook her head. “I couldn’t...”
Lady Li nodded and put the bowl down. She spoke up so all the ladies in the room could hear her. “Ladies, this room is so drab. No wonder the empress is in a poor state of mind. Head out to the garden and pick some of her favorite flowers to brighten this room.”
The empress did not object and the ladies filed out of the room. Lady Li then turned back to the empress and spoke in low tones. “My Empress,” she said. “My dear friend, I need you to listen to me. Yesterday, after I ate with you, I got terribly ill. I think there is something wrong with your food.”
The empress opened her eyes wide. “What did you say?” she asked.
“I’m sorry to tell you like this, but the fact that you are also ill concerns me. That is why I brought you broth I made myself. I believe the food from your kitchen is tainted.”
“What!” the empress shrieked as she tried to stand. “I’ll...I’ll kill them...all of them!” She stumbled and Lady Li helped her to sit back down.
“Please, my lady, you must be calm. We don’t want the person poisoning you to know that we know. We must catch the person out!”
“I’m going to be sick!” the empress cried. Lady Li grabbed a nearby basin and held it while the empress vomited.
“How?” the empress asked between retches. “How? I have several tasters. And the leftover food is sent to the servants. How did this happen? Who else is sick?”
She made an excellent point. The imperial kitchens employed several tasters, and the empress only ate a small portion of the food. There had been no other reported deaths, but it was possible that some of the servants had gotten sick. No one would report such a thing to the empress. Any ill servant would just be replaced. But if the only food that was poisoned was something that just the empress would eat, someone could easily dispose of that dish instead of distributing it.
“I will find out if anyone else is sick,” Lady Li said. “But for now, you must stop eating the food. But you can’t be obvious about it. If the poisoner thinks you suspect, he will flee and we will never find him. Same with whoever is helping him. The tasters are probably being bribed, as is whoever clears the dishes away and distributes them.”
“This is impossible!” the empress said. “Who would do this?”
“I don’t know,” Lady Li said. “Just be glad we discovered it before it was too late. Now we can find out who it is.”
“And have him put to death!” the empress spat.
Lady Li nodded. “Of course, Your Majesty.” She had forgotten that the empress could be ruthless when needed.
“Hand me your broth,” the empress said. “At least I can trust you.”
“You can always trust me, Your Majesty,” Lady Li said.
“Can I?” the empress asked as she sipped at the broth. “When you haven’t been completely honest with me since you arrived?”
Lady Li froze, unsure of how to answer.
“Don’t stare so stupidly,” the empress said. “It doesn’t become you. What I want to know is why you didn’t let me in on your little scheme in the first place. If you wanted to find out who killed Lady Yun, why didn’t you come to me first?”
Lady Li sighed. “I hope you can forgive me,” she said. “I hope you are not angry.”
The empress tilted her head. “Do you really think me so petty? Do you think I could rule a country this large if I spent my days brooding over every perceived slight?”
“You are my friend,” Lady Li said. “I didn’t want you to think I only came to the palace for Lady Yun, and not for you.”
“Women are never so simple. We always have many reasons for acting, never just one. If you came here to comfort me and find out who killed Lady Yun, how could I be angry?”
“I suppose I have been away so long, I forgot just how reasonable you are.”
“Ha! I think you have been reading too many of those libelous newspapers. The ones that say I am full of passion and too stupid to rule. The ones that call for me to be ousted immediately.”
“I never read those things,” Lady Li replied, but she knew the papers existed. Indeed, there were even members of the court who didn’t want the empress on the throne. Even though she was in the best position to rule, some would not be satisfied until she was living in a convent under lock and key. “How did you know?” she asked.
“I have spies everywhere,” the empress said. “You and the inspector were not as inconspicuous as you think, sneaking around the other night.”
Lady Li blushed. Did the empress know that she slept with Inspector Gong? Did she know that she saw her with Te-hai?
“So the inspector used you to investigate from inside the Inner Court,” the empress stated. “He really is quite clever. I honestly didn’t know how he would do it.”
“He was in a difficult situation,” Lady Li said.
The empress nodded. “I know, but what could I do? I couldn’t allow him inside. The scandal would have been irreparable! I never would have heard the end of it from the ministers.”
“But now he can solve the crime and protect the court,” Lady Li said.
“But can he protect you?” the empress asked. “What of your little indiscretion?”
“I...I don’t know. I hope no one else knows what I did,” Lady Li replied.
“You trust this man so much? This man you just met?” the empress asked.
“I do,” Lady Li replied, even surprising herself at how quickly she answered.
“Let’s just hope he is worthy of that trust,” the empress said. “There is no going back now.”
“I believe he is,” Lady Li said.
“Am I going to die?” the empress asked, suddenly changing the topic.
“My lady?” Lady Li asked, confused.
“You seem to think I am being poisoned, not that I just ate some bad food. Is it too late? Am I going to die?”
“I don’t think so,” Lady Li replied. “The poison was being given to you in small amounts. I think that it will pass through your system over time.”
“But poison isn’t what killed Lady Yun,” the empress said. “She was stabbed. So is her murder related to my poisoning?”
“That is the question,” Lady Li replied. “Can you think of any reason someone would go to such extremes to poison you? Or would hate Lady Yun enough to kill her in a rage.”
The empress shook her head. “It would seem that Lady Yun’s death was sudden. The crime was instant and violent. You might not find a longstanding reason for it. No rivalry or intricate plot. She made someone angry and in the moment, they killed her. If you don’t discover that immediate cause, you will never find her killer.”
Lady Li sighed. “I suppose not,” she said.
“On the plus side,” the empress continued. “That person is most likely not a threat to anyone else, especially me. Lady Yun was the target of their anger, and they dealt with her.”
“So you don’t think I should keep pursuing this?” Lady Li said.
“I don’t know about that,” the empress said. “But the more immediate threat is who wants me dead. Lady Yun’s killer will always be there, waiting to be found out. Whoever is trying to poison me could escape at any moment. Find the poisoner first.”
“Are you ordering me to investigate this crime, Your Majesty?” Lady Li asked with a little gleam in her eye.
The empress nodded.
20
Inspector Gong was meeting with the eunuch in charge of the Ministry Household Affai
rs, Eunuch Liu. A note from Lady Li told him to find out if any servants had taken ill after eating leftovers from the empress’s table, and a letter from Prince Kung gave the eunuch orders to comply with any of the inspector’s requests.
“The palace has hundreds of servants,” Eunuch Liu said. “You wouldn’t believe the record-keeping that goes into running this place.” He checked the labels on several scrolls before finally pulling a few from their storage shelf on the wall.
“Is everything that happens in the palace documented?” Inspector Gong asked.
“Everything,” the eunuch said. “From how much food each lady eats to who cleaned their chamber pots that day. Each palace resident has at least one head eunuch, and then depending on how high ranking the lady is, she might have several more eunuchs serving her, in addition to a stable of maids. The eunuchs are in charge of compiling detailed notes on their lady every day and then sending the notes here, where the information is dissected and recorded again. It’s a tedious process, I assure you.”
“I believe you,” the inspector said. “What happens to all the records over time? You have several hundred scrolls here, but from what you described, you must have dozens of records sent to you every day.”
“Hundreds,” Eunuch Liu corrected. “I am sent hundreds of records every day. I only keep the records here from this week. Then they are sent to the palace archives. Every few years the archives have to be cleared out because they get too crowded. Most of the scrolls from the Inner Court are just burned. No one cares what a bunch of ladies are up to day in and day out.”
“Even if that lady is an empress?” Inspector Gong asked.
The eunuch shrugged. “I only do what I am told, inspector.” Eunuch Liu opened several scrolls and quickly scanned them for the information he was looking for. “Hmm. Well, nothing seems out of the ordinary here. We had several maids that were unavailable because of their moon phase, but that’s normal. The empress recently dismissed two of her maids for incompetence, but that happens with fair regularity as well. If they spill water she will have them thrown out on their ear.”
The Qing Dynasty Mysteries - Books 1-3 Page 13
