by Jeannie Lin
I had no choice but to do what I was told. Picking up another needle, I pressed my thumb against the meridian on the side of Yizhu’s neck to stimulate the flow of qi. I could feel his voice resonating as he addressed Chang-wei.
“What is your request?”
“Imperial Majesty, we have received a communication from the Empire of Japan,” Chang-wei began.
“Not a direct communication,” Chief Engineer Kuo interjected.
The force of his interruption caused Yizhu to raise his eyebrows. Chang-wei tightened his jaw but remained silent in deference to his superior.
“It is from an old signal tower, which hasn’t been in use for over ten years,” Kuo argued.
Yizhu let out an exasperated breath. “Then why come to me?”
“At one time our two nations collaborated on a scientific endeavor, attempting to connect across the sea,” Chang-wei argued.
“That was under the direction of the former head of the ministry,” Kuo pointed out. “His intentions might have been . . . misguided.”
He was speaking of my father. My hand froze on the Emperor’s shoulder. I quickly removed it, but not before Chang-wei saw the gesture. An unreadable look flickered across his face.
He continued impassively. “I believe the scientists in Japan still wish to make contact with us. We should send an envoy.”
“Japan has little to do with our empire,” the Emperor proclaimed.
“Indeed, the island nation has reduced the number of our ships allowed in their ports by half,” one of the senior chancellors reported.
“His Imperial Majesty is wise to be wary of our neighbor,” Kuo practically crowed. “The Japanese emperor has been less than amenable to us. There are other more pressing matters that require the ministry’s attention.”
“Then send only one representative,” Chang-wei insisted.
“Engineer Chen wishes to volunteer?” Kuo remarked snidely. “That is no surprise.”
“The chief engineer should speak more plainly,” Chang-wei returned, his voice tight. “If he wishes to make an accusation.”
“Merely an observation.” Kuo continued to direct his statements to the Emperor rather than to Chang-wei. “It seems Chen Chang-wei is always concerned with what happens outside our land than within it.”
Tensing, I waited for Chang-wei to defend himself, but he remained controlled. “The empire of Japan can be a useful ally, Imperial Majesty. They’ve gained enough knowledge of the West to develop defenses against them.”
“Their empire couldn’t possibly have anything superior to our fleet, Son of Heaven,” the chief engineer boasted. “We have already constructed a hundred airships with a hundred more to come. By his Imperial Majesty’s own orders, gunpowder fuel production has increased by three times.”
There it was. Pride. It was disloyal to even hint at a flaw in the system. A pang struck me because of what such production meant for us. More factory fortresses in the south, spewing smoke and fire. Men, women and children scoured from the fields to work the assembly lines. My brother, Tian, had narrowly missed being conscripted when we had returned to Peking instead of remaining in our village. He was only ten years old now. He’d been nine then.
The Emperor listened impassively to the argument between them before sighing in agitation. He lifted a hand to rub his temples. I rushed to hold back his sleeve so it wouldn’t upset the needles.
“When my father was Emperor, no one dared to bicker in front of him. Like quarreling children.”
Both men fell silent.
“For a thousand years, the islands of Japan were a tribute state to our empire. Then Japan began to think of itself as an equal.” Yizhu’s lip curled. “We have no need for them.”
Chief Engineer Kuo bowed, looking satisfied with the Emperor’s decision, but Chang-wei would not be silenced.
“Though Japan cannot match us in power or greatness, they are our neighbors,” he insisted. “The islands have been closed off to our empire for the last hundred years. Would it not be beneficial to firmly establish the Emperor’s status as ruler of the greatest empire? It will not be long before the Yingguoren infiltrate the islands and attempt to gain a foothold. Western traders already have a settlement there.”
“Like how the foreign devils have insinuated themselves into our ports?” Yizhu asked cuttingly.
His hand gripped the arm of the throne so hard that his knuckles turned white. Hastily, I started to remove the needles. With his temper rising as it was, the acupuncture would do him no good.
“Japan remains untouched, Imperial Majesty. We should establish ourselves as an ally. We can present a unified front against the Western nations.”
Surely Chang-wei had to know how dangerous his line of reasoning was becoming, but he stood his ground without wavering. I had to admire him for it, but I feared for him as well. I knew what happened to men who contradicted the Emperor of China.
“Imperial Majesty.” Prince Yixin’s voice was noticeably quieter than the other speakers, but the room immediately stilled. “A visit may be worth considering. Japan may not be our brother, but it is at least a cousin. Their thinking must be closer aligned with ours than with the West.”
The Emperor regarded his half brother silently. It was said that Yizhu was chosen as crown prince over his brother because the young prince didn’t harbor the same hatred of the foreign devils.
“Enough.” Yizhu shoved my hands away as I finished removing the last of the needles. “I will consider your request,” he said impatiently. “That is all.”
The men bowed and retreated from the throne room while the attendants escorted me out through a much less auspicious side door.
I hurried to the courtyard to catch Chang-wei. He was in conversation with Engineer Kuo but caught sight of me out of the corner of his eye. As the senior official moved on, Chang-wei hung back as I crossed the expanse of white stone.
“Engineer Chen.”
“Miss Jin.” His expression remained hard.
“It was unacceptable for Chief Engineer Kuo to speak to you like that.”
“He can do whatever he wishes. He’s my superior.” Chang-wei continued walking as if disinterested, but I saw how his shoulders tensed. “The Grand Council considers me a Western sympathizer and a traitor merely by association. They’ll never trust me.”
“They should trust you,” I said, angry for him. “Most of them have never been outside the walls of Peking.”
“It’s not important.” He stopped, shaking his head. “Miss Jin. Soling, what were you doing in there?”
His quiet question caught me off guard. “The Emperor summoned me.”
Chang-wei regarded me for a long moment before nodding. A nod that didn’t look like acceptance or approval. He resumed walking, keeping his gaze ahead.
“I have no choice if the Emperor commands me,” I insisted, upset that I had to defend myself at all.
His jaw clenched tight. “As you say, the Emperor commands us all. His will is law.”
Chang-wei believed in defending our land, even if he had to sacrifice himself. This was the first crack I’d seen in his loyalty to Yizhu, and it wasn’t over the empire.
I reached out to take hold of his sleeve. “I don’t seek any special favor.”
He finally met my eyes. “Be careful, Soling. That’s all.”
With that, he bid me farewell. I had forgotten that we were in public, before the watchful eyes of palace interlopers. Once Chang-wei was gone, I looked back over my shoulder and saw another face I had not seen in a long time.
Inspector Aguda wore no insignia on his robe, but his presence within the Inner Court told me he had retained a trusted position in the new regime. He was a member of the Emperor’s Forbidden Guard, dispatched for the most critical of missions.
Aguda bowed once in my direction. I return
ed the greeting warily before turning to go. The feeling of uneasiness stayed with me long after I left the shadow of the dome.
Chapter Two
The Forbidden City was ruled by routine. Whenever the routine was altered, people began to talk. I should have realized this the moment I received the summons.
I woke up the next morning long before sunrise, as I always did. The apothecary was dark and silent as I lit the stoves and brewed the herbal medicines.
The maidservants gave nothing away when they came to retrieve the trays for their respective mistresses. It wasn’t until I started my rounds in the imperial harem that I discovered something was wrong.
With my acupuncture case and medicine bag in hand, I headed to the concubines’ palace. It was a complex of private courtyards and apartments surrounded by gardens.
I was told the Xianfeng Emperor’s harem was a modest one, in terms of numbers. Not due to personal restraint, the eunuchs explained, but because the imperial treasury had been depleted in recent years—due to the extravagance of our previous sovereigns, these eternal servants were quick to point out.
The concubines’ palace was surrounded by a wall, and the single entrance was through a narrow gateway guarded by eunuchs. I passed through without incident.
Sometimes the ladies would congregate outside in the garden or sit beneath the shade of the pavilion, painting or embroidering. Today, the first courtyard was empty.
I went first to Imperial Concubine Li’s apartments. No one had been named Empress Consort yet, but Concubine Li held the highest rank—which meant Yizhu had paid her the most attention. Her apartment was the most spacious of all the concubines’, and she was assigned the greatest number of maidservants.
Two of her attendants stopped me at the door to her chamber. “Madame Physician.”
I suppose I appeared matronly to these girls. They were no older than seventeen.
“Imperial Concubine Li is indisposed at this time,” the maidservant explained.
I nodded and promised to return later. On selection day, Yizhu had chosen eighteen potential consorts, with two additional girls selected from palace servants who had caught the Emperor’s eye. Visiting all of them would take up the next few hours.
The consorts of the fifth and sixth rank were housed in the west wing. Their quarters were smaller, though still lavish compared to mine.
Noble Lady Lan occupied a chamber at the far side of the courtyard with a window facing a plum tree. Her attendant had just finished combing and pinning her hair as I entered.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” she said as soon as I entered.
Her greeting took me aback. Every morning, I came and went like a servant. None of the ladies ever paid me any attention.
“Are you well, Noble Lady?”
“As well as can be expected.”
She studied my every movement before gesturing toward the chair opposite her. It took me a moment to realize she was inviting me to sit.
“Please, Physician Jin,” she said when I started to protest. “I only ask for a little of your time. I know you must be busy while I”—she looked around her sparsely decorated chamber—“I have nothing to do but wait.”
She fixed me with a rueful smile, and I found myself complying. Lady Lan was younger than I was; seventeen or eighteen at the most.
“You’re surprised I know your name,” she stated. “I knew from the start you were not like the other servants. Your family hails from the Eight Banners, does it not?”
Her hands were folded primly in her lap, and she held her shoulders straight. Unconsciously, I had mirrored the very same posture. Such careful upbringing was hard to erase, even though my family had been banished from Peking for eight years before returning.
“My ancestors were descended from the Bordered Red Banner,” I replied, feeling strange to be speaking of such old lines.
“I was right. You are no ordinary servant,” Lady Lan murmured. “My family is of the Nara clan.”
One of the ruling clans of the empire.
“Your father was a ranking official, was he not?” the lady pressed on.
Again, my father. Every mention of him opened up a fresh wound.
“He was no one of importance.”
“Now you’re lying.” Her gaze sharpened on me, narrowing like a cat preparing to pounce on its prey.
“I’m being humble, as befits my station,” I countered.
Her lips twitched at that. Lady Lan wasn’t an obvious beauty, but there was a certain spirit about her. A directness that could have been seen as overly bold or simply honest. Her gaze was piercing and bright.
“Your station could have been in here, with the rest of us,” Lady Lan pointed out. “Yet you were assigned to the physicians’ court.”
Was this why the other concubines looked at me with such scrutiny and suspicion? Did they truly think I was yet another rival?
“I’m not of noble blood,” I protested. “Nor do I possess the training or upbringing required—”
“The Emperor summoned you yesterday,” Lady Lan interrupted.
“He required the skills of a physician.”
I wasn’t surprised she knew. The imperial harem filled their days with embroidery and gossip.
Noble Lady Lan smiled for the first time, though it was a cold one. “Ah yes, most of us are waiting for a single glance from the Emperor, let alone to be summoned to His Imperial Majesty’s presence.”
Heat rose up my neck. “The Emperor had a headache.”
“Our Emperor has a whole court of imperial physicians, and yet the Son of Heaven summoned you. Quite an honor, wouldn’t you say?”
I had formed a sense of these women over the last year. Though many were content to patiently wait in hopes of catching the Emperor’s notice, a few were ambitious to rise in the ranks. Noble Lady Lan was one of those.
“I always wondered why you were assigned to the harem,” she confessed.
“A female physician is more knowledgeable of a woman’s needs.”
Lady Lan shook her head. “Do you really think that’s the only reason? The eunuchs in the Court of Physicians perform their duties well enough. What needs do women have that are so mysterious only you can attend to us? Why not some matronly woman with years of experience raising daughters and granddaughters?”
The conversation had my teeth on edge. I hadn’t come to Peking to be dragged into the power struggles of the imperial harem.
“Two of the concubines were once maidservants, elevated directly to the fifth rank on the Emperor’s whim,” she said with a trace of bitterness. Lady Lan was only of the sixth rank herself. “It upsets the balance, this choosing based on a moment’s fancy. But none of us fear two lowly palace girls. They are not fit to be Empress or even hold the rank of noble consort, even if they bore the Emperor a son.”
She leaned closer, as if taking me into her confidence. “One needs allies in the Forbidden City, Physician Jin. The difficult part is, which one of us should you befriend? Any one of us could be Empress one day. Or we may simply fade away as old maids, in the Palace of Forgotten Favorites.”
“I am here at the service of the imperial harem,” I replied firmly. “With no other aspirations.”
“Nonsense.” She teased and scolded at once. “Everyone in the Forbidden City has aspirations. Do you know the eunuchs here gamble as well? They consider which one of us will be chosen. Who will be the mother of a future crown prince?”
I could imagine her pressing the palace eunuchs in the same manner, searching for any advantage. I glanced at her attendant, who remained in the corner, his expression unchanged. He was better trained than I.
“The truth of it is no one thinks a concubine of the sixth or fifth rank will ever catch the Emperor’s eye, let alone become Empress,” she went on. “Most think Imperial Concubine Li will b
ecome Empress one day. She’s the most beautiful of us, is she not? The Emperor certainly prefers her company. But you and I know it takes more than mere beauty to capture the Emperor’s attention.”
First Chang-wei and now Lady Lan. Emperor Yizhu’s sudden interest in me had become the inner palace’s latest scandal.
“Noble Lady Lan, I don’t seek the Emperor’s attention in the way you speak.”
“Apparently, you already have caught his interest. You have spent more time alone with the Emperor than many of us here in the harem, his chosen consorts. Our Emperor seems to find it appealing to break protocol. All men desire a challenge. A conquest, even if they have no need for it.”
“It is not my wish to interfere in any way.”
“I believe you, Physician Jin. As you admit, you are not prepared to play this game. But I am.” She declared it with such certainty that I was taken aback. “In the meantime, you have the Emperor’s regard. As temporary as it may be, that is worth more than silver and gold. That is the reason for my offer.”
“Your offer?”
Now she did smile openly. “Of my friendship, Physician Jin. It will be much more valuable when it’s the friendship of an empress.”
* * *
Gossip of my visit to the Emperor spread quickly. The Emperor’s eye was wandering again.
It didn’t matter if the rumors were true or not. I had been summoned. I had been brought privately before the Emperor. Even Chang-wei had looked at me differently afterward.
By the end of the next double hour, I had seen everyone but Imperial Concubine Li. As I neared her quarters, a familiar scent hung in the air. I stopped short.
It was opium smoke, both bitter and sweet at once. The air was tainted with it. The same cloying smell used to come from my mother’s chamber every day. It clung to her clothes and hair, and even though she hadn’t touched it for a long time, I knew she still craved it and the forgetfulness that only opium could bring.
The black poison was everywhere now. Even the Forbidden City wasn’t immune to its lure. The palace eunuchs and even ranking officials indulged in their pipes, but this was the harem. Imperial women were strictly regulated. Emperor Yizhu would be furious.
