by Qinghan CeCe
When she got back to the Prince of Kui’s palace, it was already about ten. By the time she heated water, took a bath, washed and hung her clothes, and went to bed, it was midnight.
At dawn, she was startled awake by a knock on the door. “Yang Chonggu! Get up!”
Huang Zixia sat up with difficulty and said, “Who is it?”
“The Prince sent orders for you to go to the gate of Daming Palace immediately.”
She felt miserable. “Isn’t the Prince at a meeting?”
“The Emperor isn’t feeling well this morning so they canceled, and the Prince would like you to go immediately. What’s it matter to you, anyway, little eunuch? Just do as you’re told.”
“Right, right, right . . .”
She washed quickly and hurried to Daming Palace, but by the time she got there, the sun was already high. Li Shubai was at the palace gate speaking cheerfully with a Uighur person. She didn’t understand a word. Huang Zixia stood next to them. Li Shubai apparently said goodbye, and the man left. Then Li Shubai invited Huang Zixia into his carriage.
He closed his eyes and smiled slightly. “What were you talking about?” Huang Zixia asked.
Li Shubai looked at her. “You wouldn’t want to know.”
Huang Zixia felt this meant “beg me.” She decided to humor him. “Really. What were you talking about?”
“This is a good eunuch, cheerful and still manly.”
“Guess I shouldn’t have asked.” Huang Zixia turned to look out the window. “Where are we going?”
“There are no clues in the case, right? I’ll help you find some.”
Huang Zixia’s eyes lit up. “Li Run’s palace?”
Li Shubai smiled and nodded. “It’d be hard for you to go alone, so I’m taking you.”
“Right. It seems Li Run is housing Chen Nian. If there are any clues, they’re with Feng Yi’s body or Chen Nian.” Then she remembered to tell him about Jin Nu. After, she asked, “Do you think we should tell the court to question her?”
Li Shubai nodded. “Sooner the better.”
The carriage suddenly stopped.
A guard tapped the wall and said, “Princess Qi Le has stopped us.”
Li Shubai frowned slightly and looked out the curtain. Princess Qi Le’s carriage was ahead. She was walking toward them.
The normally haughty Princess Qi Le teared up and bowed at the sight of him. “Hello, Your Highness.”
Li Shubai bowed back. “How can I be of service to the Princess?”
“Prince of Kui, sir, I heard the rumors about the Princess of Kui came from me. I hope I haven’t worried you, but I just felt so uneasy . . .” Her sparkling almond eyes suddenly looked at him. The plumpness of her cheeks had lessened greatly. Obviously, she had not been well since Li Shubai chose his Princess.
Li Shubai just looked at her calmly. “No matter. Wang Ruo’s disappearance in the palace was strange, but that doesn’t mean we won’t find her. When we do, you can make amends.”
“But I heard that . . .” She swallowed and whispered. “Ghosts may be responsible, and she may already no longer be with us.” Huang Zixia studied this attempt at desperation that couldn’t conceal her glee. Everyone could see right through her acts.
Li Shubai was unmoved. He comforted Princess Qi Le, but she cried harder. He hesitated, looking helpless, then wiped her tears away.
Huang Zixia saw the desperation on his face. “Princess, Jing Yu already let Li Run know we’re coming. I’m afraid he may be waiting, you know.”
Li Shubai nodded. “I must be going. Please be calm, Princess. I’ll take care of everything.”
Princess Qi Le stood watching him get back in his carriage. Only then did she return to her own.
“You think I should have ignored her instead of helped her?” he asked.
Huang Zixia didn’t respond, but she knew she was wearing her heart on her sleeve.
“Before, when the Emperor died, she was the only one who held my hand and comforted me.”
“So you keep stringing her along and make her the talk throughout the city.”
He glanced at her but didn’t speak. The clear water in the glass jar hanging on the carriage wall shook slightly with the bumps. The red fish seemed accustomed to the circumstances as he lay placidly on the bottom.
Sometime later, he said, “You know she was born with a defect that won’t let her live past twenty?” Huang Zixia stared at him. He looked at the fish. “Even though the Prince of Yi was part of the royal family, the Emperor had no son, so he granted him that title so he could prepare to take the throne. If it weren’t for a battle at court, he would have ruled the world. He was heir to the throne, but that birth defect kept him from it. The Prince of Yi died, and Qi Le’s brothers died, leaving her all alone. How else could she dare take my hand when my father the Emperor died?”
Huang Zixia didn’t answer. She thought about the girl with apple cheeks and almond eyes who had become a citywide laughingstock. After a time, she whispered, “Does Princess Qi Le know?”
“I think she knows her situation’s bad but not how good it could have been,” he said, slowly closing his eyes. “Let her fantasize for a few days. Later, she won’t have the chance.”
Ten
THE SIX WOMEN OF YUNSHAO
The carriage rolled through the streets of western Changan and arrived at the gates of Li Run’s palace.
Huang Zixia followed Li Shubai out. Li Run was already waiting for them. He still looked handsome and refined, a restrained smile on his face, his clothing and body gently luxurious. The cinnabar mole on his forehead made his thin facial features take on a beautiful brilliance. He smiled and nodded at Huang Zixia, then greeted Li Shubai. “Weren’t you supposed to meet with the Uighur Prince at Daming Palace this morning? How do you have time to see me?”
“Nothing important, just routine stuff. But he gave me red sandalwood beads. I thought you might like them, so I brought them to give to you.”
“You know me well, brother!” Li Run took them happily and felt them one at a time. “Come sit. I just got a cake of tea from Tianxi. It’s very fresh. Come drink some.”
The drawing room’s windows and doors were all open. Outside, there was a small spring surrounded by some white stones and a large shrub. Huang Zixia sipped her tea. Two poems by Wang Wei hung on the wall. One said, The pine wind blows through the forest, touching my clothes tenderly. The mountain moon shines on me as I play my instrument. The other said, The moonlight shines on the pines; the creek flows over the stones.
Li Shubai tasted the tea. “This is a really poetic atmosphere.”
Huang Zixia immediately understood what he was getting at. “If there was music, that’d be incredible,” she said softly.
“Chonggu’s right. Luckily, I have a musician right here.” Li Run smiled, nodded, and called for Chen Nian.
“Mr. Yang,” she said, happy to see Huang Zixia.
Huang Zixia nodded, and her right hand involuntarily twitched in its sleeve. Her pocket held the jade from the skeleton. Huang Zixia was moved at the sight of her. This jade has your name engraved on it. Feng Yi never let it leave her side! She stayed calm on the outside. “Chen Nian, I’m sorry, but there’s no news from the ministry on the whereabouts of your partner. We’ll have to keep waiting.”
She nodded a little tiredly. Still, her playing was amazing.
“I don’t think anyone in the academy can match Chen Nian!” Li Shubai said.
Li Run smiled. “I don’t think so either. She’s one of the best in the empire.”
“Chonggu,” Li Shubai said casually, “last time you heard Chen Nian, you asked about songs and wanted to learn guqin yourself. Now’s your chance. Why not ask Master Chen?”
Huang Zixia was amazed at his ability to sound so natural while lying. She helped Chen Nian put the guqin back in its bag and carried it to the music room. Li Run had treated Chen Nian like a guest of honor. Her room was next to a small courtyard in the eastern corner
of the palace. It was full of bamboo, sparse and quiet.
“Learning guqin is a lifetime of hard work. It might be hard for you to learn with your busy schedule. If you just want to whet your appetite, then I can teach you a few simple songs. Have you learned the basic positions and finger techniques?”
Huang Zixia asked her to teach her, and Chen Nian did. Soon it was afternoon, and the palace staff brought them lunch. Huang Zixia noticed Chen Nian ate very little. “Master Chen, you look thin these days. Please don’t worry too much. I’m sure Feng Yi wouldn’t want to see you suffering.”
Chen Nian looked up at her and smiled reluctantly. “Thank you, little eunuch, but I can’t relax. When I close my eyes at night, I see her face. We were inseparable for ten years. Now it’s just me. I don’t know how to go on.”
Huang Zixia patted her hand and thought of her parents. She clutched the white jade in her sleeve. She gave the portrait back to Chen Nian. “I asked them to make a copy so they could keep helping you look, okay?”
Chen Nian took it. “Of course. Thank you so much.”
“You were so close to Feng Yi, but she never told you who asked her for help?”
“No. Feng Yi didn’t hide anything from me, but this time all she said was she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
Huang Zixia thought a moment. “She didn’t hide anything from you; can you think of an old friend who would excite her like that?”
Chen Nian tuned the strings. “She really didn’t hide anything. Though we grew up together, studied together, fate was not good to her. Once, she was sold to a brothel. Luckily, a patron bought her to be his wife. The woman of the house hated her, so she had to save money to buy freedom herself. After, she joined the Yunshao Court musicians. I was always in Luoyang. I only found out she was in Yangzhou when I got a letter from her a few years later. It said, ‘Chen Nian, we promised to be by each other’s side forever.’” Tears started falling down Chen Nian’s face.
So Chen Nian didn’t know who her old friend was either?
Chen Nian saw her thinking. “Little eunuch,” she said, “are these things related to finding her?”
Huang Zixia hesitated, then nodded. “The ministry didn’t find any records, so I sneaked a look myself. Since something happened at the palace recently, I’m working with the board and court and might have another chance to help you find Feng Yi.”
“Thank you so much, little eunuch! If you need to ask me anything, I’ll tell you whatever I can.”
“I think the most important thing is to find out who the old friend who asked her to go to the capital was.”
“I guess I must have asked at the time, but I really don’t know.”
“I think the old friend would most likely be one of her peers, someone who left Yunshao Court.”
“Okay, in that case, it must’ve been someone she met while we were apart,” Chen Nian said carefully, holding up her index finger. “When Feng Yi and I were together, we were so close. Everyone she knew at Yunshao, I also knew. Must be someone I wasn’t familiar with. Otherwise, she would have told me who asked her to escort their daughter.”
“How long ago did you two separate? Is there anyone who would know what was going on back then?”
“Must be fifteen or sixteen years. Yunshao Court is a bustling place. People come and go all the time. The old people who were around are mostly all gone.”
“But for someone to ask for this favor more than ten years later means they wouldn’t have been a casual acquaintance. At the least, whatever happened back then wouldn’t have been easily forgotten.” Huang Zixia thought a moment. “Could there be something she didn’t tell you about?”
Chen Nian thought a moment, then suddenly said, “Ah, the Six Women of Yunshao.”
The Six Women of Yunshao. Huang Zixia remembered Jin Nu mentioning the founders of the Yunshao Court.
“Over ten years ago, the six best female performers in Yangzhou joined to establish Yunshao Court, and named it after China’s Wu Zetian, China’s first Empress’s courtyard. They still use her dagger during rituals!”
How strange, Huang Zixia thought, a musical academy worshipping with a dagger. “How did it end up in Yangzhou?”
“The oldest of the Six Women of Yunshao was a descendent of Gong Sun. At that time, Gong Sun was renowned for her sword dancing, so Emperor Xuanzong gave the dagger to her. After the trouble in Anshi, Gong Sun gave it to one of her disciples’ disciples, who ended up being the eldest of the Six Women of Yunshao, Gong Sunyuan.”
“Who among the six was closest to Feng Yi?”
“When I went, only Sunyuan remained. They said the others had married or left. Feng Yi said if it weren’t for the Six Women of Yunshao, she couldn’t have paid the ransom that got her out of that brothel. I think they wanted to sell her again, but because of her talent, they made a deal and bought her themselves. It’s a shame they hardly kept in touch. I only met Sunyuan, the oldest, and Lan Dai, who is the third oldest. Even though they were famous in Yangzhou, they still came out of a music academy, so marrying into a good family wasn’t easy.”
Huang Zixia nodded. Though she couldn’t be sure the woman who called on Feng Yi was one of the Six Women, it was a lead. “Do you know Jin Nu?”
“Of course. Last time I played for the Princes was because Jin Nu set it up.”
“Please tell me more about her.” Huang Zixia took her hand. “Like her background, whom she was friends with.”
Chen Nian frowned slightly in recollection. “There were a lot of musicians in Yangzhou, but Jin Nu’s playing was amazing. A prodigy, really. She knew a lot of important people and their children, and never seemed to make enemies. We didn’t talk much, but she is a good person. She saw me here after I ran out of money. When she found out my situation, she helped me find a place to stay and pay rent. I think she got along well with people at the academy. As for the girls here, I don’t know.”
“I heard her master was called Mei Wanzhi, one of the Six Women?” Huang Zixia asked.
“That’s what I heard. Wanzhi was the best player back then. She adopted Jin Nu when she was five and treated her like her own flesh and blood. Later, when she had her daughter Xuese, people said she still treated Jin Nu better.”
“Xuese?” She wasn’t sure if she’d said Xuese as in “snow” or Xuese as in “blood red.” Huang Zixia’s mind suddenly flashed.
Chen Nian didn’t notice. “Yes, Xuese.” Snow.
“Mei Wanzhi married an artist with the surname Cheng. He was very good-looking and a good painter, but deep down he was different from other people.”
Huang Zixia could tell the memories were coming back. She squeezed Chen Nian’s hand. “Her daughter Xuese. How is she now?”
Chen Nian looked at her in surprise. “Her daughter didn’t have the best fate. Her mother died before her fifth birthday. Her father took her back to his hometown of Liuzhou, but there was no way to make a living. She lived in poverty and ill health during her childhood. Greedy relatives quickly forced them to sell their land, leaving Xuese without a home. Then, some of the remaining Six Women heard and brought her to Yangzhou. Everyone was excited. When she arrived, I went with Feng Yi and a big group to greet her. The thirteen-year-old girl had traveled thousands of miles. She was disheveled, dirty, and thin. She wasn’t nearly as beautiful or elegant as Wanzhi. The people cried, saying they couldn’t believe her daughter had suffered like that.”
“So where is Xuese now?”
“Lan Dai took her to Puzhou. Feng Yi and I only saw her that once in the crowd. We didn’t even get a good enough look at her to remember what she looks like.”
“I see. Does she play music?”
“I really don’t know. Her mother was a wonderful pipa player, but when Xuese came along, she was already past her prime.”
“Mei Wanzhi was very beautiful?” Huang Zixia asked.
“I never saw her, but I heard she was truly beautiful!” Chen Nian said firmly. “Yunshao Court is always f
ull of beautiful women. Jin Nu is one, but Feng Yi always said Xuese was far from matching her mother. As far as beauty goes, Mei Wanzhi was the only truly stunning one.”
“I see. Jin Nu did say her master was a world-class beauty.”
“When Mei Wanzhi died, Jin Nu wasn’t much older than ten, but she was always talking about her. It wasn’t just that Mei Wanzhi saved Jin Nu’s life. Jin Nu worshipped her. I heard, when she left Yunshao Court for the capital, she went out of her way to go to Puzhou to see Lan Dai and visit Xuese. Holding her pipa in her arms, she kneeled in front of Mei Wanzhi’s portrait for half an hour.”
“Mei Wanzhi has a portrait?” Huang Zixia asked.
“Mei Wanzhi’s husband was a painter. Poor as he was, he was good. He even painted a group portrait of the Six Women of Yunshao. Lan Dai has it.”
Huang Zixia nodded. “Would it be possible to borrow that and have a look?”
“Certainly. When Lan Dai left Yangzhou, she left me her address in Puzhou. I’ll ask Xuese to send it over. Should take a day or two.”
“Really?” Huang Zixia said. “That’s great. If Xuese can personally send the portrait, I think that will help.”
“Sure. I’ll write Lan Dai a letter today.”
“Thank you so much.”
Back at the palace, Li Shubai frowned as Huang Zixia told him what she’d learned. “How could something so long ago and so far away be relevant?”
“I was surprised too,” Huang Zixia said, “but there’s good reason to believe it’s related.” They walked over a bridge toward Jingyu Hall as they discussed the case. Li Shubai didn’t like to be surrounded by attendants, so there were a few eunuch guards following far behind. On the bridge, it was just the two of them. Lanterns hanging between the shore and forest had been lit. They looked down. The lanterns were reflected in the water with the moon and stars, twinkling. The two seemed to be suspended in space.
Li Shubai turned to look at Huang Zixia, who was a few feet behind him, and paused to admire the beauty of her eyes in this light.
Suddenly, a clamor of footsteps broke the peace. Someone ran toward the bridge shouting, “Prince! My Prince!”
