Empress in Danger

by Zoey Gong

  “I just know,” I say.

  Honghui presses his lips and looks away for a moment. I’m afraid he doesn’t believe me, but he doesn’t want to tell me that he doesn’t.

  “Who hit you over the head?” he asks. I’d been so focused on the ghost woman, I nearly forgot about that part. I reach up and lightly touch the back of my head. I wince because it is still extremely tender.

  “I don’t know,” I say. “I was looking down at the body of the dead woman. But it must have been one of the eunuchs who had been carrying her. They ran off, but they must have come back and I didn’t hear them.”

  Honghui nods thoughtfully. “We will find out who did this to you.” He leans forward and kisses me on the forehead so lightly, I barely feel it. “Please, rest.”

  “I will,” I tell him. He stands up and storms out of the room with a purpose. After all, whether or not I am right about seeing a ghost or a dead body, someone did attack me. Me! The empress of China. And attacked me within the supposedly safe walls of the Forbidden City. That is a crime that cannot go unanswered for.

  I lean back on my pillow, but that hurts the back of my head, so I turn over a lie on my side, watching the door. Nuwa returns with a tray of tea things.

  “I’ll make a calming brew to help you sleep,” she says.

  “Thank you.” I would like to rest, at least long enough for the pain to go away. My mind is still foggy, groggy, confused, yet it still tries to make some sense of what I saw.

  If I did indeed see the body of a dead woman, who was she? Why was she there? Who killed her? Or did she die in childbirth? What happened to her baby? It seems a strange coincidence that she should die on the same night that Lihua gave birth.

  I have to turn away from Nuwa and face the blank, dark wall as thoughts start to come together. Watching Nuwa prepare the tea is too distracting in my injured state. If the woman died giving birth on the same night as Lihua gave birth, does that mean that there are now two babies within the Forbidden City?

  “Nuwa?” I say, not looking at her. “Have any maids recently given birth?”

  “A kitchen maid gave birth about three weeks ago at her mother’s home,” she says. “And I heard that one of Lady Xiuying’s maids was given leave to marry and is already with child. I suppose she will not be returning.”

  “But no one has done so recently?” I push. “Not within the Forbidden City or inner court.”

  “Gracious, no!” she says. “Any working woman within the Forbidden City is sent home to give birth.”

  Then where is the baby? I ask myself, my teeth clenched tightly closed. The answer seems so close.

  It’s Lihua’s baby is the answer that comes to me. I try to push it away. It’s too ludicrous to believe. But at the same time, it’s the only answer that makes sense. After all, Lihua gave birth without anyone present save her own maid. What I mean is, she didn’t give birth at all. She claimed she gave birth and presented the ghost lady’s baby as her own.

  Lihua was never pregnant.

  I sit up sharply and scream out in pain.

  “Your majesty!” Nuwa yells, grabbing my shoulders and trying to force me to lay down.

  “No! No!” I cry out. “I must get up. I must see!”

  “Must see what?” she asks.

  “The baby!” I say. “I must see the baby.”

  “Oh, my lady,” Nuwa says pitifully. “Yes, of course. I understand. But the child and his mother must rest now. As should you. Please, sleep, and you can visit him in the morning.”

  No, I must see him now, but I know that Nuwa will not permit me to leave my bed. But I must go see him, must look upon his face once again. I was so overcome with emotion, I didn’t look closely enough at his face. Did he look like Honghui? Does he look like the emperor’s son? I must know!

  “Please,” I beg Nuwa. “I need more than tea. My head. My head!”

  “Yes, of course, my lady!” Nuwa says. “I’ll go fetch a doctor right away.” She jumps up and heads to the door, barking orders to the maids and eunuchs who must be standing around in need of something to do. I hear the front door to the palace open and think that Nuwa must have gone to fetch the doctor herself. She would not rely on a lower-ranking maid for such an important task.

  My head is still in terrible pain, but I need to try and sneak out while I can. I climb from my bed and throw on a red robe, then slip my feet into leather slippers. It is wet out and I have already spent too much time in the elements without protection. If I am not careful, I really will catch a chill.

  I open the door to my room and see that the outer room is empty. It is the middle of the night, so I assume that much of my household is sleeping. Those on duty must be busy with whatever tasks Nuwa set them to. Before I can talk myself out of it, I cross the room and slip out the front door. I then cross the courtyard and make my way through the gate and across the nearest garden in order to avoid any patrolling guards. I don’t want anyone to try and stop me from seeing the baby. I have to see him. I must know the truth.

  When I arrive at Lihua’s palace, I am exhausted and my head is dizzy, but I cannot give up. Her guards approach me, but I tell them to go away. I am the empress, after all. They cannot tell me where I can and cannot go. They answer to me. The same with all of Lihua’s servants. They are all surprised to see me, but they cannot stop me. I dismiss her maids and eunuchs and enter the room where the little prince has been set up. A wet nurse is holding the baby, walking around the room, bouncing him to help him sleep.

  “Your majesty!” She takes a step back so quickly when she sees me, I fear she will stumble.

  “Give me the baby!” I order her. She hesitates. I’m sure I look affright, but she has no right to deny me what I ask. “Give me my son!” I practically yell.

  The wet nurse’s hands shake as she hands the baby over to me, but mine are steady. The baby cries, his mouth gaping like a little fish looking for food. Unfortunately, I have no food to give him, and I wonder if Lihua does either. I put my knuckle to his mouth to settle him and make a soft shushing sound. He is a pretty little thing. His mouth is a perfect little bow and his cheeks are full.

  But he doesn’t look like Honghui.

  Still, I suppose that isn’t proof that he is not Honghui’s son. Dongmei didn’t really favor Guozhi. In fact, now that I think about it, she looks like Honghui—

  The realization hits me so hard, I fall to my knees. I hold tightly to the baby so that I don’t drop him, but he is suddenly far less important to me.

  Dongmei. Honghui. Lady An.

  And Guozhi knew. That was why he despised Lady An so much. Dongmei is Honghui’s daughter. How could I have been so blind? Why did not I not know? Why did no one ever tell me?

  I hear a scream from behind me. I turn and see Lihua. But her face is…strange. She is screaming, but it looks as if she is smiling, laughing even.

  “Help!” she cries out. “The empress is trying to hurt my baby!”

  23

  “What?” I cry out. At first, her words don’t make any sense. Who is trying to hurt the baby? I look around, but Lihua and I are the only ones in the room.

  “Stop! Help!” she yells, then she approaches me with outstretched arms. “Please, give the baby to me. Don’t hurt him.”

  “What? Me?” I say, pushing myself to my feet awkwardly with the infant still in my arms. “I’m not hurting him. I’m just trying to look at him.”

  Lihua screams. “No! Please, please, please. I’ll do anything.”

  “What are you blabbering about?” I ask, stomping my foot. “I’m not hurting the baby, I’m just trying to look at his face.”

  Lihua’s own face drops for a moment, but just then, several guards rush into the room.

  “Oh, thank Heaven,” Lihua says, pointing toward me with a shaky hand. “Please, save my baby. She’s going to hurt him.”

  The guards hesitate, looking between Lihua and me.

  “Stop her!” Lihua orders, her voice firm and, frank
ly, terrifying.

  One of the guards steps toward me, reaching for the baby.

  “Don’t you dare touch me,” I say, holding the baby even more tightly to my chest. I can feel him start to squirm. I’m sure he doesn’t appreciate all the commotion around him as he tries to sleep.

  The guard recoils, looking to his fellow guard, who only shrugs.

  “She’s going to hurt my baby!” Lihua says. “She’s jealous and wants to kill him.”

  “Stop this!” I tell Lihua, but she only starts crying hysterically.

  “My baby! My precious baby! Please don’t hurt him.”

  “What is going on in here?” Emperor Honghui enters the room suddenly, and everyone drops to their knees. “Daiyu, what are you doing in here?”

  “She’s trying to hurt my baby!” Lihua cries before I can speak. “I entered the room and she was trying to smother him with a pillow.”

  “That’s a lie!” I say. “I was only holding him.”

  “She’s jealous, your majesty,” Lihua says, grabbing one of Honghui’s hands and tugging on it. “You saw how she acted earlier when she was here, the way she ran away. She couldn’t even pay us the proper respects she is so consumed with jealousy.”

  The baby starts to cry. I look down at him and try to comfort him with calming sounds and bouncing. I try to get another look at his face, try to see his father in him, but with his face screwed up and turning red, he looks like a little underworld creature instead of like a person.

  “Daiyu,” Honghui says, stepping toward me and holding his hand out, “give me the baby.”

  “Your majesty,” I say, “I would never—”

  “Give him to me!” Honghui commands. I hold the crying bundle out to him, and he takes it from me quickly. My heart hurts, the pain throbbing.

  “Do you really think me capable of hurting a child?” I ask. “How could you think such a thing of me?”

  Honghui hands the baby to Lihua, who leaves the room, coddling her child. Well, I’m still not convinced that it is her child at this point.

  “Daiyu,” Honghui says with a frustrated sigh. “You have not been yourself lately.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It is clear that you are jealous of Liling and her son,” Honghui says.

  “I am not!” I say, tugging on my hair.

  “Then why are you acting this way?” he asks.

  “I’m not acting any way,” I say.

  “Really?” Honghui asks. “Running around at night. Seeing ghosts and dead bodies. The way you’ve been treating Liling. You’ve been acting crazy!”

  “I am not crazy,” I say, his words hurting me more and more. “I thought you loved me.” My eyes are tearing up.

  “I do love you,” he says.

  If that is true, I want to ask him why he never told me he was Dongmei’s father. I want to know the truth. But then I remember the night we first met. The night he was sneaking out of the Forbidden City. The night I was trying to sneak back in because I had foolishly left in an attempt to find my family. If I ask him to tell me the truth, if he had been with Lady An earlier that night, if they were lovers, then it will remind him that I’ve kept secrets from him too. That I’ve been lying too. If I force him to tell me the truth about Dongmei, then he might insist that I tell him the truth about who I am, and I’m not sure I can risk that right now. He already thinks I’m acting crazy.

  Maybe I am acting crazy. Maybe I am crazy.

  Did I really see a ghost woman in the middle of the night? Did I really see a group of eunuchs carrying a dead body around? Do I really think that Lihua’s baby is someone else’s? Ever since I thought I was pregnant, my mind has been so unsettled. Nightmares, fears, jealousy. All of it has plagued me, disrupted what I thought was to be a happy, peaceful time in my life.

  “What is wrong with me?” I ask Honghui helplessly.

  “I don’t know,” he says. “I can understand you feeling jealous.”

  I have to tsk my tongue at that and turn away. I hate when he says that because I truly don’t feel that way. At least, not in the way he thinks. I’m not jealous of Lihua—I’m distrustful of her.

  “Then why did you come here in the middle of the night?” Honghui asks. “You are exhausted and injured. Why didn’t you stay in your room? Why are you here?”

  “Because I don’t think that is your son,” I say. He steps back, his mouth open. Part of me regrets telling him what I really think. But another part of me is relieved. If the baby isn’t his son, then he needs to know the truth. He can’t make the child his heir.

  “What are you talking about?” he asks.

  “If the woman I saw was real and not a ghost, then who was she? Why was she here?”

  “It was just a dream,” he says.

  “No,” I insist. “I saw her. I’m sure of it.”

  “The woman who you thought was Caihong.”

  “Stop saying that,” I say. “I can admit when I am wrong, and I was wrong about that. But I’m not wrong about seeing someone that night. Someone who was pregnant. Someone who I then saw dead.”

  “Enough!” Honghui says. “Guards!”

  “Listen to me!” I try.

  “No,” Honghui says as two guards enter the room. “You are injured and exhausted. Your mind isn’t right. I have told you to rest, now I am ordering you to.”

  Honghui then turns to the guards. “Take the empress back to her palace. Set guards outside her room and her palace gate at all times. Even during patrols, her doors and gate are not to be left unattended. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, your majesty,” the men say. They then step toward me, no hesitation this time. The emperor’s word is law in all things. Even as the empress, my words are useless against his.

  “Don’t touch me!” I tell them as they reach for my arms. “I can walk on my own.” I’ll not let them drag me away like a prisoner or crazy woman. The guards look at the emperor for confirmation, and he nods.

  “Escort the empress home,” Honghui clarifies.

  “Yes, your majesty,” they say in unison.

  I hold my chin up as I walk past Honghui and out of the room. In the main room, Lihua is there holding her baby protectively. All of her servants are there as well. I am sure that the servants heard the entirety of my conversation with Honghui. Soon, everyone in the Forbidden City will know that the emperor called me crazy. And since his word is considered truth, people might start to believe him.

  The guards walk behind me close enough to step on my heels all the way back to my palace. When I get there, Nuwa and Yanmei rush out to meet me.

  “Where have you been?” Yanmei asks, taking my hand.

  “What’s going on?” Nuwa eyes the guards warily.

  I shake my head as we walk inside. “I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

  “What’s wrong?” Yanmei asks again. She leads me to my room and helps me change into clean, warm clothes. Settled back in my own bed, the exhaustion overtaking me, I can’t stop myself from crying.

  “Oh, Yanmei,” I say. “I think I’m losing my mind.”

  “No, certainly not,” she says as she takes a handkerchief and dabs at my eyes. “Why would you say that?”

  “Do you believe that I saw the ghost woman?” I ask.

  Yanmei fusses with my blanket as she thinks on how to answer, which tells me that she does not, in fact, believe me.

  “I’m sure you saw something,” Yanmei answers tactfully.

  “But not a ghost?” I push. I don’t know why I’m punishing her this way. None of it is Yanmei’s fault. But she is my dearest, oldest, and most loyal friend. If even she does not believe me, what chance do I have that anyone else will?

  “How can I say when I was not there?” Yanmei replies, her tone even. “It could have been a maid or a dream or a ghost. I don’t know. Even if I had been with you, I might not have seen it if the ghost only wanted to appear to you.

  “That is why I say that I believe you saw som
ething. I don’t think you are crazy. But only you know what you saw.”

  “You don’t think I’m crazy?” I say, needing to hear her say such a thing more than I realized.

  “No!” she says, and this time, she doesn’t hesitate.

  I let out a sigh of relief. “Yanmei, you know that Liling is not to be trusted, right?”

  Yanmei nods. “I know that she holds some sort of power over you, and that is what makes me not trust her.”

  “Is it possible that the baby, the little prince, is not her son?” I say. Yanmei’s eyes go big. Of course, it is an idea she never would have considered before. “I’m beginning to think that the ghost woman I saw was not a ghost at all, but a real woman. A pregnant woman. I think she gave birth and that Liling claimed her baby as her own.”

  “That is a very dangerous accusation,” Yanmei says quietly.

  “I know. I know,” I say, rubbing my forehead.

  “But…if you have proof…” Yanmei looks at me hopefully.

  “Only what I saw,” I say. “I saw four eunuchs carrying the dead body of the ghost woman. So, she wasn’t a ghost, she was real, and she was pregnant. But now she’s dead and her baby is gone.”

  Yanmei turns away for a moment to think. She finally shakes her head. “But you have no proof. You cannot say such a thing without proof.”

  “I know,” I say.

  Yanmei kneels by my bed and squeezes my hand tight. “Daiyu. You know that even if Liling has a son, a true son, of her own, it is not the end for you. I don’t know what power she has over you, but the only true power in the Forbidden City is that of the emperor. As long as you have his love, his favor, you will be his empress.

  “Her son is only his heir because he is the only son Honghui has. Put Liling out of your mind, I beg of you. Focus on Honghui. Give him a son. He will surely favor a son by you above any other. It is your son who will be emperor.”

  “Or yours,” I say.

  “Anyone’s son!” Yanmei says. “It is clear that he does not favor Liling. He pays her the respect she is owed, but nothing more. Please, I beg you, for your own sake, focus on Honghui and forget Liling.”