Despite everything that had come before, there was a busy but peaceful buzz as the capital’s citizens settled into welcoming the New Year.
Court was shut down for fifteen days to celebrate the holiday and then in the beginning of the second month, it would be the Emperor’s birthday.
The Emperor had demanded to see the dance at his birthday banquet, but since Cui Xi was entering the palace, she felt that she could not perform something as provocative as the Crescent Moon dance, so instead she concocted something else. Snatching up a sheet of paper and a brush, she began to draw. When she was done, she quietly laughed to herself.
Xiao Yu smiled.
“What is it called?” she asked, admiring the sketches that her A’Xi had drawn.
“Peacock Lake! Su Rou, send these two sketches off to the tailor. Have the clothes made up immediately and then I will visit to make adjustments. Also call the dancing girls in, in half a shichen. I will need them.”
With Peacock Lake, Cui Xi would ensure that everyone remembered the Emperor’s birthday.
With that in mind, she prepared to enter the palace.
***
There was a sharp intake of breath as the dancers entered the beautifully decorated hall.
A tiny, barefoot girl, about ten years old, stepped into the hall leading eight brawny slaves who carried a giant silver plate that looked to be almost one zhang* in diameter. Each performer wore silver anklets strung with bells on their feet and they jingled as they made their stately advance into the grand hall. They moved very gracefully but steadily as there was a figure crouched in the centre, hidden behind the plumes of four very large peacock fans held by four blue clad maidens. Following close behind were the musicians. The platter was laid down very carefully in the centre of the hall and the peacock feather fans followed the downward motion continuing to conceal the figure in the centre of the plate who knelt patiently. The brawny slaves knelt and kowtowed from behind the platter and the fan bearing hand maidens also knelt.
The tiny girl knelt and kowtowed. Raising her head at the emperor’s wave, she called out in a beautiful tinkling voice.
“This servant gives greeting to the Great Emperor. Ten thousand years of life! The Hundred Flower House gives it’s respects and presents the dance ‘Peacock Lake’ in celebration of the Great Emperor’s birthday.”
The room was already enchanted by this display, and the Emperor immediately waved at them to stand. The tiny little girl clapped her hands.
“Mistress! Begin please!” she shouted.
The fans were swept to the side and a beautiful woman stood poised in the centre of the plate which was being filled with perfumed water by the handmaidens who had returned with jewel encrusted silver vessels. The flower scent rose on the air and the audience collectively and unconsciously breathed deeply taking in the scent which was light and clear. It was like the hall was suddenly enveloped in the teeming blooms of a spring day.
Everyone admired the woman who stood very still, one hand gracefully curved over her head, her face turned to the side and one hand in front of her chest. One little foot was stepped out front with the instep turned forward and the toes of the other foot pointed back. She appeared to be wearing nothing by peacock feathers, but the ones who were closer could see that it was a sheer silk that had been cunningly embroidered such that it looked like she was wearing a dress made of blue and green plumes. The hair was half bound, partially braided with silver chains and peacock feathers, while most of it was loose like a dark silk waterfall over the shoulders. As she was tilted, it in fact looked like her back was daringly naked, the length of hair both revealing and concealing that nakedness. The dress had tight sleeves made of that same sheer almost netlike fabric and it looked like the peacock feather were growing around her wrists and arms. The jewel blue skirt was plain, but also split and her naked white legs showed through and those naked white feet standing in the water were adorned with silver chains and bells.
The Seventh Prince was immediately unhappy.
He had already recognized his little cat and he glared at her as she somehow managed to be turned toward him with a face covered in a golden half mask decorated with more peacock feathers. The mask came to a sharp point over her nose like a little beak. The lower part of the face that was not concealed was painted with brilliant red lips stark against her light gold skin. She looked like an otherworldly peacock fairy. He had been unaware that she’d been invited into the palace and this was going to be a source of trouble.
When the drums and music started, the girl began to dance. As she twirled, her feet deliberately picked up water, splashing it upward as she twirled and leapt. The hand maidens would also run in at key moments and splash water upward with their hands. She moved so quickly that at one point she was surrounded by four sprays at once, like she was at the centre of a water vortex. With a huge leap, arms raised gracefully, legs in a split, she looked like she was flying in the air.
There were gasps of surprise and pleasure. This dance was very skillful! Very entertaining.
The Emperor was mesmerized. In fact, he had risen to his feet.
The Empress frowned.
The Crown Prince also noticed.
“Do you like it Father Emperor?” he laughed. “I invited her into the palace for you.”
“Yes, yes, Zhen* likes it.”
As the dance continued, the pace of the music increased and occasionally the little fan bearing hand maidens would run in with the fans so that the dancer was momentarily concealed and would appear to rise out of the feathers again like a reborn bird. It was a fascinating dance.
The Seventh Prince noted that it was far less provocative than the Crescent Moon Dance, but no less eye-catching. Although he remained passive, his eyes never left the center of the hall. He was beginning to be worried, watching his father’s expression and the increasing frown on the Empress’s face. What he didn’t notice was his own Imperial Consort Mother’s small smile as she watched his darkening expression.
The cymbals crashed together bringing him back to the dance, and he saw that Cui Xi was once again crouched down, one knee tucked into her chest, one hand crossed over to her shoulder, the other bracing herself. She was balanced on her toes as if ready to spring up at any moment. At this point, she was soaked in the water…and the damned material was clinging to her wet body. Either by luck or design though, the handmaidens once again rushed forward with the peacock fans concealing her from sight.
“A reward!” the Emperor shouted, slamming his hand down in approval. Before anyone could react, he had rushed down to stand in front of the peacock fans.
“Zhen rewards the little Bird! Say it, what do you wish to ask of Zhen? I will give it to you! Or even better! How do you want to be my Consort?” he grinned.
The Empress stood up. Consort!! How can that damned old fox bestow a dancing girl with the title of consort!she fumed to herself.
The Crown Prince had also stood up, thinking furiously.
The damned old pervert! He wanted the tally! Not to lose a pawn into the palace…If this failed, then it would force his hand and he would have to give up the façade of relations he’d been maintaining with his younger brothers…but he wasn’t ready. He gripped his wine cup until his knuckles became white.
The Seventh Prince sat back lazily and drank from his wine cup, pretending to savour it. However, he was also thinking furiously. How irritating! If the Crown Prince didn’t intend this result, then why bring her into the palace? He had been told nothing and now he had to extricate the little cat out of this mess. Had she had simply assumed his tacit agreement as the Crown Prince had commanded it? This was not the case. He could not blame her, but why did she not ask him?? Why would she just obey the Crown Prince especially after what he had done to her? This made him even more annoyed.
Remaining outwardly unaffected, and exuding his normal disdain, Zhao Ling Xian didn’t even get up to address his father, but then he had always flouted the rules a bit.
“Father Emperor…surely that’s too much of a reward for a lowly dancing girl. Since you are in such a good mood, maybe just give her more gold or some pretty clothes,” he chuckled.
Under the guise of drinking more wine, he shot a glance at the Empress to see what her reaction would be. He had seen the look on the Empress’s face and knew that she would take up this line of reasoning. The competition in the harem was fierce and having someone new enter at the rank of a consort would upset the current power balance. While the current Empress no longer served the Emperor in his bed, several of the concubines had been chosen by her and the current favourite was her creature.
“Yes indeed. A beautiful dance deserves beautiful things, my Lord Emperor.” The Empress smiled gently, but her eyes remained cold.
The Emperor calmed down a bit, but he could not see the girl and it was annoying him.
“Speak little Bird. Zhen will not treat you badly.”
Cui Xi smiled. The Crown Prince had brought her into the palace to ask a favour on his behalf, but that is not why she came. A reward granted on the Emperor’s birthday – she would dare to ask something for herself.
Slowly, brushing past the voluminous feather fans, stepping a bare leg out and then gracefully slinking towards the emperor, she knelt and made her kowtow.
“Your Majesty,” she greeted in a silky sweet voice.
The Emperor’s eyes glittered with excitement, while three Princes all sitting in different areas of the room stiffened at the same time.
What is she…?
“Yes, little Bird??” the Emperor asked eagerly.
Steeling herself, Cui Xi started to speak.
“Your Majesty, I do not make the request for myself, but for my maid and friend, Yang Wan Yu. I ask that your Majesty grant her father Yang Ming Xi a pardon to allow him to return to the capital. As your sons are allowed to be filial and celebrate your birthday, Doctor Yang is getting on in age and his daughter should show her filial piety and care for him. The Emperor is not only the father to Princes, but the father to the kingdom and your example sets the natural order. The Emperor’s grace is a father’s benevolence to his citizens. Yang Ming Xi is like a father to me and is the benefactor to whom I owe a debt. Thus, I ask your Majesty to grant this request,” she finished in a rush.
Trembling, she prostrated herself completely, knocking her head gently against the cold floor and waited.
There was instant uproar.
Cui Xi did not see it, but the Emperor had raised his hand for quiet. He regarded her thoughtfully.
“Stand up, little Bird,” he commanded. “Look at Zhen.”
Cui Xi raised her gaze to supreme ruler of the Tiansheng kingdom and looked steadily into his face.
Although the Emperor was known as a volatile man with a terrible temper, she could not be afraid in this moment. Her gaze did not waver, and she let her lips curve slightly.
“You do not make a request for yourself, little Bird, but for your benefactor and his daughter?” his gaze was cool and appraising, nothing like the frivolous pervert she had seen moments before.
“Yes, your Majesty.”
He stared at her for a moment and then chuckled.
“So that your little maid can be filial to her father…Zhen’s grace like a father’s grace…hahaha!” his laughter boomed in the deathly silent hall. “Very good, little Bird! Zhen will grant you this request. You! An He – have someone write the order: Former Imperial Doctor Yang Ming Xi is no longer considered a criminal. His exile is over and he may return to the capital,” he waved at his personal eunuch. “Send it to that sly old fox!”
“This little girl thanks the Emperor for his great grace!” Cui Xi said and thumped down on her hands, fully elated.
“Do not bow anymore, little Bird! I will also grant you some fine gifts. Come with Zhen,” he said, grabbing her wrist and pulling onto her feet and forward.
Startled, Cui Xi wasn’t sure she wanted this dubious “gift”.
Once again three princes positioned in three different places in the room stiffened, but they could only watch now as it appeared the Emperor wanted a private audience with the girl.
The Seventh Prince threw back his wine, looking bored, but boiled beneath. The Crown Prince looked sullen, and the Empress had a face full of thunder.
Not surprisingly, the emperor dragged her into a side hall. Shutting the door, he turned to her with a flourish, flapping his robes out and sitting down on an intricately carved chair.
“So, little Bird. You have asked the thing that you have asked and received it. Was there no other request?” his calculating eyes pierced her.
Suddenly afraid, she swallowed.
“Your Majesty, there was something else, but the request does not come from me personally,” she admitted hesitantly.
“Ennn,” the Emperor said conversationally. “The Crown Prince won’t be very pleased,” he observed. “Come closer.”
She stepped closer as he snaked out a hand forcefully sitting her down on his knee. Hai! The sons and the father are truly not different!
She was now becoming very alarmed. This Emperor…!
“Zhen likes you, you little witch” he said, grinning. “It amuses Zhen that you have so many of my sons fighting over you as well as the throne. Competition is good. It makes them stronger. Since that’s the case, I will grant the request so that the Crown Prince will not make things hard for you. What is it that Yu Wang* wants?”
“The…the tiger tally, your Majesty,” she whispered.
“Ho! That greedy brat!” he laughed, wrapping one arm around her. He used the other hand to remove her mask. She did not resist, and he sighed with pleasure taking in her features.
“Ahhhh,” he breathed. “I could make you mine right here, little Bird, but my Empress might not like that. Are you sure you don’t want to be a Consort?” he asked again, dropping the honorifics, and sliding his hands all over her still damp body…kneading intimately in some places.
Cui Xi trembled, but insistently shook her head. She was afraid if she tried to talk, her voice would break. Why was it that the entire Royal family consisted of perverted assholes?
She only weakly resisted when Zhao Ling Shaung covered her mouth with his own, and then did nothing more than try to push away. The Emperor’s body was precious and any attack on him would result in instant death. She endured it, even though a tear leaked out from her tightly shut eyes.
After a moment he withdrew, his dark eyes full of laughter. He stroked a hand down his beard.
“Hah! You had so much courage outside, but you’re afraid of an old man now? Ahh, so none of those good sons of mine have eaten you yet. Good! What fun!”
He kissed her lightly and good-naturedly on the forehead before he gave her one last squeeze.
“Go now, my pretty little Bird. Zhen will have the tally sent to the Crown Prince along with some nice things for you.”
Hiding her shock, Cui Xi slipped off his lap, tied on her mask, bowed and backed away before turning and exiting the side hall as quickly as she could. Her skin crawled, and even bathing might not remove her feelings of disgust.
The Emperor’s personal eunuch was patiently waiting for her just outside the door.
“Zhen is retiring. Send the girl out of the palace, An He. No accidents,” said the voice from within the hall, clearly instructing the eunuch. “Goodbye little Bird…Zhen trusts that you won’t do things you might regret.”
The Emperor’s parting words held an undertone of threat, and she could only be relieved when the eunuch lead her away.
The eunuch said nothing to her, but simply led her down a different corridor. She barely registered where she was going, only following until he led her to the place where the troupe was waiting. However, there was a sedan chair and an imperial carriage parked that weren’t there before.
Cui Xi easily recognized that the huge and lavishly decorated sedan chair belonged to the Crown Prince, and the no less lavish carriage belonged to the Seventh Prince.
“Many thanks, An Gong Gong,” she said to the eunuch, bowing low.
He inclined his head graciously.
“Remember what the Emperor said,” he said, not unkindly and walked away.
As soon as he was gone, a servant ran up to her.
“The Crown Prince wishes to speak to you Miss Wu,” a man servant bowed to her, gesturing towards the sedan.
Sighing, she followed and was handed into the semi-dark of the sedan. The bloody thing was so big it could easily have seated four people. She frowned as the interior lamps were usually lit at night.
Fumbling hands reached out, pulling her down and she sighed, hating that she was going to go through another round of groping. Losing patience completely, she swung her hand out and there was a resounding and satisfying crack as her open palm connected with dizzying accuracy.
“Ahhhh! I’ll kill you...!” the Crown Prince choked out, circling her wrist with bruising force. He still held a grudge against her for the last time, but what she said next stopped him from striking her.
“The Emperor already agreed,” she interrupted coldly.
The cursing stopped.
Taking advantage of the pause, she scrambled up out of his lap.
“Your Highness, I’m getting out. Goodbye!” she snapped, ignoring his hiss and she exited before he could say anything more.
“Master…?” the guard asked in consternation. That girl just slapped the Crown Prince!
A contemptuous snort issued from within.
“Forget it. I was going to strangle that girl, but Father Emperor still granted the request…let’s go,” breathed the Crown Prince. Cui Xi was not the only one who had noticed the Seventh Prince’s carriage, and the Crown Prince knew that now was not the time to antagonize his younger brother. There would be every opportunity to get rid of her later…though the idea of taking her as a concubine still had some merit.
Relieved that she had escaped the Crown Prince, Cui Xi was just about to step up to the small cart where the performers of the Hundred Flower House all sat waiting when the Seventh Prince walked up to her. He looked her up and down and she realized that she was still wearing the dance costume, and this could be considered terribly indecent. Silently, he pulled his cloak off and handed it to her. Taking it hesitantly, she wrapped the cloak around herself, but inadvertently sighed in pleasure as the last vestiges of his body heat enveloped her.
Although her eyes sparked with resentment, he noticed that she was undeniably cute swathed in his cloak. It was so long on her that the ends trailed on the ground.
Has she always been this small?
“Are you alright? Father Emperor didn’t to do anything to you?” he asked gently, folding his arms over his chest and cocking his head to the side while looking down at her. He had already noticed the smudged lipstick, but he said nothing to burden Cui Xi, choosing to file this bit away. Zhao Ling Xian would revenge himself on the old man another time. As for the slap he had heard just now…his fists cracked.
Cui Xi sniffed a little. It annoyed her to look up at him when he was so much taller than her, but the cloak and his gaze were both warm.
“I’m alright,” she said quietly. “Thank you for your care, Your Highness.”
His lips quirked up with his eyes full of laughter.
“No insults tonight?” he teased.
Cui Xi shook her head. The encounter with the Emperor and the Crown Prince had messed her up a bit, and she did not have the reserves to spar with the Seventh Prince. The entire night’s events had tired her out.
“It’s not early. I’m going back first, Your Highness.”
“Ennn,” he grunted and turned to walked away.
“Your Highness!” she called after him, untying the cloak to hand it back to him.
However, he pivoted, swiftly coming to her side to wrap his arms around her from behind to retie the cloak. She was highly conscious of his body pressed up against her back and felt her face get hot.
“Keep it. I will look for you,” he said softly.
Ignoring her soft cry of protest, he easily lifted her onto the cart, sitting her down on one of the side benches as the driver snapped the whip over the head of two oxen. Thankfully, none of the performers said anything to her. They all knew that the Seventh Prince had a strange arrangement with her, but it would be best not to gossip about it while still in the Palace.
Feeling awkward, she could still feel his eyes on her as the cart trundled out.
Tao, who had been standing to the side had watched this entire exchange and when the cart exited the gate, he quietly moved into a different courtyard. He walked up to a stately, but more simple carriage, pushing his head inside the curtain.
“Master, that person is alright and has left the palace.”
The only answer was a cough, followed by a heavy sigh, and then a double thump on the floor of the carriage signalling the driver to leave.
______________________________
* Approximately 3.2 metres.
* 朕 – similar to the royal “We” – it is a first-person pronoun used by the Emperor to refer to himself.
* The Emperor uses the Crown Prince’s nickname “Jade Prince”
