The New Year came. The whole kingdom was immersed in celebrations, and the Emperor took an opportunity to rest, although he ordered the word spread that he was wholesome and riding horses, for fear of doubts over his health.
The Noble Lady planted trusted people to watch the Pure Lady and even her maids. Every day, their movements were reported to the Noble Lady and her son, who analyzed them carefully. “If she sends a signal, a letter, or a message, she’ll go meet Jewel’s spirit,” she said confidently.
I was not sure. A letter would certainly incriminate the Pure Lady, but what if she did not send out a letter? What if it was something that we could not see?
The Pure Lady seemed to be aware she was being watched. She did nothing more than sit in the sun, play weiqi with her maids, or stroll in the open, her cat in her arms. When the weather was fine, she went to the Eastern Palace to admire the plum blossoms. Once, she stopped at the stable to watch a mare giving birth to a foal. I thought it strange she would go to the stable, Taizi’s haunt, but she did not speak or spit at the heir, as I had expected she would do. She only watched the foal, they said.
Something was wrong, terribly wrong, but I did not know what.
The servants appeared at ease. Most of them believed the Emperor would live. Here and there, they greeted each other, even smiled at times, their cheeks red with holiday celebration and their stomachs sweetened by glutinous rice cakes, dried dates, and persimmons.
Plum mentioned Pheasant had wedded Lady Wang in his house outside the palace. I wished to hear more about the wedding, the bride, Pheasant, and how he thought of his new bride, but Plum did not elaborate other than saying Lady Wang was very tall.
Lantern Festival arrived. Lanterns carved in the shapes of deer, rabbits, and turtles paraded in the Inner Court and illuminated every corner. Paper artworks crafted as eagles, parrots, and swallows hung below the houses’ eaves. Everywhere, the colors of red, mauve, indigo, green, and other iridescent hues greeted me. The last day of the long New Year holiday, the festival of lights, was supposed to bring us luck for the entire year.
I was hanging two paper cardinals in the garden when I glimpsed Pheasant at the gate. He put his hand on his left shoulder to attract my attention. I was surprised. Since he lived outside the palace and was married, I seldom saw him. Sometimes I would catch a glimpse of him gazing at me when he came to visit the Emperor, and that look would stay with me for days. I would walk in the corridors thinking of the intensity of his gaze and then go to sleep, pretending he was holding me, not his wife.
But when there were people around, he rarely looked in my direction, let alone asked to see me in private.
I nodded slightly to let him know that I had seen him and then turned away, waiting for an opportunity. Finally, a group of eunuchs came over, carrying a tree decorated with gold leaves. People swarmed over to admire it. I slipped out.
I went down the bridge and found him behind a garden rock at the back of a hall.
He stood in the rock’s shadow. The lanterns cast a pool of red light near his feet. He was the same Pheasant for whom I had waited in the pavilion. But he looked solemn, solitary, and much older. I was worried.
“What’s wrong?” I walked to him.
He was not himself. He fidgeted, and his feet kept kicking the ground. At my voice, he straightened, turning around to make sure no one was watching us. “I’m sorry to put you at risk again. This is the last time I will ask you to meet me, I promise.”
“Don’t worry. No one saw me.” The Emperor, his high-ranking ministers, and the Ladies were celebrating the festival in the feasting hall in the Outer Palace, and many servants were there as well.
He placed his hand on the rock. There was a pause before he said, “I came to warn you, Mei. It’s not safe here.”
I could not help myself. I stepped closer to him. “What’s going on?”
“Something disastrous is going to happen. You must leave the hall. Now. Run to your chamber as fast as you can and bolt the door. Or”—he took off his hat and combed his hand through his hair—“go to our pavilion. Somewhere unknown and safe, and hide there until tomorrow night.”
Was the Pure Lady about to take action? “Why?”
“It’s my brother.” He inhaled deeply. “I think he’s out of his mind.”
I was relieved it was not about the Pure Lady. “Taizi,” I said. He was deeply unhappy; we all knew that. “What is happening with him?”
“I found weapons hidden away. Weapons. You know what I am saying, don’t you? Lancers, swords, armors, bows, and arrows.” He balled his hands in fists. “Bundles and bundles of them, in a stable.”
I gasped, fully aware of its meaning. The law banned people from bearing arms, even princes. “Is he planning something? Why would he amass such a large amount of weapons?”
Pheasant’s head drooped. “It’s because of the flutist. I know it. Father should never have ordered Taizi to kill him.”
“It’s too late to say that. What is he going to do with all those weapons?”