I raised my head. There. Among the frantic legs, I glimpsed the Noble Lady, her eyes closed, shivering on the ground. And the horse, its head bent, its powerful hooves pounding, charged in her direction. “Watch out, my Noble Lady!”
Her eyes flew open. For a moment she looked dazed, as though she was unaware of what was happening around her. Then she sat up and smoothed the creases from her silk gown as though she were ready to step out of her bedchamber to greet a guest. But the horse. It was so close to her!
“Move, move!” I screamed. If only I was closer to her; if only I could push her aside.
She turned toward me, saw the horse, and her face changed. But it was too late—the horse pranced and struck her forehead.
“Noble Lady!” My heart wrenched, and a shower of black splashes blinded my vision.
The horse turned around and raced toward the gate, its tail sweeping my shoulder. Hot tears burning my eyes, I crawled through the crowd to reach her. Someone stepped on my hands. I could hardly feel it. Inch by inch, I crawled to her. When I finally found her, I held her close. I could not bring myself to look at her face, for what was left was not the face I had so loved. But she was still in my heart, no matter what had befallen her, no matter what she had done. She had forgiven me when she could have punished me. She had stood with me when I was alone. She could have been my enemy, but she opted to be my friend. “My lady, my lady. You should have listened to me. You should. Why, why you didn’t move?”
She would never reply to me.
“Mei! We need to go.” Plum shook me. “We need to get out of here.”
“The Noble Lady…”
“My heavens.” Plum covered her mouth. “We’ll get to her later, but we must leave now.”
“I can’t… No… Wait…”
In a moment, I was in the corridor. The howling was louder there, and I shivered. The revolt was far from over. I wiped away my tears. I would tell the Noble Lady’s son of the last moment of his mother, but first I had to survive. “Where are we going?”
“We can go to our bedchamber,” Plum said nervously. Some ladies ran out of the courtyard; some gathered around us.
I shook my head. “How do you know Taizi hasn’t invaded there? Besides, we can’t get there all by ourselves.”
To reach our bedchamber, we had to travel through a dozen halls, gates, and gardens. With Taizi’s rebellion, some rebels must have crossed the Tongxun Gate to the Inner Court. We would be captured before we passed one hall.
“Where can we go then?”
“We must get out of the palace,” I said. The men’s shrieks grew louder, and everywhere, entangled shadows fought each other. I felt naked standing there without protection.
“All right. Let’s go now.”
A group of men emerged in the dark in the distance and shouted at us. I pulled Plum aside. We stayed behind the wall of a building and listened to the men’s footsteps. After a while, the voices faded, and it seemed we had lost them. “Listen to me, Plum. When you pass three halls down this way, you will see the kitchen area for the eunuchs. You know the area, don’t you? There are many storage buildings, but if you keep running, you’ll see the canal and the west entrance where the eunuchs leave to purchase groceries in the morning. You will be safe there. The rebels will not go there for plunder. You can take the other women with you. Go now.”
“Yes, we’ll go.” She turned around. In the dark, her face was difficult to see, but I could feel she was nervous and frightened. “Come on.”
I shook my head.
“You’re not coming?”
“I…I have to find someone.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
I did not explain. Plum would not understand.
“Who are you trying to find, Mei?”
“I’m going to look for Pheasant, Plum,” I said. I could hear some metal clang from somewhere close. “I have to. I need to know if he is all right.”
“You are crazy!” she said. “The rebels are everywhere! What will happen to you if they catch you?”
“I…I…” I swallowed. “I’ll be careful.”
“Don’t be stupid, Mei. You must not think of him now. It’s too dangerous to go to the Eastern Palace. You will fall into rebels’ hands. How are you going to get there?”
I did not know. Eastern Palace was even farther than my bedchamber, and it was where the revolt had started.
In the dark, another group of men raced toward us in the distance. I pushed her. “Go, Plum. Don’t worry about me. Go before it’s too late.”
The other ladies urged her too, and finally, Plum ran down the path. Soon my friend and the others receded into the darkness.