“Secretary Fang, it is my recommendation that we torture this maiden so she will reveal her conspirators. I am certain there are some,” the Duke replied.
“Is that all you can do, Duke?” The Uncle knocked his cane against the ground, each pounding my heart like a hammer. “What would you recommend, Chancellor?”
Chancellor Wei Zheng stood beside me. “Venerable Uncle, it is my understanding that since each carp is issued and recorded in palace journals daily, the Grand Duke might find it helpful to check with the court recorder.”
“That’s a fine idea.” The Uncle nodded.
“We’ll interrogate the recorder in no time.” The Duke waved. “Meanwhile, this suspect must undergo investigation.” He turned to the stretcher. “I’m certain the One Above All would approve of my suggestion.”
And the Emperor, to my dismay, still did not answer.
“So it is.” The Duke clapped his hands in the air. “As you wish, the One Above All. Guards, take her! Guards!”
The Captain clamped his iron-like hands on my arms, his purple birthmark twitching on his face.
“Do not touch me.” I struggled. But he lifted me up and walked across the courtyard as if he were holding a dead hare.
I did not care about anything anymore. I kicked. My feet were in the air. My life hung in the air too. “Don’t touch me! I saved the Emperor. Can’t you see? I saved the Emperor!”
“Halt,” a quiet voice said. The Emperor’s.
“Bring her to me,” he said.
I floated, like the heavy clouds above the roof, as the Captain carried me to the stretcher. I could not imagine what fate the Emperor would order for me. When the Captain dropped me, I knelt, moisture stinging my eyes.
For a long moment, he only breathed heavily. “So listen, Select, this is what will become of you.” He took another labored breath. “I hereby bestow the title of Talent upon you.”
His voice was thin, like a thread drifting in a gust of wind, but it struck me like thunder. He had just conferred a title on me. Talent, sixth degree.
“The One Above All?” The Duke stepped closer to the stretcher. “Are you feeling well? All your servants are waiting to serve you.”
The Emperor raised a forefinger to stop him. “I recall a woman in the Altar House. She cried for help, Duke. Guards, guards, as you just called.”
“Indeed?”
The Emperor nodded.
“So it is, the One Above All.” The Duke bowed.
I could hardly move. I was now a Talent, a sixth-degree lady, a titled woman. It changed everything. It meant I would leave the Yeting Court, move to the Inner Court where the Four Ladies and other high-ranking ladies resided. I would also receive an additional silk gown in the spring, a coat in the winter, and relish one serving of meat in my victuals on a monthly basis. But most importantly, I would be closer to the Emperor. I would have opportunities to beg him to help my family.
“I am honored—” I bowed deeply.
My forehead touched the ground three times, and I did not rise when the physicians, guards, and ministers poured forth to surround the Emperor. The feet of the guards shifted, and then they left the courtyard. The ministers and servants trickled out as well. When the courtyard quieted again, I rose.
As I stepped out of the gate, the first drop of rain pelted my face. The storm had arrived. I spread out my arms and welcomed it.
AD 641
the Fifteenth Year of Emperor Taizong’s Reign of Peaceful Prospect
SUMMER
10
Later, I learned that the imperial Gold Bird Guards, led by the Captain, went to interrogate the court recorder that afternoon. They found nothing, because when they arrived at the Outer Palace, the recorder was already dead. Poisoned. No one knew if he had killed himself in fear or if he had been poisoned by someone else.
An extensive search was conducted to find any possible conspirators in the Outer Palace, and a strict curfew was imposed in the Inner Court. Every night, the guards’ footsteps echoed in the corridors, and many rats died, pierced by arrows, mistaken as human invaders scurrying on the ground. All the trees, those century-old elms, oaks, and maples, were chopped down so they would not provide any convenience to evildoers in the future.
The Gold Bird Guards expanded their search to the city. Sketches of the assassin were posted on the gates of the Western Market and the Eastern Market. The Emperor put out a reward for anyone who identified the man. A few days later, a hostel owner near the Northern District, where courtesans and unscrupulous, drunken men gathered for entertainment, reported that a man of similar description had lodged there three months before and that he was accompanied by two foreign-dressed men.