But I was also excited because I would finally meet the Four Ladies, who would distribute the apples to us.
I waited in the corner of a corridor with Plum and the other Talents. On the other side of the corridor stood the seventh-degree ladies, the eighth-degree ladies, and the ninth-degree ladies. The Ladies-in-Waiting, Beauties, and Graces were ahead of us in the courtyard. I looked around. I did not see Jewel. I wondered why she was absent. Being Most Adored, she could have anything she wanted.
The courtyard became quiet when four ladies in splendid gowns appeared near the gates, followed by a group of eunuchs carrying barrels of apples. They placed the barrels in the center of the yard, and the ladies sat on the arranged stools in front of the barrels.
I identified the Noble Lady right away. She was in her thirties and carried an air of confidence and loftiness that none of the others had. She wore a golden phoenix headdress and a necklace with pearls as big as quail eggs. She was also plump. Her cheeks bulged like ripened apples, and when she nodded, every part of her body seemed to shake, the layers under her chin, the long, golden tail of her phoenix headdress, as well as the two strings of jade earrings dangling from her thick earlobes.
“Remember what I said about her?” Plum whispered to me as a eunuch called the Ladies-in-Waiting, who knelt before the Four Ladies to receive their apples.
I nodded. The Noble Lady was clearly the one in charge. The eunuchs picked up apples, turned to her for consent, and then bowed and put the apples in the basket. “People revere her.”
“They do.”
“Who’s the lady with pale skin on the right?” That lady appeared to be obsessed with her looks. Sitting on the stool, she did nothing except stare into a bronze mirror held by her servant. Even with all the noise and confusion around her, she did not seem distracted.
“She’s Lady Virtue. She was Most Adored once.”
“I see.” She was undoubtedly the most beautiful of the four ladies.
“The Emperor grew tired of her. She likes to eat chickens’ feet and pork skin because she believes they improve her complexion. They are her beauty diet. She also drinks only morning dew because it’s purest and won’t tarnish her fair skin.”
That sounded extreme to me. “Who is the one next to her?”
“Lady Obedience. She’s a dancer.”
No wonder she wore a dancer’s costume, a low-cut red dress that exposed her bosom and a shawl that draped to the floor. Only a dancer would walk around in an immodest gown like that.
“She doesn’t have a chance to compete with the others. She’s also sick.”
The Ladies-in-Waiting bowed and left with their baskets of apples, and the Beauties moved to the courtyard to take their place. The people ahead of us began to step forward in the corridor. I moved forward as well. “What kind of sickness? Anything serious?”
“Hemorrhoids.”
I stifled a laugh. But perhaps having hemorrhoids was deadly when one’s business was to attract the Emperor. I stared at the last lady, who was stroking a white cat in her lap. She was very thin, wearing a silver gown, and like the Noble Lady, she looked to be in her thirties. “And that’s the Pure Lady?”
As if hearing me, the lady looked in my direction. Her stare was cold, unfriendly, sending a chill down my back. I lowered my head instinctively. Just then the Beauties left and the Graces walked to the courtyard. I was relieved to follow them.
“I just heard this.” Plum cupped her hand around my ear, and her voice was so faint I strained hard to hear. “Remember the assassination plot? It is rumored she planned it.”
I sucked in air and looked around, glad no one was behind me. The three groups of seventh-degree ladies, eighth-degree ladies, and ninth-degree ladies were on the other side of the corridor and whispered among themselves. But a eunuch in the courtyard turned around and glanced at me. I lowered my head. Plum and I fell silent.
“She? This can’t be true,” I said when the eunuch looked away. “Why would she do that?”
“The Emperor wasn’t the target.” Plum’s breath moistened my earlobe. “The target was Taizi, but for some reason he left the Altar House early, and the killer stumbled on the Emperor.”
The Pure Lady wished to murder Taizi so her son would replace him? I could hardly believe it. “Where did you hear this?”
Plum shielded her mouth with her hand and coughed as though to dislodge something in her throat. “Where? Many people are gossiping about this. Remember the court recorder? He was poisoned, dead, when the Gold Bird Guards tried to interrogate him.”
“You think she ordered that?” I dared not lift my head in the Pure Lady’s direction.
“That’s what people say.”
I thought hard. “Does the Emperor know this?”
Plum shook her head. “No. He believes Taizi plotted it.”
Of course. If the Emperor died, Taizi would have his throne. “So the prince is in trouble then.”
“That’s why the Emperor is sending him away.”
“Where is he going?”