“I know, but this is the beginning of his favor, Mei. More will come after you watch the polo game with him. You will have so many gifts that your eyes will get blurry.”
I smiled. “Then I should do something to take care of my eyes, shouldn’t I?” I handed her the boxes of musk and rose mallow. I knew they were her favorite.
Her eyes widened. “You’re giving them to me?”
I nodded.
“You don’t like them?”
“I do. Very much.”
Plum looked at the boxes. “But how will you please the Emperor without divine fragrances?”
“I don’t know.” I smiled. I gave the jade combs to Daisy and the rest of the silk and fragrances to the other Talents. For a moment, the chamber was filled with joyful shouts and giggles. Watching their faces, pink with excitement, I knew I had done the right thing. The Emperor’s favor had given me great joy, but it was more satisfying to see the others, the forgotten ones, happy.
I saved only the silver figurines. Then I went to look for Eunuch Ming, the eunuch who had conspired with Jewel to steal my summons.
I found him near the gate outside the Yeting Court. From behind a stone statue, I beckoned to him.
He glanced at the female guards near the gate and coughed. Finally, he walked to me. “I know you.”
I did not want to frighten him away. “Let’s forget about what happened between us.” I gave him one of the silver figurines. “I’m not here to scold you.”
“What is this?” He stared at the precious metal in his hand.
“The Emperor’s gift,” I said. “Now it’s yours.”
He clenched the figurine. “What do you want?”
“I hear you have connections.” I watched him. Plum once said eunuchs were a different species, and she was right. Eunuch Ming was slippery like water, and his face changed faster than the light. He had been castrated when he was young and had served in the palace for a long time. I did not like him. He was ugly, with a face shaped like a goat’s. And his eyes, beady and narrow, like a rat’s, always seemed to look for gold. I would never trust a man like him, but I had no choice but to ask for his help.
“What connections?”
“Don’t worry. I wish only to ask a small favor.” I handed him a small pouch. It contained the other silver figurine from the Emperor’s bestowals and some coppers I had saved from my monthly allowances. “Would you deliver this to my mother?”
Ming’s eyes flicked from the figurine in his right hand to the pouch in his left. He looked hesitant, and I began to worry if my bribe was persuasive enough.
“I don’t know where she lives.”
He wanted more money. But I was not certain the Emperor would send me more bestowals, and my Talent’s allowances would not be due until the last day of the month.
“I see,” I said. “Perhaps you haven’t heard who has the honor to sit next to the Emperor during the polo game.”
He looked at me, a flicker of interest in his eyes. It was all over the Inner Court that I would replace the Noble Lady in the game, and I was confident he knew too.
“So?” I lifted my chin.
He scratched the corner of his mouth. “It’ll probably take a few months.”
“I can wait.” I smiled.
? ? ?
The polo field was more crowded than last time. Five groups of men poured buckets of sunflower oil on the ground, and behind them, another five groups of men pushed tables, legs up, to flatten the surface. Around the edge of the field, the Gold Bird Guards planted banners, while the eunuchs arranged platforms and benches in the audience section.
Behind the mulberry branches, I searched among the grooms who gathered with the horses. I could hear them talk about the fifteen dragon horses, the newest gifts from the snowy valleys of Kashmir. Pheasant was among them. He knelt over a piebald, his hand tracing something on its neck.
I tried to contain my excitement. What would Pheasant say when I told him about my great honor? Would he be happy for me?
A man with shaggy hair came to him. Pheasant pointed at the characters branded on the horse’s neck. “Inspector, this brand is wrong. This horse should be ‘flying,’ not ‘wind.’”
The characters were the horses’ identifications, as all the imperial horses must be branded according to their type, agility, speed, the origin of their birth, and the grade within their species, to discourage stealing. Sometimes, the number of the identifications were so many the horses would be covered with characters from their tails to their mouths. Pheasant had once complained to me about the cruel method of branding, but there was nothing he could do to change the practice.
But I was surprised. He could read. How had a low-born groom like him learned to read?
The inspector peered at the characters. “Good observation.” He nodded. “Someone has made a mistake.”