He put his hands on my chest. “Good.” He nodded and then increased the pressure. I tried not to grimace. His fingers felt like iron tongs. “Perfect.”
He was still again, as though considering his next move. Then, suddenly, he grabbed the brush on the stool and flexed his arms. His face grave, his eyes unwavering, like a general on a battlefield ready to send an attack signal to his army, he threw his right hand upward and swung his hand with great energy. The wet goat hair licked my skin like a dragon’s fiery tongue.
“There.” He puffed out, and in his authoritative voice, he said, “I do believe you deserve it. I now formally name you Mei Niang.”
I could barely identify the sprawling strokes and vertical lines of my new name. The ink flowed from my breasts, converged in my cleavage, and snaked toward my navel. It tickled terribly.
But Mei Niang, the seductively beautiful girl. He had honored me greatly by bestowing on me a formal name, and I would be the first woman in the kingdom to bear an official name.
“I am honored.” I lowered my head.
“Precisely. So beautiful and seductive,” Jewel said, but her face suggested otherwise.
I had surprised her. I had earned myself a name and his attention. “Thank you, Most Adored.”
“Go.” The Emperor prodded me with the end of his brush. “Walk to the door and show me the living calligraphy.”
I took one step, my heart filled with happiness. The ink flowed down my thigh, but it no longer bothered me. My hand on my waist, I held my head high, strutted to the screen, and paused there. When I turned around, the Emperor nodded, stroking his whiskers, his eyes alight with mirth.
“This is the seductive girl I want to keep.” He squeezed my buttocks when I returned. “Should I deal with you now?”
“How about one more round to the door?” Jewel’s voice came suddenly.
She did not wish him to bed me. But even if she got her wish tonight, she had already lost. I smiled. “Would you like me to walk again, the One Above All?”
“Go now.”
I swung my arms and swayed my hips, treading on the ground of triumph. The scent from the brazier was fragrant, and the yellow candlelight danced. Everything in the chamber—the shiny crimson bedding, the carved posts of the bed, and the green balls of the dragons on the top of the posts—seemed to brighten.
When I stopped at the screen, a lean figure appeared at the door.
“Father!” he called.
I dashed behind the screen to hide my nakedness.
“Who is there?” The Emperor stood. Jewel gave him a robe, and they both went to the door, where they talked rapidly. It sounded as though Taizi was hurt, and the Emperor had to leave.
“We must go now, or they’ll kill themselves, Father,” the informer said.
The voice sounded anxious and concerned but familiar. Too familiar. I froze.
Pheasant! Why had he come? Why had he come then? I pressed myself against the wall. My heart pounded. If only I could slip into another chamber. If only the wall could dissolve. If only I could dissolve.
“Mei Niang!” the Emperor called out. “Come.”
Blood rushed to my head. I did not wish to go anywhere. I just wanted to stay at the corner of the bedchamber and not be seen. But I could not disobey him. He would know something was wrong if I refused.
“Yes, the One Above All.” I scrambled to put on my bandeau. But I could not find my trousers. Hastily, I grabbed my robe and put it on, and then I stepped from behind the screen to greet the Emperor and my lover.
23
Two figures stood near the door: one old, the other young. One had his back to the fire, and the other’s face was bathed in light. Both stared at me.
The candlelight was too bright. It glared on my naked face like daylight, scalding me. I lowered my head.
“Here you are. Come with me.” The Emperor turned around, pulling his cape around him.
“Mei Niang?” Pheasant said. There was a thick current of confusion in his voice, and something else, a tremor, like that of a wounded animal.
My throat tightened. Did he believe I had betrayed him? Did he believe I no longer loved him? I could explain. I could tell him I was pleasing the Emperor only to help my family. I could tell him it had nothing to do with how I felt about him. Would he understand?
“Prince Zhi.” I bowed and prayed he would not say anything to expose us.
The smoke drifted from the brazier and stood between us. It smelled scorched, like that of a pyre.
“That’s the formal name the Emperor bestowed on her,” Jewel said.
“I see.” Pheasant sounded as though something had caught in his throat. There was silence again, and then I realized he was staring at my naked legs. Awkwardly, I covered them with the sleeves of my robe.
“Shall we go now, Father?”
The Emperor waved and left with Pheasant. I went back to the bed to look for my trousers and girdle. I was still shaken. The Emperor did not suspect anything between Pheasant and me. We were fortunate. But Pheasant… I thought of him and how his voice had changed when he saw my bare legs.