“I will.”
“Good. I have faith in you. You’re not like other girls, who are easily fooled by him.” She went to her spindle wheel. “I’m happy you discovered Most Adored’s real name, Mei. You did excellent work. Have you found out anything else about her?”
I shook my head. Plum had bribed the eunuchs, the teachers from the etiquette schools, and even the scribes from the Outer Palace. Soon, she said, she would hear something about Jewel. But by then, it might be too late.
We did not have much time. Since the ministers had approved of Jewel, it depended on the Emperor. Once he decided, she would become the Empress. He could announce his decision any moment.
“She hasn’t come out of her bedchamber,” the Noble Lady said, beginning to spin her spindle wheel.
“Why?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
Doors squeaked open in the courtyard. I looked through the latticed window. Jewel’s maid, the one with freckles, came out of her bedchamber with a tray of food.
“What is it?” the Noble Lady asked.
“It looks like she didn’t like the meal.” The food was untouched, and I could see a plateful of chicken. “She didn’t eat it.”
“My maid said she has had a poor appetite lately.”
“Perhaps she’s sick.” I hoped.
“I don’t know.” The Noble Lady shook her head. “I don’t know.”
She had never sounded more worried.
? ? ?
My heart heavy, I bid the Noble Lady my leave and stepped into the corridor. People were busy in the compound, and I paused to look at them. In the center of the courtyard, a group of maids were crouched over a board, playing weiqi. Near the small mountain, some maids were embroidering, some were sweeping the ground. I turned to look at the lady’s chambers. At my right was Lady Obedience’s chamber, where she was swaying her hips, fluttering her arms, dancing to the rhythms of a waist drum. At my left side was Lady Virtue’s house, where a few seamstresses, carrying bolts of cloth in red, indigo, and green, gathered in front of the corridor. The Pure Lady’s chamber was shut. I wondered what she was doing. I had not seen her since her son, the hot-tempered Prince Yo, was exiled last year. She did not attend the feasts, fruit distributions, or other gatherings, and most of the time, she shut herself in her chamber. But I would be a fool to think she had decided to become a recluse. The Pure Lady was the type of woman who would grab something to go down with her if she were drowning.
I looked at Jewel’s house. There were some shadows floating around inside, but I could not tell what it was. Why was she not eating?
I decided to return to my chamber. When I passed the knobby pine trees near the small mountain, I noticed a blanket of frost had capped the mountain’s peaks and covered the crevices of the stones. The whiteness had not covered the rocks completely, and there were speckles of black tips poking through the frosty sheet like spiders’ feet. In the pond, the water was still but not frozen, and a piece of thin floe hung near the edge.
I pulled my sheep coat tighter around me. I did not like the frost or the snow. I preferred storms and thunder, and the furious power of the two joined to wash away the grime and dust.
It had been so cold at night lately that I had not slept well. Often I lay in bed, staring at the moonlight that shone through my windows. It printed pretty black patterns on the ground. Sometimes Pheasant came to my mind, and I shut my eyes to stop thinking of him.
“I hear you’re spying on me.” Jewel’s voice came from behind me. She stood under the eaves of her house near the end of the corridor.
I lowered my head to bow. She was still Most Adored. “You came out.” Should I call her by her real name? I should not. I could not alert her.
“Of course I did. I wish to ask you a big favor, Mei. You will indulge me, won’t you?”
I smiled charmingly. “As you wish, Most Adored.”
She pulled her red fur cape around her. Her white hair cascaded down her back. On her cheeks, beauty marks of pink peonies bloomed. “I knew you would say that.”
“What’s the favor?”
“When he summoned you a month ago, I heard he talked to you, and he slept in a circle of candles.”
Who was her spy?
“Yes.” I expected her to ask how my service to the Emperor was, but she did not speak.
She looked up at the sky for a moment. The wind swept her white hair like invisible fingers. “Have you been sleeping well, Mei? It is so cold lately I couldn’t sleep. Last night, the moonlight shone through my windows and left patterns like black plum flowers. I wish you could have seen it. I would like to paint it, but I haven’t painted for a while.”
How odd. We had noticed the same thing. But she was my enemy and she had gained the Secretary’s support. “You have been busy.”
Her shoulders rose as though the wind had touched her neck and she was cold. For a moment I could not see her lips, only her catlike eyes as she peered above the red fur. “What did he tell you?”