“And she still keeps his handkerchief. With his name embroidered on it,” I added. “It has to be from him. It can’t be from anyone else. But why does she still keep it, after all these years?”
“Only she can answer that.” The Noble Lady looked pensive. “Now, if we had the handkerchief in our hands, we could show it to the Emperor.”
“You think we should steal it?”
“No, no.” She sat on a stool near her bed. Her cheeks flushed. “We should never commit a crime like that. I refuse to sacrifice my pride for her.”
I was surprised to hear that. I would not mind stealing the handkerchief if it could save my life. “What do you suggest we do?”
She paced before me, her eyes thoughtful and her phoenix headdress quivering. Finally, she stopped. “Even if we wanted to, she would not leave it in the open so we could take it. I’m so sorry. I was almost certain that with the handkerchief we could destroy her. But I think I’m wrong. There is no way. If the Emperor’s brother were not dead, this would have been the downfall of Most Adored.”
“So we just let it go and watch her be crowned tomorrow?”
“I’m afraid so.” She sighed again. “Go to sleep, and get ready for tomorrow.”
Disappointed, I dragged my feet to the door. “The Emperor once asked me about his brother. He seemed to think his brother was watching him. It’s strange, isn’t it?”
She stopped me. “You didn’t mention this to me before. Tell me. What did he say?”
“He was sitting in a circle of candles. He looked afraid.” I took a deep breath. “I think he was even haunted. But I don’t understand. Why is he afraid of his brother?”
Her eyes sparked in the candlelight. “We are not supposed to gossip about this, Mei. That is why you didn’t know. The Emperor murdered his family.”
I was shocked. So the phoenix ballad was true.
“That was how he ascended to the throne,” she said. “There was a gruesome battle at the Xuanwu Gate, during which the Emperor slew his older brother, the rightful heir, and murdered his younger brother. He even enslaved their women, slaughtered the young children, imprisoned his father, Emperor Gaozu, and then proclaimed himself the One Above All.”
I stared at her. So that was the truth! “You said the Emperor slew the heir? And enslaved the women?”
“I suppose he kept Jewel for himself.” She sighed. “He was the second son, Mei. He would never have had the chance to ascend to the throne.”
I remembered what Pheasant had told me. There was a concubine… My mother was not happy with the way he treated her… It made sense. “And the children?”
She sighed. “The oldest was seven. The firstborn of the Li family. Seven boys and five girls. And the women, servants, courtiers who supported them…”
I shivered. I could hear the children’s screams and their small feet running, helplessly, away from the blades. I could see those small faces streaked with tears of fright and their bodies saturated in blood. And all those people… “So the Emperor believes his brother’s ghost is haunting him?”
The Noble Lady did not answer, staring at the candle’s flame. Her plump face shaking, she gripped my shoulders tightly. “Mei, I believe we just found a way to defeat Most Adored.”
There was a tremble in her voice that I never thought to hear from the Noble Lady. It was not fear. It was excitement. Her breathing quickened, and I could see how hard she was trying to control herself.
“How?”
She went to open the door and called out for her maids, who stood outside the chamber. “Prepare my lanterns.”
I swallowed, knowing where she was going. But I wanted to make sure. “Where are we going, my Noble Lady?”
She waved. “Follow me, Mei.”
29
I was out of breath when we reached the Emperor’s bedchamber. It looked busier than when I had left it. Shadows rushed in and out—Jewel’s servants, perhaps making the last arrangements before the coronation.
Standing near an immense kylin statue with the Noble Lady, I dabbed the perspiration off my forehead.
“All the better she’s here,” she said, waiting for a eunuch to announce her arrival.
When the Emperor was ready to see us, the Noble Lady walked into the bedchamber, and I followed. Plum and the other Talents were nowhere to be seen.
I glanced at Jewel, who sat on a stool next to the Emperor. I had not seen her lately and did not expect to see her like that. Her white hair tumbled to her chest in disarray. The peony beauty marks on her face were smudged, her lips appeared cracked, and the candlelight revealed deep lines etched around the corners of her eyes. She was wearing a long pink skirt and a white robe that looked like a nightgown. On the stool near her were the yellow regalia and a phoenix headdress she would don tomorrow.
“What is your business, Noble Lady?” the Emperor asked.
His voice sounded slurred. He was drunk, swaying, and his sword lay on the oversize bed.
The Noble Lady knelt before him. I hesitated and then knelt beside her.
“The One Above All,” she said. “Forgive me, I should not bother you at this late hour, but I fear I must speak for the interest of the Inner Court, even though I might offend the ears of our most superior.”