“Mei,” the Noble Lady called to me from under a cinnamon tree. When Plum and I approached, she studied my face and nodded. “You painted only one beauty mark. Other than that, you are groomed well.”
I was surprised she still cared about my appearance. “I didn’t have time for more, my Noble Lady. What’s going on?”
“The Emperor had a meeting with his advisers a while ago, and then he decided to visit Taizi during his music lesson.”
“And?”
“He found out the heir was not learning music.”
“So what was he doing?”
She paused. “Something unspeakable.”
Something in her voice forced me to stare at her. She sounded uneasy, rubbing her plump cheeks. What event in Taizi’s residence could upset the Noble Lady like that?
She turned around, and I followed as she went down the trail in a garden and led me to the private residence of the heir. We had just passed the building that housed the imperial academy when two ladies in indigo gowns, members of Taizi’s household, rushed from the building on the left. Their faces stark white, they tripped over the stairs and looked back in fear, as if running away from something.
Almost at the same time, the Emperor’s voice rang out. “Who are you?” His voice was laced with danger. “Who are you? Halt! Who are you?”
“Who is the Emperor shouting at, my Noble Lady?” I whispered.
“A flutist. I shall take my leave now.” She hesitated, then turned to leave.
A lady of her rank could not come to the heir’s bedchamber without an invitation, I understood. But if I were she, I would have let the rule of propriety slip once and stayed to see what would happen next. “I shall report to you once I know more, my Noble Lady.”
Nodding, she left, and I entered the prince’s private building. Plum, already ahead of me, raced toward the corridor near the front parlor and squeezed through a crowd that had gathered there to get to the front. I followed her and stood next to her.
The courtyard before me was empty and quiet, but the prince’s bedchamber across from us, which people were staring at, was open, and the Emperor was roaring from inside.
“All these days you said you were studying classical music, you were fiddling with this thing? This horrid thing?”
A boy, disheveled, bolted out of the bedchamber and pressed himself against a pillar. I could not believe my eyes.
“Who’s that?” Plum’s mouth was open. She did not seem to understand either.
“Is he the flutist?”
“I don’t know.”
I stared at the flutist in shock. The boy and Taizi, a mighty wrestler? How could that be possible?
“Where is he? Where is the flutist?” The Emperor appeared in the corridor outside the bedchamber, his sword in hand.
Behind him, Taizi emerged. He looked his usual self, shirtless, his body covered only by a piece of loincloth. “Father.”
“And you? Who are you? A sodomist?” The Emperor was shaking. He looked terrifying.
“Father!”
Was that why the heir had never fathered a child?
“You make a fool of me for this horrid thing? I can’t stand it! Get out of my face. Get out of my palace. Get out. Get out!”
The boy bolted toward me. The floor of the corridor vibrated under my feet. He had a young face, distorted like a melted silver cup. His robe hung loose on his bare chest, and his underpants slipped down to his hips.
“Run, you want to run? You want to run away from me?” The Emperor unsheathed his sword. “Guard the door, Captain! He’s not going anywhere!”
The Captain answered and came to the parlor. The boy stopped, gulping in fear. Then he leaped into the courtyard and ran to the other side of the corridor.
“So you think you can run? I’ll run with you.” A shoe smacked the flutist’s back. In a moment, the Emperor ran down the corridor too.
The boy yelled shrilly and slowed.
“Run, run again. Do you want to keep running? Do you think you can run away from me?” The Emperor caught him and stabbed his shoulder with his sword.
The boy fell off the stairs to the courtyard. Rolling on the ground, he groaned, blood spurting from his wound. My stomach clenched, and I covered my mouth.
“I order you, now.” The Emperor’s voice sounded like venom as he stepped into the courtyard. “Get up. Run until the last drop of blood drains out of you.”
“Father.” Taizi stomped across to the courtyard. He was so tall, his head nearly reaching the eaves of the building behind him. He had always been a towering, terrifying presence each time I saw him, but now he drooped his head, looking small and pitiful.