Chapter 5 The Fate of Concubines #2
I tried to make more alliances, but was met with the same scorn. Whether it was because the other girls could tell, at a glance, that I was village, or because the quick pace of gossip had ensured that everyone already knew who I was, nobody wanted anything to do with me.
The only candidate who showed friendliness was a short, pale girl named Ciera. She found me, on a clear, breezy afternoon, watching the swallows flit about under the eaves. “Wei,” she drawled. “What an interesting name. What does it mean?”
It was not an unreasonable question, since the same sound in the Tenshan language could have multiple meanings.
“It means tail,” I told her, more than a little embarrassed.
“And end, and last. When I was born, my parents thought I would be their final child.” Except my two older brothers had died soon after, both in quick succession, so they had to keep trying for more sons.
Ciera gave me a cat’s smile. “Maybe you are meant to end something bad, so that you might begin something good.”
It was a kind thing to say, and I thought I had at last made an ally.
But the next morning, I woke up to the bloody tail of a swallow staining my windowsill.
Huge flies were crawling all over its tiny, delicate feathers, and it was already beginning to reek something awful. Its body was nowhere to be found.
I tried my hardest not to care. I told myself that it didn’t matter if nobody liked me, because I was not here for them but for Bao.
But even so, I could not help but cry a little that night, curled up on a bed too silk-soft to fall asleep in.
I had never met people like this before, people who were cruel like villains in a story.
I wondered if they were born like this, or if something about the palace made them this way, like a cliff pine bent by strong winds.
Our lessons continued. On the fifth day, an imperial doctor came, dressed in swishing robes of black.
“There are several known places where magic lives in a man,” he intoned, and bade a eunuch undress himself except a cloth around his groin.
He used a stick to point at various locations on his naked body.
“If you wish to increase the chance of passing that magic to his son, then you must know how to touch and engage these pressure points. Here—here—and here.”
On the seventh day, an apothecary came in from the capital Xilang.
He wore the tasseled headdress of scholars and carried a large crate with him, from which he drew several pouches and clinking jars.
“These are aphrodisiacs, made for stoking the pure magic of Heaven.” There were all kinds of them—from ginseng tea to toad’s venom to jujubes, to something dark and bitter he called “Red Bean Brew.” After we had a look, he made us memorize a long list of fragrances made from wildflowers and herbs, emphasizing how important it was to match the aphrodisiac to the prince’s mood. “Like pairing dim sum with exotic tea.”
On the tenth day, the palace manager Lü Hu taught us the inner workings of the palace.
“The House was first built two dynasties ago, following the reunification of Tensha. It is the largest palace in history. There are four thousand servants working within its walls, eight principal palaces, six hundred pavilions, and two hundred and forty gardens.” He was a jolly, enthusiastic young eunuch, with huge sleeves that waved around as he spoke.
“Unfortunately, not all are accessible to you. You see, the House is divided into the Inner Court and the Outer, and the two sections are strictly separated. Women are not allowed to leave the Inner Court, just as men cannot enter it. Only your prince and eunuchs may visit, to ensure the sanctity of the concubines.”
Each night, when we all returned to our chambers, I tried to go over each lesson in my mind, lips moving as I recited new terms. It was difficult for me, since everything was so unfamiliar, but I wanted to do the best I could.
I had come to bring gifts back to my village, and I did not want to go back empty-handed.
The night before the selection, we had our very last lesson.
“There are approximately thirty days in the lunar cycle,” said an astronomer in starry robes.
His voice was like a singing kettle. “The female energy rises and wanes with the moon, and so the prince’s nights must be scheduled accordingly.
The highest-quality nights are saved for his future wife, the Empress-in-Waiting.
He may choose to bed her at any time, including the full moon… ”
He went on to explain the concubines’ ranking system, and how it related to when they could bed the prince.
If the prince did not wish to see the empress, he could summon one of two Noble Consorts—on any night except for the full moon.
The first-rank concubines could only be given nights on gibbous moons and below, the second-rank on half-moons, the third-rank on quarter-moons.
The even lower-ranked companions, the astronomer said, would only be considered when the moon was crescent or new.
A current of anxious murmurs passed through the girls.
It was a grim reminder that competition between us didn’t end on Selection Day.
Even after we were chosen for the prince’s Inner Court, we would still be competing to share the imperial bed—just like concubines of generations past. We would fight each other for the small chance to use Lady Chara’s techniques and the even smaller chance to become mother to a seal-bearing son, the chance to become powerful.
The astronomer frowned at us with disapproval.
“A proper concubine,” he said, turning his nose up, “must never envy those who receive more time with the prince. After all, are we not all here for the same purpose? The Azalea House is only as strong as our seal-bearing sons. We must pray for each other’s success tomorrow during the selection, so that our nation will be great and lasting!
” He said it like there was nothing more important in the world.
But that seemed to do little to allay the candidates’ worries. By the time Selection Day came—a gray day, the sky heavy with the promise of rain—the candidates were no less competitive than the first morning.
And, I was ashamed to admit, I felt the same. As I fell into line among them on the long walk to the East Palace, I allowed myself a thin flame of hope.
If by some miracle, I thought, Terren didn’t kill me and instead chose me, I would perform the very best I could. If he allowed me just one night with him, I would show him that I could grow a seal-bearing son, just like the girls from the cities.