“What about Soo?”
“Lady Soo has been sent back to her parents in the south. Her health needs to be attended to. The Palace of Pleasant Sunshine is reserved for her when she returns.”
“Why are the other ladies’ palaces all located on the east side of the Forbidden City? Who else besides me lives on the west side?”
“You are the only one who lives on the west side, Lady Yehonala.”
“May I know why?”
Chief Eunuch Shim lowered his voice to a whisper. “My lady, you may get yourself in trouble by asking too many questions. However, I am willing to risk losing my tongue to satisfy you. But first I need your total trust. May I have your word?”
I hesitated and then nodded.
Shim leaned toward me and placed his mouth near my earlobe. “It could be either Emperor Hsien Feng’s or the Grand Empress’s idea to place you where you are. You see, if it was the Grand Empress’s idea… Forgive me, I am nervous about telling you this… Her Majesty has a habit of placing her favorites near her on the east side. It is for her convenience, so that she may summon them whenever she needs a companion.”
“Are you saying that she disfavors me and doesn’t want me near?”
“I didn’t say that. You made the deduction yourself.”
“Is it not true?”
“I won’t answer that.”
“What about Emperor Hsien Feng? What if it was his idea?”
“If the idea came from His Majesty, it is a sign that he adores you-therefore he wants you as far away from his mother as possible. In other words, he makes it inconvenient for the Grand Empress to spy on him if he decides to visit you. Go on and congratulate yourself, my lady.”
Soon after he left, I sent a servant with two hundred taels of silver as a gift. It was a lot, but I felt it necessary. Without Chief Eunuch Shim I would be a blind person walking on a path filled with traps. Nonetheless, I sensed that he was a man to be feared.
Evening was coming on. The sky darkened. The leaves on the trees turned black, as if the green was stained with ink. The edges of the clouds wrinkled and folded out of one shape and into another. Crows returned to their nests on high branches. They sounded shrill, as if their day had been hard.
I called in my servants and said that I would like to have dinner. The eunuchs and ladies in waiting bowed and took my order to the kitchen. The last eunuch in the line didn’t rise. He stayed on his knees demanding attention. I was annoyed and told him to remove himself.
But when he raised his eyes, I recognized him. He was the young eunuch I had met on the day of my selection, the one who had brought me water.
“An-te-hai?” I called, almost excitedly.
“Yes, my lady!” He answered with equal enthusiasm. “An-te-hai, your faithful slave.”
I stood and offered him both of my arms.
He pushed himself a few steps back, reminding me of my status.
I sat back down and we both smiled.
“So, An-te-hai, what do you want?”
“Lady Yehonala, I understand that you can order my death any time if my words upset you. But there is something I must say.”
“You have my permission.”
He hesitated and then raised his gaze to look me directly in the eye.
“I am good for you,” he said.
“That I already know.”
“Will you make me your first attendant?”
I stood up. “How dare you make such a request when I’ve just arrived.”
An-te-hai knocked his forehead on the ground. “Punish me, Lady Yehonala.” He raised his hand and began to slap his cheeks left and right.
I didn’t know what to do. He kept on, as if what he was slapping was some other face, not his own.
“Enough!” I yelled.
The eunuch stopped. He looked at me with a strange longing, his eyes filling with the tears of a worshiper.
“What makes you think you can serve me better than the others?” I asked.
An-te-hai raised his eyes from the floor and said, “Because I offer what others don’t.”
“And what is that?”
“Advice, my lady. In my humble opinion, time and luck are not necessarily on your side at the moment. My advice can help you get ahead in this place. I am an expert on Imperial etiquette, for example.”
“You are very confident, An-te-hai.”
“I am the best in the Forbidden City.”
“How would I confirm this?”
“Test me, my lady. You will find out.”
“How many years has it been since you entered the Forbidden City?”
“Four years.”
“What have you achieved?”
“A belief, my lady.”
“A belief?”
“It is that the big melon I carry between my shoulders is a tough one. I have equipped myself with knowledge of Imperial society. I know the names of the builders of the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Grand Round Garden. I know their locations even on the astrological map. I can explain why there are no trees planted between the Palaces of Supreme Harmony, Central Harmony and Preserving Harmony.”
“Keep going, An-te-hai.”
“Concubines of Emperor Hsien Feng’s father and grandfather are my friends. They live in the Palace of Benevolent Tranquility. I know each of their stories and their relationship to His Majesty. I can tell you how the palace gets its heat in the winter and how it stays cool in the summer. I can tell you where your drinking water is from. I am familiar with the Forbidden City’s murders and ghosts, the stories behind the mysterious outbreaks of fire and sudden disappearances of people. I know the sentinels at the gates, and I am a personal friend of many of the guards, which means that I can go in and out of the palaces like a cat.”
I tried not to show that I was impressed.
He told me that Emperor Hsien Feng had two beds in his bedroom. Each night, both beds were made and the curtains drawn so no one would know in which bed His Majesty lay. An-te-hai let me know that his knowledge extended beyond the Imperial household, to the outer court and the functioning of the government. His secret for gaining information was to lead everyone to believe that he was harmless.
“So you are a natural spy.”
“For you, my lady, I’m willing to be anything.”
“How old are you exactly?”
“I’ll be sixteen in a few months.”
“What is the truth behind this proposal, An-te-hai?”
The eunuch paused for a moment and then answered, “I want a chance. I have been looking for a worthy master for a long time. As a eunuch, I understand that I ought not to think about my future, because there isn’t any. But I don’t want to live in hell for the rest of my life. All I am asking, my lady, is to be given an opportunity to prove my loyalty.”
“Rise,” I said. “Leave me now, An-te-hai.”
He rose and quietly stepped back toward the door.
I noticed that he was limping a bit, and I remembered that he was the one Chief Eunuch Shim had kicked in the courtyard.
“Wait,” I called. “From now on, An-te-hai, you’ll be my first attendant.”
I changed into a beige robe before I was ushered to my eating chair. My dining table was as big as my gate. The carvings on its surface and legs were remarkable. As I was waiting to be served, I learned the names of my eunuchs and ladies in waiting.
My eunuchs had unique names. They were Ho-tung, River of the East; Ho-nan, River of the South; Ho-tz’u, River of the West; Ho-pei, River of the North; Ho-yuan, Riverhead; and Ho-wei, River End. Although their names began with ho, which meant “river,” they were by no means related. The names of several of my ladies in waiting began with chun, meaning “spring.” They were Chun-cheng, Spring Dawn; Chun-hsia, Spring Sunset; Chun-yueh, Spring Moon; Chun-meng, Spring Dream. All of them were reasonably good-looking and clean. They answered my calls promptly and demonstrated no particular characteristics. Their hair was done in a uniform style. While the eunuchs wore queues, the ladies wore buns on the back of their heads. In my presence, they kept their hands by their thighs and their eyes fixed on the floor.