One morning, I went to fetch water to wash my face. A woman in the pavilion called to me. “You’re new here.”
I had noticed her before. Like me, she was always alone, sitting at a low writing table in the pavilion. Although she did not look old, she had white hair that reached her waist. When she bent to the table, she looked as if she had been showered by snow.
“Do they give you any trouble?” She glanced at the Xu Girl, who passed by me with the other Selects.
“What makes you say that?” I walked to the pavilion. Perhaps the woman had noticed my unhappiness or heard the others make some comments about me.
She smiled, tucking a handkerchief in her pocket. “It would be hard to live here for anyone, especially if you have difficult chamber mates.”
I put my basin down and sat on the windowsill. “I agree.”
“You do know they dislike you because you are more intelligent than they are, don’t you?” She was drawing something on the table while a basket of fabric, unembroidered, lay near her feet.
I was rather flattered. “How did you know that?”
“It’s my secret. But I see you’re more beautiful than they say too.”
And she certainly knew the right things to say. “You’re very kind,” I said. When I was at home, I had not cared about my looks, but after spending all these months with the Selects, I understood a woman’s beauty was important. Still, it bored me to spend hours dabbing white cream on my face.
The woman herself was stunningly beautiful. She had willowy eyebrows and a small cherry-red mouth. Loops of white fringed her forehead, while two heaps of hair stood at both sides of her head like the pointy ears of a feline.
“How old are you? Fifteen?” She smoothed a scroll on the table and anchored the corners with the ink stone, ink sticks, and a calligraphy holder painted with white clouds and red peonies.
“Thirteen.” Most of the Selects were fourteen—another reason I did not fit in. I had bled for the first time the month before I came to the palace. My body was changing too, and my breasts were sore. But I still had the slender figure of a girl.
“So young,” she said. “They call me Jewel.”
“I’m Mei.”
“Of the Wu family.”
“You know my family?” I could not have been more proud.
“I heard the eunuchs talk about you when they were discussing the summons.”
“Summons? Have you met the Emperor?”
She shook her head, her gaze fixed on me. Her eyes were like a cat’s, inscrutable, observing me quietly but refusing to be observed. I wondered what she was thinking.
“How long have you been here?” I asked.
“Long enough.” She picked up a calligraphy brush on the table.
“From what others have said, it sounds like we could be waiting forever. I do not like it, waiting here and wasting time.”
“There are some ways that can help you obtain the summons.”
“Really? What ways?”
She dipped her brush in the ink stone, her left hand holding back her right sleeve. “If you have a powerful relative in the court.” She dabbed it against the stone to remove excess ink and began to draw a few lines on the scroll. Her hand was steady, the strokes smooth and thin. Soon the lines formed a large blossom. I could not criticize her skill. She was a good painter. “A truly powerful one, a first-degree minister, or second-degree, who will have opportunities to exalt your beauty to the Emperor. When he hears it, he’ll surely be eager to see you.”
“Ah, connections.” That was how the world functioned, of course. People with good connections received good opportunities; people with no connections received no opportunities. “What are the other ways?”
She glanced at me. “Bribe the eunuch who’s in charge of deciding the Emperor’s night companions. He’ll whisper in the Emperor’s ear about your beauty when he has a chance. When the Emperor gets curious, he’ll summon you.”
I wanted to groan. I did not possess anything valuable that could be used as a bribe, not a jade pendant or even a silver bangle.
“I did not mean to upset you, my friend.” She put down the brush. “Let me tell you something else. Every year on his birthday, the Emperor accepts gifts from his concubines, including us in the Yeting Court. If you give him an unforgettable gift, he may honor you by seeing you.”
“Oh, really?” I was excited. “What kind of gift?”
“Something unique.”
“It has to be, doesn’t it?” There must be thousands of gifts from all the ministers, titled ladies, and all the other ladies. How could one gift stand out and attract his eye? “What have the ladies given him in the past?”
“Gold or expensive toys, jewelry, silk robes, lapis lazuli even. I once offered him a horse.”
A horse! One of the most treasured animals in the kingdom. The rebellion against the Sui Dynasty had cost many precious steeds. With peace at hand, horses were cherished and desired by every man. A conqueror like the Emperor certainly understood their value. “And he didn’t summon you?”
Jewel shook her head.