Did an emperor and his concubine have the right to know the pleasures of love, so carefree, so light, and so insolent?
ANOTHER PREGNANCY WAS a sign sent from the gods to consolidate my legitimacy. Removing an empress regarded as the Mistress of the World proved a delicate affair of state and required an agreement from the dignitaries of the Council of Great Ministers. A confrontation with these powerful lords would be a bitter and dangerous one, but I was determined to break through this final barrier so that I could embrace my freedom and join Little Phoenix on top of the world.
On my advice, the sovereign first dismissed Empress Wang’s uncle who had the title of Great Minister.
My name, Wu, was an insignificant one, and my commoner’s background a handicap in that Forbidden City where men and women placed much weight on how noble their blood was. I decided to proclaim my father’s glory to increase my prestige. It was, therefore, decided that the Emperor should hold a ceremony commemorating the dynasty’s veterans while traveling in the province of Bing. Among the thirteen now-dead individuals who received homage from the sovereign, Father was promoted to the posthumous title of Great Governor of Bing of the first imperial rank.
The Empress of China had to be a perfect Mistress of the Palace and a model of virtue for all Chinese women. I wrote a book called Inner Warnings in which I denounced the luxury and idleness of Court ladies and praised hard work and thriftiness.
The birth of a second prince gave me an opportunity to rise up in the imperial hierarchy. As the four seals for wives of the first rank had already been allocated, I suggested we create a fifth one called the Luminous Wife. When the sovereign mentioned the plan during an audience, Wu Ji, who was already very worried by my ascension, said it was scandalous. His supporters backed him up, saying that ancestral institutions could not be modified and any changes would debase the Inner Court and undermine the Empire. I learned of their indignation and advised Little Phoenix to save our efforts for other things and give up on this idea. Wu Ji would be the instigator: I would go straight from a Courteous Concubine to an Empress.
In the sixth year of Eternal Magnificence, tension grew at Court. The sovereign’s determination to remove Empress Wang in my favor was common knowledge among Court officials. With the exception of Great General Li Ji, every member of the Council of Great Ministers remained united behind Wu Ji, who was frustrated that his nephew no longer followed his recommendations. Trying to find grounds for reconciliation, I urged Little Phoenix to visit his uncle, and we deigned to present ourselves at his door with ten carriages filled with bolts of brocade and golden tableware. During the banquet, the sovereign promised honorary distinctions to Wu Ji’s three sons and tentatively broached the contentious subject. Without looking up at me once, the Great Chancellor cut short all my illusions. Disobeying a father’s wishes is a sin, he told us sternly. It is impossible to repudiate an Empress chosen by a deceased sovereign.
Little Phoenix was not a gifted speaker. As Wu Ji had made him emperor, he was unwilling to raise his voice or disobey his charismatic uncle. On our return to the gynaeceum, he shed tears of despair in my arms, ready to accept fate. The humiliation I had just endured seared my very soul. Suddenly, I perceived the truth that lay beneath Wu Ji’s words: As a chancellor designated by the previous sovereign, he was defending the barren Empress to ensure the power of his regency. For his partisans and himself, dismissing the Empress would not simply be a breach of the Eternal Ancestor’s wishes, but it would also disrupt the Empire’s ancient orders and culminate in Little Phoenix taking political command.
Wu Ji’s cold calculation could not kill the flame of love. To win the duel, I buried my feelings and deployed my most manipulative strategies. His weapon would be turned against him. I would be icier and more merciless than him.
The Court had been suffering the rule of the sectarian old man for too long. This Chancellor, trusted by the previous emperor and the sovereign heir, had been the author of frequent bloody purges. It was not long before I identified his implacable enemies and promised them the opportunity for revenge. I rallied the talented officials, mostly commoners who had been neglected by the imperial uncle, leader of the aristocratic clique. I gave them the hope of rising in the court’s hierarchy, when the concubine of modest origins would become the Mistress of the World.
A low ranked official called Li Yi Fu was the first to dare to break the silence Wu Ji had imposed on the Court: He publicly called for the Empress to be removed from office because she was barren. After the audience, the Emperor and I received him in the Inner Palace. His courage was rewarded with a flagon of rare pearls. He was soon raised to the position of Vice-Chancellor. From then on more officials resolved to follow his example every day, and they made sure the government was aware of their exasperation. When I could see that opinion was swinging in my favor, I encouraged Little Phoenix to make his determination clear to the Council of Great Ministers.
On that particular day, after the morning salutation, the sovereign called the Council into his offices in the Inner Palace. I hid behind a gauze screen and heard Little Phoenix stammering the words I had dictated to him: “The greatest crime a wife can commit is to fail to procreate. The Empress has no descendants; the Courteous Concubine has two sons. I would like to name her as Empress. What do you think of this?”
Chu Sui Liang, one of Wu Ji’s faithful followers, spoke up loudly: “The Empress is descended from an illustrious clan. During the last reign, she served the previous Emperor without committing the least misdemeanor. Before leaving this world, His Majesty took your servant’s hand and told him: ‘I entrust to you my son and my daughter-in-law.’ That voice still rings in my ears to this day. The Empress is still young. She might one day bear a child. The crime of which you accuse her is unfounded. Your servant does not dare obey you and betray the wishes of the Eternal Ancestor.”
Irritated, the sovereign raised his voice: “The Empress has committed crimes too shameful to mention. The Chinese people cannot venerate a woman who has failed in her moral duties and sunk into perversion. The Courteous Concubine is dazzling in her virtue; she would be a perfect model for the women of China.”
“There is absolutely no proof to support the accusations leveled at the Empress,” Chu Sui Liang replied. “Some doctors feel that the imperial child suffocated as a result of gases released by the coal in her overheated bedchamber. Others say that someone might have poisoned the princess to attribute the murder to the sovereign lady who was unlucky enough to be near her. As for the crime of practicing black magic, I am very much afraid that there is some plot against her and that the sovereign lady may fall into the trap a second time. Ambitious women have unfathomable hearts. If Your Majesty is determined to designate a new sovereign lady, I beg you to choose one among the Empire’s noble families. Why this lady Wu? The Courteous Concubine served the previous Emperor; everyone knows that, and Your Majesty cannot deny it. When you have reigned for ten thousand years, what will people say of this incest? Your Majesty follows the path of light. Why would you cover yourself with mire? The decline of the Empire will begin the day the Courteous Concubine ascends to the throne. By resisting your wishes, your servant surely deserves ten thousand tortures, but I would willingly choose death to not fail in the duty entrusted to me by the previous Emperor!”
If Chun Sui Liang was to be believed, I had killed my own daughter to achieve the rank of Empress. I could remain silent no longer; I burst out: “Have this hideous creature destroyed, this vile animal who dares to suggest such slander before the sovereign!”
Wu Ji’s icy voice replied: “Sui Liang received a decree from the previous Emperor: ‘All his sins shall be forgiven.’ No one can touch him.”
Chu Sui Liang suddenly launched himself at the platform on which Little Phoenix was sitting and cracked his head against one of the steps. His head split open, and the blood ran down his face.
“Majesty,” he proclaimed, “if you do not listen to me, your servant wou
ld rather die!”
“Get out!” the Emperor exploded angrily. “Throw this insolent creature out of my palace! Get out, all of you, out, leave me alone.”
But the Great Ministers had decided to see their fight through to the end. That very evening, Han Yuan had this letter sent to the sovereign: “Your servant has heard that if the king appoints his queen, then they are to represent Heaven and Earth. Their complementary virtues, like the sun and the moon, are to light up the four oceans; but if the sun and the moon are darkened, darkness reigns over the world. Like husband, like wife—even the common people can find their own kind. Can the Son of Heaven act against his nature? An Empress is the mother of ten thousand kingdoms; she is a conductor of good and evil. That is why the Emperor Yellow was assisted by Mo Mu, whose face was ugly, and the King of Yin lost his way because of the very beautiful Lady Da Ji. As for the great Zhou dynasty, it was destroyed by mistress Bao Si, a bewitchingly beautiful woman. I hope Your Majesty will choose in such a way that he is not a laughing stock for all eternity.”
Lai Ji wrote, “Your servant has read that the Emperor appointed his empress to honor the temples of the Ancestors, to watch over the earth and the heavens, to represent the forces of this earth, and to act as a model for the imperial princesses. That is why she was chosen from an illustrious family. She must be peaceful, virtuous, submissive, and unselfish; she must earn the respect of the four seas and satisfy the wishes of the gods. That is why the Emperor of Letters founded the Zhou dynasty, but the commoner Bao Si ruined it with her smile; the Emperor of Piety of the Han dynasty married a slave girl, the slender dancer Summer Swallow; he had no further descendants, and his empire collapsed. Look at the tragedies of these two dynasties and think about our own!”
Wu Ji was clearly behind all this slander. He and his companions were already stained with the blood of their political enemies; how could they scorn my name, I who had neither poisoned nor made curses, nor organized assassinations? They knew my face; they could see I was no devastating beauty. Could they then not see that something other than physical pleasure tied me to Little Phoenix and that we were determined to be together for eternity? How dare they announce that they had spied some evil force in me because I was of lowly origins! By calling me a conspirator capable of destroying an entire dynasty, these men were betraying their fear: With my help, the sovereign would wrest the power that they had held for too long. I, a concubine imprisoned in the Imperial City, had enough will to confront every one of these men!
The caricature the ministers painted of me hurt, but the insults only strengthened my resolve. I adopted the fierce determination they attributed to me, stripped Chu Sui Liang of his duties for treason, and drove him out of the Capital. Great General Li Ji secured the army’s support for me. Wu Ji was powerless as he watched his enemies taking orders from the Emperor and the officials who were commoners climbing to the rank of minister. In the depths of the gynaeceum, I received permission from Little Phoenix to correspond with our supporters in the Outer Court. And so, under my instructions, Great General Li Ji announced that the government should not concern itself with the sovereign’s private affairs. Xu Jing Zong, the Minister of Rites, exclaimed, “When a peasant becomes rich after a good harvest, he feels the temptation to take a more beautiful wife. When a prince ascends to the imperial throne, should he not choose a wife of higher quality? The Son of Heaven is master of the four seas; why does he not have the right to appoint his empress? This is no one’s business. Let us not weary ourselves!”
A petition was put before the Great Secretariat and transmitted to the Emperor: One hundred officials wanted the Empress to be revoked. The Council of Great Ministers was forced to accept this imperial decree immediately: “The Empress Wang and the Resplendent Wife Xiao, having committed murder, are stripped of their positions and deposed to become commoners. Their mothers and brothers shall be exiled to the south of the Extreme Mountain.”
Six days later, in keeping with ritual, the Court called for a new mistress. The Emperor published the edict that I had written myself: “Lady Wu is descended from an ancient and glorious lineage. She has been chosen by the Inner Court, which values her intelligence and virtue. Her presence has swiftly filled the garden of orchids with light. She has spread her goodness and sweetness to the women of the gynaeceum. In the past, I fulfilled my filial duties to the Emperor Father, who granted me the privilege of never leaving his side. Seeing that I tended him so well that I forgot to sleep and without ever being disturbed by the beauties all around me, the Emperor decided to reward my attentions by offering me Lady Wu, like the concubine Zheng Jiun whom the Emperor of Annunciation of the Han dynasty gave to his heir long ago. In keeping with the wishes of the previous sovereign, I have decided to appoint her Empress.”
On the first day of the eleventh moon in that sixth year of Eternal Magnificence, I was dressed in a full tunic of dark indigo painted with pheasants, those venerated symbols of power and fertility, and I wore my leather belt with the gold clasp hung with jade ornaments. The Great General was appointed as the Imperial Envoy, and I received from his hand the Empress’s seal and golden blade. So for this event to be a celebration of victory, I would not settle for holding the festivities in the intimacy of the gynaeceum, as prescribed by Imperial Protocol. At my instigation, the Emperor summoned kings and princes, ministers and generals, governors and foreign ambassadors, and a gathering of ten thousand subjects before the gates of the Inner Palace.
Twelve trees of gold set with pearls and diamonds, twelve carved flowers, and two phoenixes with their wings outstretched were pinned to my topknot that was two cubits high and crafted over many hours by the imperial hairdressers. My head weighed down on my shoulders like a palace, a mountain, a star. As I climbed the steps to the top of the Gate of Serene Loyalty, I saw the immaculate blue of the sky draw nearer. The music played by three thousand musicians and the cheers from dignitaries who had come from the four corners of the Empire faded as I rose up. Suddenly I stepped into the silence of vastness. Up there, there was not a breath of wind; eternity spread its wings like a giant bird. An intense heat and a proud, dazzling light emanated from the sun. Beside Little Phoenix, I could see the earth unfolding like a painting: the fields, rivers, mountains, and the millions of Chinese souls prostrating themselves at my feet and begging for my protection.
I was thirty years old, and my second life was beginning. I had no more fears or worries. A new path appeared for me at the top of the Gate of Serene Loyalty, inviting me to reach heights not known to any man. With Little Phoenix, I would build the greatest dynasty of all time; I would beget the most beautiful civilization.
On that day I knew that I would face other difficulties, that loneliness would be my faithful companion, that this new life would be a succession of deaths and rebirths, and that intense joy would be born from the depths of suffering and despair. I, the ordinary restless child, the plain adolescent, the commoner who had been a nun twice, would prove to be a Daughter of Heaven.
WITH THE NEW Year, a new cosmic cycle began. May the nightmares of the past be erased forever! May the Empire know peace and prosperity! Convinced that words had magical benedictory powers, I advised Little Phoenix to inaugurate an era named Dazzling Prosperity.
Plants germinated in the depths of the soil. Rivers wakened to the call of spring. Trees covered themselves in green veils. At the ministers’ insistence, Loyalty was discharged from the position of heir, and Splendor was named Supreme Son. I freed the prisoners in the Cold Palace and shut up the former Empress and the Resplendent Wife there, having stripped them of their titles.
I was right to be wary of my husband’s capricious heart. My people intercepted a poem that the Resplendent Wife had written to him, using her own blood as ink and a piece of her dress as paper.
I questioned the sovereign: “I’ve heard that you have been to see those two commoners in their cell. Their tears and their lies moved you, and you have promised them your mercy. Have you
forgotten their dark plots that disturbed the peace of your Palace? Do you want me to abandon the imperial seal and give myself up to them once more? Your pity is a dangerous thing: It puts the Empire in danger!”
Little Phoenix had never seen me angry, and he was quite dumbstruck like a child seeing his mother’s rage for the first time.
I had always despised fits of jealousy but—by raising my voice, by playing the wounded wife and the cruel stepmother—I realized that this device that millions of women had been using since the dawn of time was more effective than a considered conversation. Paralyzed by my angry screams and my blazing eyes, he tried to justify the weakness he had demonstrated by saying that he had been put under a spell by the two women. I pretended to believe him: “Both those commoners are familiar with black magic; it is hardly surprising if they cast evil spells on you from the depths of their dungeon. I can see only one way of exorcising you. According to the laws of the Inner Court, any criminal who tries to put spells on the sovereign instead of repenting is condemned to one hundred lashings with a wooden plank.”
I immediately wrote out the order for this to be carried out and affixed my seal as Mistress of the Palace. Little Phoenix was silent and ashamed, letting me act as I saw fit and lacking the courage to intervene. To be sure that the punishment would be severely enforced, I sent Ruby and Emerald to watch the procedure. It was not long before they reported that Wang, the dethroned sovereign, had prostrated herself three times in the direction of the Middle Court and wished the Emperor a long life and the Empress much happiness before being reduced to a seething mass of meat. The demoted Resplendent Wife had sworn that in her next life, she would be reincarnated as a cat and I as a rat, and she would drink my blood and tear me into a thousand pieces. Her voice soon stuck in her throat as the black lacquered planks tore off her skin and broke her bones. Her blood, flesh, and excrement mingled together, and she had her last breath after twenty strokes.