Empress Orchid - Anchee Min [21]
The eunuchs bowed to Nuharoo and then escorted her out of the hall.
The room returned to its former quietness.
We stayed on our knees and I kept my chin low. Nobody spoke or moved.
Unable to tell what was going on, I decided to peek again.
My breath stopped the moment my eyes met the Grand Empress’s. My knees jerked and I hit the ground with my forehead.
“Somebody is trying to hurry up.” Emperor Hsien Feng spoke with a hint of amusement in his voice.
The Grand Empress made no response.
“Mother, I heard thunder,” His Majesty said. “The cotton plants in the countryside will soon be drowned in rain. What can I do with all the bad news?”
“First things first, my son.”
The Emperor sighed.
I had an urge to look at His Majesty again. But I remembered Big Sister Fann’s warning that the Grand Empress disdained girls who were too eager to catch the Emperor’s attention. Once the Grand Empress had ordered one of the Imperial concubines beaten to death because she seemed to be flirting with the Emperor.
“Come closer, girls. All of you,” the old lady said. “Take a good look, my son.”
“No fried cicadas for dinner,” Emperor Hsien Feng uttered, as if he were the only one in the room.
“I said closer!” the Grand Empress yelled at us.
I stepped forward together with the other five.
“Introduce yourselves,” Her Majesty ordered.
One after another we pronounced our names, followed by the phrase “I wish Your Majesties ten thousand years of life.”
My intuition told me that Emperor Hsien Feng was looking in my direction. I was excited and hoped that I could sustain his attention, but knew I could not afford to displease the Grand Empress. I kept my eyes on my toes. I sensed some movement from the Emperor and stole a glance while the Grand Empress was asking Chief Eunuch Shim why all the girls appeared slow and had no spirit. “Have you scraped them off the streets?”
Shim tried to explain, but the Grand Empress stopped him. “I don’t care how you produce. I judge only by the goods you deliver, and I am not pleased. I’ll die drowning in the spit of the Imperial ancestors!”
“Your Majesty.” The eunuch got down on his knees. “Did I not say that a good chime also needs a heavy beater to make it sound right? It all depends on how you tune the girls, a task at which we all know you excel.”
“Death to your tongue, Shim!” The old lady burst into laughter.
The Emperor flipped the chips back and forth on the silver plate as if annoyed.
“You look exhausted, my son,” the Grand Empress said.
“I am, Mother. Don’t count on me to come tomorrow, because I won’t.”
“Then you must decide today. Concentrate and look harder.”
“But I have been, haven’t I?”
“Then why can’t you make up your mind? Perform your duty, my son. Before you are the best maidens the kingdom can bestow on her Emperor!”
“I know.”
“It is your big day, Hsien Feng.”
“Every day is a big day. Every day a long metal stick is driven into my skull.”
The Grand Empress sighed. Her anger was about to spill over. She breathed deeply to control herself. “You liked Nuharoo, didn’t you?” she asked.
“How would I know?” The Son of Heaven rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “My head is full of holes.”
The mother bit her lips.
His Majesty ran his fingers through the remaining bamboo chips, making a loud noise.
“My bones are screaming to have me lay them down.” The Grand Empress stretched in her seat. “I have been up since two o’clock this morning, and it is for nothing!”
Shim shuffled up to her on his knees. His arms were up in the air, holding a tray with a wet towel, a powder box, a brush and a green bottle.
The Grand Empress took the towel and wiped her hands and then picked up the brush to touch up her face with the powder. After that she picked up the green bottle and sprayed a mist onto her