Empress Orchid - Anchee Min [48]
Chief Eunuch Shim helped me into my seat between Lady Li and Lady Mei. I apologized for distracting them, and they politely returned my bows, saying nothing.
We turned our attention to the opera. It was called The Three Battles Between the Monkey King and the White Fox. I was struck by the talent of the actors, who Lady Mei told me were eunuchs. I was especially taken by the White Fox. “Her” voice was unique and beautiful and “her” dancing so sensuous that I forgot that she was a he. To attain this level of skill and flexibility the actors must have started their training when they were young children.
The performance was reaching its moment of action. The monkeys displayed their acrobatic skills. Spinning and somersaulting, the Monkey King executed a flip over the smaller monkeys’ shoulders. At the end he threw himself high into the air and then landed smoothly on a tree branch, a prop made of painted wood.
The crowd cheered.
The Monkey King hopped onto a cloud, a board hung from the ceiling by ropes. A large white cloth, which represented the heavenly waterfall, was thrown up, the cloud was lifted, and the actor made his exit.
“Shang! Tip him! Shang!” Emperor Hsien Feng clapped and yelled.
The crowd followed, shouting, “Shang! Shang!! Shang!!!”
Hsien Feng’s head rocked like a merchant’s drum. With each beat of the gong he kicked his feet, laughing. “Excellent!” he shouted, pointing at the actors. “You’ve got balls! Great balls!”
Plates of nuts and seasonal dishes were passed by the Grand Em-press. Not having eaten since the previous evening, I helped myself to berry buns, dates, sweet beans and nuts. I seemed to be the only lady who truly enjoyed the opera besides the Grand Empress. The rest of the ladies looked bored. Nuharoo struggled to appear interested. Lady Li yawned and Lady Mei chatted with Lady Hui.
As if to rouse her daughters-in-law, the Grand Empress handed out paper fans.
We got up and bowed in Her Majesty’s direction and then sat back down and opened our fans.
It was time for the action scene. The monkeys were led by their king on all fours as they circled their enemy, the dying White Fox, who sang to the audience:
If you will take advice, my friend,
For wealth you will not care.
But while fresh youth is in you
Each precious moment spare.
When flowers are fit for culling
Pluck them as you may.
Ah! Wait not till the bloom be gone
To bear a twig away.
The audience clapped at the singing, and Lady Yun got up. I assumed she needed to go to the chamber pot. But something about her movement caught my eye. She was twisting her bottom, and her belly seemed slightly swollen.
She’s pregnant! Nuharoo, Li, Mei, Hui and the others all uttered the same phrase.
After a hard stare, Nuharoo turned away. She picked up her fan and rocked her wrist ferociously. The rest of the Imperial wives did the same.
My mood turned dark. Nuharoo’s diadem and Lady Yun’s belly were like two burning rods stuck in my skin.
Emperor Hsien Feng did not even bother to say hello to me. He got up and left at intermission. I watched him exit, followed by eunuchs and ladies in waiting carrying washbasins, spittoons, fans, cracker dishes, soup pots and trays.
Chief Eunuch Shim told us that our husband would be back shortly. We waited, but His Majesty did not return. The crowd turned its attention back to the opera. My mind was like a pot boiling with dead thoughts. I sat till the end, my ears buzzing with the sound of drums.
The Grand Empress was pleased with the performance. “This is much better than the original Monkey King!” she said to the troupe leader. “The old version put me to sleep. But this one made me laugh and cry.” She praised the acting and told Shim to loosen his money belt.
Her Majesty asked to meet with the leading actors, the young men who played the Monkey King and the White Fox. The actors came from backstage with their makeup still on. Their faces looked like they had been dipped in soy sauce.
The Grand Empress ignored the Monkey King and talked to the White Fox effusively.