Empress Orchid - Anchee Min [55]
“Don’t worry, my lady.” He smiled. “I have a way to bend the wind in the Forbidden City.”
“And that is to say …”
“That is to say if Emperor Hsien Feng expresses a desire to see any other lady—for example, Lady Li—I’ll say to him, ‘Your Majesty, Lady Li is unclean.’”
“Well, what about Lady Mei?”
“‘I’m sorry, your Majesty, Lady Mei is unclean too.’”
“So, everyone will have their cycle except the one you want to sleep with the Emperor?”
“Yes. I have succeeded many times.”
“I am counting on you to make it work for me, Chief Shim.”
“You needn’t worry, my lady. I’ll whet His Majesty’s appetite by telling him how delicious you are.”
But I did worry, and now I had only twelve days to prepare myself. I had no idea how to please a man in bed. I needed to be instructed immediately. I thought of Big Sister Fann and wished that I could speak with her, but there was no way I could get out of the Forbidden City. To ask for permission to leave, I had to lie. I sent An-te-hai to the Imperial household to report that my mother was ill and I needed to go home. Two days later, permission was granted for a ten-day leave. An-te-hai told me that I was lucky. Just a few weeks ago Lady Li had made the same request—her mother was truly ill—and been refused. Emperor Hsien Feng was taking his pleasure, and he would not release her. Lady Li’s mother had died.
“That shows how unimportant I am to His Majesty,” I said bitterly.
I arrived home at noon and immediately sent An-te-hai to fetch Big Sister Fann. My mother, Rong and Kuei Hsiang were thrilled to see me. Mother planned to take me shopping, but I begged her to stay home and not to leave the bed until my visit was over. I explained that I had lied to the Emperor, and that I could be beheaded if found out.
Mother was shocked and thought my behavior unforgivable. But after I described my situation, she had no trouble staying in bed. She said she felt sick and asked Rong to place some towels by her bedside. Rong put a pot of strong-scented herb medicine on the stove in case the Forbidden City sent its spies.
Big Sister Fann came. “Impressive, Orchid! Impressive! You are like a pepper in autumn—turning redder and hotter each day!” She had no time to tell me how much she missed me. “I have a place for you to learn what is required, but you must disguise yourself.” I exchanged clothes with Rong. Big Sister Fann handed a set of women’s clothes to An-te-hai.
“I am taking Orchid to visit a friend,” Big Sister Fann told my mother.
We were out in the street when Fann told me that we were heading for the House of Lotus.
“Big Sister Fann!” I knew the nature of the house and hesitated.
“I wish we had a choice, Orchid,” she said apologetically.
I stood in the middle of the road, unable to make a decision.
“What are you thinking, Orchid?”
“To win His Majesty’s heart” were the words that jumped out of my mouth.
“Then come, Orchid. We will use the house only for what it can teach us—the ways of pleasing men.”
We hired a donkey cart. After half an hour we arrived in the west corner of Peking. The streets narrowed and the air smelled sour. We dismounted in the back of a busy street where shopkeepers stacked their rotten fruit and vegetable baskets. I hid my face behind a scarf and walked quickly with Big Sister Fann and An-te-hai. We stopped in front of an old building. A lantern sign hung down from the second floor that read House of Lotus.
The three of us entered a dimly lit hallway. The interior was covered with murals depicting elaborate bedrooms where lavishly dressed people indulged themselves in every way imaginable. The characters were stylishly drawn. After my eyes adjusted to the light I began to see the shabbiness—chipped paint and falling plaster everywhere. The place had an odd odor, a mixture of perfume and stale tobacco.
A frog-faced woman appeared behind a counter. She had a smoking pipe sticking out of her mouth. She greeted Big Sister Fann with a broad