Chapter 19
The tainted virgins were quarantined, Bo Tao was disgraced, and six eunuchs were whipped, two of them so badly that they were not expected to live. Ji Yue heard the news with the stoicism of an empty heart. The other girls in quarantine with her sobbed or had maidenly hysterics on a regular basis. During the noon meal, Head Eunuch came and apologized for the grave mental illness of his subordinate who perpetrated such a heinous crime. He told all of them that they would be allowed to return home to their families without disgrace.
No one left, of course. They all knew it was a lie. And no one dared say that it had been the Head Eunuch who had met them at the door to the palace and who had directed them inside. In such a way, the virgins hoped to buy favor with the evil man.
The Dowager Consort visited later that day. She went from room to room, a sly smile on her face as she praised their new quarters. It was to become the home for the lowest harem. She spent the most time in Ji Yue’s bedroom. She complimented Ji Yue’s bravery and confided that the man she had gripped was permanently maimed. Then she remarked on how wonderful it was that her son was so open-minded as to not require honor killings for them all. They would become wives despite everything!
Ji Yue did as was expected. She kissed the ground inthanks for the Emperor’s generosity. Then she lifted her head and pinned the Dowager Consort with a dark stare. She had not forgotten the eunuch who escorted her to the party. She remembered that he had tempted her with sweet treats. He could not have known that except through the Imperial Consort.
Which meant the Emperor’s mother had helped plan this disgrace. So Ji Yue stared hard at the Dowager. And the longer she glared, the darker the woman’s color became.
“I would have helped you, Dowager Consort,” Ji Yue finally said. “I would have seen to your comfort out of respect for your place as his mother.” She straightened up from the floor, then made it to her feet. But the Dowager did not let her leave.
“And what will you do now?” The question was half taunt, half fear.
Ji Yue arched her brow and made her next words a vow. “I will see that you get the honor and respect you deserve.”
Then she walked away, knowing she had just declared the most powerful woman in the Forbidden City as her enemy. It was a foolish thing to do, and yet the petty vengeance felt right. Worse, all sorts of possible slights and petty revenges came easily to mind. Within two hours, Ji Yue had thought of a dozen ways to make the Dowager’s life a misery, and in this way, she soothed her own battered heart.
By evening, she grew sick of her own thoughts. Petty revenges she would never enact could not distract her for long from her real pain, the real ache of losing the love of her life. She could have fled the country with Bo Tao. She could even now be lying in his arms dreaming of the sons that they would have.
If she had run, would her father really have been destroyed? Would her mother truly have committed suicide from the shame? It was a possibility, she knew, but would they really commit suicide? It was possible, and yet...
If she was doomed to the lowest harem anyway, would theEmperor truly care if she escaped with his best friend? Would he really punish two such insignificant beings when he had all of China to oversee? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
She collapsed onto her knees before the fire in her room. Her gaze traced the dance of the flames. She felt like the burning log, on fire and slowly turning into a tiny knot of black ash. Did she whither now after one day in disgrace? How would she survive after a year in the lowest harem? Or worse, how would she live outside of the Forbidden City as she and Bo Tao ran from an angry Emperor?
The choices collided in her heart and her mind. One moment she thought she would run to Bo Tao and beg him on her knees to take her from here. The next moment would have her crying because the shame would destroy her family. And in that dark moment, she heard the one voice she most hoped and feared to hear.
“Virgins!” Bo Tao called. “The Emperor has brought you a present.”
She spun around, her heart leaping to her throat as she looked through her doorway. His expression was hard as if frozen into place. She detected no softness in his eyes or his demeanor, and yet she thought his gaze lingered on her face. Did he see her tears and her regrets? She ducked her head in shame. She did not want to increase his suffering with her own. With her head down, she slowly stood, leaving her room to join the other tainted virgins in the main gathering place.
He watched her come into the center room. She knew it because her body tingled with awareness, but when she lifted her gaze, his face was turned to the room at large. He looked over all the girls, his expression hard, but his eyes sad. And then he held up nine red ribbons, each with a cheap monkey charm in the center.
“Virgins,” he said again. “The Emperor apologizes for theinsult given to you last night. He gives you this token of his esteem and bids you wear it tomorrow during the final selection of his brides.”
Silence greeted his words. All understood its meaning. After all, the Emperor could not remember which of the thirty-six remaining virgins were the ones who had been insulted by the white apes last night. But this necklace, this cheap monkey charm would identify them as clearly as a black, ugly smear across their faces.
Ji Yue winced at the unfairness of it all. But in the silence following Bo Tao’s pronouncement, Ji Yue felt a spark of intelligence. Suddenly she was lifting her head and pinning the disgraced Master with a sharp stare. “We are all commanded to wear this?”
He nodded, his chin dipping with a firm, angry motion.
“But does the Emperor say where we are to display this sign of his generosity?”
Bo Tao’s lips curved in a slow smile. “I, too, have been punished,” he said firmly, “for you virgins were in my care. I am punished for allowing such a heinous event in the first place. And so it is with great honor and humility that I wear my mark of shame here.” Then to everyone’s shock, he unbuttoned the top of his jacket. He pulled back the flap of his shirt so that all could see the pinned ribbon resting on the inside of his coat. Then he slowly closed his shirt. If he had not shown it to them, none would have known it was there.
Which meant that the tainted virgins could do the same. They could hide their ribbons! That meant they had nearly the same chance as everyone else! After all, the Son of Heaven had only seen them during one banquet. How would he tell one virgin apart from another except by a hidden token?
“You arranged this, didn’t you, Sun Bo Tao?” Ji Yue asked.
He arched his eyebrow. “The Emperor commanded suchtokens of shame. Is it my fault that in his fury, he forgets to specify the details?”
She smiled, her first real smile of the entire day. “You risk much in doing this.”
He shrugged. “Can I fall further from grace?”
Yes.
