The Qing Dynasty Mysteries - Books 1-3 Page 8

  “It is nothing,” Lady Li replied. “I am used to my own servants who have been with me for many years knowing what I like. I’ll take the jasmine for now.”

  Chu nodded and placed the jasmine petals into a pot and then filled it with hot water. “Lady Yun also preferred jasmine tea,” the girl said.

  “How do you know that?” Lady Li asked.

  “I was her servant as well, my lady,” Chu replied as she poured the tea into a small cup.

  There were endless levels of servitude and rank in the Forbidden City. Maids had maids who had maids, and almost everyone had someone they could order around. Even Chu would be able to bark orders at the kitchen maids when she requested the tea tray prepared.

  “Is that why you were assigned to me?” Lady Li asked, sipping the tea.

  “You’d have to ask Jinxi that,” she replied. “He requested I be assigned here.”

  “Is that a fact?” Lady Li asked of no one in particular as she eyed Jinxi. He didn’t respond, but Lady Li was sure he was smiling to himself.

  “Did you know her very well?” Lady Li asked Chu.

  “Not as well as I would have liked,” she said. “She was good to me, never beat me or yelled at me, but she was real careful about rules and boundaries. She didn’t really confide in me the way some of the ladies do with their maids.”

  “Did she have friends among the other ladies?” Lady Li asked.

  “I don’t think so, my lady,” she said. “She was favored by the empress, so I think the other ladies were jealous of her. The empress was probably the only person I would call her friend.”

  When Lady Li had served the empress years ago, she knew some of the other ladies were jealous of her. But no one had ever tried to murder her over it. There had to be a stronger motive than jealousy at play.

  “So Lady Yun didn’t have many friends, but did she have any enemies? Did anyone clearly dislike her?”

  A giggle escaped Chu, which she quickly tried to stifle by putting her hands to her mouth. “Forgive me!” she said. “Oh, she had plenty of enemies. The empress was always favoring her with gifts, and she loved to show them off to the other girls and make their faces red. ‘Crimson Flowers’ was how she referred to the other ladies-in-waiting.”

  “Really?” Lady Li asked, her brow furrowing. She had never considered Suyi the hateful type. Had she known that Suyi was exhibiting such behavior she would have immediately put a stop to it.

  “Oh, yes. And she was quite a sneak. She was always listening in on the other girls’ conversations and paying the eunuchs for information.”

  “Did you know about this?” Lady Li asked Eunuch Jinxi.

  “I did, my lady,” he said. “I was going to tell you once you began to trust me.”

  “What about Chu? Can she be trusted?” Lady Li asked.

  “I believe so,” Jinxi replied. “That was why I requested her.”

  “Trust me with what?” Chu asked.

  “Chu, I am trying to find out who killed Lady Yun,” Lady Li said. Chu blanched. “Oh, don’t worry, Chu,” Lady Li said, placing a comforting hand on Chu’s shoulder. “I am sure you are not in any danger. Yes, I am here to comfort and serve the empress during this time, but I must know what happened to my sister-in-law. I cannot allow her killer to go unpunished.”

  “Oh, my lady!” Chu gasped. “You shouldn’t fret so! The empress has hired an investigator to find out who did it. You shouldn’t worry about it. The killer will be caught.”

  “How?” Lady Li asked. “The killer is most likely here, in the Forbidden City, but the empress has forbidden the inspector from entering the Inner Court. I have probably learned more about Lady Yun’s murder after talking to you for five minutes than he has discovered in the last two days!”

  Chu started to cry and knocked her forehead to the ground. “I’m sorry, my lady. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “Oh no, please don’t do that,” Lady Li said. “It doesn’t help.”

  Chu did her best to reduce her crying to mere sniffles and wiped her tears away with the sleeves of her gown. “Forgive me,” she mumbled.

  “Just collect yourself,” Lady Li said. She turned to Eunuch Jinxi. “Can you show me where Lady Yun was killed?”

  “I can,” he said. “But I don’t know what good it will do. The area was thoroughly cleaned.”

  “I am sure,” Lady Li replied. “But it might help me figure out…something. I don’t know what, but Inspector Gong thinks that looking at the scene would be useful.”

  Eunuch Jinxi looked at a nearby clock. “I am sure it would, but the empress will be waking up from her nap now. She will most likely wish for your attention.”

  Lady Li sighed. “Oh, of course. I mustn’t forget that I have another job to do as well.”

  “Don’t worry, my lady,” Eunuch Jinxi said. “We will find out what happened to Lady Yun.”

  Chu, with her red-rimmed eyes, did not look so confident.

  Lady Li was surprised at how quickly and easily she fell back into the routine of serving the empress. She helped the empress dress and freshen her hair and makeup as she rose from her nap. She served tea. She helped her practice calligraphy. They fed the empress’s birds and walked in the garden. Lady Li didn’t really take in any of it, though. The whole afternoon, all she could think about was Suyi and who could have killed her. The empress finally took note of Lady Li’s absent-mindedness.

  “You haven’t heard a word I have said,” the empress said as they were sitting alone after dinner.

  “Every word you say is of the utmost importance,” Lady Li replied.

  “Then what have I been talking about?” she asked.

  Lady Li made an educated guess. “Someone is causing you trouble.”

  “Always!” the empress said. “Someone always needs something from me. It never ends! I swear I have had the same headache for weeks.”

  “Being empress is a thankless job, Your Majesty.”

  “You haven’t asked anything of me,” the empress replied. “But your mind is not here. You were supposed to be here to comfort me in my time of distress, but you haven’t given a single thought to me.”

  “Please, punish me if I have been derelict in my duties,” Lady Li replied as she kneeled before the empress.

  The empress scoffed and motioned for Lady Li to return to her seat. “Don’t be ridiculous. I just want to know what has you so distracted.”

  “I wouldn’t want to trouble you.”

  “I’m already troubled. Just tell me, then maybe you can focus on me again.”

  Lady Li sighed and considered what she wanted to say. She didn’t want to reveal as much to the empress as she had to her new servants, partly to protect the empress but also to protect herself. If the empress knew that Lady Li was actually there to help find the killer, she was sure the empress would be angry.

  “My heart is heavy with the loss of Lady Yun,” Lady Li began. “I simply cannot imagine how such a thing could happen.”

  “It does you credit that you care so much for your husband’s family,” the empress replied. “Of course, all of us become our husband’s property and part of his father’s household when we marry, but it is usually out of duty and tradition. You seem to have done so out of love for her loss to have affected you so strongly.”

  “She was just a girl when I married. How could I not love her?” Lady Li said.

  “I heard you also took his mother into your home. You were quite lucky to not live under her thumb in the first place. But now, to willingly take her in? Lady Li, daughters will be forced to sing songs of your filial piety for generations to come.”

  Lady Li ignored the mocking tone in the empress’s voice. “I only regret leaving her and my own daughters alone so soon after Lady Yun’s death.” The two women sat silently for a moment as the empress absorbed Lady Li’s words. The empress rubbed her stomach a bit and sighed.

  “Are you ill, my lady?” Lady Li asked.

  The empress sho
ok her head. “Just a bit of stomach discomfort. It has lingered for weeks but the doctors can find nothing wrong.”

  Lady Li had often wondered how the imperial doctors could ever diagnose and treat women in the Forbidden City. They were prohibited from looking at the emperor’s women or even touching them. The doctor and patient would sit on opposite sides of a heavy curtain. The woman would put her hand through a slit, and the doctor would lay a thin white cloth over her wrist and feel her pulse for signs of imbalances. She then remembered Popo and how the doctors had not been able to treat her illness for decades. She must remember to find a better doctor for her when she returned home.

  “Why are you here, Lady Li?” the empress asked, once again interrupting Lady Li’s wandering mind. “You have a perfect little world outside these walls. No husband to control you. Your mother-in-law is kindly toward you. You’re wealthy. Why trade all that in to be back here, trapped within these walls?”

  Lady Li decided at that moment that she was the worst detective in the empire, if not the world. If Inspector Gong knew what a mess she had made of things he would have her dragged back to her own home and never let her out. She had probably ruined his entire investigation. She decided it would be best to be at least partly honest with the empress.

  “Actually I find being within these walls quite freeing,” she said. “Before I served here as a girl, I had never left the walls of my family’s compound. The few years I was here, we traveled to the Summer Palace and Jehol…”

  “Fled to Jehol, you mean,” the empress interrupted.

  “Indeed, but it was quite exciting for me,” Lady Li replied. “I met interesting men and women, even foreigners! I didn’t have to practice my embroidery or read The Analects for hours. My mother wasn’t controlling my every thought or move.

  “I suppose I was wanting to experience some of that freedom again. Being a lady, a widow, a mother, it is not freeing. I have so much work, so many responsibilities and social constraints. I can only rarely leave my home or have visitors, and when I do I am constantly watched.”

  “I never thought about it that way,” the empress said. “This place is a prison for me, as your own home is for you. I never thought that other women might find freedom here.”

  “You don’t think the young women who serve here are happy? Excited? Even liberated to be beyond the control of their families?”

  “I suppose so,” the empress said. “Life here is also regulated, but perhaps not as much as at their own homes. There is simply too much to do. The women can’t be watched all day.”

  “Now that you think back on it, do you think Lady Yun was happy here?”

  “Oh, yes,” the empress said. “Certainly! She was always cheerful and helpful. I adored her company. She was such a bright spot in my otherwise boring life.”

  “Did you favor her?” Lady Li asked. “Give her special attention or privileges?”

  “You mean, were the other girls jealous of her?”

  Lady Li blushed at once again being so obtuse.

  “I believe so. But that didn’t stop me from doting on her, and it didn’t stop her from basking in my attention. I only have the girls with me for a short time. Why shouldn’t I keep the ones who make me happy close to me?”

  “But could someone have been jealous enough to kill her?”

  The empress shook her head. “I don’t believe so. This is the imperial court. We are all ladies here. We don’t go around stabbing each other when we get a little angry or jealous. It’s all about favor and position. If someone hated that I was giving so much attention to Lady Yun, they simply would have worked harder to gain my favor, or have done something to cause her disgrace, something that would take her down a peg or have her sent home at the very worst. We are a civilized people.”

  Lady Li sighed and had to agree with the empress. Jealousy simply couldn’t be a strong enough motive for murder.

  11

  Inspector Gong rushed from Dr. Xue’s to Lady Li’s home. He had to find a way to contact her. Eunuch Bai would know how to reach her.

  Inspector Gong banged on the gate to Lady Li’s compound with more urgency than he intended, but he didn’t stop. He banged on the gate until it opened and ran inside without noticing who opened it.

  “I must get a message to Lady Li,” he said.

  “She sent a message for you earlier,” a soft voice replied.

  Inspector Gong quickly turned toward the voice and saw the concubine he had spied before. Her hair was down, only pulled back into a simple, loose ponytail that hung down her back. Her clothing was simple and her eyes were downcast. She turned and walked to a nearby table. She opened one of the drawers and pulled out a piece of paper. She handed it to him, all the while never making eye contact.

  “Forgive me, umm…what is your name?”

  “Concubine Swan,” she replied with a small bow.

  “Forgive me, Concubine Swan,” he replied, taking the paper from her. “I hope I did not startle you.”

  “I should not have opened the door myself, but you were so insistent. I was afraid something was wrong. Is Lady Li all right?”

  “Of course…I am sure she is. This is the first I will have heard from her,” he said opening the letter.

  “You must sit,” she said, motioning to a nearby chair. “I will have tea brought.”

  “Thank you,” he said.

  A flustered Eunuch Bai rushed into the room. “Concubine Swan! You should not be dealing with this ruffian. Forgive me for being so slow. The young mistresses are looking for you.”

  “I will leave Inspector Gong to you then. I will send one of the maids with the tea.” She gave another slight bow and turned to leave, moving as silently and gently as a ghost.

  “Is she all right?” Inspector Gong asked as soon as she was out of earshot.

  “It’s none of your concern,” Eunuch Bai snapped. “I see you got your message.”

  Inspector Gong looked it over before responding.

  Inspector Gong. I have arrived in the palace and am situated in my quarters with two helpful servants. I have not yet learned much except that Lady Yun may have been causing trouble with the other ladies. I will speak with the empress this afternoon. Perhaps she can tell me more about the dynamics of the Inner Court. I will send more information when I can.

  Inspector Gong folded the letter up and began to pace. “Do you have a way to contact Lady Li?” he asked Eunuch Bai.

  “I do,” he said. “Not directly, of course. But I have ways of getting a message to her.”

  “I need to contact her,” Inspector Gong said. “I fear she may be in danger.”

  “Of course she is in danger!” Eunuch Bai nearly shouted into Inspector Gong’s face. “You sent a gentle rabbit into the lair of a vicious snake! You have no idea how conniving those women can be. Not to mention the eunuchs!”

  Inspector Gong sighed. “It is a place of ball-less men and lonely women. Who would have imagined they could be so cruel to one another.”

  “What do you think would happen when you pit dozens of women against each other for the attention and affections of one man? They would all just live happily as sisters and willingly share?”

  “But there is no man to compete for now,” Inspector Gong pointed out. “The emperor is only a child.”

  “No,” Eunuch Bai agreed. “Now they are all competing for the attention of the empress, who is much more discerning about who she favors.”

  “You lived in the palace for many years, correct?” Inspector Gong asked, even though he knew the answer. “Do you recall the empress being a particularly cruel woman? All those rumors about her poisoning her enemies and being unfaithful to the emperor, was there any truth to them?”

  “I knew her before she was empress, back when she was only a concubine,” Eunuch Bai explained. “When the emperor was alive, she was not a source of power. She knew her place. But when the opportunity to seize power came, she grasped it with a ferocity no one expected. Th
at is how she and Prince Kung were able to stage the coup and overthrow the little emperor’s regents so quickly and easily.

  “So, in answer to your question, when she was a concubine, no, she was not cruel or power-hungry. She was faithful to her husband. But after she took the throne…” He paused. “There is no telling what she is capable of.”

  “Do you think she would harm Lady Li?”

  Eunuch Bai furrowed his brow. “Never. They are good friends.”

  “Even if Lady Li was close to discovering that the empress had Lady Yun murdered?”

  “How could you even suspect such a thing?” Eunuch Bai asked, his eyes widening in surprise. “You think the empress killed Suyi? What would lead you to such a conclusion?”

  “I just came from Dr. Xue. He is certain the girl was killed by a woman. She was also being poisoned by gu, which is expensive and difficult to procure.”

  “This is preposterous,” Eunuch Bai said. “What motive could she possibly have?”

  “That is the only piece of the puzzle I am missing. And one Lady Li might discover.”

  “Ridiculous. The empress wouldn’t kill one of her own ladies. If the empress is unhappy with a girl, she would just send her back home. If the girl committed a crime, as the head of the Inner Court, she could just have her executed without explanation. The empress has no need to commit murder. Besides, she asked you to find out who killed Lady Yun.”

  “She also prohibited me from conducting an effective investigation by barring me from the Inner Court. What if the girl knew something? Had found out some…secret? What if the empress couldn’t send her away because she had information about something important but she couldn’t execute her because she hadn’t committed a crime?”

  “You don’t have any evidence for any of this,” Eunuch Bai replied.

  “Not yet,” Inspector Gong said. “But who knows what Lady Li is discovering on the inside.”