Page 33 of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

“The ‘city of women,’ as we call it,” Kang said. “The Emperor’s women are guarded like jewels. There are no aboveground entrances to the harem, save the Empress’s personal walkway. We can’t have naughty men coming in to soil what belongs to the Emperor.”

Perhaps Weihadbeen right about it being a prison.But there is always a way out,Xifeng reassured herself, pressing her clammy palms against her tunic. Thetengaruqueen had told her she possessed water in her constitution, an element of a most resourceful nature.

Still, she found it hard to be optimistic when they came to a staircase leading directly into the ground.

“This is one of only three entrances,” Kang informed her. “A long tunnel links it to its sister passage, which opens somewhere in the Imperial City. The third is the walkway I spoke of. It is the grandest, used only by the Empress and her servants when she attends royal functions in the main palace. All are heavily guarded.”

Xifeng could see that for herself. A pair of armed eunuchs flankedthe stairs, and another pair opened the barricaded door below for them. Instantly, she and Kang were swallowed up by the darkness. He removed a torch from the wall and held it aloft in the eerie gloom.

The long stone passageway was wide enough for her fingertips to brush each wall. Aside from their footsteps, she heard no sound except for the dripping of water. The air felt moist, stagnant. Every so often, another corridor branched off into blackness on either side.

“I wouldn’t wander down any of those. Some of them have caved in and the air isn’t always safe, but if you have a torch and it goes out, you’ll be warned. Not to fear, as this main passage is perfectly harmless,” Kang added when she put a panicked hand on his shoulder.

“I know the Emperor wants to protect the women,” Xifeng said shakily. “But why do these tunnels have to run underground?”

“They’re easier to protect, I imagine. The earth itself acts as an additional impediment.”

The pools of darkness and contorting light gave her a sickening feeling. Would she hear slithering, if she stood still long enough?

At last, they came to another stairway leading up to a heavy door and Kang led the way outside into an exquisite walled garden. Xifeng followed him with relief, staring at the sunny, lush greenery of her surroundings. The willow trees beckoned with their sweet-smelling trunks, and flowers bloomed in every shade. Butterflies danced over the stream, which was crystal clear and wide enough for a rowboat. The compound comprised three magnificent buildings, each several levels high and connected to the others by elaborate walkways and balconies.

Thetengaruclearing had been magnificent in its natural beauty. But this was a spectacle, a display of wealth only the Imperial family and the world of women within would ever see.

“Come. Master Yu is waiting.”

Xifeng followed Kang through a doorway carved with a phoenix rising into the sun. Bamboo mats lined the room they entered, soft, clean, and warm. A lighter wood had been used for the furniture here, and cream-colored lanterns sat on trays of green and gray stones.

A short eunuch in sky-blue robes lifted his head. He had been writing at an elegant oak desk, an ink-dipped brush poised in one hand while the other held back his sleeve. He looked to be in his fifties and wore an expression of annoyance. His eyes, sharp as black glass, took in Xifeng in one sweep.

Kang bowed low to him. “Master Yu, the Empress’s chief eunuch,” he said, for Xifeng’s benefit. “Sir, I have brought the maiden of whom the Crown Prince spoke.”

Xifeng inclined her head, sensing the man’s disapproving stare on her. She kept her gaze on the table, where his calligraphy stood out dark and swirling against a pristine page. He had been composing a poem; she caught the wordsdoveandtwilight of the years.

“So this is what the Little Fisherman has caught for us,” Master Yu said, and Xifeng’s eyes flickered upward at the password. “I am surprised by the Crown Prince’s choice.”

“Surprised? With so much beauty, sir?” Kang asked.

“Beauty is all very well. But it is merely the gleam of the sword,” the chief eunuch said. “It is the mind that provides the sharp blade, and without that, well. We have a pretty piece of metal and not a weapon at all.”

Xifeng recognized the metaphor—he had stolen it straight from a poem, one she’d had to memorize—but she kept her face blank.

“Step backward,” Master Yu ordered, and she did so at once. He circled her like a hawk, the smell of lemongrass and something sour, rank, beneath its sweetness, emanating from his robes. “No,” he said,continuing to speak to Kang, “I am surprised the Crown Prince would recommend a girl of such lowly origin to Her Imperial Majesty’s circle. Perhaps she may make a good maidservant of some sort? To empty the chamber pots and dust the furniture, and so forth?”

“His Highness did not specify, sir. But you’ll find it would be a waste to put Xifeng to such tasks. She is educated.”

Master Yu’s perfectly plucked eyebrows rose. “Educated? She’s dressed like a beggar’s daughter. Where did you get your education,Xifeng?”

She struggled to keep her face blank. This coddled little man thought himself quite fine, stealing lines of poetry to insert into conversation. As though that would intimidateher. She spoke in a polite, neutral tone. “My Guma taught me everything I know, sir. I can read and write, and I know history, a bit of geography, most poetry from the last century, and calligraphy. I sew, embroider, and play the barbarian’s fiddle proficiently.”

The chief eunuch crossed his arms over his ample chest. “Well, that’s something at least. Most of the ladies and concubines come from high-ranking families, and I’m pleased you will not disgrace yourself with total ignorance. What poetry do you know? Recite something for me.”

Clearly he was used to people bowing and scraping. But as much as he prided himself on his intelligence, he was stupid enough to underestimate her. Xifeng kept her eyes on his fat feet, which had been squeezed into silk slippers. She knew exactly which poem to recite.

The shining blade has two faces

Of a honed beauty to please the eye

But it is the edges of the sword felt most keenly

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