China by Edward Rutherfurd (historical books to read TXT) 📕

have told you, it will make him so angry that I don’t know what will happen to me.” I paused and looked into her eyes. “Perhaps I would disappear.” I said it quietly. I saw her take it in. She didn’t contradict me. “However,” I continued, “all the eunuchs know the story. Any of your ladies could find it out from one of them.”

She said nothing, but the next day she gave me a funny look. “I heard about Mr. Chen,” she said.

“Not from me, Highness,” I said anxiously.

“No. Not from you.”

She didn’t mention it again. But then she got curious about another thing, which was much more personal and quite embarrassing. “So what’s it like for a eunuch to be married?” she asked me one day.

I realized what she was after, but I pretended I didn’t. “As your slave expects you know, Highness, some of the palace people—if they’ve been fortunate in their careers and are able to buy back their missing parts—adopt sons to inherit from them, whose duty is to make sure they are buried in the proper manner with their ancestors. And your slave has heard that some of these older palace people also take wives.”

“I know,” she said. “But can their wives be happy?”

“Your slave supposes each case is different,” I replied. “The wives are well provided for.”

She gave me a look, and I was afraid she was going to interrogate me further. But I suppose she felt it was beneath her dignity.

Two days later, as I was leaving through the courtyard, one of her ladies who was alone out there asked me to push her in the swing. After we’d done that for a little while and she’d engaged me in conversation in a friendly manner, she casually remarked: “It’s nice to talk to someone. We’re quite lonely here, you know.” I bowed politely but said nothing. “Some concubines have been here for years,” she went on, “and scarcely seen the emperor, let alone spent time with him.”

“I suppose it’s no worse than being an unmarried spinster,” I suggested. “And still a great honor for the lady and her family.”

“They’d rather be married,” she said. “At least they get to make love and have children.” Again, I remained silent. She glanced around, to make sure there was no one else in the courtyard. “I want to ask you something,” she whispered.

I already guessed what was coming and who was behind this little game. But there was nothing to do except play along.

“I don’t mean to pry,” she said, “but is it like that for your wife?”

“My wife?” I pretended to misunderstand. “My wife has children.”

“I know. But now that you’ve been castrated…when you’re with her at night, I mean…what do you do?”

I’d known it was coming. I knew who wanted to know. And I had prepared for it. But I still had to be awfully careful. It was so dangerous.

If I said a word about my intimate life with my wife, it would be all around the palace in no time. And people would think I might want or might be persuaded to do the same for the emperor’s women. It would be just the excuse Mr. Liu was looking for to forbid any more people like me from being admitted again. He’d have me thrown out at once. If anyone suspected I’d even tried anything, I’d probably be executed.

“My wife is a good woman,” I said. “She looks after my parents and the children. She asks for nothing. Naturally, now I can only be her friend. She is like a sister. But there are many married couples who live in this way. She is dutiful and quite content.”

“Oh,” she said. She didn’t bother me again.

And so the fifteen days passed. I may not have satisfied the Noble Consort’s curiosity, but she continued to be happy with my manicures, which was all that mattered. I met her little boy a few times. He was four, I think. He seemed to be a nice child.

The emperor was in the palace, and the Noble Consort Yi was often with him, but I did not see him myself at that time.

Then head eunuch Liu returned.

—

He gazed at me. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have said he looked benevolent. “Well, I didn’t foresee this,” he remarked.

“Nor did I, Mr. Liu,” I said.

“You needn’t bother to explain,” he said, raising his hand. “I know everything that happened.” He shook his head. “I thought I couldn’t be surprised.” He sighed. “But one can always learn something new.” That was typical of him, I must say. People who get to the top always want to keep learning. The question was, what would he do?

“I hear the Noble Consort Yi has given you a new name,” he went on drily. “Lacquer Nail.”

“It is true, Mr. Liu,” I said, and bowed my head.

“Well, if she wants you to do her nails, I suppose you’d better.” The look he gave me said it all. He’d bide his time, but he’d still destroy me. “Rejoice while you can,” he said bleakly.

“Your unworthy servant can only accept his fate,” I mumbled.

“You haven’t accepted your fate at all,” he snapped. “You volunteered for the job, and then you asked her for a position.”

“Your foolish servant was so surprised, he acted impulsively,” I said. “You were not there to guide me.” That got a snort. “May your servant speak?” I ventured.

“What?” He glared at me.

“Your servant has been drawn to the finer things in life, ever since he was a boy,” I said. “It made me become a lacquer worker. And the day I first saw a retinue of the palace people, I knew this was where I belonged. So I have dared to wonder if these extraordinary circumstances, which I certainly didn’t foresee, might be the result of some hidden force at work. Could it be the operation of yuanfen?”

I’ve never seen a more cynical expression on any man’s face. “I see. You think you’re