Chapter 140: First Visit to the Imperial Palace
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Updated: August 9, 2013
On the first day of the sixth lunar month, bright red lanterns were hung before every shop in Xijing. The young attendants at the inns and taverns had changed into festive clothes, and the entire city was filled with joyous celebration. Even the beggars in the streets seemed fewer than usual.
Squads of soldiers patrolled the streets, while carriage after carriage and sedan chair after sedan chair streamed toward the same destination: the Meridian Gate of the Imperial City.
All five gates of the Meridian Gate stood open that day. The carriages and sedan chairs stopped before the gate, and the noblemen and officials attending the banquet entered in orderly fashion through the four side gates flanking the central entrance.
Though the central gate stood wide open, no one passed through it. Seeing the puzzlement on Lianyue’s face, Lianyu carefully explained the reason.
Only three circumstances permitted passage through the central gate. The first was when the emperor traveled. The second was when the emperor took an empress for the first time; in that case, the empress’s phoenix palanquin might enter the palace through that gate. Such occasions were rare, however, since most empresses had already been at the emperor’s side when he was still Crown Prince. The third was when the top three scholars of the Palace Examination—the First Scholar, the Second Scholar, and the Third Scholar—went before the emperor; they too could enter through the central gate.
Civil and military officials used the gate on the left, while members of the imperial clan and hereditary princes used the one on the right. The eastern and western side gates were ordinarily kept closed. Since today was an exceptional occasion, they had been opened to allow the guests to pass through.
Lianyue had never imagined that even entering a gate could involve so many rules. Naturally, she followed Lianyu through the right-hand gate. Their carriage was allowed to proceed directly inside. When the guards saw that it belonged to the Prince of Nanping’s residence, they conducted only a token inspection before letting it pass.
After entering the Meridian Gate, the carriage traveled some distance before finally stopping. A shrill voice came from outside:
“By the Empress Dowager’s command, this servant has come to receive the Princess Consort. May I ask Her Highness to transfer to the sedan chair?”
The moment Lianyue heard the voice, she knew it belonged to a eunuch. The common people’s comparison of such voices to a rooster’s crow was remarkably apt, and she could not help wanting to laugh aloud. One warning glare from Lianyu forced her to swallow the laughter back down.
Lan Shui helped Lianyu tidy her appearance, then stepped forward and pushed open the carriage door. Just as she was about to descend, Lianyu caught her by the sleeve from behind. Understanding what Lianyu meant, Lan Shui did not insist. She let Lianyu leave the carriage first, followed by Lianyue and Yaoyao, keeping herself until the very end.
There was nothing Lianyue could do about Lan Shui’s behavior. No matter what she and her elder sister said or did, they could never change Lan Shui’s mind. She was always deliberately lowering her own status by a degree. Perhaps only after Eldest Brother truly married Sister Lan into the family would she finally try to change.
Once Lianyu stepped out of the carriage, she saw Chang Xin bending respectfully beside it, waiting for her in a red robe embroidered with immortal cranes. Her heart stirred. Chang Xin was the chief eunuch serving at the Empress Dowager’s side and rarely left her person. Yet here he was, standing in welcome.
Her eyes also fell upon the two sedan chairs for two people waiting ahead. It seemed the Empress Dowager had received news quickly and attached considerable importance to the identities of those in the carriage.
Lianyu descended with the aid of Chang Xin’s extended arm and said graciously, “You have gone to great trouble, Eunuch Chang.”
“How could Your Highness say such a thing? Serving the Princess Consort is this servant’s good fortune from a former life—something many would beg for and never obtain.”
He was clearly a skilled flatterer. Once he began speaking, even his voice no longer sounded quite so grating.
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Lianyue followed Lianyu out of the carriage, her eyes discreetly taking in her surroundings.
Before they had left that morning, Lianyu had specifically warned Lianyue that she was not permitted to look around through the carriage windows. Thus, Lianyue knew only that they had entered the palace; she had not seen what it looked like within.
On some subconscious level, she had assumed that the imperial palace was merely a residence somewhat larger than the Yue family estate. But only after stepping out of the carriage did she realize how narrow that assumption had been.
Before her stretched a square paved with bluestone, enclosed on either side by towering vermilion walls. Straight ahead stood a wooden palace hall with red walls, golden tiles, vermilion pillars, and gilded doors, built upon a five-meter-high platform of white marble. Bathed in sunlight, it was dazzlingly magnificent and majestic beyond words. The solemn grandeur of the place was something the Yue estate could never rival.
Lianyue suppressed the shock in her heart. The amazement in her eyes flashed only briefly before her expression returned to normal. Mimicking Lianyu’s movements, she descended from the carriage with the support of Chang Xin’s arm.
Her composure earned a secret nod of approval from Lianyu, and Chang Xin noticed it as well. He glanced at Lianyue, then at Yaoyao, who had already leaned halfway out of the carriage, her great eyes darting about and her face frozen in astonishment. With a brief comparison, he guessed Lianyue’s identity.
Inwardly, he praised her. As expected of a young lady raised by the Yue family—she was indeed different. Chang Xin had lived in the palace for many years, yet even he felt awe whenever he stood before the Hall of Supreme Harmony. It was only that long familiarity with the palace had made it impossible for outsiders to read anything from his expression. For Miss Yue to display such composure on her first visit was truly remarkable.
The imperial family had chosen this place for the banquet partly to inspire awe. Clearly, however, that intimidation held little power over certain people.
The ingratiating smile on Chang Xin’s face became a little more genuine. As for Yaoyao’s astonishingly stunned expression, it did not provoke the slightest change in his eyes. No matter how outrageous the behavior of the ladies in that carriage might be, he was merely a servant and could not presume to show displeasure toward them.
Lan Shui’s composure surpassed even Lianyue’s. Not once did the slightest trace of surprise appear in her eyes, and every movement she made was poised and dignified. She could lower her status before the Lianyue sisters, but before outsiders it was another matter entirely. After Lianyu’s seemingly casual reminder, Lan Shui had quickly assumed her proper position. This occasion was different from those before; she now carried the status of the future young mistress of the Yue family.
Chang Xin had heard the Empress Dowager mention Miss Lan over the past two days and had privately held her in some contempt. Yet upon meeting her, Lan Shui’s bearing forced him to revise his opinion, and his disdain vanished completely. Her attire was perhaps overly plain and elegant, but her poise alone placed her above the other young ladies. It seemed the Empress Dowager’s plans might not unfold as she wished.
Lianyu observed every change in Chang Xin’s expression. Once Lan Shui had alighted, she affectionately took her hand, then looked at Yaoyao, who was still sighing over everything she saw.
“It seems Yaoyao hasn’t seen enough yet. Perhaps we should simply leave her here by herself.”
There was not the slightest hint of reproach in her voice. Lianyu genuinely admired Yaoyao’s innocent nature.
Yaoyao reluctantly drew her gaze away and pleaded sweetly, “I’ve seen enough, I’ve seen enough! Sister Yu, you can’t leave me here alone. This place is so enormous—I would certainly get lost.”
“You, honestly…”
Lianyu had only been teasing. How could she truly abandon Yaoyao here? She turned to Chang Xin and said courteously, “Please forgive us for making a spectacle of ourselves, Eunuch Chang.”
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“Your Highness is too kind. This servant pays his respects to the young ladies.”
With a flick of the horsetail whisk in his hand, he bowed respectfully to Lianyue and the others.
“The Empress Dowager has been speaking of you ladies since early this morning. She is still thinking of you now. May I trouble you to transfer to the sedan chairs?”
Lianyue and the others nodded in acknowledgment. Lianyu stepped forward first and led Lianyue to the front sedan chair, where the two of them sat. Lan Shui and Yaoyao took their places in the sedan chair behind them.
The maids who had accompanied the carriage—Xiangju, Xianglan, Xiangzhu, and Xiangmo—stood two to either side of the sedan chairs. Lianyu gave Eunuch Chang a slight nod, and the eunuch’s distinctive voice rang out once more:
“Proceed!”
The eunuchs carrying the sedan chairs lifted them steadily and passed through the open vermilion gate on the western side. Beyond it lay an alley nearly two rods wide. Wherever the sedan chairs went, eunuchs and palace maids stood along both sides of the road with lowered eyes and bowed heads. Only after the sedan chairs had passed did they resume walking.
On the way, Lianyu quietly told Lianyue that they were headed for the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility, the residence of the Empress Dowager. Before the evening banquet began, all the female guests would gather there. She then softly reiterated the rules Lianyue would need to observe within the palace.
After Lianyue nodded, Lianyu turned to Eunuch Chang, who was walking beside the right side of the sedan chair, and asked, “How has Mother’s health been lately? Has her cough improved?”
“Replying to Your Highness, the Empress Dowager’s cough has improved day by day since the beginning of summer. It is now nearly ninety percent better. Her Highness often tells this servant that she owes it all to His Highness the Crown Prince. Had His Highness not so often amused her, she would never have recovered so quickly.”
“It is only because Mother dotes on Ke’er and does not mind his chattering,” Lianyu replied. At the praise of her son, her expression grew even gentler, and her voice became warmer. “If Ke’er ever does anything improper, I must trouble Eunuch Chang to offer him some guidance.”
“Your Highness is too modest. It is only this servant’s duty. Besides, His Highness the Crown Prince has conducted himself exceedingly well.”
Lianyue thought to herself that this was only natural. Her nephew was not merely adorable; he had an exceptionally sweet tongue—and was also rather devious. Winning people’s affection was, of course, no challenge to him.