Anchee Min - Empress Orchid

We stayed on our knees and I kept my chin low. Nobody spoke or moved.

Unable to tell what was going on, I decided to peek again.

My breath stopped the moment my eyes met the Grand Empress’s. My knees jerked and I hit the ground with my forehead.

“Somebody is trying to hurry up.” Emperor Hsien Feng spoke with a hint of amusement in his voice.

The Grand Empress made no response.

“Mother, I heard thunder,” His Majesty said. “The cotton plants in the countryside will soon be drowned in rain. What can I do with all the bad news?”

“First things first, my son.”

The Emperor sighed.

I had an urge to look at His Majesty again. But I remembered Big Sister Fann’s warning that the Grand Empress disdained girls who were too eager to catch the Emperor’s attention. Once the Grand Empress had ordered one of the Imperial concubines beaten to death because she seemed to be flirting with the Emperor.

“Come closer, girls. All of you,” the old lady said. “Take a good look, my son.”

“No fried cicadas for dinner,” Emperor Hsien Feng uttered, as if he were the only one in the room.

“I said closer! ” the Grand Empress yelled at us.

I stepped forward together with the other five.

“Introduce yourselves,” Her Majesty ordered.

One after another we pronounced our names, followed by the phrase “I wish Your Majesties ten thousand years of life.”

My intuition told me that Emperor Hsien Feng was looking in my direction. I was excited and hoped that I could sustain his attention, but knew I could not afford to displease the Grand Empress. I kept my eyes on my toes. I sensed some movement from the Emperor and stole a glance while the Grand Empress was asking Chief Eunuch Shim why all the girls appeared slow and had no spirit. “Have you scraped them off the streets?”

Shim tried to explain, but the Grand Empress stopped him. “I don’t care how you produce. I judge only by the goods you deliver, and I am not pleased. I’ll die drowning in the spit of the Imperial ancestors!”

“Your Majesty.” The eunuch got down on his knees. “Did I not say that a good chime also needs a heavy beater to make it sound right? It all depends on how you tune the girls, a task at which we all know you excel.”

“Death to your tongue, Shim!” The old lady burst into laughter.

The Emperor flipped the chips back and forth on the silver plate as if annoyed.

“You look exhausted, my son,” the Grand Empress said.

“I am, Mother. Don’t count on me to come tomorrow, because I won’t.”

“Then you must decide today. Concentrate and look harder.”

“But I have been, haven’t I?”

“Then why can’t you make up your mind? Perform your duty, my son. Before you are the best maidens the kingdom can bestow on her Emperor!”

“I know.”

“It is your big day, Hsien Feng.”

“Every day is a big day. Every day a long metal stick is driven into my skull.”

The Grand Empress sighed. Her anger was about to spill over. She breathed deeply to control herself. “You liked Nuharoo, didn’t you?” she asked.

“How would I know?” The Son of Heaven rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “My head is full of holes.”

The mother bit her lips.

His Majesty ran his fingers through the remaining bamboo chips, making a loud noise.

“My bones are screaming to have me lay them down.” The Grand Empress stretched in her seat. “I have been up since two o’clock this morning, and it is for nothing!”

Shim shuffled up to her on his knees. His arms were up in the air, holding a tray with a wet towel, a powder box, a brush and a green bottle.

The Grand Empress took the towel and wiped her hands and then picked up the brush to touch up her face with the powder. After that she picked up the green bottle and sprayed a mist onto her caked face.

A heavy scent filled the room.

I took the opportunity and raised my eyes. His Majesty was looking at me. He squashed his nose and mouth together as if trying to get me to laugh. I didn’t know how to react.

The mocking continued. He seemed to be more interested in getting me to break the rules.

My father’s teaching came to my mind: “Young people see an opportunity where older people might consider it a danger.”

The Son of Heaven smiled at me. I smiled back.

“This summer is going to be nice and breezy.” Emperor Hsien Feng played with the chips.

The Grand Empress turned her head toward us and frowned.

My thoughts went to the girl who had been beaten to death, and my back was instantly wet with sweat.

The Emperor raised his right hand and pointed a finger at me. “This one,” he said.

“Yehonala?” Chief Eunuch Shim asked.

I felt the heat of the Grand Empress’s stare.

I lowered my eyes and endured a long, unbearable silence.

“I have done what is required, Mother,” the Emperor spoke.

The Grand Empress offered no comment.

“Shim, did you hear me?” Emperor Hsien Feng turned to the eunuch.

“Yes, I did, Your Majesty, I heard you perfectly.” Eunuch Chief Shim smiled humbly, but his intention was to give the Grand Empress the opportunity to say the final word.

The “yes” finally came.

I sensed His Majesty’s elation and Her Majesty’s disappointment.

“I… I wish Your Majesties ten thousand years of life,” I said, struggling to gain control over my trembling knees. “Your luck will be as full as the East China Sea and your health as green as the Southern-”

“Wonderful! My longevity has just been shortened,” the Grand Empress interrupted me.

My knees gave in and my forehead was on the ground.

“I am afraid I just saw the shadow of a ghost.” The Grand Empress rose from her chair.

“Which one, my lady?” Chief Eunuch Shim asked. “I’ll catch it for you.”

“Yes, Shim. Let’s call everything off.”

Suddenly there came the loud clang of a bamboo chip being thrown into the golden plate. “Time to sing, Shim!” ordered the Emperor.

“Yehonala stays!” Shim sang.

I couldn’t remember much after that, only that my life had changed.

I was startled when Chief Eunuch Shim got down on his knees in front of me and called me his mistress and himself my slave. He helped me back onto my heels. I didn’t even notice what became of the other girls or when they had been escorted out.

My mind was in a strange state. I recalled an amateur opera back in Wuhu. It was after the New Year’s feast and everyone was drunk, including myself, because my father let me sip the rice wine so I could see how it tasted. The musicians were tuning their instruments. The sound was oddly mournful at first. Then it turned into the sound of a horse being beaten. Then, broken and strained, the notes sounded like wind whistling through the Mongolian grasslands. The opera began. The actors entered, dressed in women’s gowns with blue and white floral prints. The musicians hit their bamboo tubes with sticks as the actors sang and beat their thighs.

Crack! Crack! Crack! I remembered the sound. It was unpleasant and I couldn’t understand why people liked it. My mother told me that it was a traditional Manchu performance mixed with elements of Chinese opera, originally a form of entertainment for commoners. Once in a while rich people would request it performed, “to taste the local delicacy.”

I remembered sitting in the first row. My ears grew numb from the loud drums. The sounds of the sticks beating the bamboo tubes felt like a hammer coming down on my skull. Crack! Crack! Crack! My thoughts were beaten out.

Chief Eunuch Shim had changed his costume. The fabric featured hand-painted red clouds floating over a hill of pine trees. On both of his cheeks, two red tomato-like circles had been drawn. The eunuch must have painted them in a hurry, for the color had smeared. Half of his nose was red too. A narrow white line ran from his forehead down the bridge of his nose. He had a goat’s face, and his eyes looked like they had grown out of his ears. He smiled, revealing a set of gold teeth.