Page 54 of The Poet Empress
“I see,” said the empress with mock somberness. Her gaze swept the entire audience—the princes and the concubines on the terrace, the thousands of guests in the square below. “If I understand the implication correctly, it means our bride’s sanctity has not been preserved.”
Then I realized that I did know. I knew, with nauseating certainty, that the lie had been planted by the empress. I could even imagine the exact words she used.If you do this one favor for me, I will set you free. With a sizable reward, more than enough for what you came here for.The empress was practiced at offering temptations and making threats; I was well acquainted with both.And if you don’t… Well, that would be a shame, dear. If a lowly maid died without explanation, who in the West Palace would even notice?
Terren was breathing fast. His sigil flickered like coals, like he was trying hard to hold back from summoning knives. But it was one of Maro’s entourage who spoke first.
“Your Majesty.”He was young and sharp-chinned, and red with fury. “You would make such ugly accusations against the first son’s honor.”
“I did not mention Prince Maro’s name,” the empress said lightly.
“But you implied it!”
“I am merely investigating a report. There is no need to be so angry—especially if you do not believe the accusations to be true.”
It was an insidious way of wording things. She had somehow managed to make herself sound perfectly reasonable, while only making Maro seem guiltier the angrier his allies grew.
Maro seemed to realize this, too. He put a steady arm on his friend’s shoulders. “Our empress is right, Mei Yu. She is simply doing her own duty to the nation. We must let her carry on.” He wore a courtier’s impenetrable calm, but I did not miss the dark edge that flashed in his eyes.
Efficient of her,I thought,to target two of her son’s competitors at once.Did the empress have plans to tarnish the reputations of Prince Isan and Prince Kiran too?
The third and fourth sons stood close by, with their own allies. They must have been taught well by their advisors, because neither of them said a word. Prince Isan, in a gown of plum blossoms, stood straight and solemn as he looked out at the crowd. Prince Kiran, draped in a ribboned cloak, was surreptitiously playing with a maple-cat. The furry tassels of his boot, which the cat seemed to delight in pouncing on, were hidden behind a pot of incense—out of view of anyone looking from below.
“She is only one witness.” Hesin’s voice.
All eyes were drawn to the old eunuch. He had been standing on the lowest terrace, but was now making his way up the snow-dusted steps to the rest of us.
He inserted himself between Terren and the empress, and repeated, “Maya is only one witness. If it is her word against Lady Yin’s, then we must take the word of our prince’s chosen over a maid without status, must we not?”
“Ah, you.” The empress’s smile never faded, giving me the sickening feeling that the eunuch was playing right into her hand. “After all these years, you remain as wise as when you served the Joy Emperor.”
A backhanded insult, but Hesin said nothing. I had seen him use the same tactic in court, wielding silence like a weapon.
Empress Sun waited a little longer for him to speak, and when he didn’t, she turned to me. “What the eunuch says is, of course, true. It seems that all you have to do, Lady Yin, is deny the accusations and we canget along with our merriment. It is only right that the House takes your word over a maid’s—even a young one.With her whole life ahead of her.”
Those words crept up my spine like frost. I knew they were meant just for me.
Now I understood her game. If I denied the accusations, it would mean that Maya was lying. A lie that implicated a prince might have meant a cut tongue for the likes of Sun Jia, but for a mere maid? She’d be lucky if her death was quick.
Decide, Wei,the empress’s smile seemed to say.Deny the accusations and let an innocent girl die—or confirm them and die yourself.
No matter how things turned out, Empress Sun would still come out ahead. In her husband’s absence, she would have managed to flaunt her power to an audience of thousands—while taking a stab at both the eldest princes. A rumor like this, even dispelled, could still blossom into something more sinister. I knew the power of rumors by now.
And the price was very cheap. Either Maya’s life, or mine.
My cheeks burned with shame. I already knew what I was going to do. Which was the obvious thing, which was save myself.
As much as I wished I could be like the martial heroes in the myths, I was only a village girl who knew nothing. I did not want to be here, facing the empress and the Great Clans, about to marry a prince who tortured me. I did not want to be in the palace at all. I wanted to be home, alive, safe.
If I died, I would never feel Ma running her hands through my hair again. If I died, I would never get to see the great man Bao was going to be, how he was going to change the world.
I rose unsteadily to my feet. I looked from the empress to Terren, whose face was a cloud of violent intent, and then to Mei Yu, Maro’s friend, staring at the ground with his hands in fists. Hesin looked pensive. Maya looked terrified—just as terrified as I was—and it was then that I made my choice.
“The maid’s allegations are true.” I blurted out the sentence before I could stop myself, the words tumbling out all in a rush. “I do not deny them.”
There were a few audible gasps from the crowd. I sensed the guards closest to me tense, as if readying themselves to seize me. My hands were shaking at what I had just done, but there was no choice now, I had to keep going.
Because maybe there was a chance I could save us both. Maybe.
I drew in a breath, made my voice as steady as possible. “But that is not thewholetruth.”
