Half-face Make-up

King Chu liked people with thin waists, so many people died of hunger in the palace. The emperor liked Buddhism so much that the ma.s.ses couldn"t bear the burden. There were countless amounts of silver spent on Buddhist affairs every day. Wherever you went, the smoke of incense and the sound of wooden fish surrounded you as if you were walking in a fairyland.

I felt particularly helpless to face the lengthy scriptures every day. But in order to please my father and mother-in-law, the Virtuous Concubine Ruan, I had to reluctantly do so. However, I really liked the Diamond Sutra that s.h.i.tai sent me. What I liked was not the scripture, but the regular script. Originally I thought it was s.h.i.tai"s handwriting, but later I heard it was written by s.h.i.tai"s brother, Zhiyuan. It was hard to imagine that a man could write such beautiful and neat calligraphy. So for the first time, I read it with all my heart.

"Princess, here comes the typeface." Mingzhu had just returned from the princess"s mansion. She panted for breath as she spoke.

"Oh." I smiled with relief.

"But how can it be embroidered in such a short time?" Mingzhu asked anxiously.

"It"s wonderful. Who wrote this?" I slowly appreciated the subtle changes made to the characters "Fu" and "Shou." Some of them were like scattered flowers, some were like clouds, some were like flowing water, some were like peach blossoms, and some were like the pine in Nanshan. Although they were slightly altered, they still kept their appearance. My heart was amazed.

"Concubine, if you have more people, it"s good. But you have to choose those who are good at embroidery." Mingzhu was at a loss.

I still smiled faintly.

"Concubine, fire catches the eyebrows. Why aren’t you worried about it?"

"People who believe in Buddhism don"t need to look for mountains and rivers. If you extinguish the fire in your heart, you will naturally be cool," I said and laughed.

I was unconsciously infected by Princess Yongkang"s unrestrained feelings. The scriptures I read these days were still useful. I was trying to understand the highest realm of Buddhism—seeing mountains were mountains, seeing water was water, seeing mountains were still mountains, seeing water was still water. I didn"t know if I was in this mood.

Mingzhu didn’t know what I meant and was shocked.

"Mingzhu, follow me to a place where Bing has been waiting for half a day." I took off the concubine"s disguise and gave a strange smile to Mingzhu.

Mingzhu and I went to a spare room in the backyard. As expected, Bing and Madam Su were directing more than a dozen people to clean up there and prepare for embroidery. Suddenly, Mingzhu realized something, saying, "the Concubine had already made arrangements. I was really short-sighted, and I still felt anxious. . . "

My face regained the solemn expression of the concubine.

When the crowd saw me coming in, they stopped immediately and fell to the ground. "We’d like to pay a formal visit to the Concubine."

I nodded with satisfaction and glanced at the crowd. All of them were here, and the most important thing was that all four of them were here.

"All right, get up." As I looked around at the people in the mansion, I suddenly found something was wrong.

"Oh?" I paced over to Hongying.

The bun Hongying wore today was very novel. Her dark hair used too much hair oil. It coiled around her head just like a snake. It was much taller than ordinary people"s hair. However, this bun was very special, coiled atop her delicate and gorgeous face, so that her pet.i.te figure was more and more graceful and gorgeous.

As for me, because I was in my own house, I only combed my hair into the usual palace bun and lightly applied some rouge. The maidservant clearly ignored my existence.

"Hongying, you have been following me for so long, haven"t you learned any rules?" I was a little angry, but I said it lightly.

Hongying realized that it was not good and immediately crawled down on the ground. "I’m terrified. Please, Concubine, tell me."

"Oh? This bun is really beautiful. Who taught you that?"

"This? I did it myself, just for fun. . . "

"For fun?" I hummed. "The name of this bun is the Lingshe bun. It was created by Empress Zhen in the period of Wei Dynasty. Once, when she was dressing up, she found a bun in the shape of a green snake that was very skillful and beautiful. So she created this bun. It was very popular in the palace at that time. What? Do you want to be Empress, too?”

"It’s my fault. I was unaware of that. Please forgive me." Hongying turned pale and her voice trembled.

"Do you know the fate of Lady. Qi?"

Hongying shivered and looked at me in fear.

"Well, she tried her best to compete against Empress Lv. But she forgot who Empress Lv was. As a result, Empress Lu cut off her limbs, and she became a homunculus. There is also Mrs. Shen in the period of Han Dynasty who relied on the emperor"s favor. She wanted to complain against Empress Dou in honor and treatment. Mrs. Shen"s actions aroused public indignation among the ma.s.ses. A minister named Yuanang wrote to the emperor, and even the emperor could not shelter her. Even if she was favored, she had to step back. Another example is Empress Zheng Xiu, Empress of the Emperor Chu, who cut off Mrs. Wei’s nose because of how she’d enchanted the Emperor. . . " I continued to speak in a neutral voice.

Hongying was sweating. Before I finished, she disheveled her hair into a mess and threw herself in front of me. "Concubine, please forgive me; I will never do it again."

I looked at the beautiful girl at my feet whose hair was messy. So I said, "Okay. Since it is the first time, I will give you a pa.s.s. Now get up!"

Hongying"s face relaxed, and I laughed secretly. But my face slowly turned into a layer of frost.

"Nevertheless, no one can overstep state-owned laws and family rules. In order to take everybody to account, I still need to impose little punishments.” I paused and said, "Go back to copy the Nirvana Sutra ten times, and deduct the monthly allowance for two months. If this happens again . . . "

As I spoke, I noticed a change in Yanran, who was beside Hongying. Her dimples that had seemed to talk any other ordinary day had disappeared. Her face became waxy and stiff, and her sweat dripped down with her hair to the brocade in her hand. The brocade was carefully selected by me. How could she stain it with sweat? I was a little angry.

I was just waiting to speak, but, unexpectedly, Yanran closed her eyes and fainted.

In that instant, I was stunned. Why was this?

"Concubine, Yanran has palpitations on weekdays,” Madam Su said. “When she’s well, she is the same as ordinary people. But when she gets sick. . . "

Was she frightened by what I said? My words had been such a great deterrent; I helplessly laughed. "This was my oversight. Mingzhu, go to the palace and get a doctor to come now," I said sadly. And I had no intention of taking care of the stained brocade.

Yanran was carried out and the house was in a panic. Only I still had the appearance of being the head of the household. I was calm and self-restrained, not angry, but dignified.

They finally slowly calmed down after seeing my quiet face.

Mingzhu handed me a cup of chrysanthemum tea. I took a sip and continued to say to Hongying, "Okay, go back and clean up again. I still need you."

Hongying cried and knelt down. Then she said, "I am grateful for the Concubine’ kindness." Then she fled with shame.

I nodded and went on to say, "Today we are gathered to pray for the Virtuous Concubine Ruan and to congratulate the Virtuous Concubine Ruan on her well-being. I would like to take this opportunity to show my heart, not to let you fight for brilliance. Do you understand?"

"We are ready to die the cruelest death for principles. . . " They knelt down at my feet again.

I said with satisfaction, "Well, from today on, we are divided into two groups, working night and day, and we must finish it in less than half a month. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Concubine."

After a few sips of chrysanthemum tea, my unhappiness was temporarily suppressed.

"Oh, I will come every day and do it with you all. If this embroidery can be completed as soon as possible, I"ll reward you all."

"Yes, Concubine," they answered with one voice.

"By the way, Mingzhu, go and get a good ginseng to give Yanran. How can such a weak body serve the prince?" In any case, I had the ginseng awarded by the palace. Since I didn"t like it, why shoudn’t I give it as a present to others?

"The Concubine is kindhearted, and I thank the princess for your kindness in Yanran’s place," Madam Su said quickly.

I was satisfied that all this was under my control. It felt so comfortable to be respected. I felt that I was in paradise. Although some people dared not speak out in anger, I couldn"t help but establish dignity if I wanted to manage the harem. No wonder the battle in the palace was as b.l.o.o.d.y and full of death as a battlefield. No wonder many women risked their lives for their rights and status at all costs. Today, they must have seen my profound knowledge. As an official family member, after all, I was not a novice who had never seen the world. How could I have no means? At last, I had not read for years in vain, but I did not know whether it was happy or sad to use it in these areas.