Lianhua leaves me in my bed after changing the clothes they had put me in for my second birthday party. After Lianhua leaves, I sigh and compare the party I just had with my first birthday party. It was much smaller and simpler, with only my mother, a few women with their children, none of whom were my stepbrothers. And luckily, no sign of my father.
Which is normal considering the debacle of my previous party after the scene I caused. I still remember my father's face, which broke from its usual dignity to one of total surprise. Seeing my father in that state, everyone bowed their heads and looked at the floor while kneeling, hardly daring to breathe as Jiangjun Han Xin began to laugh. After a moment, my father left me in my little chair and quickly left the room, followed by Jiangjun Han Xin, who continued to chuckle as he left.
After my father left, my mother quickly got up and told everyone present that I was tired and had to go to rest, in a more than clear excuse to end the party. She picked me up and quickly left the room with me while Fei Yi Lingxi stayed behind, I suppose to alleviate the commotion that I saw beginning to build as we left.
After that, the people in the house were nervous, as if at any moment some kind of heavenly punishment would appear and get rid of everyone. Even Lianhua stopped taking me to the park, and my few hours of entertainment disappeared.
Fortunately, after a couple of weeks in which nothing happened, everything returned to normal. And this year, I have never heard any reference to what happened that day. It is as if the Emperor had never been at that party, or that the party had never taken place at all. It is clear that everyone has decided to impose a kind of code of silence.
After those days, life returned to its routine, and even my father returned to his old routine of visiting us some nights. Of course, I didn't forget to keep saying a few words. Now I call my mother "Mom”, Lianhua "Runu”, and after several months of saying words, I'm now starting to say short sentences. Soon I'm going to start looking for a way to learn how to ask to go to the bathroom, since I can't go by myself. I'm tired of diapers.
And I have finally discovered the famous mystery about perfect skin and the soldier carrying the bed. One day in the park, a nanny appeared to talk to Lianhua. She was looking after a girl of about eight or nine who didn't have perfect skin the week before, but now suddenly did.
They started talking to each other, and Lianhua congratulated the nanny on the girl's success, and then they started talking about something called cultivation. From what I could understand, having perfect skin was called Skin Tempering, then there was something called Muscle Tempering that made you stronger, and finally they briefly mentioned something called Tempering of Bones and tendons, but they didn't elaborate too much on it.
Since that day, I've been trying to review all the conversations I hear to see if I can get a clearer picture of the matter, but unfortunately for me, despite hearing the terms briefly from time to time, they always talk about it as if everyone knows what it's all about. And I have no idea what the supposed matter is, which makes me want to scream at them to explain it to me, but since I don't want some priest to try to exorcise me, I have no choice but to bite my tongue.
As I try to fall asleep, I see Lianhua come back in with something in her hands. And what she's carrying takes my breath away, an object that in my situation means my future will be brighter and more luminous. Something that right now is worthy of my adoration and respect.
A book.
" Zhāohuán Wen, this is one of your birthday presents. This is called a book”, she says as she approaches and sits on the edge of the bed. Seeing the book so close, I can't help but reach out to try to grab it, but Lianhua pulls it away so I can't reach it, saying “Don't worry, Zhāohuán Wen, you can't have it, but I'm sure you'll like it when I read it to you."
She opens it so that I can see the contents from where I am and begins to read the story to me. The top part of the pages is filled with clearly hand-drawn illustrations of unsurpassed quality. The bottom part is filled with characters I don't recognize, but which are clearly similar to Mandarin Chinese.
Lianhua begins to read to me while pointing to the drawing she is referring to as she speaks. The story has a distinctly mythological flavor of ancient China, as it tells the story of a bird born in the mountains who meets a monk who teaches him to speak and then goes on adventures in which he becomes stronger until he leaves the mountains.
Strangely, as she reads the text to me and points to the pictures, I begin to learn the characters. Abnormally quickly, I begin to understand the text and am able to read it myself. Granted, the characters are very similar to Mandarin Chinese, and I could even have deduced some of them on my own because of their similarity, as if the two languages came from some root language, such as Latin languages coming from Latin, but even so, my learning is too fast.
Perplexed by the matter, I decide to put the mystery aside until I can do something to solve it and take advantage of the moment to learn as much as I can. But what I can do now is create an opportunity to keep myself from going crazy out of boredom in the coming years. It's time for the world to believe that I'm a genius capable of learning to read at an early age. If it has happened a few times in my old world, why not in this world full of strange things?
Lianhua finishes reading me the story and asks “What did you think, Zhāohuán Wen? Did you like it?"
I quickly take advantage of the moment and point to the picture on the last page of the book and say “Bird."
"Yes, Zhāohuán Wen, it's a bird”, Lianhua replies.
I point to the book in general and say “Book."
"Yes, it's a book”, she replies as she closes the book and gets up to leave.
"Another book”, I say, looking at her with what many would call puppy dog eyes.
"No, Zhāohuán Wen, I'll read you another book tomorrow”, she replies.
I quickly put on my pouty face and say again in a trembling voice “Another book."
Lianhua looks at me in surprise, as this is the first time I've ever thrown a tantrum over nothing. I take advantage of her confusion and hit her again while I start crying and keep saying “Another book."
Lianhua leaves the book on a nearby table as she comes over and picks me up. I continue my performance and squirm in her arms as I reach for the book on the table and say, whimpering “I want book."
This goes on for a while as Lianhua tries to calm me down and I continue to make noise. The commotion I'm causing soon brings some maids to the door to peek in, but they step aside as soon as my mother appears. She enters the room and looks at us with concern as she asks Lianhua “What happened?"
"Furen, Zhāohuán..." Lianhua begins to answer, but I interrupt her, gesturing toward my mother and the book as I say “Mom, I want book."
My mother raises an eyebrow in surprise as she looks at me and the book, and after hesitating for a moment, she picks up the book and brings it closer to me. I try to grab it, even though it's clearly too heavy for me. Like any child who can't pick up an object, when it's clear that I can't hold it, I start crying again to see what they'll do this time.
My mother quickly picks me up and sits me in the little chair where I am fed, leaving the book on the table in front of me, where I can reach it with my hands. I stop crying and start laughing as I begin to turn the pages clumsily, as if it were the first time I had ever done so.
While they think I'm entertained by the book, I see out of the corner of my eye that they're leaving the room, and I smile as I think about how many books being an imperial princess can provide me with.
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As I read the children's book in front of me, I can't help but be happy about the decision I made a couple of months ago when I put on the show with the book. Since that day, every day they read me a storybook and then let me play with a book like the one in front of me, one of those with pictures and symbols on the side so you can learn to recognize them.
The other day, I finally had the opportunity to show that I could recognize some of the symbols, and it caused quite a stir. Almost all the discussions that this caused were surely held without me being there, but from what I have been able to gather from conversations between the maids and Lianhua, they are thinking of assigning me a personal tutor to teach me and see how Blessed by the Heavens I am, which is what they seem to call geniuses around here.
As I entertain myself by leafing through the book in front of me, I begin to hear several voices outside my room and hurried footsteps moving throughout the residence. I try to listen carefully to see if I can hear what is happening, since Lianhua is not with me right now, when suddenly the door opens and my mother rushes in, asking a Nei Wei who is behind her “Do we really have to take her? She is still young and will not understand anything that is happening."
"The Son of Heaven has decreed that all his consorts and children must be present, without exception”, replies the Nei Wei.
Sighing in defeat, my mother picks me up in her arms while I look at the two of them curiously, wondering what must have happened for my father to have summoned the entire court, as it seems.
My mother goes out into the hallway with Nei Wei, where Fei Yi Lingxi joins us, and the three of them quickly leave the Pavilion with me and head for the throne room where my Man Yue was held. As we make our way there, I see several other people going in the same direction, just as hurried as we are. Whatever has happened looks like it's something quite serious.
We enter the majestic throne room, which is much less decorated than during my Man Yue but is crowded to the last corner, and as Nei Wei escorts us to a side where I see the other consorts already waiting, murmurs run through the room and I can't help but notice that some of those present are staring at both my mother and me.
When we arrive with the other consorts, to my surprise, in addition to some of the children who attended my first birthday, I see some teenagers and even a dozen men who appear to be in their twenties. Being in the place that seems to be reserved for the emperor's family, I suppose they are my half-brothers, but seeing the difference in their ages, I can't help but wonder, how old is my father?
As we stand next to the other imperial consorts, those closest to us stop whispering and look at us. I even see a couple of the men staring at us, more specifically staring at me while frowning, and I feel like telling them that I don't want to be Empress even if you paid me, because even though my father told me that night that they won't see me that way, I'm sure that with all the hype my father has given me, they see me as a possible rival despite my disability.
We don't have to wait long, as the eunuch who I had always seen accompanying my father appears at the top of the throne staircase and, in his usual ceremonial tone, announces the arrival of the Son of Heaven to preside over a trial.
As soon as the introduction is over, my father enters and sits on his throne. When I see his face, I am startled, I have never seen him so serious. No, more than serious, I think he is really angry about something. And when he speaks, his tone silences the entire room.
"Taijian Lin Ming, we will handle this matter. You may leave”, he says to the eunuch, whose name I finally know before speaking again. "Bring Fei Zhi and poor Xiang."
I don't have time to reflect on what he has said when two Nei Wei enter from the side of the room, holding a woman I remember seeing before among my father's group of consorts, and make her kneel before the steps. But what really catches the eye of everyone in the room is a stretcher carried by two Jin Wei, the sight of which makes everyone in the room gasp.
On it is what I believe to be a sleeping child, but his condition almost makes me vomit. I see that his body is completely deformed, with one of his arms larger than the other, one side of his head clearly bulging, and his skin covered in protuberances, as if part of his flesh had grown abnormally.
My father begins to speak, his tone clearly indicating that he is furious "Fei Zhi, what part of our orders that none of our children can cultivate before the age of eight was not clear to you, beyond the risks that everyone knows about? Or perhaps you thought that your rank meant that the consequences would not affect our son or you in the event of failure?"
Consort Fei Zhi, prostrate on the floor, remains silent without raising her head.
My father continues to speak as he stares at her. "And despite the risks we all know and our orders, our seven-year-old son has not only begun to temper his body, but has also completed the Skin Tempering and begun the Muscle Tempering, with the consequences we are witnessing and which our orders were intended to prevent. Now tell me the truth, at what age did he begin to temper his body?"
Consort Fei Zhi raises her head to look at my father and replies in a trembling voice “I don't know, Son of Heaven. I found out about a year ago. I ordered him to stop doing it even though he insisted it was fine. I even had some maids watch him for a while, and since they didn't report anything, I believed he had obeyed me."
My father narrows his eyes as he looks at her and says “And you didn't think to tell us anything? Or were you blinded by the fact that our son had a supposed advantage over the others?"
Consort Fei Zhi just looks back at the floor without answering, as if agreeing with my father.
My father continues speaking, but instead of addressing Consort Fei Zhi, he addresses the room “There will be an investigation into this. We have already ordered the Yushi to search for everyone who knew about this matter."
Hearing this, everyone in the room is startled, clearly becoming nervous. But my father ignores them and continues speaking “And we have already passed sentence. All those who knew what was happening and said nothing will be sentenced to death."
A deathly silence falls over the room as the sentence is handed down, and I am surprised to hear it. The harshness of the sentence, especially considering that some people were ordered not to speak, seems excessive to me. But I have to remind myself that in ancient China, on which this culture seems to be based, entire families could be sentenced to death simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
As I reflect on this, my father looks back at Consort Fei Zhi and addresses her directly "As for you, we sentence you to ten years of exile in the city of Jìnyáng."
I notice the murmuring in the room intensify, as the sentence is clear and irrevocable. Fei Zhi, who until now had been kneeling with carefully calculated dignity, turns pale.
"You are confined to your chambers until the sentence is served”, my father's words fall like a hammer, sealing her fate.
I see Fei Zhi take a deep breath, and for the first time, her mask of serenity cracks. Her body tenses, her fingers clench the sleeves of her elegant dress, and she raises her gaze to stare at the Emperor with a mixture of disbelief and contained fury.
"Your Majesty..." Her voice, though low, has a dangerous edge to it, as if she is about to play some kind of last card to pressure him. However, seeing my father's unyielding expression, any attempt to appeal is stifled before it is born.
I notice the desperation in the way her eyelashes tremble, in the stiffness of her posture. But there are no pleas. No screams. Just a bitter, almost inaudible whisper as she says quietly “I understand."
My father, indifferent to his reaction, then turns his gaze to the figure on the stretcher and says in a cold, sharp, and relentless voice “As for our son, take him to the doctors and put an end to his suffering."
The silence that follows is suffocating. Fei Zhi, who had been restrained until then, staggers as if she had been physically struck. Her eyes open in terror as she instinctively tries to get up, but the Nei Wei gently but firmly hold her back.
"No... No, please..." her lips seem to whisper, but the sound barely reaches beyond her throat.
With nothing more to say, my father gestures with his hand. Taijian Li Ming steps forward and solemnly declares “The trial is concluded."
With the sentence handed down, my father rises from the throne and leaves without looking back. The room remains in heavy silence as the Nei Wei escort Fei Zhi out, her trembling figure barely able to stand. Meanwhile, the Jin Wei lift the stretcher and carry my half-brother out, followed by the lost gaze of a mother who has just lost everything.
And really, considering the politics of the court, she has lost everything. Ten years in exile, far from the court, will make her totally irrelevant. And not only that, because if she had any other children, which I don't know, they will probably have to accompany her into exile, and with that they will lose any chance they had, not only of being the heir, but of holding any position of high responsibility in the government.
And that, for the kind of mentality that exists in this type of culture, is worse than death.
And as expected, after everyone leaves, the room erupts into a sea of conversations about what happened. My mother makes a gesture to approach the rest of my father's consorts and children, but the looks and gestures of the group make it clear that she is not welcome, so with a sigh she walks away with me still in her arms and slowly makes her way to our pavilion.
Although I had guessed as much from the details I had heard or seen so far, this has made it clear. My mother is little less than an outcast among the other consorts, and it is probably all my fault. I have no choice but to praise her, as she has always treated me well, despite all the difficulties I have brought into her life and the custom of leaving children with nannies that was common among nobles in ancient Chinese culture.
On the other hand, I reflect on what I have learned about what they call the Tempering of the Body. I had intended to gradually find out what it was and do my own research, but that is now a big no. The mere idea of the same thing happening to me as happened to my stepbrother is enough to give me nightmares at night.
Let's just wait until I am eight while discreetly asking about the whole thing whenever someone talks about it in my presence, and depending on their answers, we'll improvise as we go along.
