Chapter 20:
Silence in the Palace
THE EVENING DRUM echoed six times as the distant mountains melted into the dusk. Dark clouds loomed heavy over the palace as the sun peeked sporadically through the gaps. Using long poles, eunuchs hung lanterns on iron hooks under the eaves. The palace gradually brightened beneath the soft glow of the swaying lanterns, which transformed into a brilliant sea of light once the entire palace was adorned with them. Only the Fourth Qianxi Courtyard remained shrouded in darkness, its bare eaves festooned only with lonely iron wind chimes. This was the most desolate corner of the Forbidden City.
A woman in red sat on the wall, waving a handkerchief. Her eyes were like old, empty wells, dark and lifeless. “Your Majesty... Your Majesty... I miss you so much. Why won’t you come to see me?”
“Oh no, Consort Gao! How did you get up there again? If the chief eunuch sees this, Xiao-Juezi and I will both be punished!” Sixi lamented, frantic. Tucking his skirt into his belt, he clambered carefully up the ladder to Consort Gao. His plump body wobbled on the ladder; from a distance, he looked like a skewered meatball.
Consort Gao had been sent to the Fourth Qianxi Courtyard earlier that year. Rumor had it she’d scattered red beans on the garden path where Imperial Noble Consort Ma often walked, hoping to cause her to slip and miscarry. When the plot was exposed, she was imprisoned and tortured by the Imperial Clan Court until she went mad. The Fourth Qianxi Courtyard had already housed three other mad consorts, and with Consort Gao’s arrival, Sixi was overwhelmed. His already receding hairline had moved even farther back.
Just as Sixi was reaching the end of his rope, a young eunuch around fourteen years old walked in, dressed in green. He placed a box of food on the table.
“Come down!” he called. “It’s time to eat!”
Hearing that, Consort Gao quickly urged Sixi to descend, then climbed down herself, holding her skirt. She sat meekly at the table, waiting for the young eunuch to serve her.
Sixi breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re really something, Shen Jue.”
Shen Jue set the bowls and chopsticks on the table. His eyebrows and lowered eyes were as serene as a painting, their lines like ink-washed landscapes. At fourteen, he’d grown rapidly, a willow sprig stretching toward the sun. Still, years of poor nutrition had left his face pale, giving him a fragile, sickly appearance.
Sixi’s gaze drifted down to Shen Jue’s slender fingers. The boy’s nails were neatly trimmed; he didn’t have a single hangnail. Desire flamed in Sixi, and he reached out to caress the back of Shen Jue’s hand, whispering, “Xiao-Juezi, have you thought about what I mentioned the other day?”
Shen Jue smoothly withdrew his hand with a mocking smirk. “I’ve heard of eunuchs and maids pairing off, but never just two eunuchs.”
“Ah, you don’t understand,” Sixi said. His beady eyes narrowed, and a lecherous glint shone through. “We eunuchs are castrated, so how are we any different from women? When eunuchs and maids get together, they often rely on...tools to get things done. The same goes for two eunuchs...”
Shen Jue’s good looks had long attracted Sixi. Fortunately, Shen Jue had been assigned to the cold palace, a desolate place where only crows flew about. Had the boy been assigned to a favored concubine’s residence instead, Sixi would have had no chance, considering his plumpness.
But Shen Jue refused to yield, however Sixi tried to seduce him. Only after Sixi hinted at using force to satisfy his desires did Shen Jue show signs of trepidation and soften his attitude a bit. If not for that, Sixi couldn’t have gotten this close to him.
“What—are you so desperate for me?” Shen Jue sneered, eyes full of disgust.
“Of course,” Sixi said. He was accustomed to Shen Jue’s sarcasm and didn’t take it to heart. With a sycophantic smile, he continued, “My feelings for you are as clear as the heavens and earth. Haven’t I always treated you warmly despite your cold shoulder? Don’t worry. Once you’re mine, I’ll have my godfather transfer me from this wretched cold palace to the imperial stables. I’ll take you with me, and we won’t have to suffer here anymore.”
Sixi had recently spent a few taels of silver to become the godson of the imperial stables’ chief eunuch. He hadn’t yet left the cold palace, but he was already convinced of his own imminent rise to power. Lately, he’d strutted around as if he owned the place.
Shen Jue stirred the rice in his bowl. “Fine,” he said nonchalantly. Sixi seemed overjoyed, and Shen Jue’s lips curled into a cold smile. “I’ll come to your room tonight at midnight.”
“Good, good! I’ll be waiting.” Sixi was unable to contain his excitement. He reached out to grab Shen Jue’s hands.
The boy stepped back, avoiding Sixi’s grasp, then tossed his chopsticks onto the table with a flick of his hand. “You can eat without me. I’ve lost my appetite.”
Sixi wanted to pursue him, but Consort Gao suddenly grabbed him. “I’m starving! I’m starving!” she shrieked. “I haven’t eaten my fill!”
“Eat, eat! Eat until you burst!” Sixi snapped.
Shen Jue closed the door. His room was cold and quiet. He’d left the lattice window open, and flower petals had drifted onto his desk, dusting his open book. He shut the window and made his way to the washbasin, where he scrubbed his right hand—the one Sixi had touched—over and over until his skin turned red. The thought of Sixi’s face made him nauseous. In a fit of anger, Shen Jue overturned the basin and kicked a stool over. Only then did he feel slight relief.
After the long day of work, he felt sticky and uncomfortable. He fetched some water and brought it back to his room to bathe. The warm water washed away his fatigue. As he splashed his face, droplets dripped from his lashes like morning dew from a flower’s petals.
As he dried off, a loud clatter came from outside the window. Shen Jue turned sharply, threw on his clothes, and pushed the window open to find a shattered flowerpot on the ground.