Your Majesty is Poisonous – Chapter 117
by Little PandaThe Empress Dowager Refuses
“Then the Empress Dowager should choose one to her liking,” Emperor Ming Cheng said with a smile. He had noticed Yao Xi returning to serve by the Empress Dowager’s side at some point, and had initially worried she would deem his actions meddlesome.
Wan Bi glared at Yao Xi out of the corner of her eye, snorting coldly. “How could one be enough? This bereaved one wants them all.”
“Your Highness…” Yao Xi panicked. Coaxingly, she nervously tugged at the Empress Dowager’s sleeve. “This slave has erred.”
She knew Her Highness was deliberately saying this to vex her. But in front of the Emperor, certain jokes were best left unsaid. What if the Emperor took it seriously and unexpectedly issued an imperial decree to stuff the Empress Dowager’s palace with handsome men? A monarch’s words were no joking matter!
“This slave won’t listen to opera anymore—never again in this lifetime.” She had been so engrossed in the performance earlier, and seeing Miss Tao had left her a little overexcited. She had indeed neglected Her Highness. And Her Highness only flew into such a temper because she cared so deeply.
Nonsense! Tao Xiaolin had already finished her act and gone backstage. Wasn’t it a bit too late for this wretched girl to say she wouldn’t listen? Wan Bi had been harboring a bellyful of resentment ever since she stepped out the door today. She had absolutely no interest in that group of male musicians, of course; she had only said as much to vex Yao Xi.
“Oh, don’t,” Wan Bi said. “Tao Xiaolin is removing her stage makeup right now. Since the Eunuch fancies her so much, shouldn’t you go over and say hello?”
“This slave isn’t going. I’ll stay here to serve Your Highness.” Seeing that the Empress Dowager was still angry, Yao Xi obsequiously raised the wine cup and offered it to Her Highness’s lips. “Your Highness, please.”
Wan Bi pushed away the wine cup Yao Xi offered, her expression frosty. “Is the Eunuch already at liberty to ignore what this bereaved one says? When I tell you to go, you go. Lest you blame this bereaved one for keeping you from her once she’s left the palace.”
Yao Xi was caught in a dilemma. Should she go, or should she stay?
If she went, Her Highness would likely fly into an even greater rage. If she did not, it would mean defying an imperial command in public. In truth, even if she did disobey, Her Highness wouldn’t do anything to her. What Yao Xi truly feared was the Emperor, who was currently watching her with a displeased look on his face.
Emperor Ming Cheng’s face was indeed rather grim. He felt the Empress Dowager had thoroughly spoiled Yao Xi. A mere eunuch, instead of promptly obeying when his master issued a command, actually dared to talk back in public time and again. “Do as the Empress Dowager says. Did no one teach you manners when you entered the palace?”
With mixed feelings, Yao Xi stood up and said to the Empress Dowager, “Your Highness, then… this slave will go? I’m truly going?” Her steps were hesitant, taking two steps and pausing for two, wanting to make the Empress Dowager understand that it really wasn’t that she lacked judgment and was ignoring Her Highness’s feelings, but that an imperial command was truly difficult to defy!
Wan Bi rolled her eyes hard at Emperor Ming Cheng. “This bereaved one will discipline her own people. There’s no need for the Emperor to trouble himself!” She had never actually intended to let Yao Xi meet Tao Xiaolin; she had only wanted to test Yao Xi’s attitude. If Yao Xi could have held out just a bit longer, stubbornly refusing to go, her anger would likely have dissipated. But Feng Qian, that unlucky brat, just had to stick his foot in… Damn him!
When she looked up again, Yao Xi had already crossed the stone arch bridge and walked into the crowd of the opera troupe.
“Empress Dowager, Yao Xi is indeed far too undisciplined. It might be for the best to replace him. However, if you want them all… isn’t that a bit much?” Emperor Ming Cheng was seriously considering the question. One or two would’ve been fine, but wanting all ten-odd men? Wan Bi was indeed being too greedy.
Hearing Emperor Ming Cheng call Yao Xi undisciplined only made Wan Bi’s expression turn darker. Even when she was furious with Yao Xi, she couldn’t bear to hear anyone else say a single bad word about her. She had no desire to hear whatever else Emperor Ming Cheng was saying, and was even less in the mood to eat. The moment Yao Xi left, her heart and her eyes had followed. But the pavilion across the water was packed with the troupe’s people, and she couldn’t see anything clearly.
Yao Xi was also absent-minded along the way. Aside from her excitement at the upcoming face-to-face meeting with Miss Tao, she was mostly thinking about how to coax the Empress Dowager back into a good mood when she returned in a bit.
Her Highness was actually the sort who seemed to have a terrible temper, but was actually the easiest to get along with. Because Her Highness was brilliant, capable of reading someone’s thoughts at a single glance. Yao Xi knew she harbored no crooked thoughts, and she believed Her Highness, with her keen insight, would never misunderstand her.
With an uneasy mind, Yao Xi entered the pavilion, and the members of the troupe stopped what they were doing. The stage was separated from the viewing pavilion only by an arch bridge. Although the troupe didn’t recognize Yao Xi, they knew she’d been sitting right next to the Empress Dowager throughout the performance. To the Empress Dowager’s right was the Emperor, and to her left was this young gentleman. How could his identity be simple?
It was just that while the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the other masters sat in chairs, this gentleman sat on a stool. He must be some favored eunuch serving the Empress Dowager.
The rumor that the Demon Empress had recently taken a male favorite had long since spread outside the palace walls. The Troupe Master, who had traveled far and wide, was a know-it-all and naturally knew of it. He obsequiously stepped forward, bowed, and asked, “Eunuch, does the Empress Dowager have any instructions?”
“Not really. I’ve simply admired Miss Tao for a long time and wanted to meet her. I wonder if it’s convenient for Miss Tao?” Yao Xi glanced at the people around. Men, women, old, and young—every single one was an unfamiliar face, yet Mu Guiying1 was notably missing.
The Troupe Master hurriedly offered an obsequious smile. “Of course it’s convenient. It’s Xiaolin’s good fortune that the Eunuch thinks so highly of her.” He ordered everyone to make a path and led Yao Xi to a screen. “She’s inside changing her clothes. After you, Eunuch.” The Troupe Master knocked on the screen and barked roughly at Tao Xiaolin, “A distinguished guest is here. Hurry up and tidy up!”
Yao Xi’s expression instantly cooled when she saw how differently the Troupe Master treated her compared to Miss Tao. With a master like this, Miss Tao’s daily life in the troupe was likely not easy. While Yao Xi’s heart was aching, the screen was pushed open a crack, revealing a delicate but thoroughly haggard face.
Tao Xiaolin was still draped in the costume she’d just unfastened, having only wiped away the paint from her face. Hearing the Troupe Master address this gentleman as “Eunuch” from inside, she greeted, “Eunuch, please.” The small partition temporarily enclosed by the screen was in utter disarray, with theatrical robes and headpieces2 piled everywhere. Tao Xiaolin briefly cleared off a chair and invited Yao Xi to sit.
Yao Xi had never seen Miss Tao without her stage makeup. In the past, the only place she could catch a glimpse of her was on the stage of the tea gardens. Miss Tao performed as a daomadan, always playing female generals or heroines. Having seen her so often, Yao Xi’s impression of her had always been that valiant, heroic figure wielding a blade and riding a horse on stage.
But the Miss Tao before her was frail and haggard, devoid of the formidable majesty she displayed on stage. Yao Xi felt no disappointment, but her heart ached for her. Stepping behind the screen felt like pulling back a magnificent curtain to reveal the festering sore of reality.
“Before entering the palace, I often went to the tea gardens to listen to your plays. I’ve admired you for a long time, and I never expected we’d meet here,” Yao Xi said somewhat stiffly.
“Then it’s truly fate,” Tao Xiaolin said with a polite smile. Secretly, she felt a pang of pity for the young eunuch before her. When he had watched her perform in the past, he must have still been a whole man.
The two fell into silence once more.
Tao Xiaolin was simply exhausted, while Yao Xi was a mix of excitement and awkwardness.
“At least you’ve become a famous lead,” Yao Xi said with a foolish smile, too nervous to even look Tao Xiaolin in the eyes.
Tao Xiaolin offered a bitter smile. “What does being a lead matter? Life is just the same as always…” Just as bitter. She stopped herself halfway, realizing it was useless to pour her heart out to a stranger.
Sensing the unspoken grievance in Miss Tao’s words, Yao Xi asked with concern, “Isn’t your life any better?” She thought again of the Troupe Master’s harsh attitude toward Miss Tao. Shouldn’t a famous lead who was like the troupe’s money tree be pampered with the utmost care?
Before Tao Xiaolin could speak, the Troupe Master’s sharp voice barked from beyond the screen once more: “The masters in the palace might want to listen to more plays after their midday meal! Everyone, get your makeup on, and quickly! If anyone makes even the slightest mistake, you won’t be eating tonight!”
“This girl still needs to change her costume. If the Eunuch has no other business…?” Tao Xiaolin tactfully dismissed her, reaching out to take down an indigo robe hanging on a wooden rack.
The chaos outside was like a battlefield. Yao Xi knew that the troupe members had to seize the brief window while the masters were dining to prepare their makeup and costumes for the next play. Moreover, if she stayed with Miss Tao for too long, the Empress Dowager would certainly suspect something, so she prepared to take her leave.
Tao Xiaolin shook out the sleeves of her costume and gestured toward the exit. As she did, a small section of her thin, pale arm slipped from the fabric. Yao Xi, who was already preparing to leave, froze in shock. Underneath that magnificent theatrical robe, Miss Tao’s arm was covered in bruises.
Their meeting could hardly be called pleasant; instead, it was heartbreaking. The magnificent Miss Tao on stage, once stripped of her daomadan gear, was nothing but a pale, frail, exhausted ordinary woman.
But when she saw Miss Tao’s bruised arm, she felt not only heartbreak but also immense fury.
“Miss, your arm…” Yao Xi stopped in her tracks.
Somewhat embarrassed, Tao Xiaolin hid her arm back in her sleeve. “It’s from practicing my skills. In our line of work, who doesn’t carry a few battle scars?”
Noting how Miss Tao avoided her gaze as she spoke, Yao Xi’s suspicions flared. “Was it the Troupe Master…?”
“No!”
Before Yao Xi could finish her sentence, Tao Xiaolin cut her off.
“Please, Eunuch, pretend you saw nothing!” Tao Xiaolin bowed her head, shedding a couple of tears. “If a small matter like this is brought before the masters and causes trouble for Master, my life after we leave the palace won’t be easy.”
The Troupe Master was her master from her apprentice days. In their trade, a master beating a disciple was considered natural and proper. But what could she do? She couldn’t survive if she left this troupe, and no other troupe would dare offend her master. Besides, it wasn’t as if every troupe had the connections to enter the palace and showcase their skills in front of the masters year after year.
“He beat you? Why don’t you leave?” Yao Xi’s heart ached. “In this line of work, isn’t becoming a lead supposed to mean you’ve finally made it? Or why don’t you use your savings to find a different livelihood? Why suffer like this?”
“The reward silver from the masters never reaches our hands,” Tao Xiaolin replied with a bitter laugh. “The Eunuch doesn’t know the whole story. No matter how famous a lead is, if they’re mistreated, they just have to bear it because they must rely on the troupe to survive. An opera troupe doesn’t just consist of Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, and Chou3 roles; it also requires drummers and musicians. For a single person to establish an entire troupe, it takes a small fortune, not to mention powerful backing. Without that, you can’t hire famous leads, nor can you secure bookings at popular venues.” She had nothing but her skills on the stage.
Having never confided in anyone before, Tao Xiaolin had unknowingly spilled her heart. She clutched her bruised arm. “Since the Eunuch shares a connection with this girl, I beg you to keep this secret. Once I’ve finished performing for the masters, I still have to make a living in this troupe when we leave the palace.”
“Although I can’t make decisions on your behalf, I can still offer some modest assistance.” Yao Xi believed that Miss Tao’s plight ultimately boiled down to money. Most of the world’s difficulties could be resolved with money. As for those that couldn’t, those were the truly difficult ones. With silver, whether Miss Tao wanted to put together her own troupe or find a different livelihood, it would all be easy to handle.
She unbuttoned her outer robe, preparing to give Miss Tao one of her three one-thousand-tael silver notes. Fearing she might lose them, she had hidden them securely in a pocket specially sewn on the inner side of her inner robe.
One thousand taels was indeed no small sum. To say Yao Xi could give it away without blinking would certainly be a lie.
Yet, the importance of a thousand taels was completely different for her than it was for Miss Tao. She served Her Highness in the palace with excellent food, drink, and lodging, and had virtually no expenses. Aside from keeping a thousand-tael safety cushion for herself, she intended to spend the rest on the Empress Dowager all at once once she reached her ten-thousand-tael goal.
But this thousand-tael note could completely alter Miss Tao’s life.
Yao Xi was acting out of pure kindness as she went to retrieve the note, but in Tao Xiaolin’s eyes, it was another picture entirely.
First this Eunuch said he wanted to help her, and then he started unbuttoning his clothes? Moreover, no one would enter this small compartment enclosed by the screen; if he didn’t want to take liberties with her and then give her some silver, what else could it be? She was an actress, not a prostitute. She sold her talent, not her body.
She had met too many of these vulgar, intolerable men in her life, but someone this brazen was a first. This man had already been castrated to be a eunuch, yet he still hadn’t given up his lecherous desires? Never mind the crowd bustling just outside the screen; the masters of the palace were seated only a short distance away. How did he dare act so recklessly?
Footnotes
- Mù Guìyīng (穆桂英) is a legendary female warrior from the Northern Song dynasty and a prominent figure in Chinese opera, representing bravery and martial prowess.
- Traditional Chinese opera headpieces (kuītóu), ranging from elaborate crowns to helmets, used to signify a character's rank and role.
- The five main role types in Chinese opera: Shēng (male), Dàn (female), Jìng (painted face), Mò (middle-aged male), and Chǒu (clown).
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