Ming Wei was dead.
A length of white silk. A ceiling beam. Suicide.
She died the same night she taught Li Qing the Seven Forms of Flowing Water.
It wasn't until the next morning, when Wang Li went out to dump the chamber pot, that he discovered her body.
By the time he had wrapped her in a white cloth and prepared the remains, Li Qing had just arrived at the Jia-yin wing.
Together, they carried Ming Wei's body to the Quiet Joy Ward, where the eunuchs took over and brought it outside the palace grounds to be cremated at the Quiet Joy Hall.
In the Cold Palace, eunuchs, maids, court officials, and even discarded concubines without family: all were cremated at Quiet Joy Hall after death.
On the way back to the Cold Palace, Li Qing asked, "Have you heard about the Daoist Priestess Shengyue?"
"I have," Wang Li replied casually. "She's the one the Grand Empress Dowager invited into the palace three years ago to speak about the Dao, right?"
"Yeah." Li Qing nodded.
Shengyue had been Ming Wei's master. She was executed by imperial decree. Ming Wei entered the palace seeking revenge.
Wang Li shook his head. "That priestess didn't know her place. The Grand Empress Dowager asked about the Dao, and she quoted: 'The highest virtue is like water. Water nourishes all things but does not compete.' Saying something like that in front of the Empress Dowager; she was asking to die."
After the founding emperor's death, the Grand Empress Dowager held power over the entire court. Telling someone like her to be as yielding as water was practically a death wish.
Li Qing could understand why Shengyue had said what she had said. Her entire path was built around the Seven Forms of Flowing Water; her nature and her actions both aligned with water.
For a full month after Ming Wei's death, Li Qing never once returned to the pear garden to watch the palace maids practice their dances or songs.
He simply couldn't bring himself to go.
In his past life, being a craftsman gave him peace. He could sleep soundly.
But in this body; something was broken.
A eunuch like him had nowhere to let it out.
….
On the afternoon of the thirty-third day after Consort Lu had been sent to the Cold Palace, eunuch Zhang Yong was carried out of the Jia-Mao wing, covered in blood.
Twelve lashes in total. Every one cut deep.
"You okay?"
Inside the sleeping quarters, Li Qing, Zhang Li, and a few others were helping Zhang Yong apply ointment to his wounds.
"I can still take it," Zhang Yong said, his teeth chattering, forehead soaked with cold sweat.
"What happened? Didn't we tell you to stay away from Consort Lu? If you get beaten to death, no one's going to speak up for you," Wang Li said, frowning.
"Don't even ask," Zhang Yong muttered, trembling. "This afternoon, the eunuch from the Bathing Court came by to return the cleaned chamber pot. The one attending Consort Lu was out, so I had to deliver it myself. She took one look and said it wasn't clean. Told me to lick it clean. Then gave me twelve lashes. I was licking while she was whipping…"
Pfft.
Eunuch Zhang Bai couldn't help laughing. "Brave One, your mouth's filthy now. You're banned from eating with the rest of us for the next three months."
"Screw off. I took this beating for all of you. Why the hell shouldn't I get to eat with everyone?" Zhang Yong snapped.
"Consort Lu's been in here over a month now. Why's she still not gone?" Li Qing suddenly asked.
"Soon," Wang Li said quietly. "I heard the Grand Empress Dowager's coming back to the palace in a few days. Once she's back, our misery should be over."
Five days later, after offering prayers at Mount Wugong, the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress officially returned to the palace.
That very night, Consort Lu was moved out of the Cold Palace.
To celebrate, the twelve eunuchs of the Cold Palace made a midnight snack together and had a little feast.
That night.
Li Qing tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep no matter how he tried. Finally, he asked,
"Everyone. Tell me something; it's been over a month and I still can't sleep. Anybody got a good way to knock out at night?"
"Go watch the palace maids dance in the Pear Garden," Wang Li said with a grin. "You used to go all the time. Haven't seen you there once this month. Must mean you've had fewer dirty thoughts. Eunuchs ought to daydream more, you know?"
"Bullshit," Li Qing shot back. "I'm a eunuch. My penis is useless. What kind of dirty thoughts could I possibly have? That's called appreciating beauty. You heathens wouldn't understand."
"I say," Zhang Yong chimed in from his bed, still recovering from the whipping, "you should pick a eunuch or palace maid you can't stand and curse them out a hundred times before bed. That might do the trick."
Curse someone?
Worth a try.
Li Qing shut his eyes and tried to picture the Grand Empress Dowager.
Nothing. He'd never seen her.
Fine... just make her ugly. The uglier, the better.
Wrinkled all over. Sunken eyes. Split lips. Bald head. Toothless. A hunched old hag appeared in his mind.
"You wicked old crone, hurry up and die already!"
"If you don't die, how am I supposed to practice my Seven Forms of Flowing Water?"
"Just die, damn it!"
…
That night, Li Qing slept like a baby.
After that, every night before bed, he cursed that old hag a hundred times without fail.
The afternoon after his insomnia was cured, Li Qing strolled down to the Pear Garden, happily watching the palace maids dance for a while. Still didn't catch sight of any concubines, though.
The maids moved beautifully. He found himself really wanting to see a concubine dance.
He was a eunuch. Where were these strange thoughts even coming from?
Ming Wei's death was behind him now. He didn't dwell on it, but he would never forget.
Half a month later.
The emperor issued an edict: Consort Qi was pardoned for her past offenses, allowed to leave the Cold Palace, and reinstated as a Second-Rank Consort.
Consort Qi hadn't been in the Cold Palace long. Most who were sent there stayed a full year. Her early release, months ahead of schedule, might have meant something more.
"Xiao Li," she said before leaving, "are you truly unwilling to serve by my side?"
"Your Grace," Li Qing replied with quiet sorrow, "someone as lowly as me belongs in the Cold Palace. Besides, the rules outside are strict. One wrong word, and I might offend His Majesty or another consort. If that happens, I could bring trouble to you. I wouldn't be able to live with that."
"You're still too cautious," Consort Qi said with a soft laugh. "No high-ranking eunuch in this palace ever rose without a bit of nerve."
"Your Grace, if I may speak freely…" Li Qing bowed.
"Speak," she said, glancing at him.
"The highest virtue is like water. Water nourishes all things but does not compete." Li Qing kept his head lowered.
A flicker of change crossed Consort Qi's face. Her eyes sharpened slightly.
"Have you heard some rumor?" she asked.
"No," Li Qing said, shaking his head.
She went quiet.
Finally, she sighed. "I understand your words. But not contending… is never easy."
With that, she turned and slowly stepped out of her wing, surrounded by maids and eunuchs as she left the Cold Palace behind.
A month later, the emperor issued another decree. Praising Consort Qi for her virtue and grace, he promoted her to First Rank Virtuous Consort, bestowing the new title: Consort Qi the Virtuous.
When he heard the news, Li Qing shook his head. "Consort Qi still didn't take my words to heart."
The power dynamics inside the palace were clear enough.
The Grand Empress Dowager still held the reins, but Emperor Taikang had already been on the throne for five years.
He didn't want to be anyone's puppet. If he wanted real power in his hands, conflict with the Grand Empress Dowager was inevitable.
When Consort Lu was first thrown into the Cold Palace, the very first thing she did was take over Consort Qi's quarters; without so much as a word of protest from Consort Qi.
Consort Lu was the Grand Empress Dowager's grandniece, representing her faction. Consort Qi, the emperor's favorite, represented his. So when Lu came in, she immediately began to suppress Qi.
It's possible the emperor himself allowed Consort Lu into the Cold Palace on purpose; just to provoke Qi, to stir up a spirit of resistance in her.
Only with that defiance could he raise her up and use her to challenge the Grand Empress Dowager's influence in the inner court.
Each move, connected to the next.
In fact...
Consort Qi's early release might have been part of a trade. The emperor had already let Consort Lu out of the Cold Palace, too.
"The palace power games aren't my business," Li Qing muttered.
"If I've got time for that, I'd rather spend it cursing the old hag."
"You wicked old hag, just drop dead already!"