“Why are you looking at me like that, Ah Bin? Don’t you understand my thoughts? Why am I willing to have a secret affair with him but unwilling to officially enter the Eastern Palace as a consort? Hah, wait until you’re ten years older, when you reach my age, you’ll understand many things clearly.
“I’m seven years older than him, his pretty elder cousin sister whom he’s admired since childhood, and the first woman of his sexual awakening. Perhaps for three to five years, he might still cling to me, but what about after that? The Eastern Palace can’t have just one Crown Prince’s consort. No matter how faithful he might be, his parents would force concubines upon him for the sake of progeny. By then, he’ll be more mature, more of an imposing husband figure, and naturally favor young and tender new beauties. I would quickly become old and faded, unable to bear sons, confined to a cold palace – how miserable would that be? Why should I subject myself to that?
“I’m very satisfied with my life at Purple Void Temple. The Emperor and Empress value me, people everywhere flatter me, I can come and go freely both inside and outside the palace, study medicine and treat patients, practice alchemy and write books, ride horses and play polo, go on outings to view scenery, visit friends and relatives, tour the streets in disguise, flirt and get close to handsome young men… I can do whatever I want, no one controls me. Even when I’m too old to walk, I’ll have young disciples supporting me, going everywhere to preach the Dao, people will reverence me like an immortal – far better than being a white-haired palace consort. Why would I jump into that fire pit myself? To hell with that.
“Later he came less frequently. I thought that was good. He was seventeen, taking another big step toward adulthood, and I considered myself just a tool that helped him grow from a boy into a man. When the Empress asked me to help select the Crown Prince’s consort from the Ladies’ Learning Society and assist with the Eastern Palace wedding preparations, I happily and willingly went about the tasks. You know too, the Young Lady Su’s virtue, talents, and beauty are all excellent choices – I haven’t wronged anyone.
“Until before New Year’s Day this year, we hadn’t seen each other or spoken for over two months. I felt this ill-fated relationship had finally ended, and my heart was quite peaceful. At the New Year’s palace family feast, Second Uncle got drunk and insisted on mixed seating, with princes’ consorts, princesses, imperial sons-in-law, and their wives sitting together in reunion. I was seated behind the Empress, directly facing him…
“The feast was so noisy, every one offering toasts and birthday wishes, speaking auspicious words about the Crown Prince’s upcoming marriage and prosperous imperial descendants. I avoided his eyes, avoided them for what seemed like a lifetime. He didn’t stay until the end, telling His Majesty and the Empress he was dizzy and had stomach pain, leaving halfway through to rest in the Eastern Palace. I even felt relieved. Unexpectedly, when I returned to Purple Void Temple through the heavy snow at midnight after the music ended and the wine was finished, I pushed open my door to find him waiting inside…
“You should remember too, around New Year’s this year, it snowed continuously for several days. The roads were difficult to walk on, icicles hung from the eaves, and howling wind and snow made heaven and earth cold. All the lamps and candles in my bedroom were lit, the charcoal stove burned brightly, narcissus and winter plum blossoms were blooming on the table, and the whole room was warm and bright, fragrant with flowers. It was New Year’s after all, the bed curtains and silk quilts were all new, clean, and comfortable. He had taken off his outer robe and boots, even removed his headwear, showing his hair bun wearing only an undershirt, barefoot, reclining on the bed reading while waiting for me. Seeing me enter, he looked up with a smile and called ‘Elder Sister,’ as if all the previous arguments had never happened…
“That was my only time, just once, looking at him and thinking: if I were to marry, if I married him, coming home every day to see this man in my room, I would be willing.
“Just that once, just that thought. I didn’t say it out loud, but I think he knew.
“When I woke up the next morning, he was already gone. Gone cleanly, as if I’d dreamed it all the night before. The only proof it was real was an object left beside my pillow… a jade ring.”
“The blood jade archer’s ring?” Wei Shubin exclaimed.
She looked at Chai Yingluo. The female Daoist reclined on the bamboo bed below the courtyard steps, the light silk fan she held had long stopped moving. Under her half-closed long eyelashes, there was a crystalline gleam flickering – was it starlight from the Milky Way above, or the firefly light floating among the flower clusters around the courtyard?
Earlier that day, when she and Su Lingyu were led by the fat leopard Ah Tun, discovering Chai Yingluo and Li Chengqian together, the pair in the temple master’s private room slowly separated, yet neither showed signs of panic or shame. After staring at each other in a daze for a moment, Li Chengqian tossed out “I’m going to Lizheng Hall” and walked toward the door.
“Go ahead,” the female Daoist coldly responded while stroking the leopard, “I keep my word, you’ll see.”
The Crown Prince, with one foot already across the threshold, turned back at these words, looked at his elder cousin sister raising an eyebrow, and smiled:
“If I don’t have that ability, then I wouldn’t deserve such fortune – come.”
He beckoned to his wife Su Lingyu, and the couple left together, leaving only Wei Shubin, still full of shocked suspicion and not yet recovered, to keep Chai Yingluo company in the room.
The “ability” Li Chengqian spoke of soon became clear. After leaving Purple Void Temple, Su Lingyu gathered the temple’s administrators and serving maids like Jingxuan, ordering them to search and temporarily confiscate all knives, scissors, and sharp objects from Chai Yingluo’s room. At least two people had to watch over her at all times to prevent suicide, and she specially sent people to seal off the alchemy room in the mountain cave behind the temple.
The Crown Prince’s consort wouldn’t normally have found it so easy to command Purple Void Temple’s people, but Lady Su only asked one question: “Do you want your Temple Master to seek death?” and Jingxuan and the others had no response but to follow orders. Chai Yingluo saw all this but didn’t resist or oppose it, only calmly packed her belongings, not even eating one bite less at dinner. Wei Shubin felt her body language and said – if I want to kill myself, there are many days ahead, can you guard me for a lifetime?
She hadn’t eaten a bite of dinner, nor had Su Lingyu. The two close friends sat at the same table with Chai Yingluo, only watching her eat with her head down. Besides giving orders to the administrators, Su Lingyu hadn’t said another word, just sat pale-faced and lost in thought. Wei Shubin felt sorry for her too, suddenly remembering that today was her seventeenth birthday – what a birthday gift from her newly wedded husband…
After dinner, Wei Shubin finally couldn’t contain herself and pulled Chai Yingluo aside to explain what was going on. The weather was too hot, so the maids set up a bamboo bed in the courtyard. The two women talked while enjoying the cool air, with Ah Tun dozing beside the bed. Su Lingyu initially listened for a while, but later walked away at some point.
Chai Yingluo was in a mood of lying down waiting for death with nothing left to hide, continuing her story without prompting to the parting memento Li Chengqian had left her when the stunned Wei Shubin finally exclaimed “Blood jade archer’s ring?”
The female Daoist looked at her with a tragic smile, not answering, but opened her left hand which had been closed all along. In her palm was exactly that blood-jade ring that Wei Shubin and Li Yuangui had discovered among the Linfen County Lady’s dowry.
This jade archer’s ring, which had flowed out from the Yin-Shang royal tomb nearly thirty years ago, had passed through the hands of Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, Lady Zhangsung, and Li Chengqian, now appearing in Chai Yingluo’s palm – it must have just been given to her by Li Chengqian again.
“Since the Crown Prince gave it to you, how did it end up in Yi Niang’s possession?” Wei Shubin asked, as a chill slowly rose from the bottom of her heart. A dark suspicion made her hair stand on end – could the killer she had been seeking all along be right before her eyes?
Notes:
1. Chai Yingluo’s account of performing the “Huxuan Dance” at the imperial banquet refers to one of the most famous foreign dances in the Tang Dynasty, popular throughout the era. The dance postures are depicted in Chang’an and Dunhuang murals and figurines, characteristically featuring the dancer spinning in place on a small carpet, known for “turning left and right tirelessly, thousands of rotations without end,” while never stepping off the carpet.
Members of the Li Tang royal family generally had artistic skills in singing and dancing. In the fourth year of Zhenguan, after Li Jing defeated Jieli Khagan, at the victory feast, Emperor Emeritus Li Yuan played the pipa himself, while Emperor Li Shimin took to the floor to dance – this event is widely known. Li Yuan’s young daughter Princess Huainan, according to her epitaph, was a musical prodigy who could pick out tunes on the pipa at age three or four just from hearing others play.
Li Yuan specially invited the famous musician Wang Changtong to teach her in the inner palace, and “within two days she had mastered it, playing without error before the Emperor and consorts.” Princess Taiping in her youth also “wore purple robes, jade belt, and black silk headband, fully equipped with the seven items (i.e., dressed as a man), singing and dancing before the Emperor and Empress.” An even more spectacular scene of princes and princesses performing occurred during Wu Zetian’s reign when her grandchildren collectively sang and danced to wish her long life.
This is recorded in the “Epitaph of Princess Dai Guo of the Great Tang,” Princess Dai Guo being Emperor Xuanzong’s sister, named Li Hua. The epitaph states: “Initially, when Empress Wu held court in Mingtang Hall, His Majesty (referring to Xuanzong Li Longji) at age six, as Prince of Chu, danced ‘Long Life’ […] at age twelve, as Imperial Grandson, performed ‘Prince An’; Prince Qi at age five, as Prince of Wei, performed ‘Prince of Lanling’… The Princess at age two danced with Princess Shouchang facing each other in the Western Cool Palace, and all officials called out ‘Ten thousand years.'”
2. Chai Yingluo’s mention of Li Chengqian’s “third-day washing” refers to the custom of publicly displaying and bathing the infant on the third day after birth, though the exact date could be adjusted based on the baby’s condition. This custom persisted into modern times in many regions and was especially prevalent in the Tang Dynasty, including within the royal family.
Perhaps the most famous instance was after Yang Guifei took An Lushan as her adopted son: “Three days later, she summoned Lushan into the palace, wrapped him in embroidered swaddling clothes, had palace ladies carry him in a decorated sedan chair, with cheers shaking the ground.
When Emperor Xuanzong sent someone to inquire, the report came back: ‘The Precious Consort is having a third-day washing ceremony with Lushan, wrapping him again after the bath, hence the celebration.’ Xuanzong went to observe and was greatly pleased, consequently bestowing additional rewards of gold, silver, money, and goods on the Precious Consort for the washing ceremony, ending in extreme joy.”
This bathing was closer to a ritual and entertainment, with the bath containing not just hot water but many fragrant medicines and ornamental toys. Sun Simiao’s “Essential Formulas Worth a Thousand Gold” Chapter 5 states: “On the child’s third day, they should be bathed in peach root water: Peach root, plum root, and apricot root two liang each, branches will also do, cut them up and boil in three dou of water for twenty bubbles, remove the dregs and bathe the child – this is good, removes inauspiciousness, and ensures the child will never have sores or scabies in their lifetime.”