Empress by Evelyn McCune

Author:Evelyn McCune [McCune, Evelyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-77590-0
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2010-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Jao had paid a courtesy call on the chief pharmacist soon after her arrival in the palace, so she was kindly received in his clinic. Her collarbone was set with little chirps of solicitude from the chief himself, her shoulder bound tightly, and her arm supported in a sling. She was sent on her way with cheerful assurances that she would soon be all right.

Once on her pallet, she dozed off into such a heavy sleep that she did not wake until the next day when a woman from the pharmacy brought her a bowl of nourishing broth. She obediently drank it and then immediately fell asleep again. When she woke the second time, she realized that no one from either empress or emperor had called on her and that no one was attending her. She was abandoned. It looked as if she now had no support at all. In the old days when she was a tsairen, she at least had Chi behind her as well as his superior, the chief eunuch.

I don’t think I can survive the enmity of the powerful Lady Liu in addition to the malice of Hsiao Fei, Jao thought. And I certainly can’t survive the withdrawal of Kaotsung. He seemed to think that she was more concerned about the welfare of the empress than about him. The best she could hope for, Jao decided, was to be dismissed. She could not go back to her mother in Taiyuan, because of the hostility of her brothers. The abbess just might have compassion and receive her back in the convent, but she would be forever discredited, and Jao wasn’t certain that the abbess would have her. Jao’s thoughts went round and round, but she could perceive no comforting outcome anywhere.

Her calculations omitted one element that was in her favor—the silent goodwill of an army of servants. Some of these she had treated politely, and others had never seen her but had heard of her helpful conduct on behalf of the two maids who had been hurt by the Lius. One of these servants investigated Jao’s condition and brought food while she healed and rested.

The weather broke and the chill of autumn settled over the capital. Lady Liu returned to her own home outside the palace, and the empress sent for Jao the minute her mother was out of the way. Jao’s depression lifted a little after she slipped back into her duties. In time, a summons from the emperor also arrived and her spirits took another rise. She hurriedly donned a new tunic that had just come from the seamstress and presented herself at the imperial pavilion.

Kaotsung was standing in the center of the room waiting for her when she was ushered in. She slid into her usual graceful bow at once, her heart thumping.

“First, I want to tell you that I have arranged with Eunuch Kang to transfer your former tsairen manager, Chi, into my service,” Kaotsung told her. “He will be assigned the duty of caring for you.

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