Chapter 10: Consort Zhe ^[1]哲 (zhé) means wise/sagacious and is the same character associated with philosophy/philosophers. (Part 1)

Translator: Tygris, [redacted]
TLC: [redacted]
English proofreader: 247Reader

Night was exceptionally dark in the Forbidden City. 

Ruyi remembered that back at the Prince’s Residence ^[2]Another way of referring to qiandi, but more generic since other Princes who have been titled can use the same term. her courtyard had also been a spacious one. The Consorts and concubines each had their own rooms or courtyards. But there, the night was light, and one could see from one end to the other. 

Standing in her own courtyard, she could silently calculate that just a few courtyards away was Hongli’s study. If the night was stuffy or dull, just a few steps out of her courtyard led her to those of other concubines. 

Although there had been conflicts and rivalries for favor when meeting, such matters were conducted right beneath one’s eyelids. ^[3]眼皮子底下 (yǎn pí zǐ dǐ xià) means for something to happen in the open/right in front of you/not hidden. And there were always a few who got along a bit better: sharing tea, offering snacks, chatting and laughing, easing their loneliness.

Whenever Hongli entered someone’s courtyard or room, the lantern in the residence of the favored person shone particularly brightly. All the heartache and jealousy within each person could be seen on the surface, and their hopes and desires grew accordingly.

But now, the regulations had grown greater. The palace walls were deep. Under the shadows of the bright red walls, people had become akin to tiny ants. The long street was deep and dark. Even when filled with palace servants and slaves, it was still wholly silent — such quietness was frightening. 

Many times, Ruyi sat in the warm room, quietly listening to the drip and drop of water, feeling as though there was not a single person in any direction. But when she turned her head, she saw people standing there one-by-one like clay puppets: some outside the hall, some in the corridor, and even more inside and outside the palace. None of them, though, were people with whom she could converse. 

Among all the consorts and concubines who entered the palace, the only ones she was particularly friendly with were Su Luyun and Keliyete Hailan. They both possessed peaceful temperaments.

In the past, her personality had been sharp and arrogant, and she and Gao Xiyue had always been at odds with each other. Gao Xiyue had Huang Qiyun ^[4]This is referring to Noble Lady Yi, who was Huang gege previously. and Jin Yuyan on her side, and, above all, was an adherent of Fucha Langhua. But she just coldly kept her distance and did not communicate much with them.

But now, Su Luyun was immersed in the sorrow of not being able to see her son since he was sent to a’ge’suo, and each time they met, she was depressed and devoid of joy. As for Hailan, Hongli had tossed her to the back of his mind after just one night of love. She had suffered much ridicule and been looked down upon. Although Ruyi did not like Hongli gaining a new woman, she could not continue to stand by and watch this bullying. She had once casually mentioned it to Hongli, helping Hailan gain recognition ^[5]i.e. be recognized as a concubine / given an identity and granting her a path of survival. 

For this reason, Hailan liked to timidly follow her all the time. Like a wounded bird seeking shelter under protective wings, she was inevitably pitiful. Now that Hailan lived with Xiyue, it was not convenient for her to interact with Hailan, for fear that Xiyue would take offense and make Hailan’s life even more difficult.

Matters having come to this, Ruyi felt even more lonely. Like a lone candle burning in a great hall, she was a solitary flame, and no matter what, she only succeeded in burning herself.

The Emperor had just ascended the throne and did not visit the harem often. Every day, the Palace Supervisory Department ^[6]This is the core of the Imperial Household Department. Following only Imperial orders, they were responsible for handling palace affairs and etiquette, collecting and checking money and grain from the external treasury, selecting and recruiting eunuchs, and inspecting the opening and closing of each gate and the lighting of candles. presented the green-headed cards, ^[7]绿头牌 (lǜ tóu pái) is a green-topped card/badge containing a person’s banner status, surname, and first name, and possibly other information. When the Emperor summoned his concubines every night, he decided by flipping over the green-headed cards. That is, when the Emperor was having dinner, the concubines’ green-headed cards were presented. The Emperor would decide who to summon that night by flipping over that person’s card. Here is an image from Baidu. but only every three or four days would one be flipped. First the Empress, then Noble Consort Hui, as though arranged by rank. Ruyi waited in anticipation and counted the days, thinking that it would finally be her turn, but the Emperor did not flip a green-headed card for many, many days.

Gradually, she realized that this loneliness was useless. Time in the palace would only get longer and longer day by day, and along with the layers upon layers of ridge beasts, ^[8]Ridge beasts are beasts placed on the ridges of the roofs of ancient Chinese Han-styled buildings. Their original function was to protect wooden corks and iron nails, to prevent water leakage and rust, and to support the connection of the ridge. Later, the ridge beasts developed a decorative function and had a strict hierarchical meaning. The number and form of ridge beasts placed on Han-style Chinese buildings of different statuses were strictly delineated. For instance, The Hall of Supreme Harmony / Tai’he Hall, which is the highest-ranking palace in the Forbidden City, has 10 ridge beasts. it suppressed the resentment and thoughts of the women in the palace.

On this night, the wind came fiercely. Even the colorful chrysanthemums in the open courtyard of Yan’xi Palace lost so many petals to the wind that the floor was covered. This was the pattern of weather in the capital: after the middle of the tenth month, each day became colder than the last.

Ruyi finished dinner and changed into an elegant cyan-colored silk innerwear embroidered with five-petal plum blossom patterns. ^[9]See this article on plum blossoms: https://storiesfromthemuseumfloor.wordpress.com/2020/03/13/four-noble-plants-in-chinese-culture-part-i-plum/ This casual indoor wear was made of blue-green spring silk, just the right shade between light and dark, with a subtle women floral pattern, sparse, barely visible five-petal plum blossons in crimson upon flower gonbranches ^[10]折枝 (zhé zhī) is a way of depicting flowers in paintings where it is not the whole plant that is depicted, but, rather, only branches broken off of the main trunk. The characters 折枝 directly translate to broken branches/breaking of branches. stitched with silver thread. Each plum blossom’s stamen was set with rosy-white pearls the size of rice grains. All of this was accentuated by the green tourmaline plum blossom hairpin that held her ebony locks in place, shimmering softly in the candlelight. A few newly-added furnaces burned beneath the floor, filled with high-quality silver coal which when burnt emitted a fresh, pine-like scent. 

Ruyi, holding a scroll of gongci, ^[11]宫词 (gōng cí) are collections of ancient poems focusing on daily life in the imperial court. They often express the depressed and sad feelings of women in the palace. leaned against the couch in the warm room. Listening to the cries of the rushing wind outside the window, her gaze gradually grew somewhat lethargic. She closed her eyes in a daze. 

Suddenly, her hand was empty. Someone had slipped the scroll in her hand out and away. She was too lazy to open her eyes, and only softly said, “A’Ruo, I am still reading that book.”

She felt as though a breath had touched her face. She shuddered and snapped her eyes open, only to see the Emperor leaning over her, shaking the scroll in his hand with a laugh. “You still claim to be reading the book? You have already become a sleepy cat.”

Ruyi hurriedly rose to perform a wanfu greeting, ^[12]The salute performed by Han women in the olden days. Performed by clasping fists loosely with both hands, moving the clasped hands slightly up and down at the lower right side of the chest, and lowering the head and bending the knees slightly at the same time. complaining, “The Emperor has come, yet those [servants] outside did not report the news. This is waiting to see a joke at this concubine’s expense.”

The Emperor smiled, rubbing his hands together, and sat down on the couch. He picked up the tea from the rosewood side table and was just about to drink when Ruyi hurriedly stopped him. “This tea is already cold. Let this concubine exchange it for a hot cup of tea for the Emperor.”

The Emperor waved his hand in dismissal. “No matter. Zhen was originally heading towards Ci’ning Palace to pay respects to the Empress Dowager. The people of the Imperial Household Department came to report at noon, saying that tomorrow will likely be very cold. The Empress Dowager is elderly and cannot withstand the cold, so Zhen wanted to take a look while paying respects and have the people of the Imperial Household department quickly prepare the earth furnaces and prevent the Empress Dowager from suffering from the cold. The journey along the way was so unbearably cold, and [Zhen], thinking that your place would certainly have hot tea, wanted to come drink a cup. Who knew that you would be unwilling.” ^[13]Map of Forbidden City in English and Chinese to see the distance between Yan’xi Palace / The Palace of Extending Happiness and Ci’ning Palace / The Palace of Benevolent Tranquility. No idea where he is coming from, given that the author seems to have messed up and placed Noble Lady Yi in Jing’yang Palace / The Palace of Revering Yang, which during the Qing Dynasty was a place to store books and contained the Imperial Study…. (Source: https://www.dpm.org.cn/ – The Palace Museum).

Ruyi took over the teacup and put on an intimidating expression. “Indeed, [this concubine] is not willing. Now, it seems that a cold [cup of tea] is nothing much, but later, after drinking it, the stomach will feel uncomfortable. At that time, this concubine will still be the target of complaints.”

She turned around to find that of the people who had been serving inside, not a single one remained. Once the Emperor entered, they must have all hurriedly retreated. 

Ruyi turned towards the window and called out, “A’Ruo.”

A’Ruo responded in acknowledgement, and, with both hands, brought in a tray containing freshly brewed tea. She poured a cup into a golden-threaded green lotus tea saucer.

The Emperor held the cup and took a sip, then asked, “This is Qiyun Melon Seed?” ^[14]He is referring to the Lu’an Melon Seed tea. Qiyun mountain is known to produce the highest quality Lu’an Melon Seed tea.

A’Ruo smiled cutely, and responded cleverly, “Qiyun Melon Seed is the best amongst the Lu’an Melon Seed teas. This servant thought that, at this time, the Emperor would have just finished with dinner. The days have gotten much colder, and inevitably, the dishes would be more meat-heavy. This tea is best for reducing debris and grease and removing stagnation.” ^[15]The first paragraph here explains food stagnation: https://www.mayway.com/articles/food-stagnation-formulas 

The Emperor smiled at Ruyi. “Clever and thoughtful. This is indeed someone that you cultivated.”

A’Ruo smiled, revealing two dimples on her cheeks. “What does this servant understand? These words are what Little Mistress often says, day to day. She often thinks about what the Emperor is using, and if he is using those things comfortably. These words have become familiar to this servant’s ears, and so they naturally just came out.” Finishing her words, she bowed and retreated.

The Emperor took Ruyi’s hand and guided her to sit down with him. “No wonder Zhen had an urge to drink your tea. It turns out that you are also thinking of Zhen.”

Ruyi lowered her head with a vexed smile. “The Emperor only yearns for this tea. Tomorrow, this concubine will distribute this tea across each of the palaces, which will lead the Emperor to go visit each and every palace.”

The Emperor tightly held onto her hand. “Once the days get cold, your hands and feet become chilly. Are you not aware of your own ailments? You did not even put on an extra cloak.” Seeing that there was a casually strewn lake-blue pipa-collared ^[16]See the Pipa-shaped collar in Garment collars in hanfu – Wikipedia magua ^[17]See: Magua (clothing) – Wikipedia embroidered with white wisteria flowers on the couch, he reached out and draped it over Ruyi’s shoulders.

He sighed and continued. “Your words are just a fit of pique.” He opened the book that Ruyi was previously reading, and read out loud word by word. “Within the private chambers of the palace, ladies have had their morning make-up applied. Up on the Pavilion of Mirage they pine to greet the emperor as he arrives. In the distance the screens to the Emperor’s bedchamber are raised. There the imperial maids gather to the Emperor’s bed prepare and organise.①” ^[18]These are the first and last couplets from Xue Feng’s “Gongci”. Here is a link to one of the more flowy English translations I found online: https://28utscprojects.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/221/

Ruyi’s face and ears turned bright red, and she rushed to reach out for the book. “No further reading. These words can only be read silently, not out loud.”

The Emperor returned the book to her hand. “Indeed, these words cannot be read. Reading these words causes one’s heart to feel sore.”

Ruyi found this strange. “These gongci are written about women. What in them could make the Emperor feel heartsore?”

The Emperor calmly replied, “Zhen is holding court at Tai’he Hall, ^[19]The Hall of Supreme Harmony is discussing matters with officials in Qian’qing Palace, ^[20]The Palace of Heavenly Purity is reviewing memorials in the Yang’xin Hall ^[21]The Hall of Mental Cultivation study.

“You are longing for Zhen, does Zhen not long for you?

“While you are ‘On chamber doors, off the mouths of gilded casts of creatures hang cold knocking rings, In drops of water off the bronze dragon hourglass lapses time, prolonged seems daylight’, ^[22]The second couplet of Xue Feng’s “Gongci”. See: https://28utscprojects.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/221/ Zhen also harkens to the drips and drops while taking care of the matters of the country. While you are ‘The ladies over and again their hair comb and into the mirror look, More incense burn as they robes change to keep themselves occupied’, ^[23]The third couplet/line of Xue Feng’s “Gongci”. See: https://28utscprojects.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/221/ Zhen is wondering how your days at Yan’xi Palace have been — are all matters proceeding as you wish?”

Ruyi was moved. She leaned against the Emperor’s shoulder, feeling his warm breath. The Emperor’s body had a faint scent — it was the ambergris incense exclusive to the Imperial family. This fragrance was mellow with a hint of bitterness, but was delicate, dignified, and calming. 

In the warm room, there stood a pair of pure copper candlestick holders, which were decorated with designs of a celestial crane holding a Ganoderma fungus in its mouth. Atop the candlestick holders were red candles covered with creamy white gauze as thin as a cicada’s wing. The light shining through was like that of the moon on the 18th or 19th days of the month: ^[24]The moon as it just begins to wane — See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_calendar#Month. The TLDR is that each month begins with a new moon, and the 15th is approximately when the moon is full. as clear as porcelain, yet as mellow as dusk. The Emperor stood with his back to the light, which illuminated a halo around him. Ruyi felt only a deep sense of security — as though she no longer needed to worry about anything.

Author’s Note(s)

①From Xue Feng’s “Gong Ci”. Resentment in the palace is a common theme in Tang poetry. Xue Feng’s “Gong Ci” starts with the hope of being favored by the emperor and depicts the resentment of the concubines who hoped for the emperor’s favor but could not get it. The sentiment is subtle and is written in a unique style. The poem in its entirety reads: ^[25]Again, I have picked up the translation from https://28utscprojects.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/221/

Within the private chambers of the palace, ladies have had their morning make-up applied,
Up on the Pavilion of Mirage they pine to greet the emperor as he arrives.
On chamber doors, off the mouths of gilded casts of creatures hang cold knocking rings,
In drops of water off the bronze dragon hourglass lapses time, prolonged seems daylight. 

The ladies over and again their hair comb and into the mirror look,
More incense burn as they robes change to keep themselves occupied.
In the distance the screens to the emperor’s bedchamber are raised,
There the imperial maids gather to the emperor’s bed prepare and organise.

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