Chương 128: Chapter 125

I float half a meter above the floor of my room, sustained by nothing more than the invisible tug-of-war between my will and one of the thick beams that cross the ceiling while Lianhua, with that methodical leisureliness that would drive anyone who didn't know her up the wall, goes adjusting the folds of the outfit around my body. Barely a few days ago, a scene like this would have been simply unthinkable.

The first time I tried to sustain myself in the air by means of the feedback of the Myriad of Hands so that Lianhua could dress me, every time she pulled at a sleeve or made me turn a bit to tie a knot, the balance between the beam and me changed enough for the force to stop being just right and everything came crashing down like a house of cards from which the bottom card is removed. But the practice of these last days has done its work.

Now I am capable of correcting that force on the fly, adjusting it without thinking to each small movement that Lianhua imprints on my body, so that she can move me with softness without the technique breaking even a single time. And what I discover, now that I can permit myself to pay attention to something other than not falling, is that letting myself be dressed in this way is much, much more comfortable than the usual manner.

None of that humiliating sensation of being a sack of rice that has to be repositioned at every step, but simply floating, weightless and docile, while the fabric goes wrapping around me with an ease that almost draws a sigh of pure pleasure from me.

The only pity, I think while Lianhua fastens a row of small clasps at the height of my side, is that right now I weigh little, little enough that sustaining myself in the air leaves me a good margin of free hands, but as I keep growing that weight will increase, and with it the number of hands I will need to dedicate solely to not falling, until the day arrives when I have to employ them all for this and none remains to me for anything else.

And it is a shame, because if it weren't for that, suspended in this manner and with a couple of hands to spare, I could even dress myself. The outfits I have to wear are not exactly conceived to be easy to put on, but designed with the firm conviction that the comfort of the one who wears them is an entirely secondary detail compared to the duty of impressing the court, but with a handful of invisible hands at my disposal, even those puzzles of silk and knots would cease to be a problem.

I am still turning that idea over when someone knocks at the door of my room. I do not startle nor let the technique break, because, frankly, I was expecting precisely this, so I limit myself to smiling and to raising my voice a bit.

"Come in", I say without bothering to come down to the floor first. The door opens and a handmaiden peeks through it, and in the exact instant in which her gaze finds me floating in the middle of the room while Lianhua finishes dressing me, she is left petrified in the threshold, with her eyes very wide and her breathing held, as if her brain flatly refused to process what it has before it. It lasts only an instant, that said.

Barely a blink, because right away that training of years that is instilled in the handmaidens of the Palace until turning it into a reflex takes the reins of the situation, and the surprise erases itself from her face as if it had never been there while the handmaiden bows before me in an impeccable reverence.

"Zhāohuán", she tells me with a voice that barely trembles.

"By order of Guifei Xiang, I have come to bring you this book." Only then do I notice that, indeed, she holds a book between her hands, clutching it against her chest with a neatness that contrasts amusingly with the face of bewilderment that escaped her a moment before. I nod softly, without abandoning my position in the air.

"Leave it on that table, please", I tell her, pointing with my chin at the table pushed against the back wall, the one I already have occupied with several half-read books. The handmaiden obeys instantly. She crosses the room with quick and silent steps, deposits the book on the table, alongside the others, and retraces her steps to bow before me a second time.

Then she withdraws toward the door, opens it and goes out disposed to close it behind her, but not without first turning her head and casting one last and very clear look at my figure suspended in the middle of the air, like someone making sure her eyes have not deceived her. Then the door closes with a dry click. I wait a moment, just enough for her footsteps to move sufficiently far down the corridor, and then I address Lianhua, who has not interrupted her task of dressing me at any moment.

"Well", I tell her.

"It seems my mother did not forget my request that she send, with any excuse, the most gossipy handmaiden she had one of these mornings."

"It seems so", replies Lianhua, without lifting her gaze from the clasps. I stretch my neck a bit to look at her better.

"Since you surely know her", I continue.

"How long do you think it will take for the rumors about a floating Zhāohuán to spread throughout the imperial palace?" Lianhua takes a second before replying, and when she does she does so with the same tranquil certainty with which she would affirm that the sun rises in the east.

"Considering that the one who came was the Jie Zinai, before the morning ends the whole Pavilion will know", she tells me.

"And from there, that the rest of the Palace should know is only a matter of time." I let out a sigh, although inside the answer could not satisfy me more. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"I had always thought that one of the most important values for a handmaiden was discretion", I comment to her while I think of all those conversations in the park between Lianhua and the rest of the nursemaids when I was a baby.

"And it is", replies Lianhua without flinching.

"But to have nearby someone like the Jie Zinai, sometimes, can be rather useful." I look at her out of the corner of my eye, and I recognize the logic behind her words.

"I can imagine", I admit.

"But even so it strikes me as odd." Lianhua adds nothing to that, she limits herself to giving the last tug to a knot, and with that gesture she declares the task concluded. She dedicates to me a look that is all of it a silent question, and I nod. As soon as I do, her arms close around me and I let the force of the technique vanish, so my weight returns all at once and she deposits me in the chair with a care that no longer even needs to think.

Once seated and settled, Lianhua positions herself behind me and takes me to breakfast. It turns out to be one of those rare days in which my mother is not present, which, for my plans this morning, could not come better. So I dispatch breakfast with rather more haste than would be proper of an imperial princess, and as soon as I take the last bite I turn toward Lianhua.

"Take me to the study, please", I tell her. Lianhua obeys without asking, and the trip is short. Once inside, I look at her.

"Close the door", I ask her. Lianhua does so, and upon closing it she draws the new bolt, the one I commissioned her to install a few days ago precisely for this, to have another place where no one can slip in without first having the courtesy to knock. As soon as the latch fits into its place and the room is sealed, I turn toward her.

"Good", I tell her.

"Now that I am finally beginning to practice the Myriad of Hands, we also have to set about making plans for the near future." Lianhua says nothing, she limits herself to remaining standing in front of me, with her hands crossed in front and that attentive stillness of hers that is, in her, the most eloquent way of paying attention.

"The first thing has to be to finally set about practicing the creation of talismans that truly work", I continue.

"But for that I need ink and paper. And although I know how to make both the one and the other, setting up an alchemy laboratory here, in the Pavilion, would be too conspicuous, so for the moment the simplest thing will be to buy them already made." I make a pause and look her in the eyes.

"Do you have any discreet way, that doesn't draw attention, of obtaining the ink and the paper for talismans?" I ask her. Lianhua stays thinking a moment, surely reviewing the inventory of contacts and favors she goes accumulating in silence.

"Yes", she says at last.

"I may have a way. But, evidently, it will not be cheap."

"Don't worry about that", I reply to her, dismissing the objection with a gesture.

"For now we have both what remains to me of the reward for the backpacks and the money my mother gave me for my inventions. And later, just as I can buy the ink and the paper, we can also sell the talismans I don't want to keep and that way have more funds to create even more." Lianhua meditates an instant before replying.

"Selling the talismans may be a bit more complicated than buying the ink and the paper", she warns.

"I know some people who can buy them without asking questions, but for that we will have to sell them to them a bit cheaper than normal."

"That is no problem at all", I tell her shrugging my shoulders.

"As long as we make enough for the business to sustain itself and for me to be able to keep practicing, it is enough for me. The profits don't need to be high until I can sell them without having to hide." Lianhua nods and adds nothing, so I continue.

"In addition, we have to notify the Shangshu that, now that I have turned twelve and as preparation for when I finish the Body Tempering and open my first gate, just as I learned about the creation of talismans, I also wish to learn about the creation of formations and about enchantment", I tell her.

"And that the order makes no difference to me, because as soon as I consider that I have learned enough about the first of the two subjects, I will begin with the second." Lianhua listens to me, and when I finish she returns to me a look I know too well.

"The Shangshu, just as when you tried to learn about talismans, will probably say that it is contrary to custom and will oppose it", she reminds me. The warning, far from worrying me, makes me smile.

"No problem", I reply.

"If the Shangshu shows himself reluctant, one can always point out to him that, if I don't find a master within the court, I will have no choice but to go look for one outside. And who knows, if I am lucky I could even find again another master with an unknown level of cultivation willing to give me classes."

I don't need to say the name, since we both know perfectly well which master I am referring to, and to both of us it is evident that the mere memory of how Master Mu appeared in my life would be enough to rob more than one functionary of sleep. And, indeed, I see how one of the corners of Lianhua's lip rises a scarce millimeter, that minimal gesture that in her is equivalent to a guffaw and that confirms to me that the scene I have just painted amuses her as much as it does me.

"I will personally go to communicate the request to the Shangshu as soon as I can", she tells me. I nod satisfied, and I stay a moment thinking, drumming with my fingers on the wood of the desk while I try to squeeze my head in search of something more to add to the list. But, for once, nothing occurs to me, so I lift my gaze toward Lianhua.

"Can you think of anything else we can focus on in the short or medium term?" I ask her. Lianhua reflects an instant.

"Perhaps you should try not to spend so much time shut away and begin to attend more events of the Palace", she tells me measuring her words.

"Performances, concerts, that kind of thing. I am sure that Guifei Xiang would even encourage you if you decided to begin doing so." I incline my head, weighing what she insinuates.

"You mean for me to be a bit more proactive when it comes to showing myself at court than I have been up to now?" I ask her.

"Yes", replies Lianhua.

"That is what I mean." I meditate on it a moment, since the mere idea of stuffing myself into one of those official outfits and spending hours smiling in places full of people who observe me out of the corner of their eyes does not thrill me in the least, but I recognize the logic behind the suggestion as well as I recognize that Lianhua rarely proposes something without a weighty reason, so I let out a sigh of resignation.

"Very well", I concede.

"Get me a list of the activities the Imperial Palace is going to organize in the coming months, and that way I can make a selection, together with my mother, of those it would be sensible to attend." Lianhua nods at my words, but adds nothing, which I interpret as meaning that, at last, we have finished. So I direct my gaze toward a corner of the room, and instantly a basket lifts from the floor and approaches floating up to me, obedient, until it remains suspended just at the height of my hands.

I take it and open it, revealing that it is filled to the top with scraps of fabric and with what, without a doubt, are sewing utensils. I lift my gaze toward Lianhua and smile at her.

"During the next Period and until my Gardening class I am going to be busy", I tell her.

"You have time to go take care of your own tasks." Lianhua inclines her head, draws back the bolt of the door and leaves the room, closing it with care behind her. And as soon as the sound of the door closing confirms to me that I am alone again, I sink my hands into the basket and let myself be carried away by the question of how the devil I am going to manage to develop my next invention without the modern materials I would need.