Chương 8: Chapter 6 (R)

From what I overheard the maids saying yesterday and Lianhua today, it's my birthday. That means I've been here for a year now. It has been quite the challenge getting used to this whole business of having a new body, though sometimes I still feel trapped being inside that of a baby. The boredom of being a baby is something I'm still battling.

The constant need for sleep, having to soil myself, and having to put on a constant act of whimpering and fussing so no one thinks anything is amiss have been a trial of patience. If at least I'd been able to crawl, I would have entertained myself trying to escape from Lianhua and the maids, but despite the fact that they've recently started setting me on the floor surrounded by plush dragons, phoenixes, and other mythological creatures, my legs still refuse to respond in the slightest.

I'm very much afraid this is how it will be for the rest of my life. However, amid this tedium I've found small joys, especially on certain afternoons when Lianhua takes me out to the garden park in front of the Pavilion where we reside. Those visits to the park have become my most treasured moments. While I'm there, I not only have the chance to admire the beauty of the garden but also become an inadvertent listener to the gossip and secrets of the palace.

The park seems to be a place where the maids, handmaidens, and wet nurses of the people who have permission to enter the inner palace bring their charges to play, and meanwhile, believing no one is listening, they talk freely about palace affairs, revealing to me a complex web of intrigues and gossip that weaves itself behind the majestic walls of the Empire. And through their conversations I've learned a great deal about the dynamics and relationships simmering beneath the surface of the imperial court.

Curiously, every now and then I hear the maids talk about someone achieving something called Skin Tempering or Muscle Tempering. They speak of these accomplishments as though they were common knowledge, but to me they mean nothing. The only thing I can compare those names to is references from classics like Journey to the West, though I have yet to see anything that would lead me to believe that monsters or gods exist in this world. And let's hope it stays that way.

The classic Chinese works are too dark for my taste, and the idea of monsters roaming about sacrificing or eating people would make me curse the gods of this world for my luck. Although, on the other hand, at least I'd have someone to blame for the state of my legs. Though this whole subject may be connected to a curiosity that has been nagging at me for months. Almost everyone I've met is attractive. It's not that they're all models or anything like that, but nearly everyone's skin is flawless.

No acne marks, no freckles, no blemishes of any kind. If this only applied to my mother or some high-ranking maids, it might not be unusual, but it extends to the guards and even the few men I've seen. Genetics alone can't explain that. There has to be something more. On another note, the relationship with my father, the Emperor, has been interesting, to say the least. He drops by from time to time to be with my mother, and every time he visits he always comes to see me.

Obviously, nothing like that first night has happened again, and when he enters my room he merely asks after my health and makes generic small talk, speaks to me for a bit in a father-talking-to-baby fashion but in a regal, dignified manner, and then goes back to my mother's room. On those nights I'm grateful my room is far from my mother's, so I don't have to endure… uncomfortable noises, to put it delicately.

Fortunately, now that I've reached my first year, I can finally start saying individual words without it looking excessively suspicious. Despite my efforts, everyone keeps pointing out again and again that I'm an unusually calm baby, so starting to say isolated words at the lower end of the usual age will probably only make them think I'm a precocious child. Though I still have a long road ahead: I suppose that by the time I'm two, being able to say a few short phrases won't be too strange.

Still, I need to think about when and to whom I should say my first word. While I'm immersed in these thoughts, Lianhua enters the room, pulling me from my reflections, and tells me with a smile "Time to get dressed for your birthday party, Zhāohuán Wen." The idea of my first birthday party is exciting and terrifying in equal measure.

Exciting because it represents a break from the monotony of my daily life, and terrifying because, after hearing the maids and handmaidens in the park talk about how the other consorts refer to me, I half expect them to build a bonfire and burn me on the spot. Fortunately, my first birthday is an official ceremony, and I doubt any of them would want to ruin their reputation by causing a scene. Lianhua lifts me from the crib with care and begins preparing me for the day.

She dresses me in what appears to be a hanfu made especially for me, adorned with phoenix embroidery symbolizing good fortune. Once I'm dressed she takes me in her arms and we step into the corridor, where my mother and Fei Yi Lingxi are waiting. We proceed down the corridor and enter a section of the Pavilion I've never been taken to before.

I look around with curiosity and through some open doors I see what appear to be more formally decorated rooms, which leads me to guess this part of the Pavilion is where the reception halls and work spaces are, while the area I usually occupy is the section reserved solely for living quarters. I'm carried into a large hall that has clearly been decorated for a celebration.

Looking around, the sight is impressive: the hall is magnificently adorned with flowers, lanterns, and vibrant fabrics, every detail reflecting the status and wealth one is expected to display when bearing a title like the one my father bestowed on me. The hall is already filled with guests, their conversations and laughter creating a constant buzz of activity.

As we enter, the conversations cease and all eyes turn to us as I'm carried to the far end of the enormous hall and placed in a sort of small chair occupying the seat of honor. I can feel the curious gazes of those present, evaluating, judging, and probably searching for some flaw to criticize later, since they can't expel me or throw me on a bonfire. Lianhua takes her place behind me and my mother sits at my side, with Fei Yi Lingxi positioned directly behind her.

Once we're settled, a eunuch clad in an opulent robe steps before us. In a resonant voice he begins proclaiming our names and titles in an absolutely overwrought style, solemnly announcing the reason for the celebration: my first birthday. While the eunuch shows off his way with words, or the speech he's been given to recite, I'm not entirely sure which, I study the people in the hall more closely.

In the crowd I spot several women in garments more lavish than the rest, whom I remember from the courtyard where we used to live. Near them are about ten children, all in formal attire as well. I see them all staring at me with curiosity, as though trying to reconcile the image of the baby before them with whatever their mothers and handmaidens have told them about me. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The eunuch finishes his speech and the celebration begins.

My mother rises and approaches the crowd followed by Fei Yi Lingxi, while Lianhua remains behind me. From my privileged vantage point I watch the crowd divide into small groups, all of them acquaintances or, this being an imperial court, members of the same faction. I also notice people flitting from one group to another, exchanging information, I imagine. I can't help recalling a time I attended a fundraising gala.

The party after the dinner was exactly like this one, but the decorations, the attire, and the dignity on display here put that affair to shame, making it look tacky by comparison. With a sigh, I realize this has stopped being a birthday party and has turned into a political summit. The only ones who seem oblivious to all of it are the children.

I count about twenty of them; some will be my half-brothers while the rest are probably sons and daughters of high-ranking officials or nobles who have come with the intention of profiting from the party, since I doubt anyone has come solely to wish me well. They're all on the side of the hall that is clearly decorated for them, with various games set up to entertain them and several women I assume are their nursemaids watching over them.

I notice that every now and then one of them turns to look at me, as though checking I haven't left. Groups of servants and handmaidens move among the crowd carrying trays of drinks and food. Among them I recognize dim sum and skewers, which makes my mouth water. Although they've started giving me porridge and soups, I miss being able to eat a proper steak or a hamburger. Honestly, I never thought it possible that I could end up missing the McDonald's menu.

The party has been going on for a while now and I'm starting to consider trying to fall asleep so the whole thing passes more quickly, since it seems I'm a mere extra at my own birthday, when the door suddenly opens and a nervous-looking eunuch enters.

"Han Xin, Jiangjun of the Left Army of the Tianjing Empire", the eunuch proclaims. Everyone falls silent at once and turns toward the door, while I realize, with surprise, that until today I didn't even know the name of the Empire I reside in. My mother leaves the group she's with and heads toward the door as the mustachioed man who stood beside my father during the Man Yue ceremony enters. But everything is eclipsed by my astonishment when I see a soldier walking in behind him carrying a bed.

Granted, it's not very large, but a single person shouldn't be able to carry a bed that appears to be made of solid wood all by himself. While I'm still in shock at the sight of the soldier with the bed, my mother addresses the general with a bow of her head "Jiangjun Han Xin, to what do we owe the honor of your visit?"

"I've only stopped by to bring a gift for the little one, Guifei Xiang. Given her age, she'll soon have to leave the crib and will need a bed worthy of her rank", he tells my mother with a smile, gesturing toward the bed the soldier is carrying. My mother sighs, bringing a hand to her face and abandoning all pretense of dignity as she tells him "Jiangjun, you didn't need to bring it yourself. You could have simply told us and we'd have sent someone to collect it."

"This way is faster. Just have one of your handmaidens show my man to the room where it needs to go", Jiangjun Han Xin replies, his smile widening even further if that's possible. My mother looks around for a moment and seems to decide who is best suited "RuNu Lianhua, accompany the general's man to Zhāohuán Wen's room so he can leave his gift there."

Hearing my mother say my title snaps me out of my shock at seeing the soldier, since it's the first time I've heard her use it, but then I realize that on a formal occasion like this and with so many people, using my title to underscore my importance is only natural. RuNu Lianhua rises and approaches the door to guide the soldier, and I watch him walk away behind her still carrying the heavy bed.

I promise myself to do everything I can to unravel the mystery of his strength, even though my options are limited at the moment. My mother invites Jiangjun Han Xin to join the guests, and he begins talking with several of them whom he appears to know. I watch as the entire dynamic of the hall reconfigures around him, making me even more of an extra at my own birthday.

The only ones who seem unaware of the whole affair are the children, who carry on with their games with a familiarity that clearly indicates this isn't the first time they've gathered. Suddenly, one of the boys who had been looking at me most often, who can't be more than five, slips away from the nursemaids, who are busy ogling Jiangjun Han Xin, and approaches me with a doll in his hand, offering it to me. Seeing no other option, I take it and begin turning it over in my hands.

The boy watches me play with it when one of the nursemaids notices, and flustered, she hurries over and scoops him up to carry him away. But he starts complaining, saying he wanted to give me a birthday present, drawing the attention of everyone in the hall. One of the women, though not one of my father's consorts, looks flustered and moves toward the boy, but the general gets there first, walks up to the child, places a hand on his head, and says "Well done, lad.

At a birthday you should always give a gift to the one celebrating." The mother approaches and collects the boy, bowing to Jiangjun Han Xin and thanking him for his words, when I notice several of the nursemaids moving toward the children and beginning to whisper something to them.

I start to panic at the thought of being buried in dolls, especially since Lianhua isn't here to serve as a human shield against the more than likely avalanche of children, when the eunuch from before enters again, looking even more nervous.

"The Son of Heaven attends the birthday ceremony of Zhāohuán Wen", the eunuch announces in a loud voice.

"Prepare to receive with the highest honor and respect our magnanimous Emperor, protector and guide of our vast empire, whose wisdom illuminates the heavens and whose benevolence nourishes the earth." And with those words he steps aside and prostrates himself on the floor beside the entrance. The entire hall falls silent, stunned by the announcement, and I even see Jiangjun Han Xin, who until now hadn't stopped smiling, turn serious. A figure enters the hall and I see it is my father.

He wears a Mangpao embroidered with some kind of red bird that I think is a vermilion sparrow. When he enters, everyone except Jiangjun Han Xin bows before him, and I see the nursemaids who had been prodding the children to bring gifts make them bow as well. I notice some of the more finely dressed children bow, though not as deeply as the rest, which leads me to assume those are my half-brothers.

My mother approaches my father and, bowing, asks him "Your Radiance, to what do we owe the honor you have bestowed upon us on this happy day?"

"We have come to congratulate Zhāohuán Wen on her first birthday", he says in a deep, serious voice, looking around and fixing in particular on the presence of Jiangjun Han Xin, who I see arches an eyebrow as though wanting to ask my father something. My mother steps aside and gestures "Zhāohuán Wen is grateful to the Son of Heaven for his congratulations." Without need for further words, my father approaches the chair where I'm sitting while the entire hall remains bowed.

Jiangjun Han Xin moves toward my father, but my father makes a gesture with his hand and he stops, remaining at a short distance. When he reaches me, he lifts me from the chair, taking me into his arms.

"May the heavens grant you health and longevity. May your path be filled with peace and wisdom. May you always find the strength to face challenges with valor and the serenity to accept blessings with humility. Like the light of the moon that illuminates the darkness, may your presence bring harmony and light to all who surround you. May your ancestors guide and protect you with every step, and may your heart always be filled with compassion and understanding toward others."

In a serious, deep voice, in what I would call an imperial tone, he gives me his blessing. And suddenly a little devil in my head gives me an idea. I know I shouldn't do it and that it's going to bring no end of trouble, but my inner troll, trained through a lifetime of arguing in internet forums and university symposiums, cannot resist seizing the moment. So, grabbing my father's beard as I've done every time he's held me, and in the babbling voice of a child, I say "Pa~pa."