asked.
“I do,” he said.
“It is enough,” she said, and passing him she left him there and went directly to her chamber. Behind her the curtain fell again.
For seven days and seven nights Yehonala would not leave her bed. The palace corridors were busy with whispers that she was ill, that she was angry, that she had tried to swallow her gold earrings, that she would not yield again to the Emperor. For as soon as the Court physicians declared the Emperor recovered from their powerful drugs, he sent for her. She would not obey. Never in the history of the dynasty had an imperial concubine refused herself and no one knew what now to do with Yehonala. She lay in her bed under her rose-red satin coverlets and she would not speak except to her woman. The eunuch Li Lien-ying was beside himself as he saw all his plans astray and his goals lost. Yet she would not allow him to lift the curtain of her door.
“Let them think I want to die,” she told her woman. “At least it is true that I do not want to live here.”
The woman carried this message to the eunuch and he gnashed his teeth. “If the Emperor were not beside himself with love, it would be easy enough,” he snarled. “She could fall into a well or she could be poisoned, but he wants her whole and sound—and now!”
At last the Chief Eunuch, An Teh-hai, himself came and was no more successful. Yehonala would not see him. She kept her earrings beside her bed on the small table where stood her porcelain tea bowl and her earthen teapot bound in silver.
“Let that Chief Eunuch step over the threshold,” she declared in a voice raised to reach his ears, “and I swallow my gold earrings!”
So it went through one whole day and then another and another and the Emperor grew peevish and distrustful, believing, he said, that some eunuch was delaying her coming in hope of a bribe.
“She was very obedient to me,” he insisted. “She did all that I asked.”
None dared to say that His Majesty was hateful to the beautiful girl, and it would not have come to the imperial mind to imagine this alone. Instead he felt that he was potent and able and he did not wish to waste himself on another concubine while he loved Yehonala. Indeed he had never loved any woman as he now loved her, and knowing that with other women his passion died early, he was pleased that after seven days he longed for her presence more than ever and he was therefore the more impatient at delay.
By night of the third day of the seven, An Teh-hai, too, was beside himself and he went to the Dowager Mother and told her what was going on, and how Yehonala, although she knew her power, would not obey the Emperor.
“I have never heard of such a woman in all our dynasty,” the Dowager Mother exclaimed with energy. “Let the eunuchs take her by force to my son!”
The Chief Eunuch hesitated. “Venerable,” he said, “I question this method. She must be won and persuaded, for I do assure you, Venerable, that she cannot be forced. She is so strong, being both taller and heavier than the Son of Heaven, though slender as a young willow tree, that she will not hesitate to bite him or scratch his face when they are alone.”
“What horror!” the Dowager Mother exclaimed. She was old and she had an illness of the liver and spent much of her time in bed, and was indeed now lying in the recesses of a bed so large that she seemed to be looking from a cave.
She pondered. “Is there no one inside the palace who can persuade her?” she inquired.
“Venerable, the Consort is her true cousin,” the Chief Eunuch suggested.
The Dowager Mother remonstrated. “It is not usual for the Consort to urge a concubine upon her own lord, the Emperor.”
“Neither usual nor proper, Venerable,” the Chief Eunuch agreed.
The old lady remained silent for so long that he thought she had fallen asleep. But she had not. She lifted her sunken eyelids after a time and she said, “Well, then, let this Yehonala go to
“I do,” he said.
“It is enough,” she said, and passing him she left him there and went directly to her chamber. Behind her the curtain fell again.
For seven days and seven nights Yehonala would not leave her bed. The palace corridors were busy with whispers that she was ill, that she was angry, that she had tried to swallow her gold earrings, that she would not yield again to the Emperor. For as soon as the Court physicians declared the Emperor recovered from their powerful drugs, he sent for her. She would not obey. Never in the history of the dynasty had an imperial concubine refused herself and no one knew what now to do with Yehonala. She lay in her bed under her rose-red satin coverlets and she would not speak except to her woman. The eunuch Li Lien-ying was beside himself as he saw all his plans astray and his goals lost. Yet she would not allow him to lift the curtain of her door.
“Let them think I want to die,” she told her woman. “At least it is true that I do not want to live here.”
The woman carried this message to the eunuch and he gnashed his teeth. “If the Emperor were not beside himself with love, it would be easy enough,” he snarled. “She could fall into a well or she could be poisoned, but he wants her whole and sound—and now!”
At last the Chief Eunuch, An Teh-hai, himself came and was no more successful. Yehonala would not see him. She kept her earrings beside her bed on the small table where stood her porcelain tea bowl and her earthen teapot bound in silver.
“Let that Chief Eunuch step over the threshold,” she declared in a voice raised to reach his ears, “and I swallow my gold earrings!”
So it went through one whole day and then another and another and the Emperor grew peevish and distrustful, believing, he said, that some eunuch was delaying her coming in hope of a bribe.
“She was very obedient to me,” he insisted. “She did all that I asked.”
None dared to say that His Majesty was hateful to the beautiful girl, and it would not have come to the imperial mind to imagine this alone. Instead he felt that he was potent and able and he did not wish to waste himself on another concubine while he loved Yehonala. Indeed he had never loved any woman as he now loved her, and knowing that with other women his passion died early, he was pleased that after seven days he longed for her presence more than ever and he was therefore the more impatient at delay.
By night of the third day of the seven, An Teh-hai, too, was beside himself and he went to the Dowager Mother and told her what was going on, and how Yehonala, although she knew her power, would not obey the Emperor.
“I have never heard of such a woman in all our dynasty,” the Dowager Mother exclaimed with energy. “Let the eunuchs take her by force to my son!”
The Chief Eunuch hesitated. “Venerable,” he said, “I question this method. She must be won and persuaded, for I do assure you, Venerable, that she cannot be forced. She is so strong, being both taller and heavier than the Son of Heaven, though slender as a young willow tree, that she will not hesitate to bite him or scratch his face when they are alone.”
“What horror!” the Dowager Mother exclaimed. She was old and she had an illness of the liver and spent much of her time in bed, and was indeed now lying in the recesses of a bed so large that she seemed to be looking from a cave.
She pondered. “Is there no one inside the palace who can persuade her?” she inquired.
“Venerable, the Consort is her true cousin,” the Chief Eunuch suggested.
The Dowager Mother remonstrated. “It is not usual for the Consort to urge a concubine upon her own lord, the Emperor.”
“Neither usual nor proper, Venerable,” the Chief Eunuch agreed.
The old lady remained silent for so long that he thought she had fallen asleep. But she had not. She lifted her sunken eyelids after a time and she said, “Well, then, let this Yehonala go to
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