I don’t deny it – he was handsome. He was the kind of man who women could easily love and men would trust to follow into battle. If he was only the emperor’s brother, then the emperor must have been the most exquisite man in the world.

  “You are all quite lovely,” he said. Some of the girls blushed, giggled, and used their sleeves to hide their embarrassment. Lady Tang shot us all a stern look, but the prince only smiled. He seemed to absorb the attention.

  “His Majesty was grateful for the beautiful gifts of embroidery work you sent for the birth of his son,” he continued.

  Lady Tang let out a sigh of relief. I think it was the first time I saw her breathe all day. She nodded to all of us in approval and we beamed with pride.

  “Which one of you is Miss Yang?” he asked.

  The room went silent. I blinked. I thought I must have dreamed that he said my name and didn’t hear what he actually said.

  “Yang Yaqian,” he said, clarifying himself.

  I couldn’t move. I saw some of the other girls cast me quick glances, but I was frozen like a block of stone. I could feel my cheeks go hot and my blood pumping in my ears. I couldn’t even move my eyes, I was so terrified of meeting Lady Tang’s gaze. But then, she said my name.

  “Yang Yaqian?” she asked. “Wh…why are you asking for her?”

  “She is the whole reason I am here,” he said.

  I heard the girls gasp and few start to murmur.

  “That can’t be possible…” Lady Tang started.

  “I only know my orders, Lady Tang,” the prince interrupted. “Is the girl here or not?”

  “She…she is,” Lady Tang stammered. “Yaqian,” she called.

  The other girls looked at me. I wanted nothing more than to die in that moment, or to wake up. One of the girls behind me pushed my shoulder, hard, and I fell forward. Several of the girls laughed. I was embarrassed, but at least I had been knocked out of my stupor. I forced myself to look at the prince.

  “Y…yes?” I managed to croak, causing another round of laughter from the girls. The prince smiled again.

  “Come here,” he said.

  I slowly rose. I felt the blood from my lower legs rush past my knees and up to my head, making me nauseous, but I willed myself not to faint or throw up. I took a deep breath and stepped around the girl in front of me. I took a few small steps toward the prince and Lady Tang, but kept my distance.

  “Hmm…” the prince sighed. “You have bound feet.”

  “Yes, Your Highness,” I said.

  “We are all Han people in this region,” Lady Tang explained.

  “Can it be undone?” he asked.

  “Only with great care, my lord,” Lady Tang said. “It is no small matter to force open a lotus’s petals.”

  “It is no matter,” he said.

  “Yaqian is one of my most gifted students,” Lady Tang said.

  “So I have heard,” the prince replied. “Tell me about this double-sided embroidery. The emperor said he had never seen the like before.”

  Lady Tang stared at me with daggers in her eyes. She finally understood what was happening, why the prince was here. She was both furious and heartbroken. “It is a new technique, discovered here at my school,” Lady Tang said. “No other school can produce it. It is still in its experimental stage.”

  “The piece that was sent to the emperor was done by Yaqian?” the prince asked.

  “Indeed it was,” she said.

  “You sent a representative piece of embroidery by a student? Surely a piece by you would have been more appropriate.”

  The sickening feeling of guilt returned to my stomach as Lady Tang searched for the words to right the situation. I had to repair the damage I had done.

  “I would not be the embroiderer I am today if not for Lady Tang,” I managed to squeak out.

  “So Lady Tang taught you?” he asked. “Do you teach this method to all of your students?”

  My heart sank and I looked to Lady Tang in desperation. My attempt to make things right was only making them worse.

  “No,” Lady Tang finally admitted. “The student has surpassed her teacher. No one else can make double-sided embroidery like Yaqian.”

  “That is amazing, Lady Tang, for a young girl to not only surpass her teacher, but to do so by practically reinventing the art. Your humility will take you far, Yaqian,” the prince said. “Forgive me,” he said to Lady Tang, “but my traveling companions are in need of a meal and a rest. Please send for the girl’s parents so we can commence negotiations. I wish to be back on the road as soon as possible.”

  I was confused and a little bit scared. I had not seen my parents in nearly a decade. Why would he need to see them? What negotiations?

  Lady Tang motioned for one of the servants to show the prince and his retinue to the dining hall. The other girls all finally rose to their feet. They followed after the prince and the others with giggles and chatter.

  Eventually, only Lady Tang and I were left in the entry hall. I gathered up my courage to look at her. Her nostrils were flaring in and out as she took deep breaths. She didn’t look at furious as I expected, but she was clearly displeased. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then thought better of it and turned to leave.

  “Wait,” I managed to say. “Just tell me, what is happening.”

  “You don’t know?” she asked. “The prince is here to take you away. You are going to serve the emperor.”

  * * *

  Lady Tang sent a sedan chair to fetch my parents. While we waited, Prince Gong and his men ate lunch with us. The men ate their fill while the girls nervously picked at their food. We did not often have male guests in the house, especially not men so high ranking. We found out that Prince Gong had been in the area for several weeks, chasing down and suppressing the Taiping rebels. The emperor had apparently asked the prince to fetch me on his way back to the capital. I was so nervous about what was happening I was not able to eat a bite.

  After lunch, Prince Gong and Lady Tang retired to her office and his men rested in the courtyard while the girls went to their rooms. I sat in the foyer to await my parents. I had not seen them in so long, I wasn’t sure they would recognize me. What would I say to them? Why did the prince even want to see them? I also wondered what would happen to me. What did Lady Tang mean when she said I was going to serve the emperor? Would I be in Peking? Would I go to Suzhou? What about my studies? I was still far from being a master artisan; who would teach me? And my double-sided embroidery skills still needed years of practice. If I was working, when would I have the time to improve? I was a fool. My pride had put me on a path I was not ready for, just as Lady Tang had said.

  Late in the afternoon, my parents arrived. They looked well – older, but not as worn. Their hair was well kempt and their faces more plump. Their clothes were clean and well arranged. I began to wonder just how much money my embroidery was selling for and how much was being sent to them every month. It had apparently been enough to make their lives much easier. I ran up and kowtowed before them.

  “Mother, Father,” I said. “It is an honor for you to be here.”

  “Stand up,” Mother said in that annoyed tone I knew so well. I stood up but kept my head bowed.

  “I am glad you are here,” I said, trying to make small talk.

  “Such a hassle!” Mother replied. “We had no warning, no time to eat or change. And riding in that…contraption! My back will ache for days.”

  “Perhaps Lady Tang will let you rest here. I am sure she would love to host you as her special guests.”

  Mother looked around the large room. “Yes, I am sure the great Lady Tang would love to show off to us.”

  I could feel my mouth drop. I didn’t understand how Mother could be so insulting and ungrateful for all Lady Tang had done for us, and in her own home!

  “Lady Tang has been a kind and generous teacher to me,” I replied.

  “I am sure Lady Tang has treated you well. After all, she wouldn’t have such nice things without her slave girls to work for her.”

  “Is something wrong?” I finally asked. “Are you no longer happy with our arrangement?”

  “Happy?” Mother asked. “I have never been happy with the loss of our only daughter!” Mother was nearly screeching now. I could hear her voice echo and saw some of the other girls peeking out of the rooms at us.

  “I miss you too,” I said, calmly, trying to get Mother to lower her voice. “But this is something we should discuss in private with Lady Tang.”

  “You miss us?” Mother spat. “All lies! You miss your dirt hovel and running naked in the streets? You miss having to collect worms to sell to eat? You miss nothing. You left us with nothing. Lady Tang stole you and left us to die…”

  “She sends you money…” I tried to say.

  “A pittance! And no money will replace the fact that we have no one to care for us in our old age.”

  At this point Prince Gong and Lady Tang entered the room. I do not know how long they had listened to Mother’s ranting. I kneeled before the prince. I tugged at Mother’s sleeve to get her to do the same, but she slapped my hand away.

  “Yang Furen, Yang Laoye,” the prince said with a nod. “I am Prince Gong, brother to Emperor Xianfeng. I am here to negotiate for your daughter’s services. Please, join me in the study.”

  I do not know how he remained so calm in the face of such disrespect. I would have had Mother taken out and whipped in the streets, but the prince hardly reacted at all. He ignored her rudeness and walked into the study completely unfazed.

  Prince Gong sat in a large chair in the middle of the room. Lady Tang stood to his right side. My parents entered the room and stood before him. I entered the room behind them and crouched on my knees to one side. Prince Gong reached into his boot and pulled out a long-handled pipe. Without being asked, an attendant stepped up and lit the pipe. The prince took a long, slow drag before addressing my parents.

  “It is Emperor Xianfeng’s pleasure to have your daughter in his service. I am here to negotiate an agreement. Do you understand?”

  I am not sure how much of his accent they actually understood, but they both nodded in unison. Mother conceded a monosyllable, “Yes.”

  “Good,” the prince went on. “The emperor is willing to pay you a large fee one time in exchange for your daughter. No more monies will be paid to you from the throne afterward. However, your daughter may send you money out of her own purse as she wishes. Is this fair?”

  “Yes,” Father quickly answered, cutting off Mother’s objections. She pressed her lips together and narrowed her gaze.

  “Yang Furen?” the prince asked. “Does the emperor’s generosity offend you?”

  “Of course not,” Mother quickly replied. “But she is our only child. I am too old to have another. She may be a worthless daughter, but she could still marry, give us grandsons. If she is employed by the throne, she may never marry, never have children. Who will care for us in our old age? Perform funeral rites when we die? Burn money at our tombs to keep us from returning to this world hungry?”

  Over the years, I had not given much thought to marriage. It was not something I had been prepared for, even though it would be expected of me. It was why my feet had been bound. Such a prospect always seemed far away and it was not something Lady Tang had discussed with me. I wondered why serving the emperor meant that I might not marry. But that was only one of many questions that were running through my head.

  The prince strained to understand Mother’s country accent, but he understood enough to get her meaning. He motioned to one of his men to his side, whispered something, and the man left. He quickly returned with one of the chicken girls who had been forbidden from eating with us.

  “This is Fu Ting,” the prince said, introducing her. “She is a lady of illustrious heritage. Consider her a gift from the throne. May she bare your husband many sons.”

  “What?” the chicken girl squeaked. “You can’t just…”

  “Silence,” the prince commanded. He turned to my parents. “Will this do?” he asked.

  “You mean to gift us with another mouth to feed?” Mother asked.

  The prince sighed. “I will also increase the original monetary compensation so that feeding this woman will not be a burden to you. Do we have an agreement?”

  “Yes,” Mother said, finally happy, followed by a small bow. “The throne has been more than generous to us.”

  The prince stood and motioned to one of his men. “Pay them,” he said. The chicken girl reached out and grabbed his arm. Everyone gasped that she would dare touch his royal person.

  “You can’t just sell me and leave me,” she said. She was trying to whisper, but in her desperation, she was nearly screaming.

  The prince remained calm and removed her hand from his arm. “The only reason I do not have you horsewhipped is because I would hate to spoil your face for your new master,” he said, calm and cold.

  He then turned to me. “Collect your things. Let’s go.”

  I could not believe that my parents had just exchanged me for a concubine and a few pieces of coin. I wondered what Lady Tang had gotten for me. What was I going to get? No one had asked if I wanted to go. No one had said what my pay would be. I didn’t even know where I was going. The worst part was that I believed it would be either impertinent or idiotic to ask.

  I went to my room to pack, but I didn’t know what to take with me. I had brought so little to the school with me all those years ago. Everything I had was given to me by Lady Tang. The only thing I knew for sure was mine was my small collection of errant threads, and they were nothing – just my memories. I didn’t even have a bag to put anything in because I never traveled anywhere.

  And who was this man, these people? It would take us weeks to get to Peking. Could I really trust these strangers? What would happen to me when I got there?

  It was all too much. I sat on the bed and started to cry. I was so scared and confused. There was a light knock on the door and Lady Tang entered. I didn’t know why she was there, and I didn’t care. I didn’t look at her face to see if she was angry because I was so desperate for comfort. I ran to her, threw my arms around her waist, and cried on her chest. I must have surprised her because she didn’t hug me back at first, she just stood there.

  “Don’t make me go,” I begged through my tears. “I’m so sorry I disobeyed you. Don’t send me away.”

  She put her arms around me but didn’t speak. After a minute, I stopped crying. Once I started to calm down, she looked at me and said, “You have to.”

  “I don’t want to,” I said, trying to sound more defiant than whiny, but I am sure I failed. “This man just shows up and says I have to go, without asking me?”

  “He asked me,” she said. “And he asked your parents. That is all that matters.”

  “But what about me?” I asked, stomping away. “It’s my life. Why wasn’t I consulted?”

  “You don’t own yourself,” Lady Tang said. “Your parents and I decide what happens to you. Now, the emperor will decide.”

  “Won’t I ever get to make my own choices?” I asked.

  Lady Tang blinked and then laughed. “You made your decision when you went behind my back and slipped that piece of double-sided embroidery into the emperor’s package. The only reason any of this is happening is because you wanted it to.”

  She was right. I did make a choice and now I had to live with the consequences. For better or worse, whatever happened to me from this point on would be of my own doing. I couldn’t blame anyone but myself.

  “You are right,” I finally admitted. “I was trying to blame my parents, the prince, you, but I did this. I only wish I had listened to you. I realize now that I am not ready for this.”

  Lady Tang sighed. “Ready or not, you are going, and you will have to make the best of it.” She walked over to the foot of my bed and opened my trunk. “Which clothes are you taking with you?”

  “None of them,” I said. “I don’t own anything. Everything I have you gave me.”

  “I haven’t given you anything,” she said. “I am a business woman, Yaqian. You think I was keeping you here and feeding you and giving you nice clothes out of the kindness of my heart? Don’t you know me at all? Everything I’ve ever given to you I bought out of your earnings. You’ll have a nice bag of coin to take with you as well.”

  I ran over to Lady Tang, hugged her, and began crying again. But this time out of…joy? Surprise? Gratitude? Probably all of those things and more.

  “There, there, girl,” she said, patting my back. “Get off me so I can find you a traveling case. Take these clothes out and fold them nice and small.”

  In the end, I took quite a few things with me. I had plenty of outfits, several skeins of thread, a dozen pairs of shoes, several small finished pieces of embroidery that had not been sold, a bag of silkworm cocoons to wash my face with, a blanket and pillow, and, as Lady Tang had said, a small bag of coins. It was far more money than I had ever seen at once before. I had no idea my embroidery was worth so much.

  When I went downstairs, my parents – and their new concubine – had already left. They didn’t even leave any sort of parting message. I decided it was probably for the best. Mother had not seemed happy to see me anyway.

  Lady Tang and the other girls followed me out to the front yard as some of the prince’s men loaded up my trunk on one of the wagons.

  “Where am I supposed to ride?” I asked.

  One of the men walked up and handed me the reins to a horse. My eyes widened as I stepped away from the large beast.

  “What’s wrong?” the prince asked.

  “She can’t ride, Your Majesty,” Lady Tang replied. “She’s never even been this close to a horse before.”

  The prince rolled his eyes and tossed his head back. He pulled his horse up next to me and held out his hand. “Fine, you can ride with me for now so we can get on the road. You can learn as we go.”