The Great Empire. Joaquim Augusto Barbosa de Melo
stay the palace was a school, not only of social relationships, but of arts and crafts of high prestige.
When Li came to that paradise, she saw in it an extension of her natural world. She did not have her rice paddies there, or the beauty of its fauna and flora, but in return she could enjoy the luxury and wealth of the palaces, their wonders, the variety of food, the sumptuous garments within her reach and, above all, the fineness of the silk fabrics to which she had access for the first time. That entirely new world was like a natural extension of her longed-for life, where beauty blended with the gentle scent of the intoxicating breeze of a palatial life. Soon her open and graceful smile caught the attention of the Emperor who saw in it the softness of a flower different from the others. The first encounters, at a certain distance, allowed for fleeting, curious and fatal looks. For the Emperor it was not possible to resist the beauty of that flower, which at a distance reminded him of the delicacy and grace of a lily of the field. The brief but significant glances between them did not escape the sixth sense of Empress Zizi, for whom it was evident to have there a serious case to solve. Despite the annual influx of beautiful girls, the Empress had had no cause for major concern. Even with their beauty, the girls, in general, were nothing more than insipid, devoid of sensitivity and intelligence enough to pose any threat to her reign. But Li was different; she had much more than beauty. At first glance it was easy to find other appealing attributes: she was delicate, intelligent and sensual. The Empress knew that she had ascended to that place of choice, not only because of her natural gifts of beauty, which she sought to highlight, but above all for her ability to negotiate and manipulate wills. Feeling threatened, Zizi soon used a strategy with the other concubines, to gradually and consistently start making life difficult for Li. Thus, the beauty that had awakened the eyes of the Emperor began to be isolated and marginalized by the other competitors. For Li those signs did not come as a surprise, for he was already waiting for them. She had enough tact to know that these actions represented small side effects, without pinching the essentials of her path to the Emperor’s seduction. The days passed and, to the Empress’ discomfort, her strategy was not bearing the desired fruit. It was necessary to take more radical and efficient measures, otherwise she was at risk of being overlooked by the other. As a new period of admission of girls to serve in the palace approached, the opportunity for Zizi to take a new step in the defense of her interests arrived. Thus, “to fight a rival, nothing better than another that neutralizes the first,” she thought. That could be achieved in recruitment. In this circumstance, she gave instructions so that, in the selection phase, the jury would have to obtain her final opinion. For the first time it would be up to her, Empress, to make the final decision on the admission of the candidates. As it would take some time between selection and admission, she took care to manage strategies so that Li could not do too much damage. Thus, the process of admission of the new candidates became faster than usual. Shortly after that the first group was selected for admission. But to the Empress’s disappointment, those candidates didn’t add anything new to the dull girls they had inside. So she asked the Emperor to provide a new edict allowing for the expansion of admissions (this fact was not foreign to the Emperor himself, but because the request came from the Empress, he decided favorably and without reservation). Some time later it was announced the extension of the said period of candidatures to the imperial palace. When the jury finally presented the Empress with the pre-selection of the candidates, it was with displeasure that she found that none of the girls selected had the profile she had imagined necessary to be much of a match for Li. Faced with the perplexity of the situation, the Empress wanted to see the forms of all applications even those that had already been rejected (when a girl did not meet several prerequisites such as: being beautiful, healthy, having good character, belonging to good families, among others, was automatically excluded by the jury). Xi was in that group, not because she had any illness, or not enough beauty skills, but rather because her moral qualities and family background were not very recommendable (Xi’s family had a weak social reputation). When the Empress gave orders to include Xi, it was a total surprise to the members of the jury (however, at that time, an imperial order was never commented on or questioned). Perhaps because of this, the Emperor himself did not become aware of the situation. The Empress’ obstinacy in finding a “rattlesnake” who would stand up to her rival was, however, a reckless act, not only for breaking rules, but rather for the dangerous precedence of exceeding demands on moral principles. The protected one, when taking knowledge, was moved by the gesture of the Empress for this to have changed the decision of the jury and to be included in the group of the elected ones (the future would confirm, however, that the nature does not cease to be stronger when one is before decisive moments).
With Xi’s admission it became clear to the other girls admitted that Xi had the Empress’ sympathy. This feeling of favoritism soon spread to the rest of the girls and soon there was no one in the palace among the minor staff who did not know or suspect of it. With this, Xi’s ego grew exponentially, facilitating her rapid integration and growth in privileged status among the others. Li herself, who was in the Emperor’s good graces, started to look at Xi with apprehension. The Empress did not stop at the initial favoritism of Xi, but also sought a rapprochement between her and Li. So the other concubines who were jealous of Li welcomed Xi. This atmosphere of interest game gave clear advantage to the integration of Xi, who took advantage like no other of the favorable wave. Thus, the circle of friendships of the newly admitted gradually grew, extending her tentacles, even among the eunuchs where she began to have influences. The Empress, who followed everything at a distance, trying to ensure that the results would appear, had to give time to time. In the palace, the Emperor himself began to realize the presence of that new girl. For Xi it was a first step to have his eyes on her. She did not, however, have Li’s mastery of seduction, but through her she wanted to achieve that added value, and quickly put her plan to practice. Xi began to notice and imitate everything Li did: how she dressed and adorned herself with accessories; the gestures she used when speaking; and even her grace in walking or sitting. As time went by, she achieved an acceptable imitation, except in the way of smiling and looking. Li had a look and an affable and graceful smile that was very difficult to reproduce. No matter how hard Xi tried, in exercises in front of a mirror, she could not get out of that austere air that was peculiar to her. However, she was an ambitious girl and considered that all means fully justified the ends. Despite increased efforts and attempts, Xi could not overcome the weaker aspects of her face, so the results were always disappointing - she had to find someone to help her overcome those limitations. She put a number of options to herself, including seeking help from the Empress, but this could bring her unfavorable readings. After much thought, she found the solution during a show. She noticed that the same comedians performed very different scenes, with expressive and very well achieved facial characterizations. From that moment on, “the solution could be in the use of a theater master who would teach her to control her facial expressions”. Better done, than said.
The next day Xi went to see Demus, a theatre master suggested by a well-known concubine of her, Titi. When he received her, Demus sent her to another comedian named Zhu, who, according to him, was skilled in teaching facial expressions. Shortly after, she was received by him.
- How can I help you? - Said Zhu, expressing a certain curiosity about the visit.
At first Xi was as if paralyzed without being able to respond, but soon afterwards she reacted by saying the first thing that came to her mind:
- I wanted to learn theatre!
Zhu looked at Xi with the amazement of those who had not quite understood what he had just heard. In the palace all the minor staff knew that the exercise of the theatrical activity was forbidden, by the Emperor, to all the girls admitted.
- What do you mean?! – Zhu questioned, surprised.
- Well, it’s not exactly that! What I really wanted was to learn to talk with a smile on my lips!
Zhu, in the face of that statement, could not help but laugh. Then, looking at Xi, he added:
- Let’s start at the beginning! Tell me exactly what your problem is...
In the minutes that followed, Xi (despite feeling ridiculous with Zhu’s laughter) made a huge effort not to give up her purpose. She tried to meet her higher ambitions and, through indirect words, conveyed to Zhu what was on her mind that is “that she would like to have a smile