The Daily Life of Princess Jinyang, Little Sizhi, in the Great Tang

The bronze bells beneath the projecting eaves had been licked mute by the hot wind, their metal as dull as iron. The white jade steps reflected a glare like quenched steel, while the glazed tiles atop the palace's nine tiers seemed to melt into molten gold beneath the blazing sun. At the base of the coiling dragon pillars lingered the murky scent of dragon's-breath incense, on the verge of dispersing.

In the ice chest, the melting snow gradually revealed the crimson backs of tribute fruits. The inner gauze of the bowed palace maid's robe clung to her spine. Heat haze rose from the distant lotus pond, carrying the last traces of fragrance, like countless wronged spirits drifting between the coffered ceilings.

And the cicadas, their cries thinned by the palace walls, were sharpening their golden shears against the endless day, sawing daylight into shards of gold strewn with dried Sichuan pepper, carpeting this splendid cage, afloat with countless drowsy souls.

Inside Fengyang Pavilion, the little figure bent into a soft, wobbly bridge. His plump little bottom looked like a round, well-filled bun as he huffed and puffed, swaying from side to side with every effort. He looked just like a clumsy but earnest duckling learning to walk. Even the tuft of unruly hair at the nape of his neck bounced in rhythm, as if the whole world had been sweetened with the milky fragrance of his adorable waddle.

This was Li Mingda, Princess Jinyang, the youngest and most beloved daughter of Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty and Empress Zhangsun, Guanyinbi. She had just turned two, and her childhood nickname was Sizi.

Sizi wore a high-waisted ruqun sewn from the finest “Bozhou gauze of Yuexi.” The dress was as thin as a cicada's wing, as if it gathered up a wisp of cool, mint-colored smoke. On its skirt, the palace's finest artisans had embroidered trailing daylilies and playful white cats using the “fading gradient” technique. The stitches were so delicate that they shimmered faintly like pearls in the sunlight.

Against her skin was a quilted bodice of icy silk, patterned with “round gold medallions,”

protecting her tiny chest and belly, while at the back of her neck...