On the first day I entered the palace, the eunuch in charge taught me: "We slaves are just chess pieces in the Forbidden City. The master allows us to go east, not west."
I kept this sentence in mind and made a chess piece that behaved itself.
Until that day, I accidentally saw the young emperor crying over the late emperor's edict, and overheard the queen mother and the prime minister conspiring to "change an obedient emperor."
They all said that I was the most inconspicuous chess piece, but I felt sorry for the person who played the chess piece. . . .
