by Jade Lee
Han Du Yu grinned and clapped his hands. “They sing the emperor’s praises night and day.”
Bo Tao grimaced. Time was passing and this idiot thought he wanted false platitudes. “When smoking tobacco, when drinking at night, what do they say? What do your peasants want?”
“More beer.”
Bo Tao quieted. “So they are hungry?”
“Of course not! The people in Zun Hua are happy. They simply want more beer to toast to the emperor’s good fortune.” Han Du Yu leaned forward. “I hear the imperial virgins are most beautiful. Will I see them today, do you think?”
The thought of Han’s piggy eyes looking at Ji Yue made Bo Tao’s stomach turn. “They are not show girls to be paraded about.”
Han sighed. “Of course, of course. Perhaps tomorrow night, then. I have a message for the head eunuch from his brother.”
Bo Tao waved the comment away. He had no interest in this man’s maneuvering, though this was the first he’d heard of the head eunuch having a brother. It didn’t matter. “Do the peasants come to you for aid? For rulings or judgments?”
“Of course, of course! They love my rulings.” He grinned. “They love me.”
“And what are their petitions?”
“Oh, the usual peasant thing. One man stole another’s ox. This boy killed that one’s chicken. The round of complaints is endless.”
And completely ignored, no doubt. Well, he now knew how Han Du Yu became so wealthy. A man this casual about administering his province would be easily swayed by bribes.
Bo Tao pushed to his feet. “Thank you for your time and your lovely gift,” he said, though the words nearly choked him. “I will go directly to the emperor with this…thoughtful present.” He hefted the huge item, wishing he could use it to clobber the man. Then Bo Tao left, not even bothering with any of the formalities. He had no time for ridiculousness and now he was walking around with an ugly ivory statue.
On sudden impulse, he changed his direction. He knew exactly where the emperor would be at this moment, and fortunately, it was not in a public place. He stomped his way to Yi Zhen’s palace and pushed past the eunuchs there. Longtime friendship counted for something, even with an emperor, so Bo Tao was soon admitted.
“Well, hello, my friend!” the emperor said with a grin. “You look like you just ate something sour. And I hear that you are neglecting the virgins, as well.” He gestured to a tray with sweet dumplings on it. “Please, avail yourself-”
“This is for you. Han Du Yu is an idiot, and I’ll be damned if I listen to yet another virgin spat even for you.”
Yi Zhen’s brows drew together in anger. He was not used to such disrespect, even from his best friend. With a wave, he sent his eunuchs scurrying away, then he glared at the carving. “That thing is hideous.”
“It is a bribe so you can fix the civil service exam.”
“For which son?”
Bo Tao frowned. He’d forgotten that Han Du Yu had three sons. “He didn’t even say.”
“He is an idiot.”
Bo Tao leaned forward, trying to impress his emperor with the importance of his next words. “He is a corrupt official and an idiot.”
Yi Zhen threw up his hands and drawled, “Because that is so rare in China.”
“Three hours from Peking on a fast horse. So close to you and filled with such corruption.”
“His is an unimportant piece of land for all that it so close. And none there would dare rebel. We would hear of it too easily.”
Bo Tao growled in his frustration. “You do not understand! If you countenance such blatant idiocy so close to you, then what is it like where you have fewer eyes? No wonder the Taiping caught us unaware. If you cannot control those close to home, then how can you imagine to rule the far reaches of your empire?”
It was a valid point, and he could see the message filter into his friend’s mind. In the end, Yi Zhen sighed. “How much of an idiot?”
Bo Tao hefted the ugly carving. “This was his bribe.”
“It looks like a badly made stone phallus.”
Bo Tao twisted it around, his brows contracting as he saw what his emperor had. “No doubt that was the appeal.”
Yi Zhen waved it away. “Go and see to your duties with the virgins.”
For all that he wished to do just that, Bo Tao hesitated. “I cannot continue this way, Yi Zhen,” he finally said. “I value what I do for you and for China, but I am a grown man. It is time I saw to my family name.”
“You wish your appointment.” It was not a question. “So you can have a wife.”
Bo Tao nodded, though he did not miss the hard tone in Yi Zhen’s voice.
“Very well. Complete your duties as master of the festival with honor, and I will see to your appointment.”
Bo Tao nearly groaned. Another promise to be fulfilled after another delay. How many times had he heard these same words? Just one more task, and he would get an official title. Just one more month, one more something, and all his wishes would be fulfilled. Bo Tao no longer believed in his best friend’s promises.
“Yi Zhen,” he began. “What title do you offer-”
“Idiot!” Yi Zhen roared and abruptly pushed up from the table. “Do you see what I look at?” He gestured at the maps and the military reports strewn on the table before him. “Do you think the Taiping are finished? Why do you press me now? Get out! Get out!”
Bo Tao bowed, his life tasting like ashes in his mouth. But what were his options? His life was subject to his emperor’s whim.
“And take that disgusting thing with you!” the emperor snapped, indicating the carving. “It’s my gift to you in thanks for your great service!” Then he laughed with cruel humor as Bo Tao grabbed the thing and departed.
There was no time left. The dowager consort’s entertainment was set to begin within moments. Still carrying the statue, he rushed through the twisting pathways of the Forbidden City to the dowager’s main garden. He made it there barely in time. The servants were just now clearing away the meal. Immediately afterward, Ji Yue would dance.
He scanned the crowd of faces, not even bothering to smile. The dowager had her courtiers there plus all the remaining virgins-over three dozen at last count. Add in eunuchs and other servants, and the number of bodies crammed into the garden was daunting.
There! He spotted Ji Yue as she limped toward the center. She limped? Bo Tao stepped forward, his eyes narrowing as he searched her face. Even from this distance, he could tell her cheek was swollen beneath her paint. She likely had bruises or scratches in other places, as well. But why was she walking so oddly? Graceful one moment, then halting and jerky the next. And she was about to dance before the dowager? She would fail the artistic display and be expelled for sure!
This was exactly what he wanted! He slowed his step, knowing that all he needed to do was wait for the inevitable disaster. He could wait and watch her dreams be destroyed in a painful and humiliating display. He would stand back and watch Ji Yue be crushed and then released in the hopes that her parents would relent and accept her back into their home.
Just wait a few minutes more, he told himself. But he couldn’t do it. Having just had his own hopes crushed, how could he visit such a thing on Ji Yue? He couldn’t. Even if it meant that she stayed an imperial virgin and he never, ever had a chance to court her.
So he had to stop her performance, but how? She was already arranging herself in the opening position. Then she lifted her head and blinked, obviously trying to hold back tears. The sight of her face looking so brave and yet so tragic broke something deep inside him. He did not care the risk to his career if he singled her out; he had to stop this farce now!
“Chen Yi Jue!” he bellowed.
The excited chatter abruptly stopped. All looked at him in shock.
“Chen Yi Jue, you will come with me now!”
“But she was about to dance,” groused one of the virgins. Bo Tao pinned the girl with his stare, while searching through hi
s memory. It was Gao Hua Si-the spoiled roommate of the someone-spit-in-my-white-paste tantrum.
“Do you think I care for your women’s entertainment? I was just interrupted from an important meeting with Han Du Yu. Why? For this?” He hefted the ugly statue. He curled his lip. “A gift from your parents, Chen Ji Yue.”
Ji Yue had straightened, a look of horror on her face.
“You will come with me now. You will write a letter to your parents to tell them that the master of the festival does not accept bribes.” He curled his lip at the offending item. “And certainly not ones this ugly.”
It was a lie. He had, of course, been given hundreds of gifts from the virgins’ families. All of them were dutifully catalogued and passed over to Yi Zhen, who wished to know the nature of the family who sired his future empress. Had Bo Tao kept even a tenth of the gifts, he would have enough money to establish a proper household and find a wife. But Bo Tao had been honest and so he had nothing. Nothing to support a wife, nothing to impress Madame Chen. Nothing, that is, except this one hideous carving.
Meanwhile, the dowager consort narrowed her eyes and stood as she addressed him. “You must be thirsty, Sun Bo Tao, please join us. Have some tea. After the performance, I am sure Chen Ji Yue will have time to do whatever you wish.”
So it was a planned expulsion. The dowager could not fail to see Ji Yue’s condition. If she wished to spare the girl, then she would have allowed Bo Tao to whisk Ji Yue away. But she hadn’t. Which meant that the dowager wanted a public excuse to eliminate her. Anything private could be recanted. The humiliation had to be public and therefore assured. Which meant that someone even more powerful must want Ji Yue to remain.
Bo Tao nearly groaned. The only one more powerful than the dowager consort was the emperor himself. Yi Zhen had clearly taken an interest in Ji Yue, if only to torture Bo Tao. Sweet heaven, women’s politics gave him a headache! He sighed and spoke from the heart.
“Great Imperial Dowager Consort Kang Ci, I do not care! I do not have time to eat nor do I wish to tarry. Chen Ji Yue will be punished for her parents’ hideous effrontery to myself and the Dragon Throne. And she will be punished now.”
And with that he gestured widely with the phallic statue. People cleared a pathway before him, if only to avoid being hit by the heavy thing. At the opposite end of the path stood Ji Yue, tears escaping from her eyes and streaking her makeup. An ache welled up deep inside him. He hadn’t wanted to cause such anguish in her, but he’d had no choice. With a last bow to the dowager consort, Bo Tao turned away, forcing Ji Yue to limp after him.
12
“MY PARENTS DID NOT SEND that ugly thing!” she snapped.
Bo Tao almost smiled. Trust Ji Yue to defend herself to the very end, for all that she was alone and vulnerable in his private office suite.
“What is wrong with you? Why do you limp?”
She flushed and looked away. “It is nothing.” Then she abruptly spun back to him, her eyes blazing. “And if you really cared, you would have stopped it from happening two nights ago!”
He grimaced at the confirmation of his fears. “So the virgins have continued beating you.”
She nodded. “I have brothers. I know how to fight back.” Then she took a wobbling step forward. “But why do you allow it? They are vicious bitches!”
He shrugged. “It is a woman’s life in the Forbidden City. Like hens and a pecking order. Eventually the hierarchy will be established, but for now-” he shook his head “-as long as the dowager consort despises you, you will stay on the bottom. If I were to interfere, it would only go harder on you.”
She didn’t answer. She knew it was true.
Then he gestured to the couch. “Come, come. Let us see your injuries. I will call the doctor and she will do what can be done.”
Ji Yue crossed her arms over her chest. “Call no one. I know what is wrong. It will heal in time.”
Bo Tao narrowed his eyes. He did not like the fact she kept these things from him. “Tell me what is the matter or I will call the doctor.”
She balled her fists and glared at him. “It is nothing, I tell you! I am beaten and bruised.”
He stifled a curse. “I should have been here. I should have guarded you better.” Then he sighed. “You know I must see these injuries, Ji Yue. You cannot always know what will fester and what will not.”
“But you cannot!” she cried.
“I can. I am master of the festival, and I will see how a virgin under my care was injured.” He had thought that seeing her again would decrease his desire. That his lust would fade in the cold light of day, but it was not so. Now that he had her alone, he would not be denied her. Not on this most frustrating of days.
She understood what he meant. She knew and he could smell her excitement in the closed air of his tiny office. His dragon stiffened to painful intensity, but he did not move. He saw the fear in her eyes. Finally she shook her head. “Someone will know.”
“The door is shut.” Then on impulse, he dragged a heavy table in front of it, blocking anyone from entering. “Someone must hear you being punished, Ji Yue. Your screams of pain must be very loud as I beat you for frustrating me so.”
She straightened. “You do not seem like a man who beats a woman.”
“Ah, but who knows where lust will take a man?” He took her to the couch, setting cushions behind her back before she slowly sat. “The emperor knows I crave you like a sickness, Ji Yue.” Her eyes brightened at that, but he paused to let the knowledge sink in. “He is testing my loyalty. He knows there is another physical examination in two days.”
She nodded. “The final check for virginity before he selects his brides.”
“If you remain a virgin despite our time together, despite my beating you now, then he will know lust cannot tempt me away from my duties to him.” He took a deep breath and told her everything. “I pray it is his final test before he gives me an appointment.”
Her expression turned serious. “Then what my mother said is true. You have no wealth of your own?”
“Not enough for a wife or a family. Barely enough to keep a modest home on my parents’ land.”
“You depend upon the emperor, then,” she said. She reached out, touching his face with a tentative caress. “As do I, since my parents will not have me back.”
He took her hand from his cheek, pulling it slowly to his lips, where he pressed a kiss into her palm. “My fortunes may change,” he said. Then he gestured to the papers in his office. “I am working very hard to get an appointment and a salary, but…” He shook his head.
“Not soon enough. Not for my mother, at least.” She took a deep breath. “Did you know that the dowager expelled the Luo girl this morning? We are now down to the final twenty-eight virgins.”
The news hit him like a blow to the chest. He had not realized that all the extraneous girls had been culled. Every one that remained would be divided into one of Yi Zhen’s harems. He could barely breathe for the pain of it. “You have been selected then. You will be a concubine.” His heart broke to say the words. Six days ago, he hadn’t even known she existed. Since that time, he had gone from despising her to lusting for her to maneuvering every way he could so that he could court her. All to no avail. “I can never have you, JiYue. I thought if you were expelled, if I stayed away and the others found a way to push you out…” He began to pace out his agitation. “But I couldn’t stay away any longer. I couldn’t watch you in pain, humiliated for all to see.”
He looked into her eyes and saw tears glistening there. She understood what he was saying. She knew what he would offer her if he could. But she didn’t speak, and so in her silence, he did the boldest, most dishonorable thing he’d ever done. He guided her hands to his groin. She did not fight him, but let him lead, and when her fingers touched the bulge in his pants, he nearly groaned at the feel of her slender fingers.
“But there is a way we can take what pleasure is left to us without risking your virginity.”
Her eyes leaped back to his face. “Like the women in the old emperor’s harem. You would put your mouth…” Her voice trailed away and her skin turned bright red.
“Yes. And you could do the same to me. If you wished.”
She bit her lower lip, her small white teeth pulling at the pink flesh in a way that made his blood pound. “It is all we could ever have of each other,” she said softly. She put a hand on his chest to stop his agitated movements and looked up at him with dark, yearning eyes. “And besides, you could teach me what to do.”
His heart was pounding from her touch, but his mind was still locked on the impossibility of his life. To finally find a jewel such as JiYue, and then be forced to surrender her to the emperor. “I cannot think of you in the lowest harem,” he whispered. “Such a waste of your talents! Such a terrible life!”
She nodded and stepped closer into his arms. “Then you must help me see that I avoid such a fate. You must teach me, Bo Tao.”
He frowned. “You already know more than any other virgin about being a political wife. Your mother taught you well.”
“But I know nothing about being a concubine,” she said. “Nothing about pleasing the emperor.”
He groaned and rubbed a hand over his face, at last understanding what she asked. “Yi Zhen is not an easy man to please.”
She took a breath. “You said a man in lust will do many things.”
“Of course-”
“If I had met you before coming to the Forbidden City, I could have tried for something different.”
He almost laughed. He had spent nearly all his moments in the last few days thinking what if and what might have been. He knew exactly how useless those fantasies were.
“But I am here,” she continued. “And I must make the best of the life I have chosen. If I don’t find a way to satisfy the emperor, then I am doomed to the lowest harem. I will be-”
“The lowest girl in the lowest harem.” He had tried to warn her of such a fate before, but she hadn’t listened. And now it was too late.