“We lose either way,” Inspector Gong replied.
“Yes, but if we at least find out who did it,” the prince said, “it could at least give me leverage. I could use it against the foreigners, to weaken their influence or to earn us some benefits. I could calm the fears of the populace, at least protect the empress and buy us some time.”
“What are your orders, Your Highness?” the inspector asked.
“Find the killer,” he said.
The inspector sighed. “In a walled city where I don’t speak the language?” he asked, only half-joking.
“Well, you do know one person who speaks English, aside from me,” the prince said.
“Who is that?”
“Lady Li.”
Inspector Gong felt his breath hitch in his throat. Lady Li. She had helped him solve a case a couple of months previously. Her sister-in-law had been murdered in the Inner Court, the court of the ladies, in the Forbidden City. As a man, he could not be permitted into the Inner Court. However, Lady Li agreed to help him and went in his stead.
They had solved the crime and also discovered a passion for one another, spending one incredible night together in her quarters in the Forbidden City. But he had not seen her since. He wanted to see her, and had fought the urge to call on her many times, but nothing could ever come of it. She was Manchu; he was Han. Legally they could not marry. Plus, she was a widow, and society dictated she remain as such for the rest of her life in reverence to her husband, even though she was only in her twenties. There were other considerations as well, but they all added up to the same thing—Lady Li was a woman he should stay away from, for both their sakes.
“Are you suggesting I ask Lady Li for her help?” Inspector Gong finally asked. “Again?”
“You worked well together last time,” the prince said, without a hint of irony. The prince knew that Inspector Gong and Lady Li spent the night together, and he knew that they could not have a future together. So why was he so quick to encourage Inspector Gong to call on her?
“Is there something else going on here?” the inspector asked.
The prince shook his head. “It was only a suggestion. I suppose I could find another translator for you…”
“I didn’t say you needed to do that,” the inspector interrupted.
Prince Kung smiled. “I just think she can help you in more ways than as just a translator.”
“What do you mean?” the inspector asked.
“Just call on her,” the prince said. “You won’t be disappointed.
About the Author
Amanda Roberts is a writer and editor who has been living in China since 2010. Amanda has an MA in English from the University of Central Missouri. She has been published in magazines, newspapers, and anthologies around the world and she regularly contributes to numerous blogs.
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Murder in the Forbidden City (Qing Dynasty Mysteries Book 1) Page 17