The Last Concubine (11 page)

It was not that the act of a man loving a man was thought to be immoral in his society. Taking a male lover if he so chose, seeing as he had discharged his duties to emperor and ancestors by siring male children to carry his name forward, would occasion no censure or even comment. In fact, for the first time, it dawned on Hüi that many might well believe he had taken Jiang as a lover, for they were often together.

But the exigencies of his life might not permit him to do just as he liked without consideration of his responsibilities. He had always been a private man, and flaunting a male lover was not like him. It would give his enemies ammunition and another avenue of vulnerability to pursue. Besides, it seemed that Lan’xiu preferred to dress and live as a woman, although Hüi did not understand that impulse at all. That in itself created what seemed an insurmountable difficulty.

Happiness drained away from Hüi Wei, and he groaned in misery. What he ought to do is carry out Lan’xiu’s wish and send him to live in a monastery.

“One cannot fall in love in a single night!” he cried out in rebuke of himself. “You are infatuated, nothing more. This isn’t real. It will pass.”

But he knew that was not true. The arrival of Lan’xiu had proved more momentous than even his brother, Wu Min, could have hoped. Taking Lan’xiu had thrown Hüi Wei’s entire life into turmoil, and for the first time, his future was not clear to him. He did not know what to do.

C
APTAIN
W
EN
was waiting impatiently for his rotation assignment as commander of the household guard to come to an end so he could once again take up the real work of a soldier. Guarding the harem was not precisely challenging work. Located within a fortress city, within the walls that surrounded the palace of General Qiang, within yet another set of walls made of stone and barred with iron, it would have taken a determined man and an army to make it within to carry off any of the wives, who presumably would have proved an unwilling hostage and therefore not easy to handle.

Seeing as no outsider ever received permission to see the concubines, there could be nothing to motivate such an attack, unless an enemy sought to undo the general with emotional distress. Captain Wen permitted himself a small smile at the thought. General Hüi Wei was a disciplined man, a hardened soldier. He couldn’t imagine the man would show distress even if one of his wives was to be killed. To watch him enter the walls of the household, one would have thought he was there to inspect the barracks. Besides, there were easier ways to get his attention than through the wives.

Being as he was captain of the guard, Wen knew the true reason his men were stationed there. It was not so much to keep people out as to keep the people inside
in
. In particular, they were there to keep Second Wife from escaping or hurting any of the other women.

Being a careful man, Captain Wen had made his observations of Second Wife in the spirit of knowing his enemy. For his taste, her beauty was too obvious, but he had noticed that some of his men were susceptible to the sexual snares she set for them. When Lord Jiang had posted Wen, he had suggested strongly that he change the men’s assignments weekly so that none would have time to fall under Second Wife’s spell and possibly be lured into complicity to enable one of her plots. It puzzled Wen that his men did not respond to the sweeter beauty of some of the other wives, but instead were entranced by the unstable but fascinating Second Wife.

Therefore Wen found Jiang’s advice to be wise and followed it. To his credit, Second Wife’s schemes had been frustrated at almost every turn, but he found it fatiguing to always try to anticipate the machinations of a woman with nothing but revenge to occupy her clever brain and many empty hours to fill. Wen would welcome a posting to a front line somewhere after this. He needed a nice, relaxing war for a holiday.

He was usually up before dawn, patrolling the square for signs of activity on the off chance Second Wife managed to find someone to carry out her errands of evil. Wen had already frustrated the attempt of one maid to smuggle a weapon in to Second Wife, so he had found it profitable to be on the alert in the small hours.

It was thus that he was entertained and puzzled by the strange activities of last night.

First General Hüi Wei had entered the compound. Wen had noticed the twitch of a curtain at First Wife’s windows; it was known that she always watched when Hüi Wei was within the walls to see where he went.

Hüi Wei had seemed hesitant, which surprised Wen, as his leader was a decisive man in general. Finally Hüi went completely around the square, as if he knew not which house he planned to visit although the lantern burned brightly at the seventh.

After Hüi Wei was admitted, Wen expected nothing further of note and had returned to his quarters to nap, rising again after the midnight bell was struck to witness Hüi Wei leave as was his habit. The moon was high, although a mere crescent in the sky, but the stars were bright enough to see by had there been anything to see.

Hüi Wei lingered within the seventh house. At least, so Captain Wen surmised. It was possible that Hüi Wei had merely paid a short courtesy call and left promptly, but Wen had observed the Princess Lan’xiu when she walked in the square or visited with First Wife. She was one of the few women whose beauty he could appreciate. Like Second Wife, Lan’xiu was quite lovely, but despite her beautifully sculpted face, a softer quality seemed to shine from within. Despite her obvious unhappiness, there was no hardness in her expression.

Therefore Wen assumed that Hüi Wei had found good reasons to remain within the seventh house. Captain Wen returned to his quarters to take another nap because it was not part of his job to record Hüi Wei’s comings and goings. When he arose to make his first patrol at dawn, the sky was just welcoming the sun, but it was still mostly dark. A movement caught his eyes and he was astonished to see Hüi Wei hurrying across the square. His soldiers opened the gate for the general, and he slipped away before the first rosy fingers of dawn could reach into the square.

That was very interesting indeed.

Slivers of light at two windows told Wen that several other occupants of the household also found the general’s activities of interest.

No light burned in the second story windows of Lan’xiu’s house, but naturally the lamps burned in the kitchens as breakfast was being prepared. Wen was about to turn away when a rectangle of gold caught his eye and the princess’s eunuch emerged from the kitchen door, looking about the square in a suspicious manner. This was just the sort of activity Wen was trained to watch for.

Accordingly, he kept his eyes trained on the slim man, expecting to see him slip away to another house, perhaps with a message or even a weapon. Being as the princess and her retainer were new, there was no telling what mischief they meant to get up to, not that Wen was unequal to the task. And the eunuch was rather attractive, so it didn’t hurt the eyes to watch him.

Of all the lurid possibilities that occurred to Wen, he never expected to witness the retainer of a princess steal to the communal kitchen gardens, take a guarded glance around and then sneak into the hen house! When the eunuch emerged, holding a lifeless chicken by the head, the body dangling from his hand, Wen almost laughed out loud. He reproved himself, for it was possible this was some poison plot, but then he laughed again as the eunuch scuttled back into the seventh house, trying to stuff the chicken inside his robe.

He would have to inquire of the cook later. Perhaps this plot was nothing more than the princess expressing a desire for chicken soup, but he would need to make sure. Wen laughed quietly to himself and then sighed. It would be good to get back to border patrol.

“
W
ILL
you wear the primrose or the jade green?” Ning asked, hovering at the wardrobe.

“I will wear the silver.” Lan’xiu said listlessly, watching the rain obscure the view across the square as it streamed down her window.

“First Wife has invited you to meet the other wives formally for the first time. You must look your best,” Ning scolded. “That gray is dull, fit for sitting by the window on a rainy day, that’s all. Or scrubbing the floor. You should give it to one of the maids. The idea of you going about in the color of mud or sand!”

“It has a purple lining,” Lan’xiu said.

“Brilliant!” Ning said, sarcasm heavy in his voice. “You can wear it turned, inside to the outside. What is amiss with you? You are a princess; you
must
put on a show worthy of your rank!”

“I am no princess here,” Lan’xiu said.

The desolation in her voice made Ning’s heart ache for her. He knew however much she might dread meeting the other wives, it was the fact that her lantern had remained dark in the weeks that followed Hüi Wei’s first visit that made her so sad. However, no matter how closely their lives were entwined, this was not a subject he could discuss openly. Any servant would be forbidden from speaking freely about the master. “Lan’xiu, you are the most beautiful princess in all of China. If you dressed in a rice sack and bare feet you would outshine all of those women anyway.”

“Then it doesn’t really matter what I wear, does it?” Lan’xiu pointed out waspishly. “And have you checked every princess personally by way of comparison?”

In an odd way, Ning rejoiced to hear her snap; at least she was not sinking into the slough of despond if she was still able to ignite a spark of anger. “You do no honor to your husband if you dress like a servant. Nor to your hostess. First Wife has been very gracious to you and she is not required to treat you well. Besides, you do yourself no honor to wear your emotions on your sleeve in public. That is not how you were brought up.”

“You are right, First Wife has been most kind,” Lan’xiu said, bowing her head. The fact that Mei Ju could have treated her cruelly with impunity was true; as first wife, not even Hüi Wei would have rebuked her if she had ignored, mistreated, or even struck Lan’xiu. “It was wrong of me to give way. I will wear the turquoise robe with the chrysanthemums in her honor.”

“A very auspicious choice, Lan’xiu. And a delicate compliment for First Wife,” Ning approved. Although he would never call her by name, he knew well Mei Ju was named for the flower. He withdrew the hanfu in question, a shimmering turquoise silk heavily embroidered with gold chrysanthemums at the neckline, hem, and sleeves. He selected a black under-tunic with gold and green designs to peek out at the neckline.

Lan’xiu stood patiently as Ning arranged her green satin sash, embroidered with cranes of good luck, and hung the ornaments of silver coins and carved jade beads from the buckle attached to the sash. She sat before her mirror so Ning could place jeweled sticks in her hair; her favorites, topped with cloisonné butterflies enameled in rainbow colors. Delicate antenna of wire quivered with every movement, making the pearl tips move gracefully as she inclined her head.

The same long silver earrings dangling with the turquoise drops adorned her ears. Ning slid a ring that had belonged to Lan’s mother on the middle finger of her left hand. It was shaped like a dragonfly and the body was studded with gems. The wings were almost transparent, woven of thin wire into lacy swirling patterns to resemble the actual wings of the insect, and large enough to extend over the back of her hand.

He stood back to assess her appearance and smoothed back a stray hair. Then he powdered her face one last time and touched up her already reddened lips. “You look beautiful, as always, Lan’xiu. The gods will make the other wives turn jade green with envy.”

Lan’xiu gave a sigh but her lips curved into a smile that hurt Ning to witness, although he would not burden her with his feelings. He could not know how she felt after her one night with the general, but if only as a matter of pride, it had to gall that her lantern had remained dark and her nights cold and lonely. And she went now to face the very women who knew better than anyone that she had been left alone since Hüi’s first visit.

“Do not let them see how you feel,” Ning said quietly, his mouth near her ear in case of eavesdroppers. “It would not be seemly in a princess.”

“Thank you, Ning,” the princess said in her lovely voice. “You do well to remind me of how one must behave.”

He patted her shoulder. “You will make me proud. You always do.”

Lan’xiu stood up and smoothed her skirts. She took one last look in the mirror and scrutinized her appearance. “You’ve made me as presentable as can be. I am ready.”

Ning followed her down the stairs to where soldiers stood ready as porters. It was not fitting that Princess Lan’xiu walk through the pouring rain in her embroidered slippers, so they would carry her to First Wife’s house in a covered chair. Ning unfurled an umbrella, resigned to following behind on foot.

It was a short trip across the square, but for such an occasion, the soldiers bore the princess around the park upon the stone pavement, rather than through it. Ning was secretly grateful for this attention to formality. He was getting wet enough and did not relish sinking ankle deep into the mud so plentiful in the park. He hoped that First Wife would allow him and the other servants to descend to the kitchen to warm themselves rather than make them shiver in the hallway.