The Last Concubine (19 page)

“Don’t, Ci’an,” Alute pleaded, batting at the other woman’s hand.

Lan’xiu crossed the room to sit next to Alute, hoping to divert Second Wife’s attention from her. “Greetings, Second Wife,” she said, bowing low as a token of respect before she sat down.

Well satisfied with Alute’s shrinking response, Ci’an turned her attention to Lan’xiu, the triumphant smile fading from her lips as she caught sight of the ruby earrings.

Ci’an’s body stiffened and she almost shook with rage, but she controlled her reaction, forcing a smirk to her lips. “Ah, my sister wives, I see you have all earned your keep with your master, but judging by appearances, the Princess of Nothing has snared the top prize. Are those diamonds and rubies I spy dangling from your ears?”

Bravely, Lan’xiu tried to answer without rancor. “You said you didn’t like my turquoise earrings. I didn’t want to bore you.”

“I never bored Hüi Wei when he came to me. There were times I scratched his back bloody, but he always left my bed well satisfied.” Ci’an gave Lan’xiu a triumphant smile. “Early days for you, stupid girl. A novelty always pleases to begin with, but your insipidity will soon begin to pall. What province traded you for their safety? Who sold you for such a paltry bit of jewelry?” She reached forward to flick at the earrings, but Lan’xiu parried her grab.

“I did not say where these earrings came from. They are mine and I like them.” Too late Lan’xiu realized Ci’an’s sharp eyes had caught a glimpse of the dagger up her sleeve.

“What’s this? She is armed! She is a spy, sent to kill our husband!” Ci’an sprang to her feet and tugged at Lan’xiu’s sleeve to expose the scabbard.

“I am no spy!” Lan cried and jumped up, knocking the other woman’s hand loose. She saw the other women staring at her, shocked, and realized they were unsure and stupefied by Ci’an’s accusation. “If I had been sent to kill the general, then why haven’t I already done so?”

“To divert suspicion!” Ci’an blared triumphantly.

“Suspicion of what?” Lan’xiu could not hold in her laughter. “What better opportunity could I have had than the general’s first visit? And yet he lives on to give me these.” Lan touched the earrings shivering in her ears. “And this dagger was a gift from him as well.”

“Why would you conceal a dagger up your sleeve then?” Ci’an asked, eyes narrowed.

A sudden inspiration struck Lan’xiu. “First Wife advised me always to go armed to any meeting with you, Second Wife.”

Ci’an cast about for some insult to maintain her ground. “And yet your belly remains flat even though our husband has been trying hard to get you with child! It has been months, and when he discovers you are barren, he will cease to light your lantern and then that pretty dagger will be cold comfort between your legs.”

“I’m sure you would know, as your lantern has been cold and dark a very long time.”

Bai gasped in surprise at Lan’s sharp retort and then laughed out loud. Mei Ju looked astonished but hid her mouth behind her hand, giving a quiet cough that sounded suspiciously like a giggle. Alute drew a little behind Lan’xiu as if to render herself invisible.

“So, the little mouse has a tongue as sharp as a serpent,” Ci’an said at last.

Lan’xiu thought she detected a note of reluctant admiration in Ci’an’s voice. “I sting too.” She wished she dared draw the dagger, for she was sure it would give her great pleasure to run Ci’an through, but it would never do to fight with an unarmed woman, particularly in Mei Ju’s tidy sitting room. “I am no spy,” Lan repeated, turning to Mei Ju.

“I know you are not. You are a very sweet, innocent girl,” Mei Ju said, glaring at Ci’an. “Second Wife, I realize you have some inexplicable partiality to these dramas and histrionics, but you have finally lost your grasp upon reality. Look at the princess. She is slender and small. Hüi Wei could disarm her without any trouble at all if she threatened him. I am sure if he did not wish Lan’xiu to have a dagger, she would not have one.”

“She could kill him in his sleep,” Ci’an said sulkily, but the tautness left her body and she sat down.

The other wives tittered at the indelicate comment. Even though Ci’an was often crude, they appreciated a risqué joke. Hüi Wei did not
sleep
when he visited them.

“Oh, shut up, Ci’an. You’ve stirred up enough dust for one day,” Bai said. “Why can’t you ever behave?”

“That would be boring,” Ci’an said provocatively, her lips curling, but she took good care not to look Lan’xiu’s way.

Lan’xiu seated herself next to Alute and yawned delicately. Bai laughed at the subtle jibe at Ci’an. “Perhaps you should surprise us one time by acting pleasant. Your tantrums have grown rather commonplace.”

Turning away abruptly, Ci’an demanded, “Is no one going to offer me anything to drink?”

“I have a fresh pot of jasmine tea here—” Mei Ju started, reaching for the new bronze and jade teapot that had been Hüi Wei’s gift to her along with the headdress.

“I require something a bit stronger than that,” Ci’an announced. “You! One of you soldiers at the door assigned to prevent me from killing any of these lovely ladies! Run to my house and fetch the bottle of
huáng jiǔ
on the sideboard. And mind you don’t sneak a sip for yourself. I know the level of my bottle,” she ended sharply.

The second soldier hesitated until Mei Ju nodded her acquiescence.

It seemed to Lan’xiu that the women in the room held their breaths for the short time until the soldier returned with the bottle.

“Now we can get drunk and gamble,” Ci’an announced. “Mei Ju?”

“You know I never drink spirits, but I always enjoy a good game of chance,” Mei Ju responded. She instructed her maid to fetch some glasses.

“Perhaps together we can win those new earrings away from the princess or snap up the bracelet Alute wears. Clearly, the two beautiful idiots have spread their legs to good purpose for our husband to purchase their favors so extravagantly. One might think their private parts were made of gold that he snatches at them so greedily.”

“Ci’an! Mind your manners or you may as well return to your house! Remember you are a guest in my house!” Mei Ju rebuked her.

“Manners? Why, what is it other than good manners when I have offered to share my very best drink?” Ci’an said, a malicious smile curling her red lips. “Will you have some, Bai?”

“Oh no, I find I don’t need intoxicants to elevate my spirits,” Bai replied blithely. “I have an appointment to dance with the moon later and must be on my toes.”

“Lord, what a moon-calf. Whatever does Hüi see in you? Fen and Huan? I’m sure you’ll come to a decision
together
since you do
everything
together.” Ci’an laughed at her sly dig. When neither woman replied, she said, “Still ignoring me, I see. It won’t do you any good. You can’t make me vanish by pretending I’m not here.” She looked toward the large temple chair Alute and Lan’xiu shared. “That leaves the two lovely dummies. Oh, pardon, one lovely and one dummy. Perhaps some liquor will loosen your tongue, Alute, although I doubt you would ever find anything even slightly intelligent to say.”

“Yes, thank you,” Alute said desperately, as if hoping to quiet Ci’an. She accepted the glass of golden liquid and held it in her hand.

“And you, Princess of Nothing? You must wish to drown your sorrows. Not yet pregnant and you didn’t get to use that knife on me.” She raised her glass as if in a toast and tossed back the entire contents. “Yet.”

“Thank you for your kind offer. I will take a glass,” Lan’xiu said with quiet dignity, although the jibe cut her to the quick. She could feel the rage and jealousy emanating off this cold woman and wondered how she had ever managed to bear a child.

“You think I am very cruel, don’t you? Poking fun at these
sweet
innocents.” Ci’an refilled her glass and waved it at the other women.

“I think you are very unhappy,” Lan’xiu said.

Ci’an’s mouth dropped open in shock, and she stared at Lan’xiu, speechless for once.

“I am sorry. I should not have said anything so personal,” Lan’xiu said.

“Girls, this is not how we should behave,” Mei Ju said in distress. “Please, cannot we simply be polite and have a pleasant afternoon, just
once
?”

“I am sorry, First Wife.” Lan’xiu bowed in her direction.

“I didn’t mean
you
!” Mei Ju exclaimed in exasperation.

Ci’an swallowed hard. She seemed to make a great effort to pull herself together. In a quieter voice she said, “I apologize as well. Alute, Princess Lan’xiu, please join me in a toast to our kind hostess, and I will promise to behave for the rest of the afternoon.”

“A red letter day!” Bai cheered, holding up her teacup and sloshing some of the contents onto the rug. “Ci’an apologizes! It should be carved in stone and set in the middle of our square, for surely this day will go down in history.”

The room was silent again for a moment, awaiting Ci’an’s reaction. She gritted her teeth but gave a dangerously glittering smile. “I was born to make history, one way or another.” She tossed back her second drink, and Lan’xiu wondered at her apparent imperviousness to the strong drink. If she had downed her glass in a similar manner, she would have been flattened.

The rules of etiquette demanded she and Alute drink. Lan touched her glass to Alute’s and lifted it to her lips, although she never drank. It would not be wise to lose control when one’s very survival depended upon keeping vigilant guard over a dire secret, but she let the liquor touch the tip of her tongue.

It looked so pretty in the glass, golden like liquid honey, but the taste! Hastily, Lan’xiu allowed the tiny amount she had taken to slip back into the glass, hoping no one would notice if she did not finish it.

Alute did not seem similarly affected, and she held her glass toward Ci’an to have it refilled. Lan’xiu wondered at the sly triumph on Ci’an’s face as she did so.

When she was able to do so unobserved, Lan’xiu spilled the remainder in her glass into a potted jade plant. She blushed when she realized Mei Ju had witnessed her action, but the older woman gave her a smile and an approving nod. Lan’xiu smiled back and went to Mei Ju for a cup of tea, hoping to wash the bitter taste out of her mouth.

S
HU
N
ING
had been sparring enjoyably with Jia in the kitchen after carrying down a tray of food that Lan’xiu had barely touched, attributing her lack of appetite to the choice of dish. As he mounted the stairs he heard sounds of distress coming from within Lan’xiu’s chambers.

Ning raced inside, finding the bedchamber empty, and ran into the bathing room to find Lan’xiu on the floor. He bent over her in alarm. “Lan’xiu, what is it? You are never ill.” He pulled her loose hair back and started to braid it hastily into a single plait.

Lan’xiu panted over the basin where she had just emptied her guts. She was freezing, but strands of hair were stuck to her face with sweat, her innards twisted in agony, and she was trembling with weakness. “Poison,” she managed to mutter. “Ning, you must get a message to Hüi Wei.”

“You think he will come to you?”

“Not to me. He must go… to Alute! She drank two glasses! That evil—” Another cramp seized her, and she retched helplessly into the bowl.

“What? What happened? Who poisoned who?”

Exhausted, Lan’xiu slumped to the floor, resting her hot cheek against the polished stone. “Second Wife Ci’an. She brought poisoned wine to the party. Alute took far more than I… get a doctor—”

“You cannot see the physician here!” Ning exclaimed.

“I know! You must get him… to see to Alute! Tell Hüi Wei! Or Mei Ju! She will know—” Lan’xiu started to retch again.

Ning wrung his hands, not knowing what to do. It had always been one of his secret fears that one day Lan’xiu would need a doctor, which meant certain death either way. If whatever ailed her did not kill her, the revelation of her deception surely would lead to difficulties. So far, she had enjoyed excellent health but now—

Lan’xiu lifted her head. “Ning, why do you delay! Go! There is no time to lose! Alute must not—” She drooped limply to the floor again.

Ning emptied the basin and rinsed it out, placing it near her again. Then he bathed her heated face with a wet cloth. “Lan, I am going, do you hear me? I’m going and I’ll be back as quick as I can.”

Lan appeared to have lapsed into a faint, and he didn’t like to leave her like this but it was necessary. Also necessary, although it pained him to do so, Ning decided he must lock her within the room. That way, no matter how much noise she made in her suffering, the household staff could not reach her to aid her—or discover her secret.

He ran down the stairs with no thought for his own dignity and tore out the front door, barreling into the broad frame of Hüi Wei and bouncing back off his solid form.

“Ning, what’s amiss?” Hüi asked in alarm.

“My Lord Qiang,” Ning said, giving a hasty bow. “Lan’xiu is ill but I dare not fetch a doctor to her. Moreover, she says that Sixth Wife Alute has been poisoned. She needs a doctor immediately! I will return to Lan’xiu, and you go to fetch aid for Alute! Be smart about it! Hurry!” Barely realizing that he, a lowly eunuch who served the lowliest of concubines had just hurled an order at their lord and master, Ning didn’t wait to see what Hüi would do. He bolted back into the house and flew up the stairs to return to Lan’xiu.