The Last Concubine (20 page)

When he unlocked the door, he could hear the sounds of her misery. She was being ill again, and the moans that tore from her throat made him cringe in sympathy. He went to her and held her up from the floor where she could still retch uselessly over the bowl. Placing a cool wet cloth on the back of her neck, he began to sing to her, the lullaby she’d loved as a little girl. It seemed to calm her for after a while she became quiet, a dead weight in his arms.

“Please don’t die, Lan’xiu, please don’t die. We’ve come so far; it’s not your time. Your soul is here. The general came to you. Please don’t die.”

Ning never even noticed the footsteps behind him, but he started when a strange male voice said, “What’s amiss with her?”

He jerked around to find Lord Jiang, looking down at them with concern. “It is noth-nothing. She-she must have eaten something that disagreed with her,” he stammered.

“People usually do not die from a touch of indigestion,” Jiang said sternly.

“She was poisoned,” Ning said baldly, his tears starting to flow.

Jiang pushed Ning aside and took Lan’xiu’s limp form from him. “Princess Lan’xiu, can you hear me?”

Ning saw Lan’xiu’s eyes flutter, and she nodded her head almost imperceptibly.

“I know your secret, Lan’xiu. You have nothing to fear from me,” Jiang said gently.

A shudder went through Lan’xiu’s body before she went limp again, whispering hoarsely, “My Lord—”

“Hüi has confided in me,” Jiang said. “The main thing now is to get you well. I’m no doctor, but I have some field experience. Ning said you were poisoned. How and when?”

“And who?” Ning muttered.

“Ci’an… brought… the wine… was bitter…,” Lan’xiu struggled to say. “I had barely… a sip. Alute… she took much more….”

“Hüi Wei has gone to fetch the doctor to Alute. Don’t worry about her now.” Jiang turned to Ning. “Run to the kitchen. Get your housekeeper to mix up some mustard water. I will also need the whites of several raw eggs. Be quick about it!”

“Yes, sir!” Ning flew down the stairs and flurried Jia into fulfilling his demands.

“What is amiss with the mistress, Ning-xiānsheng. Is she losing the baby?” Jia cried.

“What baby?” Ning asked, too distracted to realize what he was saying.

“It is known that the princess is with child, but she is a delicate girl. I heard that she-devil Ci’an gave her a dangerous liquor to drink and now she is having a miscarriage!” Jia wept and flung her shawl over her head, rocking back and forth, wailing.

Later Ning would wonder how such a baseless rumor came to be accepted as common knowledge, but now he seized upon it, knowing he could not explain a poisoning he did not understand, and that news of a miscarriage would not only garner Lan’xiu much sympathy but would also serve to defend her secret even better. “Let us hope that the doctor arrives in time,” he said. Then he ran back upstairs with the elixir. “Call for Captain Wen.”

Jiang lifted Lan’xiu against his shoulder and ruthlessly tilted the emetic down her throat.

Instantly she became sick once again, this time bringing up blood. When her heaving had diminished, Jiang administered the raw egg whites. Ning made a face as he watched her swallow the slimy mess, but it appeared to help.

“I only pray to the gods that I have done right by her,” Jiang muttered. “Heaven grant the gods let her live.”

“She
must
live,” Ning said intensely.

Jiang glanced at him shrewdly. “She is one who inspires love deeply. I want her to live, not just for her sake and yours. I fear for Hüi Wei if she were to die.”

Ning wasn’t as concerned with the general, but this was not the time to voice that opinion. “Do you think you were in time?”

“I don’t know,” Jiang said irritably. “How long was she ill? What poison was administered to her and how much did she take? At least I hope I did her no harm.”

Ning settled on the floor, his back against the copper bath to wait with Jiang. Both of them fixed their gaze on the white, unconscious face, listening to Lan’xiu’s labored breathing grow quieter. Shadows began to deepen, and Ning was thinking of lighting a lamp when the door opened. He sprang to his feet, ready to chase any of the servitors away if they intruded, but stopped when he saw it was Hüi Wei.

“Is she all right?”

“Resting now. I administered an emetic and a soothing agent,” Jiang said. “What news of Alute?”

“She is dead.”

Ning piped up. “Lan’xiu said something about Ci’an, Second Wife, also drinking the wine.”

Hüi Wei’s face was grim. “Ci’an laughed when I told her Alute died, but she didn’t answer any questions. She gave me the bottle of wine, but I’m sure she switched it for an innocent one, she gave it so willingly. They all drank from the same bottle, and Ci’an had even more….”

“We should get the princess to bed,” Jiang said practically.

“Let me bathe her first,” Ning said.

Silently, the three of them removed Lan’xiu’s clothing. Despite his concern, Ning noticed how staggered Jiang seemed by the beauty of Lan’xiu’s form: every line scribed so elegantly, every plane of muscle, the delicacy of his bone structure…. Ning was so used to thinking of Lan’xiu in a particular way, seeing him through the other men’s eyes jolted him into a renewed awareness of Lan’s masculine form. Ning sponged the sheen of sweat from Lan’s body and the blood from his lips, and hoped the general realized what a lucky man he was.

Ning wrapped a sleep robe about Lan’xiu, and Hüi himself lifted the insensate young man and carried him to the bed.

Lan’xiu seemed to be sleeping more easily now, his face pale on the pillows. With the quilt drawn up, his slight body made barely a mound under the cover. Ning set a lantern on the chest by the bed and sat down.

“I will watch over her,” Hüi said. “Get your dinner, Ning. You will be needed to remain alert by her side all night.”

Reluctantly, Ning walked to the door, and then an idea struck him. He turned back. “My Lord!”

“Yes.”

“The women below stairs believe that Lan’xiu has lost your child.”

Hüi and Jiang stared at each other. Jiang nodded.

Hüi said, “You may tell them that is the truth.”

“Thank you, my Lord.” Ning withdrew, well satisfied. No need to spell things out for either man; they were both clever enough to recognize the opportunity and seize it, using it to the advantage of all concerned.

He arranged his face suitably for mourning and descended to confirm the bad news to Jia, knowing that every soul within the palace walls would know before dawn that Lan’xiu had been pregnant with Hüi’s child and lost it. He resolved to subtly imply that somehow Ci’an was at the bottom of the tragedy. After all, every lie was the better with a little truth sprinkled in for seasoning.

H
ÜI
W
EI
groaned as he watched Lan’xiu sleep. “Poor Alute,” Naturally
he was disturbed at her tragic passing, but he knew it was nothing compared to what he would be feeling had Lan’xiu been the victim.

“Do you think Ci’an truly did this?” Jiang asked.

“Yes. I don’t know how, but she managed it somehow. She has always hated Alute, because she was pretty and restful,” Hüi said.

“And she gave you a son,” Jiang said shrewdly.

“I thought Ci’an was resolved to take Mei Ju’s place. I never suspected that she would turn her sights to the concubines below her,” Hüi Wei said, holding tightly to Lan’xiu’s hand. “I should have foreseen—”

“One cannot foresee everything. And you have enough to look after without having a war raging within your household. It seems Ci’an has changed her strategy,” Jiang said, “Which raises the question—”

“How did she drink of the same bottle and suffer no ill effects,” Hüi interjected.

“I suspect Ci’an may be an arsenic eater,” Jiang said. “Tell me, is her hair glossy and her eyes bright?”

“Like a panther in a forest,” Hüi said. “She is most unfortunately very beautiful. However, I have taken care not to supply her household with arsenic for their cooking.”

“She must have bribed a servant to bring it to her,” Jiang suggested.

“You yourself insisted that we change her servants weekly. Soldiers are routinely reassigned before she has a chance to charm them. Besides,” Hüi said dryly, “Ci’an does not possess the gift of making friends easily. Who would want to serve her?”

“It must be bribery, then. She is getting the arsenic from somewhere.”

“And you will find out where,” Hüi said. “This must not be allowed to continue.” He returned his gaze to the sleeping Lan’xiu, clasping his hand as if his touch could keep him from the grave.

Jiang stood up and touched Lan’s forehead. “She seems to be doing better. I think we were in time.”

“You were in time, my friend. I shall always be grateful to you.” Hüi Wei reluctantly stood up. “I have things to arrange, and I must speak with Mei Ju. She is very upset. And the other wives must be kept safe.”

“Perhaps it is time that Ci’an was removed from the household,” Jiang said.

“Perhaps,” Hüi said in distraction. “I will return to Lan’xiu’s side as soon as I can. Let her know if she wakes. When Ning returns, do you think it safe to leave Lan’xiu here within his sole care? I must make some arrangements for Alute and my son.”

“As long as you ensure that Ci’an’s door is bolted and the soldiers alerted to prevent her escape, I would judge it to be safe,” Jiang said, pulling his lip. “Ning seems to me willing to throw himself between Lan’xiu and anything that endangers her.”

Hüi nodded, staring at Lan’xiu’s face. It was funny how when he first met Lan’xiu he could see only the beautiful woman. Now that he knew Lan’s secret, he marveled that no one else’s gaze had pierced his disguise. For all the sculpted delicacy of his face, Hüi saw the beautiful young man he loved. It was a shock to realize he had come to accept Lan’s preference in dress and manner so completely that he never wondered over it anymore. The thought of that taut perfect body, hidden like an unsuspected jewel beneath the soft silks and embroidery—he shivered with pain at the thought of never reaching for Lan again, seeking under the womanly raiment for the real treasure of Lan’s silky smooth skin and hard cock—

Hüi dashed a hand over his eyes to clear his vision. “A tragedy.”

Jiang answered, “A tragic day indeed, and yet we have cause to rejoice that Lan’xiu did not fall to Ci’an’s plot.”

“We must discover how Ci’an caused the poison to be smuggled in,” Hüi repeated, still lingering as if he could not find it in himself to leave Lan’s side.

“Why not simply discover how yielding her flesh is to the steel of your sword? You should have had her put to death years before this,” Jiang said harshly.

It surprised Hüi; he had not known how bitterly Jiang felt toward Second Wife. “I need to know. I can’t explain…. I need to know…. Watch over her.” With that he finally hurried from the room.

J
IANG
’
S
stomach growled. He glared down at it. It was an inopportune moment of comedy amidst tragedy as so often happened in life, but to be hungry after witnessing Lan’xiu casting up the contents of her stomach was incredibly unruly of his body, in his opinion. He sighed, not knowing how long Ning would linger below stairs. Then he entertained a few ungenerous thoughts about eunuchs, which he repented of the moment the door opened and Ning came in bearing a tray.

“How is she?” Ning asked anxiously, looking at Lan’xiu’s face.

“Sleeping,” Jiang answered. “Is that for me? For I could surely use a bit of food.”

“Yes, I had my supper downstairs.” Ning pulled a small table within Jiang’s reach with his foot and set the tray down. “Excuse me. I thought of another task that must be seen to.”

He went to a chest against a wall and withdrew a white sheet. He disappeared within the bathroom and returned with the sheet now red with blood.

Jiang wondered until he remembered Lan’xiu throwing up blood. “What are you doing?”

“Below, the servants all believe that Lan’xiu has miscarried. I am simply providing evidence that will speak for her. I will not say a word when I dispose of these.”

Nodding, Jiang continued to eat as Ning left the room with the bloody sheet. Jiang had finished his supper and set the tray on the floor outside the door before Ning returned.

Ning sank down upon the chair where Hüi had been sitting and took Lan’xiu’s hand. Jiang thought he meant to hold it but instead, Ning felt for her pulse. He nodded as if satisfied and laid her hand down gently.

“She will do,” Ning said in a relieved tone.

Jiang realized for the first time how drawn and worried the eunuch looked, and wished he might do something for him as well as for Lan’xiu. He noticed the boy in the bed licking his lips and went to him, raising him up against his shoulder. Divining his intent, Ning was there immediately, carefully spooning a little water between the parched lips.

“He doesn’t look very well,” Jiang said softly.

“
She
is resilient. She heals quickly. Lan’xiu will surprise you. Tomorrow she will be out of bed, demanding to stand on her own two feet,” Ning said defiantly.

Jiang hid a smile. “If she is well enough to get out of bed tomorrow, I will give you five hundred tael of silver.”

Ning’s eyes gleamed. “I hope you have it by you, for tomorrow I shall be hounding you to pay what you owe me.”

“How can you be so sure?” Jiang laid Lan’xiu down on the pillows, noting the small wrinkle between her brows had smoothed out. “Has she ever been injured before?”

Ning gave him a sidelong glance, apparently deciding if he could be trusted. “She fell off her horse once as a child and broke her leg.”

“Her leg? I thought I saw a scar on her back.”

With a secretive face, Ning said, “That was another occasion when her strength saved her life—and mine.”

“What happened? Who did this evil act?” Jiang recollected what he had learned about Wu Min’s court. “Did the murderer who slew her mother attempt to assassinate Lan’xiu too?”

“It was her brother. He tried to rape her. It was then he discovered that she is—not all she seems. He stabbed her and nearly killed me, but Lan’xiu managed to get us both away. She was not able to save her mother in time, however.”