The Concubine

4

JI YUE SCANNED THE ROOM for a way to escape. He blocked the door, and there was nowhere else to run. “Why are you doing this?” she demanded. She didn’t think he would answer. She asked only because she was stalling as she figured out a strategy. But to her surprise, he seemed to think deeply about her question.

“I don’t know,” he finally said. “You are different.”

She looked away. She knew she was different. And in China, different was very bad. “I’m smart,” she countered. “And strong. I will make a good empress.”

He touched her cheek, lifting her pointy chin with a firm stroke. “I begin to think you are right. Yi Zhen could do worse than marry you.” Then he smiled. “Don’t be afraid; I will not hurt you.”

“Of course you will!” she shot back. “Why else would you maneuver me this way? Why else would we be alone together!”

“I did not hurt you in the palanquin,” he said.

“You did not have time! I kicked you out.”

He grimaced. “Yes, I know. My ribs still hurt.”

She stared at him in confusion. He blocked the door, but he made no move to rape her. Up until now, he had merely been a man who mentally tortured her, a man who blocked her path to the emperor’s bed. But for the first time, she actually looked closely at his face. She expected that his features would be soft and lax with the indolence of a courtier, but what she saw instead was a hardened jaw and clear eyes in an unsmiling face. This man might be many things, but he was not soft. And that thought surprised her almost as much as it excited her. “What do you want of me?” she asked.

He smiled, and this time there was no mockery in his expression. “To test you, Chen Ji Yue. To find out what kind of woman you are. Do you wish to become empress?”

She nodded. “You know I do.”

“Then what will you do? As the doctor said, you will not pass this test today. You are hot-tempered. Your fertility is already dried up.”

“You don’t know that!”

He stepped forward. “I do. But if you like, you can check for yourself. Think of the place between your thighs. Is it wet and supple?”

Ji Yue gasped, her thoughts going straight to that part of her body. And then she remembered what she had done to keep her private area sweet and supple. She swallowed, trying to act casual, but fear ate at her reason. “Why…why would you ask about that place?”

His eyes narrowed. She wanted to look away, but she could not when he stared at her so intently. “You have done something,” he said. “Something that no one else knows about.” His brows drew together in anger. “Chen JiYue! Are you a virgin?”

“Of course!” she cried. “Of course I am! I have done nothing but-” She swallowed, cursing her errant tongue. What was it about this man that made her stupid with her words?

“But what?” he demanded.

“It is nothing,” she whispered. “Just a cream to keep the skin moist and the petals blossoming.”

His eyebrows shot up. “And did you apply this cream today?” he asked. “Despite my express warning against wearing cosmetics?”

“It is not a cosmetic! It is fruit and herbs. It’s not a paint at all. More like food for…for women.” She looked at him in misery. Her face burned with shame. “Please help me,” she whispered. “The doctor is sure to notice.”

“My, my,” he drawled. “You do have a problem.” He did not sound angry, merely pensive. She did not dare hope that he would help her for no compensation, but she was desperate.

“Bring me a bucket with water. I…I have jewelry. I can pay.”

He reared back in anger. “Do not seek to bribe me, girl!”

“Then what do you want?”

He smiled slowly, but his eyes remained grave. “I cannot bring you water. It would be noticed and even I cannot break the rules.”

She took a step forward. “You are breaking the rules now by being alone with me. Say that someone grew ill, that you wish to clean up the mess.”

“I would send a eunuch for that.”

She grimaced, her ideas-and her time-running out. “What is the punishment for wearing cosmetics?”

He sighed. “You have already seen the punishment. The eunuchs are not kind when they bathe you. And they will be especially cruel where you are most dirty.”

She winced. “Why do you allow such men here?”

He folded his arms. “I do not allow anything. In fact, I have counseled Yi Zhen against it, but we always meet with the same answer.”

“What is that?”

“That eunuchs have been a way of life in the Forbidden City long before the Manchu came and will continue long after we are gone.”

She looked away, cursing herself for her vanity this morning and wondering if she had thrown away her chances with that one simple act. “I meant no harm. It is just a sweetening cream.” Then she swallowed and forced herself to beg. “Help me please. What should I do?”

He waited while she twisted her fingers together in anxiety. His look was pensive, but his eyes seemed to burn. “There is a way, you know, to drown out the scent of your…your fruit and herbs. A way that the doctor will never notice and will boost your attractiveness as an imperial consort.”

She bit her lower lip, barely daring to hope. Could he truly wish to help her? Of course not, and yet what choice did she have? “More creams?” she asked.

He smiled, and she was momentarily struck silent by the beauty in his face. Normally he scowled at the women who plagued him, but for this moment he looked different. Not gentle so much as less fierce. More…seductive. And again she was startled by how appealing that made him.

“I will not surrender my virginity!” she stated fiercely. “I will fight you if you try!”

“Of that I have no doubt,” he said dryly. “No, I refer to the stages before surrender.”

She frowned, extraordinarily suspicious but also a little intrigued. Though her mother had explained lust in great detail, most especially what it could drive a man to do, she had never spoken about the steps of love or of the act itself. “What stages?”

“You wish to know?” he asked.

“I wish to become an empress,” she snapped.

“Then allow me to touch you and your fertility will never be in question.”

“No touching!” she cried as she backed away.

“I cannot do it any other way,” he responded. “You need only unbutton your blouse. I will touch your breasts.”

She shook her head, her heart beating so loud it seemed to echo in her mind.

“You will show me your breasts, anyway, as part of the examination.”

“But I will lose my virginity!”

He stared hard at her. “Do you truly not know how it is done?”

She flushed so hot her ears burned. “I have seen dogs. I…I know the essence, but a touch one place will lead to more. And you are stronger than I.”

“Then take this.” He handed her his empty plate. “If I touch more than you wish, then you may break it on my head. Do it hard enough and I will not be touching anything again for a very long time.”

She hesitated a moment, then grabbed the plate from him. Whatever she decided, she would feel better with a weapon in her hand.

“Decide quickly. The doctor will be back soon.”

That brought a return of her fears and a swift decision. With a deep breath, she began unbuttoning the clasps at her neck and then down along her side. All too soon, her blouse was pushed away, the silk dropping uselessly to the floor. Below it, her diamond-shaped undergarment of soft cotton was already stained from perspiration. The ties pulled at her neck and back, but her entire front remained covered by the too-thin fabric.

“Take it all off,” he said, his voice low and thick.

She lifted her chin and stared at him. She had to do this, she reminded herself. And truthfully, a kind of madness had gripped her. She wanted to do this. She wanted to see his face when her flesh was bared to his eyes. So while one hand still gripped the plate, the other resolutely untied her undergarment. And inside her, the blood seemed to beat faster, wilder, with a daring she found as exciting as the man who stood before her.

“Not flat plates, after all,” he murmured. His face was no longer pinched, but his eyes still held that intensity she both feared and enjoyed. “Your breasts are bells arching outward.” He spoke as if to himself while one hand lifted to touch her. “They say that women with bells mature young and have very high desires.” His hand stopped, and his gaze leaped to hers. “I am going to touch you now. Do not be afraid.”

She wasn’t. Looking in his eyes, she didn’t see anger or vengeance. She wondered for a moment if this was the look of lust, but he did not have the signs that her mother had told her of. His eyes did not pinch nor did his mouth pull back like a dog in heat. If anything, he had the look of reverence.

“Your skin is flawless,” he said. “It would glow in candlelight.”

He touched her. With his long elegant fingers, he stroked the side of one breast and fire trailed in his wake. She gasped at the feel, and he smiled. Then he curved his hand around the outside before brushing his thumb across her peaked nipple.

She trembled. It started in her belly, but it traveled outward, making her breath stutter and her heart race. He moved closer, his hand still caressing her breast.

“What…what are you doing?” she gasped, though the answer was perfectly obvious.

“You are safe. Keep the plate handy.”

She had forgotten it. With shaking hands, she gripped the fine porcelain tight, but she didn’t do anything with it. He moved around behind her, his one hand still stroking. Her breast felt hot and large in his hand, and her back tingled with awareness of him. And then, every so often, he would pinch the nipple and she would shudder at the flash of sensation that burst through her thoughts. Her whole body now beat with a wildness and a hunger she’d never felt before.

His free hand slipped around her rib cage to lift her other breast. He leaned against her back, pressing her forward so that her legs pushed against the physician’s table. She was pinned between him and the table while his breath brushed hot across her cheek. She felt surrounded by him, completely and totally within his power.

“Do you know what leads to fertility?” he whispered into her ear.

She shook her head. It was hard to think with his hands rolling over her breasts.

“Passion, Chen Ji Yue. A passionate woman is a fertile woman.” He pinched her nipples-both at once-and she cried out in her surprise. “What you feel right now is passion, and it is what all these physicians, eunuchs and courtiers are looking for.”

“What of the emperor?” she gasped. “Does he look for this as well?”

“Him most of all,” he said into her neck. Then she felt his tongue, hot and wet as he stroked the skin behind her ear.

“Oh!” she gasped.

“Lean forward,” he murmured.

She did because she liked what he was doing. The feel of his tongue overwhelmed her senses, and his hands had not stopped moving in mesmerizing caresses all over her breasts.

“You smell sweet, Ji Yue. I think your cream has grown stronger.”

She tensed. “But it can’t! You said-”

“Let me see if I can wipe some away.”

He pressed her forward even farther and one of his hands abandoned her breast to slip down to her knee. With quick movements, he pulled her skirt up to her waist.

“No…” she murmured, but he must not have heard her.

“Widen your legs for me, Ji Yue,” he said. “I must have access to wipe the cream away.”

She did not intend to move, but her legs were so weak. He pinched her nipple again, and as she arched in reaction, his leg slipped between hers. And then his hand was where no man’s hand had ever been.

“There is so much cream here!” he said as he began to stroke her.

Oh, the feeling was amazing. She could barely breathe for the wonder of it. It was as if he coaxed a flame hotter and brighter with every touch. The flame burned through her belly, sending sensation up her spine. Then he widened his hand and burrowed deep with his fingers while she…she…

She whipped around and slammed the plate against his head. It took all her strength and she collapsed sideways after the impact. But that gave her the space she needed to shove him away. “You said you would only touch my breasts!” she accused.

He had fallen a step backward, but he was still standing. She hadn’t hit him hard enough, she supposed, and now she had a new problem. What would he do to explain the welt he sported on his temple?

“You told me I could hit you,” she said, struggling to put force into her voice. But she didn’t have the breath, and her heart was beating so fast! “You told me to do that if you touched me somewhere else.”

He lifted his head and she saw that she had cut him, too. Blood dripped down the side of his head and his eyes blazed with fury.

“You told me I should hit you!” she cried again. She had already pulled down her skirt, and now she tried to retie her undergarment one-handed. Her other hand gripped the largest shard of plate that she could reach. “You told me-”

“So I did,” he said. He rubbed his hand over his temple then grimaced when his palm came away glistening with blood. “Cover up. The doctor will be here soon.”

With shaking hands, she retied the cotton underdress, then pulled on the silk blouse, fastening the clasps with one hand. Just as she finished the last button, the door burst open and in walked the physician.

The woman froze on the doorstep, and her eyes narrowed on the tableau before her: Ji Yue flushed and breathing hard; the master with blood smeared down his cheek. And of course, the plate pieces shattered about the room. It wouldn’t be hard to guess what had happened. The question was: would she blame the master? Or Ji Yue?

With a snort of disgust, the doctor threw a towel at him. “You’re disgraceful,” she snapped. She turned to Ji Yue. “Put the plate down. You’re safe now.”

JiYue slowly released the plate shard. She had to consciously will her hand to open. When the porcelain clattered to the floor-shattering anew-the woman huffed in disgust. She went to the door and called in a eunuch to clean up the mess.

“Clumsy girl has broken a plate,” she groused to the eunuch. Then she looked hard at Ji Yue. “Fortunately, the emperor has many plates. You might be wise to keep an extra handy for whenever you break one again.”

“Always,” she answered softly, her gaze going to the master. “I won’t be caught without one again.”

“You weren’t caught without one now,” he returned, but she detected a note of humor in his complaint.

The plate pieces were swept up, the eunuch sent away, and then the doctor shut the door. She turned to the master. “You should see the emperor’s physician for that cut.”

He pulled the towel away from his head. “It was only a scratch.”

The woman snorted. “You are staying, then.”

The master smiled. “It is my sworn duty to the emperor as master of the Festival of Fertility.”

“Humph,” she retorted. Then she turned back to Ji Yue. “All right then, girl, let’s see what damage he’s done.”

Ji Yue had been standing mutely to the side, doing her best to stop trembling. Soon, very soon, she would be able to disappear into her room and think on what had happened. But at the doctor’s words, she started in surprise.

“What?”

“Your examination, girl. Don’t tell me he has stolen your wits.”

“My, um, I mean…no. I have my wits.”

“Then undress. Let me see what has so intrigued Sun Bo Tao.”

Ji Yue stared at the physician, her misery now complete. After everything she’d just endured, she still had to go through the physical examination. And in front of the master! But what choice did she have? None. So she submitted. Button by button, she undid what she had just fastened. And as she worked, she plotted her revenge.