The Concubine (17 page)

“I cannot say, Ji Yue. I have asked for a boon. I have pleaded for my wishes, but…” He paused as he looked down at their joined hands.

“Was he terribly angry with you?” she whispered.

He released a short laugh. “It is a terrible thing to steal a woman from your best friend.”

“Especially if that man is the emperor of China.”

“Exactly so.”

There was a noise in the hallway. Two girls chattering with an excitement that had not been present in the palace since the tainted virgins arrived. Bo Tao sent her a desperate look, then stepped away from her. She was left holding the two combs—one in each hand.

“I cannot promise anything, Ji Yue. I can only hope.”

She would have said something then, except she did not know how to respond. And then their time together was lost. The girls came around the corner, gasping in surprise when they saw the disgraced master still standing there.

Bo Tao arched his brow at them, silently daring them to question his presence. They flushed bright red, then scurried away. Bo Tao looked at her, but she shook her head. He could not risk speaking plainly again. Where one virgin lurked, whispering and giggling in gossip, a dozen more were sure to follow.

He understood her message and knew it to be true. So he gave her the deepest bow she had ever received, then turned and walked away.

She was being ridiculous, she knew. Only an idiot would believe that the emperor would miss her just because she took a step or two in a different direction. But she had been told to stand here, that the emperor would wander through eventually, and so here she stood. At least she had a position where she could see some of the path. Li Fei fidgeted just a little ahead of her around a curve, but Ji Yue had been placed here—no doubt by the dowager consort—in the furthest reaches of the garden. The shrew probably hoped that the emperor would select his primary harem long before he made it to her.

Fortunately, Ji Yue had Bo Tao’s assurance that the emperor would find her and that he planned on selecting her as empress. She fretted because she didn’t know what she would tell the emperor when he finally did wander back here to talk. She held her two combs in her hands, alternately linking them together and snapping them apart. If she wasn’t careful, she’d soon break the delicate mechanism.

Linked combs meant her heart was already given to someone else, to Bo Tao. Separate combs said she wanted desperately for the emperor to select her. A fairly simple choice, really: become an empress or a woman on the run with a disgraced husband.

But even with such clear choice, she didn’t know what to do. A night’s tormented sleep had shown her just how much she loved Bo Tao. She longed to see his face, to touch his cheek, to feel his arms tenderly tuck her close to his side. She loved everything about him and would willingly give her life if it somehow saved him.

Unfortunately, the only way she could “save” him would be to not marry him. Without her, he still had a political career. Even if the emperor forgave Bo Tao for seducing an imperial virgin, he was not likely to reward such behavior. He certainly wouldn’t want Bo Tao around. But if Ji Yue chose the emperor, then Bo Tao would get the political position of his choice. With that, he could marry, have children and still live the life he was born to lead.

Meanwhile, she had been raised from birth to be a political wife. She had watched her mother guide her father’s career. A smart woman could do much even from behind the women’s screen. Ji Yue could be an enormous asset to any man, but the emperor himself? That was the kind of influence that was her mother’s dream. Up until a few days ago, that had been her own dream, as well. But then Bo Tao had slipped into her palanquin and everything had changed.

She stared at the linked combs in her hands and forced herself to break them apart. Every shred of reason she possessed screamed that she should become the empress. The best way to help the man she loved was to give him up. The best thing for her family was to become empress. And the best way for her to do the work she wanted—to help a great husband in a political career—would be to humbly accept her role as empress of China. She had to marry the emperor. She wanted to marry the emperor.

Except, of course, she did not. She wanted Bo Tao. And the next time she looked down at her hands, the combs were once again linked. No matter what logic said, clearly her heart wanted Bo Tao.

She had just forced herself to separate the combs—again—when she heard a rustle ahead on the path. Was it the emperor? Or were the virgins getting tired and moving around? It was so hard to see! Then she heard voices. A man’s voice, but it could be a eunuch. A female giggle—definitely a virgin’s, given how nervous it sounded—and then more rustling. The anxiety was killing her!

She heard a voice. The dowager consort! “There’s nothing interesting back there,” she said, probably to her son. “The other girls are up here.”

The pronouncement was seconded by the head eunuch. Then there was much bustling and movement while Ji Yue looked down in defeat. It didn’t matter if she linked or unlinked her combs. The emperor would never be given the chance to wander back here. His mother was head of the women in the Forbidden City and—

“You must be Chen Ji Yue.”

Ji Yue started, looking up in shock as the emperor sauntered down the path. She’d thought…well, it didn’t matter what she thought, since he was here now! She sank low, starting her kowtow, but he reached out and stopped her.

“Yes, yes, but let me see your face,” he said. He physically pulled her upright, scanning her face as if trying to place her in his memory. Meanwhile, she looked from his hand on her arm, up his impressive imperial tunic and finally to his rather ordinary face. Was this man to be her husband? This man trailed by his mother and a score of eunuchs? This man who did not give her shivers or make her heart lurch in her chest? And would she always, always compare him to Bo Tao?

Meanwhile the emperor had ceased studying her face to look down at the combs in her hand. Unfortunately, she had been in the process of linking them. Or unlinking them. She didn’t even remember now! They were half-intertwined and that was no clear message at all.

“You seem to have dropped your combs, Chen Ji Yue.”

Had he emphasized two combs? Not one? “Yes,” she murmured, beginning to hold them up for his inspection. Separate them! Become the empress! she ordered her hands. She began to do it, but then paused, finding a boldness that came from irritation. Second-guessing herself was getting her nowhere. She needed to ask exactly what she wanted to know. So she did.

“Do you remember me, Emperor?”

He smiled in a vague way. “Of course, of course. Your beauty makes an impression.”

She arched her brows at him. “That and what I said at the celebration.”

He frowned and then his expression abruptly cleared as memory sparked. “Oh, yes. About peasants and servants. That impressed Bo Tao.” But obviously not the emperor. His gaze wandered across the gardens to the girls stretching and contorting themselves around corners to catch his eye. “I suppose whatever it takes to distinguish one of you from the other. And you must be well able to manage servants. A valuable asset in an empress.”

He reached for her comb to take the dragon piece from her. This was the moment. If she let him take it from her, then she would become an empress and spend her life…doing what? Managing his servants. He had no appreciation of the skills she brought to his side. He would never allow her to hide in the shadows of the women’s screen to take notes. Neither would he bring his cares to her at night to help him sort through one difficult problem or another.

The emperor was a man who relied not on his wives, but on his assistants. On men like Bo Tao, who would recommend policy and select his wives. It would be a near impossible task to get him to see her as anything but a baby-making vessel. And what a miserable life that would be!

She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t be that kind of woman to him. So with tears of regret in her eyes, she pulled the combs away from the emperor. “I am so clumsy with this,” she said as she quickly linked them together. “They are supposed to be one comb, and they go—”

“No, Chen Ji Yue,” he interrupted, his expression hard. “No, they are two combs, and I believe this one is mine.”

She stared at him in shock as he forced the linked combs out of her hands. With a quick twist, he released the catch, then dropped the dragon comb into an inside pocket. The tigress comb was offered back to her.

“B-but, Emperor,” she stammered. Then she lifted her chin and pointed. “Did you see Li Fei? She will do everything you want. And she will never talk to you of…of servants or peasants. Ever.”

He craned his neck a bit to see where she pointed. “Hmm,” he murmured. “Li Fei?”

She nodded, and as she watched, he waved a negligent hand at a eunuch then started moving on. Ji Yue wanted to follow him. She wanted to run after the man and demand her comb back. How could he just take it? And now Bo Tao would think that she had selected power over him, that she wanted the emperor of China over him. And it just wasn’t true!

But it was too late. As soon as the emperor moved on, scores of eunuchs scurried directly behind. Between one breath and the next, she was completely cut off. And now the emperor had her comb! If Bo Tao was right, she was about to become the next empress of China, but it wasn’t the choice she wanted!

She stood there helplessly watching the backs of all the people who trailed her future husband. But he was already gone, well beyond her reach or influence.

She began to cry.

THE SELECTION WAS COMPLETE. All the virgins were assembled in the main palace to hear the results. The virgins would be separated, the newest empress revered.

Ji Yue waited, her heart skipping and tripping inside her chest. One moment she was elated at the idea of taking her place beside the emperor of China. The next she craned her neck to see Bo Tao, to silently tell him that this was not her choice, that she had chosen him. But as a disgraced master of the festival, he was nowhere to be found.

She remembered how little use she would be as empress: watched on every side, in constant battle with the dowager consort and completely ignored by her husband. At that moment her mood crashed downward in despair. Why had she ever wanted such a ridiculous thing? This was insane!

But then the excitement of the moment, the ceremony and the majesty of the palace filtered into her thoughts again, and her spirit quivered in excitement. Empress of China! Her mother would be so excited! Her brothers and father would have no need to worry ever again!

The moment of glory was at hand. The new master of the festival stood before the Dragon Throne, a scroll in his hands, and he began to call their names. This girl—middle harem. Hua Si, her evil roommate—lowest harem. Li Fei—favored concubine. Li Fei was one of the four favored women! Ji Yue was happy; she looked forward to having a friend so close to her.

Then Ji Yue was called. The sound of her name echoed through the palace walls and sent a thrill down her spine. Soon she would be Empress Ji Yue. Her hands were shaking, her mouth was dry, but she was prepared.

“Lowest harem!”

Ji Yue blinked. She couldn’t possibly have heard correctly. She was supposed to be first wife. Empress! She stood there stupidly staring at the Dragon Throne. It could not be true. But hands grabbed her arm and roughly dragged her aside to the place for the lowest and most forgotten harem. She was pushed next to Hua Si. And as she stood there, she still could not comprehend what had happened.

She was not going to be empress? But Bo Tao had said! And at the thought of him, more realities came crashing down. Not only was she not going to be empress, she was not going to be with Bo Tao, either. She was, however, going to be tormented and reviled by the dowager consort, head eunuch and Hua Si, as well! For the rest of her life!

It was all she could do not to scream and plunge a knife into her chest.

But for tonight, the emperor called for a woman. As she was of the lowest harem, the date of her actual wedding to the emperor was of little consequence. In short, tonight she was called, and tonight she would sleep with the emperor. If she was blessed, her womb would be fruitful and she would bear the emperor a son, who would then be taken from her and given to the empress to raise as her child. Such was the lot of the women in the lowest harem.

If she were truly blessed, the emperor would do his business with her and then leave without noticing her state of virginity. The doctor had inserted medicine into her womb to make it tight. But if that was not enough, Ji Yue had also hidden a small knife in the bodice of her gown. It would be easy to make a nick in her skin somewhere unseen and then smear the blood where it was needed. Assuming, of course, that the knife was at hand and the emperor did not notice what she was doing.

And so Ji Yue was dressed according to the dictates of the eunuchs. Her gown was of the lightest silk, her hair twisted and coiled, but held in place by her tigress comb. That had been explicitly ordered by someone, presumably the emperor. Then she was escorted with minimal pomp to the emperor’s palace and ordered to climb into his massive bed. She was even instructed on the appropriate words to say to her new husband about how great an honor it was to serve him, how she gloried at his merest touch. On and on the list went until she thought she would scream at the repetition of it.

And then, as the time neared, the instructional eunuchs withdrew. She lay in the massive bed and worried about what to do. She knew this was a great honor and a great opportunity. If she pleased the emperor tonight, he might lift her out of the lowest harem into a more powerful position. She ought to be thinking of ways to seduce him. And yet, try as she might, she could not help but think of Bo Tao. How wonderful it would be to lie in anticipation of a night with him. How she would delight to wake in his arms tomorrow, to bear his child in the days to come. How she wished…

A noise disturbed her thoughts and she froze like a terrified rabbit. The emperor was coming! He entered the bedchamber. The soft light of the lanterns seemed to accentuate his face and his physique rather than the exquisite embroidery on the black silk of his robe. Ji Yue pushed herself upright in bed as she tamped down any comparisons between the emperor and Bo Tao. Clearly, the emperor did not practice his physical skills as much as Bo Tao. He was not as muscular nor as powerful, in a purely physical sense. But he was her husband and her emperor, and so she tried to smile invitingly at him. He paused near the bed, looking down at her. Then he abruptly burst into laughter.

“I have never seen a more reluctant woman,” he boomed.

Ji Yue blanched and mentally scrambled for something clever to say. All she could come up with was one of her prescribed phrases. “I glory to share my body with your magnificence.”

“Except you look like you’d rather be eating cow dung.”

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. How could she save this disaster?

“But am I not magnificent, Chen Ji Yue? Every woman’s desire?” The emperor threw his arms wide and let the folds of his robe gape open over his chest. It was a pale chest, and not very wide—or at least not as wide as Bo Tao’s. She tried to summon an adoring look.

“I am overcome with your glory,” she said, trying to put passion into her words.

The emperor dropped his arms and huffed in disgust. “You really are in love, aren’t you?”

She had no idea what to say to that. Did she lie? He hadn’t believed anything she’d said so far. At her silence, he drew out the dragon comb.

“According to legend, he who holds this comb is the true mate to the woman who wears the tigress.” He gestured to the carved comb still in her hair.

She swallowed and touched the tigress. “Is that the legend?” she asked, her voice trembling.

The emperor shrugged and released another laugh. “I have no idea. It’s just some nonsense Bo Tao told me.” Then he waggled it in front of her eyes. “But I have it, so you must therefore adore me!”

She blinked and tried to nod, but she was terribly frightened. What was she supposed to do when the emperor of China acted like a lunatic! Was he playing some devious game? She didn’t understand!

“Oops!” he cried as the comb slipped from his fingers to the floor. “I have dropped it.” Then he stood there with his hands on his hips, clearly waiting, but for what? Did he want her to pick it up? There was no one else in the room, so it would have to be her. She began to climb out of bed, but he threw out a hand to stop her.

“Not you!” he snapped. Then he abruptly clapped his hands. “Come in here, you fool! I have dropped my comb!”

Did he address someone else in the room? She thought they were alone. And yet, people were always close in the Forbidden City. Within moments, a eunuch came scurrying in to retrieve the fallen comb. Except this eunuch did not move like any that she had seen so far. In fact, JiYue thought as she narrowed her eyes, this eunuch looked extraordinarily familiar.

Bo Tao! She gasped and scrambled onto her knees. It was all she dared with the emperor looming over her.

“You called?” her love said, but the emperor cut him off.

“I have dropped my comb. Pick it up for me, Bo Tao.”

Her love clenched his jaw, and his gaze darted between the emperor and JiYue. She wanted to say something to him. She wanted to tell him that the leader of China was an extremely bizarre man. She needed to tell him that she had never willingly given the emperor the comb. He had stolen it and her heart belonged to Bo Tao. But she couldn’t say those things, and so she watched in miserable silence as Bo Tao slowly bent down and retrieved the dragon comb. Then he straightened, his face an emotionless mask as he held it out to the emperor.

But Yi Zhen didn’t take it. Instead, he snatched the tigress comb out of her hair. She squeaked in alarm. After all, he had grabbed a few strands of hair, too. While both she and Bo Tao watched in confusion, the emperor quickly linked the two pieces together and turned to her.

“Do you think, Chen Ji Yue, that the emperor of China is a god who can rule men’s hearts?”

She swallowed, wondering what he could possibly mean. “I believe that you are a man who leads China and so gains the love of the people you rule.”

The emperor huffed. “So, not a god, then? But I am the Son of Heaven!”

She dipped her head. “You live in our hearts, nonetheless.”

“Your friend Li Fei said I was a god. She said she worshiped me.”

Ji Yue grimaced. That sounded exactly like something Li Fei would say.

“You are right,” the emperor finally said. “I like her better. Which means,” he said with a flourish, “that I have no use for you.” He turned to Bo Tao. “Which means I can gift her to you. By my hand and—” he passed the linked combs to Bo Tao “—this silly trinket, I declare you two wed.” Then his gaze softened. “Enjoy her, my friend. As for me, I prefer to be a god to the women I bed.” And with that, he laughed heartily at Bo Tao’s stunned expression.

“Yi Zhen,” he began, his voice choked.

“Yes, yes, I know. You worship me. You think I am a god. You forget that you are supposed to call me Emperor Xian Feng.”

“Emper—”

“Hss! Come to me in the morning and we will discuss your exact appointment.”

“B-but—” Bo Tao stammered again.

“Fine, fine. The afternoon then.”

“Yi Zhen—”

“Oh, and you!” The emperor spun around and pinned her with a cold stare. “If ever he falters in his devotion to me, then I will send for you. I will recall you to my harem, and it will not go well for you.”

Ji Yue nodded, her mind reeling. Could it be possible? Could she now be wed to Bo Tao?

“So take her!” the emperor ordered as he clapped his friend on the back.

Bo Tao dropped to the floor in a kowtow. Ji Yue scrambled to do the same, her shock and her gratitude overwhelming her. They both pressed their foreheads to the ground four times. Five times. But by the sixth, they raised themselves up and discovered they were alone. Together.

Ji Yue looked into Bo Tao’s eyes. She saw so many emotions there, so many conflicting thoughts. She understood because she felt the same.

“The emperor is very odd,” she whispered, though that was not at all what she wanted to say.

“It is hard to rule a country. He takes his pleasure however he can.”

“I did not give him the comb, Bo Tao. I held them linked together but he broke them apart. He took it from me.”

Bo Tao’s eyes lighted in surprise and hope. “You chose me? Over being an empress?”

She nodded. “I love you. I could not—” She didn’t get any more words out. He kissed her. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her as she had dreamed. He kissed her and he did not stop for a long, incredible time.

It wasn’t until she welcomed him joyfully into her body that he spoke again. “I love you,” he said. “I will not be separated from you ever again.”

“Never,” she echoed as she wrapped her legs around him and another dance began.

Hours later, they watched the dawn together. They lay intertwined and whispered secrets to each other. They made plans and spoke of love. And so began a most glorious union in the bed of the emperor of China.