He moved from her mouth to her neck and his hands roamed down her body. “I need you,” he finally whispered.
She nodded, unable to reply. Her eyes darted around the room. It was small and only had some chairs for visiting and a desk where she did some paperwork and writing. There was no bed or couch or any other suitable large surface.
None of that seemed to matter to Inspector Gong. He pushed her against the wall and fumbled with his robe and pants as he unencumbered himself. He grabbed her hand and led her to his manhood. He was already fully excited, but he groaned at her touch.
He then began to pull up her chaopao and linked one of his arms under her knee, lifting her up to him. He had done this before. She was more used to the slow, sensual method of lovemaking, but she had to admit that the rough and urgent way he was taking her now was something she had fantasized about. Especially lately, since they could not be together and she had not come up with a plan to take him to her bed, she had imagined moments very similar to this, something quick, something passionate, something that didn’t take long but would still meet their needs.
“Yes…yes…” she sighed as they joined together. She did her best to stay quiet, but she knew the walls were thin. There would be no way to keep what she was doing a secret from her servants, especially Eunuch Bai, but she could at least pretend she was being discreet.
Inspector Gong buried his face in her shoulder as he took her, doing his best to muffle his own groans of pleasure.
After only a moment, they had both reached the heights of ecstasy, yet they continued to stand against the wall, breathing deeply, neither wanting the moment to end.
“Maybe…maybe now I will be able to focus on the case,” Inspector Gong finally said as he pulled away slowly. He quickly righted his clothes as Lady Li smoother her chaopao.
“Oh?” she asked.
“It was a mistake to come here, to ask for your help,” he said. “I haven’t been able to think of anything else since I saw you again.”
His words did not hurt her, because she knew he was right. There was something growing between them, something she was afraid to give a voice to, but if they continued giving into it, their lives would only be ruined.
Lady Li, her knees weak, fell ungraciously into her chair. “And now?” she asked. “What of the case?”
Inspector Gong remained standing, affecting an air of professionalism. “Can you get back into the legation? Find out more information?”
“What do you need to know?” she asked.
“We need to find her boyfriend,” he said. “She was pregnant.”
If Lady Li hadn’t already been sitting she certainly would be now. “Pregnant? But she wasn’t planning on leaving her position or marrying.”
“So says everyone,” Inspector Gong said. “Her mother knew about the boy, but she said they weren’t planning on marrying. Her employer, Mrs. Gibson said the same thing. But if she were pregnant, that could ruin everything.”
“Even if she wasn’t planning on keeping it or marrying, if someone found out she was pregnant, she would be immediately dismissed and unable to find work in the legation again. Her reputation…” Lady Li stopped herself and shook her head. It didn’t matter what a woman’s class was, if she gave into her passions, she risked running her life.
“The missionaries would probably refuse to help her as well,” Inspector Gong said.
Lady Li nodded. “Her parents would disown her.”
“So why not just marry the boy?” he asked. “Seems like the safer and easier choice. He could at least keep his job. Why not tell him?”
“Maybe he wasn’t the father,” Lady Li said.
Inspector Gong nodded. “Yes, that was my suspicion as well. But would it matter? Just let the boy think it was his. Can you think of a reason why she wouldn’t want him to think he was the father?”
“I can think of a few reasons,” she said.
“A few?” Inspector Gong nearly choked out. “Damn, I couldn’t think of one.”
Lady Li suppressed a smile and shook her head. “I supposed men don’t give much thought to these matters.”
“It had never crossed my mind,” Inspector Gong admitted. “So what do you think?”
“It is possible she and the boy had not slept together,” she said. “How far along was she?”
“Three months,” he said.
“That would be too far along to sleep with the boy and tell him the baby came early. No one would believe a baby was three months early. That only works after a month, six weeks at the most.”
Inspector Gong was doing his best to keep his jaw from dropping. Lady Li wondered if he was thinking about all the times he heard about babies “coming early” and never thought anything of it. She tried not to laugh.
“And…your other…revelations?” he asked.
“She could be concerned the baby won’t look like him,” she said.
“I’m sure she could pass the baby off as looking like a distant relation,” he said.
“A relation with yellow hair or green eyes?” she asked.
Again she watched as the gears in Inspector Gong’s head whirled. “You think she could be pregnant with a yellow-haired child like Mr. Gibson?”
“It’s possible,” she said. “Even in Chinese households, it’s not uncommon for men to take their maids to bed. In the Forbidden City, why do you think all the maids have to be Manchu? They have to be Manchu in case the Emperor decides to take them to his bed.”
“You spoke to the Gibsons about the girl,” he said. “Did they say anything to make you think there was something going on between the girl and Mr. Gibson?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Mrs. Gibson said she liked the girl very much.”
“Any other reason why should wouldn’t tell the boy?” he asked. “You said you had a few ideas.”
“She might have been wanting to use the pregnancy to catch a better prize,” she said. “Why pretend the baby belonged to a servant when she could pretend it belonged to someone with better prospects? But that is a very risky gamble.”
Inspector Gong nodded. “Whatever path she chose was going to be risky.”
“It was risky enough to cost her her life in the end,” Lady Li said.
“We need to find the boyfriend,” Inspector Gong said. “We need to find out what he knew and where he was the night of the murder.”
“I can call on Lady Highcastle,” Lady Li said. “She lives in one of the houses across from the Gibsons.”
“Good,” he said. “Start there and see what you can find out. According to the mother, the boy’s name was Wang Bolin.”
“If you know his name, can’t you just go into the legation and ask them to hand him over?” Lady Li asked. “They probably won’t stop you from arresting a Chinese.”
“They might,” he said. “They probably wouldn’t take kindly to me barging in. And I don’t know where he is. If I have to ask house by house, he could escape. No, I need to know where he is so I can move in quickly and capture him.”
Lady Li nodded. “I will do my best to find him.”
9
The next day, the clothes Lady Li had ordered from a French tailor arrived.
“Oh, mistress,” Concubine Swan said as she started pulling things out of the boxes. “Have you ever seen anything so fine?”
“You weren’t with me in the Forbidden City,” said Lady Li. “You wouldn’t believe the hundreds of hours of embroidery work that must go into every single one of the empress’s gowns.”
“That must be a sight to see,” Concubine Swan said as she tried to figure out which skirt went with which top and which hat.
“It certainly was,” Lady Li said. “But these gowns are quite fine as well. The boning in the corsets is supposed to be the top quality.”
“Oh, I don’t know how you can even breathe in them,” Concubine Swan said. “Every time you told the maid to tie the ties tighter I thought your ribs were going to snap.
”
“It is amazing what our bodies can endure in the name of fashion,” Lady Li said with a smile.
“Surprising how strongly the foreign women are against foot binding when they bind their own bodies so,” Concubine Swan said as she fiddled with the ties on Lady Li’s new pair of walking boots.
Lady Li stood in front of her mirror as she tried on one of the hats. “It is a bit hypocritical. But the missionaries have prevented many young women from having to endure the practice, so whatever it takes.”
“I don’t know why the empress doesn’t just outlaw the practice altogether,” Concubine Swan said, giving up on trying to tie the laces on the boots.
“The empress has a tight road to walk,” Lady Li said. “The Han grow more and more resentful of us Manchu every day. If she was to ban one of their more dear cultural practices, she could lose what little goodwill with the people she has.”
“It is a terrible price those women have to pay,” Concubine Swan lamented. “Our women are so lucky.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Lady Li said. “I don’t know how many times I twisted my ankle on those dreadful pot-bottom shoes when I was younger.”
“I suppose every culture has their own way of inflecting pain on us,” Concubine Swan said.
“But we endure,” Lady Li said. “We are stronger and smarter for it.”
“Is that why Inspector Gong keeps coming by,” Concubine Swan asked with a mischievous smile. “He can’t seem to find his feet without you to help him.”
Lady Li blushed. She certainly hoped that Concubine Swan didn’t know about her…lack of decorum with Inspector Gong the day before. If anyone needed a man in her life, it was Concubine Swan. If Lady Li thought she could find a good placement for her, she would sell her. But she feared that anywhere she sent her, the poor girl would be even worse off than she was now. No respectable man would want a second-hand wife, especially one that had had a miscarriage.
“He just keeps getting assignments he is not able to investigate on his own,” Lady Li said as she instructed her maid to help her put on one of the new outfits. “He doesn’t speak English, and there is no way the foreigners will let him actually investigate them.”
“Sounds like the prince needs to just hire women to work in his investigative force if his men can’t get the job done,” Concubine Swan said, sticking her chin out defiantly.
Lady Li started to laugh, but then she stopped herself. It wasn’t a terrible idea. There were actually many places in Chinese society where men couldn’t go. Men and women often led very separate lives. She was surprised the prince hadn’t considered using women before she started working with Inspector Gong. And Lady Li shouldn’t really be doing this sort of work. Maybe Concubine Swan could take her place. Of course, Lady Li would miss helping Inspector Gong with his cases, but it would be for the best.
“Would you like to come with me to call on Lady Highcastle?” Lady Li asked Concubine Swan.
“What?” she asked, shocked. “Me? Go with you? Are you serious?”
Lady Li nodded. “Yes, I mean it. I’m sure the maid can tighten one of these dresses up to fit you.” Concubine Swan was exceptionally thin, but she preferred eating opium to food. Lady Li hoped that helping with a case would give Concubine Swan something else to do.
“You’d let me wear one of your new French dresses?” Concubine Swan asked, almost in tears. “Oh, mistress, you are too kind to me.”
“Please, don’t be emotional,” Lady Li chided. “You know you are no mere slave, you are family. Now go clean yourself up and then come back and we will fit one of these gowns to you.”
Concubine Swan was nearly giddy as they were carried in the sedan chair to the legation to call on Lady Highcastle, both of their maids trotting along beside. When Lord Yun chose Concubine Swan, he also required that she be able to speak English as well. Not that he planned to use her as a spy the way he did his wife—he knew the foreigners would look down on him for having a concubine—but he would only accept a well-educated woman. And Lady Li supported him choosing someone from a similar background as herself. But since Concubine Swan entered the Yun household, she had very little use for her English, so she had forgotten quite a bit. So Lady Li spoke to her in English on the way to legation.
“Remember that your name is Yun Swan,” Lady Li said. “And you are Lord Yun’s cousin, not his concubine.”
“I am Yun Swan,” she said in English as she peeked out the curtain. “I am your cousin.”
“Very good,” Lady Li replied.
“I am so nervous,” Concubine Swan said in Chinese. “I haven’t left the house since I was brought there in a red chair.”
Lady Li nodded. There were few opportunities for a married lady to leave her house after marriage. They could go to the temple on festival days, but Concubine Swan didn’t seem to be very religious.
“You’ll do fine,” Lady Li said. “Just try to follow the conversation as best you can.”
“Should I do anything to help with your investigation?” Concubine Swan asked. “Since that is the real reason why we are going.”
“Don’t do anything obvious,” Lady Li said. “We don’t want them to know we have anything to do with that. They won’t trust us if they suspect we are just using them for information.” Lady Li left out the fact that she actually enjoyed Mrs. Gibson’s company and would like to renew their friendship.
When they arrived at the legation, once again, the ladies were allowed inside, but the men and the chair had to wait outside.
Lady Li felt much more confident this time, in her new frock in the latest fashion, but she couldn’t ignore that the two of them together got even more stares than last time. She wasn’t sure if it was because there were two of them or because of how stunning Concubine Swan looked. Concubine Swan was a beauty by any standard. She had a long, lean body, but in the corseted French gown, she suddenly had curves in all the womanly places. She had allowed her hair to fall freely around her shoulders, which accented her nearly white skin and dreamy doe eyes. Lady Li had never felt intimidated by Concubine Swan before, but the more she looked around at the people—the men—staring at them, she had to accept that they were staring at Concubine Swan.
Lady Li shrugged the bit of self-consciousness niggling at the back of her mind away. She needed to focus on the task at hand. She rang the bell at the home of Lady Highcastle. A Chinese maid answered the door, her eyes wide at seeing two Chinese ladies in western dress standing there.
“Please let Lady Highcastle know that Lady Li is here to see her,” Lady Li said in English. She could have said it in Chinese, but she wanted to make sure that the maid would actually deliver the message.
The maid gave a curt bow and headed inside. She returned a moment later and opened the door wide.
“Lady Highcastle will see you,” she said in English. “Your maids can wait in the kitchen.”
Lady Li nodded to the maids as she and Concubine Swan were led to the parlor. Lady Li started for a moment when she saw there were two other ladies already there with Lady Highcastle: Mrs. Gibson and another woman she didn’t know.
“Lady Li!” Mrs Gibson called out as she crossed the room and took her hand. “How wonderful to see you again so soon. And what a lovely dress you are wearing.”
“It is just an ugly dress the shop had in stock,” Lady Li replied. “I thought that if I was going to resume my visits in the legation, I should update my wardrobe.”
“Well I think you look lovely,” Mrs. Gibson said. “And who is your friend?”
“This is my cousin,” Lady Li said. “My late husband’s cousin actually. She is practicing her English and wanted to accompany me.”
“I am Swan,” Concubine Swan said slowly and clearly, gripping Mrs. Gibson’s hand and shaking it vigorously. “I am her cousin.”
“Charmed,” Mrs. Gibson said. “Well, come over and sit down. Lady Li, I am sure you recall Lady Highcastle.”
“Just who I was coming to
visit,” Lady Li said as she approached a younger woman with soft brown curls. “I am so sorry to have called when you already have visitors.”
“Not at all,” Lady Highcastle said. “I appreciate having company. This…sordid business has been terrible for my nerves. Do sit down and have some tea.”
Lady Li sat down on a small couch, and Concubine Swan sat next to her. Another Chinese maid who had been standing nearby offered each of them a teacup and poured the tea for them. Lady Li noticed that Concubine Swan gripped the delicate British-style cup firmly in both of her hands. She hadn’t considered giving the girl a rundown of British manners. She nudged Concubine Swan with her elbow and held up her own teacup, gently held by and handle with her fingers. Concubine Swan nodded and followed her example.
“Lady Li,” Lady Highcastle said, “do you know Mrs. Belvedere?”
Lady Li recalled that Mrs. Belvedere lived in the other house across from the Gibsons. “I’m afraid I do not,” she said. “You must be new to Peking.”
Mrs. Belvedere was older and had a face like a sour plum. “I have been here for two years,” she said. “But one never feels settled in a foreign country. Every single day is a struggle. Do you know I spent two hours at the bank yesterday trying to send money home? Two hours! The whole day was practically shot by the time I got back to the legation.”
All the ladies nodded and then sipped their tea.
“And you can never find good help,” Mrs. Belvedere continued. “None of the servants could catch up with their work when I got home. We were not served dinner until nine o’clock! I have never lived in a country with such lazy people. And we lived in India for a decade!”
Lady Li did not reply but kept to her tea.
“What is India?” Concubine Swan asked.
“Yìndù,” Lady Li said softly.
“Oh yes,” Concubine Swan said with a smile and nod.
“Have you been to India?” Lady Highcastle asked Concubine Swan.
The Qing Dynasty Mysteries - Books 1-3 Page 22
