by Jeannie Lin
Numbness crept over her as she looked into Auntie’s eyes. There were deep creases at the corners and her lids drooped heavily. It was said that Auntie had never been beautiful. She had never been more than a kitchen servant, while Madame Sun had once been one of the most sought-after courtesans in the Pingkang li. Just as Mingyu now was.
Old or young, homely or beautiful, every woman in the quarter was taught to strive for the same goal. Harmony was what Auntie had called it, but it wasn’t peace. It was silence. Feel whatever you needed to feel, but bury it deep. On the surface, there must be tranquility, gaiety and beauty. Such was the facade of the pleasure quarter. Mingyu had become so adept at being pleasing.
Had Madame not stricken her and locked her up, Mingyu would have continued to accept. She would have gone to Xi Lun, shut her mind away and become whatever he wanted her to become.
She would never have woken up.
“I’m not angry at you,” she told Auntie as a matter of courtesy. “Or at Mother.”
Auntie touched her cheek once before trudging out. Her hands were leathery and rough, yet the gesture made Mingyu wonder whether the old woman did hold some affection for her, in her own way. Mother and Auntie were as caring as the Pingkang li allowed, but it was a begrudging and stifled emotion at best.
Maybe she was the same after being trained as a courtesan. Numb inside. Cold and hard-hearted. How else could she feel so much for Kaifeng while in his arms, then walk away without a tear?
Ziyi remained behind once Auntie had gone. “I’m supposed to help you prepare for tonight.”
A basin of water was brought in and there was little conversation between them as Ziyi helped Mingyu wash. Usually the girl was full of chatter, like a little songbird.
“Do you think I’m being foolish?” Mingyu remarked as Ziyi drew a wooden comb through her damp hair to work out the knots.
“A constable, Mingyu?” Ziyi scoffed. “A lowly constable of all people.”
“Wu Kaifeng is not just a constable. He’s a good man. The only man who looks at me as something more than a...a thing.”
“What do we care what they call us? We’re all flowers and jewels here, but there are worse fates.”
“This is not happiness. This is not freedom and it never will be,” Mingyu argued. “Open your eyes.”
“My eyes are open,” Ziyi snapped. “I once thought I was in love, but I was mistaken. He promised we would marry, but he never came back, remember?”
Mingyu did remember. She had never seen Ziyi happier than when her scholar had promised to redeem her. When he didn’t come back, Ziyi had cried for days. Then she never shed another tear, for anything or anyone.
“I vowed at the time that I would never be so foolish again.” Ziyi pinned a flower into her elder’s hair. “I vowed that I would be like you, Mingyu. No man can ever break your heart. You are always untouchable.”
Mingyu laughed bitterly. “And look at me now.”
“You don’t look heartbroken in the least. What were you thinking? To take the one lover who would make Madame the angriest?”
“Do you all think that I’m so heartless?”
“Yes. And we envy you for it.”
The words hit her harder than Madame’s slap. Wu Kaifeng had also doubted her intentions. He couldn’t believe that she would seek him out without some fiendish motive. All she had wanted was a night of freedom, to know desire and warmth and passion.
“Not all of us have powerful men at our feet, one after another,” her courtesan-sister added.
Mingyu twisted away from her ministrations. “If you value the inspector’s attention, why don’t you try to catch his eye yourself?”
“You think our Mother hasn’t already tried? When you were gone last night, Madame sent me to keep Inspector Xi Lun company, but he only wanted one woman. He is already devoted to you.”
“That isn’t a sign of devotion,” she said wearily. “It’s about power.”
“The inspector is wealthy and offers you his protection. He’ll pursue you at any cost. It’s hardly different from romantic love. In some ways, it’s more reliable.”
“It’s different,” Mingyu insisted.
“How is it different?”
Mingyu could offer no answer other than she knew it in her skin, her flesh and her bones. When she was with Kaifeng, she had a glimpse of another place and a different life. He made her see what a lie the Lotus Palace really was. What a lie she was, as well.
“You can tell when it’s true. Inside.”
“I thought so, too, at one time.” Ziyi’s mouth twisted, banishing all of the soft prettiness she was known for. “You were the same way with General Deng. He was infatuated with you, but you held him at arm’s length.”
“That was only what you saw on the outside.”
“The general offered you security as his concubine, a way out of here, but you didn’t care about those things. How you must enjoy life in the Pingkang li. This is your domain, where you reign as Empress, above us all.”
Mingyu fell silent while the words burned into her skin. “I didn’t realize you felt this way,” she said finally.
Her elevated status was crucial to the illusion of the Pingkang li. Every young courtesan and song girl saw how Mingyu was celebrated and treasured. She represented all of their desires, everything they could have if they made themselves irresistible.
She turned and regarded her courtesan-sister with a pleading look. “If you want to be Madame’s favorite, then help me escape.”
Ziyi grew still. “You would leave the quarter for Constable Wu?”
The Pingkang li had been her home for most of her life. She knew every lane and alley there and held powerful men in her thrall. She drank the finest of wines and sampled the best of dishes. The Lotus Palace offered comfort and security, she couldn’t deny it. Yet she couldn’t stay here any longer.
“I’m leaving for myself,” Mingyu said.
She held her breath in the silence that followed, but Ziyi merely resumed her task, ruthlessly stabbing an ornament into Mingyu’s hair.
“Don’t bother trying to convince me, Elder Sister,” she snorted. “I’ve seen you twist powerful men to your will. Keep your schemes to yourself. I won’t be dragged down by them.”
The courtesan pulled the paneled doors shut when she left and the click of the lock came immediately after. Mingyu was left to wait for Inspector Xi’s arrival. No amount of artful deflection on her part would keep him away this time.
But an hour later, there was another click accompanied by the slink of the chain and then silence. Mingyu waited, listening and counting each heartbeat until she was brave enough to test the door.
It swung open freely and she peeked outside. The corridor was empty.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
KAIFENG LIFTED HIS lantern as he followed the old beggar through the twisting alleyways. The pile of rags had come directly to his door that night looking for Constable Wu. He couldn’t say who it was who had sent him. Only that she was a woman.
“Pale-skinned,” the beggar had reported in his raspy voice. “Beautiful.”
His heart had reacted before his head. It had to be Mingyu. She had to be in trouble to seek him out in the middle of the night.
“How much farther?” he asked.
“In the ghost market, sir. Just the next corner.”
For as frail as he looked, the beggar moved quickly. They emerged out of the alleys into a narrow lane lined with food stands and merchants selling wares from carts. Lanterns dotted the street, illuminating the night-time gathering.
Though Kaifeng hadn’t worn his uniform, vendors still eyed him warily as he passed by. Between his size and the sword in his belt, there was a constant look of authority about him.
The ghost
markets were unsanctioned gatherings that had cropped up throughout the city over the past few years. Commerce within the capital was supposed to be regulated inside official market areas, with each merchant registered and accounted for. At the ghost markets, moneylenders and pawnbrokers operated beneath the table and merchants sold wares at prices well below the market standard set by the commission. They were thus illegal, but there were so many of them that the night watch no longer cared to break them up.
“There she is,” the beggar announced.
A cluster of food stands spread out before him. Kaifeng could smell the lingering scent of hot oil and roasted nuts as he scanned the crowd. It took a moment for his usually sharp eyes to locate Mingyu. When he did, the sight of her sank in to him, coursing through every muscle and pulse point.
Her silk robe had been traded for one of coarse grass cloth which allowed her to momentarily fade into the beige-and-gray clothing around her. She was still beautiful; nothing could diminish that.
As Kaifeng started toward her, she met his eyes briefly before slipping into the alleyway. He waited before following her.
His heart was beating like a besotted fool. After they parted, Kaifeng was convinced he would have nothing more than the occasional glimpse of her from a distance. And even those would cease once Xi Lun claimed her as his prize.
Mingyu’s glance darted to each end of the alleyway. “I’ve left Madame Sun.”
“Are you not hers by law?”
She rubbed her ear nervously. “I am, but I’ve escaped. We quarreled and she tried to lock me up, but I ran. I was never anything but property to her, and Inspector Xi is the worst of wolves. Between the two of them, they’ll have me hunted down.”
“We need to get inside then, out of sight.”
“No.” Her hand slipped out of his grasp like an eel in water. “I need to go alone. I only came to warn you that you’re in danger, as well. I didn’t tell her where I was,” she added fiercely. “But somehow Madame knew. She guessed immediately that I had been with you. Xi Lun is a formidable enemy. Just...just be careful, Kaifeng.”
He ignored the ache in his chest. “You don’t trust me to help you.”
“I don’t want you to risk yourself.”
“What is your plan, then?”
“I am going to Taizhu, the historian.”
“Because he’s wealthy and an appointed official?”
“Money and power certainly have their advantages, yes,” she remarked dryly. One would never hear an apology from Lady Mingyu’s lips.
He needed to keep his emotions under control. It was important to think now, not feel.
“How did you intend to reach Taizhu’s mansion? The ward gates are closed until morning. It is also well-known that you and the old historian are friends. He is the first person I would go to if I was searching for you.”
She blew out a breath in frustration. “Then who would be the last person you would suspect, Constable?”
The answer didn’t take long to find. “Me.”
Mingyu’s crooked smile gave him all the answers he needed at the moment, but it raised even more questions. If she didn’t want his help, then why come to him first? Why was she always seeking him out?
“But Madame will expect me to go to you,” Mingyu said, her smile fading. “She knows of us. If she petitions the magistrate’s office, you’ll have no choice but to turn me in.”
“I always have a choice.” His tone remained impassive, but something twisted in his gut. He was making a choice now.
“That’s not an answer,” she replied gently.
“My answer is that you can trust me. I have another place we can go, a place no one knows of, not even Magistrate Li.”
The last time Mingyu had been a fugitive, Kaifeng had tried to hunt her down while she exploited every advantage and connection she had to evade him. Now he was the one harboring her from the law. He was a fool to offer his protection, he knew, but Mingyu could make a fool out of any man.
* * *
HE KEPT CAREFUL watch while they traveled past the walls of the East Market. Mingyu remained silent, her eyes downcast. Anyone seeing them walking side by side might have assumed they were husband and wife, their clothing marking them as common folk. Unless they happened to see her face.
Before they were even clear of the section, Mingyu needed to stop to rest her feet.
“If we hire a sedan, then we face the risk that someone can act as witness against you,” he explained as she rested against the alley wall.
“You’re putting yourself at great risk to help me. Why?”
“You know why.”
She regarded him from beneath her lashes. “Do you?”
There were shadows under her eyes and she lacked her usual grace. Yet she was still captivating. Perhaps even more so simply because she was right here, close enough to touch. Seeing her like this somehow opened his eyes to her. He didn’t have to peer through layers of jade and silk, coy looks and flirtatious smiles.
Kaifeng had never been moved by beauty. Nor feminine vulnerability. He was risking himself because he’d come to care for Mingyu. She had become more to him than a lover, more important to him than a woman who just happened to have shared his bed, yet he had so few ways to show it.
“I shouldn’t have let you go,” he confessed. He tried to say more, but couldn’t find the words.
Kaifeng had watched her walk away from him not so long ago. Not because he’d wanted to, but because he didn’t have the language to ask her to stay.
Mingyu’s expression softened as she regarded him. “I shouldn’t have left.”
The street was hardly a place to have such a personal conversation.
“We should keep moving,” he said, his tone rougher than he intended. “Can you walk?”
They had already set off again before Kaifeng realized he should have offered her his arm. Though she walked beside him, there was a chasm between them he didn’t know how to cross. Her touch would have been welcome. He found himself missing it.
The wick in his lantern had begun to burn low by the time they reached the area just beyond the northern edge of the market. A two-story building stood among a cluster of silent dwellings. He’d passed it by so many times during his morning patrol that the location was familiar even in the dark.
“Much of this area was destroyed by a fire several years ago,” Kaifeng explained as they approached the entrance.
“I remember.”
There was no lock on the door. There was no need. Once they were inside, he held his lantern high. A faint orb of light illuminated the interior, though there wasn’t much to see. It was a small room, empty, invaded with cobwebs and dust.
“This was once a tearoom, but the owners abandoned it long ago. The structure is still mostly intact.”
“How do you know of this place?” she asked, pressing closer to him.
“I purchased it.”
She turned to him in surprise. The light danced in her eyes. “You?”
He nodded, feeling an unexpected heat rising up his neck. He’d paid for it over a week ago, the day after that first kiss high up on the pavilion. The transaction had involved every coin in his possession and several rounds of heated bargaining. It wasn’t a whim fueled by a kiss up in the clouds, Kaifeng told himself. He’d considered the building a long time before that.
“I needed more permanent lodging,” he told her. “It will be safe here for now. No one knows of this place except for me. And you.”
His final words hung heavy in the air. Kaifeng had just begun to repair the building. As broken and as unwelcoming as the place seemed, it belonged to him. It felt personal to bring Mingyu there.
Mingyu ventured forward warily. Certainly this was a departure from the glowing lanterns of the Pingkang l
i. As humble as the tea shop was, Kaifeng would have never been able to purchase it had the entire area not been burned out and abandoned.
“There is little in the way of comfort here, but it’s shelter and it’s hidden.”
She faced him as he took her side. “Thank you, Wu Kaifeng. Thank you for everything.”
This time, she took his arm without being asked. The touch shouldn’t have affected him the way it did. Not when they’d already been joined together, man and woman, his flesh embedded deep inside her. Yet his chest tightened when her fingers came to rest at the crook of his elbow. The gesture seemed natural to Mingyu, as if she belonged beside him.
“The storeroom is damp. I found the roof above it needs repair,” he heard himself saying. They were just meaningless words, strung together. He kept talking. “There is a loft overhead. You’ll be most comfortable there.”
He used the lantern to illuminate the stairs, which creaked mercilessly with each step. Once they were safely in the loft, he hung the lantern on a hook in the wall to provide what light it could.
The area was not nearly as empty as down below. Kaifeng had stowed the collection of records he’d taken from the magistrate’s office there. Shoving everything to the corner, he unrolled a bamboo mat over the floor. “This is all I can offer in the way of hospitality.”
“I’m grateful.”
Certainly Mingyu couldn’t stay here. This was a place fit for rats and spiders, not a celebrated courtesan. When he was done with the few preparations, he turned to see Mingyu staring out the window. The paper covering had long eroded away, leaving the panes open to the night air.
“I will have to leave the city,” she murmured. “Here, I’m nothing more than somebody’s property. Either Madame Sun or some wealthy patron’s. If not Xi Lun, then someone else just like him.”
“Then why do you sound sad?”
“Because in Changan, I’m also the notorious Lady Mingyu, the great beauty and the jade temptress.”
She slanted him a knowing and sly look that warmed him. It threatened to make even a hard-hearted demon like him break a smile. She was a temptress. Those looks were finely honed instruments.
