by Jeannie Lin
Already she could see this invitation would be crumpled up, as well. “We can use the discarded papers as tinder,” she said with a sigh.
“You’re overly anxious.” Kaifeng took the brush from her hand and set it onto the holder. “Perhaps this will help.”
Mingyu finally spied the wooden case he’d set down at the next table. Clearing away the writing implements, he brought the box over and set it down before her.
The sun seemed to shine brighter. “What is this?”
“This is courtship.”
Kaifeng wasn’t smiling when she looked up at him. If anything, he looked as anxious and uncertain as she felt as he waited for her to open his gift.
“But we’re already married,” she protested, though she was unable to hide her excitement.
She ran her hands covetously over the polished wood. There had been little in the way of luxury over the last five months. Their wedding had been a small affair at the teahouse, with Yue-ying and Bai Huang in attendance as well as Li Yen and a few other friends. Winter had been a cold one with just enough charcoal to get by and plenty of huddling together at night.
Kaifeng said he didn’t mind that part so much. Neither did she.
When Mingyu lifted the lid from the case, she nearly wept at the sight of the instrument. It was a qin fashioned of dark empress wood, the silk strings yet untouched. She had left hers behind at the Lotus Palace. Her instruments and all of the implements of her trade had belonged to Madame Sun.
“I commissioned this from an instrument-maker in the Chongren ward,” Kaifeng said.
Unable to hold back, Mingyu ran her fingers over the strings to hear them sing. The purity and depth of the sound spoke to the quality of the instrument.
“But this is more than we can afford.”
“The craftsman gave me a good price when he heard Lady Mingyu would be playing it,” Kaifeng assured. Then after a pause, “You’ll have to play well or we won’t eat next month.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, not certain whether that last remark was a jest or not.
“We’ll find a way,” she said, breathing deep.
“There’s always a solution.” Kaifeng directed her attention back to the qin. “The craftsman told me we should inscribe a poem on the back, but I didn’t know any poems. I tried my best.”
Curious, Mingyu turned the base around. A single character had been etched onto the wood. Happiness.
She really was going to weep.
“I’m so out of practice,” she choked out, trying and utterly failing to sound composed.
Kaifeng’s hand rested on her shoulder, his thumb stroking her neck reassuringly, lovingly. “You can play for me now, if you’d like.”
Mingyu did exactly that, with just the two of them alone in their garden that they had created. A hopeful song of spring and celebration floated through the air, finally lifting all her fears away.
* * * * *
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin ebook. Connect with us on Harlequin.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
ISBN-13: 9781460327081
THE JADE TEMPTRESS
Copyright © 2014 by Jeannie Lin
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
