The Lotus Palace

by Jeannie Lin

  The bearded man regarded her with a look of disbelief. Then his mouth curved into a cold smile. “Who is Huilan?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  GAO SUGGESTED THEY search in the taverns and brothels along the docks. The two of them quickly established a system; Gao asked the questions and Huang provided bribe money should it be required. After an hour, they found out who had been searching for a missing child and traced the inquiries back to the captain of a small boat.

  The ship had been docked and left unmanned except for a single watch. Gao was able to persuade the lookout at knifepoint to reveal where the rest of the crew had gone and they set off toward a residential ward to the north.

  The sun had set by then and the streets of the ward were relatively empty. The empty carriage in the street raised Huang’s suspicions. They hurried over and Huang confirmed that it was indeed the Bao family carriage as well as their horse. The placard over the gate had been carved with Taizhu’s name.

  Bai Huang scanned the area around the house. “Something is wrong here.”

  He drew his weapon from beneath his sleeve and tried the gate. It opened to a dark and silent house, but there was movement beneath the portico.

  “Who’s there?” Huang gripped his knife, holding the weapon close to his body.

  Zhou Dan staggered into the pale moonlight with the side of his face dark with blood. He held up his hand to ward them off as a high-pitched shriek came from within the buildings. It was the cry of a child.

  As he and Gao started toward the interior, a little girl ran past Zhou Dan into the courtyard. Huang caught her with one arm as she rushed into him. The girl was fine-boned and delicate in appearance with wide, captivating eyes. This must have been the child that Mingyu was hiding. The girl started babbling in dialect, but he couldn’t make sense of her other than that she was frightened.

  “The lady!” she cried finally and pointed. “The lady, the lady!”

  Yue-ying. His stomach plummeted.

  Zhou Dan stumbled over and Huang handed the girl to him. “Get her out of here.”

  Two men emerged from the house and Gao faced off against them. A quick flash of steel was met with a scream. One of the bandits staggered blindly with a hand pressed to his eye.

  “Go.” Gao held two knives now, one in each hand, as he faced the remaining bandit.

  Huang maneuvered past them into the interior of the house. What he saw made his blood run cold.

  Yue-ying was on her knees. A bearded man had her by the hair. Her head was pulled back cruelly with a knife pressed against the pale skin of her throat and the fragile veins beneath. All it would take was one swipe of his wrist.

  “Stop!” Huang growled.

  The man looked up and he pressed the knife tighter against Yue-ying’s throat in warning. Huang had faced this sort before. The outlaw was intent on spilling blood and negotiation was pointless. He was too late.

  Yue-ying’s gaze flickered to him and Huang saw everything in her eyes. He felt everything in his heart. Blood surged to his muscles. Desperately, he lunged forward, forgetting his knife as he threw his full weight behind the attack.

  Another figure rose from the floor to grab the bandit around the knees just before Huang crashed into him. They were all thrown into a heap while Yue-ying was knocked aside. Huang could only spare her a glance before a blade slashed at him. He twisted away, avoiding the knife, but ending with his back to the ground. The bearded man loomed over him.

  Huang struck upward and felt the hard crack of bone against his knuckles. From there, it was a struggle, instinct and emotion over skill. A hand grappled for his knife. Nails raked across his face, catching his eye. The pain blinded him, but he wrestled his way on top of his opponent and started punching. Once he connected against flesh and bone, he reared back and swung again, each blow propelled by rage.

  Only when he heard a loud voice calling his name did Huang realize the body beneath him had gone limp. He stared down at the slaver, whose nose was bloodied and broken. His eyes were shut, his mouth slack. It was the face of a coward. A killer of women.

  Huang finally looked up to see Gao standing over him, knife in hand. The blade was dull with blood.

  “I never realized what you were capable of, Lord Bai,” he remarked in a tone that might have bordered on respect.

  Huang looked about the room, his head turning in a daze. Taizhu was sprawled on the floor, but his eyes were open. Yue-ying was on her knees nearby with her hand clutched to her throat. Their eyes met and his heart squeezed painfully. He had almost lost her.

  He crawled over and gently pulled her hand away, holding on to it as he made sure she hadn’t been cut. The pulse in her throat beat wildly. He was mad with the urge to press his lips to her neck to assure himself that she was alive and unharmed. Instead, he folded his arms around her as tight as he could, so tight that nothing could get to her, and held her like that for a long time.

  * * *

  EVERY TIME YUE-YING tried to concern herself with anything or anyone for the rest of the night, Bai Huang hushed her.

  “Taizhu is wounded,” she said.

  “He will be taken care of.”

  “Those men—”

  “Constable Wu and the city guards have taken them.”

  “And the child? Where’s Hana?”

  “She is safe. Enough now.”

  Bai Huang led her to a carriage. Zhou Dan sat opposite them. Despite his injury, he was grinning, proud to have survived such an adventure.

  As they rode through the streets Bai Huang held on to her. She pressed close, willing the warmth of his body to pour into her and bring her back to life. Soon they were back in his quarters and secured in his bedchamber.

  “But what about Mingyu—?”

  “She will be fine. You’ve done everything you needed to do.”

  He settled her onto the bed and looked deep into her eyes.

  “What about you?” she asked finally, barely able to find her voice.

  He pressed his lips against her forehead in answer. Then placed a kiss over one eye and then the other. When he reached her mouth, he lingered. There was a quiet urgency in him she’d never experienced before. His mouth was hard, but his touch soft. She wanted to weep against him as she returned the kiss, her emotions a reflection of his.

  He untied her sash and took the time to remove all her clothing so that she was completely bared to him. With the lanterns still burning, he undressed until there was nothing left between them. The hard lines of his body and the old wound beneath his ribcage told a story of him completely different than the one known in the North Hamlet. Yue-ying wanted to believe it was a story that only she knew.

  Beneath his expensive clothing, Bai Huang wasn’t dissolute and sheltered. He was fierce when pushed to it. Protective. When he eased himself into her, it was as if he belonged there, his body fitting inside her until there was no room in her heart or mind for anything else.

  He began to move, stroking deep, gradually increasing the way he had discovered she liked.

  There were no preliminaries, no soft caresses or whispered words. Though sensation built within her, the act wasn’t as much about pleasure as it was about possession. Even when he took her breast into his mouth as her pleasure rose, it was an attempt to claim her further. His tongue rasped against her nipple until she wept and moaned. With each thrust of his hips, he was willing her climax, her surrender to him. And she did surrender, her muscles taut and straining until she thought she would break.

  He remained deep inside her as he peaked, his eyes open and watching her face while he poured every bit of himself into her. So she would know he held nothing back.

  “I want you always with me,” he said a moment later.

  They were both breathing hard, their skin damp with sweat, their limbs entangled in one another. She never wanted to move from the spot.

  “Don’t answer,” he said when her lips parted. He stroked her cheek with his thumb and kissed her mouth
possessively. “Don’t say anything until I’ve convinced you.”

  Despite all his assurances, he was still full of restless energy. He had fulfilled his vow to Huilan and Mingyu was now safe, but something was still weighing on his mind. It had driven him during their lovemaking and turned her skilled and gentle lover into a creature of passion and desperation.

  Yue-ying couldn’t say anything. So much had happened that night that she deserved a moment of peace. She closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of his skin. His words of the past hour wrapped around her like a blanket as she drifted off.

  Everything will be taken care of. You are safe. Enough now.

  * * *

  YUE-YING WAS AT the yamen as soon as the gates opened with Bai Huang at her side. They were forced to wait in the courtyard while Magistrate Li deliberated. His constables had arrested the gang of bandits the night before, while Taizhu, who had confessed to drowning the slave trader, was left at his mansion under watch.

  “You needn’t worry. The magistrate will have to release your sister now,” Bai Huang told her, seeing how she paced.

  Despite his assurances, Yue-ying didn’t feel any relief until Wu emerged from the prison house with Mingyu before him. Her sister stumbled upon the uneven step, but when Wu reached out a hand to steady her, she tore out of his grasp and shot him a poisonous look. The constable’s expression was unreadable as he gestured with his hand to indicate she was free to go.

  Yue-ying rushed to her and they embraced wordlessly in the courtyard. Mingyu felt frail in her arms.

  “Hana?” Mingyu asked, the very first word from her lips.

  “She’s safe. She’s at the Lotus Palace.”

  Mingyu nodded. Her complexion was pale and her eyes appeared sunken. Even so, she was still beautiful: a fragile, tenuous beauty like the last blossom on a branch. Though she had only been in prison for a night, the experience had shaken her.

  Bai Huang’s shadow fell over them. “I brought a carriage,” he offered.

  Yue-ying was grateful for his thoughtfulness. The carriage was covered, shielding them from prying eyes. She and Mingyu seated themselves on one side with Bai Huang opposite them.

  “Lord Bai, what happened to your face?” Mingyu asked.

  The bruises from his scuffle the night before were beginning to show and a vicious scratch raked from the bridge of his nose over his left eye. He ran a hand absently over his chin.

  “Ah, this? I can see why smugglers aren’t the most handsome of men,” he said with an attempt at humor. “It’s hard to stay pretty after a fight.”

  Mingyu stared at him, saying nothing. Bai Huang cleared his throat and cast about for the next thing to say. Yue-ying almost felt sorry for him. She placed her hand over Mingyu’s, feeling for the moment as if she and her older sister had traded places.

  “He was very brave last night,” Yue-ying said quietly.

  Bai Huang met her gaze and a look passed between them that transcended all words. For a heartbeat, she was alone with him once more, naked and straining in his arms.

  Stories of last night’s skirmish were already floating through the quarter. An old historian and a young, foolhardy aristocrat defeated a bloodthirsty gang and managed to avenge the death of the beautiful Orchid of Silla. It was a glorious ending to a tragic story. The Pingkang li devoured the tale.

  “Huilan wasn’t from Silla, but rather from Shandong province in the east,” he explained. “The province was settled by immigrants from the Kingdom of Silla. At one time, Sillan women were so prized as slaves that pirates would raid the coastal towns, kidnapping girls to sell at a high price. The imperial court enacted a law against the practice, but it didn’t stop the pirates. The trade continued on the black market and prices increased. Hana must have been taken from Shandong as well.”

  “And once a child is alone and isolated, she’s helpless,” Mingyu murmured. “If it weren’t for her value as a slave, she’d be left to starve.”

  They all fell silent. Yue-ying reached over to touch a hand to her sister’s arm.

  “I must be blind to have missed the resemblance,” Bai Huang said with forced brightness, looking between the two of them. “Anyone can see you’re sisters. The two most beautiful women in the Pingkang li.”

  Yue-ying fidgeted with her sleeve and wondered why he was reverting back to his flower-prince persona. Maybe he was that nervous.

  Mingyu was too exhausted to be charming in return. “Thank you for taking care of my sister,” she said simply, then laid her head against the frame of the carriage and closed her eyes.

  When they reached the front of the Lotus, there was an awful moment of uncertainty. Bai Huang got out to help Mingyu from the carriage and then Yue-ying and Mingyu started together toward the door. Yue-ying turned back to see him still in the street, watching her with a question in his eyes.

  So much had happened between them in the past few weeks. She had become his lover and companion. What else they were to each other, she didn’t know.

  They had held on to each other so fiercely last night. Bai Huang had demanded her complete surrender. They hadn’t spoken of what would happen when morning came, but some unspoken promise had certainly been made. But it meant little right there, in the street. Mingyu was back now. Huilan’s murderer had been caught and life would return to what it had been.

  Bai Huang raised his hand in farewell and she returned the gesture absently, her thoughts too dulled to think of anything better. So polite after everything that they had shared. He retreated into the carriage and all she could do was watch it drive away, her heart in her throat.

  Yue-ying followed Mingyu back into the familiar walls of the Lotus. There was so much activity and commotion that it was easy for Yue-ying to fade into the background once more.

  Within days, Taizhu sent a long and impassioned petition to the newly crowned Emperor pleading his case. He refused to apologize for taking the life of a man who preyed on others. The divine Emperor brought the respected scholar before the throne to issue a pardon the same day the petition was presented. Bai Huang was a hero as well, though no one was quite certain how everyone’s favorite fool happened to be in the right place at the right time to rescue the historian. Call it fate.

  Then there was little Hana. She was startlingly pretty, even as a child. Her mouth was perfectly shaped like a cherry and her eyes were large and mysterious, the irises so light they were golden in color. Her hair had a reddish tint to it, similar to Huilan.

  With features that were prized as exotic, it was heartbreakingly easy to see why Hana had been kidnapped by the slavers. Huilan and Mingyu would have seen themselves in this girl. Both of them had been marked by the curse of being beautiful.

  Hana was staying with them at the Lotus. She was still timid, never venturing far from Mingyu or Yue-ying. She slept on Mingyu’s bed and was gradually learning the dialect of the capital. They didn’t push her for her story lest they dredge up bad memories, but it was easy to fit the pieces together. Her family was murdered by bandits just as Huilan’s family had been.

  Yue-ying fell back into her duties at the Lotus attending to Mingyu. They didn’t speak in much detail about the killing of the slave trader or the events surrounding Huilan’s death. Yue-ying wondered if they would merely return to what they were before, with so many things left unspoken, but the next morning a soft voice woke her up.

  “I had to rescue her.”

  Her head was still foggy and it took a moment for Yue-ying to recognize Mingyu kneeling on the floor beside the pallet. Her sister was in her sleeping garment and her hands were resting on her knees. She looked so young with her hair tied in a single tail at the back.

  “I had to save someone, because I was too late to save you.”

  “You did save me.” Yue-ying rolled onto her side and rubbed at her eyes. “You brought me here. We’re together.”

  Mingyu fell silent. Her sister had hidden herself for so long, playing a part. It was hard for her to be close to
anyone, yet Yue-ying could see she was trying.

  “I don’t regret what I did, but if I hadn’t stabbed that man, then Huilan might still be alive.”

  “You can’t think that way. What’s past is past,” Yue-ying said soothingly.

  “Huilan’s entire family was murdered. The pirates spared her only to sell her. When she heard of a child whose parents had been killed, all of those memories came back. There are some things one cannot forget.”

  Mingyu bent her head. What was she remembering? The look on their mother’s face before the two of them had been dragged onto the boat? Their parents had sold them for a few coins, but at least Yue-ying could imagine them alive somewhere. And she and Mingyu still had each other. Even when they were separated, Yue-ying had known Mingyu was somewhere in the city. She had kindled a small hope inside her that they would find one another someday.

  “You sent me home from the banquet to protect me.”

  Mingyu nodded. “Taizhu arrived later that evening and when I told him what we knew, he joined the cause. We all convinced each other we were doing the noble and righteous thing, but the truth was all three of us were very afraid.

  “After we followed the traders to the docks, we hid and deliberated what to do. If we waited to report to the magistrate the next morning, the smugglers would all be gone, but then the decision was made for us. Hana was huddled behind a crate on the dock. She had managed to escape.

  “She looked so small and helpless. We managed to coax her out of hiding just as one of her captors appeared, demanding that we return her to him. I don’t know what demon possessed me. I stabbed him when he tried to grab her and then there was no turning back. Taizhu took hold of him and held him beneath the water. The trader struggled for a long time before he stopped moving.” Her eyes looked haunted. “And then the three of us were caught in it together.”

  “But why didn’t you tell anyone when Huilan was strangled to death?”

  Mingyu closed her eyes and a look of pain crossed her face. “It was then that we knew how dangerous those smugglers were. We had killed one of them and Taizhu had blood on his hands. I had to protect Hana, but I had to protect him as well.”