by Jade Lee
JiYue swallowed, now realizing that she had just crossed a line. All knew that the eunuchs were bribed, but JiYue had just exposed the reality of their corruption. A good virgin was supposed to be quiet and accepting-even of unfair practices. Especially of unfair practices. But what else could she have done?
With slow steps she came close enough to lift her ivory beads off the table. She replaced the string with her name stone, praying that the three judges would find it in their hearts to forgive her display of emotion. “My deepest apologies,” she whispered.
Meanwhile, the cause of the problem in the first place sauntered forward. Bo Tao picked up both her stone and Li Fei’s, turning to the dowager consort. “We cannot simply accept the rich ones,” he drawled. “It is unfair and will sow dissension among the bannermen. They have been promised that all their daughters will have the opportunity to entice the emperor.”
Ji Yue waited with breath held. Would she pass through the doors? Would she be allowed the chance to compete to become empress?
Yes! The other two grunted their acceptance. The dowager consort grabbed the two name stones and tossed them unceremoniously into a golden bowl. “Very well. But it will be on your head if they cause more disasters in the future.”
JiYue knew better than to shout her glee, but her eyes watered with gratitude. She and Li Fei would be allowed into the Forbidden City! She kowtowed her thanks while tears streaked her white face mask. At her side, Li Fei did the same. And then more eunuchs came to escort them into the Forbidden City.
Ji Yue walked quickly, part of her afraid that the judges would change their minds if she dawdled. But even so, she couldn’t resist one last glance backward. She knew Bo Tao would be watching. She’d felt the chill of his gaze on her back all through her kowtows. And now, as she met his eyes for one brief moment, she felt fear slip into her blood.
There was a price to pay for his assistance, she realized. She could see it in his eyes-that cold calculating stare that promised…something bad. And yet she felt an undercurrent of sexuality, as well. It made her breath catch and her body hum in an extremely unvirginal way. He was master of the festival and in charge of all the virgins. Did he intend to seduce her and then discredit her? That’s certainly what his reputation suggested. She would have to think of a way to avoid him, to outsmart his devious plans.
But when? And how? She would be at his mercy for a week through the physical exam, the family history exam, and the artistic display. Only after those three were completed would she ever meet the emperor and have her chance to become empress. How could she avoid the master of the festival for a full week?
She didn’t know, but she had to find a way. She would not let one arrogant playboy destroy her chance in this competition. She simply had to become empress. Her family’s financial future depended on it.
3
BO TAO GRIMACED at the noise coming from the virgins’ palace. Sixty girls had passed the first examination and gained entrance into the Forbidden City. Sixty virgins covered in finery and oozing hope. Sixty women who had no idea that they would traverse a twisting maze of political intrigue just to find an outhouse. The pathway to the emperor’s bedchamber would be much more dangerous.
He closed his eyes, seeing in his mind the faces of the virgins one after the other. He remembered the sobbing rejected ones and the smug wealthy ones. But bit by bit, their features all blended into one face, one girl who intrigued him as no other: Chen JiYue of the strong legs and fierce expression.
He’d been more amused than angry after she’d unceremoniously kicked him into the muck. Who’d have thought a little thing like her could shove the great Bo Tao into the dirt? Even the porters’ mocking laughter hadn’t truly soured his mood.
No, that had come later. About three minutes later when he realized he would have to walk the rest of the way to the Forbidden City. And he had to do so with muddy torn clothing, a queue that was covered with leaves and grime and a bruise on his hindquarters that ached with every step. All because the vulgar daughter of a poor bannerman decided he did not belong in her palanquin.
He knew this was not a rational anger; he had caused his own difficulties. And yet, with every step toward the Forbidden City, he plotted his revenge. True, the dowager consort and her head eunuch lackey were making most of the decisions, but only because Bo Tao didn’t care which of the girls were accepted and which weren’t. They were all the same, anyway. And it didn’t matter to the emperor who he planted his cock in, so long as she was fertile. The dowager consort was in charge of the girls’ ultimate education. So what did he-as his best friend’s representative-really care about these girls? Nothing.
Nothing at all, except to see the arrogant Chen Ji Yue punished for her crime. Hours later, after he’d changed his clothing and cleaned his face, after dozens of girls had been weighed and rejected, after tedious tears or joyful squeals, she had finally shown up.
He’d seen the horror on her face when she realized who he was. She’d known she was doomed from that moment, but her pert little chin had lifted in defiance. Her assets were tallied according to her ability to bribe, her ancestry was delineated, and the dowager consort was about to give her reluctant blessing. Bo Tao’s moment was at hand. He would simply step up and refuse her on some ridiculous pretext. His aching feet had been waiting all day for that very moment.
And then the tally eunuch had upstaged him. There were dozens of flaws to choose from. Her large feet or her pointy chin, for example. But the damn man had to go and pick on the one thing that was not her fault.
Bo Tao had almost spoken up then. Surely the man had seen her other flaws. Her tendency to speak when she ought to remain silent, for example. The way she scrabbled in the dirt for her etched stone. There were millions of reasons she was not fit to birth an emperor.
But none of them had seen what he saw. None of them knew to criticize her fierce nature. All they saw was another girl begging to be admitted to the Forbidden City. And he could not speak out against her character without revealing that he had been the one kicked into the dust.
Which meant that he had had to defend her. It had nothing to do with her excellent strategy or his surprise that a woman could think ahead enough to plan a defense. She was clearly a clever girl, and he admired her. So he’d spoken up. Because of his efforts, she was now an imperial virgin and the emperor’s property. Which meant, of course, she was completely cut off from her family and friends, beset on all sides by her competitors, and he-as master of the festival-was the only path to her goal.
Did he dare toy with his best friend’s property? The temptation burned in his gut. But he was beyond such childish games, he told himself. His attention was on the larger matters of state. No woman-certainly not a mouthy virgin-could tempt him away from that. His work, however unofficial, was more important. And yet, he couldn’t resist thinking about her delectable lips, the saucy sway of her hips and that last look she’d given him as she walked into the Forbidden City. It was part challenge, part interest and wholly compelling.
Did he dare? Could he resist? Especially since she now owed him for his help. Bo Tao began to grin. Tomorrow’s physical exam would be his next opportunity with the delectable virgin Ji Yue.
“WHY ARE YOU SO LAZY?” bellowed a male voice much too early the next morning. “An empress must be ready at all hours of the day and night!”
Ji Yue gasped and sat bolt upright in her bed. She threw back the covers and put her feet to the floor before she realized how inappropriate that response was. Her roommate, Hua Si, of the long gold necklace that was now a choker, acted as a maiden ought; she pulled the covers up to her chin and trembled in fear at a man’s presence in her room. But Ji Yue stood in her white night shift in front of…
Sun Bo Tao, the master of the festival. He stood at the doorway of their boxlike room and smirked as he stared at her bare calves and feet. Then his gaze traveled upward, and she felt the heat of his perusal slide up her legs, around her hips and th
en to the tips of her pointed breasts.
“How dare you enter my chamber!” she snapped as she quickly whipped the blanket off her bed and around her shoulders.
He arched his brows. “I am the master here,” he drawled, somehow making his words suggestive. “I dare whatever I wish.”
Ji Yue trembled even as her toes curled in delight at his dark words. She should not be intrigued by him, but he had tortured her already in her dreams. She had quivered beneath his gaze and trembled at his hold on her ankle. So his presence now seemed a simple continuation of his dreamtime seduction. But she could not allow him to distract her! So she lifted her chin and faced him eye to eye as a future empress.
“I am the emperor’s concubine!” she responded tartly. “It is not seemly for you to see my sleeping attire.”
“Ha!” he barked. “You are no concubine yet! And no one has privacy in the Forbidden City.”
True enough. Eunuchs were everywhere. Even in the virgins’ palace, they stood silent sentry over bathing, dressing, even peeing. “A virgin, however, requires modesty,” she retorted. “As I am awake now, your task is done. You may go wake the others.”
He arched a single black brow at her, the expression both menacing and…amused? Had she detected a glimmer of laughter beneath his dour expression? If she had, it was quickly erased.
“You will not be so impudent after today’s physical examination, I wager,” he said darkly. “No cosmetics. Today we will see you without lies.” Then he sketched a mocking bow and withdrew from the room.
“You are so brave!” murmured Hua Si as she emerged from the blankets. “You must speak out at every turn. The emperor will be sure to notice your courage.”
Ji Yue barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes at the ploy. If she continued to speak as she did, the emperor would notice her long enough to toss her outside onto a garbage heap. A woman’s virtues included silence and compliance, not the acid tongue she had when that man looked at her.
She sighed and began to dress. “Do you know what is involved in the physical exam?” she asked. She had a guess, but maybe Hua Si had better information.
“I hope it involves food,” Hua Si returned. “I’m starving.”
Ji Yue didn’t respond. She doubted she could eat. Not with the master’s dire prediction poisoning the air. What did he mean? What was to happen that would make her less impudent? And what would she do without cosmetics to make herself prettier?
Without thinking, she pulled out her cream pot. The sweet scent was not makeup, per se. It was merely a special lotion to keep the skin supple and sweeten the body’s smell. Was it cheating to put it on?
“What are you doing?” Hua Si gasped.
“Nothing,” she lied as she stood there, cream on her fingertips.
“He said no makeup!”
“It is for the skin,” she said as she dabbed a bit on her face.
“They will find out you are cheating,” she said haughtily and spun out of the room, balancing perfectly on her tiny feet.
Ji Yue grimaced. Hua Si was going to tell. She quickly washed away the lotion from her cheeks but hesitated before leaving the room. There was one place where a woman’s scent was strongest, one place where it most needed to be sweetened, and it was there that she’d been instructed to use the cream. Making a swift decision, she stroked a couple dabs below, resettled her clothing, then dashed out of the room.
There was no breakfast beyond the barest taste of tea. Ji Yue drank what she could, taking a moment to inspect her competition around the table. As a rule, they were all her age or younger. Though a few seemed composed, most showed their nerves in high tittering laughs or dark acerbic glares. A few had ignored the no-cosmetics rule while others displayed their natural beauty with pride.
And then he walked in and all other thoughts fled. She had been too flustered in the beginning to notice his attire, but now she looked closely. He was dressed in red and black court finery, but casually so. As if he wore it because he had to, not because he wished it. In that respect, he reminded her of her father. But in all other things, he was the exact opposite of her parent. Broad shoulders, commanding height and a jaw tightened in annoyance-he had a confidence that made her long to challenge him, to see if she could best him at his own game.
But then his gaze cut to hers, and her breath stopped cold in her throat. His eyes were sharp and dark, like the tip of the sharpest pin, and they pierced her straight through. Once again, she was immersed in her nighttime dream of him in her palanquin, his hand on her ankle, her knee, her thigh.
“Virgins,” he said, and he seemed to sneer the word. “Virgins! You were told no cosmetics! Those who have ignored such commands will be taken out and summarily washed.”
His gaze was hard on her, as if he knew what she had done. But he couldn’t. Not even Hua Si knew. So she arched her own mocking brow right back. Let him find where she had placed her lotion, and then explain to the emperor how he had discovered it.
He held her gaze for a moment longer, and it was as though a lute string vibrated between them. The tone it created was too low to be heard, but she felt it deep in her womb. And the more they stared at each other, the stronger the note became.
Then a girl screamed, and he looked away. Only then did Ji Yue breathe. And once air returned to her lungs, she had the wits to look around her and see what was happening. Eunuchs were moving through the crowd of girls. They inspected faces and lifted hair to sniff at the neck beneath. Any hint of charcoal or paint and the girl was dragged away. The one who had screamed was so young-too young to be here-and the eunuch was handling her roughly. He had a bruising grip on her arm and another hand dug deep into the girl’s hair as he jerked her away from the table.
JiYue straightened in her seat. Did they not see that the girl was terrified? Away from her family for the first time in her life, surrounded by snakes of every kind, and now manhandled by a eunuch-it was no wonder that the girl was screaming. Worse, her struggles made the eunuch more vicious as he hauled her head back and twisted her arm. And what was this girl’s crime? She’d put a little red paint on her lips! That was all!
Ji Yue stood, instinctively moving to stop the eunuch’s cruelty. It was a stupid move. She could not afford to bring more unpleasant attention to herself. Besides, one less girl would lessen the competition. But she feared for the girl’s sanity, so she pushed forward.
“Stop that!” bellowed the master.
The sound was so commanding that everyone froze. Ji Yue was stuck in a half crouch as she maneuvered her legs and tight skirt over the bench seat. Her legs trembled as she watched the master stomp across the room to the girl, who was-thankfully-no longer screaming. But one look at her face told Ji Yue that she wasn’t breathing, either. Her mouth was locked open, her eyes huge, and her skin had become paler than death.
The master stomped directly in front of the girl’s view. “Breathe!” he ordered.
The girl gasped on command.
“Again!”
She did so again.
Then with a grimace, the master snapped at the eunuch. “Release her hair. What cause have you to be so cruel to these children?”
The eunuch curled his lip. “She wears paint.”
“And she will be washed. But not by you.” At his gesture, two new guards appeared. The master turned his attention back to the girl. At least she was breathing on her own now. “Do not fight me,” he ordered, his voice low but no less powerful.
She nodded slowly.
He glanced at the eunuch. “Go wash the chamber pots, and do not show your face to me again.” Then he gently took hold of the girl’s arm and passed her to another eunuch, one who had kinder eyes and a softer face. “Do not disobey my orders again,” he said to her.
She swallowed but was able to produce a quivering nod. Then she was led away along with nearly two dozen other girls who had applied paint of some kind. Meanwhile, Ji Yue slowly eased herself back into her seat. He saw her, of cour
se. He seemed to be the kind of man who saw everything. As she settled back upon the hard bench, he raised his eyebrows at her.
She knew what he meant. He was asking her what exactly she had thought she could do for that girl against an army of eunuchs? She had no answer because, of course, she hadn’t thought that far in advance. And what right did he have to question her, anyway, even from across the room?
So she did what her mother had taught her. She smiled sweetly with as vacant an expression as possible. If you do not wish to answer, Mama had said, then let them believe you a blank piece of art-beauty without mind-and they will forget you ever disquieted them. That was her plan and it had worked thousands of times before. Until now.
The master’s lips curled in disdain. He did not hide his disgust as he turned to address the whole room. “You who remain will be taken for inspection. You will stand naked before the doctor. You will allow the physician to touch and measure and poke in whatever manner is required. You will endure this in silence, for in such a way we ensure that you are indeed a virgin.”
Gasps of horror greeted these words. Most of the girls had never seen a physician before. But Mama had foreseen this particular trial and prepared Ji Yue. In fact, Ji Yue had already seen a doctor and had the process completely explained to her. Though repugnant, it would not cause her agony.
“And,” continued the master with a sardonic sneer, “this examination will be repeated regularly. I suggest you guard your virginity well.”
Ji Yue frowned. How could she-or any of these girls-lose their virginity here where they were surrounded at every turn? And even if there were opportunities for dalliance, who would do something so stupid?
She wasn’t given time to wonder as the remaining virgins were divided into groups. Ten in each with Ji Yue as the last in her line. The first girl was taken immediately by a eunuch into a tiny room while the others sat outside and waited. And waited. And waited. An hour later, the girl reappeared, her clothing askew and muffled sobs coming from behind her curtain of black hair.
