The Last Concubine Read Free

with one hand and taking it back with the other.” He laughed. “It must have gone against his grain to give up that tribute of silver, pearls, and silk, simply to disguise his true intent. He must be confident that he will be able to retrieve it all at some point. Wu Min does not open his fist easily.”
    “He cannot hope that her presence will lead to strife in your household,” Jiang mused in a perplexed voice. “A man does not concern himself with the petty squabbles of mere concubines.”
    “Even Wu Min would not make that mistake,” Hüi Wei agreed dryly. “Have her escorted to the seventh house.”
    “When you do see her, do you think she will tell you why Wu Min sent her?”
    “She may not know. And I shall not see her, not at once,” Hüi said.
    “I thought not,” Jiang said in a satisfied tone. “The news will be conveyed to Wu Min that you have ignored his gifts. Leaving them on the floor as you did when you left the audience room was a stroke of genius. Perhaps it might spur him to an incautious action.”
    “Perhaps,” Hüi said. “In any case, have all the tribute cataloged and taken to the strong room.”
    “With the exception of the Princess Lan’xiu,” teased Jiang.
    “Find out about that family,” Hüi said suddenly. “It must be a most heartless man to send his own sister to endure the fate of becoming a minor concubine in an established household. I could not do it, even if the emperor commanded it. There is something odd behind this whole affair.”
    “I shall see that the princess is established in the seventh house with her servant, but I shan’t make her too comfortable just yet. And perhaps I might arrange a meeting between her and first wife, Lady Mei Ju?”
    A slow smile crossed Hüi’s lips. “I knew there was some reason I kept a jester in my court.”
    “Jester! I am no jester!” Jiang exclaimed in pretended outrage. “The joke would be on you if I took that insult to heart and made humor my primary objective in your service.”
    “I would not insult any but my closest friend so, Jiang.” Hüi rose and placed his hand upon Jiang’s shoulder. “We shall see this through together as we always have, come what may.”
    “We shall,” Jiang agreed.

Chapter 2

    P RINCESS L AN ’ XIU followed the soldier in the lead, conscious of the second soldier, sword in hand, trailing her and her servant. She cast covert glances about her, taking in the strong walls of stone about the palace, too high to scale and too smoothly fitted to offer a toehold if one dared to try their luck in climbing them. And beyond that was a similar wall around the city to be gotten past, if one did manage the first.
    Armed guards patrolled every method of egress to prevent any intruder from getting in. Great artistry had been employed within the walls to encourage the inmates to feel they were within some beautiful park. Trees and bushes had borne flowers in the proper season, although just now a slight powdering of snow lay upon the ground. In despair, Lan’xiu noted the footprints left in the mantle of white that made a stealthy escape impossible.
    She followed docilely to another securely guarded square, a sort of fort within a fortress, and her heart sank when she recognized that this was the harem. It was walled off with great iron gates always kept locked. The soldier used a key to permit them entry, and she heard a bar being lifted from the inside in response to his knock. The soldier locked the gates again once they were inside. However, instead of one great building with communal facilities, she saw twelve separate houses positioned around the square. Bare peach and plum trees stood within the center of the park, surrounded by brown bushes stripped of their leaves by the season. Six benches were set out within the open space.
    Each house was identical, save the first. Where the roof tiles on all the other homes were of cobalt blue, the most splendid home was crowned with brilliant crimson