The Pirate Empress Read Free Page B

ugly scowl on his face told her that this incident would not go unpunished. Not only had she shown him up in front of Master Yun, but she had also emasculated him before the great Chi Quan.
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    Quick as a fox Li returned to the concubine’s quarters after Master Yun dismissed the class. She hurried to her room and stripped off the Kung Fu clothes and donned her concubine’s costume. One day she was going to get caught. But that day wasn’t today. She combed out her long black hair until it shone, painted her face china-doll pretty. She slipped her feet into dainty flowerpot slippers, dropped the long silk skirt over her feet and tottered from her room to seek Jasmine.
    Her aunt was nowhere to be found. Was she with His Royal Highness? Lately, he required the Lady Jasmine a lot. Poor thing.
    At Jasmine’s room a light shone beyond the beaded curtain. Li slid in and noted to her amazement that she had company. Jasmine lay naked on her back in bed with the brown muscular body of a warrior on top of her. Li gulped in a gasp. Was this what was meant when Jasmine had said that sometimes sex could be good? With this man, and because of the happy sounds coming from the bedding, it could be nothing but good.
    Li started to back out the door when the soldier jerked up his head and caught her staring. He spoke a word that sounded like Huli Jing and flaunted a dagger in his fist.
    Jasmine never saw her. She disappeared from the bed before Li even knew what happened. But that wasn’t what had her speechless. What choked the words in her throat was the sight of her aunt turning into a fox before slipping out of the window.

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TWO
    The Mongol Warlord
     
    “Who are you?” Captain Chi Quan’s lieutenant, He Zhu, left the bed.
    Li gaped at what a marvellous example of manhood he was. He looked nothing like the Emperor. She had seen the Emperor naked in his bath; he was fish-belly white from never exposing his skin to the sun. The blubbery fat floated around his waist and stomach like some sort of boneless sea creature. Before she had vomited on his slippers, the concubines often brought her with them to attend to His Majesty’s ablutions. That routine was quickly dropped at the request of His Majesty himself.
    But He Zhu, he was tall, and brown from waging war in the hot climate of the South Coast, and the fresh scar on his right arm bespoke his valour. Li’s eyes refused to shift from his muscular chest and the ripeness of his jade spear. It quickly dwindled as he realized she wasn’t his target.
    He suddenly smiled at her, amused at her huge eyes and slightly parted lips. “Ah, now I recall. You’re the little concubine. And as lovely as your aunt.”
    Speaking of which, where was she? For one ghastly moment, Li thought that maybe He Zhu was a warlock. Had he somehow magically hexed Jasmine into a fox? She remembered the words, Huli Jing . Fox spirit. Could that jade spear between his legs have been the culprit? Had piercing her with it turned her aunt into a beautiful golden fox? Oh, to escape these yellow mosaic ceilings and endless brick walls. If only it were possible!
    “Young lady,” He Zhu said. “It’s all right, I won’t hurt you.”
    “I’m not afraid that you’ll hurt me,” she said.
    “Well, that look could’ve fooled me.” He grinned, flung his dagger to the bed and started to dress as Li watched. He clamped his chest plate across his breastbone. “So, you’re one of His Majesty’s concubines.”
    “His Majesty hasn’t asked for me.” She didn’t explain why.
    He Zhu frowned. Then he smiled. “I would ask for you.”
    Li was delighted, but decided not to show it. It occurred to her that she was flirting with her aunt’s lover. Oh dear. Her aunt, His Majesty’s number one concubine, had a lover. Did anyone else know? “Where is she?” Li asked.
    Lieutenant He Zhu stared blankly.
    “Do you think I’m stupid, sir? Do you think I thought you were making love to an empty