but he is an honorable man. Besides,” she added with a glare at Bo Tao, “he knows that if he hurts you, I will see to it that the emperor finds out. No man can play with the virgins and be spared. Not even Bo Tao, who has no status here except for the emperor’s whim.”
Ji Yue looked up, feeling hope and despair clash in her heart. As much as she might pray that Bo Tao was honorable—was simply just teasing her for some sick reason of his own—she did not believe she was that lucky. Or that any man could really be so honorable. So she grabbed the woman’s hands and begged, “Please, don’t go.”
“She has no choice,” Bo Tao said, his voice cold. “I am the master of the festival. She cannot disobey me.” Then he stepped around and opened the door. “Go and eat something, Doctor.”
The woman slowly disentangled herself from Ji Yue. “I eat very quickly,” she said. Then with a last apologetic shrug, she left. The master followed a step behind, firmly shutting the door behind her.
Ji Yue was alone with her nemesis.
4
JI YUE SCANNED THE ROOM for a way to escape. He blocked the door, and there was nowhere else to run. “Why are you doing this?” she demanded. She didn’t think he would answer. She asked only because she was stalling as she figured out a strategy. But to her surprise, he seemed to think deeply about her question.
“I don’t know,” he finally said. “You are different.”
She looked away. She knew she was different. And in China, different was very bad. “I’m smart,” she countered. “And strong. I will make a good empress.”
He touched her cheek, lifting her pointy chin with a firm stroke. “I begin to think you are right. Yi Zhen could do worse than marry you.” Then he smiled. “Don’t be afraid; I will not hurt you.”
“Of course you will!” she shot back. “Why else would you maneuver me this way? Why else would we be alone together!”
“I did not hurt you in the palanquin,” he said.
“You did not have time! I kicked you out.”
He grimaced. “Yes, I know. My ribs still hurt.”
She stared at him in confusion. He blocked the door, but he made no move to rape her. Up until now, he had merely been a man who mentally tortured her, a man who blocked her path to the emperor’s bed. But for the first time, she actually looked closely at his face. She expected that his features would be soft and lax with the indolence of a courtier, but what she saw instead was a hardened jaw and clear eyes in an unsmiling face. This man might be many things, but he was not soft. And that thought surprised her almost as much as it excited her. “What do you want of me?” she asked.
He smiled, and this time there was no mockery in his expression. “To test you, Chen Ji Yue. To find out what kind of woman you are. Do you wish to become empress?”
She nodded. “You know I do.”
“Then what will you do? As the doctor said, you will not pass this test today. You are hot-tempered. Your fertility is already dried up.”
“You don’t know that!”
He stepped forward. “I do. But if you like, you can check for yourself. Think of the place between your thighs. Is it wet and supple?”
Ji Yue gasped, her thoughts going straight to that part of her body. And then she remembered what she had done to keep her private area sweet and supple. She swallowed, trying to act casual, but fear ate at her reason. “Why…why would you ask about that place?”
His eyes narrowed. She wanted to look away, but she could not when he stared at her so intently. “You have done something,” he said. “Something that no one else knows about.” His brows drew together in anger. “Chen JiYue! Are you a virgin?”
“Of course!” she cried. “Of course I am! I have done nothing but—” She swallowed, cursing her errant tongue. What was it about this man that made her stupid with her words?
“But what?” he demanded.
“It is nothing,” she whispered. “Just a cream to keep the skin moist and the petals blossoming.”
His eyebrows shot up. “And did you apply this cream today?” he asked. “Despite my express warning against wearing cosmetics?”
“It is not a cosmetic! It is fruit and herbs. It’s not a paint at all. More like food for…for women.” She looked at him in misery. Her face burned with shame. “Please help me,” she whispered. “The doctor is sure to notice.”
“My, my,” he drawled. “You do have a problem.” He did not sound angry, merely pensive. She did not dare hope that he would help her for no compensation, but she was desperate.
“Bring me a bucket with water. I…I have jewelry. I can pay.”
He reared back in anger. “Do not seek to bribe me, girl!”
“Then what do you want?”
He smiled slowly, but his eyes remained grave. “I cannot bring you water. It would be noticed and even I cannot break the rules.”
She took a step forward. “You are breaking the rules now by being alone with me. Say that someone grew ill, that you wish to clean up the mess.”
“I would send a eunuch for that.”
She grimaced, her ideas—and her time—running out. “What is the punishment for wearing cosmetics?”
He sighed. “You have already seen the punishment. The eunuchs are not kind when they bathe you. And they will be especially cruel where you are most dirty.”
She winced. “Why do you allow such men here?”
He folded his arms. “I do not allow anything. In fact, I have counseled Yi Zhen against it, but we always meet with the same answer.”
“What is that?”
“That eunuchs have been a way of life in the Forbidden City long before the Manchu came and will continue long after we are gone.”
She looked away, cursing herself for her vanity this morning and wondering if she had thrown away her chances with that one simple act. “I meant no harm. It is just a sweetening cream.” Then she swallowed and forced herself to beg. “Help me please. What should I do?”
He waited while she twisted her fingers together in anxiety. His look was pensive, but his eyes seemed to burn. “There is a way, you know, to drown out the scent of your…your fruit and herbs. A way that the doctor will never notice and will boost your attractiveness as an imperial consort.”
She bit her lower lip, barely daring to hope. Could he truly wish to help her? Of course not, and yet what choice did she have? “More creams?” she asked.
He smiled, and she was momentarily struck silent by the beauty in his face. Normally he scowled at the women who plagued him, but for this moment he looked different. Not gentle so much as less fierce. More…seductive. And again she
