Page 40 of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

Xifeng approached with caution, as she would a tigress. Everythingabout the scene felt purposefully arranged to increase her discomfort, as with Madam Hong.

Lady Sun’s hair had been swept into a beautiful knot that shone alternately jet-black and russet in the light. Her slanting, heavy-lidded eyes took Xifeng in from head to toe. “I must say,” she said, slender fingers dangling in the water, “I was pleasantly surprised when Madam Hong suggested you assist me. I was hoping I’d get to know you better. Xifeng, wasn’t it?”

Xifeng remained silent, all her nerves on edge. What sort of game was this? She had seen this woman shamelessly taunt another in the presence of the Empress herself. She kept her eyes on the rose petals, which were like a sea of living blood lapping at Lady Sun’s alabaster skin.

The concubine arched her back luxuriously, like a wildcat preening. Her heavy breasts bobbed in the water. “Come talk to me,” she said, stroking the rim of the tub as though it were a man’s bare chest. “Take that stool there and have a persimmon, if you care for them.”

Xifeng obeyed, but didn’t touch the food: tofu fried in chili sauce, green vegetables in a simmering broth, and the persimmons, fragrant in a bowl of cut glass. She hadn’t expected the concubines to eat what she did, but still, the extravagant amount of food surprised her.

“I wasn’t alone,” Lady Sun drawled, guessing her thoughts. “The Emperor was with me. I give him quite an appetite in the mornings. But I shouldn’t speak of such things to an innocent maiden. Youarea maiden, aren’t you? You haven’t left some heartsick peasant man behind on that dreary farm, or wherever it was that you came from?”

“No, my lady.”

The woman examined her through the slitted eyes of a predator. “I notice you and Kang have become fast friends. Interesting how he kept to himself until you arrived and suddenly he can’t stay away. How mendo enjoy a beautiful face, even if they can’t do anything about it anymore.” She gave a throaty laugh. “A word of advice, my dear. Don’t trust any of the eunuchs—especially Kang. No one knows where he came from, you see, and you can’t be sure of an ending unless you know the beginning. Don’t you think?”

The cryptic words were meant to confuse and intimidate, Xifeng knew. It was all part of Lady Sun’s little game. “I’m aware I must be cautious with my friendships.”

“Are you?” Lady Sun’s languid voice filled with delight, as though Xifeng were a monkey that had done something extraordinary. “How clever of you. All the eunuchs are the same, anyhow. They’re men without the danger, but they still want a woman to serve them. I wouldn’t wish that upon you.” She leaned her head against a silk pillow and closed her eyes.

Xifeng watched her with mingled scorn and envy, feeling certain she herself was lovelier. Yet Lady Sun had brought an emperor to his knees. She commanded him the way he commanded armies; she could make him fall at her feet with that supple body and those bewitching eyes.

Guma had taught Xifeng that such women harbored powerful essences, charged with frenetic vitality and potential. She had spoken of them like rabbits—easily captured and killed, their precious lifeblood ready to turn into formidable strength in the drinker’s system. And though she had found the speech terrifying, Xifeng couldn’t help picturing the glorious, burning heart beneath Lady Sun’s ample pearl-white breasts. A twinge of hunger rippled through her.

“You’re an advocate of women, my lady,” she said quickly, to distract herself.

Lady Sun’s eyes opened. “Naturally. You may have noticedIam a woman. Your welfare is my own, I assure you. But I must be boring youwith my talk. Let me show you how you can help me.” Before Xifeng could offer to bring her a robe, she rose from the tub and stood dripping before her, wearing nothing but the rose petals that clung to her skin. Whereas Empress Lihua was thin and frail, the concubine had a healthy, full-figured body. “Come with me.” She strolled to a set of doors at the rear of the chamber, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind her.

Xifeng noted the eunuch guards maintained stony expressions, their eyes fixed on the wall, no doubt through long practice. They had probably remained as stationary when the Emperor had been there frolicking in the tub with her.

Lady Sun strolled through the corridors, paying no heed to the flustered maids who stopped in their tracks to bow. An army of them was parading to the bath chamber, probably to clean up the mess of rose petals. “This is who I wanted to introduce you to. Come closer.”

Xifeng followed her through a heavily curtained doorway into a room lit by ornate lanterns. There were no windows; instead, a hundred bronze mirrors lined the walls, dimly reflecting the opulent silk floor coverings, the dark rosewood furnishings, and the magnificent carved oak bed that stood in the center of the chamber.

The woman bent to pick something up, admiring her own plump, well-fed form in the mirror as she did so. She turned, and Xifeng saw a scrawny mass of grayish hair quivering against her wet breasts: a hideous little dog. It wore a scrap of carmine silk tied around its neck.

“This is Shenshi, mysecondson.” Lady Sun laughed and kissed the top of its scruffy head, eyes on the mirror as she tilted her hips to get the best vantage point of her buttocks. “He was a birthday gift from the Emperor. Isn’t he the sweetest thing? Would you like to hold him?”

Xifeng decidedly wouldnot,but the woman dumped the animal in her arms anyway. She stood holding the trembling mass as far fromherself as possible while Lady Sun preened before the mirrors and ran a hand down her pillowy stomach. The dog smelled like it had been rolling in its own filth. A slick brown stain appeared on Xifeng’s sleeve, confirming her suspicion.

“I forgot to mention, Shenshi is a bit ill.” Lady Sun draped a robe of transparent tangerine satin around her shoulders and flung herself on the bed, dangling her bare legs off the side as she watched Xifeng. “Your task is to care for him while I find another maid to do so. The one I had... didn’t suit. You’re such a dear to help me.” A sly smile crossed her face, one that promised this was only the beginning of the fun.

They both knew there was no one Xifeng could go to—not Madam Hong or Master Yu, who had sent her here, and certainly not the Empress.

No, I’ll deal with this myself.

Xifeng looked down at the detestable rodent of a dog. “It’s my honor, Lady Sun. I hope to serve you in the manner you deserve.”

The concubine’s face froze. “You’re a treasure,” she breathed, and on her lips it was a threat. “You can start by cleaning this room. Shenshi has left a few messes in here, and we can’t have the Emperor seeing that when he returns tonight. Find me on the balcony when you’re done.” She rose, her open robe concealing nothing as she brushed carelessly past Xifeng.

Xifeng dropped the animal, which scurried after its mistress, leaving more foul-smelling streaks in its wake. “A few messes,” as Lady Sun put it, turned out to be the dog’s droppings and puddles of vomit smeared across the floor. What had she been feeding the stupid thing?

“A bucket of water and some rags,” Xifeng snapped to a eunuch outside the door. “Now.”

She wished Guma could see her scrubbing the floor like a servant. Would she advise her to fight back or keep her head down? She almost,almostconsidered lighting the incense to find out and to feel closer to Guma.

“A brilliant destiny, indeed,” she seethed.

As she worked, she imagined a whole series of violent deaths for Lady Sun: boiling alive in the gold tub, which had been filled with cooking oil instead of water, or bleeding out from a shard of one of these mirrors impaled in her perfect white stomach. The vain tart.

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