The Last Concubine

lit at each house of his harem save two. He was not yet ready to confront Lan’xiu. And Ci’an could rot for all he cared, and the sooner the better. After her attack upon Mei Ju, he had ordered bars installed on the windows of Ci’an’s house and her door was kept locked. When she was permitted to go out, Ci’an was accompanied by an armed guard.
    The other wives kindly continued to include Ci’an in their parties, but Hüi Wei gave orders that soldiers of the household guard keep her under observation at all times. Despite changing her servants regularly, she had still somehow managed to procure poison and attempted to smuggle it into Fen’s tea when Third Wife first joined the household.
    The court physician was the only person admitted to Ci’an’s home, and only when she was ill. Otherwise she was kept secluded, even from her own daughter until the child had died.
    Hüi continued to enjoy the company of his other wives at intervals while still ignoring the existence of Princess Lan’xiu. And he hoped that point was clearly evident to all observers. He would be naïve to ignore the fact that spies were everywhere—even within his court—and bribes or enough beer could persuade a man of utmost loyalty to pass on what seemed to him an innocuous bit of gossip. So Hüi felt he could be certain Wu Min was completely aware that the gift of his sister had been ignored.
    Hüi was determined to allow at least two weeks to pass before he went to the seventh house, although he was curious about Lan’xiu. Her image remained burned into his mind, though he had barely given her a glance at their meeting. He wondered what her voice sounded like and if her skin felt like silk—
    Whenever he found his thoughts drifting to her, Hüi admonished himself and reapplied himself strictly to his responsibilities with determined vigor.
    He heard gossip of her from his other wives when he went to them, although they had as yet not met her. Hüi deduced that not only had Mei Ju been talking of Lan’xiu, but that the other wives must have spent some time watching her from their windows when she was permitted to walk in the square to get some air. Fen and Huan were taken with her beauty and could speak of nothing else. Alute said in her placid way that Lan’xiu wore pretty clothes, and Bai admired her laugh. But then Bai was a bit of a loon. She had also said that Lan’xiu had twin pixies that sat upon her shoulders, one that made her sad and one that made her smile.
    It amused Hüi to think what Ci’an might have to say about Lan’xiu, but considering he refused to see the second concubine, chances were he would never know.
    Just when he had decided the time was auspicious, an uprising to the west called him away from home. After a hard fought but short campaign, the rebellious king’s head adorned a spike at the gate to his city, a new functionary had been installed to rule and left with enough soldiers to motivate him to a proper sense of loyalty to the emperor, and Hüi was able to return home. Hüi had entertained suspicions that Lan’xiu’s brother, Wu Min, might have had a finger in the plot, but the erring king had refused to confess to anything before he lost his head. Perhaps Hüi Wei’s strategy of ignoring the girl was making Wu Min impatient, and he had always been one to hide his moves upon the chessboard of power behind some gullible pawn.
    Of course, Hüi’s first visit upon his return must be to Mei Ju, who clung to him and examined him for injuries whenever he returned from war. Then protocol demanded he visit each wife in turn, to give each the relief of seeing him unharmed.
    Therefore it was a full month after the princess’s arrival before he sent a servant to light the lantern that hung beside the door of the seventh house.
    “Finally you go to sample the beauty of the princess,” Jiang teased him at luncheon. “Perhaps you will remain to devour after the first nibble.”
    “Have you seen her since the audience?” Hüi asked in a dangerous tone.
    “Only in my imagination, where I often go to spend time these days.” Jiang heaved a ridiculous sigh and assumed a dreamy expression. “I should not dare to enter the household without your permission. The last time I went there, it was at your behest to converse with First Wife.”
    “I know,” Hüi apologized. “I did not truly doubt you. This princess is a thorn in my side, and the sooner she is extracted, the better. I wonder how much of