The Last Concubine

an insult Wu Min would take if I sent her back now.”
    “Without going to see her?” Jiang’s face lit up in glee. “I cannot imagine worse. Unless you sent bits of her back in different trunks. But that would be a tragic waste of all that beauty. If I know you, you will find a way to use her and insult her brother.”
    “Everyone keeps saying how beautiful she is,” Hüi said impatiently. “Ci’an is beautiful but dangerous. She would have killed me if she could.”
    “Did she try?” Jiang asked with interest.
    “Yes,” Hüi snapped.
    “Why did you never tell me?”
    “Because you would have killed her, and if you recall, we need her alive so that her father will remain docile.”
    “How did she do it?”
    “She threw a vase at me and then tried to stab me,” Hüi said. “When she found out that I did not approve of her attempts to assassinate my other wives, I told her I would not have her lantern lit again and she flew into a temper.”
    “Did she hit you?”
    “Of course not. I stood still. Women can’t hit what they aim at. And she didn’t have much of an arm for stabbing, either.” Hüi’s lips curled in satisfaction. “I’m afraid the physician was necessary when I got through with her.”
    “Well, you will not experience that with Princess Lan’xiu,” Jiang said.
    “How do you know if you haven’t seen her?” Hüi asked curiously.
    “Ever since Ci’an’s little tantrum with Mei Ju, I have kept tabs on what happens in the household,” Jiang said. “I have a responsibility to First Wife and your children.”
    “And I thank you for that,” Hüi said.
    “And you must let me know how it goes when you exercise your latest mount,” Jiang continued without acknowledging the thanks he deemed unnecessary.
    “It is unseemly to speak of the princess as if she were a horse,” Hüi said, getting a little hot under the collar.
    “I meant your horse,” Jiang said with innocent surprise. “That new yearling that was brought up from the farms last week. She’s a beauty.”
    “You meant nothing of the sort,” Hüi snapped. Then he wondered why he was so on edge. It could have nothing to do with a new concubine. Women were all the same, barring a few details of coloring and suchlike, and he had been through new acquisitions before. There was no possible reason for him to be anxious. That was for the women. It was their job to please him , not the other way around.
    “Sadly, you have caught me out,” Jiang agreed. “But what is a ribald joke or two on the eve of claiming the most beautiful wife you have ever managed to acquire?”
    Hüi’s lips relaxed into a grin and he sniggered. “I must admit, I am a bit curious to find out what she has been thinking all this time. Perhaps she has been relieved to be left alone.”
    “Do you think she will tell you?”
    “No, she seems to be a quiet girl. Even Mei Ju cannot draw her out, and apparently she likes Mei Ju and holds her in respect.”
    “As she should.” Jiang nodded approvingly and then leaned over to brush his fingertips over Hüi’s cheek lightly. “You need to shave. You don’t want to scratch the poor girl to death. She won’t be able to be seen in public for days if you go to her like that.”
    Hüi rubbed a hand over his whiskers, which were heavy for a man of his land. He had always secretly enjoyed that he could grow a beard where most could not. “I suppose it would be a minimum of courtesy to her.”
    “Go clean up, for the gods’ blessings,” Jiang ordered. “And then I want to hear every detail.” He rubbed his hands lasciviously. “The most beautiful girl I have ever seen.”
    Hüi found himself on the edge of losing his temper again but said nothing. He stood up and retired to his chambers to shave. And perhaps he might change to a more attractive robe. He wondered if Lan’xiu might have liked his hair better in a braid, but he kept it short for battle, to give his enemies no handle to grab onto. If long, it tumbled to his shoulders in unruly waves, and he rather thought it made him look fierce and imposing like a lion.
    Again, he had to call himself to order. He was getting hard simply by thinking of her. The one glance of her stunning beauty had started to haunt him, and the flame of desire curled into his belly, sparking his manhood as none of his other wives ever had. During the recent campaign, he had pleasured himself until he was sore, dreaming of her beauty.
    There was something so