The Last Concubine

care not to supply her household with arsenic for their cooking.”
    “She must have bribed a servant to bring it to her,” Jiang suggested.
    “You yourself insisted that we change her servants weekly. Soldiers are routinely reassigned before she has a chance to charm them. Besides,” Hüi said dryly, “Ci’an does not possess the gift of making friends easily. Who would want to serve her?”
    “It must be bribery, then. She is getting the arsenic from somewhere.”
    “And you will find out where,” Hüi said. “This must not be allowed to continue.” He returned his gaze to the sleeping Lan’xiu, clasping his hand as if his touch could keep him from the grave.
    Jiang stood up and touched Lan’s forehead. “She seems to be doing better. I think we were in time.”
    “You were in time, my friend. I shall always be grateful to you.” Hüi Wei reluctantly stood up. “I have things to arrange, and I must speak with Mei Ju. She is very upset. And the other wives must be kept safe.”
    “Perhaps it is time that Ci’an was removed from the household,” Jiang said.
    “Perhaps,” Hüi said in distraction. “I will return to Lan’xiu’s side as soon as I can. Let her know if she wakes. When Ning returns, do you think it safe to leave Lan’xiu here within his sole care? I must make some arrangements for Alute and my son.”
    “As long as you ensure that Ci’an’s door is bolted and the soldiers alerted to prevent her escape, I would judge it to be safe,” Jiang said, pulling his lip. “Ning seems to me willing to throw himself between Lan’xiu and anything that endangers her.”
    Hüi nodded, staring at Lan’xiu’s face. It was funny how when he first met Lan’xiu he could see only the beautiful woman. Now that he knew Lan’s secret, he marveled that no one else’s gaze had pierced his disguise. For all the sculpted delicacy of his face, Hüi saw the beautiful young man he loved. It was a shock to realize he had come to accept Lan’s preference in dress and manner so completely that he never wondered over it anymore. The thought of that taut perfect body, hidden like an unsuspected jewel beneath the soft silks and embroidery—he shivered with pain at the thought of never reaching for Lan again, seeking under the womanly raiment for the real treasure of Lan’s silky smooth skin and hard cock—
    Hüi dashed a hand over his eyes to clear his vision. “A tragedy.”
    Jiang answered, “A tragic day indeed, and yet we have cause to rejoice that Lan’xiu did not fall to Ci’an’s plot.”
    “We must discover how Ci’an caused the poison to be smuggled in,” Hüi repeated, still lingering as if he could not find it in himself to leave Lan’s side.
    “Why not simply discover how yielding her flesh is to the steel of your sword? You should have had her put to death years before this,” Jiang said harshly.
    It surprised Hüi; he had not known how bitterly Jiang felt toward Second Wife. “I need to know. I can’t explain…. I need to know…. Watch over her.” With that he finally hurried from the room.
     
     
    J IANG ’ S stomach growled. He glared down at it. It was an inopportune moment of comedy amidst tragedy as so often happened in life, but to be hungry after witnessing Lan’xiu casting up the contents of her stomach was incredibly unruly of his body, in his opinion. He sighed, not knowing how long Ning would linger below stairs. Then he entertained a few ungenerous thoughts about eunuchs, which he repented of the moment the door opened and Ning came in bearing a tray.
    “How is she?” Ning asked anxiously, looking at Lan’xiu’s face.
    “Sleeping,” Jiang answered. “Is that for me? For I could surely use a bit of food.”
    “Yes, I had my supper downstairs.” Ning pulled a small table within Jiang’s reach with his foot and set the tray down. “Excuse me. I thought of another task that must be seen to.”
    He went to a chest against a wall and withdrew a white sheet. He disappeared within the bathroom and returned with the sheet now red with blood.
    Jiang wondered until he remembered Lan’xiu throwing up blood. “What are you doing?”
    “Below, the servants all believe that Lan’xiu has miscarried. I am simply providing evidence that will speak for her. I will not say a word when I dispose of these.”
    Nodding, Jiang continued to eat as Ning left the room with the bloody sheet. Jiang had finished his supper and set the tray on the floor outside the door