He was Sun Bo Tao, the very man her mother had warned her against! And she had kicked him out of her palanquin! While she was struggling with the feelings he evoked in her, the tally eunuch lowered his head to the ground in the deepest kowtow. With shaking knees, JiYue performed her curtsey to the dowager consort. Then her total tally was announced with clear disdain.
“Average,” the dowager consort said with a sigh. “Only average.”
“Her lineage is above reproach,” the head eunuch said. “Her horoscope shows four fortunate aspects.”
“Yes, yes,” returned the dowager consort. “I know the mother. Her father is a scholar who dreams only of the past, but he is honest, so that is something.” She lifted the ivory stone that was etched with Ji Yue’s name. “Very well—”
The tally eunuch beside her dropped one side of his abacas such that the beads slammed against each other with a loud clack. The head eunuch arched his brow. “Is there something to add? We are choosing the mother of the next emperor. No detail can be ignored. Speak!”
“Only what her porters say,” the tally eunuch responded. “Apologies, dowager consort, but this girl is said to have consorted with a man while in her palanquin.”
“That’s not true!” Ji Yue cried, but no one was listening. The dowager consort had already gasped in horror and the head eunuch snatched up the ivory stone and threw it at her.
“We cannot abide a whore! How dare you insult us with your presence!”
“But it’s not true!” Ji Yue cried, fury making her glare at Bo Tao. “I am not a whore!” Then she dropped to the ground to find her stone. Without that piece of ivory, she would be thrown outside in disgrace.
She saw it just before the tally eunuch planted his foot on top of it. “The porters say the man tumbled to the ground one li to the east. They laughed as he rolled into the dirt.”
“That does not sound like a lover,” said Bo Tao, his voice low and almost bored. “Why would he fall into the dirt?”
“Perhaps the excitement of their lovemaking—”
“It’s not true!” Ji Yue repeated, her face heating until her cheeks burned. She glared up at the man responsible for her difficulties. “This is so unfair!” Then she forced herself to think rationally. She had to forget Bo Tao. He had caused her problem, and therefore was not likely to help her out of it. The tally eunuch—the man she’d just bribed to help her!—was her current enemy. She had to discredit him somehow. “You are a liar. You couldn’t possibly know any of this.”
“Shall I bring the porters here?” the tally eunuch asked.
Ji Yue lifted her chin. Virginal modesty be damned. She had to use her intelligence or she would be tossed out before the competition really began. “Very well,” she said. “I will give you the truth. There was someone with me in the palanquin.”
That silenced them all for a moment, most especially the insolent Bo Tao. He stared at her, one brow arched in surprise. Did he fear she would accuse him? Not likely. His reputation with women was well known. Any association with him would immediately label her a whore. So with a sniff of disdain, she walked to the door of the tent and pulled Li Fei inside.
“Tell them!” she ordered. “Tell them that you sat with me in the palanquin. That we spoke about your family. She is of the Tatala clan and is the daughter of Jia Hai. She likes to sing and has brothers who used to pull her hair.”
The dowager consort pulled out Li Fei’s carved stone. “Is this true?”
“Yes, dowager consort.”
The tally eunuch stepped forward. “It is not true!” he exclaimed. “It was a man who fell from your palanquin!”
Ji Yue spun around to glare at the horrible man. “You are simply lying to get back at me,” she snapped. “One of my ivory strings fell. He saw it and took it. And when I asked for it back, he refused. He knows I will accuse him of stealing, and so has created these lies to discredit me.”
“Truly?” drawled Bo Tao. Ji Yue looked back at him and saw a spark of humor in the man’s eyes. He was having fun? Did he think this a game? Anger built in her heart.
“Yes, truly!” she snapped. “Check his pockets. You will find my ivory beads.”
The tally eunuch screamed his objection, supported by the head eunuch. Fortunately, the dowager consort agreed to the search. The tally eunuch was dragged forward by guards who had entered with Li Fei. They methodically searched his pockets, dropping gold ingots and jade bracelets onto the table. There, amid all the rich finery, sat her paltry string of ivory beads. No wonder the tally eunuch had turned on her. He likely thought she was insulting him with so wretched a bribe! But it was too late for him now with the damning evidence right before them.
The dowager consort sat back with a grunt of disgust. “Have him whipped,” she muttered. The eunuch began sobbing and babbling, but no one listened as he was led away by soldiers. Meanwhile, the dowager consort poked through the pile of bribes, lifting up what she liked and gesturing to the head eunuch to take the rest. Ji Yue’s lone string of ivory remained on the table. “Take it!” the dowager consort ordered. “We do not wish to be accused of thievery by the daughter of a red bannerman.” She sneered the word red since it was the lowest level of aristocracy in China.
JiYue swallowed, now realizing that she had just crossed a line. All knew that the eunuchs were bribed, but JiYue had just exposed the reality of their corruption. A good virgin was supposed to be quiet and accepting—even of unfair practices. Especially of unfair practices. But what else could she have done?
With slow steps she came close enough to lift her ivory beads off the table. She replaced the string with her name stone, praying that the three judges would find it in their hearts to forgive her display of emotion. “My deepest apologies,” she whispered.
Meanwhile, the cause of the problem in the first place sauntered forward. Bo Tao picked up both her stone and Li Fei’s, turning to the dowager consort. “We cannot simply accept the rich ones,” he drawled. “It is unfair and will sow dissension among the bannermen. They have been promised that all their daughters will have the opportunity to entice the emperor.”
Ji Yue waited with breath held. Would she pass through the doors? Would she be allowed the chance to compete to become empress?
Yes! The other two grunted their acceptance. The dowager consort grabbed the two name stones and tossed them unceremoniously into a golden bowl. “Very well. But it will be on your head if they cause more disasters in the future.”
JiYue knew better than to shout her glee, but her eyes watered with gratitude. She and Li Fei would be allowed into the Forbidden City! She kowtowed her thanks while tears streaked her white face mask. At her side, Li Fei did the same. And then more eunuchs came to escort them into the Forbidden City.
Ji Yue walked quickly, part of her afraid that the judges would change their minds if she dawdled. But even so, she couldn’t resist one last glance backward. She knew Bo Tao would be watching. She’d felt the chill of his gaze on her back all through her kowtows. And now, as she met his eyes for one brief moment, she felt fear slip into her blood.
There was a price to pay for his assistance, she realized. She could see it in his eyes—that cold calculating stare that promised…something bad. And yet she felt an undercurrent of sexuality, as well. It made her breath catch and her body hum in an extremely unvirginal way. He was master of the festival and in charge of all the virgins. Did he intend to seduce her and then discredit her? That’s certainly what his reputation suggested. She would have to think of a way to avoid him, to outsmart his devious plans.
But when? And how? She would be at his mercy for a week through the physical exam, the family history exam, and the artistic display.