Zhi Hao’s body tightened in horror. “Did he hurt you?”
She frowned. “No! He is not a violent man, and he loves me.” There was hesitation in her voice.
“What did he tell you?”
“It is what I told him,” she said, taking on that empress tone he so adored. “I forced him to tell me everything. I told him that if I am to be locked forever inside the Forbidden City, then I must understand how it functions. I must take any advantage I can, and that starts with understanding what it is like inside.”
Smart. But he shuddered to think of what she’d learned. Almost as much as he hated to think of her inside that place.
“What did he tell you?”
“As much as he knows. He admitted, eventually, that the emperor is a man in flesh and blood, subject to the same desires. He says the eunuchs have more control over the harem than he does. And that I must be smart if I want to attract the emperor’s attention.”
“Did he have any suggestions?”
“No. He will give me a great deal of money to bribe the eunuchs, but beyond that, he cannot help me.”
Not surprising.
She sighed. “He still says he has utmost faith in me. He believes I will find a way to catch the emperor’s eye. And that I will be empress.”
She spoke those words flatly, as if reciting historical facts of no consequence. He ached when he heard it, knowing the cruelty of her position. He could see that she hoped for a different future, but now knew that her father would not budge. She was destined for the Feast of Fertility.
“I am sorry, Ling Xin,” he whispered.
“So am I.”
They sat in silence for a long moment. He listened to the sounds of the night while he watched her expression shift through anger and frustration to a sad acceptance. In the end, her lips tightened, and she slowly pulled away from him.
“Very well,” she said. “I must find a way to catch the emperor’s eye. You say my dance will not do it.”
“You were very graceful.”
“But that is not enough. Teach me, Zhi Hao. Tell me how to dance in such a way that a man will want to bed me immediately.”
He winced. That was no small task. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked. Meaning, he wasn’t surehewanted to do this. It was already taking all his willpower to keep back from her. How could he teach her a seductive dance without bedding her then and there?
Damnation, he wanted her!
“I am sure.” She lifted her chin in an expression he had come to know well. It told him that she was determined to walk down this very scandalous path. And he could not stop her, even if he wanted to.
“Very well,” he finally said. “Master Gao is gone to thank his own ancestors for last night’s benefit. Your father praised him for his wisdom in bringing me to him.”
She nodded. “That was very smart of him.” Then she arched her brows. “But it was your idea, wasn’t it?”
He grinned. “Yes. But in any event, his family shrine is a day’s travel from here.” He gestured back at his master’s house. “It is empty tonight, except for us.”
Then he arched his brows at her, daring her to risk everything by coming into his home. If they were caught, they could both be killed. And yet, this night, he could not stop himself from jumping down into his garden. He held out hisarms to catch her. And then he waited, daring her to commit to this path.
She did. With barely a moment’s hesitation, she pulled her legs over and dropped neatly to the ground. She was strong enough that she did not need his help, but he caught her nonetheless, relishing the feel of her body next to his.
She was fit. So many aristocratic women were not. And she was supple in the way she moved. Dancing must have come naturally to her for she glided away from him now, making following her irresistible. If he hadn’t felt her body, he would have thought her a spirit sailing through the air.
But she was real. And now she was headed for his bedroom.
Chapter Fifteen
Ling Xin wasfilled with a desperate kind of recklessness. She had no business being in Zhi Hao’s bedroom. Indeed, she had no business doing any of the things she was doing, but after this morning’s discipline from her father, she was more resolved than ever to complete her training.