Definitely a trick, but now she was caught in her own lies. If she were indeed desperate for sweets, this would be just the lure to get her to comply. She had to reassure the dowager consort that she could be manipulated by food. She had to keep on the dowager's good side at least for two more days, until after the final selection. Which meant…
Which meant she was just making excuses for herself. She wanted to go, if only because she might see Bo Tao. It wasn't likely, but she would have no chance if she sat here brushing her hair.
'Chen Ji Yue!' the eunuch hissed. 'You must come now or not at all!'
She pushed up from her chair. 'I will come.' He reached out to take her arm, but she jerked it away. 'I will walk on my own.' It was a false reassurance. The eunuch was clearly stronger than she was, but at least this way she could run if she had to.
The eunuch bowed to her, his manner vaguely condescending. He knew more than he was saying, but she could think of no way to get the information out of him. So she simply gestured him ahead. She would follow and keep a wary eye out for problems. And for Bo Tao.
They moved quickly through the Forbidden City. To her surprise, two more girls were being ushered ahead. And straight to the emperor's palace! It couldn't possibly be a real appointment with the emperor, could it? The prospect made her heart race. She would make a better impression this time. She wouldn't talk about insurgents or peasants or anything political at all. She would be sweet and beautiful and…
Oh no! Her hair was still down, flowing about her back like a washer girl's. 'Wait!' she panted. 'I must fix my hair.'
'There isn't time,' the eunuch replied. 'Besides, he likes it better this way. Do you think the timing is accidental? He wants you in partial dress.'
Her hands hovered about her head in indecision. She didn't know what to believe or whom to trust. If only she could see Bo Tao. If only…
But he wasn't here, and she would have to do her best without him. Remembering the way Bo Tao loved touching her hair, how he'd stroked it and buried his face in it, she decided to leave it down. Bo Tao liked her hair free, perhaps the emperor would, too. And why, oh, why couldn't her heart beat fast at the thought of seeing the emperor rather than Bo Tao?
They made it to an entrance hidden by trees and a walled garden. She looked nervously at the opening. Once she stepped through that door, she would be trapped. But they were at the emperor's palace. She couldn't afford to waste this opportunity. And maybe Bo Tao lurked in a darkened room just inside. So with a last glance about her, she nodded her head and ducked inside.
'This way, virgin,' a man's voice sneered.
She glanced behind her for the eunuch who had escorted her, but he had not followed her inside. The last she saw of him was his leering grin as he closed the door.
'This way,' the voice repeated from deeper inside. She looked down the hallway and saw the head eunuch half illuminated by a lantern.
'This is really a meeting with the emperor?' she breathed, hurrying forward. The head eunuch would not be here otherwise, would he?
'The emperor will be watching,' the man responded. 'See that you perform as instructed.'
She slowed her steps and pretended to play with her hair. This was clearly a trap of some kind. The eunuchs were acting too slyly, but how did she protect herself? 'Perform how? What am I to do?'
'As you are instructed,' he repeated. Then he stepped fully into the shadows such that the light fell upon a recessed door. 'Inside there, virgin.'
She couldn't go in blindly. Anything could be on the other side! So she started to take a step back. But just at that moment, another virgin was pushed into the hallway. It was Li Fei, the girl from the country who was the closest Ji Yue had to a friend among the virgins. Her eyes were huge in her pale face and a nervous giggle betrayed her anxiety.
'Ji Yue, have you been ordered to come, too? Well, of course you have. I mean he noticed you that very first night. You know, when we were celebrating the defeat of the Taiping. Of course, you didn't do so well then, but you're here now. Your hair is down. Are you sure you don't—'
'You are late!' snapped the head eunuch. 'Hurry up! Inside now!' He grabbed hold of Li Fei and dragged her forward.
Ji Yue tried to stop them, but there was no room. The head eunuch shoved Li Fei, who in turn stumbled into Ji Yue and pushed her straight into a room hazy with a dirty, bluish smoke.
Li Fei immediately started coughing. Ji Yue's eyes watered, but she was more used to the smell of men's tobacco. Her father loved to smoke after dinner. Except this smell was more than just tobacco. It included opium, spiced teas and men. A lot of men.
'We should leave,' Ji Yue murmured. 'Now.'
To her credit, Li Fei did not argue. She had stopped coughing, but her eyes were watering enough that the black makeup around them was smudged. Ji Yue backed up and felt for the door. She couldn't find it. She spun around, but all she could see was the flat panel of a painted wall. There was a latch somewhere. There had to be!
'Hey ho! Another one!' a man's voice called out in the coarse dialect of Canton.
Male cheers responded and suddenly someone grabbed hold of her arm. Ji Yue tried to jerk free, but he was large and strong, and when she looked up into his face, she saw he was a white man like those from the Dutch envoy.
She would have screamed, but her throat had closed off in terror. Beside her, Li Fei did better. She jerked back from her captor and screamed, 'White devil!'
Crack! Li Fei's head snapped back as her captor backhanded her. This time a squeak of alarm managed its way out of Ji Yue's throat, but that was all the sound she made as her own captor lifted his arm threateningly. She braced for the blow, raising her arm to block it and adjusting her body to kick the brute right between his legs. She doubted this one was a eunuch. He would feel her blow for certain.
But a voice stopped her. 'Do not be afraid, virgins,' the man said in a high voice. It was Duan Xu, the head eunuch's favorite assistant. 'The emperor wished you brought here to entertain our guests.' He sauntered forward, a pipe in his hands. 'Take a breath. It will help relax your fears.'
'That's opium,' Ji Yue guessed.
Duan Xu smiled. 'Have you always wanted a taste? Have some. The emperor's special gift to you.'
'No, it's not,' she snapped. She scanned the room quickly, looking for a way to escape. She saw a dozen or more men—white and Chinese—all lounging throughout the room. The opium smokers were obvious by their glazed looks. Unfortunately, there were not many. The others drank or leered at the other virgins in the room. All of the girls had a pipe pressed to their lips.
And nowhere did she see an exit.
The white man grabbed the pipe and brought it to her face. He was saying something and smiling as if his doglike voice would reassure her. She fought him. She kicked and punched, but he was much too large and she was backed up against a wall with him on one side and a eunuch on the other. They pinned her head and pushed the pipe to her lips.
'Don't waste it!' he growled.
She couldn't move her head. Fortunately that helped her keep her lips sealed. She would not put that foul thing in her mouth! She would not!
Pain lanced through her belly. The eunuch had punched her! She gasped in shock, her knees crumpling beneath her. But the white man was there holding her up by her head. And sweet hot smoke filled her lungs.
No! But it was too late. She had breathed, and the sweet feel of it was…like duck feathers…soft down in her head and blood.
Then it was gone. She frowned as she took more deep breaths. She didn't want the opium smoke, and yet part of her already mourned its loss. Glancing to the side, she saw Li Fei in a similar state. Her skin was pale except for the angry red mark on her cheek. Her body was still held by her captor, but she was not fighting. In fact, her gaze followed the opium pipe as it was pulled away.
'No,' Ji Yue said, trying to force an authority into her voice. 'This is wrong. We are imperial virgins.'
Someone responded, but she didn't understand his words. The other men did, though, and their laughter
