Beside her, the physician snorted through her thin nose. 'All women labor hard, no matter their age. Come, come, I'm hungry. Let us see your breasts.'
Ji Yue blinked, understanding hitting with a blinding flash. She was to be measured now, stripped naked and evaluated. While
She couldn't do it. No matter what her attributes were, he would judge her harshly, and the physician would agree. That was the way of things in China: the men made the decisions and the women had to go along with whatever idiocy resulted. If he made sure she failed the physical examination, she would be sent home within the hour! Therefore, she had to find a way to oust him from the room, and that meant appealing to the doctor.
So Ji Yue smiled sweetly and dropped into as deep a curtsey as possible. 'Reverend lady,' she said to the physician. 'I swear I will not fight you. I will neither curse nor faint. Surely, therefore, there is no need for another here? Let the master of the festival find his lunch.' That last was for him. Perhaps if he was hungry, she could induce him to leave.
'I have already eaten,' he drawled. Glancing behind her, she saw that there indeed was an empty plate.
'Two steamed dumplings,' the doctor groused. 'But does he think to bring one to the woman who works so hard?'
'Were you hungry?' the master asked with a false smile. 'My apologies. Perhaps we can speed this up.' Coming forward, he pulled Ji Yue around. His touch was firm, but not bruising, and his gaze raked her body without mercy. 'Can you not see what the evaluation will say?'
'That I am perfect in every way!' Ji Yue retorted.
'On the contrary,' the master sneered. 'Your face is barely acceptable. Eagle shaped, your nose is cursed, your tongue is worse.'
Ji Yue lifted her chin. 'Eagle features are striking on women. Their features command respect.'
'Humph,' the master retorted. 'Your breasts are flat like plates. One, maybe two children at most can be nurtured before your chest is empty.'
'You cannot see that!'
'Then disrobe and prove me wrong,' he challenged. Before she could do more than gasp, he abruptly spun her around to stare at her bottom. 'Your bottom is rounded—'
'That's good,' she said as she peered over her shoulder. 'It means I can be passionate. A good quality in a concubine.'
'But yours is too rounded. Your passions will rule you to your detriment.'
'That's not true!' she snapped as she whirled back around to face him. From behind her, the physician cackled.
'Your reaction proves his point, girl. Control yourself.'
It was good advice, but Ji Yue's temper was fully engaged. 'He cannot know these things!' she cried. 'You must examine me to be sure.'
'But why bother?' continued the master. 'She is hot tempered, so her labia will be dry, and her womb too short to support a child. The emperor will have no children by this girl.'
Ji Yue clenched her hands in frustration. He was destroying her chances! Without even allowing her an examination, he was telling the doctor to report that she was unworthy of becoming the empress. 'Why are you doing this to me?' she hissed at him. 'Are you a cat who toys with his prey merely because he can?'
He arched a brow at her. 'See?' he said to the physician. 'Hot-tempered with an eagle's sharp beak for a mouth.'
Turning her back on the master, she knelt before the physician. 'Please, please, you must examine me. Do not let his words sway you. It is your duty to do your task as honestly as you can.'
Her last words were a mistake. The physician drew herself up to her fullest height. 'Do not seek to lecture me on my duties, girl. I know what I must do.'
'Yes,' interrupted the master with a lazy drawl, 'but you need not do it on an empty stomach. Why not go now and find some excellent dumplings? Enjoy them while she meditates on the sharpness of her tongue.'
The woman drew her brows together. 'And then I am to return and examine her?'
The Master bowed. 'Of course.'
Ji Yue gasped. 'But that would leave me alone with him!'
The doctor nodded. 'At least you're not stupid.'
Panic rose in her chest. She could not be alone with this man. He was a playboy, the emperor's intimate friend and master of the festival. No one would believe her if she said he raped her. 'Please, please, Doctor. You must examine me now!'
But the doctor simply shook her head. 'Won't do any good. You're all dried up right now.' She glanced at the master. 'Be smart, girl, and you might come out ahead.' Her gaze steadied on Ji Yue. 'Let him help the fertility flow. If you grow moist, my exam will be favorable.'
Tears slipped down Ji Yue's cheeks. 'He will rape me,' she whispered.
'No,' the doctor said with a surprisingly gentle voice. 'No, he will not. I have known him since he was a little boy. Sun Bo Tao will threaten and tease, he will push well beyond the bounds of propriety, but he is an honorable man. Besides,' she added with a glare at Bo Tao, 'he knows that if he hurts you, I will see to it that the emperor finds out. No man can play with the virgins and be spared. Not even Bo Tao, who has no status here except for the emperor's whim.'
Ji Yue looked up, feeling hope and despair clash in her heart. As much as she might pray that Bo Tao was honorable—was simply just teasing her for some sick reason of his own—she did not believe she was that lucky. Or that any man could really be so honorable. So she grabbed the woman's hands and begged, 'Please, don't go.'
'She has no choice,' Bo Tao said, his voice cold. 'I am the master of the festival. She cannot disobey me.' Then he stepped around and opened the door. 'Go and eat something, Doctor.'
The woman slowly disentangled herself from Ji Yue. 'I eat very quickly,' she said. Then with a last apologetic shrug, she left. The master followed a step behind, firmly shutting the door behind her.
Ji Yue was alone with her nemesis.
Chapter 4
JI YUE SCANNED THE ROOM for a way to escape. He blocked the door, and there was nowhere else to run. 'Why are you doing this?' she demanded. She didn't think he would answer. She asked only because she was stalling as she figured out a strategy. But to her surprise, he seemed to think deeply about her question.
'I don't know,' he finally said. 'You are different.'
She looked away. She knew she was different. And in China, different was very bad. 'I'm smart,' she countered. 'And strong. I will make a good empress.'
He touched her cheek, lifting her pointy chin with a firm stroke. 'I begin to think you are right. Yi Zhen could do worse than marry you.' Then he smiled. 'Don't be afraid; I will not hurt you.'
'Of course you will!' she shot back. 'Why else would you maneuver me this way? Why else would we be alone together!'
'I did not hurt you in the palanquin,' he said.
'You did not have time! I kicked you out.'
He grimaced. 'Yes, I know. My ribs still hurt.'
She stared at him in confusion. He blocked the door, but he made no move to rape her. Up until now, he had merely been a man who mentally tortured her, a man who blocked her path to the emperor's bed. But for the first time, she actually looked closely at his face. She expected that his features would be soft and lax with the indolence of a courtier, but what she saw instead was a hardened jaw and clear eyes in an unsmiling face. This man might be many things, but he was not soft. And that thought surprised her almost as much as it excited her. 'What do you want of me?' she asked.
He smiled, and this time there was no mockery in his expression. 'To test you, Chen Ji Yue. To find out what kind of woman you are. Do you wish to become empress?'
She nodded. 'You know I do.'
