Mama’s voice boomed through their home, and Ji Yue looked up at her husband with horror in her eyes. They’d been married barely two days and had only just left the Forbidden City with all the pomp the emperor could give. Her parents had been at the ceremony, of course, her mother smiling and nodding with her customary aplomb, but Mama’s eyes had been cold whenever she looked at her daughter. And now, a day later, she was at their new home and the reckoning was at hand.
“Don’t worry, my love,” Bo Tao said. “I will handle your mother.”
“You don’t know what she’s like—”
“Ji Yue! Where are you?”
Ji Yue sighed and stood. “We are in the library, Mama.” She stepped around the women’s screen and opened the door. Mama stomped down the hallway to her, and Ji Yue forced herself to smile warmly, though inside her heart quivered in fear. Mama did not look happy.
“You!” Mama bellowed, completely ignoring her daughter to glare at her new son-in-law. “I know your worth, Sun Bo Tao, and I spit upon it! But for you my daughter would be an empress!”
“Mama!” Ji Yue cried, but Bo Tao held up his hand to stop her. Then he turned his smile on his new mother-in-law and gestured to a nearby chair.
“Would you like some tea?”
“I want nothing from you who ruined—”
“Good, then. That means we will finish by the time the English ambassador gets here.”
Mama frowned as she peered out the window toward the street. “The white devil comes here?”
Ji Yue stepped forward. “The head white devil, Mama. Bo Tao has been named first minister to the Dragon Throne. His salary is commensurate with a general.” JiYue gestured to the area behind the screen. It was tight in this little room, but there was adequate space for her desk. “I will sit here and take notes.”
Mama’s inked-in eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “He lets you take notes on his meetings?”
“I begged her to do it,” he said. “She is brilliant in her notes. You taught her well.”
Mama nodded, accepting her due. “She would have been an excellent empress.”
“In that,” Bo Tao said with a bite in his tone, “you did not teach her well.” Mama gasped in shock, but Bo Tao did not give her time to speak. “You taught her that she is smart—”
“She is smart!”
“She is brilliant,” Bo Tao agreed. “But you also said she was not beautiful.” Then he stepped forward. “Do you know nothing about men, Madame Chen? Her skin glows, her smile is alluring, her waist is willowy and seductive.”
Mama grimaced. “Aie, I have taught her to hide her flaws.”
“There are no flaws, Madame Chen. Her feet are beautiful, and her smile lights the heavens. Had she known these things, she might indeed have caught the emperor’s eye. But you missed her beauty, and so she had no understanding of her true worth.”
Mama stood, flabbergasted by Bo Tao’s criticism. It was the first time that Ji Yue had seen her mother with her mouth hanging open. And in that silence, her new husband continued.
“I saw your daughter’s worth immediately, her beauty, her charm and, yes, her brilliance, and I wanted her for myself.”
“You admit it then!”
He bowed. “Of course. Because I am a man who sees worth even the emperor does not. That is why I am now first minister.” He went and drew Ji Yue into his arms. “I see my wife’s value. I know that she is perfect in every way.” Then he leaned forward. “Just as I see your value, Madame Chen.”
Mama straightened, and her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“One wife who listens behind the women’s screen, who speaks to the visitors’ wives and hears the chatter of children is invaluable. But to have two women—one young and beautiful, the other canny in the ways of the older generation—that would be a treasure beyond compare.”
Mama paused, her brow furrowed in thought. “I serve my husband,” she said slowly.
“Of course,” Bo Tao agreed with a smile. “I would expect nothing less, especially since your husband’s fame will grow when it is known that his daughter is wife to the first minister.” He turned and pressed a warm kiss to Ji Yue’s forehead. “But in our new house, there will be a much larger library with more room behind the women’s screen. And I will have work enough for many assistants.”
“You would allow me to listen!” gasped Mama. “To serve the first minister even though I am a woman?”
He laughed, the sound full and hearty. “I see worth where the emperor merely sees breasts and a womb. Do you wish to work, Madame Chen? Do you wish to help your daughter and son-in-law?”
Mama didn’t answer in words, but her eyes shone with hope and gratitude.
“Do not stint your husband,” he continued. “And I will hear no insults to my wife!”
“I would not dream of such a thing!”
“The women’s area in our home is under Ji Yue’s charge. I will not gainsay her.”
Mama nodded vigorously. “As is right and proper for a good husband.”
“Then we are agreed?” Bo Tao asked. “My wife is perfect in every way?”
Mama bowed her head. “My daughter is most fortunate in her husband.”
Bo Tao laughed as he pulled Ji Yue closer. “I am the fortunate one.” He glanced nervously at the street. “The ambassador will be here soon. You must go now,” he said to his mother-in-law. “There is not room behind the screen for more than one.”
Mama nodded. “I will leave immediately,” she said as she rushed away.
Ji Yue watched her mother depart, amazement in her heart. “You have given her new life, new purpose. Papa’s career could never adequately use her talents.”
“I meant what I said,” Bo Tao murmured as he twisted her to rest flush against his body.
“Yes,” she murmured, growing more distracted by the minute. “Mama will make an excellent assistant.”
Bo Tao pulled her face to his. “I meant what I said about you. You are beautiful and brilliant, and I am the most fortunate of husbands.”
Warmth flooded her heart. “I love you,” she said as she pressed her lips to his.
“And I love you,” he answered. “Plus, I am the most fortunate of husbands for another reason entirely.”
“Oh?” she asked as he pushed her backward against the wall.
“The English ambassador is not due for another hour.”
She giggled as her husband began to touch her in ways that only he knew, taking her to places they could only find together. Then, just before she completely surrendered to his caress, she realized something enormous.
She had won! She wasn’t empress of China, but she had won something much more important: the love of a good man. And that, she decided was a far, far better prize.
THE CONCUBINE
Copyright © 2009 by Katherine Grill.
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