The Jade Temptress. Jeannie Lin

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СКАЧАТЬ the vital organs were located and how to detect a fatal wound. He knew how long specific injuries took to heal, which blows were fatal and what sort of marks they left behind.

      Despite this training, Kaifeng could never be a physician. Diagnosis was the art of reading someone’s pulse and listening to their breath. It was focused on prediction and intuition. He was never skilled at such guesswork or the art of interacting with others. Autopsy was another matter. It was focused on finding the answer to a foregone conclusion and there were only so many ways to die.

      Kaifeng completed his final observations and then wrapped the body in linen to be returned to the family. He didn’t have high hopes of recovering the head. Whoever had killed the general wished to do more than take Deng’s life.

      Beheading was a punishment reserved for the worst of criminals, for traitors and usurpers. The killer meant to defile his body and condemn his spirit in the afterlife. Or perhaps the killer had taken his head for himself. As a trophy from a conquered enemy.

      * * *

      THE MAGISTRATE’S OFFICE managed to keep the rumors contained over the next day or so, but stories began to surface throughout the quarter. Though it was taboo to speak of death, General Deng was a high-ranking official and anything involving Lady Mingyu attracted attention high and low.

      Kaifeng headed into the entertainment quarter early in the morning. The Three Lanes lay quiet as the inhabitants of the pleasure houses slept off the previous night’s festivities.

      The notorious Lotus Palace was distinguished by its rooftop pavilion decorated with eaves that resembled the petals of a flower. Each night, lanterns hung from the upper floors and the Lotus glowed like a beacon at the center of the Pingkang li. During the day, the towering pavilion could have been mistaken for a temple.

      A young girl, possibly ten or eleven years of age, answered the visitor’s bell. She took one look at Kaifeng and shrank back.

      “I am here to speak to Lady Mingyu.”

      The door shut abruptly and he heard the girl calling for her headmistress. Apparently the young hostess-in-training needed more training.

      When the door opened this time, he was met by a middle-aged lady dressed opulently in silk. Even at this early hour, her hair was elegantly coiled and pinned and her bearing had a regal air to it.

      “Constable Wu,” she remarked with a haughty tilt of her head.

      Kaifeng bowed slightly at the waist. “Madame Sun.”

      He was well-known at the Lotus and many of the houses of the Pingkang li due to that murder investigation a year earlier. From the way the headmistress’s eyes narrowed on him, Kaifeng had not emerged favorably from the incident.

      “It’s quite early,” she said.

      “Indeed.”

      “A little early for visitors.”

      He stood his ground. “This is not a visit.”

      She pursed her lips together, her jaw hardening. “Have you considered, Wu Kaifeng, that your conduct might be considered at times impolite?”

      He considered it now. “Perhaps,” he concluded. “I must speak with Lady Mingyu. If you please, Madame.”

      He added the last part for politeness.

      “Let him in, Mother,” Mingyu said with a sigh. She appeared in the entrance hall behind her headmistress. “I don’t want the constable to think that we have anything to hide.”

      Kaifeng raised his eyebrows at that. He was fully aware of what tricks these women were capable of.

      Madame Sun stepped aside as Mingyu approached. This morning, her robe was plain and muted in color, which oddly accentuated rather than decreased her beauty. Her hair was pulled back with wooden combs, and then allowed to fall free over one shoulder. Without embellishment, Mingyu’s appearance took on a sense of clarity and purity. Flesh of ice and bones of jade.

      “Would you like tea?” She directed him toward the parlor with a practiced sweep of her arm.

      He remained at the door. “There is no need for such courtesies. I am returning to General Deng’s private residence for a closer inspection. If you would come with me.”

      A look of unease rippled beneath Mingyu’s serene expression and Madame Sun bristled.

      “I don’t see why you need Mingyu to perform your duties, Constable.”

      Mingyu raised a hand to silence her headmistress. “General Deng Zhi was very generous to us, Mother. Isn’t it only right that we help Constable Wu in any way we can to lay the general to rest?”

      Kaifeng didn’t know if her words were for Madame Sun’s benefit or his, but the headmistress was unconvinced.

      “We have a reputation to maintain,” she countered. “There are enough rumors without you being dragged around the city by a demon like him.”

      Mingyu leaned toward him in a conspiratorial gesture. Over her shoulder, Madame Sun continued to glare in disapproval.

      “Constable, if you would allow me to meet you at the house?” Mingyu suggested softly. “Madame is very particular who I am seen in public with.”

      Her hair smelled faintly of jasmine and the scent of it curled around him, touching his deepest desires. Lady Mingyu was skilled at this game of courtship. He wanted to tell her that it was wasted on him, but his pulse jumped at her nearness.

      “Do not be long,” he told her gruffly.

      Mingyu met his gaze and he could see dark shadows beneath her eyes. It was said Mingyu could command men with a single, sensuous look, but this morning she appeared exhausted.

      “I’ll be waiting,” he said, attempting a gentler tone.

      “Thank you for understanding, Constable.”

      The moment the door closed, Kaifeng realized the courtesan was clever enough to turn even a hint of vulnerability into an advantage. It was very possible that Mingyu had only surrendered herself to him to create an illusion. She wanted him to believe that she was at his mercy.

      CHAPTER SIX

      MINGYU HADN’T SLEPT. She couldn’t close her eyes without seeing the defiled body, the blood. It had been so long since she had seen Deng that she could hardly remember his face. As if he’d always been headless.

      One of her courtesan-sisters from the Lotus accompanied her that morning. Ziyi had been procured a few years after Mingyu had arrived at the Lotus. They proceeded quietly through the streets side by side, but when they reached the house, the younger courtesan took one look at the yellow notice pasted over the gate and refused to enter.

      A crime has occurred at this place, the notice proclaimed. All are forbidden entry by order of the magistrate.

      Pushing the gate open, Mingyu stepped inside alone. Over the years she had collected many memories of this courtyard and the rooms surrounding it, but those moments were now destroyed by one act of violence.

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