The Dowager quickly leaned forward. “Of course, my dear!”
“The poets talk about love. Sun Bo Tao is consumed by lust. I fear I am an alien creature because none of those things draw me.” Ji Yue bit her lip as if she were betraying a great deficit. “There is only one thing that I crave.”
“Really?” The Empress was at the edge of her seat. “What is it?”
Ji Yue chewed on a fingernail and tried to look guilty. “My parents don’t have a lot of money. I have two brothers who want to take the exam, but tutors cost a lot of money. And Mama says that they are our future.”
“Quite right, quite right,” the Dowager said. “So you wish money for your brothers?”
Ji Yue blinked just like an ox. “Er, yes. Of course.”
The Dowager smiled and patted her hand. “What a noble goal, Ji Yue, but that is not really the truth, is it?”
Ji Yue hunched her shoulders and shook her head. “Um,no. Not really.”
“What do you want?”
“Um...” She kept her voice low in case Hua Si was indeed listening through the walls. “Do you like candied leechee nuts?”
She frowned. “Candied fruit?”
“Have you ever tasted honey? I did once. My father had it.” She closed her eyes in pretend rapture. “It was the most amazing thing I have ever tasted.”
“You like sweets?”
Ji Yue felt a blush heat her face, shame making her cheeks burn. This had to be the biggest lie she had ever told. Certainly, she loved sweets, but she wouldn’t betray anyone for them. And yet she persevered as if this were her gravest secret.
“Would you like to see?” she asked.
At the woman’s nod, she pulled the Dowager Consort over to Hua Si’s trunk, then reached behind it to draw out a cache of candied sweets.
“But that is Gao Hua Si’s trunk.”
Ji Yue giggled. “I know. I put it there so people would think it is hers.”
Meanwhile the Dowager frowned as she leaned back and looked hard at Ji Yue. “You want sweets. That’s it?” She didn’t sound like she believed it.
Ji Yue quickly replaced the stash after stealing a couple of pieces. Then she looked at the Dowager with calm, honest eyes. “You are right that I am smart. A smart woman understands what she wants and how to get it. Do I want to carry the Emperor’s son? Of course. Do I know that there are spies and manipulations everywhere in the Forbidden City? Of course. And if I wished to hold the reins of influence, then someone might indeed fear me. But...” She shook her head, and her expression turned genuinely sad.
“But?” the Dowager prompted.
Ji Yue thought of Bo Tao, of the things they had shared and done together. The tears that flooded her eyes were genuine.
“But I am working to manipulate one man and already it has cost me. I do not wish to do more.” She abruptly leaned forward, wincing as if in great pain. “My lady, I will do whatever you ask, I will use my intelligence to watch and report whatever you want. The only thing I ask is that I become one of your pampered pets: the girls who are always at your side during meals. That I never go without food ever again!”
The Dowager pursed her lips. “For a girl who is so hungry, you have missed many meals.”
Ji Yue nodded. “Mama said I must. She often denied me at home because she said I would get fat.”
The Dowager studied Ji Yue’s figure critically. “Fat women squeeze their babies.”
“I know!” Ji Yue snapped. Was she really that fat that people could so easily believe this lie? “My lady, I am smart enough to know my weaknesses and my desires. I could be a great aid to you.”
“Hmph,” was the woman’s only response. She wasn’t convinced, but she wasn’t un-convinced either, especially as Ji Yue allowed her gaze to drift back to the secret cache. The candy had been delicious, and she had missed dinner. Her mouth was watering for more.
“Go on,” the Dowager said softly. “Take another. I don’t mind.”
“Do you...do you want one?” she asked.
