The mid-spring setting sun shone through the western window, casting patches of light and shade across the small hall. Chen Caozhi's attendants and Li Jingshu's maids and servants waited beneath the veranda for orders. Only Chen Caozhi and Li Jingshu were in the hall. It was so quiet that they could hear birds chirping in the parasol trees on the hill behind-
Li Jingshu moved forward on her knees to share Chen Caozhi's mat. Kneeling face-to-face several feet apart, she began, "At fifteen, I left Shu and entered Jing Province, reduced to a concubine. I endured humiliation and catered to his pleasure, while my heart seethed like a boiling cauldron. Master Chen, how do you think I should conduct myself?"
Li Jingshu's voice was low and soft, with an almost unbearably lilting allure. Her tone, too, was mournful and plaintive. Gone were her usual mercurial moods, artful smiles, and smooth manner; instead, she spoke to Chen Caozhi as though laying her heart bare-
A faint fragrance of hibiscus reached his nostrils. Chen Caozhi's dark brows furrowed slightly. "Why tell me these things? Are you trying to force me to inform on you?"
Li Jingshu smiled bleakly and asked, "Master Chen, you saw through my thoughts long ago. Why haven't you informed on me?" When Chen Caozhi did not answer, she continued, "You simply never took me seriously, did you? What could an angry woman accomplish? Besides, I willingly remained a concubine for fifteen years without ever showing any fierce resolve. At most, I merely vented my grievances. Isn't that right?"
Li Jingshu was very good at fathoming men's thoughts. That was indeed what Chen Caozhi thought. If her suffering and hatred ran so deep, why had she not killed or strangled Huan Wen in his sleep? Never mind women-even among