The Lotus Palace Read Online Free PDF Page B

improprieties bordered on the ridiculous rather than the sinister, but noblemen did not follow maidservants into dark cellars with good intentions.
    “Do you like the verse I recited?” he asked. “I composed it after our last meeting.”
    “Your poetry is very dull, as always.”
    He straightened a little, eyes wide with surprise. She regretted her bluntness immediately. Someone like her was never allowed to insult a man like Lord Bai, but her heart was beating too fast to think clearly. She needed to make it clear that she wasn’t Mingyu. She wasn’t a part of his games of courtship and seduction.
    Back in the brothel, the men didn’t come to her for conversation. Though the customers were often merchants and tradesmen rather than gentlemen, scholars didn’t by any means find whorehouses beneath them. Men of rank might exercise good manners in public, but they experienced the full force of lust like any other man. Alone here, without Mingyu’s protection, Yue-ying was as helpless as she had once been, lying beneath men who weren’t looking for talent or beauty.
    Keeping her shoulders squared, she started toward the exit. She wouldn’t show any weakness. She would show no emotion at all and he would see there was no sport to be had here.
    Bai Huang remained at the doorway, his expression now more contemplative than flirtatious. She would have to get past him. She held her breath. Don’t slow down , she told herself. Keep moving.
    At the last moment, he shifted his weight to block her path. “You didn’t get your wine,” he remarked softly.
    She stilled like a hare under a falcon’s gaze. His beauty made him seem suddenly more villainous. He wouldn’t even have to use force. Lord Bai likely thought he could lure any manner of woman into his arms and they should be grateful for it.
    “Move aside,” she said, her mouth pressed tight. Then she wondered if he was the sort of man who thrived on the conquest. She’d known those as well. She softened her tone. “If you please, Mingyu will be wondering where I am, Lord Bai.”
    She added the honorific as an afterthought, hoping not to anger him. And then she’d mentioned her mistress’s name in desperation. If he’d merely forgotten himself for a moment, then he could remember himself now. She hoped Bai Huang was the sort who would be willing to laugh away a misunderstanding if she didn’t make him lose face.
    “So my poetry is dull, you say?” His tone was curious, thoughtful and with a hint of interest. “Why are you the only one who has ever told me that?”
    “This humble servant misspoke. I beg your pardon.”
    She considered once again hurrying past him, back into the light and the crowd upstairs, but he was keeping his distance and his posture was relaxed. His hands were lowered by his sides and he was doing nothing more than watching her, waiting for an answer.
    “Why are you the only one who doesn’t laugh at me along with the others?”
    “I wouldn’t dare—”
    “I don’t believe that’s the reason.”
    Bai Huang smiled, his expression warm. He even made as if to step aside. Like a fool, she relaxed her guard and started for the stairs only to be pulled roughly against him. She braced both hands flat against his chest, but that didn’t stop him from pressing his lips to hers.
    Yue-ying twisted in his grasp. The moment his hold loosened, she struck him across the face as hard as she could.
    The sound of that slap resounded through the cellar, followed by an ugly silence. He stared at her, stunned. She was equally frozen, not quite believing what she had just done. Only the sting of her palm confirmed it.
    Her heart pounded as she waited for him to retaliate. She’d hit a nobleman. A man so high above her, she’d surely be beaten for the insult. But Lord Bai merely straightened, dropping his hand slowly from his cheek. His eyes remained on her the entire time. He looked startled, almost boyishly contrite. His lips parted with the