Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/153

RV 148 (LADY T'AI CHÊN) chief and fun; a girl who could thrill to the antics of Punch and Judy, or charm an Emperor. Into her hair she had woven flowers. Even her old Amah appeared younger as she fell under the magic of her smile. In her dew-moistened lips lurked the sweets of enchanted gardens; her cheeks enticed the touch, suggesting sweeter mysteries about which only the brave might dream.

That night she had chosen her own costume. It was so simple it surprised the Amah. But not so the young girls who waited upon her with a feeling of awe. She could have dressed in rags and they would have imagined it to be cloth of gold.

Lady T'ai Chên's costume was of delicate rainbow tones, silk like the dusk of moonrise. She wore neither jade, lapis lazuli, nor pearls; supremely assured that none were needed. For enticement, she added a white feather jacket.

When Kao Li-shih saw her, he wept for the manhood he had relinquished in order to be the Grand Eunuch; though some historians maintain that it was for the Emperor that he wept. What would happen to the Empire now that breath-taking beauty was in power?

Despite Kao's astounded objections, she insisted on taking a lute with her. His knees shook as he wondered how Ming Huang would react to that.

If he had had a beard, he might have tom out all the hairs in his perplexity.

"I do not want the Emperor to be bored," she said shyly. RV 148 (148)