Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/156

RV 151 (LADY T'AI CHÊN), "and remain until the moon melts into the dawn."

As she stood there smiling, with cloudlike hair, and flowerlike face and beauty that caused even stars to wonder, it was hard to refuse. Nevertheless he did so.

"Tonight must be spent in the scarlet bed," he told her. "That is my will. Although you seem to have forgotten it, I am still Emperor of China. Tomorrow night, if you wish, we will spend in the garden. But tonight, above all nights, is mine. Here we shall remain."

Her only answer was a smile as she slipped off the feather jacket.

From that night forth the court gradually changed. It became more colorful and gay under the smile of Lady T'ai Chên. Although the austerity with which Ming Huang had begun his reign, such as the forbidding of the use of silk for fans and the burning of jewels, had been much relaxed, the majority of the people refrained from a vulgar display of finery. Naturally the Ministers, the Generals, the Governors and the Envoys had wallowed in magnificence. Pomp was a badge of office; how else could one proclaim his importance?

Ming Huang was tolerant. It was ridiculous, and he knew it. The superior man, according to Confucius, may be compared with jade. If there is a flaw in jade, it can be seen from the outside; and in like manner a superior man will not conceal his faults. Ming Huang RV 151 (151)