Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/208

RV 203 (LI PO) "I've ordered a hundred trunks to be packed with my clothes."

"What a pity that you cannot go with them."

"Am I a prisoner?" she stormed.

"Of my arms," he whispered.

"If Li Po stays, I will not remain."

The Emperor wandered nervously about the room, absorbed in thought. He picked up the clothes she had tom from her in anger, priceless silks that were now mined.

At last, he paused in front of her. The glitter in his eyes was not pleasant to behold but he spoke calmly. "All right. Li Po will leave the Palace. He will accompany me on my yearly pilgrimage to Tai Shan. I had intended taking you, but now your actions have ruined my plans. Though you are a gorgeous creature, there are three thousand other ladies at the Palace, many of them with bodies as soft and fragrant as your own. I have been giving them too little attention. Today one at least will be rewarded with 'Butterfly Luck.' In her arms I will find forgetfulness. Within a few days we will set out for Tai Shan. Until I return you cannot leave the Palace grounds. Then you can decide whether or not you are tired of wearing 'half the robes of an Emperor.' If this Palace still seems a dreary place, you may leave it forever, and I'll never call you back though my heart rots for a sight of you."

So saying, he swept from the room. Yang Kuei-fei watched him go, speechless. Never had he been so harsh to her, but she knew from the expression in his RV 203 (203)