Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/268

RV 263 (AN LU-SHAN) But he spoke almost like one who had fallen under the spell of a dream. At such a moment, when the mist of moonrise invading the room merged with the stardust in her eyes, he had not the equanimity to contemplate the arrival at the Palace of any other woman.

However, within a week, the three sisters were installed among the Palace ladies and he found them much to his liking. He raised them to the rank of Princesses and gave them the names, Lady Han Kuo, Lady Kuo Kuo and Lady Chin Kuo. Of the three, Kuo Kuo was the loveliest. She was an expert horsewoman and rode astride. Few men at the Palace cared to challenge her to a race. She wore no make-up and was completely independent, perhaps too independent. The Emperor gave all three sisters large grants of land, and an unlimited allowance. Nor did he place any undue restrictions upon them, permitting them to leave or enter the Palace at will. What arrangements were made with their husbands remains a mystery. But they made no complaint so they must have been satisfied participants of an Imperial bargain. After all it is somewhat of a privilege to have one's wife desired by an Emperor.

Ming Huang instructed Yang Kuo-chung to see that suitable houses were erected for his three illustrious cousins.

The work was done with unusual speed. Soon four houses were ready. The fourth house was for Kuo-chung. It adjoined the house of Lady Kuo Kuo. Her Ladyship made no effort to disguise the fact that there was a connecting passageway between the two houses. RV 263 (263)