Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/287

RV 282 (AN LU-SHAN) "I will climb to the sky," cried An Lu-shan, "and get you the moon!"

"I lay China at your feet," said the Emperor, "and that includes all beneath the sun."

She looked at him and smiled. "Having China," she whispered, "what use have I for moons?"

They were days of enchantment. Only Yang Kuo-chung was miserable. He had been struck down by his own suspicions. An Lu-shan was in better favor than ever. Now he was a Prince. Stubbornly Kuo-chung refused to admit he was not also a traitor. Though he cast no aspersions on his beloved cousin, Yang Kuei-fei, it angered him to listen to the gossip that invaded the Court. He tried desperately not to believe that Yang Kuei-fei and An Lu-shan were associating in complete intimacy, but he failed. They made no attempt to hide the fact from anyone. Apparently the Emperor was not opposed to their association, for he frequently dined with them in her apartments. Why should a General of the army gain such astounding privileges? She called him her son. If that were to be taken as truth then his pursuit of her bordered on the incestuous.

Without the help of Lady Kuo Kuo, he might have succumbed to dissipation, but with her as a brake, he managed to retain some control over his faculties. It never struck him as droll that his actions paralleled those of An Lu-shan. Each of them had become infatuated with one of the Emperor's concubines. RV 282 (282)