Chapter 2
Madam Yu housed Zhao Si and me in the back courtyard. I was a maid and he an errand boy—fine names for what we would become after a few years of growing. I would be listed as a courtesan; he would be a brothel lackey. Neither was respectable, but we ate and stayed warm. Heaven and earth were vast, but nothing mattered more than living. We were content.
I washed the women’s underclothes and handkerchiefs. Yichun House opened at sunset and closed at dawn, so each morning I collected the soiled silks, washed away perfume and the reek beneath it in icy well water, dried and scented them, then carried them back.
Next door, Steward Zhang lectured the new male servants. Men did not belong in a brothel, he said, but none of them would be there if their parents had loved them. They must abandon their pride. The mistress rewarded good work, but rebellion—he weighed an iron club in his palm—would be answered in kind.
Everyone cowered except Zhao Si, who hid among taller bodies and pulled a face at me. I laughed and scrubbed faster.
One evening I lost my way in the winding galleries. A man caught my hem. “What lovely child is this? New merchandise, Madam Yu?” His hand roamed my back.
Madam Yu leaned from a room and froze when she saw me. “Who let you into the front hall? Get out!”
I tried to retreat, but the man held on. “Now that I’ve seen her, let her drink with me. What’s her name? I’ll take her card tonight.”
A maid whispered that I had just been bought and Master Zhang was dangerous to offend. Madam Yu surveyed me, then slapped the maid so hard she reeled.
“Rotten-hearted fool! When has my house done such business? Will you pay the fine when the magistrate comes?” She glided to Master Zhang smiling. “Our humble trade is difficult, and a celebrated gentleman such as you must sympathize. Besides, the wild child is untrained. Wei Zi’s card is free tonight. Let her entertain you, and put the fee on my account.”
His face softened. Once he was gone, Madam Yu slapped me too. “Idiot! What laundry was worth bringing at this hour?”
Zhao Si charged in wearing his rough old jacket, wholly out of place amid the splendor. He clenched his fists. “Don’t hit A-Xi.”
Madam Yu’s red nails dug into my cheek. “My girl. I hit her when I please. If you truly ache for her, save enough silver before you bargain with me.”
She released me and vanished into the lamplight like a green willow branch swallowed by a stove. Zhao Si and I could say nothing.
That slap woke him. He stopped idling. The capital’s dandies and poets prized face above all. Handsome and willing to bend his back, Zhao Si dropped to his knees beside arriving carriages and became a human mounting block. The nobles scattered small coins in approval.
At night he brought me a taro or half a flatbread saved from his own mouth. We shared it under the moon while he counted his tips. Half went to Steward Zhang so work would come easily; part of the rest bought wine for senior servants so they would not torment him. After everything, only a shaved corner of silver remained. Still, it was hope.
Before he saved one ten-thousandth of my price, Madam Yu summoned me. “Tomorrow you begin serving a courtesan.”
Serve one first, then become one: that was the custom. I twisted my skirt. “Please let me wash clothes for two more years.”
“Do you take me for a fool? Did I spend fifty taels on a laundress? Learn the rules now. Or do you think I bought you for the free boy attached?”
Zhao Si entered and emptied his hard-won coins on her table. “If A-Xi must go, place her with someone kind.”
The copper bulged the purse yet made no sound in Madam Yu’s jewel chest. Steward Zhang dragged Zhao Si away by the ear. I followed Madam Yu through the narrow gate to the front hall, a channel Zhao Si and I could no longer cross freely.
On my first day there, a quarrel erupted. It involved Xiangjun, the house’s little tyrant. She had once been the daughter of General Dingyuan. Her family was accused of treason, stripped of everything, and she was sold into the pleasure quarter. Raised in a military house, she had defeated countless noble sons with her spear. Even after her fall, no dandy dared take her card for fear of entering a crimson bed and leaving for the Yellow Springs. She performed sword dances and otherwise stayed inside.
Now she leaned against the railing, eyes sharp as blades. “The Lu family are pure scholars. How could their daughter enter so filthy a place? The rouge shop is next door, Miss Lu. Did you lose your way?”
Below stood a woman in white, black hair hidden by a mourning veil, stark among the bright dresses.
Someone tried to mediate, calling them future sisters. Xiangjun sneered. “My Shen family were convicted rebels. How dare we claim kinship with a noble Lu and stain their name?” Her dance sword shivered in her sleeve. She had secretly sharpened it until it resembled a butcher’s knife.
Terrified, Madam Yu signaled. Women seized the sword and dragged Xiangjun to her room while two others brought Miss Lu forward. When the veil lifted, Madam Yu’s anger became delight. “What fine material. She’ll fetch a fortune.”
She locked Xiangjun in, remarking that such a temper might break her new porcelain. Then, while turning away, she collided with me. Her gaze swept the women and she pushed me into warm arms.
“Wan Niang, this girl will serve you.”
A woman answered. One door closed, another opened, and I entered a different little room.