Mother always said that if a woman wanted to stay radiant, she had to know how to nourish herself.
Ginseng and deer antler were useless.
What truly nourished a woman was a young, vigorous man.
Following that regimen, she still looked sixteen well into her forties.
Having grown up under her influence, I understood the secret by the time I turned eighteen.
Scholars were lean, generals solid, actors charming.
I had sampled them all.
The one I found most intoxicating was Shen Zhaoye.
I lavished mountains of gold and silver on him, yet never so much as put an arm around his waist.
Then he came to take his leave, claiming he had found a more powerful patron.
Furious, I followed him by lantern light into Springwater Lane.
When I kicked open the door, he was kneeling beside a couch, offering tea to someone.
The beauty reclining there lifted her eyes lazily.
My lantern went out, and my soul nearly fled with the flame.
“Mother?! You’re sleeping with my man?”
