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life. Every comfort is provided for. And I am very fond of a good game of cards or mah-jongg.”
    “But we are prisoners within these walls.”
    “No more a prisoner than Hüi Wei.” Mei Ju could see her words meant nothing to the girl. “We all have our own burdens to bear in this world and the one to come. Men are just as much a prisoner of their destiny as any woman.”
    “Perhaps.” Lan’xiu didn’t seem to entirely believe that. “When you get together, is Second Wife Ci’an included?”
    “She is. She is one of us, even though she still schemes and strategizes to win favor from Hüi Wei. In vain, but it amuses us both. The other wives don’t regard her very much as she outranks them.”
    “Why is that?”
    “I shall have to explain them to you. Ci’an, as I said, is a bitter, warped soul. If anyone holds her prisoner, it is her own ambition. She cannot learn to be content with her lot.” Mei Ju watched to see what reaction her veiled words of advice elicited from the princess, but the girl kept her face an inscrutable mask. “Third wife is Fen and fourth wife is Huan. They are never apart.”
    “Close friends then.”
    “Very close.” Mei Ju nodded, pleased that Lan’xiu seemed to understand the situation without having it spelled out for her. “If you cannot find one of them at home, chances are that she will be at the other’s house and—occupied.
    “Sixth Wife Alute is like a perfect piece of carved jade. Beautiful to look at, but the lanterns are not lit upstairs. At least she is of an accepting nature. She would eat whatever you put in front of her.”
    “And fifth wife?” Lan’xiu asked.
    Mei Ju’s face relaxed into amusement. “I suspect you will like her. We all do. Bai is her name. She is very charming and funny, always up to some prank or joke. She keeps us all laughing, even with the short winter days and cold outside.”
    “I shall look forward to meeting them all,” Lan’xiu said.
    “Just be sure you hide a dagger up your sleeve when you meet Ci’an. I suspect that she will not take to you at all.”
    “I shall be careful,” Lan’xiu assured Mei Ju. “I thank you for sharing your wisdom with me. It is most generous of you to condescend to welcome a mere seventh concubine.”
    “I was not always first wife, my dear. I know how you feel.”
    It was Lan’xiu’s turn to look at the older woman with astonishment. “But… how can that be? You are first wife. And you are so kind. I cannot believe you killed off six or seven previous wives as Ci’an aspires to.”
    Mei Ju looked down at her hands, still smooth at her age, with the polished nails showing the half moons at the bases. “I am older than my husband, Hüi Wei. I was once a concubine to his older brother. I bore him children as well, but they were sickly, and none of them survived infancy. I did not love him, but I did my duty. And then, he was killed in battle.”
    “I am sorry,” Lan’xiu said in her soft voice.
    “If Hüi Wei were not the man he is, he could have had me thrown from the ramparts or returned to my village in shame or sold to pleasure the troops. Instead, he came to see me when his brother died and he succeeded to his position. And then, he married me. I have been a good wife to him and borne him six healthy children. I have given him the sons I could not give his brother.”
    “He sounds like a fine man, but why are you telling me this?” Lan’xiu wondered.
    “I don’t quite know.” Mei Ju gave a tinkling laugh. “I wish to offer you comfort. I have been in even more uncertain of a position than you are, but my lord is a kind man. Whatever your brother plotted by sending you here, you need not fear that Hüi will punish you for his transgression. He will be patient with you.”
    Lan’xiu wrinkled her brow again and blinked rapidly. “Thank you for all your kindness to me, First Wife. I thought that luck had turned her back on me, but surely she shines upon me in guiding me to you.