A Concubine for the Family: A Family Saga in China by Amy Kwei Read Free Book Online

Yes, Orchid would be useful. “Orchid is the only one I can trust.” The bird inside her took flight.
    Orchid looked puzzled.
    “I also thought she might be the most appropriate! Here. Glorious Dragon lowered his voice and pulled out a
cheongsam
and a pair of high-heeled shoes from his briefcase. He took out a Shanghai magazine and handed it to his sister. “Make her up to look like this.”
    Purple Jade thumbed through the pages, examining the photos. “Yes, no one will recognize either of you.”
    “You mustn’t tell anyone.” He glared at the women. “Especially the servants and my brother-in-law.”
    “Your plan is so outrageous, you might just pull it off.” A mischievous grin lit Purple Jade’s face. “I must go with you.” She felt as though she had dived into the limpid water of the lake and shuddered in the sudden chill.
    “What? Oh no!” her brother groaned. “People will recognize you!”
    “I’ll close the curtains and hide in the back of the car. No one will even detect a shadow inside.”
    “You won’t show your face?” Glorious Dragon smiled, his face flushed with excitement. “Good. I’ll tell my brother-in-law that I won’t need the chauffeur, and that I’ll take you out for a drive around four o’clock tomorrow.” He resumed pacing. “Orchid and I will disguise ourselves in the car, and I’ll park it behind the Silver Palace Restaurant across the street from the new Prosperous Dream. I heard that even though Saturday is their official opening, the den is already full of patrons.”
    Purple Jade shivered. Was it due to the imaginary snow-fed lake or her brother’s reckless plans? She felt lightheaded but could not stop. “Orchid, I’ll tell you what we’ll do later.”
    For the rest of the day, Orchid practiced walking on high-heeled shoes in the privacy of her mistress’s bedroom. She pretended she was in the back of the car and learned to take off her cotton jacket and trousers and slip on the
cheongsam
. Purple Jade helped her apply makeup and pile her hair into a chignon.
    Glorious Dragon did not tell his sister that he had already visited Prosperous Dream two days earlier. He found out that by four o’clock, the lunchtime crowd had departed but the evening patrons hadn’t yet arrived. In fact, the service personnel would have their evening meal at five and only a few malingerers would remain in the opium pavilion. The sickeningly sweet smell of opium smoke, mingled with the sour stench of perspiration sent him rushing out into the sunlight, reeling with nausea. To regain his composure, he took a stroll and found a cache of fireworks stashed just outside a corner of the opium pavilion, ready for the opening celebration on Saturday.
    When Glorious Dragon arrived the next afternoon to take his sister and her maid for a drive, no one suspected anything. Once inside the car, Purple Jade drew the curtains closed around the back seat. Despite her practice sessions, Orchid trembled so much that Purple Jade had to help assemble her disguise.
    “You’ll do just fine. Remember how families and fortunes are destroyed by the drug.” Purple Jade applied Orchid’s makeup and tried to keep her hands steady. She repeated the same instructions she had given the day before: “You don’t have to say anything. Just serve the opium the way they served my father when he was alive.”
    “Yes, I’ll try my best,
Tai-tai
,” Orchid answered. She had heard enough about the evils of opium, but she had never entered an opium den. She was intrigued, but also edgy. Her mistress had guided her all her life, and now her blind trust tempered her anxiety and excitement.
    Glorious Dragon drove into a quiet lane to take off his suit jacket. He slipped on a Chinese robe and put on a jaunty hat, glasses and a moustache.
    “Oh you look like a stranger.” Purple Jade laughed nervously.
    They parked behind the Silver Palace. When they saw no one was around, Glorious Dragon helped Orchid out of the