Murder at the Peking Opera

  Murder at the Peking Opera

  Qing Dynasty Mysteries Book 3

  Amanda Roberts

  Red Empress Publishing

  www.RedEmpressPublishing.com

  * * *

  Copyright © Amanda Roberts

  www.AmandaRobertsWrites.com

  * * *

  Cover Design by Cherith Vaughan

  www.CoversByCherith.com

  * * *

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recoding, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the author.

  Contents

  Also by Amanda Roberts

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Thank You!

  The Man in the Dragon Mask

  The Emperor’s Seal

  Threads of Silk

  About the Author

  About the Publisher

  Also by Amanda Roberts

  Fiction

  Threads of Silk

  The Man in the Dragon Mask

  * * *

  The Qing Dynasty Mysteries

  Murder in the Forbidden City

  Murder in the British Quarter

  Murder at the Peking Opera

  * * *

  The Touching Time Series

  The Child’s Curse

  The Emperor’s Seal

  The Empress’s Dagger

  The Slave’s Necklace

  Empress in Disguise Trilogy

  Empress in Disguise

  Empress in Hiding

  Empress in Danger

  Nonfiction

  The Crazy Dumplings Cookbook

  Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger

  1

  Lady Li cleared her throat and motioned for a maid to bring some more tea. She was doing her best to affect the air of superiority she usually carried, but the woman sitting across from her was a formidable opponent. She willed her foot to still, not tap, and to hold her teacup gingerly instead of gripping it like a vise.

  “Of course, we are more than pleased our son has finally agreed to a marriage match,” Gong Furen—Inspector Gong’s mother—said as she held her head up and tried to look down her nose at Lady Li.

  But no one looked down on Lady Li.

  Lady Li had worn one of her most ornate chapaos, and her hair was perfectly styled around her batou headdress. The jewels she used to decorate her hair were large and gleamed even in the diluted light of the formal sitting room they were currently occupying in Lady Li’s mansion.

  Gong Furen had spared no effort in her own attire as well, but it was clear that her embroidery thread was not as expensive as Lady Li’s and she owned far fewer jewels. But there were other areas where Gong Furen surpassed Lady Li. Specifically in that she had sons, one of whom wanted to take Lady Li’s companion and her late husband’s former concubine, Swan, as his wife.

  Gong Laoye, Inspector Gong’s father, was present as well, but other than the prescribed greetings, he had remained silent. Allowing his wife to handle the negotiations. Lady Li suspected Gong Furen handled most aspects of their life together.

  “But under the circumstances,” Gong Furen continued, “you understand why we would…have concerns.”

  Lady Li smiled and gave a small nod. It was the “concerns” that threatened to show the cracks in her confidence. She wanted Inspector Gong’s parents to accept the match, but in order to convince them, certain aspects of Concubine…Lady Swan’s life would have to be…concealed. She did not want to deceive the Gongs, but Inspector Gong already knew about Swan’s opium addiction and had agreed to marry her anyway. Revealing Swan’s addiction to his parents would only make life for all of them much more difficult.

  “I can assure you,” Lady Li said, “that Lady Swan would be an excellent wife for your son.”

  Swan, appropriately, said nothing, but sat straight with her eyes downcast. Lady Li knew that Swan was eager for the marriage, but she really had no say in the matter. She was Lady Li’s property, passed on to her after their husband’s death. As such, it was at Lady Li’s discretion what happened to the girl, whether she should marry or remain a chaste widow for the rest of her days. Similar to how Swan had had no choice in her first marriage either.

  “I have no doubt of Lady Swan’s many admirable qualities,” Gong Furen acquiesced as she eyed the girl up and down. “I am sure your husband was a man of discerning taste.”

  “Indeed, he was,” Lady Li said, motioning for the maid to refill their teacups. “Lady Swan is from a very respectable family here in Peking. Her father is a calligrapher. He taught his daughter to read and write, and he personally schooled her to have the most beautiful penmanship. She can recite all the classics and she speaks English.”

  “Yes,” Gong Furen said, pressing her lips disapprovingly. “We heard how she…assisted our son on his last case. You know she turned up at our house, unescorted.”

  Lady Li felt her eye twitch and hoped it was not visible. Lady Li had been helping Inspector Gong solve a murder in the British Quarter of the Foreign Legation because she spoke English and he did not. Swan had taken it upon herself to sneak out of the mansion and involve herself in the case as well. She had been helpful, but Lady Li had feared the damage she could have done to her reputation. Married women—even widows—were rarely seen out of their homes, and never unescorted. But Swan had ended up going to Inspector Gong’s home because she was—rightly—afraid of returning home to Lady Li, who would have beaten her soundly had Inspector Gong not been there to still her hand.

  Lady Li gave a small chuckle, as if the incident had not been as serious as they all knew it was. “Lady Swan certainly showed her industriousness that day. I daresay Inspector Gong might not have been able to solve the case without her.”

  Gong Furen leaned back in her chair and sighed. “Yes, I do think that her usefulness to him on that occasion is why he has become so insistent on this match.” She looked at her husband, Gong Laoye, but he stayed quiet, offering no help to his wife in this situation. It was clear that he would accept whatever ruling his wife made.

  “I believe that Inspector Gong wants a wife who is both dutiful and useful,” Lady Li offered. “One who will be able to raise his children and run his household while he is busy working for the prince and keeping the city safe.”

  “Gods willing, she won’t have to run the household for many years,” Gong Furen said. It was tradition for sons to stay with their family even after marriage. And Lady Li knew that Inspector Gong had older brothers who were already married as well. Even after Gong Furen passed away, Swan would be the least of the next generation of wives. Lady Li feared that Swan’s desire to marry was blinding her to the difficulties of having to kowtow to a mother-in-law and elder sisters-in-law, but that was something that Swan would eventually learn on her own should the marriage happen.

  “But raising children…” Gong Furen said, and Lady Li felt her heart clinch in her chest. “We do hope that sons would come quickly. Our son has waited much too long to accept a wife. We do not want to delay any children.”

  Lady Li nodded. “Of course,” she said. “My husband passed away
so soon after Swan joined our household, she was never blessed with a child of her own. But she has been a wonderful aunt to my daughters.”

  Please don’t ask more. Please don’t ask more, Lady Li prayed silently as Gong Furen looked at Swan again.

  “Stand up, girl,” Gong Furen ordered Swan. Swan glanced at Lady Li, who nodded her permission.

  Swan stood up gracefully, not wobbling even for a moment on her pot-bottom shoes.

  “Turn around,” Gong Furen said, and Swan did so. Gong Furen tisked her tongue and shook her head. “She is awfully skinny. It could be difficult for her to bear healthy children.”

  Lady Li laughed again. “Nothing some heavy meals and happiness won’t cure,” Lady Li said, motioning for Swan to retake her seat. “She mourned greatly for Lord Yun when he passed. She fasted for months. Her normal appetite seems to have never returned to her. But I am sure that once she has a new husband to warm her heart and her bed, a robust appetite—and hearty sons—will follow.”

  “And she is already twenty years old?” Gong Furen asked, looking for every opportunity to undermine Swan’s suitability as a wife.

  Lady Li forced her disgust at the conversation down her throat. This was actually the first time Lady Li had been involved in marriage negotiations. She did not arrange her own marriage or Swan’s, and her own daughters were not yet of a marrying age. She knew the general routine of the two families coming together to reach an agreement, but she didn’t realize how offensive the whole process was, as though they were bartering over the quality and price of a new heifer.

  “Yes,” Lady Li finally said. “She was only sixteen when my husband took her as a concubine, and that was four years ago.”

  “A concubine,” Gong Furen said. “Not a wife.”

  Lady Li did not respond but could not suppress her eyebrow from raising. What did Gong Furen expect? Lady Li was Lord Yun’s wife; he could not have another.

  “It is this matter of taking the girl to wife that has me the most concerned,” Gong Furen said, trying to explain her position. “The girl has already been a concubine, and is past a suitable marriage age. My husband and I believe that taking Lady Swan as a concubine would be more appropriate. That way, after our son has grown more amiable to the idea of having a family of his own, he will still be able to take a wife later…A Han wife.”

  While it was generally looked down upon, it was not uncommon for a man to take a concubine before taking a wife. It was a way for a man to have the benefits of having a wife without the legal constraints of one, though it generally only happened among lower class people, such as men who could not afford a wife but hoped to buy one later. For Gong Furen to suggest that Swan be given to Inspector Gong as a concubine and not a first wife was a grave insult. Normally, a family as privileged as Lady Li’s or Swan’s would reject such an offer handily. But Swan had few other options. In fact, she had no other marriage prospects. So Lady Li once again pushed her anger deep into the pit of her stomach and forced a smile to her face.

  “Lady Swan is the chaste widow of a great lord,” Lady Li said. “She has everything she could ever need here in my home, and I value her company. I would not let her leave my home as anything less than a proper wife. Besides, I have spoken to Inspector Gong on this matter already, and he gave me his word that he would take Lady Swan as his wife. And I know how much he values his word.”

  Gong Furen’s nostrils flared and she stared at Lady Li as though she could cow her with just a glance. But Lady Li did not budge. She did not show anger or fear. Her face was as emotionless as stone. Truly, she had nothing to gain or lose from the situation. Her only concern was doing the best she could by Swan, and right now, she wondered if calling off the match would be in Swan’s best interest. She couldn’t imagine being subjected to such an overbearing mother-in-law for the rest of her life. But she doubted Swan would ever thank her if she sabotaged her one chance at a new marriage.

  Finally, Gong Furen stood, and her husband followed suit. “Thank you for your hospitality,” she said with a slight bend of her knees, one not deep enough to show Lady Li the respect her station deserved, but just enough for Gong Furen to display her general dissatisfaction with the situation. “We will speak once more with our son and let you know if further arrangements are to be made.”

  Lady Li gave the Gongs a polite bend of her neck. Swan stood from her seat and then kneeled as low as she could on her pot-bottom shoes.

  “I look forward to hearing from you soon,” Lady Li said, and then motioned for Eunuch Bai, who had been standing silently to one side the whole time, to escort her guests out.

  As soon as they were out of view, Lady Li collapsed back into her chair. “What an insufferable woman!” she said to Swan. “Are you sure you want to go through with this after meeting her?”

  “I think it went rather well,” Swan said, her face all smiles now that she didn’t have to play the part of a humble servant.

  “How can you think that?” Lady Li asked, kicking off her pot-bottom shoes and flexing her toes. “It was like haggling for fish at the market.”

  “But people only haggle over something they really want,” Swan said as she snuck to the doorway to make sure they had completely gone. “They are just hoping you’ll take a lower bride price, but they know they’ll have to accept the match.”

  Lady Li shook her head, surprised by Swan’s optimism and astuteness. “I think you may be right about that. If she wants Inspector Gong to marry, she’ll have to accept you. He said he wouldn’t marry anyone else.”

  Swan somehow managed to spin around on her tall shoes in a graceful twirl. “I can’t believe I am finally going to be married again!”

  Lady Li smiled but had to suppress a hint of her own sadness that tried to bubble up.

  What she wouldn’t give to be the one that Inspector Gong was wanting to marry.

  She could never admit it out loud, though, of course. Unlike Swan, she simply wasn’t in a position to marry. As a first wife, it was her duty to remain a chaste widow for the rest of her life. Even if she didn’t care about that, she didn’t want to hand over her immense wealth to a new husband and risk losing her daughters’ dowries or compromise their status. As of right now, her oldest daughter was on the short list of possible consorts for the young emperor when he came of age. One day she could be the mother of the next empress of China! No, she couldn’t marry. She had to stay the course that had been laid out for her.

  “There is going to be so much to do!” Swan said, still dreaming of her wedding day. “I need to work on my embroidery. I still have many pieces in my trunk from my first marriage, but I am sure Mother Gong would appreciate some new ones. And I’ll need a new wedding gown. Do you think Popo will let me take back the pots and cooking utensils I brought with me? And Mama and Baba will need new clothes as well. They will be so excited to know that I’m going to be a wife and not just a concubine anymore!”

  She droned on as she went back to her own room with her wish list and things to do. There would actually be very little for Swan to do other than work on her embroidery. Weddings were always planned by the parents, and while Lady Li wasn’t her mother, she was her guardian, so much of the responsibility would fall to her. She groaned at the idea of having to plan a wedding with Gong Furen. Maybe she should reach out to Swan’s mother and graciously offer her the chance to plan her daughter’s second wedding.

  “Mama! Mama!” her daughters cried out as they ran into the room waving a pamphlet in the air. They had just returned from visiting a nearby temple with Popo, their paternal grandmother.

  Popo slowly passed by the room, leaning on her cane, but there was a smile on her face. Just a few short months ago, when Popo was living alone, she never had the strength to visit the temple, much less with her granddaughters in tow. While others might look at Popo and see a weak and frail woman, she was much improved from before.

  “How was temple, Popo?” Lady Li asked.

  “So many beggars!”
Popo said with a shake of her head. “Hard times are upon us. Hard times, indeed.”

  Lady Li nodded as Popo went on past to her own quarters for a rest.

  “What is this?” Lady Li asked as she returned her attention to her daughters as they fought over who got to climb up into her lap. Second Daughter won, though Lady Li thought that First Daughter must have let her win since she could have easily pushed her smaller sister out of the way.

  “There is going to be a great opera performance tonight!” First Daughter said as she showed her mother the pamphlet. “Can we go!”

  Lady Li opened the pamphlet and looked over the woodblock print of a Peking opera mask with information about the performance.

  “‘The Concubine’s Lover,’” Lady Li read, “‘will be performed at the White Lotus Theater tonight and feature the debut public performance by Wangshu in the role of the dan.’ Huh, well isn’t that something?”

  “Everyone at temple was excited about it,” First Daughter said, taking the pamphlet and turning it over in her hands. “What is so special about Wangshu?”

  “Wangshu is a woman,” Lady Li said. “Though you wouldn’t know it by her name.” She imagined the name had been specifically chosen by Wangshu for its ambiguous nature. “It says she is playing the dan, the female role. Quite novel, don’t you think?”