Anger was an unfamiliar emotion for Yi Hyun, yet he realized with surprise that this was exactly what he felt.

  How did it even come to this?

  If Prince Rui wanted a new slave girl for his collection, why had he not said so earlier?

  They would have found him a suitable girl who agreed of her own will. Besides, Yi Hyun suspected many would not have minded becoming concubines to the regent — still not old, and fairly attractive in his own way. At the Great Qing court there were even whispers that the Empress Dowager herself, the emperor’s mother, had been taken with him!

  But no. His elder brother just had to ask that question, and Prince Rui just had to answer it!

  And why Jade Butterfly, of all people?

  Yi Hyun had already seen enough of Hanyang. This gisaeng was hardly the best. Precious Pearl was considered the most beautiful. Night Blossom sang exquisitely. Even the second gisaeng who accompanied them — whose name he had not bothered to remember — played the gayageum with greater skill and was several years younger. What could Prince Rui possibly want with this moderately mediocre gisaeng, unremarkable in talent?

  Jade Butterfly was dressed for travel. A hat with a long veil covered her high coiffure, an embroidered fur-lined cape lay over her bright skirts. The gisaeng greeted those assembled and asked how she might serve the lords.

  Yi Hyun caught Prince Rui’s gaze. The regent nodded, and the prince had to voice his request.

  “I fear I am uneducated and do not fully understand what the envoy desires,” the gisaeng hesitated. “Would you mind explaining to a foolish girl what he means?”

  “He proposes that you leave with him for Great Qing,” Yi Hyun repeated, irritation creeping into his voice. She should have refused, and that would have been the end of it.

  “And what would that mean for me?” the gisaeng repeated calmly, as though she were truly considering the absurd proposal. “Would I be the envoy’s concubine, expected to bear him a son? Or his slave, meant for the amusement of guests? Or perhaps he wishes to become my patron, so that I might practice my art in some kiban in Great Qing?”

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  Indeed, there were many possibilities; Yi Hyun had not thought of them before. He began translating her words for Prince Rui, but the regent waved a hand.

  “And what would she herself wish?” he asked, interrupting Yi Hyun. Apparently his Korean was sufficient to grasp Jade Butterfly’s question.

  “In Joseon it is customary to send gifts and poems through a go-between when courting a woman, and she may refuse,” the gisaeng smiled. “Envoy Zhao is exceptionally direct. That unsettles me.”

  “The same custom exists among us,” Prince Rui agreed. “But I regrettably have little time to observe it. We could perform the proper ritual once we are in Great Qing. I would find the beauty a suitable tea house, so she would not feel constrained living under my roof. Would that suffice?”

  “Mandarins from Jeju are the sweetest,” Jade Butterfly said. “Ask whether Envoy Zhao likes their taste.”

  The question struck Yi Hyun as odd, but he translated it.

  “I believe they are fine, but I cannot say as I have never tasted them,” Prince Rui smirked.

  “In that case, the envoy will understand that a foolish girl like me, who has never been to Great Qing, cannot know whether she would like it there,” Jade Butterfly replied. Yi Hyun translated with a flicker of pride in the clever gisaeng.

  “Fair enough,” Prince Rui hummed, smoothing his mustache. “An elegant refusal, hard to argue with.”

  “Unless Envoy Zhao allows me to taste mandarins before deciding whether I like them,” Jade Butterfly continued, and Yi Hyun’s heart sank. “Three years — would Envoy Zhao be so generous as to ask me again after that time?”

  “Agreed!” Prince Rui brightened, not even waiting for Yi Hyun to end the translation. “Three years in a tea house in Beijing, and she will not wish to return to your Joseon.”

  “The envoy is most gracious,” Jade Butterfly sank into a graceful bow.

  Before the embassy departed Anju for the second time that day, the gisaeng approached Yi Hyun to say farewell. He looked past her. He did not even wish to think of her anymore. Fortunately, etiquette allowed a prince to ignore a mere slave.

  “Please do not hold this against me, Great Prince Dojun,” she must have noticed his coldness and taken it personally. “Now I, too, must somehow survive.”

  “Now?” Yi Hyun raised a brow. Leaving for Qing with Prince Rui had been entirely her choice.

  “Now that a Crown Prince has been appointed,” she clarified. “What will become of the palace troupe when the king changes? Forgive me, but I do not wish to be your elder brother’s woman. That is not what you promised me, Great Prince Dojun.”

  “I promised you nothing,” Yi Hyun objected.

  “Please forgive me. I must have been mistaken,” the gisaeng replied after a pause. “I wish you a safe journey, Your Highness.”

  Why such a bitter aftertaste lingered from this empty exchange, Yi Hyun could not understand.