The Fifth Beauty
by
Ellison James
Published by Ellison James at Smashwords
Copyright © 2011 Ellison James
Cover design by JL Stratton, Copyright © 2011
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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Prologue
Ancient China has within its history, four great beauties—women of such alluring beauty, composure, and intelligence that they were, each in their own time, solely responsible for the downfall or uprising of rulers and dynasties, war and upheaval, or peace and prosperity.
The first of these women, Xishi, possessed a beauty so legendary that she brought about the fall of the Western Zhou dynasty in 497 BC, only to disappear from public life shortly afterward and live in obscurity with a man to whom she had previously promised her heart. Her beauty was said to have been so entrancing that fish would forget how to swim and sink away as she walked by. Historians and scribes were surprised to find the man to whom she promised her heart was a simple tea trader, by no means a noble position of the time. Of course, he later became a very successful tea trader in the newly formed Eastern Zhou dynasty.
Wang Zhaojun was said to have been so beautiful that her appearance outdoors would make birds fall from the sky. Wang Zhaojun, later to be named Mingfei, did not bring about the fall of a dynasty. Rather, she stalled the desire of warring factions to fight for nearly sixty years. She was one of Emperor Yuan’s concubines, but had never met him in person as he chose his company from pictures painted by the court artist, and Wang Zhaojun refused to pay a bribe to the dishonest painter for a pleasing likeness. So, when the Xiongnu chieftain, Huhanxie demanded a concubine from the emperor’s court in order to maintain peace, Yuan gave him Wang Zhaojun, thinking that she was the ugliest of his concubines. It was not until she was leaving that he saw her for the first time and the emperor realized that he just gave his most beautiful concubine to an enemy. The emperor soon realized that Wang Zhaojun voluntarily gave herself to the barbarians in order to maintain peace among the great Han dynasty. The Han was one of the longest ruling dynasties of China, from 206 BC to 220 AD, before eventually falling to the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu, just after the death of the beautiful Wang Zhaojun.
The third great beauty, Diaochan, may have been the world’s first revolutionary conspirator. It was said that her beauty was so luminous that the moon would simply not shine full in her presence out of shame when compared to her face. She was raised in the house of a prime minister within the Three Kingdoms dynasty. China was in upheaval as one of the three ruling family members, supported by his adopted son, attempted to seize power by striking fear into the reigning members of the house. The prime minister and Diaochan came up with a brilliant plan to stop the upheaval. Diaochan infiltrated the house of the father and son as a concubine, and because of her great beauty and intelligence, quickly attained a position of respect and authority. She used her great beauty and wit to pit the father and son against each other as they pined for her affection. She fostered hatred and jealousy between the two until she was finally able to entice the son to assassinate the father. Elite members of the court discovered her plan, and Diaochan and the prime minister were put to death. Nonetheless, her efforts eventually brought about such discord within the dynasty that it quickly gave way to the Jin Dynasty around 265 AD.
Yang Guifei was not born of nobility, and she spent six years in the emperor’s harem before he chose her to accompany him in his court. She was said to have a face that put flowers to shame. She soon found his favor among the three-thousand other concubines, and they spent every night together. The emperor was so enamored with Yang Guifei that he neglected all of his official duties. Soon, a general among his ranks decided to take advantage of the emperor’s neglect and staged an uprising. The emperor and his house were quickly defeated, and he left the palace with Yang Guifei at his side. Just a few miles from the palace, his personal escort refused to go on. They wrongly blamed the fall of the empire on Yang Guifei instead of the emperor, and demanded her be put to death. Yang Guifei would not give them the satisfaction of executing her and took her own life. The emperor was heartbroken, allowing his beloved Tang dynasty to fall to the Liao dynasty in 907 AD.
Conventional history does not speak of a fifth great beauty. This fifth beauty is credited for bringing about the famed Lapsang Souchong variety of black tea during the Great Qing dynasty. The development of Lapsong Souchong greatly influenced commerce within china, and the rest of the world, hungry for the full-flavored teas of China. Lapsang souchong tea leaves are dried over open pinewood fires and this kind of drying renders the leaves better able to withstand the five month journey over the seas to Europe. For this reason, black (fermented) teas, and especially lapsang souchong tea leaves became very popular and expensive, and remain so, even to this day. The varieties of tea, and the commerce associated with them were the accelerant for industrial progress, revolution among territories, and the eventual end to the Great Qing dynasty—the last great dynasty of China. This is the story of the fifth great beauty of China, and one scribe’s account of how Lapsang Souchong tea was really discovered.
The Fifth Beauty
Huang stood on the veranda of the lodge, looking over the terraced fields of tea plants, deep green and ready for harvest. Taijin, the royal scribe, sat in a small three-legged stool preparing to record the meeting between Huang and a Han general, seeking to secure safe boarding for his unit, and passage through Huang’s territory. Huang was the magistrate of a vast collective tea farming and harvesting operation high in the mountain country of China. He was also a distant cousin to the emperor, holding a position of political and royal importance.
“Your men may enjoy the shelter of our tea factory for the night, but tomorrow I will announce the beginning of the tea harvest,” Huang leaned back in his cushioned lounge, looking unimpressed with the general.
“Magistrate, my men have traversed the hills and mountains of this region for many weeks. I would gracefully request at least three days rest.” The magistrate provided the general no seat, forcing him to kneel at the Magistrate’s feet to speak.
“You have tonight,” the Magistrate retorted. I will extend the hospitality of food and drink to your army. I will give you the choice of my concubines, but before the mist rises in the morning, you must leave. I will not delay the tea harvest and threaten the economy of this region for the benefit of your army.” The magistrate waived his hand, dismissing the general.
As soon as the general left, Huang turned to Taijin, the only person with unlimited access to his meetings.
“Taijin,” the magistrate called as he reached for his pipe, “you must record these events in a most favorable manner.
“It will be my honor, magistrate Huang.” Taijin bowed as he backed through the door into the main lodge, carrying his thick paper and brushes, and dragging his three-legged stool behind him.
* * *
Late that night, long after the servants and even the magistrate himself had drifted to sleep, Taijin sat on his stool transcribing notes from the day’s events into the magistrate’s official journal. Remnant smells of the supper meal hung in the air along with that of the magistrate’s pipe. A low fire burned in a circular pit in the middle of the lodge, but Taijin sat in a far corner near the lotus-flower curtain at the opening of the magistrate’s bedchamber. He painstakingly transcribed characters onto a large scroll of rice paper being careful to maintain the proper form and spacing of the official document.
Movement caught his eye and Taijin peered through the translucent curtain to see a form approaching the magistrate’s bed. He blinked as he saw the form of a woman seemingly changing appearance and shape as she moved toward the sleeping magistrate. He looked away and blinked his eyes again.
I must be weary from transcribing in this late night, he thought, as he rubbed his eyes and yawned.
Taijin looked peered back into the magistrate’s bedchamber just as the woman crawled on hands and knees, onto the magistrate’s bed. It was not uncommon for the magistrate to take a concubine for the evening, but for this evening, he had requested no company, and this woman seemed to appear from nowhere. He could not make out enough detail through the thin lacey curtain to determine if she was one of his concubines. Nonetheless, Taijin continued to watch, unable to continue his duties, as the woman pulled the large goatskin covering off the magistrate, exposing his naked body underneath. She stopped at his midsection, taking him into her hand and stroking him with great satisfaction as he responded to her touch, and apparently, continued in fitful sleep.
This mysterious woman swayed and hovered over the magistrate as she pleasured him with her hands. She sucked in her breath and increased her movements as if she drew in some kind of life force, a strong chi from the air surrounding the magistrate. Taijin looked on in surprise as the magistrate awoke, blinking and looking up at the woman as if he had known her all his life.
Is this some new concubine, brought in with the passing army? Taijin wondered. Is this woman a gift to the magistrate for his hospitality, an offering? It was not uncommon for passing caravans to offer food from the low valleys, or spices from the Eastern borders of Persia, or even concubines. Taijin looked on, unable to force himself away. As the woman looked in his direction, a weak smile spread across her flush cheeks, complimenting the deep red of her full lips. She was the most beautiful concubine Taijin had ever seen, her skin appearing a natural tone, devoid of the evidence of powder; her lips the deepest red, like the deep wet crimson of blood from a fresh battle wound. One thing seemed to set her beauty in a unique way more than any other—her glowing green eyes. Her eyes seemed to produce a light on their own, producing a dim green glow like a delicate tealeaf ready for early harvest.
Taijin felt a twinge of jealousy as the woman looked back to the magistrate, lowered herself at his midsection, and brought him into her mouth. The magistrate moaned as her mouth formed over him as easily as a fine leather sheath over a well-forged sword. Taijin did not know why he had such a desire for the magistrate’s new concubine. He had never wanted something that belonged to the magistrate before. The magistrate treated him well, despite his tyrannical actions in the region, providing him all the comforts of the main lodge, the finest food, and the best writing material available throughout the great kingdom. The magistrate had never offered one of his concubines for his company, nonetheless, Taijin was well respected within the local community and had his choice of nearly any of the women of the village. But, this woman possessed some strange pull upon him. He could not quite place an origin on this strange magic. The woman exuded no outward fragrance but, even from his place outside the lotus flower-patterned silk curtain, her scent was like invisible and seductive fingers caressing his face and rolling back in a “come to me” motion.
Taijin watched as the magistrate began to buck and moan as the woman grabbed him at the hips, pushing her face into his groin. The frame squeaked and popped under the bed, as if it might fail under the strain. As the magistrate reached for her, and moaned as if in pain, the woman appeared to rise from the bed, and hover just above him, connected to him only at the mouth, her hands under him as some form of anchor. Taijin blinked and looked away, not believing what he was seeing. He was tired, it was dark, and his eyes defied his mind. When he looked back through the curtain, the magistrate had become still, and the woman was back in her original position. She pulled herself away from him and Taijin could not help but notice the magistrate was still stiff with feral desire. The woman moved up and whispered something into the magistrate’s ear. She wrapped her arms around him as his breathing steadied and his arousal slowly fell.
In the late night silence of the lodge, Taijin heard the magistrate whisper to the woman as he drifted toward sleep.
“My most beautiful concubine, what are you called?”
“I am Azra. Now sleep, you will need your rest for recovery.”
“Azra,” the magistrate repeated in a hushed breathy voice as he drifted into sleep, “A name truly worthy of your beauty.”
Taijin quickly finish his transcriptions and then hung the thick, heavily grained paper along a string to set the ink, before retiring to his own bedroll. Using the light of one precious candle, Taijin opened his personal journal and recorded the strange events of the night.
* * *
The magistrate left his personal chambers late the next morning, making an appearance long enough only to order all servants back to their quarters and homes for the day. He announced that he would grant no company and perform no official business for the day. Only Taijin and Huang’s personal advisor, Nishi, remained in the grand lodge. Taijin remained to insure the continuity of recording the events of the magistrate’s life, Nishi, the magistrate’s personal aide, remained in argument with the magistrate’s decision to dismiss the staff while flagrantly embracing an unknown concubine.
“Magistrate Huang, What of the official announcement of the tea harvest?” Nishi said, as he bowed repeatedly. “What of the army occupying the drying houses?”
“You can announce the tea harvest in my absence.” Magistrate Huang barked at Nishi.
Taijin stood behind the two powerful men and recorded their conversation. He was surprised at the way Nishi questioned the magistrate. Taijin knew the magistrate to be a very powerful chieftain, a gruff and forceful leader, almost tyrannical in his zeal. But, this time the magistrate appeared to act without focus. He sensed Nishi had noticed the magistrate stumble in his decision as well. Nishi stood straight, appearing to prepare himself to confront the magistrate.
“Most honorable magistrate,” Nishi said, as he straightened and planted his feet. “The tea harvest cannot begin until the visiting army clears from our drying rooms. You must negotiate with the general for his garrison of troops to vacate our buildings.”
The magistrate pulled his new concubine, Azra, close to him with one hand while stroking the long thin whiskers on his chin with his other hand.
“You will negotiate with the general as my liaison. I will have the scribe craft an official document giving you authority to speak on my behalf.”
Nishi bowed and backed away from the magistrate, and the magistrate directed Taijin to draft the official document.
“Bring the document to me in my personal chambers when you are finished,” the magistrate said as he squeezed Azra again. “I will apply the official seal and you will present the document to Nishi.”
“Yes, honorable magistrate,” Taijin said, and he scurried to his easel to draft the official document.
Moments later, Taijin finished the document and carried it into the magistrate’s personal chambers for the official seal. He stopped dead in his tracks as he entered the chambers and saw the magistrate pouring tea for his new concubine. Something was most definitely amiss with the magistrate and this new concubine. Never had Taijin seen a man pour tea for a woman. This was especially out of character for Huang, known throughout the region as a hard and steadfast leader, with loyalties only to those relatives associated with the emperor. Taijin could only hope that Nishi did not find out about the magistrate’s actions. If Nishi were to find out, it would leave the magistrate open for overthrow by his own staff. That would be the last thing the region would need during tea harvest season. The tea trade supported nearly everyone living in the region. It was an important ritual to be performed on a strict timeline. The leaves had to be harvested and dried in time to get them to the port where they could be sold to the Dutch. The window for harvest was short. If they waited, even a few days too long, winter would engulf the mountains making it impossible to dry and roll the leaves. Taijin rushed the document to Nishi, who had been waiting patiently outside the quarters.
“May your mind be steadfast and your wit quick,” Taijin said to Nishi as he handed him the document, still unrolled and wet with ink.
“I will need all the help I can get,” Nishi said. “The general and his army are demanding fresh concubines and the slaughter of animals reserved for winter.”
Nishi left the lodge, and Taijin took his place outside the magistrate’s personal chambers. He watched through the thin curtain as the magistrate sipped tea and talked with his new concubine, Azra. They did not talk long. As soon as they ceremoniously sipped tea from the tiny ornamental cups, the woman stood and began, for the first time, to unfasten the stays on her fine silk cheongsam, as the magistrate looked on. Taijin bit back against a growing urge to rise and go to the woman. This woman possessed some unseen power over him, and obviously, over the magistrate. She exuded some strange kind of beauty, some alluring scent, or a combination of magic and knowledge a normal man could not attain. This beautiful woman, who appeared from nowhere, reminded Taijin of the many tales he heard in his youth about the Huli Jing, a fox spirit known for the capacity to act within the realm of good or evil, light or dark, and a penchant for seducing men and taking their souls into the realm of the spirits. Now this concubine was seducing his master with her power. Taijin was unsure whether he should hope that she took the soul of his tyrant master, or step in and save the magistrate from her seductive lure of passion and death. Or, was it possible, she was no more than a beautiful concubine appearing before the magistrate merely to perform her duties as taught by the finest mentor. He had always respected the supremacy of his tyrannical magistrate, but now found devious thoughts invading his soul as an animal desire, lust, and arousal rose within his core. Taijin centered his thoughts on the task of writing the day’s events into the official scroll. Still, a tumultuous storm of fire burned within him against his will.
* * *
Taijin tried to concentrate on his writing but found it increasingly difficult as he watched Azra undress through the thin curtain separating the magistrate’s bedchamber from the rest of the lodge. As the concubine unfastened the last stay on her cheongsam, she shrugged the robe from her shoulders, and it fell to the floor revealing light brown toned skin and a muscular form of the finest breeding. The magistrate moved to her without hesitation, cupping her tiny breasts in his big hands, thumbing her extended brown nipples as she moved into him. He was moaning and professing his love for her as if he had known her for ages—something Taijin found out of character for the magistrate, and a little disturbing. The woman did not appeal to Taijin as she did to the magistrate. He preferred a woman with light skin over a soft frame, and could not understand how this woman affected him so. Even as he thought of the ways she did not appeal to him, he shifted urgently on his stool against a nearly painful pressure in his groin, and tried to reposition himself against the tightness of his robe. Taijin turned away from the magistrate and his concubine, trying to concentrate on his scrolls, but his characters were becoming sloppy as he dipped his brush into the inkwell repeatedly, hastily moving his brush in wide aggressive arcs.
He heard the magistrate and the woman beginning to moan in unison, and looked back into the chamber to find the Azra sitting atop the magistrate, grinding against him with a fury he was certain only a huli jing could manage. No mere mortal woman would allow herself such pleasure in the presence of a man. Sure, he had heard stories of the concubines taking care of each other’s needs within the privacy of their own quarters, but a well-trained concubine gave of herself and remained quiet during relations with a man.
She is a fox spirit for certain, Taijin thought. I suspect I’ll see her nine tails forming soon.
The magistrate’s moans took on an urgent tone, and Taijin looked back through the curtain to see the two in a dance of passion that seemed blissful and violent at the same time. Magistrate Huang’s mutterings became painful cries as he bucked and bounced under the woman. She sat on him with her hands dug into his chest, her head arched and her back moving and bending in time with the magistrate’s violent jerky movements. The magistrate’s eyes appeared dark and sunken into his soul; his skin became pale and waxy-looking. He was clearly beyond enjoyment of the pleasures of this concubine.
Taijin jumped from his chair and ran through the thin curtain to the aid of the magistrate.
“Get off of him,” he yelled to the woman, but she did not answer, and kept moving violently against the magistrate as his struggle against her weakened.
As he neared the woman, he felt an urgent and painful pressure as an erection grew in him as he had never experienced before. He was overwhelmed with lust, and his desire clouded his mind and slowed his movements, yet, Taijin retained some sense of duty to remove this huli jing from his master. Even a leader as mean-spirited and self-serving as Huang deserved saving. Taijin grabbed the woman at the shoulders and tried to push her off the magistrate but she wrapped her long slender arms around his waist and used him to support her. He immediately felt a heat from her hands, even through the thick layers of his robe. He felt as if she was pulling his energy from his body through her hands.
The magistrate cried out and looked up with a kind of desperation in his eyes Taijin had never before seen. Taijin felt weak and helpless as he stood motionless with conflicting and terribly wrong thoughts racing through his mind. He was still shaking the woman but he had stopped yelling for her to stop. He could think only of her soft toned skin radiating a strange kind of heat, stealing the very breath from his lungs. He thought of her full lips, parted slightly as she sucked in short breaths. Taijin felt a small sense of relief when his robe, loosened from shaking the woman, fell open, exposing his painful erection to the cool night air. He was embarrassed to be exposed in front of the magistrate, now silent under the woman; maybe more embarrassed that he was losing his will to save the magistrate’s soul from this huli jing. He could not understand how this woman had such a power over his body as it was clearly not normal for him to maintain such desire while fearing for his magistrate’s life. In a last effort he shook the woman again but said nothing. She opened her eyes to find she was at his waist level. He felt her breath against him and looked down to see her tongue darting from her mouth like a snake before splitting into three tongues, and wrapping around his painfully engorged member.
Taijin froze in place, stunned from the intense pleasure of the three tongues, and feeling energy drain from his body like water through a fine silk filter. He could not believe what this spirit woman was doing to him. He could not believe he, or the magistrate allowed it. He struggled against his own willingness to engage this huli jing, but had lost all measure of control, and the magistrate had fallen quiet and still under the woman. He felt a heat, nearly painful but pleasurable in a way he had never before experienced, as the woman moved into him and then out leaving her three tongues to caress and squeeze him. A pressure built in urgency within his core until it exploded out of him. His seed and his energy spent, Taijin’s knees buckled and he fell to the floor in a heap, unable to move and barely breathing.
* * *
As he lay on the floor trying to catch his breath and find the strength to crawl away, Taijin thought he heard the woman weeping openly, but a strange pressure and a chilling of the air around him eroded his hearing. When he looked back up toward the woman, he saw a huge beast taking form beside her, as if he were a mist forming and rising from the morning calm. He towered over her, and a shimmer seemed to fill the air around him. His skin was the color of ochre, and large horns like a goat protruded through his head. He held his arms outstretched to Azra, beckoning her with huge hands and claws like a dragon.
“It is time to return, Azra.” Taijin heard the huge beast speak.
“I will not go with you,” she responded, wiping tears from her face.
The beast moved toward her, but then stopped as the doors of the lodge burst open. Taijin turned to see the Han general moving toward him, swinging something in his hand. The object was dripping as if wet, and as the general drew closer, Taijin realized it was the severed head of Nishi. Taijin gathered his strength and crawled to the corner of the room as the general approached the thin curtain to the bedchamber.
“How dare you send your peon advisor to address me.” The general’s voice echoed and boomed off the walls of the lodge. “I declare you incompetent, and your region in need of a true leader,” the general said, as he threw Nishi’s head into the bedchamber.
The head of Nishi flew into the bedchamber and hit the beast on his legs, just as the general reached the entrance, his aide just a few steps behind him. The magistrate did not respond to anything happening around him. He had not moved or spoke since his last painful moaning, moments before. Taijin watched as the general tore through the curtain of the bedchamber, and looked in surprise at the huge beast-man, and naked woman standing over the magistrate. The general drew his sword and leaned forward to charge the beast. The beast stopped the general by simply raising his hand and throwing something like a ball of lightning at him. The ball of light hit the general in the chest and he fell to the ground in a heap. The general’s aide turned on his heel and ran out the lodge door.
The general dead and the magistrate not moving, the beast turned his attention back to the woman. He reached out with his clawed hands and took the woman’s arms. Before Taijin could fully process what was happening, the air in the room became unstable, and a shimmer developed around the woman and the beast. The shimmer grew until the woman and the beast appeared distorted, and then finally disappeared.
* * *
As soon as Taijin regained the strength to stand, he checked the magistrate, who had not moved or spoke since before the huge beastly man appeared. The magistrate was dead, his eyes still open and sunken into their sockets, his skin already turning pale and waxy. In addition to his magistrate, Taijin knew Nishi was dead, and the gaping burnt hole through the general’s chest served as proof of his passing. Taijin wondered through the many halls of the lodge, pacing back and forth until morning light streamed through the gaps in the fabric and paper window covers at shallow angles. He dragged the bodies of the general and the magistrate, and the severed head of Nishi outside, leaving them behind the lodge under the cover of the early morning mist. Out of mundane tasks to perform, he ceremoniously washed his body and dressed in one of the magistrate’s finest robes, and then began the short walk down the hill to make his surrender to the general’s army.
The drying house was deserted. Taijin walked through the empty building accompanied only by a slowly growing cloud of fine dry dust from his own footfall. He found the general’s aide hiding in the last stall at the far end of the house. The aide thought Taijin was the magistrate from his dress, and fell prostrate, kissing his feet before slowly rising with his palms extended in a show of surrender.
“Great Magistrate, let your will be mine. I am humbly at your service.” The aide bowed repeatedly, and avoided eye contact with Taijin.
Taijin almost confessed to the aide, but stopped himself short as a brilliant plan formed, quickly, and out of nowhere, in his head.
“Where is the army?” Taijin said.
“When I told the Lieutenants of your powerful ally, and the power he possessed within his hands, they ordered the entire unit to vacate before the beast could find them.” The aid gestured wildly with his hands in his excitement. “I stayed only because, with the general dead, I no longer have an employ.”
Taijin accepted the aide’s surrender and made him his own aide in place of Nishi. He then gathered the people of the village and announced the tea harvest from the height and distance of the front veranda of the lodge, far above the village square. The harvest was late so, when the first bushels of delicate tea leaves were deposited at the drying houses, Taijin instructed workers to gather wood from the nearby pine forest, and light fires under the drying racks to hasten the drying of the leaves. Taijin then instructed his new aide to gather no more than two strangers from another village, and dispose of the bodies of Nishi, the Magistrate, and the general in the fires. As far he could tell, the local villagers either never became suspicious of this sudden change of leadership, or were simply too afraid to question a Magistrate who just defeated an occupying army singlehandedly. Within days, Taijin had fallen comfortably into the role of Magistrate, and began his search for a talented scribe to record the events of his honorable life.
Epilogue
Taijin’s rue worked, and he managed to get the tea harvest to market on time. He continued to use the magistrate’s lodge as if it were his. When his couriers returned with news that his new tea creation sold better than all others at market, the local population overlooked the absence of the magistrate and accepted him as their new regional ruler. The next year, the Dutch returned for more of Taijin’s special tea, and were willing to pay whatever price he demanded. In time, Taijin standardized his special process and ruled with great honor over his region. Each year, the Dutch would return with gratitude. They told stories of how well this new tea faired over the long journey to European shores. He eventually named his tea “Lapsang Souchong” a title representing the mountainous region in which the tea was grown. Taijin spent his remaining days in graceful solitude within his magistrate’s lodge. He rarely took a concubine, and limited his number of servants to care only for his meals and lodge upkeep. Each night he recorded the days events in his personal journal, blew out the candles one by one, and lay in bed wondering—hoping the strange concubine that set him on this glorious path so long ago would return to him in the same favor she had for the old magistrate. He often reflected on how this strange, lovely woman had changed the course of history. He began to think that maybe she was not just some huli jing, hungry for the souls of men, but a great beauty, like those who changed history before her, to be respected and honored in stories and legend.
THE END
The concubine, or huli jing in this story is the demon succubus, Azra, from the novel Lovestruck Succubus. Of course, in the novel, Azra lands in modern day Atlanta, Georgia after being ousted from her demon world for her attempts at keeping her victims alive long enough to foster a relationship with them. If you enjoyed this story, please look for the novel at Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple ibooks, Kobo, and Diesel books.
Other works by Ellison James include:
Pleasure Doing Business
Window Treatment
About the Author
Ellison James began writing erotica during high school when attention could be gained through Saucy stories, poems, and limericks. Ellison enjoys taking on social perceptions of difference and turning them into a positive in stories of general erotica, erotic fantasy, and the paranormal. Injecting humor and serious social statements into fiction are a specialty of Ellison James. Ellison James wants readers to celebrate differences in lifestyles, body type, sexual orientation, and race through his stories.