Yao, the Empress’s eunuch, held the knife to Suyin’s throat with more viciousness than any man.‘Do you understand, whore?’ The high pitch of his speech chilled her spine.She gave the tiniest of nods, biting her lip to hold back a sob of fear. Two months in Changan and she already knew the palace of dreams for what it was: a gilded nest of snakes. And now she didn’t have Madame Ling to protect her. The den mother’s motives had been callously self-serving, but Madame had needed her and had kept her safe in the pleasure district of Luoyang.Yao had stolen into her room in the dead of night to threaten her. The eunuchs were given access to the women’s court as if the only danger a man could pose was between his legs.He hissed his orders in a harsh whisper as she scrambled up from her sleeping pallet. She passed a hand over her throat as she dressed in the dark, the press of the knife looming oppressively over her.‘Take this.’ At the door he placed a cup into her hands. Then he waved the knife in front of her face and pointed across the quarter.Yao had made himself clear.
