Desert Rhapsody - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Although Jiang Yuan had never had much to do with that sort of thing between men and women, by the time Lady Fatini’s lips left hers, she more or less understood what situation she had landed in. Those soft, cool fingers slid down from her throat and, with no hesitation at all, circled twice over her chest. It was very flat there, but not entirely without curves. When Jiang Yuan had first crossed over, she had always bound her chest with cloth. Later, in Baghdad, Adnan had secretly had cloth armor custom-made for her. When that fair hand, its nails painted a vivid red, touched an unusual hardness beneath her clothes, it showed no surprise. The movement flowed smoothly upward, coming to rest on her shoulder.

Before Lady Fatini could go any further, Jiang Yuan pushed her away. She used only a little strength, so she failed to put much distance between them, and the other woman had clearly anticipated that she would do exactly that.

“You see, Jia Nan, you were right. A reunion after a brief parting has a lingering, exquisite flavor.” She smiled as she spoke. She was no longer using polite forms of address.

She had known from the beginning that Jiang Yuan was a woman, so those words carried a different meaning now. Jiang Yuan had offered her a beautiful attendant, and she had merely watched with amused interest as Jiang Yuan struggled stubbornly. Once the whole truth was revealed, she could open her arms in satisfaction and wait for the person she had taken a fancy to to come to her. After all, a night of spring passion between women sounded entirely different from a night with a man-more suggestive, and far less consequential.

She was languid and gorgeous, clinging to Jiang Yuan like a soft octopus. It was a little tragic, really. Because she was a woman, even though Jiang Yuan knew she wanted to sleep with her, and even though those full breasts were pressed against her own and rubbing there, Jiang Yuan still felt none of the sense of violation she would have felt with a man. She only went rigid. Wherever that soft flesh touched, that part of her body stiffened. Even her breathing was stiff. Lady Fatini noticed and a pleased smile appeared on her face. Jiang Yuan asked, “When did you find out I was a woman?”

Although she asked, she already had the answer in her heart.

Lady Fatini giggled. “The first moment I saw you, I knew.”

Jiang Yuan said nothing. Though she had deliberately concealed it, there were many things between men and women that were fundamentally different. Many of the men and women who had dealt with her before had missed what was right under their noses. It was not that they were unfamiliar with the traits of each sex, but that they would never think someone might have changed their gender. In Arabia, long robes, beards, and headwraps were popular, and all manner of clothing could conceal differences in bone structure. She was of mixed Asian and European blood and took after her mother, so what was strange about her looking thin and frail? She did not have the deeply carved features of local women, so she did not possess their beauty. For someone with ordinary features, people swept their eyes over her once and then paid her no mind. Only Lady Fatini, seeing Jiang Yuan standing in the courtyard and directing servants in arranging porcelain, had pierced through the secret beneath her robe at a single glance.

“Don’t you want to?” Lady Fatini smiled, cupping her face. Her features drew close, her breath fragrant as orchids, the scent thick and heady. “I don’t know why you hide your sex and serve as someone else’s adopted son, but guarding a secret night after night-doesn’t that get lonely? Why not stay tonight? Whether that attendant of yours is willing to go to Baitullah, or willing to join us…”

She leaned in, soft arms coiling around Jiang Yuan’s neck like snakes, as if she meant to melt into her. The words she breathed turned into spider silk, wrapping around Jiang Yuan.

“In any case, I will make you happy.”

That sounded awfully familiar. Also, this circle of theirs was really a mess.

But now that her greatest secret had been exposed, Jiang Yuan actually calmed down. In these times, disguising herself as a man was not a crime. She quickly cast a glance into the hall. Abal was looking lazily in their direction. Baitullah leaned close to his ear, chattering away as she pointed over and laughed. So he laughed too and replied with a sentence or two. Baitullah kissed his cheek, her hand stroking his chest, while he merely reclined there and did not refuse. Damn it, he could still sit there and enjoy the joke. He had guessed it already, hadn’t he?

Jiang Yuan could only fight this battle alone, while inwardly wanting to kill him. “But I am sorry, Lady Fatini. Since you already know I have my difficulties, please understand my resolve.” Expressionless, she avoided the beautiful woman’s red lips as they tried to come close again. The dampness on her mouth, so different from her own, practically made her skin crawl, and she hurriedly tilted her head farther back. “My husband died in war. I swore that I would keep myself for him for the rest of my life.”

“Are you trying to say something foolish again? You are clearly still a virgin.” Lady Fatini looked at her the way one might look at a kitten, watching her dart left and right in her grasp, unable to escape. She enjoyed the pleasure of it, whispering beside Jiang Yuan’s ear. Jiang Yuan calmly pulled away the hand that had slipped between her legs.

“He was my fiancé. We had not yet married.”

Lady Fatini gave a light laugh. “I will not enter your body. I will not break your vow. Why be so harsh on yourself, darling? I only want you to relax a little.”

“Forms can deceive others, but they cannot deceive one’s own heart. Since I have made a vow, I will never go back on it. And I am sorry, my lady, but I do not like women.”

She looked firmly at Lady Fatini, and Lady Fatini looked back at her. “Then why did you take that beautiful man as your personal attendant? Do you like him? Men are not like women. Without pleasure in bed, there is no true love.”

“He does not know I am a woman. He and I do not have that kind of relationship,” Jiang Yuan said. “He is only serving as an attendant temporarily. Once the term we agreed on is over, he will leave Taif and return to his hometown.”

“Is that so?”

A trace of contempt finally appeared on Lady Fatini’s face. They were so close that Jiang Yuan saw it clearly. But that trace of contempt was quickly hidden beneath a bewitching smile. “Then that is for the best. I imagine that if he knew you were a woman, he would surely claim you as his own. Men-or rather, bandits-are foolish like that. They do not know how to properly nurture a flower and make it bloom.”

Jiang Yuan watched her, expressionless.

Lady Fatini murmured, “That would truly be casting a bright pearl into the mud. It would be pitiful enough to cut the heart.” She said, “His name is Fatima? That is a false name. I know him. He is the leader of the Blood Eagle Bandit Group, Abal Abdul Emir.”
Jiang Yuan did not know what her first reaction was in that instant. Whatever it was, she froze stiffly in place, unable to respond. After probing from every angle, Lady Fatini finally confirmed Jiang Yuan’s innocence. She glanced toward the hall as well and sighed.

“I suppose I spoiled Baitullah too much, so much that she no longer knows what’s good for her. No matter how I called, she refused to come back. So I had no choice but to avoid startling the venomous snake lying in wait and bring you out here to tell you.” She said, “You said he arrived a few days ago, so there is no mistake. I have a lover named Huasan who is his elder brother, and the two have always been enemies. Abal Emir changed his name and slipped into the city because he wants to kill him.”

Her heart hammered wildly for one instant before she forced herself to ignore it. The box holding the head was still in her carriage. If her old lover searched it, he would catch her with the evidence in hand. She clenched her fists, and even her voice came out dry.

“How do you know?”

Lady Fatini thought she was shocked. Of course she was shocked-shocked enough to want to slaughter Abal on the spot. “I have met his mother.” She smiled faintly. “Now she was truly a beauty, one even I felt inferior to. Naturally, I would recognize the son of such a woman at a glance.”

Many years ago, she had gone to Egypt and taken part in the turmoil within the Emir family. The patron behind her wanted to seize the Emir family’s walled city, so he had her muddy the waters. When Abal was imprisoned and awaiting judgment, his mother had searched desperately everywhere for a savior. Lady Fatini had even seen her once on Fashir’s couch. Fashir coaxed her, then broke his word and threw her out.

This should have been a secret, but Lady Fatini spoke of it quite cheerfully. “I secretly sent my men to let him go. He has made quite a name for himself over the years. Unfortunately, Governor Fashir is working with me again. Blood Eagle has caused him far too much trouble, and he wants me to make things convenient so he can wipe it out.”

After a moment of silence, Jiang Yuan said, “Huasan is the bait you released?”

Lady Fatini smiled sweetly and did not admit it. But since she was working with the eldest brother, Fashir, the remaining two younger brothers were naturally meat on the chopping block. Abal had once said Huasan made no attempt to hide his tracks in Taif. So that was why. Jiang Yuan said slowly, “Where is Huasan?”

“He was originally staying in my home,” Lady Fatini said. “But the man following them this afternoon said Abal has already killed him. He arrived more than ten days earlier than I expected. His information is truly impressive. It caught me unprepared. I also did not expect him to be with you. What a coincidence of fate. Your beautiful attendant, Fatima-did he not make some excuse today and leave alone for a long while?”

Jiang Yuan nodded quietly.

Everything was undeniable. There was no way to deny it. Abal thought he had hidden himself well, never imagining that he had been exposed so completely before his enemy. Lady Fatini had already written and sent out a letter, and Governor Fashir had already cast out the bait. The Blood Eagle Bandit Group would be led into a trap by his hidden agents, while Abal himself would be captured here. The answer to this matter seemed clearer than clear. Lady Fatini gazed at her so gently. They stood cheek to cheek like lovers beneath the corridor, listening to the fountain and whispering together, yet everything they spoke of was drenched in murder and blood. “I truly feel sorry for you. But I must still ask you to keep him steady so I can slip away, call Baitullah back, find my strongmen, and capture him.”

Jiang Yuan looked at her. The answer to everything seemed clearer than clear. Papermaking was already on track, and Adnan was sailing toward Egypt. Even if she refused to yield to Lady Fatini, she believed Lady Fatini would not make things too difficult for her. The steady, reliable path of a merchant no longer needed the shadow of a bandit. Besides, did working with Blood Eagle really carry no future consequences? Every private dealing was another risk.

She did not need to do anything. She only had to walk back, sit there and watch Abal, and let Lady Fatini call Baitullah back.

“Everything depends on you, my dear Jia Nan,” Lady Fatini said. “You are so reliable. I feel very at ease with you.” Jiang Yuan did not feel at ease with herself at all. She did not even know how to kill someone. Dazed, she walked back. Abal and Baitullah were getting along enthusiastically. Lady Fatini pulled her to stand in the doorway and called, “Come out, Baitullah. Where have you chased everyone off to? I cannot even summon a servant.”

But in that instant, an uproar broke out at the entrance. Someone cried out in alarm, “Fire!” Flames surged into the black night sky. Lady Fatini could not help turning her head to look outside. Only Abal was looking at Jiang Yuan, his lips splitting into a grin. That smile proved he definitely had something to do with the fire. She stared at him, knowing full well she should not call out that name.

Yet the syllables slipped out anyway. “Abal,” she said, and her heart sank all the way to the bottom. Those blue eyes lifted toward her, and his smile instinctively vanished. She said, “Do it.” Almost at the same moment she spoke, Abal had already drawn his blade and thrust it into Baitullah’s hair.

Yuan Yuan: Fuck my life. Ruined my entire future over a man.

Abal: I knew your love for me was real.

Do you know why Abal set the fire?

Because he never intended to sleep with the old woman in the first place. Kissing and touching were fine-yes, his morals really are that far gone-but actually getting into bed was absolutely impossible. Not even in his dreams.

He was planning to lock horns with Yuan Yuan.

Oh my god, I got featured today! My bookmarks still haven’t broken a thousand, but there are so many comments!

I love you all!

Thank you to the little angels who threw me patron tickets~

Thank you to the little angel who threw [land mine]: Match-Selling Ice Cube, 1

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Thank you to the little angels who watered me with nutrient solution: So Magical, 30 bottles; MEI, 20 bottles; XD, 18 bottles; Shut-In-kun, 10 bottles; Lemon Pickled Fish, 10 bottles; Saki, 5 bottles; Axiu Bai, 1 bottle; Hibiscus, 1 bottle

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