Chapter 12 Into the Brothel
I sat before the mirror and looked at Sister Mudan behind me. From her I caught that powder scent again.
Sister Mudan said that back in the camp tents, she had not been the prettiest Camp Courtesan, but those women were all from poor homes and did not know how to fix themselves up.
She gathered wildflowers nearby, dried them, ground them to powder, mixed scents to perfume clothes, and used special herbs to dye her nails. That was how The General noticed her.
"Ahua, even in a place like this, we cannot give up on ourselves."
Sister Mudan braided my hair to the side and set a plain silver pin in it. In the mirror I looked pure.
"I hear The General likes quiet, plain girls. This is perfect."
Sister He was there too. Her daughter Xiaoyue was about my age and crying hard.
"Mother, I will not be a whore. Mother, how can you be so cruel? I am your daughter."
All of us left behind were put in the Brothel for the soldiers' pleasure. Tonight was the Brothel's first night open.
Sister He pressed Xiaoyue's shoulders and dressed her in the issued gauze. In winter it was only a thin layer.
She wiped her tears with her sleeve. "Be good. Listen to Mother."
It was not that no one fought back. The fiercer women were run through with a sword, and still humiliated before they died.
I stared at the carved beams overhead and felt as if a lifetime had passed. How was this any different from the camp tents?
I had folded my wedding dress at the bottom of the chest. I touched the Short Blade in my sleeve and went out with Sister Mudan to greet the guests.