Secret of a Thousand Beauties Read Online Free Page A

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    Purple said, “Spring Swallow, the others should already be up and about.” Then she looked hard at me, her tone serious. “Can you make me a promise?”
    I nodded.
    “Don’t tell anyone that we met in Soochow. Just say it was in the nearby village that I told you about.”
    As Purple and I entered the house, three women were eating breakfast from a wooden table. Once they saw us, they set down their chopsticks and came over to stare at me.
    The oldest one, a dignified-looking middle-aged woman, asked my rescuer, “Who’s this, little sister?”
    “This is Spring Swallow.”
    Purple turned to me. “Spring Swallow, this is Aunty Peony, our teacher and master embroiderer.”
    Then she gestured to a pretty girl about my age with a watermelon-seed face and curvy body. “This is Leilei.”
    After that, she patted the head of the youngest girl. “And this is Little Doll.”
    I bowed and softly wished them all a good morning.
    The older woman acknowledged my greeting with a slight nod, exuding authority. She looked me up and down, then she turned to Purple, with a question. “Why did you bring this little sister here?”
    Before I had a chance to say anything, Purple answered for me, lowering her voice. “She’s a runaway bride—to a ghost.” She lifted her shawl to reveal my wedding gown.
    Aunty didn’t respond to her but kept studying me with a critical eye.
    Little Doll chuckled. “ Wah! What a lucky ghost to marry such a pretty bride!”
    Purple hit the girl playfully on her arm. “Stop that, Little Doll! We should be nice to our new guest.”
    Leilei, the prettiest one, didn’t say anything but, like Aunty Peony, kept staring at me with her intense eyes like a wolf’s. I had a bad feeling that she didn’t want me here.
    Aunty Peony spoke. “What’s your name again? How old are you?”
    “Spring Swallow, Aunty Peony. I’m seventeen.”
    She turned to Purple and asked again, “What made you think you should bring her here?”
    Purple smiled, her tone apologetic. “Aunty Peony, I was in the village market and saw her picking leftover food from a stall. I went up to give her a bun and we started to talk. She told me she’s a runaway bride from a ghost, so I didn’t think anyone else would take her in. I hope maybe she can learn embroidery and give us some help here.”
    Aunty thought for a while, then said, “Let me see your hands.”
    Timidly I put out my hands.
    She took them, then kneaded them this way and that. “Hmmm . . . they’re a little coarse. Have you been doing menial work at your village?”
    I didn’t want to admit this but couldn’t lie either, since she already held the truth right in her hands.
    “Yes.”
    She didn’t respond but told Leilei, “Go fix tea and heat up some buns for our guest. Purple, you boil water, then take her to bathe.”
    After that, she turned to look me hard in the eyes. “You’re lucky we found you.” She paused, then spoke again. “Even doing menial work hasn’t ruined your hands. So I guess you’re not stupid. You seem to know how to protect yourself.”
    “Thank you very much, Aunty Peony.” Of course, I would agree with anything this boss said since I needed a roof over my head and food in my stomach. I knew I was extremely lucky to have found a chance to stay somewhere so quickly after I’d arrived in the city.
    I sat down and they watched me swallow the buns and down the tea like a woman caught in a famine. After I finished, Purple took a big pot of boiling water and led me inside the bathroom, which was a small space with a round wooden box for our dirty business. She moved an elongated wooden tub to the middle of the room and poured the hot water inside.
    “Don’t take too long. You understand that Aunty Peony didn’t take you in just for you to enjoy a hot bath, don’t you?”
    “Of course I do, Sister Purple.”
    Her voice softened a little. “Go ahead, here are your towel and clothes. I know you must be very tired, so