TWENTY-FIVEThough impatience ate at him, Yi waited until Heng had installed Mao in the spacious sleeping chamber beside his own before he shared his joke.
"Do you like your room?" Yi asked.
Mao nodded and thanked him.
"Just don't take any clothes from the chests in there. It belongs to my mistress," Yi told him with a grin.
Mao's jaw dropped. "Where will your mistress sleep while I am here?"
Yi was laughing too hard to answer, so Heng did it for him. "The prince has no mistress. Anything in that room belonged to the mistress of the man who had this apartment before the prince. The Emperor has many guest apartments where you might have slept, but the prince insists you stay here, in a room which cannot be reached without crossing his chambers first."
Mao nodded as if he understood
