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A Dance with Danger
Jeannie Lin
A Promise Sworn on the Edge of a Sword…After a failed assassination attempt on a corrupt general, Bao Yang is a wanted man. Taking refuge with an ally, Yang accidentally compromises the man’s daughter when they’re discovered alone. To save her honour he must marry the beautiful Jin-mei immediately!In Yang’s arms, Jin-mei feels alive for the first time.She’s determined not to lose him, even if it means joining his perilous mission… But when she realises just how destructive Yang’s path might be can she convince him that their life together could be so much sweeter than revenge?
‘This isn’t what you wanted, is it?’ Jin-mei asked Yang beneath her breath.
‘There is no one else I would rather be wedded to,’ he replied without hesitation.
Jin-mei whipped around to face him, causing the pearls in her ears to swing dramatically. ‘You’re trying to be clever with your words. You could very well mean that you have no desire to be married at all—to anyone.’
It was hard not to smile. ‘I think you and I will suit each other quite well, Jin-mei.’
Jin-mei. The sound of her name slid smoothly over his tongue, as if he’d been calling her that for years. Such a pretty name … like the clear chime of bells.
‘It’s a compliment,’ he added, seeing her perplexed expression.
It was the best arrangement Yang had ever made. He had the magistrate’s protection, his silence, and his daughter … Surely it couldn’t be this easy?
AUTHOR NOTE (#ulink_e96122e7-fffe-5f7e-bf9d-6dd98f069afc)
When I first imagined the world of The Sword Dancer I envisaged a wild land filled with heroes and bandits, with the lines between them completely blurred.
For those who have read The Sword Dancer, I hope you enjoy seeing what happens to Li Feng and Thief-catcher Han. As in all great romances, the rooftop marriage proposal was a beginning rather than an end, and their adventure continues here.
For history buffs: the places and people in this book are part real and part imagined. Fujian province was the seat of several rebellions. Rogue warlords were a plague upon imperial power in the late part of the dynasty. And when you read about the rebel figures that emerged throughout Chinese history many of them made their wealth through the salt trade.
The Linyin Stone Forest is an actual place. The pictures of it are dramatic and awe-inspiring. According to travel sites, it wasn’t explored until centuries later, during the Qing Dynasty, due to the dense growth that obscured it from view.
Perhaps I’ll be able to visit one day, and imagine the colourful bandits who made those hidden caverns their hideout.
Jeannie Lin can be found online via Twitter, Facebook or her website
To be notified when her next book comes out sign up at www.jeannielin.com (http://www.jeannielin.com)
A Dance
with Danger
Jeannie Lin
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
USA TODAY bestselling author JEANNIE LIN started writing her first book while working as a high school science teacher in South Central Los Angeles. Her stories are inspired by a mix of historical research and wuxia adventure tales. Jeannie’s groundbreaking historical romances set in Tang Dynasty China have received multiple awards, including the Golden Heart for her debut novel Butterfly Swords.
Thank you to my husband, for putting up with the papers that litter our living room and the all-nighters I had to pull to finish this book.
I blame the twins for the mess, but hubby knows it’s all me.
Contents
Cover (#u11444fb8-e582-57fe-8ac4-55f0f286fb95)
Excerpt (#u2ad86ffc-04e5-553e-a68a-a22925e44d71)
AUTHOR NOTE (#u99eec3ac-9403-521a-bd5b-9fb1aeb1fb63)
Title Page (#uafd90955-d884-5364-902b-05bc70812395)
About the Author (#uc5f45fb5-b52a-5a09-85e8-93179f13051b)
Dedication (#u89b88888-f6aa-5d82-bfea-d04a8744da86)
Chapter One (#u68b1debf-8584-5eb0-b4fe-62a60e194d9f)
Chapter Two (#u17b31499-17b3-58f8-a552-fd55a46b8fb6)
Chapter Three (#u5ce5b90d-a789-59d0-905e-0a97543bbbee)
Chapter Four (#u3bb854ed-f23a-5e7a-bba6-f91f556a8fbb)
Chapter Five (#u578964d4-6e84-5815-a6e3-6a79cd318337)
Chapter Six (#u9dd1d870-0ca2-5600-a4ad-4c84d12b8cc5)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ulink_86142a6f-ccd8-541d-bf61-f831f3dd3665)
Tang Dynasty China—AD 848
‘The mountains are high and the Emperor is far away.’
Bao Yang had always been fond of that particular proverb. It certainly held true in Fujian province where rugged mountains enclosed them to the north, west and south. To the east was the ocean fed by a lattice of streams and rivers. This was a land set apart from the heart of the empire, away from the eyes and ears of imperial authority. This was a land where a person with determination and a little cleverness could carve his own destiny, regardless of his birth.
Even a man with a price on his head.
Yang should have been afraid to return to the city where not long ago he’d tried to have a powerful warlord assassinated, but he had connections. He knew who would turn a blind eye and who could be bribed.
It wasn’t that there was no law in Fujian. Imperially appointed bureaucrats still oversaw the administration of the cities, but it was the merchants who dominated the rivers and ports. The surrounding mountains were inhabited by bandits and smugglers. Wealth and commerce were the forces that truly ruled this province.
He was approaching the city of Minzhou now by river, where there was very likely a warrant out for his arrest for attempted murder. Or at least for someone who looked like him. To his knowledge, his name was still unknown—for now, although he didn’t know for how much longer. His connections had bought him some valuable time.
The fisherman at the crossing was willing to take him down the river for a few copper coins. Yang hid beneath the wide brim of his hat as the tiny boat drifted into the city, joining the fleet of merchant vessels and ferries that fed the bustling markets.
As the fishing boat crossed beneath one of the main bridges, Yang kept his gaze directed forward. There was a guardsman in the lookout tower, but his bow remained slack in his hands as he scanned the water. The arrows rested soundly in their quiver.
‘The city guards have been wary of strangers lately,’ the fisherman said as he dragged a long pole along the river bottom, propelling them forward. ‘It’s best that you find your friend quickly and seek shelter before curfew so you aren’t hassled by the night watch.’
‘Is the city unsafe?’
‘There was some unrest a while back. Bandits, I hear.’
‘Thank you, Uncle.’
Three months had passed since he’d broken out of Minzhou’s prison house along with his co-conspirators. It was dangerous to return now, but not as much as one might think. Any thief-catchers searching for him would expect him to be in hiding. It was the regions to the north where there was price on his head. The regions that General Wang Shizhen had taken over with his army.
The fisherman steered clear of the busier docks to set Yang ashore at the edge of the market. From there, he moved quickly to a more secluded part of the city, slipping into a public park. A small stream ran through it, branching off from the main river. The walkways appeared empty and the broad canopy of the banyan trees provided cover.
Moving quickly, Yang set about tracking down his associate. He’d built up a wide network of associates over the years of which this particular official was the most powerful. If there was ever a time Yang needed to rely on calling in favours, it was now. He’d been working in the shadows before, seeding disruption and rebellion, but now this was war.
Yang needed the city magistrate’s allegiance which was going to require some craftiness on his part. Magistrate Tan was, after all, the same man who was responsible for throwing him into prison in the first place.
* * *
Jin-mei dabbed at her forehead with a handkerchief and adjusted the angle of her parasol to block the sun. As they neared the height of summer, there were fewer people enjoying the park in the midday heat, but her daily stroll along the river was one of the few opportunities she had to escape the house.
She had set out with her amah, but the old nursemaid only made it ten steps into the park before she sank down on to one of the benches in a viewing pavilion.
‘Don’t go too far!’ Amah warned, waving her on.
The woman had been considered elderly when Jin-mei was only a child. Now that Jin-mei was nineteen, Amah was ancient and could be forgiven for not wanting to exert herself. The dear old servant had also become less strict with age.
Jin-mei was wearing the lightest robe she owned, a finely woven silk in a peach-blossom pattern, but still the late summer heat was getting to her. She wiped at her face again, this time using the edge of her sleeve. When she lowered her arm, she could see a man crossing the bridge over to her side of the river. Given the man was a stranger and she was alone, Jin-mei slowed her step so they would have no reason to encounter one another.
Unfortunately, he’d seen her as well. He halted at the centre of the bridge before striding towards her with purpose. She should have ducked beneath the shadow of her parasol to avoid his gaze, but she found herself caught in it. Now that he was close enough, she understood why.
Her heart pounded. She knew him.
Most of her father’s visitors were grey-haired and uninteresting, but the young Bao Yang had seemed so dashing and full of mystery. He had a gleam in his eye and a half-smile that had always made her stomach flutter. That had been four years ago.
She’d only seen him from behind a screen while listening in on conversations she wasn’t supposed to be hearing. There was the one time when she’d attempted to stumble ‘accidentally’ into the hallway. She had fallen in hopes that Mister Bao might catch her and, well, become immediately smitten with her. Instead, her father had sternly told her to go to her room while the handsome young gentleman had watched her pick herself off the floor.
How odd to see him after all these years! She remembered that arch in the shape of his left eyebrow which gave him an inquisitive look. His nose was slightly off centre and she’d always wondered if it had been broken or was it naturally so. All of these little flaws, yet when put together, they created a face that was inexplicably intriguing. She had been convinced he was the handsomest man she’d ever seen.
Jin-mei wasn’t nearly as foolish now, but seeing Yang again brought back a little ache in her chest. That gleam in his eye was still there, even though they were supposed to be only strangers in passing.
‘What are you doing here?’ she asked when they were finally close enough to engage in conversation.
He gave her a startled look at being addressed so directly. Only then did she realise how impetuous she had sounded. ‘I apologise. It’s just that I—’
Yang laughed and the easy sound of it banished her moment of discomfort. ‘It is I who should apologise. I must have startled you. I am here to seek the magistrate.’
He didn’t recognise her. Some demon inside of her awoke at the opportunity. Here was a chance for her to make an impression on him. A more favourable one than she had at fifteen, picking herself off the floor in a tangle of silk.
‘I know where the magistrate can be found,’ she said.
‘Then I am fortunate fate has brought us together.’
‘Are you flirting with me?’ she asked incredulously. She realised only after the words had left her mouth that such directness would be considered rude. ‘Sir,’ she added after a pause.
