The Orchid Room

True to any proper pleasure house, the first floor was a riot of noise and color.

On the inner stage, blue courtesans plucked pipa and seven-stringed zithers, while at every table red courtesans poured wine and attended to the men.

"So the twin pavilion across the way takes women customers?"

"Heehee. Yes. All those beauties working the other side are cross-dressing male courtesans."

A chill ran down my spine.

A perfect mirror image of a three-story tower stood opposite, complete with alluring "beauties" calling out to passersby. So it was a host bar…

"Though none of them are prettier than this little brother of yours…"

Yeonji hooked her arm through Jo Ha's as she spoke.

She had a point. With a face that cherry-picked every advantage of a pretty-boy idol, if you put him in women's clothes he would be called a peerless beauty.

"Hey now!!! How manly do you think I am? I'll punish you with this thing of mine."

"Aww. Yes…"

Like any seasoned courtesan, she fielded the dirty joke with effortless skill.

"You'll be taking a room, the two of you? One, or two?"

"One big room."

"Understood. Then I'll take the twin sisters Jo Ah and Jo Min upstairs with me. Tonight I was supposed to show my skills as a blue courtesan and begin learning the arts of the bedchamber in earnest…"

"Fine."

"Yeonji, escort them to the third-floor guest suite. What about the wine?"

"Yes, Sister."

"Something light, just enough to warm the mood. And we won't need any blue courtesans."

"Yes."

Yeonhwa unlinked her arm and walked away, hips swaying in her red light dress. As a red courtesan, if I took her in she would rank as Bitch. But I had no interest in keeping a woman who had sold her body for a living, so I decided to leave her as a one-night connection.

"Young masters. The Jo sisters truly are beauties—you should buy them. They haven't sold their bodies yet…"

Yeonhwa whispered, her face gone stiff. Deep down she must have wanted out of this life herself; her heart seemed kind enough.

"What do you think? If you like them, I'll buy Yeonhwa and Yeonji for you."

I murmured it into Jo Ha's ear. My clone's face lit up and he nodded at once.

I had no appetite for them myself, and the moment I thought of dumping them on the clone, any regret over "wasting" them vanished.

"You mean it? Then… don't touch Yeonji…"

"Sure. Let's try Yeonhwa together first, then decide."

Jo Ha nodded. A smile spread across his face. I had no intention of touching Yeonji either.

"Those two, and the pair of you—what's the price?"

"Pardon?… We… we're twenty-year-old red courtesans past our prime, so fifty gold don each—about ten million won. The Jo sisters are twenty-one, which knocks them down a bit, but they might still be blue courtesans, and they're virgins, so you'd need at least twice that. A hundred gold don to buy them."

Yeonji's eyes trembled. Desire and longing burned in them.

Fortunately, after selling off the Yi family's manor and lands, I had gold to spare. The idea that a human life went for a mere ten or twenty million won left me speechless—though I had heard of people selling daughters for a few sacks of rice.

After that her steps grew light; she kept whispering something into Jo Ha's ear, and the two of them giggled happily together.

Kid. At that level, she's worth keeping around.

"This is it."

An ornate wooden door. The Orchid Room.

Chinese people really do love their plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo, I thought, as Yeonji opened the door and we stepped inside.

The chamber glowed entirely in lavish red lantern light, filled with the faint musk of ambergris. One great bed dominated the room; against the far wall, three smaller beds stood partitioned off. In the center sat a broad table—clearly the work of a sculptor who had poured his heart into every carved flourish. Paintings covered the walls: the love story of Xiang Yu and Consort Yu at the Battle of Gaixia.

Surrounded on all sides, helpless, he frets only for Consort Yu. In the final line he cries her name twice: Yu, oh Yu!

Beside a painting of a woman who must be Consort Yu cradling Xiang Yu's face, her answering verse was written:

All the land belongs to Han; the songs of Chu surround us on every side. The Great King's righteous spirit is exhausted—why should I go on living? It foreshadows Consort Yu's suicide and shows her resolve.

"Oh."

While the other two whispered and nuzzled, I studied the paintings of the Battle of Gaixia. From the account in the Records of the Grand Historian the Peking opera The Hegemon-King Bids Farewell to His Concubine was born. I had read the scenario, so the images struck me all the harder.

Even so, for Bingzhou, the style looked as if it had been painted in the Central Plains—in Luoyang. Consort Yu was drawn a little plump. Xiang Yu, for all that he was a woman in form, had been given a rather fierce, masculine face and the kind of muscle you would see on a modern female pro wrestler. A powerful impression.

Tsk. Historical accuracy be damned…

History is written by the victors, they say. Xiang Yu was portrayed as a rough, mannish hermaphrodite. I clicked my tongue and examined the remaining battle scenes.

Then the door opened. Three women entered, followed by a line of maids carrying wine and dishes.

I turned to look at the Jo sisters. They were quite beautiful.

Hmm. Not bad. Seop Yeong or Jang Hwa level.

They claimed direct descent from Wang Zhaojun, so I had hoped for Jia Xu-class beauty, but they fell short of that. Still—one soft-featured, one sharp. Twins, yet their faces differed a great deal.

From Subspace I drew three thick gold toads, each worth a hundred gold don. Pretending to fish them from my money pouch, I handed them to Jo Ha.

"Here."

"Yes. Yeonji—this is your purchase price for now. Go have yourselves struck from the courtesan register and bring back the papers."

"Hic… This humble concubine… is truly grateful… hic…"

Yeonji accepted the three toads in both hands, tears streaming. Yeonhwa, reading the turn of events, wore a look of pure emotion.

"How…"

Moments later Yeonji slipped out with the maids who had brought the food and wine. Jo Ha, just in case, followed after her.

"I have bought you. Jo sisters—introduce yourselves first. Yeonhwa, you will go to my little brother shortly, share his bed, and live as his concubine from now on."

"Yes. Thank you, Master."

Yeonhwa clasped her hands at her waist, bent one knee sideways, and bowed. Only then did the Jo sisters grasp what was happening; they flushed and offered the same bow.

"Master. This humble concubine is called Jo Ah, of Mayi County in Yanmen Commandery. I am twenty-one this year. Fifteen days ago my father's gambling debts sold me into a pleasure house in Mayi."

"Master. This humble concubine likewise—Jo Min."

Beauty was enough. Their looks easily qualified them for slave rank. As virgins they might have scraped into Wife rank, but for fairness with the slave-born maids I already kept, I decided to leave them as slaves.

Mayi County in Yanmen Commandery—Seop Yeong's hometown. A sudden warmth rose in me; perhaps they knew her.

"Do you know a woman named Seop Yeong from Mayi?"

"Pardon? If you mean the Seop Yeong who married into Changshan—she was as good as a disciple to our late mother, Jo An, and a friend we used to play with…"

Of course. Seop Yeong had mentioned it in passing. The woman who had been the reason she married into Changshan. A collateral Jo woman had married into Mayi and coached her in martial arts. She had taught only the basics of the Changshan spear arts she knew, and then, sparring, refined her great-blade technique—that teacher.

"Yeonhwa, what is your name?"

"This humble concubine has no surname. Like Yeonji, I was sold for my parents' debts to a powerful clan. Around the age of ten. Until two years ago I was a blue courtesan, then a red… that is…"

Her voice trailed off at the word "red." I nodded.

"Enough. Serve my little brother well from now on."

"Yes, Master."

"All of you—strip naked and dance the Dance of Consort Yu to the Song of Gaixia hanging on that wall. Understood?"

"Yes, Master."

Yeonhwa nodded; the Jo sisters nodded as well.

"Don't be too ashamed of showing bare skin to strange men. You'll understand later—Jo Ha and I have a special relationship. Ah!!! We do not bugger each other, so don't get the wrong idea."

They startled at "special relationship," then nodded; sensing a misunderstanding, I corrected it.

They began to undress. Their breasts were all about a B-cup. Unlike Yeonhwa at roughly five-foot-three, the fraternal Jo twins stood closer to five-foot-five. Different faces, similar figures.

I nodded. All three were slender, their skin white as polished jade. Then the underclothes came off and they stood completely bare.

Yeonhwa began to sing the Song of Gaixia from the Records; the Jo sisters behind her took up the verse and started to move their hands.

Hmm. No hundred-pace paper…

A long leg stepped forward; one hand ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rose, thumb and middle finger touching, and fluttered like silk in the air.

"Han soldiers~~ have already seized the land…"

A plaintive voice. The exaggerated high tone you hear in classic Chinese opera. Slowly, slowly they sang and moved. Breasts swaying.

I grinned and knocked back a cup of wine.

Gulp.

"Excellent!!"

At my praise they bloomed into radiant smiles and carried on to the next verse.

Then the door opened. Yeonji, tears still wet on her cheeks, came in cradled in Jo Ha's arms.

"Master Jo Ha. Thank you."

"It's nothing."

"Huh? Big Brother?"

"Yeah. Come sit. Yeonji, you join them over there."

"Yes."

Yeonji shut the door, stripped in a flurry, and took up the verse beside Yeonhwa.

"Songs of Chu~~ from every side…"

The women's splendid, tragic voices, and the paintings I had just studied, conjured the final moments of Xiang Yu and Consort Yu.

"What use~~ is life for this humble concubine!!"

Both hands gathered as if gazing at someone; the song rose in a fierce cry. Then they flung their arms wide, spun, dropped to one knee, and performed the pantomime of cutting their own throats.

Clap clap.

"Magnificent. All of you… Come have a drink, then we'll begin."

Jo Ha bustled about filling four cups for them. Seeing our bright expressions, they smiled as they approached and received the cups in both hands.

"Everyone, repeat after me. I'm a slave of Yi-Ahn."

Gulp.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

They drained their cups one by one, then fumbled through the English after Jo Ha.

"Big Brother. Please register them as slaves. When I go to the present world I'll take the name Lee Kang-ho."

"You little shit."

"I'm a slave of Yi-Ahn."

"All of them as slaves."

I opened Soul Eyes for a moment, checked the tails on the women, then shut them again.

The body modifications were the same for Yeonhwa and Yeonji except for generating hymens; on both of them I tattooed the name Lee Kang-ho.

A flare of light, then gone.

Hmm. Tiger's Footsteps—so those two are assassin types? The Jo sisters got Agility… martial types?

"All right. Jo sisters, wait on the leftmost bed. Yeonji, take the rightmost. Yeonhwa, up onto the main bed here."

"Yes."

The four women bowed, faces flushed, and scattered as ordered.

A flare of light.

Yeonhwa, blushing hard, climbed onto the bed and lay down at once.

"Big Brother. Just one of those water bottles…"

"Hm?"

"I have to feed it to Yeonji."

"Ah!!!"

Only the original body's semen triggered the body-modification effects, so Jo Ha needed a container.

"Ugh…"

I bought a glass tumbler from A-Mart. He took it and set it on the bed. Yeonhwa's eyes went round as saucers.

"Yeonhwa. Curious about our secret?"

"Yes… Master."

Jo Ha's mischievous grin. Yeonhwa nodded.

"I'm Big Brother's clone body—split off by Taoist arts. We decided to operate separately, so don't worry too much."

"What?!!!"

"I learned the arts from Masters Jwa Ja and U Gil."

"Ah!!!"

She nodded. Apparently there was no one who did not know those two—even the courtesans.

"And my appearance may change. I'll go by Lee Kang-ho. If someone says Lee Kang-ho, know that it's me."

"Yes… Master."

Jo Ha began stripping; I stripped as well. I hardened and started forward—then stopped cold.

"Ha… Yeah. This isn't right."

The moment I was about to start actual sex, a crushing sense of wrongness hit me. She was already promised ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to Kang-ho; it felt like stealing another man's woman. I stepped back.

"I can't do it. Take Yeonhwa to a side bed and fuck her yourself. When we're done, just suck up the cum on the beds—don't worry about that. Send those two over here."

"Yes!!! Big Brother. It is pretty awkward. Even if we share the same personality, we're independent now. Yeonhwa, get up. Heh heh."

The clone looked genuinely delighted as he pulled Yeonhwa to her feet and walked her toward a side bed.

It was certain. No matter how perfectly a clone copied my personality, it felt strongly like someone else. As if I were snatching another man's woman—and if the clone touched one of mine, as if he were snatching mine. Feeding them a little semen barely registered, so I had let it slide; but the thought of burying myself in a pussy made it crystal clear.

I beckoned the Jo sisters, who approached covering themselves, up onto the bed. They climbed on, faces scarlet.

I grinned.

Right. I couldn't manage every woman myself. The ones meant for clones should be handed over for the clones to manage. B- to C-rank personnel, at least…

The more clones I made, the more women there would be to manage—and none of them would ever run. The clones had decent sex technique of their own, after all.

I restored my cock to its true form. It sprang out, growing to a dangling twenty-one centimeters; the startled women stared as I closed in on them.