{"id":14153,"date":"2021-03-29T17:49:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T21:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=14153"},"modified":"2025-05-05T19:44:56","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T23:44:56","slug":"the-lotus-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14153","title":{"rendered":"The Lotus Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lotus Palace<\/a><\/em> (2013) Jeannie Lin<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Tang Dynasty China, 847 AD<\/p>\n

Yue-ying is a maidservant to Mingyu, one of the highest ranked courtesans in Pingkang li, the pleasure quarter. <\/p>\n

Mingyu had started training in music, dance and calligraphy immediately after Madame Sun had taken her in. She had been twelve years old at the time, older than when many of the other courtesans began their rigorous education. Yue-ying had received no such instruction. Whereas Mingyu was considered ji, an artist and entertainer, Yue-ying had been chang, nothing more than a vessel, a whore.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bai Huang has failed Imperial examinations three times, and is known as a flirt and something of a wastrel.<\/p>\n

She was humoring him like everyone else in the North Hamlet. This was exactly the reaction he\u2019d deliberately cultivated, but he sometimes regretted it was so.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although Bai Huang has been paying court to Mingyu, it is not the mistress who has caught his interest, but the maid, Yue-ying. But he has to way to talk with her, until the discovery of a dead body–and then a second murder–leads them to attempt to discover the murderer.<\/p>\n

I found this story to be a bit all over the place. It felt like it couldn’t decide if it was a mystery or a romance–and switched back and for in tone between the two, often feeling like neither.<\/p>\n

The mystery wasn’t as strong as I would have liked, and I found the romance to be problematic on several levels.<\/p>\n

As far as the mystery, it wasn’t clear why Yue-ying was trying to solve the murder, except as an excuse to spend time with Bai Huang. He, at least, had good reason to research the death, since he had failed to protect one of the murder victims.<\/p>\n

As far as the romance, I had multiple issues. First, there was Yue-ying’s past and it affected her once, and then her issues seemed to miraculously just disappear. <\/p>\n

SPOILER<\/p>\n

When Yue-ying and Bai Huang have sex for the first time, she doesn’t enjoy it at all, and keeps remembering her past as a whore. One who may have been sold for the first time before she was even a teenager (although the text doesn’t make it clear when her first encounter was, only that she was sold and had no choice in the matter). Then he makes advances and realizes she wasn’t into it, and so he cuddles and kisses and she relaxes. <\/p>\n

Then miraculously she’s into sex after that. <\/p>\n

It felt to me like the author didn’t want Yue-ying to enjoy sex off the bat, because she had been made a prostitute against her will, but Bai Huang was so sweet and marvelous Yue-ying suddenly discovered that sex was great. <\/p>\n

I disliked the hand-waving that made Yue-ying’s past trauma disappear with no effort or work on his part. It does a disservice to both the characters and the readers.<\/p>\n

END SPOILER<\/p>\n

Secondly, I had trouble believing that The Thing standing between two could be resolved so easily. It’s possible the culture of the time would have been okay with a lord marrying a former prostitute, but it feels unlikely. <\/p>\n

I wanted to like this story, but I mostly found it aggravating.<\/p>\n

Publisher : HQN Books
\nRating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lotus Palace (2013) Jeannie Lin Tang Dynasty China, 847 AD Yue-ying is a maidservant to Mingyu, one of the highest ranked courtesans in Pingkang li, the pleasure quarter. Mingyu had started training in music, dance and calligraphy immediately after Madame Sun had taken her in. She had been twelve years old at the time, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31,292,48,33,8,26,56],"tags":[833,636],"class_list":["post-14153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asian","category-ebook","category-female","category-historical","category-mystery","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-jeannie-lin","tag-tang-dynasty"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3Gh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5464,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5464","url_meta":{"origin":14153,"position":0},"title":"The Sword Dancer","author":"Michelle","date":"October 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Sword Dancer (2013) Jeannie Lin Set in Tang Dynasty China \u2014 AD 848 Thief-catcher Han is searching for jewel thieves. Li Feng was involved in the heist, but not for the reasons the others in her group were, so she left the group but still fell afoul of Han.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Sword-Dancer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/The-Sword-Dancer.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12140,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12140","url_meta":{"origin":14153,"position":1},"title":"Gunpowder Alchemy","author":"Michelle","date":"October 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Gunpowder Alchemy (2014) Jeannie Lin Set in China in 1850 It has taken me a really long time to read this; it's been my lunch-time reading book, but I don't always read at lunch, and after lunch I walk and listen to either an audiobook or podcasts. So--maybe I've been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Alternate History"","block_context":{"text":"Alternate History","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy\/alternate-history"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Gunpowder-Alchemy.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2834,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2834","url_meta":{"origin":14153,"position":2},"title":"Rules for Virgins","author":"Michelle","date":"February 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Rules for Virgins (2011) Amy Tan This is a short story by Amy Tan, set in Shanghai in 1912. Violet is a new courtesan and Magic Gourd is the older courtesan who is to both train Violet and prepare for for the life she has chosen. The story is comprised\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/rules-for-virgins.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5915,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5915","url_meta":{"origin":14153,"position":3},"title":"Your Scandalous Ways","author":"Michelle","date":"June 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Your Scandalous Ways (2008) Loretta Chase Set in Venice in 1820 Francesca Bonnard is probably the most successful whore in Venice, perhaps even Italy. After a scandalous divorce, she fled to the continent and remade herself in one of the most sought after courtesans in Italy. \u201cAh, yes,\u201d he said.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"Your-Scandalous-Ways","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Your-Scandalous-Ways.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6011,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6011","url_meta":{"origin":14153,"position":4},"title":"The Emperor’s Woman","author":"Michelle","date":"August 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Emperor's Woman (2012) I.J. Parker Set in 1028. She was intended to be the emperor\u2019s concubine, but she died at the bottom of a cliff near Prince Atsuhira\u2019s private villa. The palace covered up the scandal. Months later, Akitada is drawn into the case when his best friend is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Emperors-Woman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Emperors-Woman.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":180,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/180","url_meta":{"origin":14153,"position":5},"title":"Kushiel’s Dart","author":"Michelle","date":"January 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Kushiel's Dart (2001) Jacqueline Carey I've read and heard a number of glowing recommendations for Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series. It's a fantasy series written for a grownup audience, that focuses on the theme of sex and sexuality. 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