The Fifth Beauty — Ellison James

Deep within Chinese legend and folklore are four great beauties – women of such great beauty and intelligence that each influenced history. This story continues the legend with a little-known, fifth great beauty. The fifth great beauty was responsible for a new tea drying process that created fortunes and increased commerce within china, and eventually bringing about the fall of the last great Qing Dynasty to make way for the modern People’s Republic of China. Told from the point of view of Taijin, a lowly scribe working within a tyrannical magistrate’s house. A beautiful and mysterious woman called Azra comes to the magistrate in the night, seduces him, and eventually takes his life, leaving the position open for Taijin to take. But first, Taijin must officiate the tea harvest, now late from the magistrate’s neglect, and find a way to dry the tea in time to make it to market. The result is Lapsang Souchong tea, renowned for its full flavor and portability over the vast ocean. The mysterious woman is none other than Azra, the demon succubus from the novel Lovestruck Succubus in a past attempt to find love. Fear not though, one can enjoy this story without ever reading the novel, although I would hope this story might entice one to read more about Azra in the future.This story contains adult subject matter involving sexual relations between adults.Taijin is a lowly scribe, serving a harsh and ruthless magistrate in ancient china. The magistrate is visited by a beautiful, strange, and powerful woman, Azra, who brings about passion, lust, death, and change to an entire tea-growing region in the southern mountains of china. A short story based on the character Azra, the demon succubus from the novel Lovestruck Succubus. An exciting read about speculative history in ancient China.