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Li-Xia is the first protagonist of the 2009 historical fiction novel Red Lotus (first published in the US as The Concubine's Daughter). She exclusively appears in Part One: Children of the Moon.
Biography[]
Part One: Children of the Moon[]
Li-Xia is born to Yik-Munn, a chauvinistic spice farm owner and spice merchant, and his fourth wife Pai-Ling. Pai-Ling commits suicide shortly after giving birth to her, thinking Yik-Munn has murdered her. In truth, his murder attempt is interrupted by a white fox; this incident causes Li-Xia to be seen as an embodiment of a fox spirit and widely hated.
She endures abuse by her father Yik-Munn through her childhood, which includes a failed attempt to bind her feet to make her more valuable as a concubine. She is then sold into the Ten Willows silk farm as a worker and eventual concubine to the farm's owner Ming-Chou. Here, she befriends the mung-cha-cha, a group of female workers headed by Little Pebble, and learns about the sau-hai, a women-only organization and secret intelligence network with a stated mission of female protection.
Li-Xia openly defies Ming-Chou's decision to make her his concubine. She also refuses the farm superintendent Ah-Jeh's offer to make her a sau-hai sister, citing the organization's lack of freedom for its members. She is thus sentenced to death by Ah-Jeh for her defiance, but is rescued by Ben Devereaux, a half-English, half-Chinese foreign merchant. She becomes a member of his household and then a comprador for his trading company, but is viewed with animosity by many others, including Ah-Ho and Ah-Geet, two of Ben's housekeepers.
With newfound wealth, Li-Xia sets upon improving the working condition of Ten Willows workers and forcing Yik-Munn to host a proper funeral for Pai-Ling. She and Ben then marry and conceive a child. Ah-Ho and Ah-Geet are eventually discharged for their worsening behavior, but it is revealed that they have been collaborating with the Yellow Dragon triad, which had a vendetta against the Devereaux family, to take revenge. While Ben is kept away from his house, the triad boxer Chiang-Wah, who has a grudge against Ben, infiltrates the house, rapes a pregnant Li-Xia and disfigures her face. After entrusting her newborn daughter to the Fish, another housekeeper, to take to safety, Li-Xia is cruelly taunted by Ah-Ho. Li-Xia then drowns herself.
Part Two: Red Lotus[]
Li-Xia is occasionally mentioned as her daughter Siu-Sing wishes to honor her legacy. Ben mentions that he has shot Chiang-Wah dead off-page to avenge her.