The Commander

 

Shao Ru’s furious about the “no leave” rule.

“There’s wine, women and song just inside the walls and you’re expecting two hundred healthy men to abstain?”  He makes “abstain” sound like a dirty word.

“They’ll get leave once we get to Border Town.  I don’t want any trouble before then.  If they get into fights or run off or get blind drunk in every damn town we get to, we’ll lose days sorting it out and time’s getting on.  The summer’s ending and up here winter comes early.  Unless you want to fight in the snow?”

“What’s so special about Border Town?”

“A friend of mine’s the Garrison Commander.”

“Ah,” he says.  “Right, I get it.”  He sighs and throws himself down on my bed.  “Why don’t we just assassinate the bloody King of Qiu?”

“It’s illegal,” I say patiently, “Though I’m not excluding it.”

“Have you got a plan?”

“Ask me in Border Town.  We can’t do anything till we get more information.”

Shao Ru scratches his chest.  “From that Lotus Palace place?”

“Lotus Garden, yes.”

“Are you going to take the young’uns there for a treat?” he asks, grinning.

“I’m thinking about it.  Lord Zhao says it’s clean and reliable.”

“How does he know?” Shao Ru leers.

“Because he’s omniscient,” I say solemnly.

“Omni…..?” says Shao Ru, stumped.

I take out a flask of wine and two cups.  “Shut up and have a drink.  When we get near Jiayuguan Pass, I’ll send you ahead with the command token.  That way we’ll have priority getting through the pass and we won’t have to wait for all those damned merchants to get out of the way.”

“Right.  They’ll be inspecting the merchandise, I suppose?”

“Yes, but it shouldn’t take long.”

“What about the little bundle?  Will they need to see him too?”

“He’s the sixth son of the Son of Heaven.  They haven’t got any right to see him.  We’ll put a curtain up in the medical wagon and he can sit behind it.”

“You’re crazy,” says Shao Ru, “Give me another drink.”

Two days later, we’re camped near the Jiayuguan Pass, or the Demon Gate, as people call it.  In legend, it’s the gate where exiles are brought and cast into the outer lands, never to return to the Empire.  It is in fact a heavily-garrisoned stone-built fort surrounding a courtyard with a gateway at either end.  Travellers are let in at one end and held in the courtyard while their goods are examined and the toll calculated.  Once the toll’s paid, they’re free to go on.  We’re surrounded by caravans waiting to go through to the west and all around we can hear the sound of people and camels complaining.  There are clouds of dust and insects.

“I hate camels,” grumbles Shao Ru, “They’re unnatural.”

We’ll be the first to go through in the morning as military convoys have priority.  I go to the tent-opening and tell the guard to summon the Prince and Liang Zhou.  They arrive together.

“Right.  Tomorrow we’re going through the Pass and we’ll be inspected.  Since we’re supposed to be escorting the Sixth Prince, I’ll have to ask Young Master Yan to resume his Imperial identity, at least temporarily. “

“You mean, play myself?” he asks with a grin, “I should be able to manage that.”

“Ah-Zhou, you’ll be chaperone.”

The Prince says, “He’ll have to dress as a eunuch.”

Shao Ru makes a pfft sound.  Liang Zhou turns pink.  “What?”

The Prince’s lips are quivering suspiciously.

“I think Young Master Yan’s having you on,” I say.

Three of us start chuckling, while Liang Zhou huffs and then, reluctantly, grins.  “Brat,” he says.

“Tell the carpenters to put up a curtain,” I say, “We kept the original hangings from the Imperial wagon so we can use those.  Get to it.”

As they go out, Shao Ru’s still chuckling.

“The little bundle’s getting cheeky,” he says, “I’m going to miss him when we go home.”  He helps himself to a cup of wine and adds, “Assuming everything goes well and we actually do manage to carry this through, where does that leave him?  He can’t go back to the capital, not with the wicked Empress lying in wait for him.”

“Good question.  I don’t know.  Things may change when the old Emperor dies.”

“He’s been a long time dying.” Shao Ru says, “Here’s hoping he gets on with it.”

Shao Ru’s wish comes true.  The first thing we hear next morning is the news that the old Emperor has died and the Crown Prince has taken the throne.  The merchants are all a-twitter about what this might mean in terms of taxes, commercial contracts and possible wars, which as everyone knows, are bad for business.  Once we get inside the courtyard, the soldiers who come to examine our wagons can talk about nothing else.  We’re a very long way from the capital here and nobody knows much about the new Emperor.  The inspection’s cursory as they try to pump us for information, but there’s not a lot we can tell them either.  Having handed over the necessary paperwork for us to proceed, the officer in charge suddenly remembers that we have extra cargo.

“Er… the Prince?” he says hesitantly.  He’s quite a young man and has a bashful manner.  “I just need to check….um… for the records.”

I lead the way to the medical wagon.  The officer follows with a couple of guards.  I knock on the wagon door and Liang Zhou’s voice replies.  The officer and I climb in.  The carpenters have done a good job.  A red and gold brocade curtain stretches from one side of the wagon to the other.  Liang Zhou’s seated to one side, dressed in his best black robe and looking, I have to admit, very dignified.  The officer looks helplessly round at me, but I’m not about to help him out. 

He bleats, “Er…my Lord, I mean, Your Imperial Highness, this humble soldier just needs to check….”

A bored voice replies from behind the curtain.  “Let him see.”

Liang Zhou says, “As you wish, your Highness,” and pulls the curtain aside.

For a moment, I can't breathe.  The Prince, dressed in azure blue, is reclining full-length on Liang Zhou’s medical table, leaning on one elbow and with one elegant knee lifted.  His hair’s swept up into a jade crown and falls in a hazy cloud almost to the floor.  He’s playing idly with a string of beads.  He looks up at the young officer, who’s standing with his mouth open, and raises languid eyebrows. 

Overcome, the officer falls on his knees and bangs his forehead repeatedly on the floor of the wagon.  “This humble soldier apologizes a hundred times, a thousand times, Your Highness.”

The Prince says, “You may leave,” and makes a dismissive gesture with his hand.

I seize the officer, who’s still stammering apologies, and heave him out of the wagon.  Looking back, I just have time to see the Prince flash a wicked smile before Liang Zhou whisks the curtain back into place.  The three soldiers all look thunderstruck, as well they might. 

“Satisfied?” I ask. 

The young officer nods, his mouth still opening and closing.

“So we can proceed?”

He nods again.  He seems to have lost his voice.

I look round for Shao Ru, who bellows an order.  Everyone starts to mount up and get into line.  The officer moves away, still dazed.  Liang Zhou emerges from the wagon, looking pleased with himself.

“How did we do?” he asks.

“Very well, but for the love of Heaven, don’t let him out looking like that or there’ll be a riot.”

“It’s all right,” Liang Zhou says, “He’s changing back into uniform.”

As we ride out, I start to see the funny side and find myself chuckling.  Outside the West Gate we pass through another crowd of grumbling merchants who have been held up by us and then we’re back on the open road.  We have three more days’ travel to Border Town before leaving the trade road and turning off towards Qiu.