Ten days earlier - Qiu City - Jinhai

 

As I watch the last of the troop – my troop – ride out of the city gate, my courage drains away with them.  They’ve been part of my life for over a year and now they've left me behind.  I know it’s not for ever, but all the same, the thought of the next few months makes me feel truly dismal.

No sooner has one troop moved out than another moves in.  And with them, indeed at their head, ride the Ding brothers, looking round with a proprietorial air that makes me grind my teeth.

I feel a touch on my sleeve.  It’s Ah-Ming.  I have one friend left at least.

“They didn’t waste any time,” I say.

“Indeed not.  They’re related by marriage to the Gu family, so this is only to be expected.”

“Ah-Ming, how do you know so much?”

She smiles wryly.  “It’s my business.”

We move away from the main square, heading for the clinic to start our morning’s work.  And there we stop short, because the main door of the building’s open and our patients are being escorted and, in some instances, carried out on stretchers by a team of soldiers. 

“What the hell’s going on?”  I push my way inside and find the person in charge, who, I seem to remember, is the new troop’s Deputy Commander. 

“What are you doing?”  Ah-Ming rushes to a stretcher which two soldiers are lifting with some effort.  “This man’s ill.  Put him down at once.”

“Piss off, bitch,” one soldier says, spitting on the floor.

“What did you say?”  I spin round furiously.  “How dare you insult this lady? “

They look at me with lowered brows, showing no signs of acknowledging me.  But the Deputy Commander rushes over in a fluster and salutes me.  “Your Imperial Highness, my humble apologies.  We’re only following orders.”

“Tell your men to mind their manners,” I say icily.

He waves a frantic hand at the men and they grudgingly salute.

“And apologize to this lady.”

They obey, even more grudgingly.

“Now,” I say, turning to the sweating young man in front of me, “What orders are these?”

“We’re requisitioning this building for our own purposes.  The clinic’s being closed.  It’s a waste of Imperial resources.”

“This clinic is a valuable and much-appreciated facility for the townspeople.  Are you aware that closing it will rob us of considerable goodwill?”

He looks confused and panicky.  “I’m sorry, but I have to follow orders.  The Commander’s unwilling to pay for it any longer.”

“And what do you expect us to do with the patients?” Ah-Ming demands.

“Um – I’m sorry.  That’s not my problem.”  He turns to the two soldiers.  “Carry on.”

They pick up the stretcher and move out with it.  As they pass me, the leading soldier mutters under his breath, “Liao Shan’s piece of ass.”

Ah-Ming’s hand on my sleeve prevents me from forgetting myself and breaking the man’s nose.  The Deputy Commander’s boyish face flushes red.  He stammers, “Your Highness, I just need to mention, you’ve been assigned a bodyguard, at Commander Liao’s request.  If you wish to leave the city, they should accompany you.”  Then he says, “Um – about the accounts….”

“Yes, I’m the one who keeps the accounts.  Everything’s in the office behind you.”

He squirms.  “Well, the Commander wants the troop’s accountant to take over that job.  We won’t need to bother Your Highness anymore.”

So, they’ve hardly been here an hour and I’ve already been sidelined.  What am I expected to do all day, sit at home and embroider?   Ah-Ming pulls at my arm.  I know what she wants to say.  There’s no point arguing with this person.  As he says, he’s just following orders. 

“Jinhai, come outside and we can talk about this,” she says.

The Deputy Commander breathes an audible sigh of relief as we beat a retreat.  Outside, our patients have simply been dumped on the cold ground.

I’m fuming.  “How dare they?  Are they going to destroy everything we built up?”

“Probably,” she replies, a cynical tone in her voice.  “And there won’t be anything we can do about it.  That’s the way of it.  But we have to find accommodation for these people.”

“We’ll bring them to the Black Snake till they’re better.  But without Liang Zhou and with no resources, we won’t be able to take any more patients after this.”

“I agree.  We’ll escort the ones who can walk and send servants to fetch the rest.”

Later, brooding in my room at the Black Snake, I hear loud arrogant voices in the principal courtyard.  I cross to the main building and go to the front windows.  Outside, Shi Mu’s facing off against the Ding brothers and Commander Gu.

“Very sorry, Honourable Sirs, but this is His Highness’s residence.  No other residents are permitted.”  Shi Mu bows respectfully, but his voice is firm.

Gu Lim’s petulant voice carries clearly to my ears.  “But Commander Liao and his officers were billeted here.  Why can’t we move in here too?  I don’t want to stay another day in that flea-ridden inn.”

Shi Mu says politely, “The owner of the property made a special exception for Commander Liao and his men.  But now he wishes the property to be the exclusive residence of the Sixth Prince.”

“Stop wasting time,” snaps the elder Ding brother.  “Just requisition it, for fuck’s sake.”

“Honourable Sirs, the owner is a person of standing who should not be offended,” Shi Mu says.

“I can offend who the fuck I like,” says Ding Bao.  “Who is this person?”

“Prime Minister Li.”

There’s a short silence.  I cheer inwardly.

“Ah, in that case…..” Gu Lim says, deflated.   “I suppose we should…..”

Ding Bao snorts, shakes his sleeves back and turns to leave.  The others scurry after.

Shi Mu straightens up and watches them go.  I emerge from hiding.

“Well done,” I say, “One game to us, at least.”

It’s a small consolation.

If I thought the day was difficult, I find the night even more so.  Shan and I haven’t spent a night apart for months.  Without his reassuring presence, I turn restlessly for a long time before I can sleep.  I feel more alone than I ever have before, because I know what I’m missing:  his voice, his hands, his warmth next to me.  How can I get through the next few months like this?  And it’s not just Shan.  I’m going to miss Mo Jiang’s imperturbable common sense and his silly jokes, Qin Feng’s harmless vanities and Wu Shun’s endearing tendency to blush and burst into tears.  I’ll miss Shao Ru’s impossibly obscene remarks and Liang Zhou’s fussing.  They’re my family and I’ve lost them. 

I wake after a disturbed sleep but I’m cheered a little to find that today spring really seems to be on its way.   The breeze feels warmer.  The sky’s blue and full of small cottony clouds.  I suddenly want to get out of this place where everything’s become so miserable.

“I’m going hunting,” I say to Ah-Ming. 

She smiles.  “Good idea.  Don’t forget the bodyguard.”

Saddling Arrow, I’m cheered even more when I realize that the grey dog has chosen to stay with me rather than accompany the troop.  He stands up out of the straw where he’s been sleeping and yawns.  Four guards are waiting for me at the main gate.  This seems somewhat excessive, but that’s what Shan wanted, so I go along with it.  They’re as happy as I am to get out of Qiu City.  We have a good ride into the back-country.  Arrow’s very fresh and full of enthusiasm.  The grey dog lopes alongside, occasionally dashing into the bushes and putting up a bird.  There’s not a lot of game about, but we catch a couple of pheasants and a rabbit or two, enough for lunch.  By noon, when we stop to rest and eat, we’re a long way from the city.  We find a pleasant place by a spring, surrounded by rocks which provide shelter from a cool little breeze that has sprung up.  We tether the horses.  One man lights a fire while the others prepare the game for roasting.  The grey dog lies down and waits for food.

I’m filling my water bottle at the spring when I hear a shocking sound.  It’s the whine of an arrow, followed by the familiar plunk as it hits its target.  I drop my water-bottle and spin round, by which time a second arrow has struck.  A man’s down, another’s falling.  Before I can move or even think what to do, two more arrows have felled the two remaining two guards.  The arrows are all coming from the same direction.  One archer, crack shot.  The grey dog half-rises, growling, and a fifth arrow skewers him to the ground.  This has all happened in less than a minute.

I’m crouching, frozen, waiting for the last arrow, but nothing comes. 

Someone laughs light-heartedly.  Then a man appears from behind a stand of rocks nearby, holding a bow horizontally with an arrow notched.  He comes towards me walking like a cat, one foot placed delicately in front of the other.  He’s young, good-looking, his face alight with merriment.  Within a few feet of me, he stops.  “Well, well,” he says, “So you’re the Sixth Prince, are you?”

An arrow at close quarters is no joke.  My mouth’s dry.  I lick my lips involuntarily and see his eyes flicker to my mouth.  “Who sent you?” I ask, my throat tight.

“Your family,” he says, his gaze holding on my face.  His voice is caressing.  “I heard you were pretty.  I thought I’d see for myself.  And what do you know, you are.” 

“Are you going to kill me?”

“Hmmm, we could discuss that.  Maybe I’ll keep you alive for a while.  If you please me, I just might consider it.”  He pauses, and then adds, “I’ve never fucked a Prince before.”

I suddenly remember Shao Ru saying that women are efficient assassins because they can draw a victim in close.  I have my knife in my boot.  I just need to play along.  I put my head back so that my throat’s exposed and I part my lips.  The smile leaves the assassin’s face and is replaced by an intense, slightly cruel expression.  The arrow aimed at my heart wavers and starts to droop downwards.

“How about we start right now?” he says, “Let’s put that pretty mouth of yours to good use.”

Seriously, here we are surrounded by corpses and this pervert wants me to ………? 

I have to keep up the act.  “Wh – what do you want me to do?”

“Oh come on.”   The bow and arrow drop to the ground as he starts to undo his clothing.  “I bet you’ve done this dozens of times with that handsome soldier of yours.”

His body’s exposed.  He’s already hard.  As he reaches out to grab my head and pull it close, I surge upwards, seizing my knife as I go.  I take him totally by surprise.  The sharp double-edged knife slides up under the ribs as Shao Ru said it would.  We’re standing face to face.  He doesn’t quite realize what’s happened yet.  He looks astonished.  I complete the move, twisting the knife and feeling the warm blood flood down over my hand.  Then I pull the knife out and see the life vanish from his eyes.  He collapses slowly onto his knees and stays like that, upright, as if it’s he who’s pleasuring me.

I take two steps away and my legs fold under me.  Then I hear whimpering.  The grey dog!  I stumble over and discover that he’s not seriously injured, just pinned to the ground by the scruff of his neck.  It’s a simple job to cut him free; the wound’s minor and should heal easily.  He gets to his feet and shakes himself, while I stand up and look round.

The four guards are all dead, as I expected.  I hardly knew them, but they were all young:  a horrific waste of life.  What do I do now?  But even as I try to pull myself together, the outline of a plan’s coming into my mind.  The assassin’s about my height and a little heavier, though not enough to count.  His hair’s long, like mine.  If we could change clothes…. 

His garments are bloodstained and the thought of putting them on revolts me.  I think quickly.  He must have a horse nearby with equipment and food.  Perhaps there are spare clothes too. 

I find the horse tethered behind the rocks where the assassin was hiding.  It’s a handsome chestnut with a white blaze on its forehead.  In the saddlebags I find food, spare arrows, a change of clothes and a bamboo hat.  There’s also a bag of silver pieces, a small fortune.  It’s probably the fee he was paid for killing me. 

His clothes fit me well enough.  There are undergarments, limp but clean, a pair of trousers and a knee-length tunic, all much more practical than my robes.  Once changed, I hasten back to the scene of the killing and with some difficulty, strip the assassin and dress him in my own clothes.  My boots are a little too small for him, but I manage to force them on.  I  slash the material over the wound on his body and stain it with blood.  I rearrange his hair and fix it with my own hairpin.  So far so good, but there’s still his face.  I pick up a rock and hesitate.

There’s no doubt in my mind that this assassination was ordered by the Dowager Empress.  So if she wants the Sixth Prince to die, then I’m going to oblige her.  The Sixth Prince will die here and Zhao Jing will ride away a free citizen. 

I think Sorry, grit my teeth and bring the rock down on the assassin’s face.  I force myself to do this till his features are impossible to distinguish.  Then I stagger away and sit down, nausea welling up.  I’m feeling weak with reaction, but I can’t falter.  I’ve got to keep going.

What to do about the horses?  I can’t take Arrow, though it breaks my heart to leave him behind.  I’ve got to take the assassin’s horse and equipment.  But suppose the assassin has friends who recognize his gear?  It’s a risk I’m going to have to take.  I pick up the bow and quiver.  The bow is high-quality, made of shiny black wood with detailed carving at the ends.  I retrieve my water bottle, then go to Arrow and take my medical kit from the saddlebags.  Everything else has to be left.

The scent of blood will draw wolves and I can’t bring myself to leave the horses tethered.  I free them and they scatter slowly and start to graze on the scanty grass.  I call the grey dog and he follows me behind the rocks, watches as I mount the chestnut horse and then lopes after me as I ride away from the killing field.