Author's note:  We've now reached the end of the second part of the story.  The third part, End-Game, is the longest, with more twists and turns and more new characters.  Buckle up.

 

Shan

 

Travelling fast, I reach the outskirts of the capital in three weeks.  There are Imperial troops about, but my disguise is convincing.  Nobody gives me a second glance.  If it weren’t for leaving Jinhai behind, and the now acute fears for my sister’s safety, I might be enjoying it, travelling at my own pace, sleeping in clean inns, eating well-cooked food and bathing in hot water.  But I’m bitterly angry with myself.   I’ve been complacent, trusting that the Emperor’s vanity and desire to legitimize himself would keep the Li family alive.  I hadn’t reckoned with Xu Yating’s cruelty.  But I should have known, after what both Jinhai and Hao Meng have told me.

I’m heading for General Chen’s estate rather than going directly to the capital.  Ren Baiyi’s words about him echo in my ears:  he likes to help out former soldiers.  No-one will be surprised if another veteran turns up at his door.

The General’s estate is some distance from the capital and is large, with a big comfortable house near a lake which I remember well, having often been invited to fish in it.  As I ride into the courtyard, I see that nothing’s changed since the last time I was here.  The General’s a widower, having lost his wife and small son to disease when he was serving in some desolate part of the Empire a long time ago.  He’s had a mistress for many years, a discreet elegant woman in middle age, installed in a pretty house on the estate not too far away.  But there are no women servants in his own house.  He’s served entirely by former soldiers. 

A man in the General’s livery is standing on the veranda as I dismount, looking at me with his arms folded.  I don’t know him.  As I dismount and approach the house, he says brusquely, “The General’s not seeing anyone.  If you want a handout, you can go directly to the storehouses and take what you need.  And there’s food in the kitchen if you’re hungry.”

I unstrap the sword from my back and hold it out to him, sheathed.  “Please show him this sword.  I think he’ll see me.”

He looks at me suspiciously, then takes the sword with a grunt and goes inside.  A moment or two later he comes back.  “Go in.”

The big office is familiar as well.  The General’s standing with his back to me, looking out of the open window into the garden beyond.  My sword’s lying on his desk.  As the doors close behind me, he says gruffly, “Where did you get this sword?”

“You gave it to me, sir.”

His head goes up.  For a moment he doesn’t move.  Then he turns, his face disbelieving.

“Merciful heavens,” he says, his voice choked.  “It’s you.”

He comes towards me, seizes me by the shoulders, shakes me and then, for the first time ever, envelops me in a bear-hug.  As he releases me, I see tears on his leathery face.

“Dear boy.  My dear boy.  I thought – we all thought –“  he hesitates, swallows and with an effort, gets a grip on himself.  Grinning, he pounds his fist on my chest.  “I should have known you’d be too tough to kill.  This calls for celebration.  Changpu!  Changpu, come and see who’s here.”

The familiar figure of the General’s faithful servant sidles into the room, gasps, and prostrates himself at my feet.

“Never mind that!” roars the General, “Bring wine!  And keep this to yourself.”

Everybody in the house must have heard him bellowing, but Changpu goes along with the fiction, grins and disappears.

“You’ll have a story to tell,” the General says.  ”But not here.  We’ll go outside.”

Clutching wine-jar and cups, we walk out into the garden and head towards the lake.  “I keep open house,” the General says, “So there’s bound to be one or two people from the Palace here spying on me.”  He pauses.  “I was very sorry to hear about your little Prince.  A pity, that.”

“No need, sir.  My little Prince is fine.  He’s on his way to the capital with a merchant caravan.”

The General’s mouth falls open.  “Well, it seems as if news from afar was dead wrong.  Sit down and tell me all about it.”

We sit on a convenient log by the lake under the dusty willows and drink the wine, while I recount the story of the past year and a half.  Changpu brings us another jar and then another, so we sit till the afternoon shadows lengthen and the tale’s done. 

The General heaves a sigh.  “I can’t tell you how much you’ve eased my mind.  What with everything else that’s been going on, the news of your death was like the final stone on my head.”

“What’s the situation here?”

“We were all taken by surprise by the Emperor’s assassination.  The Dowager Empress closed the whole Palace down immediately.  Nobody was allowed in or out and the Imperial Guard handled everything.  Then we were told a cock-and-bull story about how the Emperor had been killed by his Prime Minister – nobody believed it for a moment.  We all knew Xu Yating was behind it."

"But he was her own son!"

The General utters a scornful sound.  "Some animals kill their own cubs.  She'd lost her influence over him.  He only listened to Li Wei.  She couldn't be doing with that, so the plan was to get them both out of the way.  We all had to go along or lose our heads.  Then there was a purge of everybody connected to the Li family.”  He stops and looks at me.  “Your aunts and uncles are all right – they were invited to retire to the country like me.  But you and Ah-Lien were right in the firing line.”

He goes on, ““When Yan Rong took the throne, the southern provinces rebelled and you know how powerful those lords are.  But Xu Yating‘s been itching to get control of the rich farmlands down there, so it was a good excuse to declare war.  I and my fellow generals advised against it, but needless to say, we were ignored and sidelined.  So off they went, despite the fact that the army wasn’t keen and there weren’t enough supplies after last year’s bad harvest.  Yan Rong’s just got rid of another set of generals because no progress was being made.  How could it be, with no food in camp and disease running wild?  And those guys weren’t just forced to retire, they were executed.”

“When’s Yan Rong coming back to the capital?”

“We’ve had no news yet, but I reckon he’ll be heading back as soon as the weather gives him an excuse.  Another month, maybe two.  In the meanwhile, the country‘s being run by Xu Yating and that adviser of hers, Du Xun.  A very nasty piece of work.  Rumour has it they’re lovers.”

“He’s a eunuch,” I say, startled.

“I know but apparently some of them can get it up.  Maybe the choppers missed a bit.  And there are other ways of pleasing a woman.”

He looks out across the lake.  Fish are rising in the heavy afternoon warmth.  Occasionally one surfaces, turning over lazily with a flash of white belly.  “So what are you planning to do and how can I help?” he asks.

“I need to get into the city and contact Shao Ru and Liang Zhou.  Then I’m going to find out where Ah-Lien’s imprisoned and get her out.  The word is that she and Elder Lady Li were moved to a monastery because of Madam Li’s ill-health.  I’m figuring that a monastery will be less well-guarded than a prison.  But I need information.”

“You’ll have to be careful.  There are people in the city who might recognize you, though I have to say, with the short hair and the tat, even I had to look twice.  But I can get you in, no problem.  We’ve had a good harvest here this year because we've got water, so I send cartloads of grain in regularly.  You can go in with the next one as part of the escort.  When’s your little Prince getting here?”

“In a month or so, if the weather holds and there’s no trouble along the road.  He’ll go to Liang Zhou for news of me.”

He looks at me shrewdly.  “And once you’ve got Ah-Lien out, what then?  Where will you go?”

“Back up the road to the north-west.”  I pick up a piece of dried wood and throw it out into the lake.  A fish rises, nudges the wood, loses interest, sinks again.  “We have a lot of friends along the road now.  We’ll leave the Empire and wait for better times.”

“You might get her out before the lad arrives. Then you’ll have to leave him behind again.”

The General’s put his finger unerringly on the flaw in my plan.  If I succeed quickly, Jinhai and I might end up playing catch-up along that damned road again.  But no plan’s perfect.

“If he needs somewhere to go, tell him to come here,” the General says.  “I’ll find him a place to hide.  I’d like to meet your little Prince.”

“Thank you, sir.  It’s good to be here again.”

“Well, it’s a couple of days before the next shipment of grain, so you’ll have time to rest and plan.  And maybe we can do a spot of fishing too.  Let’s go and see what Changpu’s organized for supper.  What’s the name you’re using again?  Zhan Shuren?  I’ll have to try and remember.”

Supper’s cheerful and boozy.  The General’s in an ebullient mood, and has eventually to be helped to bed by Changpu and me. 

“He’s so very happy to see you,” Changpu says, as we pull off the General’s boots.  “He took the news of your death very hard.  I’m glad you’re back, sir.”

The General starts to snore gently.  Changpu and I exchange an indulgent look.

The room I’m sleeping in is also familiar from many previous stays.  It too has a window which looks out onto the quiet garden.  I feel a sense of coming home.  But inevitably, my mind takes me back to the caravan, to Jinhai sitting by the camp-fire, doing his rounds on guard duty, laughing with Yao Lin and the others.  I wonder how Yao Yuhan’s doing and whether my replacement’s turned out to be suitable.  I hope you’re all well.  I miss you.

Two days later, I take my leave of the General and set off as part of the escort of two wagons full of grain, heading for the city.  I’m wearing the General’s livery and a helmet which covers most of my face and which is quite unbearably hot.  We reach the main gate by mid-afternoon and are waved through by bored guards who barely look at our cargo.  Our destination’s a warehouse owned by the General.  Once there, I change into everyday clothes and put on a sedge hat which shades my face.  I leave Swift in a nearby livery stable, sling my few belongings in a bundle on my back and set off into the city.

The Imperial Palace, which is huge, sits in the middle of the city on a low hill, like the boss on a shield.  Clustered all round it are the ministries and the mansions of the nobility, near enough to get to the Emperor’s side in a hurry if necessary.  Around this privileged ground, but quite separate, lie the merchants’ quarter, the artisans’ quarter, the military area, the red-lantern district and the rest of the city where the poor and humble live in crowded, ramshackle dwellings.  There are hospitals and temples.  The main roads are wide and straight and lead from the various gates directly to the Palace.  The sanitary arrangements are satisfactory, in the wealthy districts at least.  There are many wells and water tanks.

The first thing I’m going to do is find Shao Ru.  I know, though no-one else does, that he has a sister who’s a seamstress, so I head for the artisans’ quarter and seek out the street of the tailors.  By the simple method of asking around, I find my way to a cottage set back from the street with a tiny courtyard surrounded by a wall.  A tree shades the front of the house, currently shedding leaves all over the ground.  I knock and a woman’s voice says “Come in.”

Shao Ru’s sister is a woman in her thirties, a widow by her hairstyle and clothes, with a decided resemblance to her brother.  She looks unflappable.  She’s sitting behind a large table spread with pieces of material, cutting out a pattern.  She rises and bows politely.  “What can I do for you, sir?”

I bow too.  “I’m looking for an old army friend, name of Shao Ru.  I was told you might know where to find him.”

“An old army friend?”

“I haven’t seen him for some months.  I heard he’d left the army.  If I’m not mistaken, that’s his sword hanging on the wall.”

This doesn’t fluster her.  She’s sizing me up.  “What’s your business with him?”

“I have good news.”

“We could do with some of that.  He hasn’t been himself since he got back.  Two of his friends were killed, his commander and a boy he was fond of.  He hasn’t been the same since.”

“I think I can help with that.”

“I think so too,” she says, making up her mind.  “He’s out drinking.  Turn right when you leave and go down the street to the next crossroads.  There’s a tavern on the corner.  That’s where he usually goes.”

“Thank you,” I say, bowing again.

“Bring him back and I’ll cook supper,” she says as I go out.

I find the tavern with no trouble.  It’s getting full as the end of the working day approaches.  Shao Ru’s sitting at a table by himself.  He’s unshaven, his hair’s grown out into a lank mess, and his face is an unhealthy colour, like the bellies of the fish in the General’s lake.  I march over and drop down opposite him.  “Mind if I join you?” I say.

He looks up, his eyes bloodshot, ready to snarl like Jinhai’s grey dog. 

“How’re they hanging, Ah-Ru?” I ask.

I’ve never before seen Shao Ru lost for words.  But today he can’t get a sound out, he’s stammering and gasping.  His hands shoot out and grasp my forearms, which are resting on the table.  His grip’s punishing.  Finally hoarse words come.  “F-Fuck me dead.  It’s you.  It’s really you.  You’re all right.  You’re still alive.”

“Don’t say my name,” I say warningly.

He licks his dry lips.  “The – the little bundle…?”

“He’s fine too.  On his way to the capital.  I came on ahead.”

He lets go of my arms and covers his face with his hands.  To tide over his moment of weakness, I raise a hand for the waiter and order more wine.

“Come on,” I say, “Let’s celebrate.”

He drops his hands, which are shaking.  “God all bloody mighty.  I can’t believe it.  You’re both all right.”

“Your sister said to bring you home.  She’s cooking supper.  But we can have a drink or two first.”

He’s starting to get over the shock now.  We clink cups and drink.

“I went to pieces,” he says, “I got them all home but then I went to pieces.  I got kicked out.”

“I know.  It doesn’t matter.”

“No pension.  After fifteen years.  I’ve been living off my sister’s earnings and odd jobs.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” I repeat.

“I haven’t spoken to anyone, not even Ah-Zhou.  I couldn’t face them.”

“All in the past.  I need your help, Ah-Ru.”

“I’m bloody useless.”

“That’s the alcohol talking.  You’re going to dry out, get a haircut and a shave and then we’ll be back in business.  Drink up and we’ll go home.  I’m getting hungry.”

Shao Ru’s sister has cleared the big table and somebody’s done some quick shopping, because there are already snacks laid out.  She comes out of a back room from which appetizing smells are emanating.

“Ah-Su, this is my commander.”  Shao Ru’s so happy he’s shouting.  “My commander, the one I told you about.”

“I thought he might be,” she says, with a glimmer of a smile.  “I sent the little girl next door for a few bits and pieces, so help yourselves.  The meal won’t take long.”

As we sit and start to eat, Shao Ru says, “What name are you going by?  And how did you get into the city?”

“I’m using the Zhan Shuren alias.  I stopped by General Chen’s house and came in this afternoon with a shipment of his grain.”

“You’ve seen the General?”

“Spent the last two days there.”

“Just like old times,” he says with a grimace.  “Except it isn’t, is it?  It never will be again.”

“It’s a new situation.  We have to adapt.”

The meal’s copious and tasty.  Afterwards, I tell Shao Ru all that’s happened, while his sister sits at the table sewing silently and occasionally smiling to herself.

“So the little bundle killed the assassin?” he exclaims.  “And that person buried in the Imperial mausoleum….?”

“Is a criminal called Bamboo Hat.”

That sets him off chuckling for a while.

Later:  "Lady Han saved your skin?”

“She did.  And she settled the score with the Dings as well.  I owe her, big time.”

“So she and Lady Ding….” He breaks off and glances sideways at his sister.

“Very close friends,” I say diplomatically.

He chuckles again.

Later:  “So Bai Ping bailed you out?  He’s back in the capital?”

“That’s where he was headed but he might have been sent to the southern borders by now.  I’m hoping he swung by Ah-Zhou’s place and told him we’re safe.”

“And now you’re going to get your sister out?  Crazy as ever.”

“Got to try.”

“I guess.”

I’m invited to stay, and accept gratefully.  I bunk down with Shao Ru, who's sleeping in a separate room across the back courtyard of the cottage.  I lie awake for a long while, smiling to myself.  I’ve missed him badly.  I’ve missed his impossible rudeness, his down-to-earth common-sense, his total reliability.  In all the years I've known him, Shao Ru has never let me down.

He starts to snore, so as Liang Zhou and I have done many times in the past, I take careful aim with a boot and throw it.  Shao Ru turns over, the snoring stops, peace descends.