Jinhai
I’m awakened in the early hours by Shan whispering, “I have to go.”
For a dazed moment, I think we’re back in our house in Qiu City. Then I remember where we are. I can’t stop myself clinging to him. He’s already dressed.
“I’ll see you soon,” he whispers. He kisses me, then leaves. I hear the door slide shut. Silence falls. I hug the quilt round me and fall back into sleep.
When a sound wakes me again, it’s full daylight and sun’s coming in through the window. It’s the sound of the door sliding open. I sit up in sudden hope, but it’s not Shan, it’s Yuan Song coming in with a breakfast tray, which he puts down beside the bed before casting an assessing glance over me. I feel myself blushing.
“Wild night, was it?” he asks in a sympathetic tone. “You must be aching. I’ll get them to bring water so you can have a bath.”
He goes to the door and I hear the sound of soft voices. As he turns back, I say, “Um, I couldn’t get the jewelry off. Would you mind…?
Without a word, he comes back and sits on the bed beside me. The bracelets come off, and I stick my feet out so he can get at the anklets. The necklace is the last to go. He looks at me with his strange eyes, his expression unexpectedly friendly. “You did very well last night,” he remarks.
“I should thank you for arranging the meeting.”
“It served our own purposes too. We needed to know if you were going to challenge your brother.”
“No fear of that. The last thing I want is to be Emperor. I never want to go back to that Palace again.”
“What do you want then?”
“I’m still working it out. But I think I’d like to become a trader, make money and then help people just like my fa………” I stop, having forgotten that no-one knows about my father. Or so I thought.
Yuan Song smiles. “Just like your father?” he supplies helpfully. “Your non-Imperial father, I take it?”
“You know about that?”
“You forget that information’s my trade,” he says. “But don’t worry, your brother doesn’t know.”
“I suppose I’ll have to tell him sometime.”
I suddenly realize that we’re chatting like old friends. I look at Yuan Song’s face, which shows faint signs of fatigue this morning, and ask, a little shyly, “Why are you involved with this? If you don’t mind my asking.”
He looks over my head and, for a moment, his face loses its smiling calm. I think he isn’t going to answer, but after a slight hesitation, he does. “Revenge,” he says. Still looking over my head, he continues, his voice expressionless. “My father was a minister in the old Emperor’s government. He dared to stand up against Xu Yating and Du Xun. They conspired to accuse him of treason and he was sentenced to public execution. My mother and I were sold into brothels. I was fourteen. I never saw my mother again. I later found out she died by her own hand, alone and far from home. She was a foreigner, from a country in the far north. She never really got used to life here in the Empire.”
Despite the sunshine coming through the window, I feel chilled. Hesitantly I reach out and touch his arm. He looks down, surprised.
“I’m really sorry,” I say, feeling how inadequate this is.
He hesitates and then, equally surprisingly, he pats my hand. “It was a long time ago,” he says, “Now, you’re going to eat your breakfast and have a hot bath. I’ll send in my masseur and some herbal medicine for your body. You have to take care of yourself.”
He picks the tray up, puts it on my lap, and lifts the lids on the heated baskets.
“What’s this?” I ask, lifting a pouch which is also sitting on the tray. It’s heavy.
“That’s your bonus,” Yuan Song says, “I doubled my takings last night thanks to you, so it’s only fair you get your share. Take your time about leaving – there’s no hurry.”
At the door, he turns. “I’ll reserve this apartment for you and Commander Liao. When you want to meet, just let me know.”
He goes out before I can answer. I open the pouch and gasp. It’s full of gold. The takings must really have been good.
I eat, thoroughly sobered by Yuan Song's story. Xu Yating‘s list of crimes seems never-ending: the deaths of my Imperial brothers, those of Yuan Song’s mother and father and his own shocking fate, the broken lives of my own parents and grandfather, the loss of Hao Meng’s eye and those of his fellow-soldiers. And no doubt there are other unknown people whose lives she has destroyed. Resolve grows in me. She has to be stopped.
As Yuan Song knew from experience, I’m indeed aching and sore after last night, but the hot bath-water, which contains various herbs, is very soothing. When I emerge, a man with large muscles is waiting by the bed. He bows respectfully and indicates that I should lie down. He knows exactly where I need relief, but again, as I remind myself, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Finally, he hands me a jar of herbal ointment and indicates where I should apply it. I bow and thank him, feeling better.
The morning’s far advanced by the time I emerge, to find that the apartment where we just spent the night is in Yuan Song's own courtyard. I head for Liang Zhou’s house, which is nearest, to find Shao Ru there, in high spirits. He’s been released to help me with the rescue plan. Yao Lin’s there too, elated about his first job as Mo Jiang’s assistant. Everyone’s pleased to see me. No-one, not even Shao Ru, says anything embarrassing about where I spent the night. They feed me and send me on my way to the Lei house, where I collapse into bed and sleep for fifteen hours.
