Shan
As the days tick by, I get no further opportunity to meet up with Jinhai. Then we get the word: Start to infiltrate.
We’ve taken up Jinhai’s idea of using grain and vegetable carts, so it’s not long before the Third Prince and I find ourselves in a long line of laden carts waiting to go through the merchants’ gate. I’m amused to see how ill-at-ease he is dressed as a commoner. In addition, he has no idea how the common folk speak. We’ve agreed that I’ll do the talking.
“What’s the hold-up?” he mutters, shifting restlessly on the hard seat and squinting ahead down the line.
“They’re just passing the time of day. The weather’s warm and nobody’s in much of a hurry.”
We lurch forward a couple of cart-lengths and stop again. The Third Prince sighs impatiently. “How does anything ever get done?” he mutters.
“They have a hard life. They’re quite happy to sit doing nothing for a while.”
He harrumphs. We lurch forward again.
The soldiers on the gate are taking a rake-off. A handful of vegetables here, a cup of grain there. It soon mounts up quite profitably. As they take their share from us, the Third Prince is about to protest, but disregarding etiquette I take the Imperial wrist and grip it hard. He subsides. The guards thrust sticks half-heartedly into our load of grain and then wave us through.
“Robbery!” mutters the Third Prince, rubbing his wrist. I click my tongue to the horse and we move into a trot.
Half an hour later, we arrive at the Third Prince’s mansion. He disappears to bathe and change, and I go to the quarters assigned to the soldiers. By the end of the day, fifty men are assembled on the premises. We’re forbidden to go out. I get my two dozen men together and we go over the plan for Li Wei’s rescue, as we have done every day for a week. They’ll have no excuse for not knowing what to do. We eat and sleep, rather crammed together, but that’s nothing new. The Third Prince, no doubt, is relaxing in his spacious private apartments.
In the morning, I’m summoned to the presence. The Third Prince is walking up and down in an impatient manner. I salute and wait politely.
“Nothing from the army yet,” he says in an irritated tone. He throws a piece of paper down on the table. “But my spies tell me they’re within a day’s march. I’ve decided to proceed tonight. Prepare your men. I’ve sent a message to the Pavilion and Yuan Song will alert the Sixth Prince.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“You mustn’t fail,” he adds.
“We won’t.”
He waves dismissal and I leave, with a sudden feeling of invigoration. Action at last!
I make sure all the men know what’s going on. They’re as eager as I am to be done with the training and into the real thing. I make sure they all know what to do: when our mission’s completed and the army rises, we’ll join them and head for the Palace to capture the Emperor and his mother. The contingency plans I keep to myself. There’s no point denting the men’s confidence by explaining what to do in case of failure. But privately, I check out the number of horses on the premises – half a dozen – and ensure there are sufficient packs of rations available for all the men. Wan Ning catches me at it.
“Preparing for the worst?” he asks.
I grunt.
“His Highness seems a little nervous,” he observes.
“He’s not used to all this.”
“Do you think he’ll hold up?”
“It’s our job to make sure he does.”
We go out into the sunlit courtyard. It seems as if this good weather isn’t ever going to break, though winter’s just round the corner.
Wan Ning sighs. “Just think, tomorrow we’ll be sitting in the Palace celebrating.”
I smile. “Don’t sell the wolf-skin before catching the wolf.”
“Don’t you think we’ll succeed?”
“If everyone comes up to scratch, yes, we will.”
“Well, then.”
“He hasn’t heard from the army today.”
Wan Ning shrugs. “It’s still early. In any case, they’re within a stone’s throw. The Generals are all on board. Nothing to worry about. Just do your job and leave the politics to us.”
As sunset approaches, we start to prepare. Jinhai’s going into action before us. With luck, when my team gets back from the mission, my sister will be here to greet me. I don’t like to think what might have happened to her during these months of imprisonment. She may be in ill-health. I’ll have to deal with it afterwards.
We all know the plan by heart. A dozen men will enter the prison over the wall, using grappling hooks and specially-designed ladders. The others will remain in waiting, ready to follow us in case of trouble. We’ll enter the prison, disable the guards, and go directly to the cell where Li Wei’s being held. His condition’s unknown. However he’ll be dealt with as if he were a parcel: carried out, strapped into a harness, hauled to the top of the wall and carried back to the mansion.
Two hours after sunset, we leave the mansion carrying our equipment: a force of two dozen men dressed in black, heads and faces covered except for our eyes. We split into two groups and take the routes I’ve planned through the quieter back-streets to the prison. We make no noise. We pass unnoticed in the shadows, and meet at the rendezvous point.
It all goes perfectly, as it damn well should, given all the practice we’ve had. Ladders are placed against the wall, men climb up and throw rope ladders down the other side. The guards and jailers aren’t expecting trouble and are easy to take down. But as we push forward into the prison building, the prisoners in the cells start to shout and beg for release. I’ve warned the men about this and told them to ignore the pleas, hard as it may be. We must under no circumstances draw attention to the prison.
Li Wei’s in a cell by himself. He gets slowly to his feet, a tall thin old man in a tattered robe which is no longer white. I barely recognize him. His grey hair’s been cut short, his beard's ragged and his face is bruised. One hand's wrapped in bloody rags. But his dignity’s intact. As I burst the lock on his cell, he asks quietly, “Have you come to kill me?” There's a gap where two teeth should be.
“No sir,” I reply, “We’re getting you out of here. Please forgive us for what we’re about to do, but there’s not much time.”
The largest man in the team sweeps Li Wei up over his shoulder and we all run back out of the building and gather at the foot of the wall. Li Wei’s strapped into the harness. Half the men go up over the wall and disperse into the city, as ordered. Li Wei’s hauled up efficiently if somewhat bumpily, the rest of the men scale the rope ladder and I follow, last of all. I can hear the clamour of the disturbed prisoners, but so far no-one’s taking any notice. The whole operation’s taken less than half an hour.
I and six others hurry back to the mansion, Li Wei carried in our midst. The rest of my team have dispersed and will lie low in town, waiting for the call tomorrow. The gate opens for us, Li Wei’s carried off to the Third Prince’s quarters, the gate closes, and as I take the stifling black cloth off my head, Shao Ru comes out of the shadows, grinning all over his face.
“Ah-Ru, how’d it go? Is Ah-Lien here?”
“Everything went just fine, but there were a few complications. Your sister’s having a baby. It started just after we got her out, so Jinhai changed the plan and we took her straight to Ah-Zhou’s. They’re still there. Ren Baiyi, Zi Wuying and I came on here to join in the fun.”
“A baby?” I repeat, hardly able to grasp the news.
Shao Ru claps me on the shoulder. “You’re going to be an uncle.”
I’m still grappling with this when a servant appears and bows. Our presence is commanded by the Third Prince. As we walk into the room, it’s immediately obvious that something’s very wrong. The Third Prince’s face looks awry and his hands are trembling. Wan Ning’s as pale as a ghost.
“What?” I ask, without ceremony.
“The army’s not coming,” the Third Prince says in a tone of disbelief. “I’ve had a message. There’s dysentery in the camp. Half the men are down with it. The Generals say they can’t support me.”
“Oh fuck,” says Shao Ru.
It’s plain that neither the Third Prince nor Wan Ning has a clue what to do.
“Right,” I say, “We have six horses and I’ve had rations prepared. We’re going out of the city. Do you have your royal token, Your Highness?”
Dazedly, he shows me the gold token dangling from his waist.
“Six of us will take the horses and the rest will follow on foot. We go to the south gate. We bluff. We tell the guards that the Emperor’s leaving. You look sufficiently like your brother to make it credible. The horsemen will make for the training camp where we can change horses and get more supplies. Then we head for the southern border. The rest of the men will have to scatter and lie low. We have to move now. Shao Ru, tell the men. I want you, Ren Baiyi and Zi Wuying among the mounted men. The other horses are for His Highness, Wan Ning and me. I doubt if Li Wei can ride, so I’ll take him up with me. Get going.”
“Yes Boss,” says Shao Ru, disappearing promptly.
“Please get ready to leave, your Highness,” I say, “Where’s Li Wei?”
“In there,” the Prince says, pointing to an inner room.
I find the ex-Prime Minister in fresh new underclothes. His hair’s wet. A servant’s removing a basin of water. He looks up at me in surprise. “So it was you!” he says.
“Yes. I’m sorry to rush you, sir, but we have to get moving.”
“I know. I heard most of what was said.” His tone’s calm. “Commander Liao, please accept my heartfelt thanks for my rescue. Is there news of my daughter?”
“Yes indeed. The rescue was successful, but we didn’t know that Ah-Lien was pregnant. She went into labour so they took her to a doctor. That’s all we know.”
“A child?” he says, astonished, “I didn’t know. A child….”
“I don’t want to hurry you, sir, but we have to go. Please dress. Ask them for a warm cloak.”
“I ‘m not sure how far I can ride in my condition,” he says. “You should leave me here. I’ll only slow you down.”
“Once the Emperor finds out what’s happened, your life will be worth nothing. You’re better taking your chances with us. You can ride with me.”
“Very well,” he says. “There’s one good thing. I don’t need to pack. I haven’t got anything to bring.”
I grin. “The lighter, the better. I’ll see you outside.”
Down in the courtyard, the men are assembled. Shao Ru has already briefed them, but I tell them again what we’re going to do. The servants distribute the packs of rations. The horses are brought out.
“Stick together and we’ll all get out of here,” I say, “Lie low and wait for another day. We’ll see you all again when we come back.”
Hearteningly, there’s a subdued cheer.
The few servants remaining in the mansion leave discreetly and scatter. The six of us mount up. I take Li Wei up in front of me, wrapped in a cloak. I doubt if he has the strength to cling on behind. The men on foot form up tightly behind us. Then we set off on the short journey to the south gate, Shao Ru and I riding in front of the Prince, the three others riding behind and the men marching at the back. At any moment I’m expecting a hue-and-cry in the city, but there’s no sound. The news of the jail-break hasn’t got out yet.
“This is going to be a colossal bluff,” Shao Ru says. He sounds eager.
“Remember Qiu City,” I reply.
“I’ll never forget it.”
We approach the gate. There are only four guards, who stir from their torpor as they see us. Shao Ru holds the golden token up so that it flashes in the torchlight.
“Make way for the Emperor!” he bellows. “Open the gate!”
They rush to obey. The gate grinds open. We pace through. The men hold their formation as we leave the city wall behind. The gate shuts behind us.
“Go and good luck!” I shout, and the men scatter as the six of us urge our horses into a gallop.
Dawn’s breaking when we arrive at the training camp. The bad news runs round like fire and everyone prepares to evacuate. Our small group changes horses. I’m reunited with Swift, and on my orders we each take a spare animal, carrying provisions. Riding fast, lightly burdened, we can expect to reach the southern borders in ten or twelve days. It’ll be a hard ride.
We set off south in the early morning, away from the city, away from Jinhai. There hasn’t even been time to send a message. But this is a thought I lock away in my mind, because if I think about it too much, it’ll distract me from what I now have to do.
