Shan

 

The caravan’s due to leave mid-morning.  Jinhai and I are up and ready to leave at daybreak.  Liang Zhou’s forbidden me to ride for the time being, so a carriage is coming for us.  Ah-Zhou insists on a final examination and I can see that he’s dying to find some excuse to keep me under his eye.  “Well, your pulse is normal,” he says grudgingly, “And your hearing seems to be almost recovered as well.  You’ve got to keep the splints on your wrist for at least another three weeks.  No violent exercise.  How are the headaches?”

“Much better.”

“Hmmm,” he says. 

“Jinhai will take care of me,” I say soothingly, “And I can always consult you if need be.  How’s my sister?”

“No better.  You should see her before you go.”

I find Ah-Lien lying listlessly in bed with her little maid fussing round her.  There are hollows in her face.  This is worrying. 

“How are you, Little Sister?”

Her voice is faint.  “So tired.  Have you come to say goodbye?”

“Yes, but I’ll come back if you need me.  You must take care of yourself.”

I bend to kiss her forehead.  She doesn’t feel hot.  No fever then, luckily. 

Before I leave, I take a look at my niece, who chuckles, kicks her legs up and tries to grab at me.   For someone so small, she already has an alarmingly strong character.  Jinhai has said teasingly that she takes after me in that respect.  I don't know if he's right, but the thought makes me smile.  Ah-Jie watches with folded arms and her usual frown.  Her disapproval of all male creatures is patently obvious.  It's very bad luck for Mo Jiang.

When we finally leave, the whole extended family’s there to see us off.   Xiaxia’s about to depart for her grandmother’s house and is sparkling with excitement and anticipation.   Duan Bai will have to stay for another couple of weeks till his leg’s completely healed, but Yuan Song will be returning to the Cherry Blossom Pavilion to wrap up his affairs there.  Madam Liang’s looking tearful. 

Mo Jiang’s coming with us to see the caravan off.  To be honest, despite the kindness of the Liang household and the care they’ve taken of me, my feeling’s one of huge relief.  I’m free!  Finally, I’m free.  My resignation’s been accepted by the army, despite a last-minute attempt by General Chen to talk me out of it.  He failed, but we have an invitation to stay with him and go fishing in his lake.  I’ve been awarded a General’s pension, which is good going for a dead outlaw.  I can’t help chuckling at the thought.

“What?” Jinhai says.

“I feel like I’m out of jail.”

“Me too.  Good, isn’t it?”

“You bet.”

The caravan has assembled near the merchant gate and the area’s crowded with wagons, horses and well-wishers.  It reminds me of Jiayuguan Pass, where Jinhai and I so narrowly missed one another after the assassination attempt.  We’re greeted by all the old friends.  Yao Lin and Lei Qing are each on the box of their respective wagons, their young faces full of excitement at the adventure ahead.  Shao Ru comes over to greet us.  He too has a look of eager anticipation.  There are twelve wagons.  The escort’s twelve strong, all good men according to Shao Ru.  There’s a tremendous bustle.  Hao Meng’s bellowing last-minute instructions, everyone’s eager to be off.

Madam Lei has come with Shao Su and Madam Zhu, whom I last saw back at The Market.  We join them, exchange salutations, and watch as the caravan finally gets under way, families and friends waving and wishing the travellers a safe journey.  As the last wagon rolls out of the gate, and the dust and noise die down, the look on Jinhai’s face is transparent.  He’s longing to go with them.  And I notice that Mo Jiang is also looking unusually pensive.

Madam Lei, on the other hand, looks like a woman determined to be brave no matter what.  Madam Zhu gives me an expressive look, her eyebrows raised.  “Ah-Chan’s worrying,” she says.

“They’ll be fine.  They’re not kids any more and they can look after themselves.  And they’ll be well-protected.”

“That’s what I keep saying.”  Madam Zhu nods in agreement.

Madam Lei sighs.  “I know.  But I can’t help feeling that Ah-Qing might decide to stay in Emporium City permanently.  After all, it’s where she grew up.”

“Well, it’s no worse than if she were getting married,” Madam Zhu says practically.  “Tell you what, Ah-Chan, next year we’ll go with the caravan and visit her.  Come along, let’s go and get a cup of tea.  I could do with it after all this standing around.  You too, Ah-Su.”

The three ladies are obviously on intimate terms.  They bow, smile and take their leave.  Watching them go back to their carriage, Jinhai grins.  “Three strong-minded women,” he says.  “My money’s in good hands.”

I don’t like to admit it, but the standing-around has got to me too.  I’m still disastrously weak.  It’s a relief to get back in the carriage for the short journey to the Cloud House.  Jinhai’s already arranged for both my horse and my small amount of baggage to be brought there.  The porter Ah-Bo and his rascally-looking friend salute me.  I renew my acquaintance with the grey dog, who honours me by getting up and sniffing my boot before resuming his snooze in the sun.

“That dog does nothing but eat and sleep,” Jinhai says.  “He’s even lost interest in chasing the ladies.”

“Maybe he doesn’t like town life either.”

Jinhai gives me a searching look.  “You’re tired,” he says, “You need to rest.”

I’m not going to argue.  Jinhai brings me to his room and helps me lie down, taking my boots off and covering me with the quilt.  The bed’s large and comfortable.  Sleep comes easily.

I’m wakened by an almost inaudible sound which after a dazed interval, I recognize as a tap on the door.  It comes again, accompanied by the scent of food.

“Come in.”

The door slides open and an unfamiliar head peers in.  The face is small and rather childlike.  A big smile appears on it.  The head vanishes, the door opens wider, and a slender person comes in carrying a tray.  It’s a boy of no more than sixteen, with a pretty face and delicate wrists and hands.  This must be the rescued child, Xinyi.  He puts the tray down on the table by the bed, clasps his hands together and bows.  “I’m Xinyi.  Ah-Jing had to go out, but I thought you might be hungry.”

I struggle to sit up and he rushes to help me, arranges the pillows behind me and puts the tray on my lap.  “I didn’t know if you’d be able to use chopsticks so I brought you a spoon as well, please excuse me.”

“That’s very thoughtful, thanks.  This smells great.”

This boy reminds me of a small shy animal, ready to back away at the first sign of danger.  I know what’s happened to him.  It’s difficult to believe that such a delicate-looking boy could have survived all the abuse.  I guess that he’s managed by doing everything possible to please.  His fate could so easily have been Jinhai’s, but Jinhai’s pride would never have let him follow the same course and would certainly have led to disaster.  I can’t bear to think of it.

“Is – is the food all right?” Xinyi asks anxiously, seeing that I’m not eating.

“I wanted to thank you first.  For helping Jinhai and being his friend.”

He blushes a little.  “Well, I didn’t really do very much.”

“If you’d been caught, you’d have been executed.”

“I didn’t think about that.  Ah-Jing took me in, you see. I owed him.”

“I’m very grateful all the same.  I won’t forget it.  Now, you may have to help me with this.  I’m still not very clever with my left hand.”

The food’s unexpectedly excellent.  Using the spoon, and with Xinyi helping me out with the chopsticks, I clear the entire tray.  Xinyi relaxes, gains confidence and starts to chatter in his artless way.  I remember that, back in the southlands, Shao Ru once described him as “innocent”.  It’s not quite the right word, but there’s more than a little truth in it.

I doze off again after the meal, and wake to find the shadows drawing in and Jinhai moving quietly around the room. 

“Ah, you’re awake.  Need anything?”

“A bath.  And you.”

“The bathwater’s heating.  The tub’s a bit small, sorry about that.”

He gets onto the bed beside me and holds me, carefully.  I curse my injured wrist yet again.

“You met Xinyi,” he says softly, his mouth near my ear.

“Yep.  He fed me.”  I burrow with my face inside his collars and kiss the smooth expanse of throat.

“Feels like the sleep and food have reinvigorated you,” he murmurs.

“That’s a good word, reinvigorated.”

“Bath first.  Both of us.”

“I thought you said the tub was small?”

He chuckles.  “I expect we’ll manage.”

As it turns out, the tub’s very small, but we do manage, with some difficulty and much laughter.  As we bathe, Jinhai tells me he’s been to visit Madam Lei.  “She’s feeling very down after seeing the kids leave, but Madam Zhu and Ah-Su are determined to cheer her up.  And I also went to see Geng De, my father’s agent.  He’s going to open an office and hire a manager to help with the day-to-day stuff.”

“You’ve really got into this, haven’t you?” I say, amused.

“I’m going to build my own empire,” he says, rubbing my head with a cloth to get my hair dry.  “I want to make us all rich.”

I catch one of his hands and kiss it.  “Anything I can do to help, let me know.”

He bends to kiss me.  “Hurry up and get dry,” he says, smiling. 

The bed’s wide and there’s no chance of being interrupted.  We can relax and take our time.  We don’t have to rush in case someone comes in and catches us at it.  But my broken wrist’s one hell of an impediment.

“Let me take the lead,” Jinhai says, “Lie back.”

I do as I’m told.  But as his hands and mouth wander over my bruised body, it takes all my self-control not to grab him and press him down under me.  He knows it too.  He prolongs the caresses till I’m about to lose it completely and only then does he swiftly move astride me and fit us together.  The explosion, when it comes, shakes me to the core.  But once isn't enough.  I have so much pent-up passion inside me that in the end Jinhai protests laughingly.  “You’re insatiable.  I need a rest.”

“Ah, sorry.  It’s been so long with no relief.”

He fetches wine and hands me a cup.   “No relief at all?” he asks, one eyebrow arched.

“Only Grandad Mo." 

He laughs out loud and settles down beside me again.

"Back there in the Fort, Guanyu was determined to make me cheat on you.  He kept throwing opportunities my way.  But it was no use.  All I could think about was you.”

“What kind of opportunities?”

“His various ladies.  And there was the boy in Main City, but that was somebody else’s idea.”

“Which boy?”

I explain about Niannian.  Jinhai hops off the bed and I think for a moment that he’s upset or annoyed, but he comes back and hands me a book.  It’s entitled “Solitary Pleasures”.  I flip over the pages, gasp a little, smile, chuckle, then laugh outright.  “These are great.  Who drew the pictures?”

“Qian Hu, Xinyi’s friend. You’ll meet him tomorrow.”

I reach up and take him by the chin.  “Have you tried all these toys?”

“Uh, some,” he says, avoiding my eyes.

“You’ll have to show me," I say, nuzzling the smooth spot just under his ear.

“I don’t need them any more.  I’ve got you.”

“I still want you to show me.”  I'm working my way down to his collar-bones and I can feel his body relaxing as I go.

“Maybe tomorrow,” he murmurs.