猴子救月 (hóuzi jiù yuè) – monkey saving the moon; like a monkey to grab the moon when it sees the reflection in water, a futile effort.

---

Let's go back to the events of the previous day. The Grand Mentor and the Minister for the Household had just left, and Old Ao, the Justice Minister, was finishing his drink when someone appeared in the room.

"Your Majesty!" The Justice Minister's voice rose to a squeak, much to his embarrassment. Zeyi laughed and patted his shoulder apologetically.

"Sorry, Minister. Did I surprise you?"

Surprise me? I nearly died of shock!

I might still die. Why are you here?

"Ha... Ha... Not at all, Your Majesty. How may I help you?"

"You're just as hardworking as they say, Minister. I'm not here for work matters. I simply wanted to greet you."

"... I'm honored, Your Majesty, but you could have summoned me..."

"Are you saying that's what I should do?" Zeyi asked gently. The Justice Minister bowed to the floor.

"No no no, Your Majesty! I didn't mean to question... I mean..." He realised that Zeyi had already taken a seat.

"Then come and have a drink with me."

Dazed with anxiety, the Minister sat, as Zeyi ordered wine. Once the servant had left, she poured out drinks for both of them, despite the Minister's protestations, and raised her cup. "Gan bei!"

Old Ao miserably downed his drink. Placing his cup on the table, he raised his eyes to find Zeyi staring at him. He was like a dog before a dragon, unable to move, caught in the grip of Zeyi's two-tone eyes.

"Old Ao," Zeyi said, her voice soft and compassionate. "You could have simply lived a comfortable life, done your work as a Minister, and retired with plenty of money. So why...?"

"Your Majesty! I- I don't know-"

Zeyi sighed. The small sound cut off the Minister's stutters instantly. "Perhaps, Minister, if you had tried showing me such a pitiful face one hundred years ago, when I was young and naive, I might have believed you. Or at least, hoped you were telling the truth."

She poured herself another cup of wine, but instead of drinking it, she floated her hand above it, causing water droplets to rise from the liquid and hang, turning, in the air.

"But I am no longer young, and naivete?" She looked up from the spinning drops, and her eyes turned ghostly white. "I have a demon in me, Minister. He whispers to me. He says that the human body is over sixty percent water."

There was no liquid left in her cup, only a pale powder like ground bones.

The Minister told her everything.

---

"Great Minister!"

Yue Yue smiled to himself, turning to watch Jin Zhen Zhi hurry after him. "Is something the matter, little lady?"

"Oh, I'm... I'm not a lady. Please don't tease me."

"You look like a lady to me. Why don't I escort you?" He didn't seem at all concerned that she was a head taller than him.

"That's..."

He held out his hand. "Come now, let me look after you. I noticed earlier that your voice sounds a little hoarse. Are you unwell?"

"I just haven't been sleeping well recently. I've been looking after the lady at night, you see." Hesitantly, she took his hand.

"So, what did you have to say to me?" he asked, as they strolled away from the entertainment house.

"I... Well, I'm not sure if it's helpful..."

"Tell me, and I'll let you know."

Jin Zhen Zhi plucked at her robes nervously. "I'm scared."

"With me here? Of what?"

“It just... I feel like I'm caught up in the middle of something big. Something bad. Did I do something wrong?”

“Is that what it feels like?” the Household Minister asked gently.

Miserable silence was the response from Jin Zhen Zhi.

“Hm... Maybe I should show you something to raise your feelings of safety. But I must ask...” His grip on her hand tightened and she stared at him in alarm. “How do you feel about Chun?”

“Chun? Well, it's my home. I grew up here, my family is here, I-”

“Maybe that was too vague of a question. Chun is an important place to you, correct?”

“Of course.”

“Then you want to see it be a great place now and in the future, yes?”

“Yes...”

“Hm?”

Jin Zhen Zhi nibbled her nails nervously. “Yes. Yes.”

“Talk to me, little lady, why are you so worried?”

She trembled. “G-Great Minister, it noth-” She was halted by another painfully tight squeeze on her hand.

“Hm?”

“Is... Is Chun really okay?”

“What makes you say that?”

“I don't know! I misspoke!” She tried to wriggle out of the Minister's grasp, but he was stronger.

“Are you worried about the way this country is run?”

“I'm not questioning anyone! I apologise, Minister, I-”

“I agree.”

“I- Huh?” Her jaw went slack with surprise.

“What was your name again, little lady?”

“F-family name Jin, given name Zhen Zhi.”

“Jin Zhen Zhi, I am a minister of this country.” They resumed walking, the Minister holding her hand aloft gently once more. “And therefore, I am always concerned with the well-being of this country. It's easy to slip into complacency, you know.”

The route they were taking was not back towards the palace. Jin Zhen Zhi glanced around. “This... are we headed to the Academy?”

“We are. I'd like you to meet some of the students. I think you'll get along.”

Mystified, Jin Zhen Zhi walked beside him in silence. The outer walls of the Academy were soon within view, students chattering and passing through the open gates. Many greeted the Household Minister as he walked by, some giggling and blushing excitedly. Yue Yue grandly led Jin Zhen Zhi down the main boulevard, to a small hall where some students were gathered over cups of tea, talking intensely.

“Friends! We have a new member.”

The students looked up as the Household Minister entered, greeting him warmly.

“Minister!”

“Yue Yue, you need to arbitrate. Some fools are saying the Golden Dragon to just take the throne -”

“Of course! He's not some old relic from a distant past!”

“Yeah, and he's not even from Chun!”

“Just get rid of the whole monarchy altogether. The people should rule the people!”

“Forgive how excitable they are,” the Household Minister smiled, patting the very nervous Jin Zhen Zhi.

“The... the things they're saying...”

“Does it make you uncomfortable?”

Jin Zhen Zhi stared at the arguing students, not noticing the Minister's gaze directed at her. “Can I... listen?”

“Of course.”

---

Having shed her disguise, the Grand Mentor re-entered the palace wearily, surreptitiously rubbing her aching hip. As she turned her steps towards her chambers, a man walking the other way bowed politely as he passed.

“E- Excuse me?”

“Hm?” He turned back to her, wispy white eyebrows raising questioningly. The eyes hidden below were a burning mix of black and gold. The Grand Mentor was momentarily transfixed.

“Oh... Um... Gao... You're Sir Gao, correct?”

“Ha ha, 'sir'? Old Gao is enough for me. Who am I addressing, madam?”

“I...” For some reason, she felt reluctant to give her title. “I am Jiā Ān Níng¹家安宁 (jiā ān níng) - “family” and “peace”..”

“Madam Jiā... wait, you are the Grand Mentor. Lady Jiā.” Old Gao bowed more deeply.

“Oh no, please don't. You know me?”

“You seem to know me too,” Old Gao responded with a small smile, provoking a light laugh from the Grand Mentor.

“You're right. I... Well... Would you like some tea? I had intended to make your acquaintance before, but-”

“I hear you have been ill,” Old Gao said. “I'm glad you are much better now.”

“Thank you.”

They were soon settled under a garden pagoda with a pot of some kind of fragrant oolong tea, and Old Gao immediately poured a cup for the Grand Mentor, despite her protests. As he sat again, she was able to view him more clearly.

He was a tall man, a little stooped from age, but he had clearly once been a strong person. He was still quite handsome; the Grand Mentor thought he had probably broke a lot of hearts as a young man.

“It's nice to finally have tea with you.”

“You were looking forward to meeting me so much?” Old Gao asked, his fierce eyes smiling.

“Well, I mean, I've heard you're a close associate of Our Majesty. Of course I wanted to meet you.”

“I'm a little embarrassed to hear it. Lady Grand Mentor wanting to meet the humble me.”

“You cannot be a small person if you are so close to Her Majesty.”

“Thank you.” He raised his cup to salute her and drank. “Ah, Tiě Guān Yīn²铁观音 (tiě guān yīn) - a kind of tea, literally iron Guan Yin, the goddess of mercy. This might mean a bit more to you if you've read I'm not the Saviour!. One of my favourites.”

“Are you a tea connoisseur, Old Gao?”

“Not especially. But this tea has long been... I have memories associated with it.”

“Good ones?”

Old Gao smiled again. “They were, and then they weren't, and now they are again.”

“You like to speak in riddles.”

“I admit I have a tendency to dance around difficult topics.”

“This tea... reminds you of someone, then.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I too...” Shreds of leaf turned slowly in the cup in her hands. “When I think of something that was good and then bad and is good again... I think of my husband, and my son.”

She drank the tea down, and let Old Gao fill up their cups again.

“I feel like we should be drinking alcohol.” Old Gao drained his cup again. “How long has it been?”

“Twenty years. Twenty years since they disappeared. Their names were on the list that Her Majesty uncovered of... those who had been secretly executed. I suppose their bodies are amongst those buried in the lowest levels of the dungeons.” She drank again. “If I may ask...?”

“I don't remember how long it's been. We fought so hard for peace, to be together, for our happiness... Well. One day, we'll meet again.”

The Grand Mentor nodded solemnly. Even though they were only drinking tea, she felt a little drunk. “It's hard. I still miss them.”

“Yes.”

“I'm so tired of it all,” she sighed, warming her hands with her cup. “A new regent takes the throne, and everything is turned over again. People disappear, new laws are made – ah, what am I saying? I mean, I don't expect Our Majesty to-”

“It's a valid concern,” Old Gao said. “You have no idea whether Her Majesty will be the same as the others. In fact, the way she has just disappeared, leaving the country in the hands of someone outside of the country...” He caught the look on the Grand Mentor's face. “What is it?”

“Nothing, nothing.” She hurriedly drank her tea. “Ah, I feel like I'm sitting and talking to an old friend... You'll forgive me for asking, but I thought I knew all the members of the Gao Family of your generation.”

“Ha, I'm an eccentric old hermit. I left the family when I was quite young to go adventuring. They probably wouldn't recognise me either.”

“Things keep changing, don't they. The people we knew are gone, the people who knew us are gone. I wish things would just... stop... for a moment.”

“Like the monkey trying to rescue the moon. We can't stop time.”

“If we only we could have a little control over our own fates...”

“Well, if things worked out the way we expected, we wouldn't be sitting here drinking tea like it was alcohol, would we?”

They exchanged a laugh. The Grand Mentor watched the occasional leaf drifted down from unseen trees above them. “Old Gao?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think... What kind of regent do you think Her Majesty will be?”

“I don't think that's the right question.”

“No?”

“At the moment, it is the Acting Regent who holds the power.”

The Grand Mentor seemed to make up her mind. She called for a servant, gave them instructions, and a few moments later, the servant returned, bearing an odd looking box. It had numerous circles on the lid, with markings on each circle, and as quickly as her hands would allow her, the Grand Mentor twisted and turned them until the box sprang open. She drew the scroll from within, and looked wearily at Old Gao.

“I would like everything to just stop for a moment, but it all keeps changing... Here.”

Old Gao carefully opened the scroll. It was a letter, very fragile and written in the Dzue script, a more complicated writing system than the Xiang.

“We could only translate parts of it,” the Grand Mentor said, but she didn't miss how Old Gao's eyes ran smoothly up and down the lines of script. “There is a reference to the Cheng Family, we think. The old script is hard to read.”

“Where did you get this?” Old Gao asked.

“It was found by the Ministry of Justice as they were investigating the bodies in the dungeons. Both the Household Minister and I have been looking for someone who could translate it, but there aren't many who could read Zhu easily anymore. I thought... perhaps you might know.”

He met her eyes over the paper and she shied instantly, like a young girl. “Lady Jiā.”

“Y-Yes?”

“What it is you want... peace, stability... these things are hard to find.”

“I know.”

“Sometimes, all we can do is trust things will turn out right. Other times, we have to take matters into our own hands.”

She nodded.

“Your son and husband will never come back.”

“... Yes.”

“We have to keep looking forward, for the sake of our loved ones. We can remember them, but we are alive right now. We must live.”

“...Yes.”

“This document... are you willing to have faith, one last time?”