Dreaming of Zhou Gong

  ‘Righteousness is my weapon.’ Jiang Hudan glided over to the side of the pool, launched herself up and twisted about to take a seat on the edge.

  Moonlight glistened on the droplets running down the front of her naked body as she squeezed the water from her long dark hair. This vision filled an empty cavity in Dan’s chest with a warm glow, and he had to disagree with Huxin — Jiang Hudan’s weapon was as flawless as her character.

  ‘She’d be the choice for an emperor’s bounty,’ a voice whispered from beside Dan.

  A split second later Dan was clutching Song by the throat. ‘What are you doing here?’ he hissed quietly, releasing the lad, but covering Song’s eyes to prevent him gawking at Jiang Hudan. ‘We should go.’ He turned Song around and gagged him with one hand as he led him away.

  ‘What was that?’ Huxin was heard to ask, and the tiger’s growl urged them to move faster.

  Back in the guest rooms, Dan finally let Song go.

  ‘You cannot drag me around like that!’ the lad protested. After all, he was Ji Fa’s heir.

  ‘I can, and I will,’ Dan stated firmly, looming over the lad to intimidate him a little, as Dan was still quite a bit taller and broader than Song. ‘We said you could come provided you didn’t cause an incident.’

  ‘Do not act all high and mighty with me, Uncle. You could have landed this negotiation in strife just as easily,’ Song accused, and Dan decided he was not going to waste his breath arguing.

  ‘Stay in your room until someone sends for you,’ Dan instructed and turned to leave.

  ‘I stand a far better chance of having her than you ever will,’ Song boasted to spite his uncle, but Dan was not so easily baited into exposing his feelings on any matter.

  ‘We can all dream,’ Dan granted, coolly, and departed for his own quarters. He was suddenly feeling very tired.

  3

  TIAN’S TRIBUTE

  A restless sleep drove Jiang Hudan out into the garden before meditation. She’d had strange dreams of working with a heavenly race, only fragments of which she could remember. She assumed they were Tian’s people, as they were not like the humans of her world in appearance. Their skin was whitish pink, their eyes were round and wide and, like their hair, the colour varied greatly from person to person. This was not the first time she’d dreamt about these people, and although the dreams were truly wondrous, she always awoke feeling panicked, as if there was something very important she’d forgotten. It seemed that the harder she tried to focus on the details, the more elusive the dream became.

  ‘Jiang Hudan.’

  It was Ji Dan, and she felt quietly flustered to be alone in the garden with him. Huxin was right: Hudan saw most men as the enemy, but what she was really afraid of was liking one of them. ‘Good morning, Ji Dan. I trust you slept well.’

  ‘Not really,’ he said honestly, ‘but it was not from a lack of comfort and hospitality. I assure you.’

  ‘Too many questions,’ she supposed, as she went to rise from where she was seated by the pond.

  ‘Indeed.’ He was quick to approach, motioning for her to be seated once more. ‘Please.’

  ‘I will be late for mediation.’ Hudan wanted to quickly excuse herself.

  ‘But Yi Wu said you would be happy to answer my questions today. So surely the Great Mother would excuse you this once.’

  ‘What we do here, we do by choice, not because we will be punished,’ she parried.

  ‘But brother Fen will be punished,’ Ji Dan noted.

  ‘Wu Fen Gong has been destined for the spring fire since he was three years old,’ Hudan said by way of explaining his harsh punishment. ‘He was spared because he was innocent … but he is innocent no longer.’

  ‘So love is a crime?’ Dan asked her bluntly and without any dramatic overtones.

  ‘No,’ she said, ‘love is never a crime. If Fen and Nuan had truly loved each other, they would have stayed away from one another and not caused the other so much pain and grief. Lust is the crime. Any sexual relations with another person without Tian’s consent is forbidden to the Wu — Fen knew that.’

  Ji Dan gave half a laugh and broke the tension with his beaming smile. ‘Here I was, coming to apologise for any offence I might have caused you with questions about brother Fen, and it seems I have done it again.’

  ‘You wish for Fen to train you.’ Hudan was forthright about his interest and shook her head. ‘The disruptions of court life and battlefields are not conducive to Dao Yin.’

  ‘Just because no one has ever managed it before, does not mean it cannot be done,’ Ji Dan argued politely. ‘I rarely sleep, so I always have extra time on my hands, no matter where I am.’

  ‘What troubles your sleep?’ Jiang Hudan wondered.

  Dan both smiled and frowned. ‘There is so much to be done for this land, so much to learn, that I fear rest is a precious waste of time.’

  Hudan was quietly impressed by his answer. ‘Perhaps there is Wu in you?’ she mused. She made to move back toward the house, not wanting to stay and chat.

  ‘I see things …’ he announced to keep her there, ‘… that are not of this world, not of this time.’

  Hudan was surprised by his claim and, doubtful, she swung around to look him in the eye. ‘What kind of things?’

  ‘Come, sit, and I shall tell you.’ He smiled winningly, confident of getting his way.

  Hudan found his subtle power play infuriating. ‘I’m sure the ladies of your court find you very charming, Ji Dan, but I have better things to do than indulge your ego.’ Hudan turned and strode toward the house not to be diverted again, but he came after her.

  ‘I meant no offence —’

  ‘Really?’ Hudan swung around to confront him. ‘Would you ask a man to come sit with you in the same fashion?’

  Ji Dan realised his error. ‘No,’ he conceded, ‘you’re quite right. Please forgive me. I sought only to get you to stay in one place long enough to have a conversation.’

  ‘When you truly consider me your equal, maybe then I shall consider bestowing on you the wealth of my knowledge.’ She nodded curtly, turned and continued on through the garden gate.

  ‘Brother Hudan …’ Fen came rushing out to meet her. ‘Shifu Yi is requesting your presence in her private council chamber.’ Fen noted one of their visitors trailing her, as Hudan swung him around to walk with her.

  ‘You must be late for mediation, dear brother.’ She noticed the men exchange glances, but she was not prepared to allow their guest an audience with Fen without the Great Mother’s permission. ‘You’d best hurry back and save yourself any more grief.’

  ‘Yes, brother.’ He dutifully sped off ahead of her and disappeared into the house.

  Dan trailed Jiang Hudan as far as the main courtyard, which she crossed to enter the private house of the Great Mother. Then he headed right, toward the stairs to the guest rooms on the upper level.

  As he ascended and rounded the corner to the next flight, he was surprised to find brother Fen awaiting him. ‘Brother —’

  ‘Shh!’ Fen urged.

  Dan saw the desperation in the boy’s eyes and so suggested, ‘Follow me.’

  Fen looked a little wary as he trailed the dignitary to the beautiful guest room and entered behind him.

  ‘Have no fear, I am not interested in young boys.’ Dan knew of his worry, and Fen gasped, startled.

  His eyes widened, understanding. ‘It was you watching us in the pool last night?’

  ‘Well, I heard my name being called, so …’ Dan shrugged off the incident and then smiled. ‘Now you know one of my secrets, care to return the favour?’ He invited Fen to offload whatever was on his mind.

  ‘I don’t know what has become of the woman I am to burn for,’ Fen began. ‘I know I have nothing to offer you in payment, but —’

  ‘You hoped I might help you discover her fate,’ Dan concluded for him, and Fen nodded.

  ‘I need to know that she will be taken care of …’ his eyes gl
istened with tears ‘… and live a happy life.’

  As naive and misguided as Fen’s love for his first sweetheart probably was, Dan was touched, for he’d never felt so intensely about a woman, not even his wife. ‘I will see to it,’ he resolved. ‘You are wrong in the belief that you have nothing to offer me in exchange for this service, for it would be my great honour to call you my mentor.’

  ‘Mentor!’ Fen nearly had a fit. ‘I’m just the gardener.’

  Dan had to laugh out loud — the boy was clearly as talented and well trained as any of the Wu here and yet felt humbled to be the mentor of a mere man. ‘I think we both know that you are far more than just a gardener. You are trained in Dao Yin?’

  ‘Half-trained,’ Fen thought it fair to say. ‘Dao Yin takes a lifetime to master.’

  ‘Then we could do that together, Wu Fen Gong. What do you say?’ Dan appealed.

  The boy just appeared bemused. ‘But I am to burn —’

  ‘I say you won’t.’ Dan rebuffed his objection confidently. ‘So if I get my way, and you are only banished, what say you?’

  Brother Fen was still completely bewildered. ‘What you suggest is a very great honour …’

  ‘But?’ Dan urged him to be out with the remaining impediment to such a partnership.

  ‘I just always expected to burn in the end, or live out my days here …’ Fen attempted to explain his odd reaction to the offer of a lifetime. ‘I never ever considered that I would leave.’

  Clearly, the prospect was as heartbreaking to Fen as losing his love, or being under sentence of death. The lad had probably never ventured beyond Li Shan in over fourteen years, so the thought was bound to be daunting.

  ‘Look at it this way,’ Dan said upfront. ‘Come with me, and when we find your lady love, I’ll let you keep her.’

  Fen’s spirits radically improved. ‘I do not even dare to dream of such freedom.’

  ‘Just agree,’ Dan assured him. ‘I will take care of the rest.’

  ‘It would be my honour to serve the House of Ji.’ Fen bowed as he would to his Shifu.

  ‘The honour will be all mine.’ Dan returned the gesture. ‘I shall speak to my brother at once, before he visits with Yi Wu.’

  ‘Shifu Yi is the only one who knows what happened to Nuan,’ Fen clarified.

  ‘You have not asked your Shifu?’ Dan queried.

  ‘I cannot,’ Fen explained, frowning. ‘Shifu Yi has never seen me.’

  ‘But you live under her roof.’ Dan was confused. ‘You have trained here.’

  ‘You misunderstand,’ Fen rethought his explanation. ‘She sees me, but she pretends not to. It is her way of allowing for me to be here. If she were to recognise me, she might see I was a male, and males are not permitted to live on Li Shan.’

  Dan nodded in understanding. ‘I will make my brother aware of your problem and see what we can find out.’

  Fen finally smiled as he backed up to the door. ‘I am forever in your debt, my lord.’

  Dan shook his head to deny any debt. ‘Let us just hope that forever outlasts the month.’

  In the course of their meeting, Hudan told her Shifu about her strange dreams and of the unsettling feeling left behind in their wake.

  ‘These visions need not concern you at this time,’ the Great Mother gave her standard response. ‘They portend a future quest that is part of your birthright, but you have other trials to see to first.’

  Every time Hudan had one of these heavenly dreams she hoped that her Shifu would say it was now time to learn the meaning — alas, today was not that day. This morning, Shifu Yi was far more concerned about her meeting with Ji Fa.

  ‘If it goes well this day, then tonight you will act as oracle for the Xibo,’ Shifu Yi advised.

  Hudan nodded dutifully. ‘I shall prepare.’

  ‘In your absence, I shall have brother Huxin show our other guests around,’ she said, and Hudan gave a quiet sigh of relief at hearing that.

  ‘Very good, Shifu. Is there anything else?’ Hudan sought dismissal.

  ‘You may tell the Xibo that I am ready to see him now.’

  Hudan exited the Great Mother’s abode, sent for the Xibo, and then her sister, Huxin.

  When Ji Fa arrived with his brother and son in tow, Huxin stood alongside Hudan at the doorway to Yi Wu’s abode. ‘Good morning, lords,’ Hudan began, noting that Ji Fa’s companions seemed much more wary of Huxin than did the Xibo himself; he appeared to be delighted to see her again.

  ‘Made better by your esteemed presence, brothers.’ The Xibo bowed to them both.

  Huxin glanced at Hudan with a satisfied grin on her face; clearly, Ji Fa was completely enchanted by her.

  ‘Yi Wu will see you now, Ji Fa,’ Hudan passed on her instructions, ‘and has directed Huxin to show your escort our house and grounds and answer any questions they may have.’

  Dan and Song appeared quite alarmed to hear this, but Ji Fa looked at Huxin, disappointed. ‘I very much envy my companions,’ he told her and she smiled, pleased by his obvious adoration.

  ‘If you will kindly follow me, Ji Fa.’ Hudan opened the door to lead the Xibo to her Shifu.

  ‘What will you be doing this day?’ Dan couldn’t help asking Hudan, before she disappeared inside after his brother.

  ‘I must prepare myself for this evening,’ she explained coolly, and then held up a hand to prevent their guest wasting his breath on more questions. ‘All shall be revealed in good time, Ji Dan … enjoy your day.’

  Hudan closed the door to escape his interrogation, and then turned to Ji Fa, who raised both brows. ‘My little brother has a voracious thirst for knowledge.’

  ‘He certainly does,’ Hudan replied.

  ‘He means no offence in his persistence.’ Plainly, the Xibo saw how his brother annoyed her.

  ‘I am sure he seeks only to protect his lord,’ Hudan granted politely, and Fa grinned, as if not entirely convinced that was the reason.

  ‘I believe his interest lies more with you,’ said Fa.

  ‘Why me?’ Her stern tone and glare seemed to disconcert the Xibo, as he absorbed the fact that she was not of the same amicable, flirty nature as her sister.

  ‘I meant the Wu as a whole,’ Fa clarified to dispel any ill will or misunderstanding. ‘Dan and I have always been mentored by men and have never before met women more knowledgeable than ourselves.’

  Hudan softened a little; the comment was half-flattering, but did not say much for the intelligence level of the noblewomen of their land.

  ‘Or perhaps I should say we never met a good woman more knowledgeable,’ Fa added.

  ‘You speak of Su Daji,’ Hudan guessed. She was at once sympathetic. ‘It is said that she ordered the death of your eldest brother.’

  ‘She had him ground into mincemeat and fed to our father in jail,’ the Xibo told her, obviously trying to suppress his fury, and Hudan wished she’d not mentioned the incident.

  ‘She will be brought to account for her crimes against humanity,’ Hudan vowed, and she meant it.

  ‘I never believed that until I met you, Jiang Hudan.’ The Xibo raised a smile. ‘I have seen what the emperor’s witch is capable of first-hand. She can enchant entire armies to carry out her insanity. She can topple entire battalions with a wave of her hand.’

  ‘You have encountered her in battle?’

  The Xibo nodded, and shrugged. ‘I was knocked unconscious. It was Dan who fought her off and got me out, I still don’t know how. But Dan does look a great deal like our first brother.’

  ‘You think Daji may have a soft spot for Ji Dan?’ Hudan was suddenly finding Dan more interesting than expected. If he had confronted her nemesis and lived to tell the tale, then perhaps she had something to learn from him after all?

  ‘Daji may have a desire to possess Dan, but there is nothing soft about her,’ Fa concluded, leaving Hudan with food for thought.

  ‘I should announce you,’ she said, recalling the business of the day. ‘The Great
Mother is most eager to converse with you.’

  ‘The feeling is mutual,’ the Xibo assured her, whereupon Hudan entered the council chamber to complete this task for her Shifu and then move on to the more serious preparations of the day.

  ‘You may now enter, Ji Fa,’ Jiang Hudan invited, fully opening the doors to the Great Mother’s private council chamber.

  The Xibo was a little nervous about making the right impression on the Great Mother of Li Shan, recalling how his great-grandfather had venerated her in his yarns. Ji Fa had not been submissive to a woman since his mother had passed, and even then it was an entirely different kind of veneration. Dan had instructed Fa, prior to this meeting, that he must see Yi Wu as his most esteemed male associate; Dan had stressed this point several times.

  When the Xibo entered, Hudan withdrew and closed the doors behind him. The chamber was flooded by the morning sun, so despite the chill of the late winter air, having the shutters open on the huge windows opposite him did not detract from the warmth of the room. They did, however, offer stunning views of the mountainside and steaming thermal lake below.

  Fa turned to the right to face into the long room, and more stunning than the view was the woman seated in a large, gold, cushioned throne at the far end of the chamber that Fa could only assume was the Great Mother; unlike the night previous, she was unveiled. She was robed simply yet elegantly in white, and her hair was drawn back into a bun at the back of her head. Two floor statues of a tiger, carved from white jade, sat each side of her throne and before it, between Ji Fa and his hostess, was a table set for tea, with a large golden cushion placed on the floor each side.

  ‘Good morning, Ji Fa.’

  Ji Fa bowed. ‘A very good morning, Yi Wu. I am deeply honoured for this audience.’ What he meant to say was that he was honoured to be permitted to see her face, as from all reports, no man had ever seen the face of the Great Mother.

  ‘Arise, Ji Fa. No need to venerate me, for I am not your sovereign, nor are you mine. We are equal, and may speak as brothers.’