Dreaming of Zhou Gong

by Traci Harding

  Hudan’s hood fell back to expose a large smile on her face. ‘It is so quiet in here.’ She could hardly believe they were in the middle of the city.

  ‘The garden is private and fairly quiet also,’ Dan replied, relieved to see her in good spirits. That was a first since they’d left Li Shan.

  Dan directed his master of the interior to show Fen and his patient to sleeping quarters. Fen was surely finding his load heavy, but the lad was not about to allow anyone to relieve him of his burden.

  ‘It is clear to me that you do not approve of Fen’s choice of wife.’ Dan waited until Fen had gone to broach the subject, and Hudan’s brow collapsed into a frown once again. ‘I can have them separated, if you wish.’

  Hudan seemed confused by Dan’s consideration. ‘You have an agreement with Fen, not me. Your allegiance should lie with him.’

  ‘As far as my personal education is concerned, that is true,’ Dan conceded. ‘In the larger scheme of things it is far more important that I keep you on side, Jiang Hudan.’

  Hudan nodded, conceding his point. ‘Fen is a free man now. I do not have a say in his life any more, and I do not resent you for honouring your arrangement with him. Still, I would like to know your honest opinion about Fen’s choice … do you think He Nuan will make Fen a good wife?’

  Dan was overwhelmed by the question, as he didn’t really know the woman in question. ‘I think that Fen believes that He Nuan will make him happy, and that is what counts really.’

  Again Hudan nodded, yet her expression was melancholy. ‘Fen had the potential to be one of the greatest of us. Now his chance for true mastery will be severely diminished.’

  ‘Why so?’ Dan wondered.

  Hudan was shocked that he should need to ask. ‘The Wu refrain from sexual relations because vital chi energy can be wasted by both parties if the act is not handled properly, to their mutual benefit.’

  ‘Really?’ Dan was discomfitted, and yet aroused, by the information.

  ‘But more so for men,’ Hudan clarified.

  Dan’s curiosity was making him grin and he had to ask. ‘Why is that?’

  An uncomfortable grin graced Hudan’s face also. ‘Because women have an inexhaustible supply of yin essence, until such time as they pass childbearing age. But men have only a limited supply of yang for the extent of their lives. So if a man were to expend his yang before sufficiently raising his partner’s yin, then the entire act is nothing but a waste of chi.’

  This was most interesting to Dan. ‘My first and only wife, long deceased,’ he explained, ‘might have been a lot happier had I been taught that at school.’ He made light of the awkward, rather tantalising, moment. ‘Has Fen been made aware of this?’

  ‘Only so far as to know that he would waste his yang if he amused himself too much,’ Hudan said, coyly, and shrugged. ‘As to how much he knows about raising a woman’s yin essence … He Nuan would be more insightful than I.’ She then held up a finger to add: ‘Still, I am told Fen is very handy with his tongue.’

  Dan burst out laughing, he couldn’t help himself. It was a pleasant surprise to find that Jiang Hudan was not the frightful prude he’d thought, for she was laughing right along with him.

  ‘Well, that certainly sounds promising.’ He drew deep breaths to contain his amusement. ‘I’ll talk to him,’ Dan squeaked, short on breath.

  ‘Whatever you think is best.’ Hudan took a breath and gazed around the room. ‘Maybe our jaunt in the city won’t be completely terrible, after all.’

  ‘Would you like to see the rest?’ Dan offered, gratified that Hudan seemed to now be relaxed in his house.

  ‘I would, although I don’t need to.’ Hudan smiled, drinking in the atmosphere of the Hall of Records. ‘I can work here.’

  ‘I have always found it congenial here,’ Dan said proudly.

  Before he had left Haojing, the Xibo had arranged to have half the Great Mother’s miraculous gift of water- and wine-filled urns delivered to Fengjing, Haojing’s sister city on the opposite side of the Feng River, late on New Year’s Eve. Subsequently, the brothers Fa had assigned to rule there — Xian, Du, Chu and Zai — whom he did not trust so well as the brothers he kept by him at Haojing, did not become curious about Fa’s sudden divine favour until after Fa’s unusual overnight trip away on the eve of the New Year was complete. The holiday meant the Xibo had plenty of time to return to Haojing with his prized companions before his rebellious siblings arrived to seek answers.

  The day following the New Year celebrations, the Xibo and his trusted brothers — Dan, Zhenduo, Wu and Shi — along with the prime minister, Jiang Taigong, awaited the party from Fengjing in the war council’s chamber.

  Huxin was the only outsider, and certainly the only female permitted to be present, and she sat proudly beside Ji Fa, observing all.

  The gong sounded to announce the arrival of the brothers from Fengjing, who entered the hall in a diamond formation: Xian was in the lead; his two full-blood brothers, Du and Chu, flanked him; their youngest brother, Zai, brought up the rear. The first three brothers were very similar in appearance and their round faces held no trace of joy — they were warriors and from all accounts had no appreciation of culture or refinement, unlike the brothers who stood alongside Ji Fa. The youngest brother, Zai, seemed the odd one out; he was not a warrior like the brothers he ran with, yet there seemed to be something dubious about him nonetheless — Huxin considered Fa wise to keep him at a distance.

  ‘My brothers,’ Fa stood to greet them, ‘you’ve come to see if the rumours are true, I expect.’

  Xian and party came to a halt some distance from their brother’s throne and bowed their heads briefly, their eyes never leaving the tigress at the Xibo’s side. ‘So, it is true; you have had dealings with the Wu,’ Xian said in dismay.

  ‘Only the Great Mother can award heaven’s mandate.’ Ji Fa sat down and stroked Huxin’s head. ‘What of it? Did you not enjoy the New Year’s gift from the Great Mother?’

  ‘Hexed water, not fit for human consumption,’ Xian spat back.

  ‘You did not distribute it to the people?’ Dan could scarcely believe what he was hearing.

  ‘Is everyone to be enchanted out of their wits like Su Daji has done to Zi Shou?’ Xian appealed.

  ‘We need a Wu to defeat a Wu,’ Ji Fa said. ‘Unless you wish to confront her ill-prepared again? We all know how we fared last time.’

  ‘Some know more than others.’ Xian flashed a glare in Dan’s direction, and the look he received in return was just as resentful. Xian looked back to Fa. ‘So we are to go to war, after all,’ he stated, gratified about that, at least.

  ‘Once Tian sends me the omen expressing his will,’ Fa awarded, ‘I shall obey.’

  ‘We must wait for an omen now?’ Xian made a joke of it, and the brothers in his company found it amusing. ‘Those witches from Li Shan have hexed you all —’

  The tigress gave a roar and silenced Xian. She didn’t think much of his opinion.

  ‘What is it with the tiger?’ Xian motioned toward it, undaunted by her gaze.

  ‘Tigress, you idiot!’ Shi corrected, and Fa interrupted before Xian could provoke further argument.

  ‘This is Baihu, guardian of the West,’ the Xibo advised his brothers with a grin. ‘She was given to me by the Great Mother of Li Shan to be my treachery detector.’

  Xian was clearly discomfitted by the news, but strangely, young Zai seemed even more so.

  ‘So far, she has not found cause to attack any of my subjects,’ Fa advised, looking to his Fengjing brothers in challenge; as he did Huxin detected panic amongst them and sprang forth to tackle the cause.

  To the shock of everyone in the room, Huxin bypassed Xian, Du and Chu, to pursue young Zai who had begun to flee before she had left Fa’s side. Zai looked back, knowing the animal was close and she bowled him over onto his back and held him to the ground. Her face was close to his as she gave a low growl, warning him not to flinch.

  �
�Zai?’ The Xibo queried the meaning of his guardian’s hostility toward him, as he strode forth to claim his youngest brother from her.

  ‘Get her off,’ Zai whimpered, tears in his eyes as she growled at him again. ‘I’ll confess,’ he assured her, ‘I’ll confess …’

  With a touch from the Xibo’s hand, Huxin withdrew, and Ji Fa dragged his brother to his feet. ‘And what are you confessing to?’

  ‘I haven’t done anything lately,’ Zai said in his own defence.

  ‘What did you do?’ The Xibo rephrased in hopes of getting a straight answer. The brothers gathered round, curious as to Zai’s shortcomings.

  ‘It was years ago,’ he justified. ‘I was a kid!’

  The Xibo came to the end of his patience. ‘I can have Baihu chew off your leg if you wish?’

  ‘No!’ Zai was still shaken from her first attack. ‘I’ll tell you,’ he said beseechingly, and drew a deep breath for strength. ‘I might have told some of my friends about Dan finding the Jade Book.’

  ‘What!’ Dan was immediately infuriated.

  ‘So, that is how she found out that we had it,’ Zhenduo, the warrior amongst the Xibo’s favoured brothers, said thoughtfully.

  ‘That book cost our father his life!’ Zhenduo and Wu had to stop Dan from hitting Zai.

  ‘Said you … alone,’ Xian redirected some of the heat Zai was copping back at Dan. ‘You were the only one the witch left awake that night, Dan,’ he shot back in accusation.

  ‘And we are all still alive,’ Fa pointed out, ‘and have Dan to thank for it.’

  Xian scoffed at this. ‘Pity Dan didn’t factor our father into his little deal with Zi Shou’s magical whore!’

  Again Zhenduo and Wu had to restrain Dan, as Du and Chu held down Xian. Huxin trotted away from the riot, shocked by the extent of the family secret she’d unearthed.

  ‘Enough!’ The Xibo threw himself in the middle of the huddle. ‘This meeting is over!’

  ‘Over?’ Xian objected. ‘You haven’t told us anything!’

  ‘Nor will I until there is something to tell.’ The Xibo returned to his seat, having prevented Dan and Xian from strangling each other. This was nothing new. As brothers number three and four, they always came to loggerheads, having nothing whatsoever in common.

  ‘But —’

  ‘It is not for any of us to question the will of Tian,’ Ji Fa insisted, as Huxin settled alongside him. ‘When the omen has come, you will be the first to know.’

  ‘Wu, beasts, omens — this is no way to run a nation!’ Xian threw up his hands in disgust.

  ‘The Shang have not honoured Tian, or the ancestors, and look at the state of our land,’ Wu spoke up in support of the Xibo.

  ‘Politically speaking, timing is everything,’ Jiang Taigong said, also backing the Xibo.

  ‘Seven years we’ve been waiting!’ Xian argued. ‘If you ask me, you have lost the stomach for war.’

  ‘No one is asking you,’ the Xibo pointed out. ‘You shall all return to Fengjing, distribute the Great Mother’s gift to the people as previously instructed and await further orders.’

  Xian opened his mouth to argue, but Huxin’s roar made him reconsider. He bowed and left, with his lackeys in tow.

  6

  YOU LING

  During the months that followed, as they awaited Tian’s omen, the weather grew warmer and the drought grew worse. Ji Fa had his armies and allies prepared and ready to move East as soon as the sign from heaven arrived, but after months of waiting without knowing his motive, his followers were beginning think Ji Fa was stalling, or had lost the will to go to war. Jiang Huxin’s constant presence at Ji Fa’s side prevented anyone openly challenging the Xibo’s delay, for people feared that the tigress would take their head off, but the Xibo’s heavenly appointed guardian would not be able to hold off Ji Fa’s doubters forever; Xian would see to that.

  It took some time for He Nuan to recover her full health and strength, and while Fen was attending to his patient, Hudan had taken it upon herself to begin Dan’s tuition in Dao Yin meditation and the ancient doctrine of the Wu. It was no surprise that Dan proved a highly intelligent and focused student who was able to comprehend the spiritual principles he was being taught and then devise means to apply those principles on earth. What did come as a delightful surprise to Hudan was her enjoyment in teaching him. She’d never spent so much time in one person’s company and not felt drained by the end of the day — not even with her siblings. To the contrary, Dan’s energy and nature blended so well with her own that Hudan went to sleep feeling as fresh and energised as she felt when she first awoke.

  Jiang Huxin was not adjusting to city life as well as her brothers, and was sure she was going to die from boredom and apathy. As she watched Ji Fa freshen himself before dinner, Huxin transformed into her human form and wrapped her naked body in the large fox fur on the Xibo’s bed to complain about her plight.

  ‘How do you stand it? All the meetings, the endless chatter and complaints, the lack of air, the confined spaces, the monotony, the —’

  ‘I agree.’ Ji Fa knew being his bodyguard was not the most exciting of assignments for Huxin. ‘You should take some time off, get out, see your brothers, or whatever it is you want to do. I am in no danger so long as Ji Xian and our brothers remain in Fengjing.’

  The atmosphere had been very tense at Haojing during their visit. Huxin didn’t trust Ji Xian or any of the brothers that ran with him; they were a pack of wolves waiting to tear Ji Fa to shreds at the first opportunity. Exactly the opposite could be said about the brothers Ji Fa kept close to him at Haojing, and there was one brother that Huxin had taken a particular shine to.

  ‘Perhaps I should go visit with your brother, Shi,’ Huxin purred, lying back on the bed in a seductive fashion. Although taking pleasure in the sight of her naked form in his bed, the Xibo was the perfect gentlemen. ‘I think that if you go wandering, it might be best to do so in human form. Wear a hood, like brother Hudan does. Everyone will just assume you are she, and no one dares to approach her apart from Dan and Fen.’

  It was a good plan, but Huxin resented the implication. ‘So, you are saying I cannot go and visit with Shi.’

  There was an apologetic look on Fa’s face as he shook his head. ‘Nothing could come of it. You would only be toying with his affections and distracting him from what he should be doing.’

  ‘Which is?’ Huxin queried. What could be more important than her own fun?

  ‘Choosing a wife,’ Fa advised her seriously, and Huxin frowned in protest. ‘I need my brothers married, and soon, so that when I rule the land, my governing lords will be setting the right example. If they don’t marry, they don’t rule. It’s that simple.’

  ‘Even brother Dan?’ Huxin spotted a bug in his ointment.

  Fa was somewhat perplexed by the question. ‘No, Dan is Wu now. But every other brother,’ he insisted, ‘Shi included … his marriage is long overdue.’ Shi, nineteen, was the last of the brothers bar Dan and Zai — the youngest — to court a wife.

  Huxin released a huge, bored exhalation.

  ‘I feel sure your brothers will be happy to see you,’ Fa encouraged, ‘and in all honesty, my wife will be beside herself with joy if I arrive to celebrate our anniversary without you.’

  ‘Subtle.’ Huxin tried not to sound offended. ‘I shall vanish for the night.’

  ‘Much appreciated,’ Fa smiled. ‘If my wife saw you as you are at present, this anniversary would be our last.’

  ‘Not really the example that a marital enforcer wants to set,’ Huxin affirmed, and Fa nodded to agree. ‘Well, if your piousness would kindly fetch me some clothes, I shall be happy to recede from view.’

  ‘Of course.’ Fa was hard pressed to pry his eyes away from her, but he left to see to her request personally and avoid any servant’s gossip.

  Under her hood, Huxin wandered the halls of the house and the occupants avoided her like the plague. Hudan had been dubbed You Ling — spiritual
entity — as most in the household were convinced that the Great Mother had given Dan some manner of supernatural creature as a gift, and Huxin considered that it was not so far from the truth.

  Hudan rarely left Ji Dan’s rooms, as she was required to keep a low profile until their call to arms. That was where Huxin was headed at present, but she really had no desire to see Hudan, who would be studying, or Fen who was busy planning his marriage to He Nuan. What Jiang Huxin really wanted was to run, and so she reset her trajectory toward the Ji family gardens.

  The gate that led from the main courtyard garden to vast outlying gardens was usually wide open in the mornings when Fa took her for a brisk walk before the day grew too hot. The gate must be shut at sundown, as it was now closed, but a simple latch released the barrier and Huxin slipped past into the more open grounds.

  It was easy to see her way through the mazed garden, as all the structures that would normally support a vast array of plants and shrubs were bare, or sported withering vines at best. However, the statues, tiny shrines and waterless water features could still be admired by the light of the waxing moon, which was near full in the cloudless night sky. Huxin really had to resist her urge to shift into animal form, but remembering the Xibo’s wishes she did not. Her human form was nowhere near as exhilarating to run in, but once she’d hitched up her skirt and excess cloak, she was happy that she could squeal with delight as she bounded along.

  At the end of a long tree-lined path, she found a more open walkway and immediately came to a halt, having picked up on a scent downwind, and then she spied two southern red tigers eyeballing her. ‘Hello,’ she said winningly, as one of the tigers was a very handsome male.

  Clearly, the pair did not know what to make of the fearless newcomer and growled in warning.

  When Huxin growled back just as fiercely, the pair romped over to welcome her. ‘Hello, dear friends,’ she stroked and admired them. ‘How beautiful you are —’

  ‘Stop!’ a voice called through the darkness. ‘Are you mad?’

  In the moonlight Huxin’s tiger’s eyes had no trouble perceiving Ji Shi running toward her whilst trying to finish dressing himself at the same time.