Dreaming of Zhou Gong

by Traci Harding

  Dan and Fen wasted no time in removing the largest logs from the dead pyre, yet upon finding nothing but a huge pile of soot and coals beneath, Dan’s eyes flooded with tears and he lost his enthusiasm. Fen continued digging into the charred remains of the pyre, which seemed pointless to Dan — even if Hudan hadn’t burned to death, she’d been buried all night. Fen’s furious digging uncovered a large hunk of wood that had not burned, and he raised Taiji from the ashes, perfectly intact but in need of dusting off. To Dan’s great surprise, a soot-covered hand was still clasped around the staff, attached to an arm that disappeared beneath dead coals. Fen grabed and pulled on the limb gently, thereby exposing the rest of the ash-covered body of a woman. Shock reverberated through Dan’s being and then exploded into relief as Fen announced that she was still breathing.

  ‘Tian is great and merciful.’ Dan ripped the cloak from his back to wrap her in.

  Once swaddled, Fen lifted his sister up and, to Dan’s surprise, handed her over to him. ‘You’ve been waiting patiently to carry her out of here all night,’ he explained.

  Holding her in his arms and feeling her breathe was something that only moments ago Dan had thought could never happen. The Wu had defied all his logic and he was so very grateful.

  ‘I shall take her!’ Song insisted, as he beat his father up the jinzita stairs, and approached to relieve his uncle of his bundle.

  ‘Watch it, boy.’ Dan was in no mood to be challenged and his baleful gaze was enough to stop Song in his tracks and await his father’s ruling on the matter.

  ‘Dan is Wu,’ Ji Fa decreed as he arrived at the top. ‘He shall carry his brother back.’

  Thankful for the Xibo’s ruling, Dan carried Hudan past Song.

  ‘I won’t be a boy forever,’ Song said defiantly, setting Dan’s blood to boiling.

  ‘That is entirely open to debate.’ Dan kept moving.

  As Fen moved to follow Dan down the stairs, Song waylaid him to ask, ‘She is going to live?’

  ‘She is alive,’ Fen told the young master as much as he knew, ‘and that is an excellent sign … more than that, I cannot promise.’

  ‘Stay with her, Fen,’ Ji Fa instructed. ‘I need her.’

  ‘I shall do all within my power,’ Fen vowed, joining Nuan to sprint down the structure after their charge and lord.

  ‘This will be hailed as clear sign of heaven’s favour.’ Song was very excited by the events of the past few days, as he and his father fell in behind.

  Fa, like Dan, knew they were far from out of the woods yet. In breaking the drought they had challenged imperial rule, and without Hudan to aid them to challenge the Shang and Daji for heaven’s mandate, this situation could turn on them very quickly. Ji Fa could end up rotting in prison for years, just as his father had.

  After the initial drenching, rain continued to fall in Zhou in a light, steady misting. The local people were rejoicing and singing the praises of Ji Fa and the House of Li Shan, but since Jiang Hudan had yet to wake from the rite that had brought about their salvation, the House of Ji had fallen into melancholy.

  The Wu residing at Haojing held a round-the-clock vigil at their ailing brother’s bedside. Fen barely left Hudan’s side, and slept with his hand in hers to ensure her vitality was constantly being fed by his own. With every day that passed, Dan’s hope for her survival ebbed as he watched Hudan waste away. Nobody could live on love alone … Fen’s emotional healing could only sustain her for so long. Without proper physical nourishment she faced the strong possibility of organ failure, brain damage and death. They could only hope that Su Daji did not get wind of Hudan’s ailment and attempt to finish her and the House of Ji before the battle even started.

  ‘I think it might be best if the Great Mother was made aware of our brother’s sad plight,’ Dan ventured, testing the suggestion on Fen on the sixth night of their vigil.

  ‘Yi Wu will be aware,’ Fen replied.

  ‘Then why has she not come to aid her most beloved student?’

  ‘Obviously Yi Wu feels that Hudan does not need aid beyond that which we are supplying.’

  ‘But look at her,’ and Dan motioned to Hudan’s pale, diminished form.

  Instead, Fen observed Dan with a compassionate expression. ‘I wish you could know, as I do, that everything Hudan does has a purpose. She would not tarry in the spirit world without good reason.’

  ‘But what if the reason is that she cannot get back into her form?’ Dan countered.

  Fen was stunned and even slightly amused. ‘Forgive me, lord, but I believe that if Hudan was here at present, she would laugh at that reasoning.’

  He gave up! It was beyond Dan’s comprehension how everyone could stand idly by while Zhou’s best hope of victory slowly perished. ‘Am I the only person in this house who is concerned for her welfare?’

  ‘To show concern would be to doubt my brother,’ Fen replied honestly.

  ‘Doubt her, or let her die. Which is preferable?’ Dan asked, and the answer seemed perfectly clear to him.

  ‘What is preferable,’ Fen advised, ‘is to observe all situations from a place of non-judgement. Hudan’s fate is of her own design and is only for Tian to question.’

  Wise words were no consolation, although in any other circumstances Dan would have been content to follow the advice. The lord left Fen to his vigil and headed toward the Hall of Records, where he always found it easier to think.

  One lamp was burning low on his desk, but as he had no inclination to work or study, he did not call for more light. Dan sat at his desk and collapsed over it, his head on his arms, feeling that his ancestors and heaven had abandoned him.

  Never had Dan’s faith in Tian and the ancestors been so tested. What was heaven’s plan? Why would Tian miraculously spare Hudan from the fire, only to have her waste away in an unconscious state? The lord was further frustrated that Hudan’s welfare was all he could think about; his ambition for knowledge, the war against the Shang, nothing seemed to matter. But then, without Jiang Hudan neither of these or other objectives would come to pass. Confronting Su Daji without Jiang Hudan would be suicide, but what Dan longed to hear more than anything was Hudan’s account of her experiences since they last spoke. What was she experiencing now? He knew he was allowing emotion to cloud his perspective, and if his lustful thoughts about Hudan had offended heaven, then it should be his life under threat and not hers.

  It might have served him better to have retired to his sleeping quarters, which he’d not seen for days as, overwhelmed by exhaustion, Dan fell asleep.

  ‘Brother Dan. Brother Dan, I need you to wake.’

  Dan woke at his desk in the large hall, now devoid of light, and sat immediately upright to see Hudan standing before him, her form as colourful and visible as day. ‘Brother Hudan …’ Dan wanted to rise and greet her and found that he could not.

  ‘I need you to send for soup from the kitchen, and tea, at once.’

  ‘Of course, you must be famished,’ he sympathised.

  ‘I am!’ she assured him, with a broad smile. ‘And I know, and you soon shall, that you are developing Wu skill. For my sake, do not doubt yourself.’

  The statement was puzzling. ‘I’m not sure I know what you mean.‘

  Hudan leaned over the desk toward him to suggest once more that he ‘Wake up!’

  The sound of his own gasp woke Dan and he sat up to find he was indeed at his desk. The hall was in complete darkness and it was silent. He was very much alone, panting and sweating in the wake of the sudden change in his perception. It was most disheartening to realise his meeting with Hudan had been naught but a dream, brought on by his desire to see her well again.

  ‘Another cruel deception on the part of heaven,’ Dan concluded, bitterly. But as he rose to stretch the kinks from his body, Fen’s piece of advice played on his mind: ‘Observe all situations from a place of non-judgement.’

  It struck Dan that if he was truly to follow this advice, then he should be heading straight to
the kitchen to fetch soup and tea for Hudan as he’d been instructed. Any Wu would consider such a dream prophetic and would act upon it. His logical reasoning told him that the only way to swing the Wu around to his way of thinking was to prove that their way was not foolproof, and here was the perfect chance to build his argument.

  When Dan’s servant of the interior brought the tray to him in the Hall of Records, the lord apologised for the unearthly hour and insisted that the servant return to bed.

  Dan delivered the tray to Hudan’s chamber himself and set it down on the table beside her bed — Fen was fast asleep on the far side, and the lord was feeling a little foolish acting on his dream. Hudan was as absent as she had been all week, and even if he did prove his point to Fen, it would be at the expense of a precious few hours the lad had taken to rest. To simply leave the tray and exit quietly seemed the most mature course of action to take.

  After a restless few hours of no sleep, Dan returned to Hudan’s chamber to find everything as it was before, except that the tray had been emptied and the bedpan had been used. When he woke Fen to query him about this, the lad maintained he’d been asleep and did not even realise the tray of food had been brought in, so he’d certainly not devoured it, nor had he relieved himself.

  ‘Brother Hudan has realised the risk to her physical form,’ Fen concluded. ‘She is attempting to sustain it while she is away.’

  Dan felt it was more likely one of the servants had snuck in and devoured the meal, although it did not seem likely that they would also stop in an esteemed guest’s quarters and use the bedpan, especially considering Hudan’s Wu status — everyone in the household feared her.

  ‘What compelled you to have a tray delivered at such an hour?’ Fen was curious, and Dan was hesitant to enlighten him.

  ‘While I was sleeping, Hudan asked me to send food to her chamber,’ he finally confessed, and Fen gasped in excitment. Dan found his ward’s reaction predictable.

  ‘You spoke to her spirit,’ Fen pointed out. ‘Mediumship is a Wu talent.’

  Opening his mouth to argue, Dan refrained and instead admitted: ‘Hudan claimed that I was developing a Wu talent, and warned me not to doubt myself, for her sake.’ He looked back to her tiny, still form. It wasn’t quite so pale as yesterday. ‘So, despite my suspicions, I believe we should have food delivered to this chamber at the same time tonight, and every night, until Hudan returns to her body permanently. I shall have guards posted at the door and around the exterior to ensure no one is playing us for sport.’

  Fen was pleasantly surprised by his lord’s resolution. ‘I shall be more vigilant tonight, my lord.’

  ‘It would be impossible for you to be any more attentive than you already are, Fen. Tonight, I shall sit vigil with you.’ Dan was determined to get to the bottom of this little mystery, which he inwardly prayed was no deception at all.

  That night, in the hour of the ox, a meal tray was brought in and left on the bedside table in Hudan’s quarters where Fen and Dan sat in quiet attendance. By the hour of the tiger, Dan watched Fen drift into slumber — his hand still clasping Hudan’s — at which point Dan moved closer to the lantern to read and keep his mind alert.

  It was most unusual for Dan to sleep against his will, so when the lord awoke with his bamboo text still in hand, he was genuinely stunned. His attention diverted immediately to the meal tray, which had again been emptied.

  The guards insisted no one had passed in or out of the room, or were even sighted in the vicinity.

  As vexing as these events were, after a few more evenings had unfolded in exactly the same manner, Dan was forced to concede the possibility that his dream had steered him right. Hudan no longer appeared emaciated, and was regaining her colour.

  ‘I imagine this is Hudan’s way of avoiding having to explain herself,’ Fen said when he woke Dan on the fourth morning of their dual vigil and motioned to the empty meal tray.

  ‘Then there seems little point in us persisting.’ Dan rose and stretched — he was really beginning to miss his bed.

  ‘But Hudan’s health looks so much better,’ Fen said, alarmed.

  ‘I meant there is no point in trying to converse with her. We will continue to have the meal tray prepared and left beside the bed,’ Dan explained to put his ward at ease. ‘As the crisis seems to have passed, I believe I have neglected my stately duties long enough, and must leave Hudan’s wellbeing in your very capable hands.’ Dan took up his reading matter ready to leave, then looked at Fen, who was grinning broadly.

  ‘You have found your faith,’ Fen informed him.

  Upon reflection, Dan realised he was feeling decidedly more at peace with himself, and this situation, than he had been at this time last week, and the fact that he’d been part of the solution was very satisfying. If and when Hudan did finally awake, she would be proud that he’d followed his intuition and that was also pleasing.

  It was nigh on a fortnight since Hudan had performed the yin rite, and Dan was in council with Ji Fa and the prime minister, Jiang Taigong, discussing what should be done if Jiang Hudan did not awake soon. Their meeting was interrupted by an announcement that the Shang minister, Weizi, was at the door, requesting an audience with Ji Fa and protection for himself and his family in Zhou.

  ‘The emperor’s own brother!’ Jiang Taigong was troubled by the declaration, but Ji Fa wore a satisfied grin.

  ‘This is it, Dan,’ and the Xibo gripped his brother’s shoulders. ‘This is the sign we’ve been waiting for.’

  This assertion only compounded Dan’s confusion regarding heaven’s agenda. What was the use of sending them the sign to go to war now, when their major weapon was out of commission?

  When minister Weizi and his family entered Ji Fa’s council chamber, soaked to the skin, the sight made Ji Fa smile as the royal family actually seemed quite happy with their lot. ‘Minister Weizi, you are most welcome in Haojing … I see you have already received our complimentary shower.’

  ‘Indeed I have, Xibo,’ the minister smiled in gracious thanks. ‘I have greatly enjoyed the last week of our journey here, despite the grave circumstances that have driven us to seek your protection.’ He fell on his knees and bowed to the ground before Ji Fa, and his entire family followed suit.

  Dan was stunned at the implications of the brother of the emperor surrendering to the Zhou, and yet Ji Fa was not at all surprised.

  ‘Arise.’ Ji Fa approached the minister and urged him to stand. ‘There is no need for you to kowtow yourself before me. Let us talk as brothers.’

  The Xibo arranged for his servant of the interior to take the minister’s family to lodgings in the guest quarters until a more permanent housing arrangement could be found.

  Once the family had departed, the minister sat in council with them and conveyed the tale of the conditions in the imperial court that had driven him from his home. The news of Bi Gan’s murder at the hand of Su Daji was deeply disturbing and it stirred the mood for war anew.

  ‘How did you manage to escape?’ Dan was suspicious, despite his brother’s assurance that this was Tian’s omen. It could also be a trick.

  ‘A benevolent lady spirit led us here,’ Weizi said. ‘She claimed to be allied to Ji Fa —’

  ‘Did she offer a name?’ Dan’s heart began beating so hard he could feel the pounding in his throat.

  ‘Shanyu Jiang —’

  Dan fled the room before Weizi could finish his announcement.

  Suddenly the cosmic agenda was perfectly clear, and as the lord rounded a corner toward his rooms, he collided with He Nuan.

  ‘She is awake,’ she conveyed excitedly as Dan steadied her in the wake of their collision.

  ‘Is she lucid?’ he asked as they both made haste in the direction He Nuan had come from.

  ‘Surprisingly so,’ Nuan was happy to announce.

  When Dan arrived in her bedchamber, Hudan had recovered from her initial light-headedness and was now propped upright in bed. Apart from a little weakness a
nd fatigue, she felt perfectly well.

  ‘Minister Weizi?’ she asked, before Dan could get a word out. The question appeared to come as some relief to the lord.

  ‘The minister is in council with Ji Fa.’

  With official confirmation that the Shang minister had been well received, Hudan breathed easier.

  As spirit guide to Weizi en route to Zhou, Hudan had witnessed the sad plight of the people in the East, and it was in vast contrast to the celebration, hope and goodwill that had spread across Zhou with the coming of the rains. Weizi had noted the huge disparity too, and despite the emperor’s claim to know what was written in the Jade Book, clearly heaven’s blessing had shifted to the West.

  At this moment, the last great minister of the Shang government was begging Ji Fa to declare war on his brother Zi Shou and rescue the people of the East from the madness and cruelty of Su Daji. The reason this appeal for justice was so significant was that, to the best of the minister’s knowledge, he was heir to the Shang throne, for it was reported that, at Daji’s suggestion, Zi Shou had locked up his own son and then killed him.

  Weizi knew he did not have the support or means to overthrow his brother, further that there was no one in the imperial court who did, and none dared even contemplate conspiracy. For the first time in the twenty long, dark years since his brother had attacked the state of Yousu and taken Daji as his prize, Weizi saw hope for the future. After his miraculous rescue from Yin, the minister was finally convinced that there was someone in this land who could oppose Su Daji. If heaven saw fit to give Ji Fa and Zhou victory, then Zi Shou would be the last Shang emperor to rule and Weizi would be content to honour the will of heaven.

  Hudan knew the minister’s intention was true, but she had wondered if his eagerness to hand over imperial rule to the Zhou had something to do with wanting to avoid the curse that came with being named in the Jade Book. So Hudan had mentally quizzed the minister closely and discovered he didn’t know anything about the pit, beyond that it was to be feared and that to be sent there meant you were never seen again. Hudan wondered if the Jade Book contained any information about Dragonface and his curse. Ji Dan was the only person living who had read the authentic item.