Scarlet Dandelions

by Fynn Chen

  Yexuan nodded proudly. “I am surprised that I feel fine too.”

  Then, as if just recalling the events that had happened a day ago, Yexuan sprang the question. “Wanwan, how terrible did you feel yesterday? When you… accidentally shot the mother leopard and…”

  Wanwan realised that the courtly princess could not bring herself to continue and spared Yexuan the trouble of doing so as she held up her hand. “I felt extremely terrible.”

  A crease appeared between Yexuan’s brow. It made Wanwan slightly regretful to have to explain her thoughts to Yexuan. Slipping out a hand from beneath her head, Wanwan made a reach for Yexuan’s hand which was at the base of her abdomen. Yexuan’s body had gone stiff, and her jaws were clearly clenched. Wanwan chewed on her bottom lip for a few moments before she found courage in herself to continue.

  “It felt as though I had lost all my morals. As though the very hobby of hunting had been wrong all these times. As though I ought to be punished for all the kills that I have made. I used to tell my elder sister that I loved to hunt predators because they preyed on the weak. But who was I to put that arrow through the leopard? Who was I to determine which animal lived or die at all?” Wanwan said and realised that she had become more agitated than necessary.

  The reassuring squeeze from Yexuan’s hand made her continue, daring Wanwan to ask the questions whose answers the wildling princess feared most.

  “What did you think about me then, Yexuan? I am only twelve, but I have killed a lot of animals and seek pleasure in them, do you find me cruel?”

  There was the sound of a sharp intake of breath from Yexuan and Wanwan could not help but smile bitterly at her reaction. Perhaps she should spare the courtly princess the difficulty of answering such questions then.

  “Forget that I have asked, I am going out for a night stroll. Fret not, I will do so within the premises of the camp and not get into trouble. Have a good rest, Yexuan.”

  Just as Wanwan had released Yexuan’s hand and was about to get down from her bed, she felt the courtly princess’s hand hold her wrist, tighter than she had ever done before.

  “Don’t go. Stay. Or I can walk with you and we can chat more about this,” Yexuan voice was almost a plea.

  Throwing a backward glance over her shoulder at Yexuan, Wanwan sighed. “Fine, I will stay, and we shall chat.”

  Yexuan gave another thankful smile and replied, “Wanwan, I don’t think you are cruel.”

  Pausing before continuing, Yexuan brushed aside a lock of Wanwan’s hair from her face. “Every living being has its life story, whether or not you have witnessed it with your own eyes. Having witnessed something should not make you feel more or less empathy as long as we learn to keep that in our minds. You may have killed a condor who is the spouse of another or a leopard who is a mother to its cub. There are a thousand and one things we do not see but we should know and expect it.

  “Wanwan, I hope you are not too affected by that single incident and think of yourself as a bad person. You can say that this is all part of nature’s cycle. If you allow the predator to roam, it will devour the prey, then by your logic, are you a bad person to the prey, for having allowed the predator to live? Then again, what if we overhunt predators, allowing preys to grow in abundant numbers and enable them to feed freely on the vast plains without control. This in turns dooms the green grassland. Then are you a sinner to all the living beings that are dependent on the grasslands? So, what I am trying to put across is that, what we hunt, whether it is right or wrong, it is difficult to answer isn’t it? It is all a cycle of life. My mother once told me when I was young that this world is a cruel place because it has to be. It is all a karmic cycle.”

  Wanwan blinked at Yexuan’s long speech and when the meaning behind the courtly princess’s words sank in, Wanwan smiled. What determined whether a person is good or evil is not merely defined by a single act of an individual. It goes beyond all these and it depends on perspectives.

  “So… you are saying that from your perspective… you are confident that I am not a bad person or a cruel child?”

  Princess Yexuan nodded definitively. “Pretty confident. You did not leave me to die and came back to look for me after all. If I were to judge you based on that criteria then you would be the most considerate person in this world, in my world.”

  The smiles on Wanwan later turned into laughter as she in turn tucked a length of hair behind Yexuan’s ear. “But that is because…” Wanwan’s laughter died down and she was suddenly at a loss for words.

  “Because?” Yexuan prompted with a raise of her slim brows.

  “Well… because I am your companion, and I don’t want our countries to go to war,” Wanwan said quickly and bopped Yexuan lightly on her nose before pulling the covers over themselves.

  It was Yexuan’s turn to laugh this time round and she clutched onto their sheets. “Really… Princess Bo’er’ji’ji’te Zhenwan. Thank you then, for not causing war between our countries.”

  “You’re welcome, Princess Pei Yexuan,” Wanwan said naughtily.

  Wanwan did not know when or how it happened but that night, the two princesses slept soundly, with their hands in each other’s.

  Yexuan, do you know that besides your zither-playing that is beautiful, your words and even your thoughts are beautiful as well? You should unfurl this beauty of yours, allowing the grace of it to touch your country, and be more than just the courtly princess you think you are.

  To me, you can just be Yexuan but at the same time, you are more than what you define yourself to be. I look forward to being your companion for the times to come.

  14 Rising Rebellions and the Dance with Ribbons

  Two years passed by in a blink of an eye. Wanwan had turned fourteen and Yexuan was already sixteen. Many things had happened during the past two years, including increasing civilian dissatisfaction amongst the Pei civilians at the widespread poverty in the peripheral provinces, and the widening of social statuses between the rich and the poor in the central provinces. This situation was exacerbated by seasonal calamities that struck the country’s provinces. The country had reported one of the worst floods in nearly fifty years. To the west of Pei, the river of Yong, their largest river flowing through more than ten provinces, had swelled over its banks, threatening lives and crops in the affected areas. Also, nearly a dozen forest fires had reportedly broken out and raved through the Eastern provinces of Pei, damaging the homes of their people.

  These situations were poorly managed by many of the province officials; help usually arrived late or there was none at all. Often, this was blamed on the lack of proper oversight by the ministers in the Pei court, and rumours began flying about on the misappropriation of resources.

  Naturally, out of dissatisfaction against the ruling family of Pei, several established rebel groups grew bolder. These rebel groups expressed themselves in a blunter and more violent way. Ministers and other court officials, corrupt or innocent alike, were targeted for the plundering of their homes and was met with physical harm. This has caused much fear and uncertainty. To ward off these hostile attempts, officials doubled the hiring of guards and protection personnel. Yet, even amongst the hiring of personnel, one could not be so certain that there were no rebel spies embedded within them. Even the members of the royal family had been met with assassination attempts, and Yanyan, who had lived among the royal household, was not spared either.

  In the dead of the night, Wanwan had raced to her sister’s quarters right after she received news that Yanyan had met with mishap. Yexuan had followed behind her closely.

  As the medical examination by the royal physician was still taking place, Wanwan could only wait nervously at her sister’s courtyard. During the entire time, she was engulfed in a warm embrace by none other than Yexuan. They were surrounded by innumerable palace maids and imperial guards but that did not matter.

  “Princess Yanyan will be fine, Princess Wanwan.”

  “They hurt my sister, I will ki
ll them!” Wanwan said through her gritted teeth as tears of anger fell.

  Yexuan caressed Wanwan’s back, soothing her. “Yes, you will but for now you must remain sufficiently alert and rational. Princess Yanyan requires that of you, do you understand me, Princess Wanwan?”

  Choking on her sob, Wanwan nodded firmly as she fastened her arms around Yexuan. “Yes, Princess Yexuan, I will remain alert and rational.”

  The medical examination and observation took nearly a quarter of the day. It was twilight by the time the imperial physician finally told them that Yanyan’s life was no longer in danger. The princess had suffered a vicious stab to her abdomen while she was convening with Prince Zhongxian at her courtyard when the premise was infiltrated by more than three dozen assassins.

  Prince Zhongxian himself had suffered several injuries to his forearm while fending off the intruders whilst numerous imperial guards had lost their lives. Investigations on how such a great number of assassins got into the palace was underway and the Emperor vowed to mete out the harshest punishment on those who were responsible.

  The Empress and Prince Zhongxian were already in Princess Yanyan’s bedchamber when Wanwan entered with Yexuan. The heady smell of medicines and sights of bloodied apparatuses and cloths assaulted Wanwan’s nose and vision.

  Her sister’s complexion was ghastly pale, and her breathing was laboured. Wanwan knew Yanyan must be in incredible amounts of pain and lunged forward to take her sister’s hand, ignoring the other occupants in the quarters.

  “I’m sorry about Princess Yanyan. I should have protected her better,” Prince Zhongxian voice was so thickly laced with regret that Wanwan could believe him. The prince’s arm was bandaged and slung across his chest but all Wanwan could care about was her sister.

  Unlike Prince Zhongxian who seemed genuinely distraught about her sister, the Empress was more concerned about the political consequences from this unfortunate event.

  “My royal son has done his best to protect your sister, Princess Wanwan, you must understand that. The Emperor will definitely not let this matter rest easily,” the Empress added but Wanwan ignored her.

  Fortunately, Yexuan was there to help her reply to the two royalties and mediate the situation. “Empress, Prince Zhongxian, please forgive Princess Wanwan for her grief, she has waited all night and was so fearful for her sister’s life.”

  The Empress and Prince Zhongxian said they understood and gave the sisters privacy. Yexuan was about to leave after them when Wanwan told her not to.

  “Don’t go, Yexuan. Stay with me, and my sister,” Wanwan said and Yexuan agreed without a second’s hesitation.

  There were no palace maids to disrupt this private moment of intimacy. Yexuan had seated herself beside Wanwan as they cared for her injured sister together. While Wanwan dabbed at her elder sister’s damp forehead every now and then, Yexuan had helped changed her basin of water. Multiple times, Yanyan had shifted uncomfortably in her sleep and muttered words in their Bo’er language which only Wanwan could make out. Her elder sister was calling for her childhood confidante, Miying. Wanwan’s heart clenched so hard that it hurt.

  Her sister still loved Miying. Wanwan had burst into tears right then and she cooed at her sister as she replied in the language of her homeland to tell Yanyan that Miying would be with her shortly. Beside her, Yexuan spoke not a word and merely offered comforting caresses to Wanwan. That was all that was needed; Yexuan’s presence by her side.

  Days after the assassination attempt. The Bo’er royal entourage had finally arrived, with Adviser Miying and two other princes, Prince Zhenyin and Prince Zhenxun. Prince Zhenxing was in the midst of an intense battle and could not get away just like the other older brothers and the Great Khan.

  Miying had been at one of the battle camps too but had wanted to be excused regardless of the consequences. Wanwan was glad for it because Miying was the person Yanyan had most wanted to see.

  The weather was pleasant with a clear sky and little clouds floating in it. Wanwan was finally back at her own courtyard to practice her martial arts when Yexuan came to visit her that day. From the corner of Wanwan’s eye, she saw that Yexuan had taken up a blunted sword. Seconds later, the courtly princess began brandishing the weapon teasingly at Wanwan, approaching with quick steps, and with her robes and shawl fluttering about her. Wanwan paused her own routine as she watched Yexuan with a slanted smile.

  During the last two years, Yexuan’s health had improved greatly, and she was no longer plagued by long periods of coughs and flus. In addition to it, the courtly princess had obtained curves in areas that sometimes made Wanwan pause to admire. And though Yexuan had a dainty look to her, she looked fitting with a sword as well.

  The fast-approaching Yexuan had watched Wanwan practice so often that she decided to mimic some of Wanwan’s latest sword strokes, but Yexuan was never serious about wanting to practice unless Wanwan made her do it. Once, Wanwan had taught her how to flip in the air and Yexuan had nearly twisted her ankle. Since then, Wanwan had stopped teaching Yexuan any dangerous stunts. Instead, the fighting techniques that Wanwan taught Yexuan were mainly defensive. Ensuring that the dagger she had gifted Yexuan would always be concealed within her robes, Wanwan would occasionally launch surprise assaults when they were alone in their rooms.

  Now, Wanwan would play along with Yexuan’s weak strokes, forcing Yexuan to change her sword angles and switch her stances. Finally, satisfied with Yexuan’s workout for the day, Wanwan knocked the courtly princess’s sword away with arcing kick and a sweep of her feet. A palace maid flurried over to retrieve the sword that had flown several feet away whilst a pout appeared on Yexuan’s face.

  “You didn’t give in to me,” Yexuan complained indignantly.

  “Of course not, my courtly princess. It would be such an insult if I gave in to that… ribbon dance,” Wanwan said with a lazy smirk, passing her own sword by its hilt to a palace maid nearby.

  Yexuan gave an angry response. “How dare you call it a ribbon dance! I did what you taught me the last time.”

  Trying to punch Wanwan playfully, Yexuan’s assaults were in vain as Wanwan dodged every single attempt with ease. Shouts and chuckles from the princesses soon filled the courtyard. The palace maids and imperial guards watched their antics with controlled amusement.

  Finally, she held both of Yexuan’s hands together and bound them at the wrist. “Okay, I seek pardon, Princess Yexuan. This should be enough physical work for the day. Anyway, have you taken your tonic? How are you feeling today?”

  With an uplift of her chin, Yexuan replied smugly, “forgiven, Princess Wanwan. Yes, I have taken them and I feel healthy. You have been asking the same thing every day for the past two years, aren’t you tired of it?”

  “That is because you are a sickly princess,” Wanwan reminded.

  “I am no longer that sickly! Remember, we even went on a visit to Qi’Hua village two months ago and I felt fine even though we were drenched in the rain?” Yexuan countered.

  Of course Wanwan remembered, it was one of the princess first few trips to a peripheral province, the beginning of her initiatives to remedy the poverty situation in the villages by getting to understand them. As her companion, Wanwan had followed wherever the princess went. Wanwan had been so pleased with Yexuan’s work and her greater political involvement that she was beginning to find the courtly princess more attractive by the day.

  “Right, you felt fine, but you still fell sick a week after,” Wanwan pointed out, “now that my sister is finally beginning to recover and has Miying to look after her, I would like to catch up on my sleep and not have to look after you.”

  An expression of hurt passed over Yexuan’s face and Wanwan immediately knew that she must have been insensitive again. Catching Yexuan by her wrist, Wanwan pulled her forward.

  “Come on… you know I was just joking. I would always stay up to soothe your coughs any time you need, you know it.”

  Giving Wanwan a wry smile, Yexuan
nodded, “of course, because you are my companion.”

  The tone of Yexuan’s voice and the emphasis on the word ‘companion’ told Wanwan that Yexuan must definitely still be upset. Wanwan desperately needed to do something to lift Yexuan’s spirits.

  “Princess Yexuan, do you want to come into my room? I have something to show you,” Wanwan said.

  Yexuan nodded and followed her into her quarters without saying anything more. Over the years, Wanwan’s quarters had been reconstructed to become more like Yexuan’s, boasting of a large study with shelves filled with books in both the Bo’er and Pei languages. A feature that distinguished both their quarters would be the numerous weapons on display in Wanwan’s quarters. Ranging from the silver gilded whip with bejewelled handles, to the deadly sharp curved sword of Bo’er, Wanwan’s quarters was filled with them in every corner. Once they were inside her bedroom, Wanwan went to retrieve the thing she had been working on for a while beneath her bed covers and showed it to Yexuan. As expected, the courtly princess had burst out into laughter immediately at her attempt at embroidery.

  “What is this?!” Yexuan asked in incredulousness.

  “Well… the night luminous pearl,” Wanwan said shamefully.

  There was a stunned look on Yexuan’s face. Staring more closely at the work of embroidery, Yexuan frowned.

  “You tried to embroider a pearl? Really? Its looks just like a ball.”

  Sighing resignedly, Wanwan replaced the covers over the embroidery, hiding her shameful piece of work. “That’s what I thought too… I had wanted to make it look more… three-dimensional, you know?”

  Yexuan lifted the covers off again and laughed. This time round, she could not stop laughing. “I still cannot get why you would try to embroider a pearl,” Yexuan said in between her laughter as she shook her head.