First Knight<\/p>\n
1.<\/p>\n
I followed the young-lady-in-waiting down the endless columned corridor of the Imperial Place in Loyang.\u00a0 It was mid-summer and the middle of the day but I could not help feel the chilling down my spine as I headed towards the secluded garden.\u00a0 I was never a coward.\u00a0 Being a weathered soldier and a commander of the imperial guards for so many years, I had witnessed battles and executions of unspeakable gory and cruelty.\u00a0 Yet this was no help for me whenever I was summoned to her presence.\u00a0 If there was any person I feared in this world, it was this woman who called herself the Empress Regnant Shengshen, or the Ruling Holy Empress, the first woman in the long history of the Middle Kingdom to put on a robe with dragon motifs embroidered on it.\u00a0 All women before her, no matter how powerful they were, could only dare settle with the phoenix.<\/p>\n
I was only seventeen when she ascended to the throne. But her story was well known to all, whispered in low voices in market places when the secret informers were thought not to be present.\u00a0 We learned that she was born low and had entered into palace service of the former emperor, the father of her late husband, how the emperor admired her beauty and wit and yet became suspicious of her intelligence and ambitious heart.\u00a0 She was ordered to be confined to a nunnery when the emperor died, but that failed to stem her rise to power.\u00a0 The new emperor had her arranged to be returned to the palace and step by step, she advanced to the throne of the empress.\u00a0 We heard of how she had killed her own baby-daughter in order to put blame of her rival, the then Empress who was then demoted by the unsuspecting emperor and later removed silently.\u00a0 She gained power during the long-sickness of her husband.\u00a0 When the emperor found out what kind of woman he had placed next to him, it was too late.\u00a0 She had him in her power and there was a suspicion that she had poisoned him in order to reign supreme, an accusation she flatly denied.\u00a0 She made another son \u201cemperor\u201d, but had him disposed and exiled when he proved uncontrollable. His name was Li Zhe and he was now living in the provinces, under practical house-arrest.\u00a0 She was ruthless to opposition, unmerciful to any threat to her throne, employing magistrates who were so skillful in torture that the very mention of these could kill a faint-hearted man.<\/p>\n
One never knew what kind of fate was waiting when summoned.\u00a0 I kept telling myself that I had nothing to fear; that I had not plotted against her in any way.\u00a0 But many apparently innocent men had met sad fates.\u00a0 To the Empress, innocence was defined not by absence of actual deeds of conspiracy, but by mere suspicion.\u00a0 And no one was above suspicion.<\/p>\n
But I knew it was not just fear that made my heart race.\u00a0 Despite her cruelty to potential rivals, she was an extremely capable ruler.\u00a0 She was terror to the nobles who yearned for a return to Tang lineage; she had changed the dynasty name to Zhou when she attained supreme power.\u00a0 Her reign was also one during which the Middle Kingdom was feared by the enemies on its borders and the common people could look up to just rule and peace.\u00a0 She was untrusting yet could be generous when loyalty was proven, wise in choosing the right officials to do the appropriate jobs.\u00a0 She could see through people\u2019s hearts, both the good part and the shadier one and she dealt with both in deserving manner.\u00a0 The feeling towards her was always mixed: loyalty, admiration and of course, fear.<\/p>\n
We were at last near the end of the long corridor now.\u00a0 This was in the deep part of the palace in which entrance by male, other than the Emperor or eunuchs were forbidden on pains of death during previous dynasties.\u00a0 But the Tang rulers were different.\u00a0 Having nomadic blood in their veins, they were much more open in this.\u00a0 This was one reason why she could attract the eyes of the then crowned prince when she was still a concubine of his father.\u00a0 No, I must not let the slip of mind lead to the slip of tongue.\u00a0 Such slips could have fatal consequences. They were not Tang anymore.\u00a0 The current dynasty was supposed to be Zhou, though the heir was apparent still from the Li family, instead of from the Wu clan, which was the family name of the Empress Regnant Shengshen.<\/p>\n
We reached the north end of the planked walk and made a turn into the garden.\u00a0 It was another world there: such green and spectacular collection of floral wonders.\u00a0 We crossed the exquisite stone bridge under which carps swam in leisure.\u00a0 They were probably the only living things that could breathe freely and not had to worry about the mood of the Empress.\u00a0 I saw her now, her back turned away from the entrance of the pavilion, hands behind her back, and the fiery dragon on her gold-threaded imperial robe attesting her absolute power over the universe.\u00a0 I hastened my pace and went down on my knees as was proper for one of her subjects.<\/p>\n
2.<\/p>\n
\u201cXu bin, commander of the imperial guards, wish your Imperial Majesty everlasting life!\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyes were on the ground but I sensed her turning round.<\/p>\n
\u201cRise, commander.\u201d It was a voice without any sign of displeasure.\u00a0 I felt an immediate relief, and rose.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at me, commander.\u201d<\/p>\n
I obeyed.<\/p>\n
She had aged considerably since the last time I saw her.\u00a0 I knew her age: seventy two, but she had always looked younger than her actual years.\u00a0 Even now, the outline of her face suggested a rare beauty when she was chosen to accompany the emperor, or should we say, the emperors, one after another.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long have you served me, commander?\u201d She asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven years, Your Majesty.\u201d I answered.\u00a0 I could even remember the actual date.\u00a0 She had personally salvaged me from certain death, after I was accused of being one of the guilty officers who had plotted for her overthrown and tortured to unbearable limit to extort a confession.\u00a0 I was fortunate; the other officers met their ends shortly.<\/p>\n
\u201cAh, how time flies?\u201d The Empress was so moody today.\u00a0 She paused and then renewed her questioning. \u201cYou have heard of the recent debate on whom should I pass the crown when I would be gone one day, haven\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt a chill run down my spine: it was a question that could lead to immediate arrest, the torture chamber or the execution ground. The Wu princes, her own line, had been maneuvering for her favor to succeed her, to the exclusion of the Li princes, her own sons.\u00a0 The court was divided in opinion, and an open show down could erupt anytime on this issue.<\/p>\n
It was useless if I tried to evade the question.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I have.\u201d I spoke and awaited the onslaught.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, which opinion would you think is more appropriate for me to take?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cold sweat ran down my temple.\u00a0 I would not fear facing an enemy ten times my own numbers, even a hundred times, then to answer this question.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeak, commander.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not my proper place to give opinion on such issues, Your Majesty.\u201d<\/p>\n
She sighed.\u00a0 \u201cI know what you are thinking, Xu Bin.\u00a0 Have no fear.\u00a0 I will not hold it against you one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut why me, Your Majesty?\u00a0 I have only twenty-five years of life experience and a low ranking commander.\u00a0 There are so many more who are more qualified than I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
She laughed, with a sad tone.\u00a0 \u201cThose vultures?\u00a0 Do you really think they will let me know the truth, the right path for me to take?\u00a0 Xu Bin, I asked you because I knew I could trust you.\u00a0 You are brave, and loyal.\u00a0 Look around you.\u00a0 Do you see any guards?\u00a0 And do you think I am not aware you are one of the best swordsmen among my subjects?\u00a0 That you can do great damage to me if you have a mind to do it?\u201d<\/p>\n
I sank to my knees. \u201cI will never do such thing, your Majesty.\u00a0 You always have my total allegiance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRise, Xu Bin.\u00a0 If I suspect you have ever nursed such a thought, you would not be here today, or still be alive, for that matter.\u00a0 As I said to you, you have my trust and I want your honest opinion.\u00a0 Should my nephew Wu Chengsi be made heir apparent or should I made a decree that the throne would be reverted to the Li lineage after I was gone?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes seemed to have drilled into my brain, like swords that I could never parry away.\u00a0 I had to take a chance, one way or another and I knew she could sense if I had spoken my mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour Majesty, Prince Wu might not be fitting to govern over the empire, if peace and prosperity was in the mind of Your Majesty for the common people.\u201d The dice was thrown.\u00a0 At the nod of her head, I could find myself in chains.<\/p>\n
She looked straight at me, remained silent for a time that seemed endless, then sighed. \u201cYou have spoken truly, commander.\u00a0 That was why I think too.\u00a0 I just want you to confirm I am right.\u201d<\/p>\n
I breathed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the exact reason why I have you summoned here.\u00a0 I want you to go to Fangling and bring back my exiled son and his family.\u00a0 The Zhou dynasty would end with my passing away.\u00a0 Li Xian would be emperor again one day.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt almost turned into stone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy me, Your Majesty?\u201d I finally asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause someone might not like the idea and would do something to ensure Li Xian would not arrive in one piece and because despite my fame for being merciless, I do not want blood from my own family to be shed again, not from Li, not from Wu! \u201c She raised her voice but there was more desperation than anger in that. \u201cAnd because you are an excellent swordsman, a proven commander and one I can trust.\u00a0 Do not betray my trust, commander.\u00a0 Now go!\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew the meeting was at an end.\u00a0 She had given me an order, a mission and she would not have to be so selective unless it was one with considerable risk and she needed someone she could trust to carry it out.<\/p>\n
I had become her chosen First Knight.<\/p>\n
3.<\/p>\n
I chose eight of my best men to go along with me. Eight would be enough, if they were good.\u00a0 More hands, if not up to standard, would only add to confusion and danger.\u00a0 My chosen men were good. They had been vigorously trained and proven in skill, courage and dedication.\u00a0 I knew not every one of them could come back alive.<\/p>\n
The danger was on the return journey when we had to escort the future emperor back to the imperial capital.<\/p>\n
We reach Fangling without incident, and went straight to the rundown compound that was the home of the future emperor for the past decade.<\/p>\n
Li Xian was terrified to learn that a troop of armed men was sent by his mother.\u00a0 He thought it was for his execution or that he would be ordered to commit suicide, just like her brother years ago.\u00a0 It was with great effort that I was able to convince him that the Empress meant no harm and he was to be re-instated as heir apparent. This was not exactly something he would be overjoyed to hear.\u00a0 I could understand that.\u00a0 Heir-apparent or not, he would shiver with fear every night in the den of the tigress-mother.<\/p>\n
I arranged the escort as efficiently as possible; any delay would mean increased danger.\u00a0 Prince Wu would not stand idle and watch his chance of succession being snatched away at the last moment by a once-disgraced prince.<\/p>\n
This was the first time I saw Li Guo\u2019er, the daughter of Prince Li Xian.\u00a0 She was no more than fourteen then.\u00a0 It was a face one could never forget once set eyes upon.\u00a0 She had every potential to become a beautiful woman in a few years\u2019 time.<\/p>\n
The wife of Li Xian was also a good looking woman.\u00a0 Though veiled, the thin gauze could hardly hide her attractive face.\u00a0 But I found her eyes troubling: they were eyes of a woman who could do anything to get what she wanted.\u00a0 With such a wife, the life of the husband prince would be less than tranquil.<\/p>\n
We set off at dawn, the closed carriages transporting the couple and then their daughter flanked by my troop.\u00a0 I knew from the start we were being shadowed.<\/p>\n
The first two days were uneventful.<\/p>\n
On the third day, when we were fording a shallow stream, the shadows struck<\/p>\n
Prince Wu had chosen his men well too: hardened fighters who were not afraid of anything.\u00a0 They knew what kind of price they had to pay if they failed.\u00a0 Disappointing Prince Wu was never an option they would choose.<\/p>\n
There were twenty of them, outnumbering us by nearly two to one.<\/p>\n
The attack began with showers of arrows that were concentrated on the carriages.\u00a0 If I had not had the foresight to have these hardened by thick strong wood planks, the prince couple and his daughter would have been turned into porcupines. Failing to make a kill, the enemy, all masked, charged.\u00a0 I drew my sword, ordered two of my men to throw a protective ring around the carriages and led my men to deliver a counter-charge.\u00a0 Blades clashed, shields were hammered in by heavy maces, armors gave way to mortal cuts and limbs and heads littered the bank of the ford.\u00a0 They were good but my chosen men were better.\u00a0 We lost two men, they were slaughtered.<\/p>\n
Then, I heard shouts behind my back.\u00a0 I brought the horse around and saw four more masked riders charging at the carriages.
\nI was not unduly worried as I knew my two left-behind men could hold their own until we could ride back to reinforce them.\u00a0 But when one of the doors of a carriage, the one carrying the future beauty princess was slid open and out came running a frightened maiden on her feet, my heart almost jumped out of my mouth.\u00a0 To add horror, one of the attackers broke off the engagement and was galloping at the runaway princess, his sword swinging high to a position to bring it down onto her swan-like neck.\u00a0 There was no way I could not get within range to block that cut in time.\u00a0 I could see the horror in her eyes as she turned to face her foe.\u00a0 The blade was now being brought down and in a flash, her head would fly.\u00a0 I gave a yell and send my own sword through the air.\u00a0 It sank into the chest of the attack just in time to stop the blade from doing its work.\u00a0 The rider was thrown off his saddle.\u00a0 The girl was safe, for the moment.\u00a0 But the danger had not passed.\u00a0 Another rider had broken off the fight and was in full pursuit.\u00a0 I had no weapon now and it was too late to wait for the others to come to our aid.\u00a0 Without thinking much, I spurred my mount into full gallop, snatched up the princess by the waist and settled her horizontal on the saddle.\u00a0 She did not try to struggle.\u00a0 The purser was very close now.\u00a0 I could sense the tip of his sword pointing directly at my back, ready to ram in as his mount gathered speed.
\nWe were heading a dirt-road, uphill and this would give him advantage as we had to slow.\u00a0 To run him out was not an option.\u00a0 I let him get closer and closer and just as his blade was to run me through, I threw my body weight to one side, hanging on only with a foot on a stirrup.\u00a0 His blade missed me by less than a faction of a horse hair.\u00a0 I let it pass, grabbed at his wrist and had it snapped.\u00a0 He uttered a cry of pain.\u00a0 I did not give him the chance to curse as I snatched the sword that had fallen out of his hand and buried it into his neck!<\/p>\n
The fight was finally over.\u00a0 We lost four men, half our numbers.\u00a0 The enemy was annihilated.<\/p>\n
I helped the princess sit proper on my saddle and started our trot back to her anxious parents.\u00a0 She, on the other hand, seemed undisturbed by the close brush with death.\u00a0 She had large round eyes, with intelligent pupils that danced with an internal fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saved me.\u201d She said. \u201cYou will always be my champion, my First Knight.\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled and did not pay much attention to it.\u00a0 She was little more than a child then.<\/p>\n
It was years later than I finally understood what that act of titling would mean.<\/p>\n
4.<\/p>\n
The imperial reunion was more cordial than expected.<\/p>\n
The Empress could be forgiving when she chose to; her son only too relieved when he found out that her rage at him years ago had been erased clean.\u00a0 He paid her his allegiance and retired with his wife to the lodging prepared by his mother.\u00a0 It was not really a prince palace but definitely an improvement over the rundown house at his place of exile.<\/p>\n
Prince Wu was furious but there was little he could do; his fear for his aunt, the Empress, was as intense as anyone else\u2019s.\u00a0 I knew I made a dangerous enemy though and one day, score would have to be settled.<\/p>\n
The surprise was the princess.\u00a0 The Empress took such a liking of her, her granddaughter being pretty and intelligence, she decided to keep her in the imperial palace and raise her personally.\u00a0 Her daughter, Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan\u2019er, the secretary to the Empress and some said the latter\u2019s same-sex lover, also liked Li Guo\u2019er at first sight.\u00a0 I had met Princess Taiping many times; the same was true with Shangguan Wan\u2019er, both of them women of exceptional beauty despite of their ages.\u00a0 The princess was in her mid thirties while Shangguan in her late thirties and did not look it. Shangguan was also famous for her beautiful poems, quick wits and promiscuity.<\/p>\n
I was awarded handsomely by the Empress and in time, forgotten about the task completed.<\/p>\n
It was four years later when I saw Li Guo\u2019er again.<\/p>\n
5.<\/p>\n
I had predicted that Li Guo\u2019er would become a beautiful woman.<\/p>\n
I was wrong.<\/p>\n
She had become a dazzling one.\u00a0 Many would say that she was THE most beautiful woman in the entire empire, counting right from the beginning of the dynasty!<\/p>\n
I realized that when I was summoned into the palace again, this time with a more pleasant task: I was to teach the Princess Anle, the official title of the rescued princess now, to ride.\u00a0 She actually could ride but she had demanded that someone proficient to perfect her skill.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd who do you want to be your teacher?\u201d The doting Empress had asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cXu Bin, my First Knight.\u201d She was said to have replied.<\/p>\n
I was astonished that she could still remember my name.\u00a0 After all, it was over four years and her world had changed.\u00a0 From a prisoner who could be executed at the whim of the Empress, she had become a much doted over grand-daughter, and a spoiled child.\u00a0 Child was perhaps not a very proper term.\u00a0 She was eighteen, grown body and soul.\u00a0 When she glided across palace floors, she put all other beauties there in shame.\u00a0 Young nobles and military commanders secretly feasted on her charms and would do anything at her bidding.\u00a0 The body, once thin and fragile, had bloomed, the silk that graced her torso accentuating her figure to the lustful eyes of the court.\u00a0 She did not mind, as if the admiration of men was her plaything she was entitled by birth, something she could not live without, and yet not treasured when obtained, to be flung into the dark corners of her closet, a forgotten trophy that was allowed to rust and decay in sad silence.<\/p>\n
Though I had been warned, I was still dazed by her glow.\u00a0 It could not be helped.\u00a0 It was like that special flower sent as\u00a0 \u00a0tributes from Tianzhu, a country on the other side of the Kunlun Mountains.\u00a0 Used properly, it could save your life; too much of it, it would be the death of you. The trouble was, with Li Guo\u2019er, no one was able to stop before too much was taken.<\/p>\n
I was approaching my thirty now, an age not old enough to refuse temptation of something beautiful and too young to heed the advice of the wise.\u00a0 Of course I dared not hope for any special treatment, being only an army-man.\u00a0 But the first time when I lay my eyes on the peony in full bloom, I knew I was lost.\u00a0 Worse, she led me on, coyly at first until it was too late for me to turn back, too late for us to turn back.\u00a0 Her first lessons were always accompanied by Xiao yun, her trusted maid-in-waiting and we were discrete.\u00a0 But soon, she began to abandon caution to the winds, Xiao yun was sent away deliberately into a safe distance as we walked our horses through thick woods offering shelter.\u00a0 I knew what was coming but I kept lying to myself that it was nothing but my imagination.\u00a0 \u201cHow could it be possible?\u00a0 She was like the brightest star in the Milky Way while I was just a common soldier, the rank of commander would be a source of joke to the nobles who were relentless to go around her like bees on nectar.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo fetch me some water from the stream, Xu Bin.\u201d She told me<\/p>\n
I obliged.<\/p>\n
When I was back, she was standing there, naked.<\/p>\n
We looked at each other, the sound of cicadas drowning around us, eroding our senses and constraints.\u00a0 The water was forgotten.<\/p>\n
I knew it was not love.\u00a0 She was not capable of it.\u00a0 To her, it was a conquest, an affair, a past-time, a fulfillment of a crush long time ago, perhaps even a showing of gratitude for once saving her life.<\/p>\n
We tried to push off such unpleasant thinking from our mind.<\/p>\n
We laughed and made silly plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we have a child, how would you name it?\u201d she once asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill it be a boy or a girl?\u201d I asked back.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet us pretend it is a girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought it over and said, \u201cYuen Zhi\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYuen Zhi?\u201d she repeated the name I proposed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI once had a sister and her name was Zhi.\u00a0 She died when she was seven.\u00a0 I still missed her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Virginity was never at issue under Tang or Zhou banners. They had nomadic blood in the imperial veins. Father and son could share the body of a woman if they wanted to.\u00a0 Nobody would expect such a beauty as Guo\u2019er to remain pure till her wedding night.\u00a0 Of course, we would be in grave trouble if we were caught; at least I would be in mortal risk.\u00a0 As for her, the worst thing would be a severe scolding.<\/p>\n
We embraced, necked.\u00a0 She had me striped and our limbs entwined together.<\/p>\n
To me, it was heaven.<\/p>\n
6.<\/p>\n
We met again, and again.\u00a0 Xia yun provided us the needed cover so that Guo\u2019er and I could enjoy our moments of bliss, in the woods and later, in one of those hundreds of secret chambers inside the imperial palace.\u00a0 Later on, I learned we were not alone in this amorous game.\u00a0 The Empress had her favorite lovers, besides Shangguan.\u00a0 She liked men, even at this age and had taken two brothers, Zhang by family name, into the palace as her bed-pets.\u00a0 Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan\u2019er were not stainless either.\u00a0 Among their loves, men from the Wu clan frequently warmed their beds. It would be a gross underestimation to think the Empress did not know about these.\u00a0 But somehow she turned a blind eye to it, as long as it was not threatening her base of power.\u00a0 Perhaps, she thought that intimate relations between the members of the Wu and Li men and women would cement the gap between these rival families.<\/p>\n
She was right.<\/p>\n
What she did not expect was their common animosity against the Zhang brothers, who were trying to grab power through their common senile lover, the Empress.\u00a0 But that would come later.<\/p>\n
Guo\u2019er suddenly broke off relationship with me when she turned eighteen.\u00a0 I was devastated but had thought about such possibility earlier.\u00a0 After all, this could not go on forever.\u00a0 She was a princess and one day, she would be given out to wed an appropriate suitor.<\/p>\n
She chose one of the Wu men.<\/p>\n
This, I did not understand.\u00a0 The Wu men were so incompetent and power hungry, that none of them stood a good match for the most coveted peony of the court.<\/p>\n
The wedding was a demonstration of the wealth and strength of the Empire.\u00a0 Though her father was still under her grandmother\u2019s thumb, the princess had all blessings from the Empress, now that the Li family had united in matrimony with one of the Wu.<\/p>\n
Six months later, she gave birth to a child.<\/p>\n
Rumor had it that she either had mated with her husband prior to the marriage, or that the child was never from his seed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was the father?\u201d That question inside my head was never answered.<\/p>\n
After that, I was sent on a military expedition to the north-west of the Empire.\u00a0 There was little fighting as the nomadic tribes were more willing to give tribute than to create trouble, having learned their lessons the hard way.\u00a0 Border garrison life was monotonous and lonely.\u00a0 I spent my time practicing with my martial skills.\u00a0 I could no longer find anyone a close match with my sword now.\u00a0 That brought little comfort as there seemed no opportunity to use my skill in real battle.\u00a0 I rode, and came to know each mile of the ground, savored the majesty views of snow-capped mountains and icy glaciers, hot deserts and strong wine made from mare\u2019s milk.\u00a0 I thought of Guo\u2019er now and then, was aware that perhaps I would never saw her again this life.<\/p>\n
I did hear stories about her, gossips about court life, as well as about the aging and ailing empress.\u00a0 I could remember her face, her body, her passion, her abandon in my dreams.\u00a0 I could still remember the scene when she was riding in front of me, when I rescued her from certain death and her calling me \u201cher first knight\u201d.\u00a0 It did not matter anymore now.\u00a0 Or so it seemed.<\/p>\n
Then, messengers brought news that the Empress had died.\u00a0 A year before that, a palace coup was staged against the Zhang brothers whose heads were cut off by angry soldiers.\u00a0 The Empress was forced to abdicate but no one dared lay a finger on her.\u00a0 She died alone, in a cold palace and was buried into the mausoleum with her passed away husband, the later Emperor.<\/p>\n
Li Guo\u2019er\u2019s father, Li Xian, became emperor, again.<\/p>\n
It was a beginning of something good.\u00a0 The new Empress, Li Xian\u2019s wife, the woman in whose eyes I sensed fore-coming trouble, wished to become like her mother-in-law.\u00a0 But she was not Empress Wu.\u00a0 She matched the latter\u2019s ambition but not her wisdom.\u00a0 She was also bad influence to her daughter.\u00a0 Without the late Empress\u2019s supervision and guidance, Li Guo\u2019er leapt from bed to bed, and when her husband was killed in a rebellion by her step-brother, she married her deceased husband\u2019s brother, another Wu.\u00a0 Her style of living brought the empire to near financial collapse.\u00a0 A special kind of dress was conceived from her idea.\u00a0 It was made from feathers of a hundred birds and would show different colors when looked upon from different directions.\u00a0 Her father, the Emperor, was unable to rein her in.\u00a0 She had been his only treasure during those years in exile and her very name, Guo\u2019er, was named after the wrapping cloth when she was born, a name tender and reminiscent of those early days.<\/p>\n
Li Xian was never material for a competent emperor.<\/p>\n
It was heart-breaking to hear such things about a woman whom I had once loved, still loved.<\/p>\n
When I received order to return to Chang An, which had replaced Loyang as the imperial capital, I went with a sad heart.
\nI arrived at the capital among unsettling rumors that the Empress was so bent on following her mother-in-law\u2019s track that something horrible was being boiled.\u00a0 When I joined my unit which one of the elite regiments the Empress had placed great faith in, the mood was eerie.\u00a0 She thought that by showering gifts and gold on the officers, she would be able to buy their loyalty.\u00a0 She could not be more wrong.\u00a0 I saw men spiting on the gold pieces once the back of the Empress\u2019s envoy were turned.\u00a0 Chang An had become a boiling booth for impeding trouble.<\/p>\n
Hardly anyone remembered that I was once the horsemanship teacher of the imperial princess now.\u00a0 I was into my middle years and though everyone respected my experience and skill with weapons, I was viewed as only one of the many commanders and not someone so different.<\/p>\n
But someone remembered.<\/p>\n
On a hot night, I had a visitor.\u00a0 It was Xia Yun.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe asked me to bring this to her First Knight\u201d She said and placed a silk envelop into my hands.<\/p>\n
I open it.\u00a0 The name of a girl was written on a piece of yellowish paper: Yuen Zhi.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is the meaning of this?\u201d I was puzzled.<\/p>\n
Xia Yun led me to one side.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Her Highness gave birth, it was a pair of twins, a boy and a girl.\u00a0 She bribed to have the secret kept and only presented the boy to her husband and asked me to bring the baby girl to a nunnery nearby to raise, hoping one day, she will be able to inform you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d I grab at her wrist. \u201cAre you telling me that I have a daughter?\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to see her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u00a0 You cannot!\u00a0 She asked me to come to tell you this, so that you can take your daughter away, to somewhere safe\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean by somewhere safe?\u00a0 Is she in danger?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face went so pale.\u00a0 \u201cI cannot say.\u00a0 The sky is so red these nights.\u00a0 And so many comets.\u00a0 Something terrible may happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop this foolish talk.\u00a0 Can you show me where the nunnery is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I can lead you there.\u00a0 But not tonight.\u00a0 I have to be back.\u00a0 I will come back when it is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
She slipped out of the tent and disappeared into the darkness.<\/p>\n
7.<\/p>\n
Fate was always a capricious whore.<\/p>\n
We did not have a fortnight.<\/p>\n
One summer night, there was loud beating of the drums.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Emperor is dead!\u201d<\/p>\n
It was said he was poisoned, and many said the suspect was his own wife and her daughter was a collaborator.<\/p>\n
\u201cImpossible!\u201d I had shouted.\u00a0 \u201cShe might be a spoiled child, she might be promiscuous, she might crave for power, riches, but she would not commit patricide.\u00a0 She was not capable to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The men looked at me, perplexed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you trying to speak for the witch?\u201d a fellow commander demanded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI speak only the truth. And if you call me a liar, we can settle it with our blades.\u201d I glared back at him.<\/p>\n
His face went red, but then he backed off.\u00a0 He knew what it would cost him if he dared draw his weapon.<\/p>\n
Things rushed.<\/p>\n
A new emperor was proclaimed.\u00a0 He was a son of the late emperor.\u00a0 People said the Empress Dowager was bidding for time to gather her forces.\u00a0 The air was tensed with rumors of coups and conspiracies.\u00a0 A smell of death wafted over the sky of the capital.<\/p>\n
8.<\/p>\n
The heat was suffocating.<\/p>\n
A storm was about to break and the sky was lighted up by the flash of a horrendous lightning.<\/p>\n
It was as if the elements knew something would happen this very night.<\/p>\n
The garrison had been put on alert; all commanders and soldiers had put their armor on and had their weapons at the ready.\u00a0 Nobody gave the reason.\u00a0 There were so many possibilities that no one dared offer any.\u00a0 In silence, we waited.<\/p>\n
Then it came.<\/p>\n
A fast rider in uniform rushed into camp, shouting. \u201cRise! To arms!\u00a0 Prince Li Longji and Princess Taiping had raised their banners and now attacking the palace. Down the traitors!\u00a0 Down with the witches!\u201d<\/p>\n
It immediately created a commotion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it mean?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cIs there another coup?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWhose side should we fight for?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cAre you nuts? We fight on the side of the just!\u00a0 The mother and child poisoned the late emperor and put on the throne a puppet one, didn\u2019t they?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWho can say?\u00a0 What good would that do to them to have the emperor removed? And who will benefit most when the late emperor was removed?\u00a0 Not the Empress for sure!\u00a0 She would lose her greatest protector!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cEnough of this messing by women!\u00a0 First the Empress Shengshen, and now this?\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t you dare tarnish the name of the late Empress Shengshen!\u00a0 She had been a good ruler.\u00a0 We all had peace then.\u00a0 Look at the mess now!\u201d<\/p>\n
The argument went on and on.\u00a0 Even the generals were unable to come to a common ground.\u00a0 Everybody knew something must be done, but if the course chosen was on the wrong side, it would bring doom to all.\u00a0 Treason was punishable by whole-scale execution! It was understandable to wait a while more to see which way the wind blew.<\/p>\n
But I could wait no longer.<\/p>\n
She had sent me a message, a secret.\u00a0 If she did not feel herself in grave danger, she would not do such a thing suddenly.\u00a0 It was almost certain that she sensed her predicament in this coming storm.\u00a0 Did her mother really poisoned her father?\u00a0 Was she an accomplice?\u00a0 Was she a willing one?<\/p>\n
I slipped out of the tent where heated debate was being carried out and found my way to the stable.\u00a0 My old companion seemed expecting me and quietly let itself be saddled.\u00a0 I quietly rode out of the camp; the sentries at the gate recognized me and did not give me trouble.<\/p>\n
Once out of the camp, I turned my mount to the right, in the direction of the imperial palace.\u00a0 Even in the distance I could see the flames lighting up a darkened sky.\u00a0 The sound of men, of fighting, of dying was being carried across the land.\u00a0 The key would be the loyalty of the imperial guards.\u00a0 If they held the gates long enough, the forces of Prince Li Longji and Princess Taiping would be scattered by reinforcement from the outside garrisons, seeing that the revolt had failed.\u00a0 But if the guards collaborated\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n
I was about to put my horse to a gallop towards the direction of the flame when a rush of hooves dashed out from the dark.\u00a0 A single rider, a woman.<\/p>\n
She went straight for the gate of the camp.\u00a0 At first I thought it was Quo\u2019er but then a woman\u2019s scream shot through the night air.\u00a0 It was the Empress!<\/p>\n
I reined in my horse and waited.\u00a0 There was such a cheering in the camp.\u00a0 Someone mounted the wooden watch-tower, with a pike.\u00a0 On the tip of it was a severed head with long hair, that of the Empress.<\/p>\n
\u201cFoolish woman!\u201d I cursed.\u00a0 She had thought that by escaping into the camp would ensure her safety.\u00a0 She had tried to win the loyalty by showering gold.\u00a0 She never understood that by the very act of escaping, she was signaling defeat and no regiment would stand on the side which had failed.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuo\u2019er!\u201d\u00a0 I woke to the unthinkable horror.\u00a0 I must reach her before they did.\u00a0 Did she try to escape too?\u00a0 No, not she.\u00a0 She was too clever for that.\u00a0 But staying inside the palace would not guarantee her safety, or that of her new husband.<\/p>\n
I kicked my horse to full speed.\u00a0 When I reached the palace, the gates had been thrown open.\u00a0 The guards had thrown in their lots with the rebels.<\/p>\n
I leapt down from my mount, drew my sword and rushed in.\u00a0 There had been much fighting prior to the giving in by the defenders.\u00a0 Bodies littered the ground behind the gates: soldiers, eunuchs, maids-in-waiting…\u00a0 Thick smoke was enveloping the grand buildings now.\u00a0 One could highly identify which way to go.\u00a0 In a sense, this was a good thing.\u00a0 The rebel soldiers would also find it difficult to find their way to her too.\u00a0 It was easier for me, for I had entered this palace for so many times, each corridor brought back memories.\u00a0 I passed doors that once led to chambers of bliss, I ran across lawns similar to the one where once an old woman in imperial robes bearing dragon motifs asked me to go and bring her son, and granddaughter, to safety.\u00a0 The old empress was long gone, so was the son.\u00a0 Where is the grand-daughter now?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are my First Knight!\u201d she had said, in her innocent childlike voice.<\/p>\n
Things were so much simpler then.\u00a0 I fought, I killed, and I saved. And I delivered them to safety.\u00a0 Or did I?\u00a0 Is THIS the safety I had fought for her?\u00a0 I turned another corner, ran into a group of men with bloodied blades, like drunkards wheeling about, laughing, and looting.\u00a0 Close by were the bodies of several young ladies of the courts, disheveled, disrobed, dishonored.\u00a0 I gave a shout and charged and before any of the men realized what was happening, cut all their throats.<\/p>\n
More shouting!<\/p>\n
And a commanding voice.\u00a0 \u201cShe had taken refuge in the palace.\u00a0 You must find her and kill her! She knows too much!\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew who he was: Prince Li Longji.\u00a0 And he was trying to find Princess Anle and had her slain.\u00a0 But why did he say she knew too much?\u00a0 Too much of what?<\/p>\n
I wanted to rush up to him, to make him talk.\u00a0 But he had too many armed men surrounding him.\u00a0 I could not fight that many.<\/p>\n
I dashed through a side corridor.<\/p>\n
Another group, a woman in the lead.\u00a0 I recognized her, Shangguan Wen\u2019er.\u00a0 She must be in her mid-forties now and yet she was still good looking.\u00a0 From secretary to the late Empress Shangshen, she had become the concubine of Li Xian and allied herself with his wife.\u00a0 But now it seemed she had changed sides and joined the camp of Princess Taiping now.
\nHave these two women forgotten how they had loved Quo\u2019er when she first arrived?\u00a0 I made a shout and charged.\u00a0 Her protecting guards were taken back by surprise and fell like wheat under the scythe.\u00a0 She was brave, even when she found she had nowhere to run, her back against a wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not want to kill you.\u201d I said. \u201cI just want to know one thing: who poisoned the Emperor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Empress Wei\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not lie to me!\u00a0 What would she gain with the death of the emperor?\u00a0 She was not ready!\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face paled.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you want to live, or do you want to die here right here?\u201d I hissed.<\/p>\n
She lowered her head.\u00a0 \u201cIt was him.\u00a0 He planned it and put it over their heads.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew who \u201che\u201d was and I knew who \u201ctheir heads\u201d were referred to!<\/p>\n
\u201cYou bunch of murderers!\u201d I raised my sword.<\/p>\n
She looked at me, closed her eyes and bared her neck for the cut.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo! For the sake of the old days, I am not going to kill you.\u00a0 Go!\u201d<\/p>\n
She fled.<\/p>\n
I pressed on; the blade of my sword drank more blood.\u00a0 Where is she!<\/p>\n
Then I saw the body of a man, a noble.\u00a0 I kicked it over.\u00a0 I knew this face: it was her second husband.\u00a0 He was fleeing from a nearby chamber.\u00a0 I took a deep breath, walked towards it and pushed open the gate.<\/p>\n
She was standing there, facing me, wearing a red silk gown with the motif of a phoenix.<\/p>\n
We stood like pillars of stone, looking into each other\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n
A tear rolled down her beautiful face.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have come, my First Knight.\u00a0 You have finally come.\u201d She said.<\/p>\n
I grab her wrist. \u201cNo time for this. Come.\u00a0 I will take you out of here!\u201d<\/p>\n
She pulled back, her head shaking.\u00a0 She refused to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you mad?\u00a0 They will kill you!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet them!\u00a0 I do not care anymore.\u00a0 They killed my father, and now my mother is gone, left me to my fate.\u00a0 Why should I live?\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not have the heart to tell her that her mother\u2019s head was already at the end of a pike.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do not deserve to die!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t I? \u201cShe laughed, hysterically.\u00a0 \u201cI was their whore.\u00a0 I had willingly become their whore!\u00a0 They said things behind my back, called me right, said I brought the empire to ruin.\u00a0 Nobody ever asked me if I wanted this!\u00a0 Why was I born into this nest of vipers?\u00a0 Father and son, brothers against one another, husbands and wives, cousins.\u00a0 The only rule in this place was never who was in the right and who was in the wrong.\u00a0 The only thing mattered was who had the power, which had more soldiers!\u00a0 We are doomed!\u00a0 They, he, would never rest until he had my head, to show the end of a witch!\u00a0 He will not stop until he achieves what he wants to do: Emperor!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCome with me!\u201d I tried to drag her.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo! You cannot save me!\u00a0 You know that!\u00a0 There are so many out there that once you walk out of here, they will cut you and I into pieces! Go! Save yourself!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, let us die together.\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head again.\u00a0 \u201cI do not want you to die here with me, First Knight.\u00a0 What good would it do, to you, to me, to our daughter?\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt my stomach turned inside me.\u00a0 I knew she was right.\u00a0 Even the best swordsman in the empire could not fight his way out with a princess who had lost her will to live.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can I do for you?\u201d I said in a low voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake our daughter away from this land.\u00a0 It is cursed!\u201d She told me the name of the nunnery where Yuan Zhi was kept.<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd tell me I am beautiful, First Knight\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are.\u00a0 You always will be, inside my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
She managed a sad smile, then turned and walked to her dressing table where a shiny bronze mirror stood.<\/p>\n
I walked behind her and saw that reflection in the mirror, a face so dazzling, and the most beautiful in the empire.<\/p>\n
She brushed her hair with a comb decorated with turquoise and precious stones.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not let them capture me alive, First Knight.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart ached at her words.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will not.\u201d I promised her.<\/p>\n
She smiled.\u00a0 This time, there was less sadness, more serenity.<\/p>\n
She looked into the mirror once again.\u00a0 I knew.\u00a0 Such beauty was captivating, even to the owner.<\/p>\n
I let her eyes stay on that reflection for a blink of an eye and then the face was no more, her head parted with her round shoulders and the torso toppled onto the ground facing the ceiling.<\/p>\n
I took up the head and wiped away the blood stain.\u00a0 It was a beautiful trophy for the beasts outside.\u00a0 I did not mind. It was just a head, a part of her former self. Her spirit was no longer inside.<\/p>\n
I pulled open the door.\u00a0 There were more than forty rebel soldiers crowding the yard.\u00a0 I raised the head and they cheered.\u00a0 They thought I had come in order to see justice done.\u00a0 I threw the head towards them and as expected, it created an immediate confusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor our daughter.\u201d I muttered and walked away.<\/p>\n
9.<\/p>\n
I found the nunnery.<\/p>\n
Xia Yun was already there; with a little girl whom I knew instantly was Yuan Zhi.<\/p>\n
We did not speak.\u00a0 The sorrowful looks told all the tales and she wept for her late mistress.<\/p>\n
The whole of Chang An was wild in celebration as we three wrestled through the celebrating crowds.<\/p>\n
We passed a monastery which the killed Empress had made so many donations in the past years.\u00a0 The heads of mother and daughter was impaled onto bamboo rods and erected high as display.\u00a0 I put my hands over the eyes of Yuen Zhi and Xia Yun and walked towards the outer gates.<\/p>\n
Epilog.<\/p>\n
We traveled in the direction of north west border.\u00a0 Once leaving the territory of Tang, I could find friends among the nomadic tribes.\u00a0 These people I had fought and conquered once, and made friends.\u00a0 They were good people, pure at heart, forgiving of past dues and had good memory of pledged friendship.\u00a0 We would never return to the Middle Kingdom again.\u00a0 \u00a0I sometimes wondered if Yuen Zhi would grow up as beautiful as her mother.\u00a0 But that should not be a problem.\u00a0 She was no longer a princess, no longer a fought over prize.\u00a0 She was just my daughter.<\/p>\n
Xia Yun stayed with me and as lonely man and woman, we became a couple.\u00a0 Both of us knew I would not love her as I loved her former mistress.\u00a0 But that should not be a problem too.\u00a0 She was content with what she had and she loved Yuen Zhi.<\/p>\n
Not long after we left Chang An, there was another attempted coup.\u00a0 This time, Princess Taiping tried to seize power.\u00a0 She failed and lost her head.\u00a0 Li Longji finally became emperor.\u00a0 He brought prosperity and power to the Empire, for many years.\u00a0 Then he fell in love with a woman, the wife of her son, and made her a sub-queen and she finally led to internal war which devastated the land.<\/p>\n
The Empire never recovered.<\/p>\n
(End of story)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A commander saves the life of a young princess and becomes her First Knight. He falls in love with her and her beauty, but her life intersects with palace intrigue, and a disastrous chain of events is set in motion. Continue reading