by Jin Yong
“Ma, do I have to keep reminding you? We are a royal family. How can I marry some wandering peasant girl from the rivers and lakes? Father says he will find me a suitable wife. It’s just a shame we are Wanyans.”
“Why?”
“Because otherwise I could marry the Princess and become the heir to the whole Jin Empire!”
His mother sighed. “Peasant girls aren’t good enough for you,” she said under her breath. “If only you knew . . .”
“Ma, let me tell you something funny. Old Mu says he will only say yes if he gets to meet you!”
“I’m not going to help you cheat and lie! It’s not right.”
Wanyan Kang walked around the room, laughing. “I wouldn’t have let you see him anyway. You’re such a bad liar. You would have given it all away within seconds.”
Guo Jing and Lotus looked around the room, with its simple wooden furniture and farm tools. A rusty spear and a broken plough hung on the wall, in the corner sat a broken spinning wheel. Why did the Consort live in a house like this?
Wanyan Kang tapped his chest and the rabbit inside his robes yelped.
“What’s that?”
“I almost forgot. I came across an injured rabbit just now, so I picked it up. Why don’t you look after it?”
He removed the rabbit from his robes and placed it on the table. Its hind legs were broken and it could not move.
“You’re such a good boy.” She got up and went to a cabinet, from where she fetched some herbs and other medicines to tend to the animal’s injuries.
This only made Guo Jing even more furious. Hurting an animal on purpose to gain his mother’s affection? To distract her? How could someone stoop so low as to trick their own mother like that?
Lotus could feel him shaking, and fearing that he might explode, she started pulling at his sleeve. “Come, never mind them. Let’s go and find the herbs for Elder Wang.”
“Do you know where they keep them?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “We’ll have to look around.”
How could they possibly find the medicine store in such a vast complex? And what if Hector Sha and the others found out they were back? But just as he was about to discuss it with Lotus, a lantern flickered into view up ahead.
“My dear, my love, who is it you hold dear? Why not love me instead . . .?” a man was singing as he approached.
Guo Jing was going to duck behind a nearby tree when Lotus stood up and rushed towards the stranger. He froze in alarm, and before he could react, she had already raised a pair of glinting Emei Needles to his throat.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
“The . . . I’m . . . the housekeeper,” the man managed to stammer. “What are you doing?”
“What am I doing? I’m about to kill you, that’s what. The housekeeper? Excellent. The younger Prince ordered people of the household to buy herbs. Where did you put them?”
“The younger Prince took them. I . . . I don’t know!”
Lotus gripped his arm and twisted, while pressing the tips of the blades deeper into his throat. A sharp pain surged in his neck and wrist, but he was too scared to call out. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes. I really don’t know!”
Lotus removed his cap and stuffed it into his mouth, before twisting harder on his wrist. A loud crack. She had broken a bone in his right shoulder. The housekeeper screamed and fainted, but no-one else heard his muffled cry.
Guo Jing was stunned by Lotus’ vicious actions. He continued to watch as she jabbed the housekeeper twice in the shoulder and he came to with a groan. “Do you want me to do the other one?” she said as she put the cap back on his head.
Tears gathered in his eyes and he knelt before her. “Miss, I really don’t know. Killing me won’t change that.”
She seemed to believe him, albeit grudgingly. “Go to the young Prince and tell him you broke your shoulder in a fall. Say that the doctor told you to take cinnabar, resina draconis, notoginseng, bear’s gall bladder and myrrh for the pain, but you can’t find any anywhere in the city. Beg him to give you some.”
The housekeeper nodded. He dared not refuse her.
“He’s with the Consort. Go! I’ll be right behind you. If you fail to get the herbs, or reveal in any way what actually happened, I will break your neck and scoop out your eyeballs. Do you remember which herbs I asked for?” She scratched her fingernail across his cheek as she spoke. He trembled, but struggled to his feet. Clenching his jaw against the pain, he stumbled to the Consort’s house.
Wanyan Kang was still talking to his mother when the housekeeper’s sweaty, tear-soaked face appeared in the doorway. Snot bubbled in his nose. He repeated Lotus’ list. The Consort noticed his arm dangling from the shoulder socket and the scars of pain etched across his face. Before her son could answer, she was urging him to go and fetch the herbs for him.
“Old Liang’s got them, go and get it yourself,” the Prince replied with a frown.
“May I beg the Prince to write me a note?”
The Consort placed paper, a brush and ink before her son, and he scribbled a few characters. The housekeeper bowed in gratitude.
“Go, take the medicine as quickly as possible and rest,” the Consort said.
The housekeeper was only a few steps out of the door when he felt the cold blade against his neck again. “I’m coming with you to see Old Liang.”
But the housekeeper could barely stand the pain, and after a few steps he staggered and collapsed.
“If you don’t get the medicine, I’m going to cut your neck in two,” she snarled, grabbing him by the back of the neck and twisting his head.
Cold sweat ran from every pore, but somehow the housekeeper found his last reserves of strength and he pressed on. They passed at least half a dozen other servants, but though they clearly saw Lotus and Guo Jing, no-one said anything.
2
THEY REACHED OLD LIANG’S QUARTERS AND THE HOUSEKEEPER went to check the door. Locked. He asked a passing servant boy, who replied that the Sixth Prince was holding a banquet in the Hall of Perfumed Snow. Guo Jing propped up the hobbling housekeeper and together they made for the hall.
Just as they were approaching the entrance, two guards with lanterns and sabres called out, “Stop! Who goes there?”
The housekeeper passed them the note he had been given by Wanyan Kang. They stood aside, but just as they were about to stop Guo Jing and Lotus, the housekeeper intervened. “They belong to the household too.”
“The Prince is hosting some very important guests, he mustn’t be disturbed. You can come back tomorrow—”
The guards felt a numbing sensation in their ribs and they could not move. Lotus had her fingers on their pressure points.
Having dumped the guards in a nearby bush, Lotus took Guo Jing’s hand and followed the housekeeper to the door of the Hall of Perfumed Snow. She gave the man a nudge and then flew up onto the large window frame above with Guo Jing. From there they could see what was happening inside.
The hall was lit with hundreds of candles, and at its centre guests sat around a large wooden table. Guo Jing’s heart was thumping. There they were, from last night: the Master of White Camel Mount, Gallant Ouyang; the Dragon King, Hector Sha; the Three-Horned Dragon, Browbeater Hou; Old Liang the Ginseng Codger; the Butcher of a Thousand Hands, Tiger Peng; and, in the seat of honour, the Sixth Prince of the Jin, Wanyan Honglie. A large armchair was placed beside the table, piled up with sumptuous cushions, upon which sat the Lama Supreme Wisdom, his eyes barely open and his face puffy and jaundiced. He was clearly in great pain. Serves him right for plotting against Elder Wang, Guo Jing thought with a smile.
The housekeeper entered and approached Old Liang with a bow. He then passed him the note he had received from the young Prince. Old Liang read it, glanced at the housekeeper and then gave the note to the elder Prince Wanyan Honglie. “Your Highness, does this look like your son’s handwriting?”
“Yes, do as he
requests, Liang,” the Prince replied.
Old Liang turned to a servant boy who was standing behind him and said, “Go and fetch half a tael of each of the herbs the young Prince gave me today, and give them to the housekeeper here.”
The boy nodded, and followed the housekeeper outside.
“Let’s get out of here before they see us,” Guo Jing whispered in Lotus’ ear. But she just smiled and shook her head. He felt the soft silken strands of her hair brush against his cheek and the tickle throbbed through his whole body. Instead of arguing with her he made to jump down from the sill, but she grabbed his hand and leapt up, hooking her feet in the eaves. She then placed him down on the ground softly.
If I’d just jumped, they would have heard me thudding against the ground, Guo Jing realised. He was yet to learn the subtler tricks of the jianghu.
The housekeeper and the servant boy emerged from the hall and Guo Jing followed. After fifty feet or so, he turned back and saw Lotus perform a Roll Down the Bead Curtain somersault from the eaves. She then turned back to the window and glanced in, her robes flapping in the breeze like a blooming white lily in the night.
No-one had noticed her, so she turned to Guo Jing and watched him disappear into the darkness, before turning back to the action in the banqueting hall.
Just then Tiger Peng started looking around the room. Lotus ducked out of the way of the window and listened intently.
“Did Wang Chuyi turn up yesterday by coincidence, or is something going on?” a husky voice asked.
“Never mind his intentions,” another voice boomed. “If he doesn’t die from the Lama’s attack, he’ll surely be crippled.” Lotus peeked inside. This was Tiger Peng, a stocky man with eyes like lightning.
A clear and crisp voice replied: “Quanzhen kung fu is famous even out in the far west where I come from. If it weren’t for the Lama Supreme Wisdom’s Five Finger Blade technique, we would have all been killed.”
“No need to flatter me, Master Ouyang, we were both hurt. There was no winner in that fight.” The Lama’s voice was thick and deep.
“His injuries were graver than yours. Your Reverence will be fine after some rest,” Gallant Ouyang replied.
Silence descended, before a toast was proposed. “My esteemed guests, you have travelled thousands of li between you to be here today. I am most honoured. The Jin Empire is humbled by your presence.” This must be the Sixth Prince Wanyan Honglie, Lotus thought. The others replied with polite protestations, which the Sixth Prince waved away before continuing. “The Venerable Supreme Wisdom is Kokonor’s most celebrated lama, Master Liang controls the region beyond the passes of the north-east, Master Ouyang’s fame extends further than the Empire, Tiger Peng controls the Central Plains, and the Dragon King Sha is Master of the mighty Yellow River. If just one of you heroes gathered here today were to come to the aid of the Jin, we would surely prevail. But if all of you were to join us, well . . .” He paused to chuckle. “It would be like a lion fighting a rabbit.”
Old Liang smiled. “Your Highness need only say the word, and we would be happy to. But my kung fu is nothing to boast about, so I am perhaps not fit to bear such a heavy responsibility as aiding the Great Jin Empire represents.”
Tiger Peng added some similar comments of his own.
These men were all used to being the chieftains of their own domains, and in reality they spoke with as much arrogance as the Prince.
Wanyan Honglie made another toast: “And now it comes to me to explain why I invited you all here. The matter in hand is too important for me not to address it directly. All I ask is that, once we have spoken of it here, you do not share what I have said with anyone outside this hall. I don’t want our enemies to have time to prepare. But I trust that you all have the Jin’s best interests at heart.”
This had the men’s attention. “Fear not, Your Highness,” they all reassured the Prince. “We will not speak of it.”
They were to be entrusted with a most important and difficult task, that much was evident. He had sent them gold, silver and other treasures before their arrival, and he was at last going to reveal the reason for the special attention. Anticipation filled the room.
“In the third year of the reign of our great Emperor Taizong,” the Prince began, “that is, almost one hundred years ago, when the Huizong Emperor ruled the Song, two of our great generals led a mission south against the Chinese Empire, taking first the Emperor and then his successor captive. It was a victory without parallel in the history of our people.”
The men cheered.
Shameless! Lotus fumed. Apart from the Lama and Master Ouyang, they were all Chinese, born and bred. How could they applaud the capture of two Song Emperors, especially after the Jin had betrayed an alliance agreed only four years before?
“The Jin army in those days was strong and disciplined. We should have been able to take the entire Chinese Empire. But now, almost one hundred years later, the Song still holds court in Lin’an. Do you know why this is?”
“Please, let Your Highness explain,” Old Liang said.
Wanyan Honglie sighed. “The following year we were defeated by General Yue Fei – of this everyone is aware. I need not repeat it. Our great Commander Wu was a most brilliant strategist, but in all his days he never once defeated Yue Fei. And though we brought Chancellor Qin Hui onto our side and he helped us kill General Yue, our momentum had been stalled and we did not continue our attack south. But this is where my ambition comes in. I want to make a great contribution to my people, to take my place in history. But you see, it is a mighty task and I cannot do it on my own. That is why I need the help of you heroes gathered here today.”
The guests exchanged glances, unsure what the Prince meant. Charging enemy lines, laying siege to cities, that was all very well. But was he asking them to kill the southern Song’s great commander?
Wanyan Honglie smiled, pride written across his face. He continued, with a slight quiver in his voice. “A few months ago, I happened upon some poems in the palace. In fact, they came from the brush of General Yue himself. But the phrasing was most strange. It took me days to decipher their meaning. Yue Fei was in prison when he wrote them, with no hope of escape. People are not exaggerating when they call him China’s greatest patriot. He was in fact recording a campaign strategy, the sum of his many years of learning and practice, in the hope that it could be sent out of the palace without our knowledge. But Qin Hui had anticipated that Yue Fei might attempt to communicate with the outside world. He selected the guards watching over the General for their unwavering loyalty, so that no such letters would get out. Had Yue Fei’s instructions got out, there would have been no stopping such a rebellion against Qin Hui’s corrupted court. Yet, ever the patriot, Yue Fei was reluctant to move against a Chinese Emperor, even if the heart of the court was working on our behalf. What Qin Hui did not realise, however, was that Yue Fei was concerned more with saving the rivers and mountains of his homeland than himself. Fortunately, the poems never left the palace, even after his execution.”
Everyone was so enthralled by the story, they forgot to drink their wine. Lotus was just as riveted from where she was listening outside the window.
“He wrote four poems, to be exact,” the Prince continued. “To the tunes ‘The Bodhisattva of the Barbarian South’, ‘The Ugly Slave Boy’, ‘All Hail the Emperor!’ and ‘The Heavens are Joyful’. But they are incomplete and do not follow the proper rules of prosody. Sentences are jumbled to the point of nonsense. Even Qin Hui, famed for his learning and intellect, could not make them out. So he sent them to the Jin, which is how they ended up here, in the palace. Everyone assumed they were nothing but the ravings of an angry and frustrated man. Nobody realised the secret hidden within the lines. But after rereading them many times, I realised that if you take every third character and then read them in reverse, the message is revealed. He was setting down a plan for a renewed offensive against our Jin army. But no-one ever got to read it!”
&nb
sp; The guests were astonished that the Prince should be the one to decode Yue Fei’s writing.
“I think there must be more poems buried with him, in his tomb. Yue Fei’s military prowess is without equal, no-one was able to beat him while he was alive. So imagine if we had his secret strategies. The entire Song Empire would be ours!”
The Prince wants us to dig up his grave and steal Yue Fei’s poetry!
The Prince paused, and then continued. “You are all the bravest men for thousands of li. You must be wondering, how could I be asking you to rob his grave? And while Yue Fei may have been an enemy of the Jin, he is admired everywhere for his determination and loyalty to his country. To disturb his last place of rest would be most disrespectful. I’ve been reading through the papers my men have obtained from the Song court and it appears that, after he was executed at Storm Pavilion and buried at the nearby Peace Bridge, his body was then moved to his current resting place by the West Lake, where the court built a memorial hall for him. But his clothes and personal effects were taken and buried elsewhere. This is where I believe the rest of his poetry will be found.”
He examined his guests intently. They were waiting for the exact location of the tomb.
“For a while, I feared that the poems might have been lost in the move. But after extensive research, I no longer believe this to be the case. The people of the Song hold the General in such high esteem that they could not possibly disturb his tomb. I am certain this is where they are, in Lin’an. But it is of vital importance that word of this does not spread. Others may go looking first. This is a very serious matter that concerns two great nations. I could not begin to undertake it without the help of the greatest heroes of the wulin.”
The men nodded in agreement.
Just as Wanyan Honglie was about to give the precise location of the tomb, the main door to the hall burst open and a young boy, his face swollen and his cheeks as white as the snow outside, came rushing in. He ran straight for Old Liang. “Master!”
Everyone recognised the servant that Old Liang had sent to fetch the medicine.