Dreaming of Zhou Gong

by Traci Harding

  ‘It healed me, Huxin,’ Fen explained calmly. ‘If I had attempted to heal the king yesterday, I fear I would only have made his injury worse. Tian knows I fried a few flowers before I managed to turn my emotions around. But if I can revitalise these plants, I know I can safely heal the king.’

  ‘Well, could you please?’ Huxin insisted. ‘I cleansed the wounds but they are still threatening to fester and brother Fa is in terrible pain.’

  Fen looked to his sister and gave a nod. ‘Lead me to him.’

  In the imperial bedchamber, Ji Fa was in bed, and even stripped naked, he sweated like he was baking in the desert sun. His damaged limb protruded from the covers and liberated from the bandages, it was clear that the five gashes down his left leg were beginning to form pus and weep. Dan was attending the king when they arrived, and had sent all the king’s personal servants from the room.

  ‘He has come, my brother,’ Dan advised the patient.

  ‘Fen Gong,’ the king called out as he raised himself onto his elbows and spied the lad being led into the room by his sisters. ‘Praise Tian!’

  ‘My liege.’ Fen sped up his pace and came to kneel at the king’s bedside. ‘I regret that it has taken this long to come to your aid, but my ability to heal is entirely dependent on a perfect state of mental wellbeing —’

  ‘Never mind, Fen.’ The king waved off the formality, and motioned him to rise. ‘Dan has explained how your unique ability works. I only hope that your talent is as good as his boast.’ Ji Fa gritted his teeth to endure the pain.

  Dan moved back out of Fen’s way as the lad came to stand near the king.

  ‘Be calm, majesty,’ Fen requested, and placed a hand on the king’s forehead. Fa immediately lay back onto the bed and relaxed.

  ‘That’s amazing.’ The king gave a relieved sigh and it made Fen smile to set him at peace.

  ‘One moment,’ Fen requested, withdrawing his touch to place both his hands together and focus himself inward.

  Ji Fa’s eyes grew wide in wonder as a sphere of white light appeared between the lad’s hands. ‘Great heaven,’ he uttered, as Fen reached over and deposited the tiny sphere of light into the king’s chest and he closed his eyes to absorb the healing force.

  Fen then moved his healing touch downward over the king’s open wounds, and as his hands passed over the affected areas they closed over and healed up completely.

  ‘It’s stopped.’ Fa took several deep, thankful breaths. ‘Ha hah!’ the king cried, overjoyed, and sat up to pat Fen’s cheek affectionately. ‘What a little miracle you are, my lad. I shall not forget this.’ He pulled Fen’s head toward him and kissed the top of it, as he would his own son’s.

  Fen was overwhelmed by the gesture and dropped to his knees at Fa’s bedside. ‘I only wish I could have acted sooner and prevented my king from a night of torment.’

  ‘I wish I could have saved your betrothed and spared you the same.’ Fa gripped him around the back of the neck, and gave him a shake. ‘Some circumstances are just beyond our control.’

  Fen nodded to accept the king’s reasoning.

  ‘Go, ready yourself for the day’s events,’ Fa said. ‘This morning we honour your love as the last to give her life in the war against the Shang, and to pay tribute to heaven for the deliverance of our land from tyranny.’ The king looked from Fen to address everyone present. ‘This afternoon, we shall set this land to rights in accordance with the tribute I agreed to pay Tian, and set forth the plans the Great Mother and I drafted on Tian’s behalf.’

  Fen nodded as he rose, drained of emotion in the wake of the healing.

  ‘And I command you all to go eat something before you waste away.’ Fa shooed them out, so that he might rise and dress.

  ‘Well done!’ Dan took Fen under his arm as they left the chamber. ‘For a moment, I thought my brother’s was to be the shortest reign in history.’

  ‘It was my honour,’ Fen said meekly.

  ‘I cannot eat before performing a sacred rite,’ Hudan advised her company. ‘What I need is somewhere to bathe and prepare.’ She aimed her dilemma in Dan’s direction.

  ‘You don’t want to use the bathhouse,’ he advised, ‘I think they shall be cleaning it for days! But there is a small bath in the prince’s chamber that you are welcome to use. I shall speak to the interior staff about having it filled for you.’

  Hudan felt a little awkward frequenting Dan’s chambers, and was about to suggest she find her own room, when a wail of pain was heard from the king’s chamber, whereupon they spun around and rushed back to investigate.

  Inside they found Fa, half dressed and collapsed on a chair, gripping his wounded leg, his wounds tearing open anew. ‘Damn, it smarts!’

  Fen was completely perplexed. ‘This has never happened before!’ He made for Ji Fa to inspect the wound, which then healed up before Fen got anywhere near the king.

  ‘Oh, thank heavens!’ The king felt the relief immediately.

  ‘I don’t understand?’ Fen dropped to his knees beside his liege, and looked at Hudan for inspiration.

  A couple of theories came to mind, the most obvious of which she was loath to test. ‘I beg your patience and pardon, my brother,’ she said to Fa. ‘Fen, will you walk until I call you back, please?’

  Fen, understanding her aim, sprang up and walked at a steady pace out of the room and up the hall beyond. When Fen was roughly fifty paces away, the king began to twitch in pain.

  ‘Fen Gong!’ Fa called, and as the lad returned the pain eased.

  ‘It would seem that Fen must remain in Fa’s vicinity for the healing to hold,’ Dan said, comprehending Hudan’s actions.

  Hudan was not convinced. ‘I believe it might be a little more complicated than that, for several reasons, which I shall explain presently. But first, tell me, brother Fa, what were you thinking about when Fen, Dan and I left the room before?’

  ‘Well, I was contemplating the day ahead,’ he reflected and then looked to his healer, ‘and considering how bitter-sweet the ceremony would be for young Fen.’

  ‘Uh-huh.’ Hudan felt she was onto something, but how to prove it. ‘This may not be as extreme as expected, but best understood for future reference.’

  ‘Fen, could we try that again, please?’

  ‘Must we?’ Ji Fa was beginning to tire of being torn apart.

  ‘Unless you want Fen as a constant companion for the rest of your life, I think we must,’ she explained, and having it put that way Fa considered he would humour her. ‘Only this time I would ask brother Huxin to amuse you while Fen walks away.’

  Huxin clapped her hands, delighted by her role in the proceedings. ‘May I, majesty?’ She motioned to his lap.

  ‘For the sake of clarity,’ he concurred, happily, as Huxin straddled the king’s legs to take a seat facing him and plant a passionate kiss upon his lips.

  Hudan had been thinking of some light conversation, but Fa was amused so she went with the flow.

  ‘Off you go,’ Hudan prompted Fen, who stood gaping at his sister seducing the king. ‘Quick as you can this time,’ she urged and he ran off.

  As Fen disappeared from view, Hudan looked back to note Dan was also gaping at her sister’s enthusiasm.

  ‘Ji Fa seems to have no complaint,’ Hudan commented.

  ‘None whatsoever,’ Dan muttered, and forced a smile. ‘So what are you implying? That the state of that wound is dependent on Fa’s state of being?’

  ‘Exactly.’ Hudan felt Fen must be halfway across the city by now. ‘Okay, Huxin, we have proven our point. Huxin!’ Hudan called more forcefully, and her sister finally let the king go.

  ‘Feeling better, my liege?’ she asked Ji Fa, as she nibbled on his earlobe.

  ‘Infinitely.’ He lapped up the last of her affection and stood, setting Huxin on her feet also.

  ‘So, as long as I stay in a positive frame of mind, this wound will not ail me?’ he asked.

  ‘You’re going to need a lot more concubines,’ H
uxin joked, and Fa was amused.

  ‘As soon as you get low, you’ll need Fen close,’ Hudan concurred.

  ‘Well,’ Ji Fa concluded, ‘all things considered, it could be worse.’

  ‘But why should this be?’ Dan asked. ‘Fen healed Nuan perfectly well.’

  ‘Either Fen’s emotional distress has placed a condition on the healing, or Dragonface infested the wound with his own dark magic. I don’t know.’

  There was a spark of recognition in Fa’s eyes, as he recalled Dragonface’s words. ‘The creature intended for this wound to ail me to my death,’ Ji Fa told them. ‘So perhaps this condition is a mix of both your theories?’

  Fen, puffing and panting, returned to the king’s chamber, pleased to find him well. ‘I am much relieved to see you still smiling, majesty.’

  Xian, who had come to advise that the people of Yin awaited their king’s presence in the temple, was also rather stunned to see his brother’s leg healed completely. ‘What kind of miracle is this?’ He seemed a little wary, and as the next eldest of the Ji clan, was no doubt a little disappointed to see Fa so fighting fit.

  Under Shang imperial rule the line of succession had passed from oldest to youngest brother. But under the mandate of heaven, Fa intended to return to the old way of passing kingship onto the oldest son, as only this would establish a clear line of succession.

  ‘We shall discuss this at a later date,’ Fa stated, aiming the comment at Hudan. ‘Today we reshape the face of our land,’ he said with commitment. ‘Just as soon as everyone leaves, so that I can get my trousers on,’ he added, his bed silk still wrapped around his bottom half.

  The sacrificial rite was a solemn affair for Fen, who shed silent tears as he set ablaze the wood beneath Nuan’s flowery coffin. As Hudan was leading the ceremonial rite, Huxin was standing by their little brother and being a lot more supportive now that the king was no longer ailing. Despite the lad’s distressed state, Ji Fa’s healing held firm, and this was a great relief to Dan. Hudan asked him to keep a close eye on their sovereign, as she feared Fen’s adverse emotions might affect the ability of the healer’s magic to hold, and the funeral prove torturous to their new king. Happily, this was not the case.

  As fond as he had been of He Nuan, it was the afternoon’s proceedings that proved far more distressing for Dan. In the chamber of government, the king met with the chieftains who had supported his campaign, his officers and his eight brothers. The released former Shang prince, Wu Geng, had been invited, but was still too weak to attend.

  The king spoke at some length of how he attached great importance to the people of the land being taught the duties of society. He spoke of measures to ensure a good food supply, the observing of sacred rites and sacrifices and the sanctity of marriage and children under his new regime. For he vowed he would reward virtue and honour merit above all else, even birthright.

  The nobles of the land the king arranged in five orders of command, and assigned territories to each according to their contribution to the making of the state of Zhou. One by one the lords of the land came forward to receive their appointments and entitlements from their new sovereign, who gave offices to the worthy, and employment to the able.

  In accordance with the magic square of the heavenly field, the king had divided the land into nine provinces, to be ruled by one of his brothers, who would be the overlord or ‘Zhuhou’ of that state — excluding Ji Zai, who was still too young to rule.

  The first of these nine provinces was Zhou, the central ruling state, containing Haojing and Fengjing, where Ji Fa, the Tianzi, would base himself. He conferred the title of ‘Yinhou’ to the Shang prince, Wu Geng Lufu, who was to remain in the Shang capital to control the subjects of the collapsed Shang Dynasty. The remaining Shang minister, Jizi, would also counsel Yin’s new governance, although he had been moved to his estate beyond the palace, and had requested to never set foot in the royal residence again, as the structure held too many horrific memories. As his estate was only a short distance from the palace proper, the old minister’s request was granted. Minister Jizi’s nephew, Weizi, would not be returning to the East, having chosen to settle his family in Zhou.

  Xian, Du and Chu were summoned forth to receive their commissions first. To Xian was given Guan province in the northeast, which included Yin, the Shang capital, which was clearly pleasing to Dan’s elder brother. Hence, Xian would now be known as Guan Shu Xian. Du was granted charge of the province of Cai and would be henceforth known as Cai Shu Du. The province of Huo was given to Chu along with the new title Huo Shu Chu. But despite being granted estates and provinces to govern, all three were to remain in Yin until the collapsed Shang state had settled. Their youngest brother, Zai, would remain also, to aid Xian, Du and Chu hold the fiefs nearby to Yin, to help supervise Wu Geng, and to prevent the Shang regrouping to revolt against their new sovereign.

  Entrusting these four brothers to rule was a considerable risk in Dan’s opinion, but they had proved their worth and loyalty during the recent uprising, and he hoped Fa’s leap of faith would finally end the division that had always existed between the brothers, but more so since the death of their father.

  The fiefs closest to Zhou, Fa bequeathed to Zhenduo, Wu and Shi. The central eastern state of Cao was awarded to Zhenduo, now Cao Shu Zhenduo. The central southern state of Cheng would be ruled by Wu, now Cheng Shu Wu. To Shi, Fa gave the entire north-east — including the mountain range of Shi’s origin — from Jin in the north to Ba in the south. This was tiger country, where the white tiger in particular was revered, and Shi could not have been more honoured. The fief that was the gateway to these regions was called Shao, so Shi would henceforth be known as Shao Gong Shi.

  As Dan had aided his brother to draft the appointments and division of land for this meeting, he had not expected to be called forth to receive an appointment, and was rather alarmed when he was summoned before the king.

  ‘To you, my most trusted advisor, I bequeath the patrimonial estate of our ancient forefather, Shaohao, at Qufu,’ said Fa with a beaming smile.

  The city of Qufu was in the Lu provence on the far east coast of the land and was beautiful country, but it was as far from Haojing as you could get! ‘Have I done something to offend your majesty?’ Dan felt compelled to ask, and Fa laughed.

  ‘Not at all, my dear brother,’ the king assured him. ‘The birthplace of the Yellow Emperor is surely paradise for a scholar? Or so I thought?’

  As this was the last appointment of the day, and Fa could see he was about to get an argument, he dismissed his council, but remained to hear Dan’s grievances.

  ‘Lu is so far from Haojing!’ Dan reasoned. ‘I can hardly assist you from the other side of the realm! Nor can I study, if my Shifu must be at your side in Zhou!’ Dan had another thought, that saddened him. ‘Or have you grown weary of my counsel?’

  Fa seemed genuinely surprised by the reaction. ‘I would much rather have you by me in Haojing, Dan. I was thinking only of your greatest happiness.’

  ‘My greatest happiness lies in serving the realm,’ Dan insisted. ‘Allow me to send my son, Bo Qin, and his young family to rule in Lu, and permit me to return with you to Haojing.’

  Fa shook his head, no doubt thinking him insane to pass over a title, estate and governance of his own province, for an advisory position in Zhou.

  ‘I will never marry again, and I know you want all your Zhuhous setting the right example,’ Dan argued further, but now his brother was regarding him with an odd expression.

  ‘I think I see why the Great Mother suggested I grant you Lu to govern,’ Fa said, nodding as his thoughts fell into place.

  ‘The Great Mother?’ Dan was surprised and then irked to receive this information. It wasn’t Fa that wanted him out of the neighborhood, it was Yi Wu.

  ‘Is it Haojing you wish to be near, Dan, or Li Shan?’ Fa asked him curiously.

  ‘I need Fen to study, you need me to govern,’ Dan replied, avoiding the implication.

>   ‘I have Jiang Taigong,’ Fa pointed out.

  ‘Our state just doubled in size,’ Dan emphasised with amusement. ‘Do you wish to kill our prime minister?’

  ‘I also wanted you in Lu to keep an eye on my three other supervisors,’ Fa elaborated, giving Dan more of his reasoning.

  ‘My son can be our eyes and ears in the East,’ Dan insisted, at his wits’ end. ‘The only way you are going to prevent me from returning with you to Haojing is if you banish me.’

  Fa shook his head, serving Dan a ‘you idiot’ expression. ‘Have it your way, then … Zhou Gong Dan, it is.’

  The pronouncement was a shock. Dan had not realised that he was talking Ji Fa into giving him the destiny that both Hudan and Yi Wu had predicted he’d choose.

  ‘Why?’ Dan asked, a smile of confusion on his face.

  ‘Why what?’ The king plainly wondered where his brother’s mind and attention had leapt to now.

  ‘Yi Wu called me Zhou Gong the first time we met,’ Dan explained. ‘So why would she then suggest you give me Lu as a province? She already knew that was not my destiny.’

  Fa found the events not so baffling. ‘Well, destiny is something that you have to choose, Dan,’ he said, smiling mischievously.

  ‘You knew I would protest.’ Dan grinned broadly and his brother shrugged.

  ‘I hoped,’ he granted, a tear in his eye. ‘But when I was giving my brothers’ provinces, I could hardly expect you to settle for that of chief advisor, Dan … only you would, or could, voluntarily commit such political suicide.’ Fa threw his arms wide and embraced him. ‘But Tian bless you for it, because heaven knows I have need of you.’

  ‘And my Shifu,’ Dan added with amusement, as they parted.

  ‘Especially so now,’ Fa rested a hand on his healed upper leg. ‘I am very eager to put war behind us, and start building a land that our great forefathers would be proud of.’

  ‘That we will do,’ Dan declared, ‘I promise you.’