Li dropped from her horse to the ground, and stepped out into the open. The Fox Queen smiled. “I see where Wu gets his good looks. Now tell me just how much this boy means to you. I hear from Zheng Min and Jasmine that you have squandered your life trying to get him back. Why is it that you were never able to do that? Perhaps it is because he was never meant to live?”
Li’s face reddened with rage. “Your fox faerie, Jasmine, prophesied his greatness herself. It was she who foretold of his destiny, his fate to destroy all demons and their barbarian allies, and to elevate China to its rightful heights.”
“Hasn’t it occurred to you, little one, that the fight has changed? The barbarians and the Chinese have nothing left to fight over. It all belongs to me—or will, as soon as you agree to my proposition. I’m sorry my dear, but your time has passed, before it has even begun. I am reclaiming what is rightfully mine. Look around you, Princess. This is the future.”
“Return my son,” Li commanded. She turned to appeal to Jasmine. “We have your daughter. If you don’t return Wu to me, I will kill her.”
Quan noticed Wu’s eyes enlarge like oranges and he wanted to go to his son and comfort him. Your mother is not a murderer.
“Accept me as your Queen,” Dahlia said. Forget this foolish war that you can’t win, and Wu may return to you. Otherwise, he’s dead.” Dahlia glared down from the parapet. “After all you have been through, Lotus Lily, are you content to let him die? You know I have no qualms about killing. I have killed before and I will kill again. In fact, I’ll let my granddaughter, Jasmine, do it. She will give him a slow and pleasurable death.”
“You are sick and perverted, both of you,” Li said. “Do not touch a hair on my boy’s head. Or I swear I will wreak a vengeance on you that will spin the world upside down and return it to its rightful place.”
“If you could do that, it would already be so. Take a moment to ponder your choice—the boy or the Empire. You can only save one.”
Li returned her attention to Jasmine. “Peng for Wu. Please!”
Dahlia laughed. “You cannot complete your Crosshairs without the Black Tortoise, but I can complete my Circle for I am the Fox Queen with nine tails. I don’t need Peng.”
“Ma-ma,” Wu called from the wall. “Don’t give in to her. I am not afraid to die for my kingdom.”
Spoken like the emperor he must live to become, Quan thought.
“NO,” Li said. “You’re too young. You cannot choose your destiny.”
“Maybe he can,” Quan answered her in a low voice. He drew her back, while locking eyes with Master Yun. The warlock gripped Li by the arm to still her shaking. Wu’s destiny was to save the Middle Kingdom from invaders. Perhaps this was how he did it. But Li disagreed. Quan clapped her in his arms. “Listen to me, Li. There is no other way. Let them think we have surrendered Wu. In the interim, I will put all resources into rescuing him.”
Master Yun concurred. Wu was safe as long as the fox faeries thought they could use him for leverage. Meanwhile Master Yun would form the Crosshairs of the Four Winds and defeat them. The warlock’s face creased into a grim smile “You forget Lao. He, like Peng, has the Sight of Wuji. Perhaps it is he and not Wu whose place it is to stand—”
“Defeat is imminent,” Jasmine’s voice rang across the empty garrison. “Without Wu, your Crosshairs will be incomplete.”
“And if I kill Peng?” Li seized the girl who up until now had been standing behind Master Yun. She pressed a dagger to her throat. “Aren’t you a mother, Jasmine? Do you truly not care whether she lives or dies?”
Jasmine had created Peng for one purpose only; to hold the center of the Magic Circle should she fail to free Dahlia. Peng was no longer needed. Dahlia was freed. But they needed Wu to complete the Crosshairs of the Four Winds. Yes, the foxes knew about that device. They knew because Peng could not keep her eyes closed for long. Jasmine’s red lips curled into a nasty smile. “You won’t kill her. If you could, she would already be dead.”
“Wu is not necessary for us to succeed,” Master Yun whispered to Li. “But Peng is. Drop the weapon and listen to me.” Li released the foxling, almost collapsed to her knees, but Quan kept her standing. “We don’t need Wu to complete the Magic Crosshairs. We have Lao. I am certain, now, that he is the Black Tortoise, the dark warrior that comes from the North.”
“You would sacrifice your great grandson?” Li sniffled.
“No, but we mustn’t let them know that.”
“What is your answer?” Dahlia demanded.
Tears coursed down Li’s face. “I cannot make this choice.”
“We still have a chance, Li,” Quan said. “I will rescue Wu while Lao holds the Crosshairs. If this magic is strong enough, success is ours. Let him go.” It was the hardest thing Quan had ever had to say.
It was as though the boy heard every word they whispered. “It’s all right, Ma-ma. They shall sing songs about me for I will have died to save the Empire.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
The Hopping Corpse
A huge batlike shadow flitted in the trees, and the foul smell of carrion reached his nostrils. Master Yun squinted with his hawk’s eyes and saw between the foliage a man’s form. It was Tao. Swiftly, he sent his attention back to the Fox Queen. “You must give us twenty-four hours to decide.”
“Twenty-four seconds, twenty-four hours. Your decision will be the same. Nevertheless, it is nothing to me. Go ahead and take your twenty-four hours.” Dahlia and Jasmine each grabbed one of Wu’s arms and vanished below the wall.
“I can’t leave,” Li cried. “I cannot, will not, leave Wu with those demons.”
“You have no choice,” Master Yun said. “They’re gone. Now come. We have urgent matters to attend.”
Tao dropped from the tree. “I bring bad news,” he said. “It is as I have forewarned. You must hurry. Esen has found his way to the Emperor’s private pleasure gardens. I saw him there. I should have killed him, but he escaped into the palace before I could reach him.”
The small army made their way back to the palace led by Chi Quan. When they had sent the horses to the stables, they crossed the open square to the palace doors. Tao remained outside, while Peng was sent to the nursery. Master Yun raked the halls of the palace, inquiring after His Majesty’s whereabouts, his heart pounding like the horses of an invading army. Li and Quan entered the throne room first and saw a eunuch polishing the throne. “His Majesty,” Master Yun demanded. “Where is he?”
The eunuch’s head jerked around. “Last I saw him, he went to take a nap with orders that he should not be disturbed.”
“And Esen, the Mongol? Have you seen him?”
“I have seen no Mongols, Master Yun.”
“He could still be alive,” Li said. “There are no signs of a skirmish and no one has seen either of them. Perhaps he is in the nursery with Lao.”
Master Yun’s eyes rose to the door. The trio hurried to the royal bedchamber and found it empty. One of the tapestries on the walls was askew. Had he gone out for some fresh air? Master Yun went to the woven image of the azure and gold phoenix, and ripped it from the wall. He said, “Come. Make haste!”
They raced along the corridor, their footsteps rumbling like rolling pebbles down the underground path to the secret garden. Ahead was an opening between the shrubberies, and they rushed past the twisted trees and rocks of the terrace where dying flowers and rotting fruits stained the meandering path. They skidded to a dead stop. Behind the shrubbery, the tinny sounds of a shovel on hard-packed earth reached their ears. Master Yun ducked around the corner in time to see the Imperial yellow robes disappear into the earth. “What have you done?” he roared. He gripped the Mongol by the throat and flung him to Quan. He fell onto his knees and dug at the soil with his hands until the Emperor’s pale, bluish face appeared.
Li swallowed, swung on Esen. “Who are you? Why have you killed His Majesty?”
Esen smirked. “You really do not remember me, do you, Lotus L
ily?”
“Quan, how could you assign this thug, this murderer to be my body guard?”
Quan held Esen by his arms, chest out against his own. “What are you talking about? I never hired this savage.”
“But…he said—” She cupped a hand to her mouth.
“Never mind, Li,” Master Yun said. “We must think quickly now. The Emperor can no longer help us, but we must not allow the people to know of his death.”
“I am your emperor,” Esen said. “Jasmine made me emperor.”
“Oh shut up, you horrid little man,” Li said. “What will we do, Master Yun? We needed His Majesty to hold the Eastern post on the Crosshairs.” She withdrew a dagger from her boot and made to shove it into the murderer’s heart.
“Li. I said No. Killing him will do little good.” Yaoquai, and the Ox and Horse head messengers of Feng Du had deserted their duties. The souls had nowhere to go until the Hell Master bridled their wills again. As far as His Majesty was concerned, his soul was either trapped in his body and he had become a hopping corpse, or he had been sent for reprieve in the Etherworld. Or, he hung in limbo, neither here nor there.
Quan released Esen and booted him facedown on the ground. He forced a foot onto his spine to keep him there. The Mongol lifted his head in fierce objection.
“Only the three of us can know of this unfortunate incident,” Master Yun said. “The fox faeries must not know, else we are doomed.” Out of his corner vision he saw a dark, man-shaped cloud, which fell with lightening speed, tore Li’s dagger from her hand and sliced downward before anyone could stop it. Esen’s head lolled forward, blood spurting onto the ground, his eyes large liquid circles of surprise, lips vaguely moving as though to protest, then he was gone.
“Tao. That was unnecessary and dangerous. We could have used him.”
“You could not use him. He was a barbarian and always would be. His heart is black because of his hatred for Lotus Lily. You could not have trusted him.” Tao threw the blade to the ground and looked at Li. “I told you that one day I would die for you. But I was not able to as long as Esen lived. He killed me once, but I could not die until I had atoned for my betrayal of you.”
Li stared in bewilderment as the hopping corpse vanished leaving only the putrid rags of his former existence. She looked up at Master Yun in horror and despair for she too realized, though she did not know this rotting corpse who had loved her like a father, that somehow he had meant much to her in the past.
“Finally, his soul will enter the Etherworld.” Master Yun said. What happened after that was anyone’s guess. If they did not restore the balance of the Emblem, there would be no living and no dying, only a torturous existence of enslavement. And the fate of Heaven and Hell? Well, he could not even begin to speculate on that.
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“Send for men to exhume His Majesty’s body. But only soldiers you trust. We must keep up the pretence that the Emperor is alive,” Master Yun said and paced the ground.
“But he’s not,” Li said. “How will we keep the armies united without a ruler to lead them?”
“Don’t worry, Li, we have an emperor.”
“Yes, a dead one. But how long can we keep his body fresh before it starts to rot?”
“Perhaps we need not wait too long.”
“What is your plan?” Quan demanded. “I can see in your eyes that you have a plan.”
Master Yun looked at Li. “You will get your wish after all, granddaughter, but we must work fast and sort out a scheme. Wu is His Majesty’s rightful heir. No one will dispute that.”
“But he is a boy,” Li said.
“And he is a captive,” Quan added.
“Then we must find a way to release him, and fast. If we don’t give the fox faeries our answer tomorrow they will kill him.”
The power of the fox faeries was formidable. What kind of keepers did they have around his cell? Where was his cell? Or was it in one of the watchtowers along the wall? With what kind of spell had they surrounded him? Was it one that Master Yun could break?
Quan left to find captain Huang and have him and another trusted man recover His Majesty’s body. Master Yun abandoned the shrubbery on the outskirts of the garden and climbed to the crest of Coal Hill to stand atop the mound where the splendour of Beijing was aglow from the midafternoon sun. The palaces and temples of the capital were tinted pink, and the maze of grey-bricked alleyways ran like rivers of shadow between the Forbidden City and the blue-tiled roof of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. To the north of the city walls, past the lotus-filled ponds and pavilions, beyond the green parkland, the Dragon Wall snaked through the mountains. Every so often a tower broke through the mist. Was that the prison in which Wu was held? He must ask Peng and Lao to engage the Sight of Wuji. Perhaps they could see him. If they described his surroundings, there was a chance of locating him swiftly.
Master Yun walked past the men excavating the Emperor’s body and collected Li and Quan before returning through the secret garden. They filed through the doorway into the royal bedchamber and down the marble corridors to the nursery where Peng and Lao snacked on steamed pork buns. Lao had never met his brother, so it was up to Peng to find Wu’s prison.
Peng contorted her face until she looked cross-eyed. “He is in a very small room with long, narrow windows and brick walls. There are stones on the floor… Oh no,” she said and squeezed her lids shut. “My mother. She is trying to see what I am looking at.”
“Can you describe his prison in more detail?” Master Yun asked.
“No. My mother is very strong. If I open my eyes, she will see what you are doing.”
Li rose from where she had been kneeling beside Peng. “He’s in one of the fortresses at the wall, then?”
“It seems so,” Master Yun agreed. “But which one? Did you see anything outside the windows, Peng?”
“Mountains. Very steep and black mountains.”
“Now we know he is not in the desert.”
“But the mountain range is so vast,” Li complained. “We cannot search every watchtower and every fortress.”
“We won’t have to. You and I will take Peng with us. We will go unescorted. There will be at least one opportunity where she can engage the Sight and see Wu again. Jasmine must feed and rest. She cannot always be watching little Peng. Quan, you must take an army, and buy us time. When I returned from First Emperor’s tomb on the back of Fucanlong, I saw the forces of the Xiongnu assembling at the eastern wall. If they join with the Manchus and if the Manchus join with the Mongol horde, they will be a formidable force. It is clear to me now that Zheng Min has betrayed us and defected to the other side, leaving the easternmost frontiers naked. We must push them back before they can act.”
Quan went to arm himself while Li remained where she was.
“Are you coming, Li?” Master Yun’s brow furrowed. He sighed. “I know what you are thinking. And it is not a good plan. Already you have made a mistake because of your bargain with the water god.”
She nodded. “And now I must atone for that mistake. His majesty would not be dead if it wasn’t for me. I was the one who let Esen into the palace. I am as culpable as he. I must make restitution.”
“By entering into yet another bargain? And this time what do you think the god will ask? What other memory will he steal? Perhaps the loss of my memory would not disturb you, as I have not been a huge part of your life up until now. But do you want to forget your passion for Quan? Is it worth it?”
“The return of my son is worth any price.”
“It is not the memories you lose that trouble me, Li. It is the consequences of losing those memories.”
“So, you do blame me for the death of the Emperor,” she said. “Then I must return to my junk and think.”
He did not blame her for the Emperor’s death. But it was a consequence of her bargaining with the god, nonetheless. “Join us at the mountain pass when you come to your senses,” he said.
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It was all clear to her now. With His Majesty dead, Wu must become emperor and Lao must take the place of the Black Tortoise on the Crosshairs of the Four Winds. Was that how it was always meant to be? Was the prophesy that Jasmine had read so long ago in the tealeaves, not the prophesy of her firstborn, but of her number two son? But no, it was Wu who was destined to become emperor.
Li tethered her horse to a tree on shore, and signalled to the pirates to row her aboard. When she placed her feet on the bamboo planks once again, she felt a solid feeling return to her heart. She ordered her crew to leave her and went to the bow to stand beside the figurehead, the pirate’s protector. The nine, yellow, human heads gazed toward the water and the blue snake body melded into the prow.
“Xiang Gong,” she shouted in a hoarse whisper. “Hear my plea. I have never needed your aid more than I need it now. It is a matter of life and death.”
The nine yellow heads turned to face her. Only one mouth spoke. “Your life is not in danger.”
“Not mine,” she said. “But my son’s.”
“His life is not under my jurisdiction.”
“But mine is?”
“It has been up until now. Things have changed. The Emblem is broken. Nothing is as it was. I cannot save the life of your son.”
“But you can. You must. You saved me. Twice. You saved Quan—and all for what? So that we could save Wu. If Wu is not rescued everything we know will be gone. I believe this with all my heart. Why else have I done all that I have done? Why was I brought here to see my boy face to face, to know that he is still alive? He is the next emperor of the Middle Kingdom, but there will be no Middle Kingdom if you don’t save him.”
“We cannot interfere with the lives of mortals.”
The Pirate Empress Page 69