The Dragon's Breath

by James Boschert

  They were shown the rotating racks where the silk thread of multiple cocoons was being wound. “The women who work at this end are very skilled at finding the end of a thread and then making sure that the silk is wound without breaking,” Fuling explained. “The entire process has to be carried out with great care and at the right temperatures.”

  When they had finished gawping at the winding process and admiring the deft manner in which the work was done, they were shown into a busier, noisy place where there were many looms at work. They were shown the pots where the silk was dyed a variety of colors, ranging from bright red to dark blue. The clacking of wooden looms almost drowned out any conversation. They moved on to the store room, where great bolts of silk were stored. Their guide showed them an extraordinary array of silk cloth with a great variety of patterns and designs.

  “We have to have this fabric with us as part of our cargo,” Talon said to Reza as he fingered one bolt of silk. “I cannot believe the skill that they have in the making of these designs!”

  “I am beginning to see what all the fuss is about,” Reza told him, stroking a particularly heavy fabric.

  “They have silk in Byzantium, but only the very wealthy can afford it. Here almost all the merchants wear silk, and the women everywhere seem to be able to afford it,” Talon remarked.

  “There are various qualities of silk. We take the very best that we have, and these go to the Palace of the Emperor.” Fuling had overheard them.

  Rav’an and Jannat exclaimed excitedly over the intricate designs. “I have never seen loom work that is so exquisite! If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I could not believe these were woven. I would swear they had been painted on the material!” Rav’an said.

  Fuling smiled at their enthusiasm. “My father wanted you to see the working process of the silk. The patterns we make here are among the best you can find in Guangzhou, even perhaps in China. As I said, the palace buys our silk!” he told them. “I will one day inherit this, and so I, too, must understand it well. This industry is a huge part of our economy for trade and... it is also a part of the tribute, too.” For a moment his face darkened.

  Talon thought he might not have heard correctly. “Tribute, did you say, Fuling?”

  But Fuling's expression had changed back to the bland expression he wore most of the time. “I meant nothing by it, Talon,” he said hurriedly, and he led the way out of the workshop into the courtyard, where they were served tea in exquisitely delicate porcelain cups. Talon looked after him, wondering what he had meant.

  *****

  Some days later, Talon and Reza were seated outside in the courtyard, drinking tea with the women, when they were alerted to the arrival of high-level visitors to the villa. It was evening, and Rostam was with them, playing near the small fountain when they heard activity and shouting at the main entrance.

  Curious, the two men got up and went to the entrance of their courtyard, which gave them a view of the main gateway. Fang was striding towards the closed gate where two of his soldiers were standing at attention, waiting for his orders. He gave a gruff command, and the gates swung open to admit first two Chinese soldiers, then a single palanquin carried by two stout, sweating men in expensive uniforms, followed by a small retinue of servants.

  Fang called out something and bowed very low indeed, waving the palanquin in. Then he shouted something at the men at the gate, and they rushed to close it. He strode after the palanquin, which disappeared into the inner courtyard of the main house.

  “I wonder who that was,” Reza commented.

  “Probably just another visitor,” Talon remarked. “There have been many of them in the last couple of days; Nobody of any interest to us.”

  “Ever since I noticed Fang and Lord Hsü leaving late at night without any escort, I am more curious than ever about our host,” Reza said.

  Talon glanced sharply at him. Reza had told him about the nocturnal departure of Hsü and his bodyguard, but the mystery of why they had left so quietly remained.

  “You don’t trust him, do you?” he asked his friend.

  “A little distrust is a healthy disease, Brother. We have only his word that he will do all these things for us. Until that happens, then no, I do not trust him, or anyone else here.”

  Talon sighed and scratched his head; then he threw his arm around his friend’s shoulders. “You might be right. I don't suppose it is anything to do with us, but it won't hurt to be watchful,” he said.

  “I intend to find out where he keeps that box of his,” Reza told him while they watched the guards settle down.

  Talon took his arm off Reza’s shoulder. “You what?” he gasped.

  “It won’t hurt to know, just in case. You know, if we have to leave in a hurry.” Reza grinned at him. “Don’t worry. I won’t get caught.”

  “Don’t be caught, Brother. It will be the end of us all if you are,” Talon said. “Just be careful,” he admonished as they returned to the women.

  “What was going on out there?” Rav'an asked them.

  “It’s nothing, just some expensive visitors,” Reza told them.

  Talon looked over at the women and liked what he saw. They now dressed in the Chinese manner, in dresses of silk under folds of loose over robes that emphasized their slim figures. His eyes roved over Rav'an, taking it all in with deep appreciation. His eyes came to rest on hers, which were smiling.

  Lihua had insisted that they dress as did the Chinese to be less conspicuous while walking around the city. Despite her initial reluctance to be their guide, the request, more of an order, had come from Hsü. Lihua had now become their full-time guide and quite enjoyed showing off the city, of which she was very proud.

  She was not above enjoying the admiration her beauty attracted. Her youthful, fine features, her unblemished, almost white skin and delicate form attracted many admiring glances. She soon noticed that because Rav'an and Jannat were beautiful women in their own right when dressed in the long flowing silk robes currently in fashion, they too drew admiring looks. Their hair was now coiled high on their heads and pinned with bejeweled, ivory hairpins, showing off their equally fine features and slim necks.

  For Lihua, their presence became a welcome distraction, because otherwise she would have spent her time alone in her room or the garden. Shunned by the Lady Meilin and barely tolerated by Lady Meng, neither a servant nor a member of the family, her position was a lonely one.

  She had asked Hsü to bring in a teacher for their guests, and he had readily agreed. It was hard work for all of them, but Talon was insistent. “We should learn what we can. It is a sign of respect, but also I hate not knowing what is being said in front of me.”

  “I agree,” said Reza. “I know they are saying bad things to me while they smile. I want to be able to smack one of them just when they least expect it!”

  “Reza! That is not the right way to behave!” Jannat scolded him. Talon and Rav’an laughed at their friends. Talon was sure that Reza behaved badly on occasion just to get a rise out of Jannat, who considered good manners to be very important.

  So they endured the difficult process of learning Cantonese, which Hsü told Talon was the universal language of China, although there were many dialects.

  Every morning while the men were going about the business of seeing to the ship and its cargo, either with Jiaya or Fuling, the women gathered around a low table in the courtyard, enjoying the cool morning air. The two maids who attended to Lihua's toilet would go to work on her new friends. By the time the maids completed their work, there were exclamations of delight as they scrutinized themselves in the mirrors provided by Lihua. Rav'an had never before seen such quality in a mirror. She could see her face as though looking into the clear, still waters of a pond. Another item for the cargo, she decided. She would laugh and reach for the fan that Lihua had presented to her and fluttered it, pretending to simper. The others would imitate her, amid much laughter.

  It amused Lihua to be with the two f
oreign women and show them what she could of the Chinese culture. She took them across the hazardous river, where they were subjected to ribald compliments from passing boatmen, to land at the main city dockyards. They would disembark and pick their way carefully across the crowded, dirty quayside, up the slope towards the first of several gates. Hsü had insisted that they were accompanied by at least one of Fang's guards at all times, but the guard would keep a discreet distance.

  They would stroll over the busy stone bridges that arched elegantly across the lily-bordered canals below. Here they would pause and lean on the carved side of the bridge to admire the swans and the ducks as they swam between the sampans or dived for food that people tossed to them. Then, at the urging of Lihua, they would walk on through the tunnel of the huge open gateway set into the massive stone walls towering over the port. Emerging into the sunlight at the other side, they’d continue along the tree-lined avenue towards the second set of walls, which were even taller than the first. Again they had to negotiate a crowded stone bridge with its stone guardians at both ends: squatting lions with gaping mouths and protruding, wild-looking eyes. Then they would proceed towards a tea house to refresh themselves before visiting several shops, where Rav’an and Jannat could admire the fabrics and pottery on display.

  For Rav'an, there was a purpose to this beyond just visiting a grand city in the company of Lihua. Talon and she had discussed at length what they might take back with them to Oman and agreed that she could spend time looking at what was available for things that simply did not exist in their own part of the world.

  The first several visits had left her bemused at the sights and sounds of the city, let alone the incredible variety of goods on display. The sheer magnitude of Guangzhou awed them; the smells, the noise, the bright colors of every shade on display as banners or symbols or signs, which Lihua assured them meant something in Chinese, were almost overpowering.

  At times she thought she would suffocate with the press of humanity all around, but Lihua was there to guide them into a quiet park, of which there were many, where they could catch their breath. It was the monsoon season, so Lihua gave each of them a parasol made of a bamboo frame covered with oiled paper and painted with figures and trees. Rav’an observed that most ladies carried these as both protection from the sun and to ward off the occasional surprise shower of rain. The working people dressed simply in cotton, and many wore huge wide hats of straw that did service on both counts.

  Sometimes, as they walked along the street, they would hear strange sounds emanating from the open front of a shop.

  “I cannot believe they call that music!” Rav’an said in a low tone to Jannat, who shook her head vigorously. “It is awful! That person singing sounds as though he is being strangled, slowly.”

  They walked on, trying not to listen to the wailing of the singer and the ear piercing shriek of the pipes being played by three ragged musicians.

  There were armed men to be seen here and there; Rav’an’s trained eye observed these things, but they didn’t seem very interested in the goings on in the streets.

  Extraordinary things were on display everywhere. Neither Rav’an nor Jannat had ever come across such fine art before. They admired the silk and paper paintings, the intricately carved ivory and the worked smooth green stone, which Lihua called Jade and said was very precious, and much else that drew the eye. When they returned, overwhelmed, to their guest quarters, they discussed what they had seen and shared their impressions.

  “I shall never become used to their music, nor their singing,” Jannat said with a grimace.

  “It’s too high-pitched for me to consider soothing.”

  “They are singing about love, blossoms, and the snow on the distant mountains; you should listen more carefully and not be so disrespectful,” Rav’an teased her.

  “You understood what they were singing about?” Jannat asked in surprise.

  “Of course not, but Lihua told me that they sing about those things.” Rav’an laughed.

  “Well, it sounded to my inexperienced ears as though they were strangling a cat, probably getting ready to cook it too,” Jannat said unkindly. “Anyway, that’s what Reza said the other day.”

  Rav’an laughed. “Jannat!” she exclaimed. “I swear that Reza is rubbing off on you! You shouldn’t say things like that, and nor should he,” she admonished her friend, grinning behind her fan.

  Jannat giggled. “I fear that he is.

  “And we mustn’t tell Lihua how we feel; it will surely hurt her feelings,” Rav’an added.

  “Did you see that wonderful painting depicting the river and the boats?” Jannat asked, changing the subject. “I have never seen anything so delicate in my life!”

  “Yes, but did you also see how the woman paid for it?” Rav’an asked her.

  “I noticed that they exchanged pieces of paper for the painting. I wonder why they do that?”

  “There was much writing on the paper, as well as symbols, so it might have been a promissory note,” Rav'an said. “We should ask Lihua.”

  They asked her the next day while they were seated in the courtyard. Rav’an was practicing on the musical instrument that Lihua had used the previous day. It was called a guqin and had six strings. Rav’an was quite determined to master it, wanting to provide the menfolk with some familiar melodies. Jannat was working on some embroidery in silk that Lihua had provided. On hearing the question, Lihua gave her dainty laugh behind her hand and went away, to return in a few minutes carrying a wad of paper similar to that which they had seen in the street.

  “This is money, ‘cash,” she said, and she handed some of it to them to examine.

  “You don’t use silver and gold?” Rav’an asked in surprise, putting down the instrument as she looked over the thin pieces of paper with symbols and designs all over them. “What do they say?” she asked, holding one up for Lihua’s inspection.

  “For very large transactions, silver and gold are used,” she told them, and went on to explain the value of each of the pieces of paper in their equivalent amount of silver. “It saves having to carry coins, which are heavy,” she told them.

  “Can you show us these ‘coins’?” Jannat asked.

  Lihua then produced a wire circle with many of the oddly shaped coins they had seen before threaded onto the wire. “Would you want to carry all this around when you are in the city?” she asked. When they asked about the peculiar shape, Lihua explained, “These paper notes are printed this way to stop people from copying them. It is a crime to do so, as they are only authorized by the governor, and only a limited number are printed.”

  Neither Jannat nor Rav’an could fully grasp what she was saying.

  *****

  Talon and Reza were otherwise occupied with Jiaya in the early days. True to his word, Hsü had arranged, through Jiaya, to have their entire cargo stored in his own godown, conveniently close by on his side of the river. The area was known as Honam. His godown was not far from the Honam temple, which Jiaya told them was Taoist and very old.

  To unload the ship, they had to go back across the river to the area where the Arab community was located and round up the crew and captain. Jiaya showed a piece of paper to the men on guard at the entrance to the foreigner's area, and they were allowed in. Almost immediately the atmosphere changed from the noisy and bustling dockyards outside the gates to a quieter mood within. Talon thought he could be forgiven for thinking that they were in some Persian area that had been transplanted to Guangzhou. There was even a mosque, in fact, more than one. He noticed other nationalities besides Arabs. Just down the street was a tea house that reminded him of one in Hamadan, while further along were a few shops and places to eat. Most of the side streets were narrow and were sided by large buildings that he took to be warehouses.

  They found their men in one of the many inns dotted along the riverside which catered to the Arab and Persian community. The captain was glad to see them, and he had no complaints about the accommo
dation. He showed them around the inn, which was large, comfortable, and could house more than fifty guests. The entire crew was staying under the same roof, so it was easy to get them all moving towards the dockside.

  “We have been wondering where you were, Master Talon,” the captain said, speaking for several of them. “We thought they might have robbed you, or worse.”

  “Or eaten you! These people eat anything!” Waqqas said out loud, ignoring the fact that Jiaya could speak Arabic.

  “We are here, and as you can see they have not eaten us, not even a toe or finger,” Reza joked, waving his fingers in the air. “And I am not just an ‘anything,’ Waqqas, remember that.”

  The banter continued while they were rowed across to the ship to climb aboard. Glancing around, Talon noted that the crew members who had remained on board had kept the ship in good shape. The Chinese guards were excessively polite to Jiaya. After a rapid conversation with the guards, he turned to the captain.

  “We are going to sail the ship just up the river to that place you can see on the slope of the hill, Master Captain,” Jiaya told him, pointing towards the Honam temple. “We have men waiting there to unload the ship.”

  “You have permission to do this?” Captain Dandachi asked, looking not at Jiaya but at Talon.

  “Yes, Captain, we do; and then you will bring the ship back here.”

  While the ship was being prepared to sail, Talon took the captain aside and informed him as to the reason for the transfer.

  Captain Dandachi shook his head skeptically but said, “It is your cargo, Master Talon. I hope you know what you are doing.”

  Talon looked at him. “I have to trust Lord Meng, Captain. I don’t have much choice. He is providing the only way we can unload, sell our cargo, and leave with another cargo without losing our profits. Insha’Allah he will be as good as his word.”

  The captain shrugged and put the crew to work to set sail. “It is you that I and the crew trust, Master Talon. We’ll do as you ask.”