My Soul is in the Sky

by Summer Murong

  “I will pray for the water every day.” He says to me with a determination in his eyes.

  “That’s right.” I encourage him. “If anybody ask you why you do that, what are you going to say?”

  “I will tell them because I am a prince and Heavenly God will help me and my people.”

  I smile and give him a big hug. “That is so good. You are very smart as well. And as a reward, you will have something really delicious.”

  I ask one of the maids to get the cheesecake I have made for Prince Liu Ju.

  22 Steal Rain

  For the next week, other than working at the Imperial Archiving Center, I spend rest of my time painting.

  I made the canvas with Linen Cloth and applied rice porridge as primer. The walnut oil Jinu got for me works great when mixed with colors. It is a painting about the celebration of Shang Si Festival. With Empress and her sisters and Princess Ping Yang dinning in the background, the focus of the painting is around Empress Wei’s four kids: three sisters chasing the butterfly while little Prince Liu Ju, with his clothes all wet, praying by the water with a dead fish by his feet. The sun and wind give the similar feeing as of Monet’s Woman with a Parasol, light, breezy and nostalgic.

  “I can’t find myself in this painting. Where am I? Where are you?” Huo complains when he can’t find himself in the painting.

  “You were not at the gathering.” I laugh at him.

  “But I’d like to be on this painting.” He insists on me putting him in. “It looks really good.”

  Only after I promise I will paint a portrait for him, he doesn’t press on any more.

  I ask Princess Dangli to bring the painting to her mother as a gift for inviting me for the Shang Si Festival. Along with the painting, a cream cheese cake is also sent to Prince Liu Ju.

  By the end of March, General Wei comes back from the front and sends me a message to see him. When I find Princess Pingyang is there, I know she must have been upset since I have not given her any answer.

  “Have you had enough time thinking about what I had said to you?” She looks crossed.

  “Not really.” I answer her politely.

  “How much longer can it be?”

  I stay quiet.

  General Wei looks at me and then at Princess Pingyang.

  “Don’t push her.” He finally says to her when he realizes I do not plan to answer her question. “This is something she has never dealt with. When I agreed on you talking to her, I thought we had the understanding that she can turn it down.”

  “Why do you speak for her?” She suddenly raises her voice. “If she is as smart as you said she is, or if she is as loyal as you described, why can’t she help? It’s not for me. It is for you and your family.”

  “You highness.” General Wei flounders by her sudden anger.

  “If you are going to defend her, then go ahead. I will never get involved with you or your family anymore.” She stands up. Both General Wei and I stand up too.

  “You highness.” General Wei mumbles. It seems like those are the only two words he can think of at this time.

  “That is quite all right.” She says to him with a tone of disappointment and sadness. “You and your family are all set. You don’t need me anymore. And that is also a relief for me as well. I don’t need to constantly worrying about you or your family either.”

  I cannot believe how Princess Pingyang behaves like a heart-broken woman. I glance over at General Wei. He looks embarrassed, worried and tormented by what she said.

  “That is not true. It is not like that.” He keeps mumbling to her.

  But she refuses to listen and storms out.

  He tries to chase her but stops by the door.

  “I am sorry for everything. Her temper can be bad when she is upset. But she is a good woman.” He explains to me.

  “I understand.” I say to him. “She is just upset and jealous.”

  “Jealous?” He looks puzzled at me.

  I smile. “I can tell that she loves you deeply. And I am sure you love her too.”

  “Shiaonu.” His voice comes with serious warning.

  “I know, I know.” I raise my right hand and laugh. “I promise I will never tell a soul about this.”

  He gives me a long and deep look. Then he sighs and walks back and sits down to where he was sitting.

  “When I first met her, I was fifteen and she was four years older. She was a beautiful and spoiled princess and I was the slave who lives at her husband’s household at a mercy. I was a bastard. My own father abandoned me. My mom begged Princess Pingyang to allow me to live in her household and allow me to use Wei as my last name, so that no one would know I am just a bastard and all my sisters and brothers are just my half-sisters and half-brothers. Princess Pingyang has always had bad tempers, but she has the kindest heart. She allowed me to live there as her stable boy, taught me how to read and write. Later when Emperor Wu took my sister back to Palace, she gave back my freedom and ask Emperor Wu to find me a post as a caretaker for horses. For all these years, she has been watching over me and my family, make sure we are safe in the royal palace.”

  “Why didn’t you marry her?” I ask him. “You are not married.” Although he has three sons, but he never had a formal wife.

  “She is a princess.” He says as if that is a good enough reason.

  “So what? You are a Generalissimo who command the whole army force of Han.”

  “But she is already married. Actually she is in her second marriage now.” His eyes dim.

  I have to admit that General Wei is a dream for every woman. Not only he is strong and capable, he is also sensitive and loyal.

  “Shiaonu.” His voice breaks my thoughts. “There is really nothing you can think of for Prince Liu Ju?”

  I sigh. “I have already started the first step. But I do not want anybody know about my involvement. Other than you, I don’t trust anybody else.”

  He shakes his head and a smile comes to his face. “You are such a sneaky girl. Did you provoke her on purpose?”

  “I did not provoke her. In fact, she has been provoking me. She has been blinded by her own jealousy.” I say. “She forgets I have never been her slave, I don’t listen to her either. She challenges me because of you.”

  He looks a little uncomfortable with my accusation. “She can be with a temper sometimes. But I have never seen her acting like this.”

  “A jealous woman can be very dangerous.”

  “Don’t worry.” He says. “I will be the only one knows about this.”

  Then he teases me. “You sure you don’t tell Huo Qubing?”

  “We are really just friends. Nothing more.”

  He laughs. “Really? The hairpin on your hair is not from him?”

  I blush. “It is. It is just a gift.”

  “Don’t you know when a man gives you a hairpin, it means he wants to marry you?” He asks.

  I cannot hold my smile any more. So far, only Zhao Yan and Huo have given me hairpins. I know about Zhao Yan, but I don’t know about Huo.

  “I really don’t know there is a hidden meaning for hairpin.” I admit to him. “And I don’t believe he knows about that either.”

  He shakes his head again in disbelief. “He was like an idiot asking anybody who knows how to carve a hairpin.” He then says. “I guess my nephew still needs sometime to grow up.”

  That I agree. He is still in between a boy and a man.

  “He grew up under my own eyes. He is gifted when it comes in battles and certain things. But he doesn’t know how to be close to others. He grew up mostly with men in military camp. Other than his cousins, he has never really known any girls. You are the first one he has been so close to. Be patient with him, he might not realize what he is doing most of the time.”

  I feel like he is giving me the permission. But honestly, I don’t believe Huo and I are anywhere close to the relationship he thinks we are in. We are friends, or maybe we are good friends.

  �
��Thank you. But we are really just friends.” I guarantee him again.

  When Princess Dangli told me about what had happened when she delivered the painting to Empress Wei, I knew it is time for the next step.

  “My father came and see the painting too.” She said. “He always liked your painting and he took it away from my mother. Now it is hanging on the wall of his own bedroom chamber. He said he wanted to see it every day.”

  “Did he ask anything about your brother?” I asked her.

  “Yes, he did. He actually asked my brother to tell him what he was doing in the painting. My brother told him he was praying for rain because he did not want to see the fish, animals or peoples die. The most amazing thing is when he told my father he has been praying every day, my father held him up and said his kindness will make him a very merciful ruler.”

  “What did your brother say?”

  “He said he only wants to be favored by the God in heaven.”

  Prince Liu Ju did better than I thought. Emperor Wu should have already been struck by what Liu Ju said. The drought has been reported from all over. Emperor Wu has already summoned me when he finally saw my report. But other than seeing the water disappearing, there is nothing can be done but waiting for the crops die of thirst.

  The time for a final push is ready. It will be a sign that Emperor Wu cannot ignore. And hopefully it is going to be significant enough that he would never think of switching the crown prince.

  My two brothers and I have been waiting at the foothill of the mountain. It is early morning with fog floating around us.

  We have two horse carriages of equipment waiting.

  I have told General Wei two days ago to bring three or four guys who can keep a secret and that he can trust with his own life. The other requirement is that they have to be physically strong enough for rough mountain climbing.

  “They are coming.” Ponu tells us. “I hear the horses.”

  I am surprised to see General Wei is among them. He quickly introduces all of us.

  Huo acts as if he doesn’t know me. So I bow to other three: Cao Xiang, Princess Dangli’s husband, Gongsun He, General Wei’s brother-in-law and Gongsun Jingsheng, the son of Gongsun He.

  “I hope you have a very good reason for Emperor Wu why three of his top Generals and two Captains go mountain climbing at the same time.” I jokingly talk to General Wei.

  “We are going hunting.” He says. “We do this all the time.”

  I then turn to everyone. “I am sure General Wei has told you about the secrecy of this trip. No one should know about this. Anything we do in this trip should forever be a secret.”

  They all nod their heads. So I start distributing the bags and equipment to them.

  “We need to climb these mountains carrying all these equipment until we find a good spot.” I explain to them.

  “A good spot for what?” Gongsun Jingsheng asks me. He is about seventeen, the same age as me.

  “A good spot to steal the rain.” I tell him.

  Everyone stops what they are doing. Nobody knows what we are here for yet. So the idea of stealing the rain has stunned all of them all.

  “Are you serious?” Cao Xiang, Princess Dangli’s husband, asks me. He must think I am crazy.

  “Yes.”

  “This is insane.” Gongsun He complains. “How can we put down everything and listen to a young girl claiming she can steal rain?”

  No one says anything for a while.

  “I believe her.” Huo says to them. “If she says she can steal the rain, then it will happen.”

  My two brothers agree with him immediately.

  “Gongsun He.” General Wei says to him. “Shiaonu has done some amazing things that I had never thought possible. I did not know about the plan of stealing rain until now, but I would go along.”

  We resume what we were doing and start climbing into the mountain.

  I have climbed these mountain before when I was surveying the water resources. There are two major water sources for Chang’an. One from Weihe River from East and the other Fenghe River and Bahe River from south. The mountain we are climbing is at the south side. It blocks the humid air from moving north. So while the north of mountain suffers from drought, it suffers heavy rain at south side as well as in the middle of the mountain.

  My first plan is to fan the salt powder at the top of mountain. By spreading salt powder into the cloud, it condensates the cloud by absorbing more moisture around it. When it becomes heavy enough, it will becomes rain. Silver Iodide will be ideal for this process, but salt is something I can easily get in Han. By the sight of fogs and the feeling of humidity inside the mountain, I am pretty sure we have a very good chance.

  The backup plan involves blowing up a natural lake in the middle of the mountain. By putting the explosive at the right location, the water will fall naturally to the existing river and it will ease the drought in Chang’an. But I really do not want to do this. With the eyes from General Wei and Huo, they can easily spot how powerful it can be to use the dynamite for military use. So I will keep it as my last resort. And I have been carrying them all by myself.

  “Are you all right?” I ask Jinu, who is the slowest one among all of us. If it’s not for the fans, which my brother made for me, I will never ask Jinu to be part of this. Although he has been a blacksmith for a while, but he hasn’t been exercising regularly as everyone else here.

  “I should be fine.” He says. “I feel bad that even you can climb faster than me.”

  I laugh. Jinu knew I exercise, but he doesn’t know how much I get.

  “She can run like a horse.” Huo’s voice comes ahead. He helps Jinu by taking a bag away from him.

  “Why were you mad at me?” I ask him.

  He gives me a cold look. “Why didn’t you tell me about this? I was with you yesterday and you said nothing.”

  “I did not know if your uncle will ask you to join us or not. How could I say anything to you?”

  He gives me another cold look. “I know you trust yourself first, then General Wei. Nobody else.”

  His childishness makes me laugh.

  After two days of climbing, we finally found two spots that we can set up two huge turbine fans Jinu has made. With a special designed funnel in front, which contains the finely grounded salt powder, we take turns to crank the fans.

  But nothing happens.

  Everyone becomes impatient after one day of continues cranking.

  I decide to blow the lake up. Huo, Ponu and Gongsun Jingsheng come with me.

  By tying the strong ropes from cliffs on both sides. My plan is to hang myself on the rope and rock climb to the center where I can put explosive in the right spots. It just need to have cracks on the huge rocks. The pressure from the water will push open the rest and the water can fall down to the river channel underneath.

  “What do you think you are doing?” Huo looks mad when he sees me tie myself to the rope with hooks.

  So I explain to him.

  “That is crazy.” He says. “You will be hanging just by the rope. If something happen, you will fall down the cliff and die.”

  He can never say anything nice to me, especially when I am a bit concerned on the strength of rope.

  “Can’t you just say something nice to me for once?” I say to him. “I have two ropes, one will help me get there while the other is safety rope. “

  “Then let me do it.” He offers.

  “I am lighter than you and I am the only one knows where to put these things for a best explosion.” I explain to him and moved by his offering. “Plus I am probably the only one have done rock climbing before. I need you to be up here in case of any emergency.”

  Ponu pulls the rope from one end while Huo pulls from other. Gongsun Jingsheng holds up on my safety rope. With their help, I slowly move to the right location. I signal them to hold and pull the self-made dynamite out of my backpack.

  I have always known how to get nitroglycerin from soap making proces
s. But I never dare to make it since it is so easy to explode. When I was planning for the expansion of lake, I thought about using it to reduce the need of human labor. When the water receding from the lake, I found the diatomaceous earth from the bottom of lake. The fuse is made with black powder wrapped in waterproof paper.

  My step on the rock slips and I lost my balance. Luckily the dynamite in my hand did not fall.

  “I am all right.” I yell at them.

  After three dynamites in place, the drizzle starts.

  “Shiaonu, come up. We don’t need to do this.” Ponu is very happy. I know he has been worried.

  “All right. Let me collect them back.” I don’t want to waste them since I know how dangerous it is making them.

  General Wei and Gongsun He come when I just finishing collecting all dynamite back to my backpack.

  The drizzle turns into rain by now and the rock is getting really slippery.

  “Gongsun Jingsheng.” I hear Huo’s voice. “You’d better hold tight on your rope. Otherwise, I might accidentally drop you down there.”

  That makes me laugh. I stop climbing until I hear General Wei’s voice.

  “Huo Qubing” He calls Huo’s full name. “You’d better shut up. Can’t you tell you make her laugh? This is not the time to distract her.”

  Every one becomes quiet when General Wei gets mad.

  When I finally climb back, they all look very serious.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask them. “We did it. The rain is finally here.”

  “Shiaonu.” General Wei says to me with a deep regret in his eyes. “If I knew it is going to be this dangerous, I would never allow you to do this.”

  I wipe the rain off my face. “It did not look this bad last time I was here.” With the receding water level, the rocks and cliffs look much scarier than when they were hidden underneath.

  “The rain makes it worse too.” I add.

  “Don’t do it again.” Ponu says to me. “My heart almost jumped out.”

  We throw the fans and salt containers over the cliff. Without any more equipment to carry, it is still difficult going down the mountain. The heavy rain makes everything slippery. We are all soaked head to toe.