16th Day, 4th Month, 1322
I spent the morning contemplating my retirement to a monastery. Towards noon the Noble Count called upon me in a very apologetic frame of mind. He said that he has been sick of late. So much so that a doctor specially summoned from Hou-ming by the Lady Ying-ge has prescribed medicines. Then he told me (for the hundredth time) how a gift of a jade disk from that lady saved his life after the Battle of the Salt Pans. Though I tried to turn the conversation to the condition of the navy and Admiral Won-du’s fitness for command, the Noble Count seemed distracted. Few decisions were reached.
Tonight, as I write, a riotous banquet can be heard in the Noble Count’s wing of the palace. It grieves me to hear such shameless echoes of excess.
18th Day, 4th Month, 1322
Yesterday His Highness was again too ill to receive me. At dawn I sought out Honourable Deng Teng and found him practising divine exercises to the rhythm of the rising sun, his legs and arms tensing and relaxing as one breathes in and out to the rhythms of Eternity. He is a most graceful, handsome gentleman. Yet as soon as he observed me, Deng Teng slumped upon a bench, apparently exhausted by his exertions. I believe his frailty is a matter of policy.
When I broached the subject of the Lady Ying-ge he became cold and suspicious. By these tokens I suspect he has some prior knowledge of her that he is afraid to reveal. Perhaps that knowledge might aid us all, however dangerous he seems to think it.
8th Day, 5th Month, 1322
Weeks have passed since my last entry. The reason: business of state. Above all, a journey to the Salt Pans to ensure the workers there are adequately fed and that the blocks of salt keep flowing. Both aims were achieved.
Today I returned to Chenglingji days before I had notified the Noble Count he could expect me. Perhaps that explains his surprise and annoyance that I had arrived to witness an event of importance.
At noon the Newly Adhered Navy conducted extensive manoeuvres on the lake, which we observed from a special platform built at the end of a long pier. The climax was to be a mock naval battle between different halves of our navy, in which countless missiles of finely ground flour (a lamentable waste when so many are hungry all over our domains) were thrown at the opposing vessels until many were ghostly white – a most unpropitious omen, of course, white being the colour of mourning. The Noble Count seemed hardly to notice, his eyes oddly glazed and glance flickering frequently towards Lady Ying-ge. I detected every sign of a lovers’ quarrel between them. I have never seen him like this, yet dare not enquire too deeply lest he enters one of his dark moods.
As the Newly Adhered Navy sailed clumsily back and forth I witnessed Honourable Deng Teng trying to approach His Highness, only to be rebuffed sarcastically in a way that greatly reduced our noble guest’s dignity. Directly afterwards I noticed Hsiung glancing for approval – how well I know that look! – towards Lady Ying-ge, who seemed to be smiling behind her fan.
Does she, then, have some prior acquaintance with Honourable Deng Teng that makes her ill-disposed towards him? If so, I fear for his safety.
20th Day, 5th Month, 1322
Today I prepared a lengthy discourse on the virtues of the righteous, benevolent ruler for the edification of the Noble Count. Although Hsiung pretended to listen I could tell his thoughts were elsewhere. Would that had been true of his yawns! I left disappointed.
In the afternoon I interviewed our new Lesser Ministers, Chao and Hua, to learn the exact nature of their duties and divine their general intentions. They seem to have the title and rewards of a Minister without any burden of responsibility. Chao is certainly the stupider of the pair and more easily gulled – although his physical strength makes him more intimidating than his constant companion. Hua is a quick-witted fellow who hides his true thoughts behind suave pleasantries and flattery when in the company of superiors; with inferiors he is merciless. I am not so foolish that I do not realise they whisper ceaselessly against me to the Noble Count.
As he left, Hua remarked casually that even the highest can turn out to be cunning traitors and that, as His Highness’s spymaster, he would never lower his vigilance. What disturbed me was his next enquiry – so innocent as to be positively menacing – concerning the state of Honourable Deng Teng’s health. Clearly he is up to something that bodes ill for our noble guest.
Letters to Salt Minister Gui from anonymous agents misfiled in a ledger designated Extraordinary Duties.
(All are written in code, hence, perhaps, the secretary’s error. None of the usual copies of an official reply are attached to the letters, suggesting none were ever sent.)
Summer, 1322
20th Day, 5th Month, 1322
Salt Minister Gui, are you still the one our letters go to? Reply by the agreed way: red (yes), blue, (no). Tell the Prince: attack still planned for autumn, exact date to follow as soon as known. We shall report in person as soon as possible to discuss our reward. Ox and Snake.
2nd Day, 7th Month, 1322
Salt Minister Gui, did you receive our last letter? Red (yes), blue (no). Date of attack set for 9th Day, 9th Month. No reply received from previous message. Confirm our reward as agreed please! Red (yes), blue (no). Ox and Snake.
1st Day, 8th Month, 1322
Salt Minister Gui, did you receive previous message? Please confirm without delay. Red (yes), blue (no). Speak again, we beg Your Excellency, to your superiors regarding our agreed reward. We shall send another message nearer to the 9th Day, 9th Month if you do not reply to this. Ox and Snake.
Police Report to Salt Minister Gui.
Late summer, 1322
Your Honour, the monthly report you requested some time ago concerning the registered scholar, Deng Nan-shi, is hereby attached. Does Your Honour still wish to receive these reports? I humbly beg forgiveness if this question is presumptuous, but it is many months since you asked for them and we have heard nothing from Your Honour. Inspector of Police, Er Dan.
Report: Our informant in Cloud Abode Monastery states the scholar Deng Nan-shi’s health remains very grave: ‘It is as though he is waiting for something before he allows himself to die. When not resting, he occupies himself in meditation or staring into space. Sometimes he writes poems. He receives neither visitors nor messages, but spends time with Abbess Yun Shu, for whom he demonstrates a great affection and respect.’ Conclusion: no cause for arrest or interrogation at the present time.
The diary of Chancellor Liu Shui
(Written in a code decipherable only by those closely familiar with Yun Cai’s ‘Lotus Poem’.)
Summer, 1322
10th Day, 8th Month, 1322
A most regrettable altercation occurred in the Noble Count’s morning audience. At least, one may call the outcome regrettable. As I write this in my quarters I fear spies peering over my shoulder for the first time since I gained the honourable station of Chancellor.
The dispute was provoked by Deng Teng in his role as Respected Friend to the Noble Count. This position gives him the right to voice what others dare only think. One can never fault his integrity or courage. The Noble Count had used the audience to instruct his officers about a new campaign that would commence in twenty days. A campaign larger than any ever attempted by the Yueh Fei rebels: in short, the capture of Hou-ming City.
The senior officers – many loyal to our cause since its birth – muttered anxiously and in great surprise, so the Noble Count was forced to silence them. It was obvious the majority do not consider our strength sufficient for so bold an offensive, yet feared to say so. There was an angry light in the Noble Count’s eyes that made even me hesitate. Fear is the poison that has spread through our court since Lady Ying-ge and her circle gained influence over Hsiung’s mind – as instanced by the summary execution of Naval Commisioner Ma Fu and others accused of treason.
Into this silence stepped Honourable Deng Teng. ‘Your Highness,’ he said, ‘I would be failing in my obligations to you if I did not voice a deep concern. Though only a scholar, I h
ave observed the manoeuvres of the Newly Adhered Navy with close attention. Your Highness, it does not seem ready for so essential a role.’
At this the officers nodded with relief and grunted their agreement. All that is, except Admiral Won-du. He protested they were ready to defeat a force twice their size. Yet I could see the doubt in my beloved Hsiung’s eyes, for Deng Teng had merely voiced his own fear.
‘Your Highness,’ I murmured in his ear, ‘your Respected Friend is certainly right.’
‘Noble Count,’ urged Teng in his forthright way, ‘I beg you to be cautious! First sail with the fleet yourself and attack a town up the coast. That will reveal the Navy’s true readiness.’
A fierce debate followed, but Deng Teng’s point was so well argued even the scorn and insinuations of Ministers Chao and Hua had no effect and the Noble Count agreed to a trial of his navy’s strength. Let me add that Teng’s most vociferous supporter in this matter was the doughty General P’ao, a man whose loyalty to Hsiung can never be doubted.
11th Day, 8th Month, 1322
The Temporary Palace is full of rumours and whisperings; most concern the sincerity and trustworthiness of Honourable Deng Teng. No need to ask which well of malice they are drawn from. I have long noticed a deep tension between Teng and the circle clustering round Lady Ying-ge. She never leaves the Noble Count’s side so it is a great struggle to speak with him alone. The piles of memoranda, petitions and needful decisions that must be authorised grow daily.
12th Day, 8th Month, 1322
His Highness led the Newly Adhered Navy out into the lake for their first taste of true action. They will assault a fortress on the coast north of Chenglingji and be gone some days.
Almost as soon as the Navy had vanished over the horizon a most distressing incident commenced in the gardens, where Honourable Deng Teng was exercising with his close companion, Shensi. Chao and Hua came with a contingent of armed men, seeking to arrest Deng Teng for high treason. They claimed to have intercepted letters proving this crime. By a lucky chance I happened to be taking my afternoon walk in the same section of the gardens and so intervened at the precise moment when weapons had been drawn.
My own bodyguard – each of whom is worth three of those employed by the Lesser Ministers – ensured violence was prevented. Nevertheless, Chao and Hua hurled many charges at Honourable Deng Teng, not just of treason, but that he had tried to seduce Lady Ying-ge in the Noble Count’s absence, making improper suggestions of an amorous kind. Deng Teng’s motive, they claimed, was base jealousy, for everyone knew of the Noble Count’s humble beginnings in the Deng household.
So their plan is revealed! Not just to use forged documents but Ying-ge’s undoubted power over Hsiung, his blindness and absurd devotion. In this way jealous madness might be unleashed. A plot, I fear, likely to succeed.
Such grave charges cannot be ignored and I have placed Deng Teng ‘under arrest’ in my own quarters while I think of a way to avert injustice.
18th Day, 8th Month, 1322
At dawn I took it upon my own authority as Chancellor to send Deng Teng and his companion Shensi away before Hsiung returns. Accordingly, I requisitioned one of two swift ships owned by Ministers Chao and Hua, bolstering their crews with picked men of my own. These men are fanatical in their devotion to the cause of Yueh Fei. I have instructed them that Deng Teng is the last descendent of our Great Hero capable of siring sons and that they must sacrifice their lives sooner than allow him to perish. All swore solemn oaths to never fail in that duty.
Luckily the ship was being maintained in a state of readiness for instant departure. It has been made quite clear to the captain that a failure to co-operate will lead to his immediate execution, followed by the death of his two sons who I have taken hostage.
These desperate measures are the only way I can see of preventing a crime that would damage Hsiung’s equanimity forever – more deeply even than the sacrilege he committed in the Buddha’s caves. At least he was defending himself there. If, in a jealous rage, he ordered the death of his boyhood companion, nay, the only son of the noble scholar who fed him when he was an abandoned child, how lamentable a fall from virtue that would be!
With luck, Chao and Hua will not discover the absence of their ship until tomorrow, by which time Teng will be beyond reach.
Word has arrived that the ‘trial’ of the Newly Adhered Navy was chaotic. I anticipate Hsiung’s return with foreboding. His moods, darker and less manageable with each year that passes, will hardly be improved by the failure of his beloved fleet.
20th Day, 8th Month, 1322
The Noble Count has returned. I am still reeling from the harshness of his criticisms towards me. If it did not mean abandoning him to the mercies of Ying-ge and her circle, thereby condemning our noble cause to failure at the very time we are gaining in power, I would resign my Chancellorship. I can write no more tonight.
30th Day, 8th Month, 1322
Despite all evidence of the fleet’s weakness in battle and all the advice, no, entreaties, of his trusted captains and officers and officials, the Noble Count has sailed off to attack Hou-ming. As for me, he avoids my presence. I suspect pride lies behind it – and the ceaseless flattery and whisperings of Ying-ge. She gave me a smile of malicious triumph as she waved a yellow handkerchief in farewell. In less than ten days they will be besieging Hou-ming, having disembarked our land army to surround the city as planned. At that point the Newly Adhered Navy will assault the harbour and wharfs using specially built ships with towering prows. I fear such an assault may prove inept. Worse, I begin to have misgivings we are sailing into a trap. Yet surely our agents would have reported any gathering of enemy forces?
2nd Day, 9th Month, 1322
We wait for news of the war. Nothing yet. However, an unexpected – and not entirely unwelcome event – has occurred. Ministers Chao and Hua sailed away without warning in the middle of the night. No one knows where or why. Lady Ying-ge seemed as surprised as anyone. All her valuables had been packed for days, as though she anticipated a sudden departure of her own. Spies in her quarters have reported that these treasures – jewellery, pearls, silks and cash given as presents by the Noble Count – vanished along with Ministers Chao and Hua. It is assumed a maid provided the thieves with access to Lady Ying-ge’s not inconsiderable wealth.
Her anger and wailing shook the palace! She even sought me out, shrieking demands that I send ships and men in pursuit of her treacherous allies. That, I advised her, scarcely concealing my amusement, was impossible; all available men are needed to protect the Noble Count’s belongings from thieves in his absence. The expression of mingled vexation, hatred and fear on her pretty little face was a joy to behold. If my suspicions prove correct her fear will be more than justified.
Part Six
Heaven’s Judgements
Thirty-one
Hou-ming City, 8th Day, 9th Month, 1322
Yun Shu’s palanquin slowed to a halt. The street was blocked by bare-chested penitents, some moaning in a trance, others chanting half-learned sutras. Their hysteria had been gathering for months, years. Passions simmering since the riots between the Buddhists and Daoists at the start of the summer. Now that cauldron, stoked by ambitious men, threatened to boil over.
‘Bo-Bai!’ she called, leaning out of the palanquin. ‘Can we advance no further?’
It was dusk. Already she was late for her appointment with Worthy Master Jian at Golden Bright Temple. All day she had delayed her departure from Cloud Abode Monastery. Reports flew everywhere of crowds inflamed by holy men from Tibet. The city authorities were also much to blame. As soon as the huge rebel fleet had been sighted near Hou-ming, proclamations appeared on all ward gates stating the Yueh Fei bandits planned to massacre the entire population of the city.
Prince Arslan’s intention had been obvious: dissuade malcontents from supporting the rebels when they attacked. Yet the people had reacted in surprising ways. Though it was over forty years since the Great Sacrif
ice in Hou-ming, terror was an abiding wound. The loss of entire generations haunted everyone. Sheer panic welled from the dark places of numerous souls. Crowds of the Buddha’s most zealous followers gathered in the slave market, burning incense, chanting, praying and pleading for salvation. This mass of bodies blocked Yun Shu’s way.
‘Bo-Bai!’ she called ‘Should we go back?’
The tall old eunuch appeared at the window.
‘Hide yourself!’ he hissed. ‘What if you are recognised?’
Yun Shu hesitated. Yet her robes were plain enough and her nun’s ‘whirlwind clouds’ hair concealed beneath a shawl.
Certainly some fanatic might decide Abbess Yun Shu’s presence was an affront to the Buddha Makhala. Around them penitents jostled and advanced slowly in the direction of the market square. Many were emaciated by hunger and labour; their naked torsos bore lesions caused by accidents, whips, disease. People with nothing to lose except their hope for a favourable rebirth.
‘I dare not disappoint the Worthy Master,’ she told Bo-Bai. ‘If the palanquin can go no further, I shall walk.’
Though Bo-Bai protested, Yun Shu was accustomed to getting her way.
‘You’ll be no help to anyone dead,’ he muttered as she stepped out of the palanquin and pushed into the crowd. ‘He won’t be able to suck you dry then.’
Yun Shu ignored both warnings. ‘Golden Bright Temple is not far. Stay close to me, Bo-Bai.’
They came upon a clear alleyway that led in the direction of the temple. Yun Shu’s ears echoed with droning voices and shuffling feet. Surely the authorities should not allow such a gathering, not with enemy forces approaching the city. Surely they would clear the streets.
The Mandate of Heaven Page 40