~TIEN LYN~
Tien Lyn darted for the back of the banquet hall, intending to flee through the servants' doors. She did not even see the door, as the lights and the colors all got smothered by the yet unspilled tears. But it was there, and once she was through it, she could cry over her ruined life. Just a few more steps--
Iron fingers shackled her wrist, stopping Tien Lyn in her tracks.
"Sit," Lady Chen Guang commanded under her breath.
Tien Lyn obeyed out of habit. She dropped down on a cushion with all the grace of a sack of rice. Good thing there was a cushion, otherwise, she would have hit the floor. Her sight and hearing returned with the impact, the room came back into focus.
Nobody really moved since the Thirty Claw's voice thundered down on her. Was she fleeing for only a few heartbeats? It felt like she should have been half-way to Sutao after her desperate dash, or at least by those doors, but no...
Her father moved as smoothly as ever. An amicable smile playing on his lips, he toasted the Admiral: "What a refreshing way of putting it, my Lord. We are fortunate to have you to enliven our humble gathering!"
Thirty Claws looked at the faces turned towards him, said "Aye!" and laughed. The noblemen surrounding Lord Chen Xi and Thirty Claws let go of the cautious half-miles in favor of laughter with palpable relief.
The pleasant hum of the banquet room resumed, the tense moment passed, but Tien Lyn found herself a place far away from the pirate, and from everyone for that matter.
The incident would be repeated, word for word, a thousand times. As unpleasant as it was, she did not think it would amount to much. Thirty Claws would say something even more outrageous soon, and it would all be forgotten. But the thought of a small horde of pirates apparently lined up for her handmade her weep inside.
If her father was maneuvering to improve his position at Court by marrying her off to the Laughing Men Islands' Pirate clan, her life was over. She'd be better of throwing herself into the lotus pond in the garden.
Surely her mother would never allow it? The Admiral was only in Emperor's favor as long as the Emperor was intent on his conquests! All the reasonable men expected the Son of Heavens to lose interest quite soon. Her own father, Lord Chen Xi, was chief among them, always speaking against wars beyond the Imperial borders. Mother would never let her be packed away to marry a pirate... would she?
Ancestors, did I jinx my foretold marriage to a prince of the Imperial Family?
Tien Lyn was so engrossed in her worries, that she did not notice the young man who sat on the other side of the screen until he called out a cheerful greeting. "Salutations, Graceful Lady Tien Lyn!"
Tien Lyn did not have a chance to return the gentleman's greeting, because he pressed on too quickly: "We only have a moment before your esteemed lady mother intervenes. But hear me out. Your honor will be restored. Tonight. This I swear."
A smug grin accompanied the words, but the man's hand rested on a handle of a pistol, an outrageously expensive novelty. He turned a little to reveal the second pistol at his other side, an almost unheard of luxury outside of the Imperial Family. Yet there were no Wo Jia's dragons anywhere on his clothes.
Caught between curiosity and caution, Tien Lyn actually felt relieved to see her mother approach.
Lady Chen Guang had not lost her voice the way her daughter did.
"Young Master Han Zheng!" she exclaimed in a wonderful imitation of sincere joy, "How is your father's health? You must be gravely worried about him to delay your departure to your new post in the Quantong Province."
The man was not a prince, but someone very close to it. Han was an old name. Zheng sure looked the part too! He was well aware of how handsome he was: his mustache was trimmed to suit his round face, and his hair - carefully coiffed in a fierce warrior knot. He looked just like the heroes of the Dynasty of Purifying Glory in the paintings.
The gentleman rose to make a bow to Lady Chen Guang. "Lord Han Yun has disowned me. Thus, sadly, I have no longer the right to call the esteemed man my father, even if I am still named Han."
"How unfortunate." Lady Chen Guang did not sound the least bit regretful, and it was deliberate.
Han Zheng ignored the slight. "To answer your second query, Lady, I am staying in Xichon for as long as it takes to procure a map showing the fabulous Province of Quantong. I am not a seasoned traveler, so I am afraid to wander the width and breadth of the Evershining Empire hoping to fortuitously happen upon it. Praised be our Celebrated Emperor for accepting this far-away land into our Realm!"
"Praised be the Son of Heavens!" Lady Chen Guang echoed. "I hope you find your map swiftly. A man of your years must grow restless waiting in idleness for so long."
"I cope!"
"I hear it snows there, and the views of the mountain peaks are tremendous."
"Quite so, My Lady! The barbarian furs will compliment my complexion too. A great big hat, and a heavy collar, what do you think?" with a disarming smile on his bow-shaped lips, Han Zheng mimicked a wide hat over his head and brushed off the imaginary snow off the pretend fur collar. The hand-waving showed off elegant hands with the well-groomed nails.
Those elegant hands also lightly brushed the pistols' handles before Han Zheng made one last bow and withdrew. Sometimes the gossip made duelists sound like fools, and sometimes – like heroes. Which one is Han Zheng?
Lady Chen Guang was not at all conflicted on the subject. "This boy is a murderer and a thief. Do not speak to him again."
"He only wished to reassure me," Tien Lyn mumbled.
Her mother's fan fluttered, her replacement for giggling when in public. "By showing off like a barbarian?"
She rebuked before she thought better of it, "He was very kind, Mother."
Lady Chen Guang's fan dropped in a chopping motion, reminding Tilen Lyn that these dainty things also served as weapons in skilled hands. "Kindness is a commendable quality in a gentleman. Unfortunately, Han Zheng does not possess it."
Tien Lyn tried to make herself larger like a cat spoiling for a fight. "And the pirates do? Surely, any Han is better than... than..."
"Not by much," Something in the set of her mother's jaw gave Tien Lyn a bit of hope that she did not approve the pirate match for her. "Lord Yun has many sons. Zheng is the prettiest of the lot because he took after his mother. She had every man in Sutao dreaming and spending. Old Han paid her weight in pearls for the exclusive patronage."
She tried to hide her disappointment. A courtesan's son had little prospects.
"Walking with your eye closed, are you, Daughter?" Lady Chen Guang twisted her fan, bringing to mind the knives and the wounds.
Ancestors, does she know everything about me? Tien Lyn wished she had still been sitting by the Modest Lady, blissfully ignorant and concerned with nothing but juicy gossip. Then, again, maybe that's how her misfortunes had started. "On the contrary, Mother. I am too afraid to fall."
Lady Chen Guang gave her a quizzical look. Or was it an understanding look? "The boy embarrassed Han family countless times. Unfortunately, he was forgiven nearly as many times. Han paid dearly for it. A thousand years of dutiful service cannot erase the shame the young rascal brought upon the family."
Tien Lyn thought fast. Should she agree? Feign disinterest? Offer slight defiance?
"But Mother," she managed at last, "you must believe that the illustrious Lord Han Yun is on the brink of reconciliation! Otherwise, you would have never invited Han Zheng to attend tonight."
"The invitation... phew..." Lady Chen Guang dismissed it with a lovely wave of her fan. "The scoundrel betrayed Han's clients in Shantong, all of them good loyal families. He spent the relief money he was entrusted with on his foolish pistols."
Tien Lyn pressed the palms to her burning cheeks. Oh, how she wished now that her hands were still icy with nerves! She had no idea what sort of a portentous disaster hit Shantong. If it had happened three thousand years back, she'd probably had known it. How droll...
"What Han Zheng did was shameful," Tien Lyn finally admitted, giving up on defending the indefensible.
"He will finally be punished for his trespasses," Lady Chen Guang nodded, "The post in Quantong Province sounds lenient, however, it is not even on the Imperial maps yet, a barbarian land, newly conquered. They have no love for us, the Shen."
Tien did not like where that line of reasoning was leading.
"I can't imagine the boy winning much favor with the barbarians." Lady Chen Guang lifted Tien Lyn's drooping head with her folded fan. The ivory ribs bit into her chin. "And Lord Han Yun knows his son better than anyone else. Not that the boy is the deepest well in the village."
"I see. It is almost certainly a death sentence."
Lady Chen Guang smiled. "That's right. As for your father's negotiations with the Admiral... we will talk of this later. Can I attend to our guests now, without worrying about you doing something foolish?"
"Yes, mother." Tien Lyn bowed and watched her go with growing apprehension. Had Lord Han Yun brought his son a delayed death sentence?
The more Tien Lyn tried to put the flawed young man out of her mind, the more her curiosity grew. There was something compelling about him and his promise. She tried to catch a glimpse of him in the shifting crowd of men beyond the silkscreens, but she could not.
Even when she hid in the second-floor gallery instead of retiring to the women's rooms at the end of the banquet, she still did not see him.
The last of the guests crossed the courtyard and climbed into their litters and carriages. The heavy bronze gates of the estate closed with a final thud, and still, there was no Han Zheng. He must have left earlier.
Disappointed, Tien Lyn hugged herself to ward off a sudden chill and checked around the corner. No servants blocked her escape on the staircase. Step by careful step, mindful of the creaking wood, Tien Lyn walked down.
Mocking her efforts, a sound like a thunderclap erupted in the night.
Tien Lyn froze and listened for it to echo. It was thrilling, it was dangerous, it was like the wrath of Heavens.
Screams, wails, and, finally, urgent pounding on Chen's gates followed. Faster than a swallow, Tien Lyn flew right back up the stairs to her observation post.
Her father and mother already stood in the middle of the courtyard, and the servants crowded around them. The gates re-opened to admit a group of somber men carrying something heavy.
A body of a large man.
They deposited him on the ground by her parents' feet. Her mother covered her face with a sleeve. Her father took half-a-step back.
In the torchlight, Tien Lyn recognized the garish golden silks and the massive frame before her father's voice demanded to know if Admiral Thirty Claws was dead.
Tien Lyn had never seen a corpse before, and she was too far to really tell, but she just knew that he was.
"Where is the assassin?" Lord Chen yelled, shaking his fists up in the air. "I shall deliver the criminal to the Emperor!"
Thirty Claws' servants kneeled.
"It wasn't an assassin, My Lord," one of them pleaded. "A gentleman challenged our Master to answer for the injury he did to the honor of the Graceful Lady Tien Lyn. The Master accepted, so under the law, it was not a murder. He accepted the challenge. He did."
"What was the gentleman's name?"
"Zha Yao. Zha Yao, the Noble Outlaw, that's what he'd called himself. Thirty Claws laughed very hard and said he'll shoot the pup to teach him a lesson. Only... only this Zha Yao had demons' luck! He shot from thirty paces and hit the Admiral in the chest. I've never seen anything like this, my Lord. The wound is small, but Master died before anything could be done."
Zha Yao? Surely, it was not some unknown Zha Yao, but noble Han Zheng who shot Thirty Claws just like he'd promised her? Zha Yao was not even a name. It was what that smelly powder they used to make fireworks was called. Zha yao, the black powder...
The same thing must have occurred to her mother because Lady Chen Guang asked after Zha Yao's appearance and the manner of his dress. The servants were glad to oblige.
"...just the pants and the shirt, m'lady, very plain, all white, like the peasants wear, but it was silk..."
"... and he wore a red scarf over his face and a conical hat like the Southerners, so we couldn't see his face, lady..."
"...but he had a pistol, and that made him a gentleman, and he spoke like one too..."
After the chorus died down, Lord and Lady Chen conferred for a few moments, and then Lady Chen Guang glanced at the gallery and went into the house. Tien Lyn did not wait to find out if her mother knew of her whereabouts or not. She ran to her room making thunderous noise with her sandaled feet on the wooden floors -for who was there to hear it?- and hid in her bed.
She waited and waited, but to her surprise, Lady Chen Guang did not come in to check in on her. Long after her heart stopped pounding from running, her thoughts made it race anew.
Had the pirate who slew demons by the dozen been shot in a duel on her behalf?
Truly?
A man was shot because of her?!
And was the Noble Outlaw Zha Yao in truth none other than her self-appointed champion, Han Zheng?