The prince, due to a lack of trying, could not fall asleep fast that night.
His mind was preoccupied with the barefooted girl adorned with the reddest of hair he had met under the stars' watchful eyes. He noticed when the light touched it her hair was bright like the fire his soldiers would gather around on a winter night, yet in shadow it turned deep red as the sun when it arose the morning after a battle. Her eyes, he remembered, held the gold flecks of a canola flower, and yet also were swimming with the green streams of a forest. He pondered with all curiosity, which land on this world she came from to be blessed with such features. Finally, Chang Gong decided that wherever it was he should like to go there and see all its wonders someday.
In his nineteen years, he had never come across a spirit like hers, so unchained to the boundaries the world created, so free to pursue gaiety in all its forms. To look with such wonder at even the smallest joys of a garden the way she did, and to have courage enough to search for those wonders without restraint. That lack of restraint which allowed her to slip past his guards so nonchalantly, men who were chosen from the best squadrons, men who he himself had trained, fought, and killed beside, witnessing their skills on the battlefield, it was absurd to think them bested by one girl who had arrived in this place not even a week ago. And yet he himself witnessed it. Who was this stranger that she should be so free to wander through the palace at the whims of her pure curiosity, and feel no fear? Perhaps miracle was indeed the only word befitting her.
Chang Gong continued to ponder and stare at the ceiling above him as he laced his hands behind his head. The red panelling was adorned with intricate carvings of florals and birds, which followed the lines of the wood they were carved on, and was fitted with the finest lanterns in the empire. These were made by the hands of rare artisans and strung together to neatly form a line which ended at his open window, as is fitting for the room of a prince such as himself, although he had never cared for or noticed these trivial details before. Still, he found himself tracing each one with his eyes landing his final gaze on the scene of the black sky that awaited outside his room and stared in wonder at the moon which stared back. A little smile crept onto his face for the fifth time that day. The other four times had been in the presence of this girl, Lì Lóng huā, and he wandered if she too was looking at the same scene from her own window, or if she had perhaps already drifted into sweet slumber. The prince wondered what her real name was too, and who had bestowed upon her such a unique one. This thought led him to recall the name she herself had bestowed upon him that day, "Shang." A strange attachment to it came naturally, as she was the one who bestowed it. She who seemed to be all curiosity and happiness and no affliction. A most ridiculous idea formed in his mind of what would occur should he decide to take the name as a formal one. He could already hear what his uncle, the emperor, would say "you would suffer your name and therefore your reputation for a woman?! What good was your family's love if you are so willing to be rid of their name? Damn you young pretentious fool, I envy you. If only an emperor could have such freedom to think wildly as you." The event of course would never take place, but he didn't mind fancying it. And in the end, laughter was the only suitable response to this imagining.
But still, he could only ponder so much about what story she was thinking of when she called him that, a person she had spent all together less than an hour with, and he pondered the meaning of her words that followed, "If this were a different time, you'd be able to tell it better." They rolled around in his head over and over, and yet he could make no sense of them. And even so, his smile deepened, and with the calming thoughts that his imaginings brought, Chang Gong's eyelids finally closed.
The prince had never gone to bed with a deep enthusiasm for what tomorrow might hold, however, on this night the sunrise couldn't come fast enough.
***
Morning brought the usual routine that Chang Gong had practiced every day since he was a young boy. It usually followed the order of greetings to palace residents, breakfast, and then meetings. As age became him, those meetings turned from politics into military tactics, and became increasingly brutal as the discussions shifted from mostly financial topics to ones such as conscription age and war strategies. In both cases it had always been tedious for him to sit and listen to older men plan their way through the ranks with a disregard to common human lives which depended on their kindness and consideration. In fact it had made him physically sick multiple times to hear their immoral ramblings and schemes, bringing up the remnants of whatever meal he had last consumed. But with his position as a prince and the duties which it bestowed upon him, there was little power Chang Gong had to change the way his time was spent, as he was at the mercy of the emperor to do his bidding.
In his good opinion, this fault had potential to be the downfall of the Empire he served, where the commoners were at the mercy of the elites who cared only for position and power. It was true also that his emperor, his uncle, was in a way, at their mercy too, as they could attack him like vultures should he offend the wrong person at the wrong time but once. These were the thoughts that often prevented the prince any time he wished to oppose matters on the grounds of morality during these meetings, since his words would certainly have an impact on the treatment of anyone close to him. As a result, he had learned it was better to make himself scarce both inside and outside the war tents and council rooms, so the opportunity never arose for his family and friends to become a target of political warfare.
But today these were not the thoughts he had on his mind. No, Chang Gong was much too contented to set his thoughts on Lì Lóng huā and her hazel eyes instead. And then there was that smile again, creeping its way onto his face as it had countless times that day.
"Your Majesty?" Chang Gong raised his eyes abruptly from his seat at the head of the table and faced the fifteen advisors and generals who also sat in the war tent, silently waiting for his reply.
What had they been discussing?
"Your majesty, we would like to hear your opinion on the matter of moving our troops away from the Western border?" … ah.
"Yes I think it a wise move, it has been confirmed by the emperor one of my own messengers will ride to the border at dawn to see it happen."
"But your majesty we must show strength- "
"No, we must show wisdom and loyalty to our own, Official Xu. Those men have been at the border over eight months now. They were only provided with the resources for six, upon your order. They have run out of food rations and medical supplies not to mention their scouts are being killed by those of the Northern Zhou army each night that passes. How are they to protect the border when they are all dead? You already put those men at the risk and mercy of Northern Zhou when you extended their mission and the council trusted your decision out of respect, but we have seen enough of its failure. It has already been decided by the emperor that these men will return and be rewarded a two-month recuperation period paid by the treasury to make up for the time you lost us by keeping them there. The border will continue to be protected by a dispatch of your own personal men as punishment for your poor judgement while we prepare our next steps in negotiating with Northern Zhou."
The silence which followed this assertion was unusual in its nature to Chang Gong, never before had these men had nothing to say. It amused him slightly more than it should have.
"As I said, a messenger at dawn. Any objections?" murmurs and humphs circulated the tent in response to the blunt finalising of the discussion but all reluctantly bowed in agreement. "Great. I must be off gentlemen I have other matters to attend to. Should the situation at the border change send for me immediately." Chang Gong couldn't be out of that war tent soon enough. He convinced himself it was because he genuinely had things to do but in reality the prince's heart was racing at the sudden mixture of emotions of fear, amusement, and anger that rose to his mind in that moment, and how he might express them if he stayed longer. Anger rose for the injustice towards those men who had served so vigilantly and been betrayed, some who were younger than him, and fear of the men he had most certainly just offended. The amusement, however, came as Chang Gong pondered what the red-haired girl might have thought had she been known to the conversation, and if she might have said something similar in his position, expressing all the confidence she had done the day before to men twice her age and strength.
He passionately despised the political games of the officials he worked with but had a sickening feeling the emperor had unintentionally thrown him into one by giving him the task of relaying this particular order and seeing it carried out, righteous as the order was. The prince continued his fast pace as he sauntered away from the war tent and through the training grounds, which were positioned just outside the palace on its eastern side, being the furthest position from the enemies which surrounded the kingdom on the other sides. The mud and grass under his boots got damper as he drew nearer to the ocean which awaited at the end of the grounds. The walk was good for his mind, as it helped him to forget the coarse emotions he had felt, and soon the only sensations he could feel was the squelching of the mud turning to grainy sand and the morning sun warming his face in the cold autumn air which surrounded him.
"HA!" a slap on the shoulder awoke Chang Gong from his senseless walking as someone came to his side and matched his pace, "That was a sight I shall never forget my prince, I've never witnessed you so assertive amongst politicians, and the look on Official Xu's face! HA HA!" Captain Gang, finally some relief would be had for the prince, "If I were a painter I'd surely do his portrait of that moment and keep it on my wall to look at when I got sad. HA HA HA!" A slight colouring landed on the prince's cheeks as he roughly put his arm around his friend and walked with him through the camp, remembering that the captain was also in the meeting and had clearly followed him out of tent. It was obvious the man had only waited for a large enough distance to be walked before being unchained by propriety and sharing a more casual demeaner with the prince. "Now that my friend is a piece of art I would pay a high price for. We could make copies and sell it to that anonymous author who keeps publishing comedies. I'm sure it would induce an entertaining story for us all." More laughter came from the men as they walked together without acknowledging the seriousness of what had just occurred in that war tent. Which is what Chang Gong liked about captain Gang so much, he had no issue in showing his disregard for politics and the games of schemers around him, in fact he hated it even more so than the prince. He was a simple man, with a good heart, and there was nothing Chang Gong could fault in that. And so on they walked together, preparing for a good day's hard training under the autumn sun.