CHAPTER 2
Li Xin made his way to the courtroom with an amiable smile etched on his face. Just a glance would offer comfort that he himself was not feeling. His smile faltered as the doors to the courtroom loomed over him. After a brief moment of hesitation, he corrected his smile and pushed open the doors.
At the end of the courtroom, on a seat two steps below the throne, sat the second prince, Li Qing (now Lord Qingjun). I think I am going to drop his given name for a while and go with his title. It will help the story flow better.) bent over some documents. Beside him was the fourth prince, Li Jun, who wasn't supposed to be in the Imperial Palace at all.
Li Xin focused on Lord Qingjun as he got closer to the throne. "Greetings, your lordship."
"Spare the formalities; why are you here?" Instead of Lord Qingjun, Li Jun answered.
Without missing a beat, Li Xin threw back the question, "Why are you here? Aren't you underage?"
Before Li Jun could fly in a rage, Lord Qing Jun looked up from the documents and said, "Xindi, be more tolerant of your brother. He is but a child."
Li Xin rolled his eyes inwardly. A vicious stray cat, that one.
"There have been several queries about your conduct in the capital." Lord Qingjun gestured at the documents lying on the table and said, "FuWang may have overlooked them, but I won't."
Fuwang is Chinese for Emperor Father. (That's how princes addressed their fathers in Chinese dramas.)
Li Xin's hands clenched into fists under his sleeve. This guy has barely warmed his seat, but he was already cleaning the house.
"You have been soliciting support from General Xie, which is a tad bit inappropriate. You do know FuWang's position on this matter. Liaising with General Xie is treason, little brother; his position is precarious."
Li Xin maintained the comfortable smile despite swearing from the first level of hell down to the eighteenth level, "I understand your worries, your lordship, but I have never associated with General Xie."
A smile that was not a smile found its way onto Lord Qingjun's lips. "Is that so? Why is the evidence saying otherwise?"
A eunuch was given a bunch of files to present to Li Xin, who hastily looked through them, his fear only present in the slight trembling of his hands. According to the evidence, he was seen, on multiple occasions, sneaking into General Xie's mansion by an eunuch who desperately wanted to share the Emperor's burden. Several witnesses were found, one of whom was Li Xin's manservant, who had disappeared over a month ago. He calmly returned the files to the eunuch, who stepped back into the shadows.
"Surely you do not think I would dare to associate with General Xie openly, where everyone would see me?" Li Xin asked, feeling quite baffled. While it made sense that Lord Qing Jun was cleaning house, why was he targeting him when the eldest prince, Li Guangda, was still alive and well? That phoenix has the most legitimate claim to the thron, being born to the Emperor and the Empress, but he was going after poor ol' Li Xin.
Lord Qing Jun propped up his head with one hand and said, "I don't know, would you?"
Li Xin was lost for words, but they were flowing all right for Lord Qing Jun: "There are many petitions asking for your execution, but you are my brother after all; it pains me to think of your death, so I prepared a second option for you."
As if! Li Xin fought the urge to roll his eyes; this guy probably couldn't wait for that to happen. He dropped to his knees and kowtowed, "Bestow upon me your grace, your lordship. I accept the second option."
Lord Qing Jun raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you don't even know what the option is."
"Your magnanimity is great, your lordship. I know you have great plans for me." Said Li Xin, his face still plastered to the ground. Had he looked up, he would have caught the smirk that graced his second brother's features.
"To preserve your life and appease the officials, we arrived at some sort of agreement. You will have to leave the capital for some time."
This was basically exile, Li Xin thought, but he would take it over death at any time. After Lord Qing Jun dismissed him, he returned to his mother's palace and found her still sitting on the rocking chair out in the cold. His mother's dementia and the Emperor's waning favor plunged Li Xin deeper and deeper into despair; he went days without food just to preserve his mother's life. What would become of her after he left? Sighing, he helps his mother inside and warms up a pot of tea for her before proceeding to park up. After settling with his mother, he took an eunuch with him. As they approached the imperial highway, a poem suddenly crossed his mind: 'No tank nasty in an eye, no dust rising from the road. The traveler's heart is light as he journeys to Guangzhou's abode.'
(This poem was written by Du Fu, a Chinese poet from the Tang dynasty.)
Li Xin smiles despite himself; he was looking forward to the journey, although he was headed to Dali City in the southwest. His second brother would never send him anywhere where he would gain a foothold. As they journeyed on the imperial highway, he realized Lord Qing Jun had never planned to send him anywhere alive.
Later that day, towards evening, Lord Qing Jun was still bent over the documents, but the fourth prince was nowhere around. He had probably run off somewhere, taking advantage of his new-found freedom. He felt at ease knowing that his brother could enjoy his childhood while he was still a child.
Lord Qing Jun stood up and walked over to the throne, running his fingers on the golden seat. Emperor Zhongzong didn't make him regent because of some untapped talent he must have noticed in him; his royal father wanted to see the world burn, and he knew this because he was the same kind of person. But, of course, he wasn't as unhinged as his royal father.
When it got darker, two dark shadows crept into the courtroom and knelt in submission. "We deserve death, your lordship."
Lord Qing Jun kept his eyes on the throne. "He got away?"
"Yes, your lordship, but not unscathed. Shall we give chase?"
"No need. I shall count it his good fortune to escape; he is not much of a threat after all."
After he dismissed the shadows, Lord Qing Jun gave some thought to the fact that Li Xin had escaped. His third brother was always slithering in and out of the shadows, seeming unassuming to plenty, but he knew him a little because he had been paying attention to him. Their father, Emperor Zhongzong, has four sons. The eldest prince, Li Guangda, was soft-spoken and amiable like his mother, the empress, a temperament that was better suited for a scholar, but the politics surrounding his birth forced him to become a soldier. It was a wonder how he survived at the border to this day.
The second prince, Lord Qing Jun, was to a large extent as cunning as their father, but growing up with love from his mother and maternal family had him wanting to protect that love at all costs. As for the fourth prince, Li Jun, he was still a child.
The third prince, Li Xin, was an enigma. To most people, there was only the eldest, second, and fourth princes, but no third. That was a testament to how invisible Li Xin was. Lord Qing Jun held the notion that being noticed in the Imperial Palace was quite easy; staying unnoticed was the opposite. That was why Lord Qing Jun tried to remove Li Xin.
Given how smart Li Xin was, he won't be going to Dali City. Well, it didn't matter where he slithered off to; his mother was still in the Imperial Palace. All his actions will have to take that into consideration.
Three months later...
Li Xin arrived in Nanhai too exhausted to curse Lord Qing Jun for his unscrupulousness. The man had people at every checkpoint waiting for him, so he had to take many detours and finally complete the rest of the journey by sea. What was more shocking was that he only survived that journey due to the intelligence of his eunuch. Anyway, they were broke and hungry and cold and thirsty.
Nanhai was quite far away from Chang'an, but that didn't stop the Fang or Loulan clan from sinking their talons in her flesh, although it wasn't quite deep. Guangzhou, however, was another story. It was a semi-autonomous state inside Qing founded and governed by the Jian family, bolstering the wealth of Qing because of her vast waterways. Li Xin had always wanted to visit Guangzhou, but not like this. He was practically a beggar at this point. A feeling of devastation washed over him as he watched the bustling streets of Nanhai through the colored lens of bitterness.
"Don't let it bother you, your highness. He who is down needs fear, no fall." His eunuch made an awkward attempt at comforting him, but this attempt was all Li Xin needed at that point.
"Let's find somewhere to lay our bodies to rest,"
"Hua."
"Yes, Eunuch Hua. You once said Nanhai was your hometown; do you perhaps know where the royal residence is?"
Eunuch Hua bowed low and hesitated. "But..."
"No need to worry." Li Xin stretched and straightened his robes. He hasn't had a bath in days, but he doesn't smell bad. What a good body! "Lord Qing Jun did not make the petition public, so it is obvious he has things restricting him. Staying in the royal residence should be fine; besides, I am the real deal."
Having heard that, Hua set his worries aside and hurried to the government office to get the keys to the royal residence. Fortunately, the sheriff had a portrait of Prince Li Xin hanging in his office. Why he has a portrait of a prince only a handful of people knew existed is worth looking into, but is a story for another day.
Eunuch Hua returned to pick up Li Xin, and together they cleaned up the royal residence to make it inhabitable. Before they knew it, night had fallen, so Li Xin opted for a rest. After having a refreshing bath and a change of clothes, he and his eunuch began to roam Nanhai, taking notes on the affluent houses and districts.
After an hour of roaming, Li Xin entered a building called Yunshao Pavilion and happened to hear the women discussing the phoenix son of Guangzhou Jian Nanfeng and the scholarly scoundrel Xiao Gumei, so he decided to get a seat close to them. From their conversation, he learned that these two men were at the extreme ends of a rope: one was the leader of the noble men, while the other was the leader of the underbelly of Guangzhou and Nanhai. Apparently they would have an epic showdown in five days! Five days… Li Xin turned to Eunuch Hua and found his eyes sparkling. If they left now, they could make it to Guangzhou before the showdown, and if he could meet Jian Nanfeng, it would be worth it. And so Li Xin made another impulsive decision of his life; he dragged Eunuch Hua with him to board a ship to Guangzhou with the last of their money.
GUANGZHOU
The scent of herbs was often associated with Wuyi District because it had a lot of pharmacies. Right now, it was spring, so the wave of malaria-stricken patients was quite high. Most low-end pharmacies were filled to the brim with peasants, but only the Xiao Clinic was patronized by both peasants and nobility. They had quite the number of attendants, of which Gumei is among, but right now he was in the Summer Cold pavilion with a damp cloth tied over his nose.
The scent of Jimsonweed was quite strong, which was the work of Gumei himself. A man laid on the soft cushions, completely intoxicated. This man was the head of the Huangpu dock Water Dragon gang; he had been causing trouble for some merchants under Gumei's protection, so he had been invited to deal with it. Outside the private room, conversations about his contest with that peacock, Jian Nanfeng, were on the rise, so despite himself, he still listened in. Knowing Nanfeng'er, he would choose a field that both of them were less proficient in so he could shine at the end with some ridiculous stroke of luck. But Gumei didn't want to participate in the contest at all; he was coerced into it! At this point, he planned to put on the towel and walk out; that would hurt Nanfeng's pride more.
"Seeing two handsome men getting all sweaty would be excellent." Some very shameless young ladies were discussing Gumei and Nanfend out loud.
"Gumei would win though; rolling in the mud with those ruffians comes with some benefits, you know." Another lady replied, and Gumei couldn't hold back a snort. He does not roll in the mud with others; he makes others roll in the mud for him.
Some noble ladies were surrounding those shameless girls; they swung their fans furiously as if to blow those outrageous words away. "Don't be ridiculous! Jianlang is a phoenix risen from the ashes, an upright sword cutting down his enemies, a—"
"Jianlang? Don't be ridiculous; your family hasn't successfully proposed marriage to the city owner, but you are already calling him Langjun. A toad lusting after a swan's flesh," one of the shameless ladies cut her off, sending the noble lady into a fit. Of course, the situation escalated quickly, but Gumei didn't know how it was settled because his eyes were occupied by the betting odds hanging on the wall in the open restaurant. Nanfeng's odds were greater than his!
Langjun is an affectionate way of addressing a husband in Chinese. (You can add lang to the surname of your husband, as I did in Jianlang.)
How ridiculous! Gumei beckoned to the guy he had appointed to watch the door and had him go down to bet Jian Nanfeng. He would have to lose badly when the time comes. This was a get-rich-quick scheme; how smart!
Shortly after, Jian Nanfeng arrived at the pavilion and swung his head around, looking for Gumei. He didn't put it above Gumei to shirk away from participating, so he had to make sure he was here first. He didn't want to win by default because the other was a no-show.
A crowd gathered around the platform at the center of the pavilion as Jian Nanfeng stepped on it. Gumei quietly watched Nanfeng from the private room above and cursed the other man's overeagerness. He looked at his work in the room and sighed. It wasn't easy to catch this man. Of course he could have been watching him, but none of the people were strong enough to keep the man if he decided to run. Well, he would just catch him again.
Gumei dismissed the men he brought with him and exited the room. As he descended the stairs, he removed the cloth from his face and donned a taunting smile. "Xiaofeng, Xiaofeng, are you this excited to meet me? You don't have to use this as an excuse to find me; I can simply take you in. It's not an issue."
Jian Nanfeng flushed in embarrassment. It wouldn't be Gumei if he didn't open with a taunt, "Enough of that nonsense; come up here; let's settle this once and for all."
As Gumei stepped onto the platform and looked around but did not see a referee, "Xiaofeng, don't tell me you want to conduct this play without a referee? Are you trying to scam me?"
Nanfeng pointed and ignored Gumei's choice of words since he knew it was just a taunt. He turned to the crowd and swept his gaze over them. Very few people available could and would agree to act as referees for them; most people there were either Gumei's people or his people. While he was still contemplating, someone pushed his way to the front of the crowd, and Nanfeng's eyes brightened. The person's attire was different, and the way he looked around was too curious, so he must not be from around Guangzhou.
Nanfeng clasped his fists in greeting towards the person. "Gongzi, can you please do me a favor and act as a referee for us?"
The person looked around, thinking Nanfeng was talking to some other person but the crowd pushed him further out, and he realized he was the one being referred to.
"Okay."
"What is Gongzi's name?"
(Gongzi is Chinese for young master.)
The person hesitated before answering, "Xin, Li Xin."
"Well then, thank you, Li Gongzi," said Nanfeng as they bowed to each other.
Gumei at the side snorted, "How pretentious."
Nanfeng turned to Gumei and found him sitting while furiously fanning himself. Was it that hot, and where did the chair and fan come from? Did this guy even take this challenge seriously?!
"What is the topic of your challenge and the consequences?" asked Li Xin, snapping Nanfeng out of his reverie. Nanfeng once again noticed Gumei's unbothered demeanor and huffed coldly.
"Weiqi. The loser has to obey the winner."
(Weiqi is the Chinese equivalent of chess.)
The crowd descended into an uproar, each running to change or increase their bets. Li Xin, seeing an opportunity to make money, pulled his eunuch aside and gave his golden headpiece to him, telling him to pawn it and place bets on both challengers. It was the only valuable item remaining on him, and he hoped it would bring in money for them.
A weiqi board was quickly arranged for them, and Li Xin went to stand before them. "Do I have to explain the rules?"
"No," they both answered. Li Xin glanced at the other person and noticed that his fingers were long and slender, and his countenance was quite pleasing. Li Xin found from the gossip in the crowd that Jian Nanfeng was the nobleman and Gumei was a commoner, but both looked and behaved as noblemen to him.
The game dragged on for four hours, and it wasn't until the crowd had dispersed that the game ended in Gumei's favor. Li Xin took one look at the board and wanted to vomit. Both players were clearly novices, so how did they manage to drag the game on for so long? A piece suddenly caught his eye, and he looked at Gumei, whose lazy eyes were on Nanfeng. The game dragging on was deliberate; even the disgusting play was deliberate; he was clearly indulging the other man. Wow, things just got interesting for Li Xin. Jian Nanfeng obviously noticed and flipped the table in anger. He didn't know Gumei was a Weiqi master in secret; he basically helped the bastard!
The city lord mansion was always quiet because the little phoenix, Jian Nanfeng, spent most of his time training or outside and only came home to sleep, but at the moment it was the loudest it had ever been in years. The city lord, Jian Wufeng, found out his son had stupidly proposed a challenge to the Xiao clinic's Gumei. That boy was one of the reasons why the gangster had been lying low and not daring to stir up issues in Guangzhou, and besides, he owed the Xiaos for saving his life, so he protected them. Just as he found out about the bet, he was informed that Nanfeng lost, woefully.
Jian Wufeng stood up and flipped the table in anger. Like father and son indeed, each one was flipping a table. He hurried to the Summer Cold Pavilion and dragged his boy away. Of course, he noticed Li Xin but was too impatient to pay attention to him.
The fake smile disappeared from Gumei's face as he watched the city lord pull Nanfeng away. He turned to the person he told to place bets on Jian Nanfeng and asked, "Did you really place bets on Nanfeng?"
The person gave him a knowing smile and said, "Of course not, Gongzi, I placed it on you too."
Gumei threw back his head and laughed, "Yes! You are very smart! Let's go take our earnings."
Li Xin was left on the platform, reveling in the fact that he chose to come to Guangzhou to spectate this challenge. It seemed fate had more in store for him.