31 To Rival the Son of Heavens

~ZHA YAO~

For many months Zha Yao slept in tents when he was lucky, and on the ground when he was not. He felt ungrateful for staying outside so much instead of enjoying the palace the governor vacated for his sake. But Kefei's countless gardens promised to clean out the fumes that had been plugging his chest for the past ten years. Mindful of his company, he did not try to hack it out, just breathed deeper than he'd ever had.

Lady Chen Guang gave the lotus pond they stopped by an indifferent look, and he got a critical one. It did not come as a surprise. The governor had told him that the pond was known around the whole province of Shantong as 'The Refuge of the Skydiving Dragonflies'. Zha Yao was known around the whole of the Evershining Empire as the uncouth lout.

Lady Chen Guang wanted this to change tomorrow when every dignitary in Shantong was expected to swear an oath under his black banners. He needed their hearts, not just their allegiance, she said and he agreed.

"My Lord, you must appear animated at all times. A gentler smile, if you please," she instructed, and he tried to fake it.

She was dismayed by the result, and ancestors only knew how he'd read that. He would hurt his face before he could reproduce the blessed animated benevolence radiating from her. Zha Yao breathed in another lungful of the fragrant mid-summer air, "I am Zha Yao, not Han Zheng."

"And I thank the Heavens daily for that, my Lord. Of course, Han's relation to the junior Imperial line could have been beneficial to your claim..." The calculating expression came and went. She knew it would not work. "Let us not digress. Walk with me some more."

She inspected his posture then asked after Ma the Smiley's involvement in repelling the surprise attack by the Silverclaw demon nation in Quantong. Zha Yao duly praised the man's wise strategy.

Lady Chen Guang beamed. "Tonight's might seem a small affair compared to the morrow's, but it is crucial that your sworn knights love you as brothers would."

"You haven't met my brothers," Zha Yao chortled.

"You are fortunate they live yet, My Lord. Wo Jia executed all of mine because I made a mistake," she said with a pleasant smile.

She wanted perfection. He was a far cry from it, but he was Zha Yao. "The five knights will be bound to me by love and respect by the morrow. I'll embrace them under a peach tree if I have to."

Lady Chen Guang nodded: "A good notion, My Lord. I will arrange that. And for the passersby to witness and comment on the symbolism of it."

He almost bit his lip but restrained himself at the last possible moment. Emperors do not chew their lips. Still, him likened to the most beloved Prince Yan Tong of the Dynasty of Purifying Glory and his sworn companions?! Well, let them, if they are fools enough. "Please, do not arrange for a brace of dragons for my new brothers to fight."

"Are you sure, My Lord? That would cement your reputation as a warrior among the warriors." For a moment he thought she was serious, but she let him off the hook with an unexpectedly warm smile. A sincere smile. Ancestors only knew how he'd read that too.

"And speaking of the real dragons, My Lord. I implore you to convince Deserving Du to stop ruffling old Zhenshi's feathers."

Demons take the decorum! He grinned like a storyteller's lecher mask. "As soon as my sworn sister returns, I will do all the convincing you left me time for."

Lady Chen Guang's impeccable breeding had held out against cruder barrages than that. "Do find time to recuperate, My Lord. You must not appear weary or troubled. With your permission, I shall now leave your presence to seek out a suitable peach tree."

It was fun to ruffle her feathers, but he pondered how to make the best use of Lady Chen Guang's lessons. He needed those four knights to join Du. They came from noble families and were famed for their integrity and battle prowess. Each would bring a sizeable troop of soldiers under his black banners. And they had all been spurned by the Celebrated Emperor Wo Jia.

His loss, my gain. Worth looking animated for. But I shall do the rest my way.

Zha Yao watched the dragonflies skydive towards the pink flowers glowing with sunlight between the teal leaves for a while longer, and even dared to cough out phlegm when he thought no-one was looking. He might have left Xichon for Sutao's marine breezes, but he found Kefei far more agreeable despite so many complaints of its damp heat. The afternoon had nearly slipped away before he returned to the manor, and asked after Du.

The chance to convince Du of anything before they set out on their carefully orchestrated 'chanced' meeting with the other knights did not present itself. She had ridden into town well ahead of her men, but still late, and smelled like someone who had spent a few days in the saddle chasing bandits across the border into Luitong.

I used to be a bandit, and now send my knight to chase the bandits on the governor's behest. That's why Shantong is about to become a province apart from the rest of the Empire. My province. Luitong would soon follow. If I win their hearts. If my new sworn brothers are as able as the word of the mouth has it.

If, if, if...

When Du went to wash and change, Zha Yao did not accompany her. He trusted that she'd get the attire right, despite the fact that the right attire meant a cleaned and polished set of armour. The woman would not spend a silver piece on dresses, but she had two full suits of the best scale mail money could buy, blackened to match Zha Yao's colours. And another one, even more elaborate, also of blackened steel, but with each scale finely decorated with crimson scrollwork. Fit together, the red words spelled curses to Zha Yao's enemies.

He hoped she'd wear the black-and-scarlet armour tonight, and he was not disappointed. She'd even had a handle of her halberd wrapped in the matching black-and-red silk, just the way he loved it.

Zha Yao did not bother to change, but had himself shaved and freshly coiffed so not a hair would escape his make-believe warrior bun. He wore a plain garment and his remarkable pistols. A sword was left behind. He would not know how to draw it from its scabbard without making a fool of himself. Du was his sword.

She looks perfect, Zha Yao thought as they rode unhurriedly through Kefei in search of the peach tree and the brotherly meeting. She grinned back the moment he looked at her.

During the year they had been together, the girl had stretched upward at least a hand and a half, making him adjust her age downward to fifteen or sixteen, but she had not grown any rounder the way other girls did when they entered womanhood.

Still sinewy, flat-chested and too wide of shoulder, Du had abandoned the last pretense of prettiness by shaving off her thin braids. Now neither lice nor those who'd grab her by the hair in a fight stood a chance. To compensate for the loss, his vixen had the whole right side of her head tattooed with more curses.

Tonight, to honour the occasion, Du had taken the time to thickly line her small berry-like eyes, and slap a layer of carmine along the narrow slit of her mouth.

Yes, she looks perfect.

Lady Chen Guang did not fail him either. He spotted the peach tree from two blocks away, shading the front of a quaint teahouse. The boughs bent with the weight of fruit were epic enough to serve as a backdrop for the glorious deeds of the Dynasty of Purifying Glory, even if it was too early to feast on the peaches.

Zha Yao and Du dismounted, and sat down in the shade, waiting on the four new knights. The innkeeper brought out a tray full of tiny bowls with pickles and tiny dry fish.

Zhenshi arrived almost immediately after them, accompanied by a single brightly-dressed page. "Move, move! If you dismount like that on a battlefield, I'll outlive you!"

The boy slipped from his saddle and held up the stirrup for his lord. "Were I a decrepit bag of farts like you, I'd rather die."

"Demons' arses, I'll outlive you just to vex your useless father's spirit!!" Zhenshi made a show of positioning his booted foot on the boy's back as if it were a step. The page groaned loudly, but Zha Yao noticed that in actuality, the old knight's full weight rested on the boy for only a split moment if at all. He vaulted out of the saddle with the agility that defied his age.

"Stop your moaning before you catch every fly in this demon-cursed hole!" the knight huffed and stroked his mustache. "Go rub down the horses."

The youth took the bridle and snorted, "What about buying new ones? You bent this poor beast's spine with your fat arse."

The old knight made to cuff him, but the boy easily dodged the blow.

"You aren't going to see a quarter-piece of my silver!" The old knight shook his fists up in the air. "Get the horses cleaned and be lively about it! I want them spotless white for the ride back!"

"And who is to notice the results of my labours? This blind old goat? Pfft," the boy complained to the two magnificent steeds, both of them raven-black.

"Scoot!" the knight shouted, and the youth danced away with the horses, grinning from ear to ear.

Zhenshi dropped onto the mat with a loud sigh: "And that's the best grandchild my brood spawned between them. I am despairing to ever see my issue surpass me."

Du patted his hand comfortingly. "Oh, don't be! It's not them, it's you. You're too full of yourself to notice."

He pressed her hand to his chest. "See that you don't let some imbecile swell your belly with his seed. Useless children are a curse!"

"I like my belly flat, thank you." She poked the knight unceremoniously. "Yours look like your time is near again, old whore. Are you hoping to pop out a pot of rice or a suckling pig?"

"Both! And I will stuff it all down your throat. Maybe then you'll grow tits."

"Bah, what for? To rival yours?"

Zha Yao pretended he could not see Lady Chen Guang just inside the teahouse doors making pleading gestures.

The Wu Twins arrived just in time to judge the arm-wrestling contest between Du and Zhenshi. Between their cheers and grunts, Zha Yao took the new arrivals' measure. Mid-twenties maybe, with identical arrogant eyes, the same sardonic twist on their lips and lithe physique. It was hard enough to credit that one human would look like that, but two... they were a marvel.

They took pains to be perfectly alike in more than just looks, down to the designs of the wickedly curved bows both carried. Which one was the brother, which one - the sister, Zha Yao wouldn't have been able to tell but for the formal introduction. They did not speak much to anyone but one another.

This must be hard for their respective spouses.

Ma the Smiley, on the other hand, talked to anyone who'd listen. He wedged himself between the alarmed Wu Twins and did not notice. How could he? He was seething over a myriad of slights to his person since the days before the Dynasty of New Dawn. It was not hard to guess why he did not get along with the Celebrated Emperor, but the moment Lady Chen Guang came out of the building, carrying a tray of refreshments, the weasel immediately exclaimed, "Why, now this is a comely maid!"

Zha Yao fumed when she simpered in response instead of scoffing.

"I am honoured to be in your presence, My Lords, My Ladies. Lord Ma, won't you be more comfortable in the shade?" Lady Chen Guang maneuvered the nobleman between Du and Zhenshi and fed him with her own hands. Zha Yao tried to focus on Zhenshi's tale about his dead idiot of a son, who sounded anything but stupid, but his ears strained to hear flowery nonsense Ma whispered to Lady Chen.

Before long, the people of Kefei started walking by, expressing their delight at seeing the famous heroes in town. Zhenshi and Ma partially blocked his view of the street, but Zha Yao still noticed a large man that kowtowed in the dust.

This is too much, too soon.

He frowned and raised his palm to protest the premature veneration. The man started unfolding himself, full sleeves of fine silk trailing like the banners. Angry steel tips caught the bright summer sunlight between the fabric. He looked directly into Zha Yao's eyes from under the thick brows and screamed, "Death to the pretender!"