3 The Prince's Escape

Lord Ejun knew that Qiji, his youngest brother, would not spare his life. He knew that his father's sons and grandchildren were destined to die at Qiji's cause.

Therefore he had to flee for his life.

Lord Ejun was lucky that his second wife and three children were not in Chu State as he had been living in exile at Zheng State for more than eleven years.

He had nothing to lose and decided to run away again by himself. Without wasting much time, Lord Ejun and his men immediately left Ying City.

Prince Qiji, who had anticipated, sent his men to eliminate Lord Ejun. Lord Ejun, who was known as a kind man, was loved by many soldiers and officials. Therefore, he got a lot of help from them to escape.

Yet, they were chased and ambushed by Prince Qiji's soldiers. They were outnumbered. From around thirty loyal men who followed Lord Ejun to escape, only Lord Ejun and Lang Tan, who managed to escape Ying City safe and sound.

After sunset, they had already left Ying City. But where should they go?

That night, they're resting on the wood near the big river. They even could not lit a fire to avoid the soldiers that might be hunting them.

"Lord Ejun, perhaps we should go to Wu to avoid Qiji!" said Lang Tan. "The king of Wu will spare our lives, and from Wu, we can gather our strength to take revenge!"

"Revenge? And when will all this blood bath will end?" Lord Ejun said.

"My Lord, don't you want to revenge Qiji for his trickery?"

Lord Ejun sighed and said, "This is destiny!" He paused for a moment and continued, "Lang Tan, do you believe in destiny?"

"No, I don't, my Lord!" Lang Tan said. "Destiny is how we make of it!"

Lord Ejun said in a low voice, "That day when I was just five years old, my father held a great sacrifice to the spirits. He prayed, asking the spirits to choose one among his five sons to be a ruler."

He paused and continued, "My father presented a jade disc to the spirits and asked for a sign. He said: the one who worships directly before the jade disc shall be the one chosen by the spirits. And that person would be the next king!"

When the ceremony was over, he secretly buried the jade disk in the courtyard of the great hall of the ancestral temple. He had us, his five sons fasted and entered to worship in order of age, beginning with the eldest. My eldest brother, King Kang, stepped over the spot where the jade disk was buried. And then my second brother, King Ling, inadvertently touched it with his arm, while Zigan and I both missed it by a wide mark. Qiji, who was very young, was carried in and after being set down and worshipped twice, both times crushing the rope of the jade disk!" Zixi sighed.

Lang Tan was surprised. If the story was true, wasn't that a clear sign?

"It is destiny that King Kang was a legitimate ruler, while King Ling became a king through injustice way. While Qiji would be a king- with the price of his brothers' lives!" Zixi said.

He sighed and continued, "Zigan died, as he's not destined to be a king, but he was tempted and tried to be a king! While for me, I know that I'm not destined to be a king. And I've never tempted to be one!"

"My Lord, then…what should we do now? Qiji won't spare us. We have to go somewhere!"

"Let's wait until dawn, and we can take a boat, and let the stream of the river takes us where we should go!"

Lord Ejun started to recall his life journey.

Eleven years earlier, because of his Second Brother – Prince Wei's rebellion, Lord Ejun Zixi fled to avoid a massacre. During his fled, he was also drifting in this same river before he finally could reach Zheng State.

Eleven years was just a blink of an eye for some people. Yet for some people, eleven years could be forever.

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Eleven years earlier: 540 BC - The Border of Chu and Yue.

Lord Ejun Zixi, with his ten men, had to run for their lives. His second brother Prince Wei killed his own nephew - King Jia'ao, who succeeded his father- King Kang.

Prince Wei served as King Jia'ao prime minister. One day, when Jia'ao was ill, Prince Wei murdered him and his two sons and usurped the throne. Prince Wei was enthroned and known as King Ling.

King Ling's younger brothers, Prince Zigan and Lord Ejun, had to flee to save their lives. While Prince Qiji, who was still young, was spared and lived in Chu State.

Lord Ejun was saved by his guards and fled from Chu State. Yet, Prince Wei didn't let him go. He sent his men to chase Zixi and Zigan.

And that day, when he was on the run, near the river, Lord Ejun and his men were ambushed by Prince Wei's troops. Lord Ejun managed to escape, but he was separated from his men.

Lord Ejun was a king's son for his whole life. He had never experienced hardship in his life. Leading an army to a military campaign was easier for him than being all alone in a forest in a place where he had never been before.

There were at least twenty men were hunting him while he's all alone. He clutched his swords tightly while trying to hide and left the place to avoid the soldiers. He's lucky that the dense forest could hide him temporarily.

The troops were divided into groups to search around four corners to catch Lord Ejun alive. Although the forest was pretty dense, it was not easy for Lord Ejun to escape.

He was not lucky. Two soldiers spotted him, and they called the other troops for help to catch him.

Lord Ejun used his sword to kill the two soldiers, but the other soldiers who had heard them managed to go to his direction to catch him. Lord Ejun ran as fast as he could to the course of the hills.

The forest trees were getting denser and denser. Lord Ejun knew the soldiers might let him go since the forest has many wild beasts. He probably survived those soldiers, but he might not survive the wild animals in the woods.

It was getting dark in the forest, and Lord Ejun, who was exhausted, decided to take a rest. He thought that he was safe. He felt asleep and only woke up as he heard a scream, and some blood spurted on his face.

Just as he opened up his eyes, a body fell over him. And one figure was standing in front of him, staring at him with a wondering look. It was a fifteen or sixteen years old girl.

The girl wore simple clothes from plant fibres, long messy hair, with no shoes. She's a barbarian from Yue State.

Lord Ejun didn't know how to react. It was the barbarian girl who killed the soldier with a bamboo stick that she used as a spear. Although she killed that soldier and saved him, it was not a guarantee that she would not harm him. She's a barbarian anyway.

Lord Ejun pointed out his sword toward the girl and said: "Who are you? We are not enemies."

The girl said something in a language that he didn't understand while pointing to the northern direction. Just as she was speaking, they could hear some noise of the soldiers heading to their course.

Without saying anything, the girl took Lord Ejun's hand and dragged him away in the opposite direction.

Lord Ejun knew that his chance to live was very little. Either the soldiers would kill him, or the wild beasts in the forest would prey him. Therefore he gambled with his life and let the barbarian girl dragged him away. Who knew that she probably was trying to save him?

The girl who lived in the forest was familiar with the forest. She led the way to go deeper into the woods.

It was already sunset, and it was a new moon. It was complete darkness. Lord Ejun could not see anything and had to rely on the girl to lead his way. He clutched her hand tightly.

After some time, the girl suddenly stopped, and she said something in a low voice. Lord Ejun didn't understand her words. Yet he could guess what she was trying to say. She suggested they take a rest.

In the darkness, he couldn't see anything. He felt the girl pulled his hand, and he carefully sat on the ground. The girl chose a big tree for them to be able to lay their back on.

In the darkness, without any light, he heard wolves started to howl, while nocturnal birds began to chirp.

It was just yesterday when Lord Ejun was still sleeping at the palace. And in just less than a day, suddenly, his life turned up-side-down. Early before dawn, his guards entered his bedroom to persuade him to run away to escape his second brother.

He didn't believe that his second brother had any intention to kill him; therefore, in the beginning, he didn't want to leave the palace. Just when he was arguing with his trusted guard, another guard reported that a group of soldiers had besieged his house.

Lord Ejun was worried about his wife and his two children. He jumped from his bed and wanted to save his family.

Yet his guards didn't waste any time. One of the guards knocked out Lord Ejun's head and put him on a sack and smuggled him out of the palace as soon as possible. When Lord Ejun regained his consciousness, he was already in a chariot miles away from Ying City.

Lord Ejun didn't know exactly what happened to his wife and children. But he could imagine what would have happened to them. His son would inevitably have been slaughtered, and his daughter would be enslaved. While his wife, if she's willing to be obedient, she would become the new king's woman. But if she was not compliant, either she would be killed, or she would be sold as a slave in a brothel. Such a cruel reality was the life of a fallen royal family.

Lord Ejun closed his eyes while tears flew from his eyes.

Then he heard some noise from his left side. The girl gathered some wooden sticks. He couldn't see anything, but then the girl pulled his hand and pushed his body to lay down. The girl gathered some wooden sticks to be used as a pillow.

"Thank you!" Lord Ejun spoke in a low voice. He had never imagined that the one who would save his life in a moment like that was a barbarian girl from Yue.

The girl said something. He didn't understand her, but he could feel her friendly tone.

It was the first time in his life that he had to sleep in a forest without a proper mattress in his royal bedroom. Lord Ejun could not sleep, although he was exhausted

Just before dawn, Lord Ejun fell asleep. He was in a deep sleep in the early morning when he heard some noises. He recollected his mind and recalled that he was not in his palace.

Lord Ejun was still very sleepy. But his instincts told him to wake up. He opened up his eyes and dismayed to see the barbarian girl was sitting staring at him with a bamboo spear in her hand.