Vol 1 Chapter 10 (1/2)
Chapter 10: a.s.sa.s.sination
I knock on the door, asking where Jiu Ye is? Xiao Feng tells me Jiu Ye is arranging his books in the study, and no one is allowed inside so I should wait outside for him. I ignore him and walk towards the study, which is the first time I’ve been there despite being familiar with the Bamboo Residence. The study is enormous and filled with shelves of books. Jiu Ye is arranging books, so I purposely walk loudly. He hears me and smiles, inviting me inside. He tells me to sit, he’ll be done soon. I make a face at Xiao Feng.
I curiously look at the books, asking if he’s read it all. He answers that he has flipped through most of them. I a.s.sess all the books, ranging from philosophy texts to tactical manuals. I see another shelf with only one book, and then some sheafs of paper. I see the paper is all covered with Jiu Ye’s handwriting, and it discusses war strategy for conquering or protecting a city, how the philosopher Mo Zi lamented how the strong countries attacked the weak, and some more writing on how make weapons and how to keep warm in winter.
Another shelf has only medical journals. One book, with Jiu Ye’s note on the side, is an anatomy text that also discusses male-female relations. My face flames and I drop the book, wondering why he’s reading it. He asks me if I read it, and I tell him with a red face that I glanced at it before but burned it afterwards. He looks confused and I realize he’s pointing to another book I am holding, which is in a writing I can’t read. I am so embarra.s.sed I want to crawl into a hole. I try to explain I don’t understand this but wanted to study it because I was curious. I’m nervous and babbling, and I can tell he’s trying to control his laughter. He finally gives up and leans back on his wheelchair and starts to guffaw.
My embarra.s.sment gives way to happiness at hearing his laugh, and he’s just so amused at seeing how his casual question caused me to lose my famous cool. I confirm that those books are not in the Han language. He nods, and asks why I’m not probing any further. I tell him “You never probed into my life with the wolves. Why I was born in the Xi Yu but spoke perfect Han, but couldn’t speak any of the Xi Yu languages. Everyone has things that are hard to explain. If you want to tell me one day, I will gladly sit besides you and listen. If you don’t want to tell me, I won’t probe. Someone once told me that he only knows the me in his eyes. I also feel the same way, I only know the you in my eyes.”
He answers that he doesn’t even know where to start, so I a.s.sure him that I will always be on his side. He asks why I’m here and I explain I had the day free and wanted to come see him….and Xiao Feng. I suddenly notice a intricate crutch standing against the wall. Does he use it? I’ve never seen him on crutches before.
As we walk out of the study, the door automatically closes and doesn’t open again, showing that the contraptions are not just for his ease of use, but designed by him to control who can access places within the Bamboo Residence. He explains that he’s heading out in a bit so I excuse myself. Instead he invites me along, to go visit some farms outside the city, where I can try some fresh fruit straight from the trees. I happily nod.
s.h.i.+ Buo drives the carriage himself and is told I’m not going back to Luo Yu Fan and will instead be coming along to visit the farm. s.h.i.+ Buo appears to want to say something but doesn’t, just getting the carriage on the road. As the carriage enters the woods, there is suddenly the sound of horse hooves chasing us. I instinctively grab my silk sash with the gold bells on the ends. Jiu Ye just smiles and shakes his head, indicating that I needn’t worry.
The horses and riders pa.s.s us by but s.h.i.+ Buo knows they are just pretending. His horse whip comes down and their horses topple, sending the two men flying to the ground. They immediately attack s.h.i.+ Buo but are quickly disarmed. The two men notice s.h.i.+ Buo’s custom made horse whip and their expression changes from rage to stunned shock. They start talking to s.h.i.+ Buo and kneeling before him. s.h.i.+ Buo asks the kneeling man a question, which causes Jiu Ye’s smile to disappear. He orders the man to repeat what he just said in Han for me.
The man quickly explains “We were not following the s.h.i.+ Estate carriage, and had no intention of harming anyone on the s.h.i.+ Estate. We were hired to track the head of Luo Yu House and a.s.sa.s.sinate her.” He kept bowing to s.h.i.+ Buo “We really didn’t know you are from the s.h.i.+ Estate, and that the young lady is friends with the Big Boss. If we knew, an entire mountain of gold and we would not accepted this a.s.signment.”
I ask in shock “Who hired you?”The man refuses to answer, abiding by the code of the a.s.sa.s.sins not to reveal their client. s.h.i.+ Buo explains I will never get the answer from them. I tell s.h.i.+ Buo to let them go, and he does after Jiu Ye also tells him to do so. The two men promise to never divulge what happened here today, swearing an oath that I know is the most deadly oath for any traveler in the Gobi Desert.