Chapter 10 – The Second Month is Too Early for Spring in Luoyang (1/2)

Part 1

The second month, the twenty-second.

Luoyang.

Morning.

A horse sped through the snow, charging into Luoyang. The rider wore a dark blue cloak, and a wide conical felt hat of Luoyang style. The brim of the hat hung low, covering half of the rider’s face.

This person rode with great skill, but as soon as he entered the border of Luoyang, he dismounted. It seemed he didn’t want anyone to see his face or skills.

And yet, this was his first time in Luoyang, and no one in the city had seen him before.

The same year, the same month, the same day.

Chang’an.

It was as bitterly cold in Chang’an as it was in Luoyang this early morning of the second month. Most people were still curled up in bed, but Zhuo Donglai was already up.

He was full of energy, but his face was very serious.

Sima Chaoqun had been sick for several days. His sickness had not improved, so naturally Zhuo Donglai’s mood was not good.

He had not seen Sima at all. Every time he’d gone to visit, he’d been turned away by Wu Wan. The room room emanated the smell of medicines, and Wu Wan herself also looked thin and pale, but her stance was resolute. Other than herself and the doctors, no one was allowed in, not even Zhuo Donglai.

This was the first time she had ever treated Zhong Donglai rudely.

He didn’t mind. What he told others was, “When a woman is caring for her husband’s safety, anything she does can be forgiven.”

Even though it was early morning, there were already two visitors waiting for Mr. Zhuo in the garden.

Two people. One, surnamed Jian, the other surnamed Shi. Both were famous doctors in Chang’an, with high positions and comfortable lives. For the most part, they never left their quilts and braziers in such cold weather.

But early this morning, Zhuo Donglai had sent people for them. They hadn’t been led into the warm inner hall, but instead to this small, four-sided pavilion. There they waited, in the bitter cold.

Were it June, the pavilion would have been surrounded by lotuses and willows, filled with a gentle spring breeze. In those circumstances the two doctors would have been very happy.

But now, the cold wind cut through their bodies like a knife, and even though they wore heavy clothing and gloves, they were still turning blue from the cold. In their hearts, they wanted to give Zhuo Donglai a few doses of laxative medicine.

But no trace of such sentiment showed on their faces. Everyone in Chang’an knew which fate awaited anyone who offended Zhuo Donglai.

So when he arrived, wearing his violet marten coat, strolling down the small stone path, both men greeting him cheerfully, bowing deep with hands clasped.

Zhuo Donglai also treated them very courteously.

“The weather is so cold. Do you find it strange that I didn’t ask you inside where it’s warm, but instead invited you here?”

In their hearts they obviously thought it was very strange, but the words that came out were different.

“The snow makes everything so clear, and the plum blossoms are beautiful.” Doctor Shi had an ability with words. “The Master is a person with refined taste. Could it be that he invited us here to see the snow and the flowers?”

“Actually, I did invite you to here to see something, but it’s neither flowers nor snow.”

If it wasn’t flowers he wanted them to see, what was it?

“Madam Snow, who Doctor Shi keeps outside the city, has skin as white as snow,” said Zhuo Donglai with a smile. “And Miss Flower Petal, who Doctor Jian payed for just last night, is more beautiful than the flowers here. If I wanted the two gentlemen to enjoy the snow and flowers, there would be no need to invite them here.” (1)

The two famous doctors were sweating in their hearts. Their wives knew nothing about these matters, and yet Zhuo Donglai mentioned them casually.

In front of a person who could casually mention their deepest secrets, what could they dare say?

“Would the two gentlemen please come with me?”

Although Zhuo Donglai’s smile seemed to harbour ill intentions, Doctor Shi and Doctor Jian followed him obediently.

They walked to a gutter, built from white cut rocks, that bordered the stone path. One of Zhuo Donglai’s attendants lifted the slab cover off of the gutter. He turned to look at them. “Would the two gentlemen have a look. What is this?”

It was a gutter. Anyone could see that it was a gutter. Could it really be that Zhuo Donglai had called them out early in the morning to look at a gutter?

What about a gutter was worth looking at?

Doctor Shi and Doctor Jian were puzzled.

Zhuo Donglai stood there looking at the gutter, apparently absorbed, as if nothing in the world were more worthy of his attention.

Doctor Jian was somewhat short-tempered. Finally, he couldn’t help but say, “It looks like it’s just a gutter.”

“Absolutely correct,” said Zhuo Donglai coolly. “It looks like it’s just a gutter, because it is only a gutter. What else could it look like?”

Doctor Shi and Doctor Jian said nothing.

“It’s a very well-built gutter,” Zhuo Donglai said causally. “It’s smooth and level, never gets clogged. It flows straight from Mr. and Mrs. Sima’s residence all the way to this flower garden, with nothing to impede it.”

Even though the doctors were very familiar with medical texts, they had no idea what medicine was in Zhuo Donglai’s proverbial medicine gourd.

And then there suddenly seemed to be the fragrance of medicine in the wind.

The stone path had already been swept clean earlier in the morning, including the gutter, which had no snow in it.

At the same time as they smelled the medicine, they saw some brownish sewage flowing down the gutter.

Zhuo Donglai waved his hand, and one of his attendants half-filled a small bowl with some of the sewage, and then carried it with both hands to the doctors.

“Would the two gentlemen please have a look? What is this?”

The two doctors didn’t need to look. They already knew what it was. It wasn’t sewage. Sewage wouldn’t have medicine in it.

Zhuo Donglai stared at them coldly.

“I think the two gentlemen know what this is.”

It seemed Doctor Jian wanted to speak. His lips quivered, but he said nothing.

Doctor Shi’s lips were sealed as tight as if they had been sewn shut with thread.

“This is the medicine you two prepared for our chief two days ago. It’s been simmering this entire time. From what I understand, this amount of medicine is worth about 50 pieces of silver.”

The two doctor’s faces twisted.

Zhuo Donglai continued, “This medicine should be sliding down Sima’s throat. How could it be here in the gutter? I really don’t understand.” His eyes suddenly flashed. “Luckily there is someone who does understand.”

“Who?” stuttered Doctor Shi. “Who understands?”

“You.”

Doctor Shi looked as if he had been whipped. He could barely stand straight.

“If you don’t understand, it must be because it’s too hot here.” Zhuo Donglai’s tone suddenly became very soft again. “When someone is too hot, they can’t remember things very well.” He turned to his attendants. “Why don’t you help the doctor out of his clothes.”

Doctor Shi tightly clutched his fur coat. “There’s no need,” he said haltingly. “There’s really no need. This coat is very comfortable.”

Even with the fur coat he was freezing to death, without it he really would die from the cold.

Among the attendants were two large men who stepped forward to stand on either side of Doctor Shi.

“Are you sure you’re not hot?” said Zhuo Donglai calmly.

Doctor Shi shook his head vigorously.

“So you must be able to remember. How could the medicine that should have been taken by the patient end up in the gutter? Is it because the patient isn’t really sick?”

“I don’t know.”

Zhuo Donglai laughed coldly. The two large men had already placed their enormous hands on Doctor Shi’s shoulders.

“I really don’t know. I didn’t even see him.”

Zhuo Donglais’ pupils suddenly shrank.

“You didn’t see him? You didn’t see Sima Chaoqun?”

“I didn’t. I really didn’t.”

“His wife called for you to see him, but you actually didn’t see him?”

“I didn’t even see his shadow,” said Doctor Shi nervously. “There was no trace at all of him in the room.”

Zhuo Donglai stood there quietly, looking at the cold, gray sky. He stood there for a long time, before slowly turning his head and staring at Doctor Jian. Very slowly, he said, “And you? Did you see him?”

“I didn’t see him either.” Doctor Jian seemed to be slightly more composed. “Hero Sima wasn’t in the room. Madam Sima asked us there just to see an empty room.”

And then they heard Wu Wan’s voice.

“If someone offers five hundred pieces of gold,” she said coldly. “There are many doctors who would be willing to look at an empty room. Next time, though, I’ll look for some who aren’t afraid of the cold.”

If there was someone here who really was sick, it would be Wu Wan.

Her face was yellow and sallow, her normally bright eyes bloodshot.

She stared at the two doctors. (2)

“I’m just a woman. I don’t have the skills and abilities of Mr. Zhuo. And I won’t make the two gentlemen shed their clothes.” Her voice was as cold as ice. “But I suggest they check the door carefully before going to sleep. Otherwise they might wake in the middle of the night to find themselves sleeping outside in the snow.”

The two doctor’s faces turned green.

If looks really could kill, these two would already be dead in the snow.

“At this point, the two gentlemen should be able to get the out of here,” said Wu Wan. “Please, get the hell out of here.”

She was a gentle woman, mild and refined, who would always say “please” before making a request.

After the doctors had left, she said, “Mr. Zhuo, I very much want to ask you to do something.”

“Do what?”

“Please get the hell out of here along with them.”

There was no reaction from Zhuo Donglai, none at all. There was absolutely no expression on his face whatsoever.

“Sadly, I know you won’t get the hell out of here,” she sighed. “Your’e Sima Chaoqun’s good friend, his brother. You could never find a better friend and brother if you looked everywhere under heaven.”

Derision filled her voice, just as Die Wu’s had been.

“And Sima Chaoqun made his name only by relying on you. He’s just a simple-minded puppet. Without you, how could he be where he is today?” She laughed coldly. “At least, that’s what you think, isn’t it?”

Zhuo Donglai still showed no reaction. It was as if he was watching an actor sing on the stage.

“You’re an extraordinary person, an extraordinary friend. You sacrifice everything for him, you live your whole life for him. You made him famous, you made him the chief of the Great Protection Agency. You made him into the great hero of the masses.”

Wu Wan’s cold laughter was beginning to sound crazed.

“But do you know what the great hero’s life is like?” Her laughter was laced with venom. “He has a wife and sons and daughters. He has a family. But it’s like he’s not part of the family. There hasn’t been a day in his life that he’s lived for himself, because you arrange everything for him. Whatever you want him to do, he does, so much so that even if he wants to have a drink, he has to do it secretly.”

Zhuo Donglai suddenly interrupted her. “Enough,” he said. “You’ve said enough.”

“Yes, I’ve said enough,” she lowered her head. Tears covered her cheeks. “Is there something you want to say?”

“I only have one or two things to say.”

“I won’t let you treat me the way you treat other people.” Her voice seemed to be hard and soft at the same time. “Everyone in Jianghu knows that ‘Eastern Violet Clouds’ Zhuo Donglai has at least a hundred methods to shut people up.”

“It’s good that you understand that,” he said coldly. “Sima has left Chang’an, hasn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you hide the truth from me?”

“Because I want him to go do something that he wants to do. I’m his wife. I think every wife wants her husband to be independent, to be a real man.”

“When did he leave?”

“On the night of the seventeenth. He probably already reached Luoyang.”

“Luoyang?”

Zhuo Donglai’s gray, wolf-like eyes were suddenly shot through with blood. “You sent him alone to Luoyang? Are you trying to get him killed?”

“We are husband and wife. Why would I want him to get killed?”

Zhuo Donglai stared at her. After a long time, he spoke, one word at a time. His voice was unique, sharper than a knife, and more venomous than a serpent. “Because of Guo Zhuang.” (3)

Whenever Zhuo Donglai’s spoke in this way, it meant that someone in the world would would fall victim to one of his injurious, fatal attacks.

“Because of Guo Zhuang.”

Most people would not think much upon hearing his, but Wu Wan looked as if she had suddenly been stabbed by a poisonous scorpion, or had suddenly fell off the top of a tower. She could barely stand. Her yellow, pallid face suddenly with indescribable fear.

Of course Zhuo Donglai would not miss this opportunity to take advantage in change of state.

“The past few years, Sima sleeps separately from you,” he said, his voice cruel and cold. “He hasn’t even touched you. You’re at the age where your sexual desire is at its peak, and suddenly you have a young, strong beautiful young man at your side, who knows how to please women. Sadly, he died at the Red Flower Bazaar, dead under Zhu Meng’s blade, and his head …” (4)

“Enough,” said Wu Wan hoarsely. “You’ve said enough.”