The Wandering God

19 Snatch Food From the Dragon's Mouth 1/2

19 龍口奪糧
lóngkǒu duó liáng
Snatch food from the dragon's mouth.
Speed up the summer harvesting before the storm breaks.

I left the Garden District that morning and went straight to the palace, filled with purpose.

As I had beat the violent man in the courtyard last night, while the flowers looked on, I suddenly felt a new confidence, a new determination enter my bones.

It wasn't enough to simply rob Guang Han of his intended prey. I could, and would, crush him completely. And at last I had thought of a way to do that.

The city was already consumed by heat. Not only did the bright sun beat down, baking the paving stones and the people and horses who passed above them, but the air hung heavy, humid, near unmoving. I could see it in the sweaty, downcast faces of every trader, courier, soldier, and citizen I passed. The city longed for a breeze.

I reached the palace, hurrying across the bridge to the main gate, and the guards gestured me inside. Gratefully I jogged through the courtyard and into the nearest dark archway.

Inside the palace was cool and dark, compared to the sweltering heat outside. I usually preferred the hot to cold, but this summer Zhanghai was truly unbearable.

As I approached Zhangyu's office, I remembered the morning he had summoned me, weeks ago, after the midsummer banquet, to ask about my 'engagement' with Guang Han.

"What game are you playing at?!" the handsome prince had demanded as soon as I entered his office, slamming both hands on top of his desk.

I told him of my conversation with Guang Han the night before. That I had fabricated the engagement to protect Ermi, and that I intended to string Guang Han along until the end of the summer, when, once Ermi had safely returned to Linjing, I would summarily dump him.

Zhangyu regarded me suspiciously. "And what do you want in exchange?"

I thought. "Perhaps the guarantee of a small stipend if my position as Ermi's instructor is ever terminated."

"A small stipend seems very little in exchange for the risks that will come with this. Why are you really doing it?"

I debated telling the prince, and decided no harm could come of it. "Guang Han wronged me, in a past life."

"I see. Revenge." The prince appeared done with his questions. As I turned to leave I heard Zhangyu's last word on the subject.

"I do wonder if you know what you're getting yourself into..."

In the present I turned the last corner and reached the Second Prince's offices. His guard announced me, then let me in.

Zhangyu sat at his huge desk, as always, which was covered in stacks of parchment and papers of varying heights. On top of each of the stacks an object had been placed as a paperweight: a stone, a horse shoe, some instrument for measuring the stars. An old iron teapot. The assorted weights sat atop their mountains of paper like bold climbers who had conquered each of their peaks. I wondered if they were cool, a top their mountains.

The Second Prince did not look up, even as I was announced. "I want to change our agreement," I said, stepping up before Zhangyu's desk. Idly, I reached out and took one of the paper weights off a stack of papers. It was a large, smooth stone, polished to a gloss. I could not tell if it was a translucent black glass, or opaque, so deep was the color.

Zhangyu looked up from the letter he had been writing. He raised one eyebrow. "Running so soon, Lady Yunyou? Afraid of the dragon's wrath?"

"No," I said, setting the paper weight back atop its stack. "It's not enough to just keep him from Ermi. I want to ruin him completely."