8

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Zhao Jiayi

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It took all of the insanity within me to walk up the steps and knock on the doors to the chamber, even more so when the answer came for me to enter. I pushed the door open with a trembling hand, stepping in with my head bowed and moving no further than the entrance. "Sorry to disturb you General..."

From the corner of my eye I could see him freeze at the sound of my voice, spinning on his heel to face me. "Ni....why are you here?"

I forced myself to look up towards him. "General Wu-Ji told me that you were feeling unwell. You are residing in Dong Wu, it is my responsibility to make sure that you are alright." The General sat down on his mattress and continued to stare at me. "You mean for me to believe that you actually worry about me?" I bowed my head slightly.

"I do worry General, you are a guest at this manor, nephew to the blessed Bixia himself-." I could not continue once he began to laugh, staying stiffly still it died down and his steady gaze transformed into a glare.

"That is humorous...for a moment I began to seriously doubt your view of the royal family." I stole a confused glance at him.

"Pardon?"

He stood up once more and slowly sauntered over to near where I was, eyes never leaving mine as he did so. "You resent me...don't you?" I frowned despite myself. "If I ever gave you such an impression, I beg for forgiveness General."

General Xiao stopped right in front of me, then proceeding to circle me as if he were a hawk...and I a prey.

"Your talent confuses me Jiayi....what is it exactly?"

Anxiety clawed at every part of me. "It was shown to you yesterday...may I ask what do you mean?"

He paused in his steps as she stood behind me, speaking so that I realized he was much closer than expected. The hairs on my neck stood.

"A kingdom of Gong Xia Yi comes to pay tribute to the Great T'ang, T'ang sends them back and laughs, 'I am not a Gong Xia Yi, we value workers above the rest'. Then T'ang turns around and beats it merchant...Is this how you see this kingdom?"

I bit my lip as regret washed over me like a surge. I should have kept my mouth shut, maybe not shown up that day at all. Perhaps another talent could have been used, this was not meant to happen.

"I have offended you-."

"Not at all...you have confused me, that's all." His voice had deepened as if it were a secret for only me to hear, his breath hitting the skin of my neck enough to cause me to tense.

"How is a merchant's daughter so well versed...how are you daring enough to say this in front of the Imperial family, yet not even able to look me in the eye. You have enough of an influence over this family, yet you act as if you're one to stay in the shadows. The secret is out that you have many, many talents; yet you act as if it was never disclosed by your own family...do you not want to marry me because I am of royal blood, or do you have something else to hide?

"Who are you, Zhao Jiayi?"

By the time he had finished speaking he was closer than before, if that were possible. The hard surface of his chest lightly pressed against my back, I could feel his eyes peering down at the side of my face.

"Ah-Yi., no, beggar girl...who are you?"

Tang Zhen-Ting

The steady beating of raindrops against the pavilion reminded me of the drums brother and I used to play in front of our home. We would make it our goal to match the falling rain with our pace and whoever lost would have to go to town with Mother. Liang-Jie and I hated going to the town-market, being half-Arab and Persian drew in some questioning looks as to why our skin was not pale even, or my hair not straight enough.

We were like clowns to those people.

The last day we played that game, I was the one to lose. Brother had been merciful enough to offer to go in my place, but I had argued with him against it. Mother hadn't planned on going to the market, yet I wanted some of the apples that I knew had just come in and also, there was a fight between me and the neighborhood bully I needed to win.

I wish I had not been so foolish, that was also the day when Mother met her former husband once more after ten years.

I never got my apple, I never won the fight, and I never saw my mother smile again...

Ten years later and I was passed the stage of tears.

"Little Sister..." The voice of Liang-Jie startled me, yet I knew it too well to pull out the sword that I gripped so tightly. A small smile made it way to my face as he drew out the stool beside me and sat on it, bending forward to look me in the eye.

He had managed to grow a lot. Even as my elder brother, I thought of him more as a twin; he resembled me too much to say otherwise. When we had been younger, it was often thought that he was the younger of us both. Now there was no mistaking it. He resembled Abba, broad shoulders, tanned skin, small eyes and a well-defined nose. His hair was drawn back to a single braid dangling to his waist, his height was well above mine. Abba would have been proud to see his only son grow to be just like him...

"Ah-Zhen...you get lost in your thoughts too often. Talk to me." I chuckled softly, setting the sword down on the floor as well as my guard. "What do you want to talk about?" He sighed silently and rubbed the back of his neck. "You remember what day it is?"

The open window of my room gave me a clear view of the incense burning into a line of smoke in the night air. My smile faltered slightly. "I thought we told uncle not to burn the incense anymore...Abba wouldn't have been happy about it." Brother shrugged. "He claimed it was to keep the hall from smelling too badly...I let him get away with that excuse." My laughter bubbled out of me yet died as quickly as it began. Liang-Jie got up, walking over to the window and leaning against the frame. "On a lighter note...when is this blasted Imperial family final leaving?"

I grinned and leaned back against the table. "You decide to say that when you're in the open air...be careful. I don't want to see a half-Persian head rolling around.

"And why, do you not like them?"

He turned away from the open scenery to face me. "They're a bit too intrusive for my liking. It is almost as if they most to fix me." I inhaled quickly at that and nodded. "You're not wrong at that..." He turned his body fully. "The same for you...?"

The question Brother asked brought up memories I had nearly forgotten.

"I supposed this makes us even, doesn't it?"

Li Wu-Ji. The fact that he had somehow found a way to make me spill a long-buried story of my past caused my blood to boil with...confusion. That moment had made us stand on an even plain. He had not been the Emperor's nephew, and I had not been an adopted orphan. At that time near the porch, both of us were parentless, haunted souls with tales from our childhood that needed to be let out to each other....

That fact frightened me more than anything.

"You're doing it again Ah-Zhen."

I shook myself from the daze. "I'm sorry." He frowned a bit. "What's wrong Zhen-Ting?" I glanced up at him. "Ge-ge, why do you call yourself a Zhao?"

"Because Uncle adopted me...because that is what we are now." I huffed. "That's what you think now, that just because Uncle took us in, we're no longer Tang?"

Liang-Jie took in a breath and returned to facing the open window. "I'm not beginning this conversation with you again Ah-Zhen. We've fought over this enough, don't you think?"

I grimaced and rolled my eyes, reaching out to pour myself a cup of tea and draining it in hopes that it was actually wine...too bad it wasn't. I rose from the stool without a word, picking up my sword and staring at the bed. "I'm going to sleep; wake me tomorrow when it's time to do our rounds."

If he did not wish to speak of it, then neither would I. But if I were to be the only Tang remaining in this world; with or without him, so be it.

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Li Wuji

-

This entire situation was rather funny actually.

Li Xiao was completely becoming enamored with Zhao Jiayi, a rare sight to see since Li Xiao was rarely enamored with anything other than his sword.

But it seemed as though it were love at first sight for him, and Jiayi clearly wasn't immune to his advances.

It was rather stupid of me to even let any form of attraction show to the woman who would clearly be my cousin-in-law.

I was a fool indeed.

The tally marks on that old pipe of mine showed that it had been five days since we had first arrived at Qi Zhao Manor. Just the day before, Uncle Xian's messenger had arrived on horseback with a letter, asking with much expectancy if Li Xiao had yet found a wife.

I was tempted to send yes as a response, I wouldn't be lying if I did so.

Instead I walked around the porch of his chamber, fiddling with the brush in my hand as the maids scurried back and forth around the gardens and laundry washing area. Those who spotted me would bow and wait to be dismissed, yet often times I was too lost in my thoughts to do so.

Then came Zhao Jiayi, carrying a backset of dirty clothes on her head as she conversed with one of the younger servants who seemed to be limping beside her. I smiled to myself, sighing in resignation before dropping the brush and stepping off the porch.

I owed Cousin Xiao this much, at least.

"Zhao Jiayi!" My playful tone caught her entirely off guard, the basket on her head dropped to the ground as she bowed, eyes darting quickly to the spilled clothing. I shook my head at that, waving for both her and the injured servant to rise and nodding at the latter for her to continue going to where ever she had been heading.

"You don't need to be so...tense around me Ah-Yi, it's not as if I'm the Bixia."

Her lips tilted upwards slightly...

My own smile faltered at the swell in my chest.

This could not happen.

The both of us bent forward and proceeded to pick up the clothing, an eerie silence settling down between us both as I stopped and watched her pick up the rest, ringing out the excess rain water in some.

"Something's on your mind Ah-Yi, what is it?"

Jiayi paused briefly before responding with a sigh. "General, when I first met your cousin, I asked him how much money would I be worth in a brothel."

I nearly choked on my own spit. "That...the beggar girl, it was you?"

She nodded, and the memories of Li Xiao's rantings over the beggar girl he saved with the weird dialect and silver tongue rang in my mind.

He had loved her since before.

"Shi, quite an interesting first impression I'm sure. It seems that every time I encounter General Xiao, I either dig myself into a whole I will not be able to climb out of or commit potential treason against the Empire...me, a merchant's daughter."

She was different alright, so different in fact I wondered just how she would fit into life in the Li household. The Li were proud, educated, haughty, well-composed, with hands that had never seen a day's worth of labor and feet that had never been exposed to the sun's rays or the dirt's rich feel. The Li women's backs were straight, their spines not used to bending down for and purpose other than to lay down. This Jiayi in front of me, though educated without a doubt...her hair now lay in a messy braid barely containing the curls, her forehead keen with a sheer screen of sweat, her hands silken yet still clear used to work......how would she possibly, possibly, live in a new world where war was not only the thing fought on battlegrounds, but in chambers and palaces as well?

Li Xiao wanted her to join the type of life she would most likely rebel against, he wished for her to become part of that Great T'ang she described as carrying a spear instead of a sword. How did that Cousin of his expect that to happen?

If it had been up to me, I...

I grimaced. "Jiayi, why are you so nervous?" She wiped her hands against the fabric of one of the clothes before taking a deep breath and gathering the courage to look me in the eye.

"General..."

She glanced down at the ground and said nothing, I only chuckled. "Ah-Yi...you once told me that the reason you did not want to marry was because of your sister Ai-Li. Now it seems that there is more to it than that." She still did not respond, so I simply clasped my hands behind me and continued.

"." Her eyes darted upward at that, her mouth opening to speak before quickly shutting again. I frowned. "What is it Jiayi?"

Without a word, she bent forward and picked up the basket, setting in once again on her head. "One of the maids are injured and I must beg your pardon...I will leave first." And she bowed and left.

This woman would be the death of me, not only Li Xiao.

"There must be more to this plan than simply stirring her to jealousy General...Jiayi isn't so simple." I spun at the familiar sounding voice to face Tang Zhen-Ting just as her cousin left.

It had been two days since we had last spoken.

She was without her sword this time, instead a bow strapped across her back as she broke a reed in her hand with boredom. It seemed as though we had gotten past the level of initial discomfort, it was now replaced with a slight tension...

I wasn't at all surprised; I raised a brow. "You seem to know a lot more then you let out." Zhen-Ting smirked quietly. "That is only for appearance...I'm simply observant, that is all."

I took a quick glance behind me to find that Jiayi had already disappeared, sighing before I walked up the steps of the patio.

She didn't bow, she didn't even spare me a look.

"Then what would you suggest Tang Zhen-Ting...as her cousin, you know her better than we all do." Zhen-Ting leaned against the tree nearby and flicked a twig out of her hand. "Li Xiao...should just tell her of his interest instead of playing it out this way. Not only will it harm Cousin Ai-Li if she finds out of the plot, but Jiayi will become more shut off than he already sees her as. Trust me, Jiayi doesn't play with this type of act...she hates it."

I took a seat on a stool nearby and crossed my arms thoughtfully. "Does she now?" The girl nodded. "She does...but it seems as though you may be the only sincere one in this plot...not even Uncle. You are interested in my cousin...aren't you General?"

I froze, glaring at Zhen-Ting with suspicion as she finally looked my way. "What makes you think that?"

"Am I wrong?"

I didn't respond. This Tang Zhen-Ting was more dangerous to me than I had thought. The flag of warning that had waved in my eyes that fateful day of confession had been forgotten by me, and yet now there it was again...and I had to do something about it.

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This is going alright so far.....right?