19: Huaqing Pool The avenues of Chang’an are joined by narrow alleys, fragrant carriages and precious horses meandering all around.
Jade sedans move unhindered from the princess’s manor, and golden whips lead unending to the houses of marquises.1
The first rays of the late autumn morning crossed the high Mingde Gate of Chang’an City, spreading on the expansive squares of of green bricks in Zhuque Avenue, reflecting a hazy layer of h.o.a.r-frost.
A horse-hoof lightly and slowly pa.s.sed through the haze, gradually approaching from afar, projecting the tall and straight silhouette of its rider.
He was about twenty years in age, his skin slightly dark, his silhouette tall and straight, and the shape of his brows and eyes sharp and bright. At present men of the Han2 people rarely had such a straight nose-bridge, moreover his lips were constantly in a habitual pursing. While this left the profile of his face somewhat handsome, it seemed to have a cold detachment which rejected people for great distances,
The deep autumn mornings of the north were frosty, yet he only wore a ca.s.sock of rough cloth, and apparently did not notice the cold. The thin black material covered his shoulders, arms, a strong back, and with the horse’s b.u.mping, the lines of his muscles bulged slightly.
A long sword had been tightly wrapped in ash-white rags, and tied slanting across his back.
—despite that the cloth had begun to show tear and fading from travelling long distances, and seemed to be shabby and unremarkable, those with discerning eyes could still make out a faint curling sword aura around the blade, like a glimmer of green light in the gloomy night, exuding an imposing chill.
The clopping of hooves abruptly stopped, and the man raised his head.
The great vermilion doors were set amidst eaves of glazed tile and square wooden pillars, and the lacquered gold character on the signboard gave off a fog, distinctly seen.
—Xie Manor.
The man turned over and dismounted, standing for a moment on the steps, his rear view as strong and taciturn as a black boulder.
It was only when the black horse with white hooves finally sneezed in impatience, and used its jaw to nudge his back, that the man let out a long breath, and strode up to knock the door knocker.
In a short while the side door creaked open, and the porter poked his head out, respectfully giving a salute with clasped hands: “This gentleman…”
“I request to meet the master of this place, and do trouble you to announce.”
The porter studied the man with a glance, and seeing that despite the unconventional attire his look was heroic and sharp, did not say anything more, only asking with a smile: “Dare I ask for your honourable surname and distinguished name, and do you have a calling card?”
The man hesitated slightly.
Following which he slowly untied the long sword behind his back to hand to the porter, and rumbled: “This is my calling card…”
Pausing he added: “My humble surname is Shan, with a single name Chao.”3
The porter had misgivings from the bottom of his heart, but he did not show it, giving a short half-bow before he turned around and left. A moment later the side door opened again, and this time a maid in her twenties wearing a crimson skirt of muslin came out.
Shan Chao was slightly astonished, only to hear the maid calmly say: “May this gentleman follow me.”
This was the second time that Shan Chao stepped into the Xie manor.
The irony was, this was the Xie Manor which was one of the most popular places in Chang’an City, where callers in innumerable carriages and horses converge, and those whose rank in the officialdom were slightly small would be denied entry, but an ordinary commoner like Shan Chao, had managed to enter through the front door twice.
At the moment it was still too early in the day, and within the garden the cold air was crisp and clean, moss and h.o.a.r-frost lying moist and wet in the alleys; both sides of the winding cloister were verdant with st.u.r.dy bamboos, and down the corridor within pots of green jade there bloomed great blossoms of multicoloured chrysanthemums. That maid was exceedingly elegant in her disposition, yet she silently led the way without a word, pa.s.sing through a flower-door and a moon gate, towards a distant warbling and pattering of birdsong, where the rushing sound of hot water finally sounded.
Shan Chao looked around, and saw that this was actually the inner courtyard of the Xie Manor.
The maid abruptly stopped walking, and gave a salute4:
“Commander, we’ve brought Master Shan.”
Shan Chao froze in amazement.
Within the garden ahead a hot spring had been cordoned off with bricks of white jade, from which currently there arose spirals of steam, and Xie Yun was currently sitting inside with his back to him!
“En,” Xie Yun spoke without thinking, an indolent hoa.r.s.eness in his voice: “Serve tea.”
The maid left without a word, and Shan Chao remained frozen there.
From his perspective, he could only see Xie Yun leaning against the side of the hot spring, long hair carelessly bundled hanging out of the spring, only exposing a thin and strong shoulder above the water surface. Under the dusky sky of early morning, it was hard to tell if the skin of his back and shoulders or the white marble walls of the pool was the more translucent and sparkling, and Shan Chao hurriedly averted his gaze.
“What did you come for?” Xie Yun lazily asked.
“……” Shan Chao’s Adam’s apple bobbed once, and after a while he roughly said:
“I believed that since the heavens and earth are vast, and I may go as I please, naturally I could come to the Xie Manor of Chang’an, therefore…”
Yet Xie Yun interrupted him: “You can return to Mobei too.”
Shan Chao’s mind was rather disorganised, his gaze at a loss, so much that his tongue felt numb.
This feeling was simply too strange.
He inconspicuously bit the tip of his tongue, and at the same time that the rusty taste reached out, the stab of pain finally awoke his entire consciousness.
“I came all the way up north from Jiangnan, not needing official doc.u.ments to be let past through the city walls or to leave the cities, and constantly people by the wayside would provide support, and when lodging for the night someone would even feed the horse. I occa.s.sionally lost my way in the desolate countryside, but I could still see the hoof-prints and road signs left behind by the Imperial Guards, and red strings were tied to trees to point to the official roads, of which following them led me before the outer walls of Chang’an…”
Shan Chao paused, and said in a deep voice: “Therefore I believe, someone ought to have wished for me to come to the capital.”
Xie Yun finally smiled, turning around as if to jeer at Shan Chao, his skin almost translucent in the hanging steam, and his eyelashes appearing especially black from the minute droplets hanging from them: “You think too much. Even if you throw yourself into the Long River or hang yourself in Mobei no one would stop you.”
Belt decorations clinked together in pa.s.sing, and the crimson-skirted maid from just now led a few junior maids, carrying tea and snacks and a basin with towels over.
The snacks were simply never seen before, with three to a plate, sparkling white crystals in bowls of celadon jade-green, so delicate as to resemble flower petals, and at first glance completely unrecognisable as food. Contrary to expectation the tea was a pleasant emerald green and clearly strong and pure, and Shan Chao felt that his tongue and mouth were dry, and thus took two or three bowls of tea in succession before he stopped. Once he raised his eyes he saw that Xie Yun had already rose from the open bath, and was currently draping a wide and soft white robe of cloth around himself in a swish, and carelessly throwing his towel to the maid.
“What thoughts did you have on the way?” Xie Yun asked.
Shan Chao moved his gaze away from Xie Yun’s rear view, staring at the green and moist leaves at the bottom of his bowl: “…I thought about many things, but the main thing was that I finally figured out one thing.”
“Oh?”
“That day in Ci’en Temple…”
By the sideline the maid waved a hand, and dismissed the junior maids.
“…the heirloom Snow Lotus in Pavilion Elder Liu’s residence were not empty words, and it truly did exist, only that it was stolen. And on the next day a total of three people drank the poisoned dessert, and the poison acted up in the Crown Prince and you, and I was the only one unaffected, not because I drank the least of it.”
Shan Chao slowly said: “— it was because, I had already eaten the Snow Lotus from Pavilion Elder Liu’s manor.”
There was a couch in the small pavilion next to the hot spring bath, and the maid laid out a white fox-fur cape as a mat, whilst Xie Yun did not even look at Shan Chao: “Oh, where did you eat it?”
“On that first night on the Zhongzheng Street, you gave me a bowl of hot tea, presumably the Snow Lotus was dissolved in the water. As for whatever leading lady of Golden Swallow House, that was simply you…”
“People don’t live long if they think too much,” Xie Yun cut him off: “If you have the time to be concerned about courtesans, why don’t you mull over something useful.”
This was simply forcing a false argument down, he simply did not want to listen to Shan Chao keep asking why. The corner of Shan Chao’s mouth quirked slightly, and he reconciled himself: “Yes, I wasn’t think about courtesans, I was thinking about Master—”
“…why were you thinking about me?”
This time it was Xie Yun who was taken aback. Shan Chao narrowed his eyes, and casually lifted the jade cup in his hand:
“I was thinking, Master has a residence of gold and white horses, and calmly benefits from a dissolute lifestyle, so to stay for several years in a land as cold as Mobei, you must have been very tormented in your heart.”
Xie Yun could not help but break out in laughter, and then lift a hand through the air to point at Shan Chao.
That move was very ruminating, as if both unresigned yet with no alternative, with a bit of rebuke, and Shan Chao immediately felt a subtle exhale.
Yet this exhale had yet to end, when he saw Xie Yun pull down his belt, and wave out his hand—
The soft silk whistled through the wind, curling like a living snake, and Shan Chao had yet to react, when it circled his throat like lightning, and gave a resolute pull!
—Splash!
The hot spring splattered everywhere, and Shan Chao did not even have time to make any sound, when he fell head-first into the water!
“Glug-glug-glug…” Shan Chao struggled up from the water, spitting out water in an embarra.s.sing state, and glared at Xie Yun.
Xie Yun stood with arms crossed by the side of the white jade pool, his glance down filled with ridicule: “No need for thanks, my disciple. The waters were drawn here by digging a pipeline to the Huaqing Pool in the Palace, and it reportedly promotes longevity and cures every illness, you should have a nice soak in it.”
“…” Shan Chao bellowed: “I’m not ill…”
“But you’re filthy,” Xie Yun said.
Travel-worn from rushing from Jiangnan to the capital, with the whole journey as fast as lightning, making all haste by the light of the starry night, Shan Chao who had never taken a bath at an inn throughout the whole journey was suddenly speechless.
Xie Yun turned around to leave.
“Wait!” Shan Chao suddenly said: “What did you say just now? You called me your disciple—”
Xie Yun said: “If you kneel and call me grandfather, I can reply to you as my grandson, do you want to try?”
Shan Chao was immediately left speechless, and Xie Yun floated off, without looking back.
The maid had already laid out the soft couch at the pavilion, lit some incense, and personally arranged some plates of refreshments. Xie Yun comfortably lay p.r.o.ne on the white fox-fur stole, and the maid began to knead and rub on his nape and shoulders, her technique exceptionally adept, every blow following the body meridians, clearly having had professional training.
Shan Chao silently watched as he soaked in the hot spring, only to hear the maid whisper: “Commander’s meridians are congealed and rough, with many knots, and seems to have suffered damage, you should try as much as possible not to use martial arts for the time being”
Xie Yun have a hum, and a moment later said: “Heavier.”
The maid increased her hand press, and after half a cup of tea’s worth of work, Xie Yun’s voice sounded again: “A bit more.”
A morning breeze pa.s.sed through the buildings, and within the pavilion the gauze drapes lifted, and a warm fragrance drifted around.
The maid discovered that Xie Yun’s breathing was gradually levelling, and thus pulled back and stood, walking away softly and quietly.
“……”
Shan Chao soaked in the hot spring, looking around at the wealthy and luxuriant garden before him, at the elaborate and elegant water pavilion, and Xie Yun who was lying quietly asleep nearby on a fox-fur-covered soft couch, and suddenly had a truly unreal feeling of absurdity.
He had imagined some possibilities of visiting the Xie Manor, the worst being directly locked up, and the best merely no more than entering with difficulty, meeting once and exchanging a few sentences, and then being chased out by Xie Yun to sleep in the streets.
No matter what it would not be this, staying in the inner courtyard’s hot spring, and blankly staring at the Imperial Guard Commander mere steps away, casually asleep.
Shan Chao stood up and walked to the poolside, stepping over the jade wall without making any sound as much as possible, and casually threw the drenched ca.s.sock on the ground. There was still some towels and robes above the gold basin which had been served by the servant girls just now which seemed clean, and thus Shan Chao carelessly wiped himself and donned the clothes, and suddenly felt that all the meridians throughout his body indeed seemed to have relaxed, an indescribable satisfaction.
He walked up the pavilion, yet Xie Yun had no reaction, only giving a deep breath on the couch.
Shan Chao did not suspect even a bit, that if an a.s.sa.s.sin was to abruptly appear in the garden for Xie Yun’s life, before the guards rushed over, Xie Yun would have already forcibly twisted off the a.s.sa.s.sin’s head and thrown it on the ground.
Yet at least at this moment, the sleeping appearance of the Imperial Guard Commander was very quiet and serene, and may have a touch of fatigue which was difficult to note.
Shan Chao did not know why did he think so, and did not even realise what he was doing. When he finally reacted, he had already walked up to stand next to the couch, and reached out a hand to press at the meridian on Xie Yun’s shoulder and begin to knead it.
—Shan Chao had never learnt ma.s.sage, but the hands of martial arts pract.i.tioners were strong and large, with internal force pa.s.sing through his palms to permeate the meridians under the skin, bringing about a slightly tepid touch, and the congealed and knotted meridians followed the perfusion of internal force to slowly unfold.
Xie Yun made a low murmur.
The physique of the Imperial Guard Commander was not st.u.r.dy, or it could be said that it was only at this time that Shan Chao realised that Xie Yun was frailer than the average person, the lines of his muscles not protruding, the bones thin, and due to this thinness had an impression of slender elegance.
Shan Chao went down the spine towards the hips, and stopped at the deepest area of the waist line.
“Oh…” Xie Yun gave a long stretch, and hoa.r.s.ely said: “The service is not bad.”
He rose from the couch, and Shan Chao thereupon moved back to one side, his footsteps hurried for some reason, nearly knocking over a white porcelain vase in one corner of the pavilion.
“Well?”
“…nothing,” Shan Chao took a deep breath, and coldly said: “A disciple should wait upon his master, I did what I was supposed to do.”
Xie Yun returned a sneer: “Even if you were to ascend to the throne as Emperor one day, you ought to wait upon me.”
Shan Chao completely did not know what to say, and fortunately Xie Yun did not continue upon such a rebellious topic. He neatened his lapels, walking out of the pavilion without turning back, and beckoned to a maid with instructions: “Call for the carriage and horses, prepare an entire outfit for the monk to go out.”
The maid accepted the order and left, and Shan Chao spoke in amazement: “To go… where?”
“To follow me into the Palace and offer up medicine,” Xie Yun bluntly replied, casting a taunting gaze from outside the pavilion: “—the Crown Prince has awaited the Snow Lotus until his life almost ended, and who knows if you were strolling through a wh.o.r.ehouse or giving birth on the way, dragging on until you arrived in Chang’an only today, do you know how many things for how many people you’ve delayed?”
Translator’s Notes Chapter 19: The Tang Empire Map, Part 1 – Chang’an
So far we’ve only mentioned three places: Mobei, Jiangnan, and Chang’an. Mobei just refers to the north of the Gobi desert, and Jiangnan by itself has no other relevance to this plot. Most of this novel would therefore concern Chang’an or Luoyang in some fashion, because Chang’an at that time was the centre of the world.
In the Mediterranean, all roads led to Rome; in the Orient, all roads lead to Chang’an, now named Xi’an. Chang’an was not just at the centre of ancient China’s road systems and major economic networks, but also the eastern terminus of the overland Silk Road. Although the area around Chang’an had been an area of strategic and economic importance since 771 BCE in the Western Zhou dynasty, its heyday would arguably be the Sui and Tang dynasties. Chang’an urban planning would also influence the ancient capitals of East Asia for a long time – Nara and Kyoto in j.a.pan, Gyeonju in (South) Korea etc, took their layouts from Tang Chang’an.
– LLS
1 These two lines are the opening of the poem ballad “Chang’an: Ancient Theme” (长安古意) by Lu Zhaolin.
2 ZH: 汉人 – the Han group refers to the Han Chinese ethnicity, which comprises of what we commonly regard as Chinese.
3 ZH: 在下免贵姓单，单名超 – the character 单 is usually p.r.o.nounced ‘dān’ (single; alone) but when used as a surname it is p.r.o.nounced ‘shàn’. I made a note here because the actual sentence requires knowledge of the p.r.o.nunciation.
4 ZH: 福身 – this is the ancient salute used by women.