by CarrieVS » Tue Nov 19, 2019 1:28 am
I am deeply, truly sorry that this is so long.
Baozi has been racking his brains for days, trying to devise a plan to break the stalemate. There must be a way, there is always some weakness, some opportunity. He just needs the wit to see it. Or the information. He has been sending spies into the palace, but those that manage to both enter and leave cannot get far or learn much. He has gained a little knowledge of troop positions within, and that the imperial family are locked inside the inner palace; nothing that would give them the edge they need.
He talks it over with his brothers. “I could learn more, if I could go myself, but Lord Ding would never permit it, and I couldn't explain."
"He can't afford to lose you - and neither can we," Wenchang objects.
"We cannot afford to do nothing either. Time is against us."
Dewang looks thoughtful, "I don't like you putting yourself at risk, but if you are going to try, I will help. I can make sure that fortune will favour you for a time."
"And I would have to be very unfortunate for anyone to suspect me in my disguise. The worst that will happen is that I'll be chased away and not learn anything, and perhaps I will be kicked. But I know I would be forbidden, if it was known."
"But you haven't yet. Ding Yuan doesn't need to know every thing you do, as long as you get results. If you're sure that it's worth the risk."
"You are right, Dewang. I don't like to deceive him but it is for his benefit. I will have to go at night so I am not missed, but I think that would be best anyway."
They plan the attempt for that night. At dusk Dewang performs a rite to invoke good luck for his brother, and then Baozi, warning them that he may be gone for several hours and trying to hurry would only make it more dangerous, slips away to his own quarters to change his shape.
The cat trots towards the palace walls, not quite hiding but Baozi hopes to catch as few eyes as possible. Anything out of the ordinary may be noticed, even a cat. The gates of the palace are all locked and heavily guarded from within. He considers the walls, but they are too high to bound up with a run, and claws will not sink into stone like a tall tree or wooden fence. There is probably enough purchase but it would be a testing climb. The gate is the better option, they are not built to keep out so small and slight an intruder and he is able to slip through. One guard almost steps on his tail without seeing him, but he manages to dodge it and slip through into the barbican. Another does spot him and he has to dodge the butt of his spear, but the man laughs as the cat darts away, and thinks it of no consequence. He is inside.
The courtyard inside the outer wall is still thick with patrols on foot and mounted. In his cat form Baozi has to keep his wits about him to avoid being trampled on, let alone seen. As always the cat is easily distracted but that is to the good. He makes sure to keep heading in about the right direction, but does not try to keep a sharp focus. He is a cat, slipping into the palace grounds to hunt, and nothing more. There is plenty of time.
He passes by the official residences of the ministers and courtiers, gradually making his way towards the court. Dong Zhuo will surely have his quarters there, guarding the entrance to the inner palace, probably with his chief officers close to him. It is of course heavily guarded. Dong Zhuo is known to greatly fear assassins - and Baozi has considered the possibility, to be certain, but thus far has not seen any opportunity. Here, there are windows on all but the ground floor. The lowest are less than a third the height of the outer wall: he could get half the way with a leap and a bound before having to cling to the rough stone with his claws.
It is still not an easy climb and he is out in the open, forced to move inch by inch, for far longer than he likes. It is pure chance that no-one looks up at that stretch of wall while he is there - but of course it is not just chance: bless Dewang and his magic.
He scrambles over the windowsill and hops lightly down into the outer corridor. There are no doors here, only guards, and a junction leading to the inner portion of this floor where he needs to get to. He stalks closer, keeping to the shadows at the very foot of the wall and freezing every time the guard looks his way. He seems not to notice anything, and finally Baozi is at the junction, almost at the man's feet, but beneath his eyeline. The connecting corridor is barely wider than a tall man's outstretched arms. Once past, it is a quick, silent dart into the far more sumptuous inner hallway and under one of the small decorative tables that stand in alcoves.
It is late and only a few servants move about. There is plenty of cover, so it is easy to make his way around until he finds the doors to the courtroom itself - easy to recognise. He knows it will be empty at this hour so pushes the door open a crack and slips in.
Not quite empty: a single mouse is nosing around in a corner. The cat instantly drops into a hunting crouch, but it is across an open space and it is some minutes of patient stalking before he can come up to it, and all for nothing when it spots him a heartbeat too soon and whisks away to a crack in the wall. Baozi focuses himself. If he had caught the mouse, he might have carried it to show that he is a good cat, a lucky cat here to catch the palace's vermin, and presented it proudly to anyone who should notice him. But it got away. He slips under the curtain that he knows will cover the staircase by which the Emperor or Regent enter the court.
The upper level is much busier, much brighter, and much harder to hide in. His sensitive cat's nose smells food, and he follows the richest scent. The combination of feline stealth with careful timing is enough to avoid notice as far as the door he suspects to hid his target. Getting through it is another matter. He could push it ajar but he dare not, and squeezes his way between the bamboo frame and the wall, noticing as he does the powerful figure of Hua Xiong. He is sitting, but is dressed in his armour and a halberd rests within hand's reach. He is not looking this way, but Baozi cannot avoid the door rattling slightly as he wriggles free, and has to make a dash for cover as the warrior looks around.
Safely under the very couch on which Hua Xiong is sitting, Baozi hears him call to someone else "Check the windows, Lord Dong hates cold breezes." That was close. He lies flat at the very back of the couch, against the wall, directly underneath the armed man, and watches.
He is in the entrance to what must be Dong Zhuo's suite. There are three more doors besides the one by which he entered, one on each wall. He watches. After a while, Guo Si enters.
"Our lord is busy," Hua Xiong says, "you will have to wait."
"I am not here for an audience."
Above Baozi, Hua Xiong's weight shifts slightly, as he turns towards the newcomer, but says nothing aloud.
"This war is going poorly, I am here to see Li Ru."
"Watch your tongue." Hua Xiong retorts, "We control the emperor and we have our walls. Jia Xu will be here with our reinforcements soon."
"I understood that you were with the reinforcements." Baozi had been wondering the same.
"I arrived with a hundred men today. We came in through the sally ports in the garden."
The two men are quiet for a while and then Guo Si complains, "Lord Dong should have let me kill the sorcerer at least if not Mao Xu."
"Li Ru says that the sorcerer is the key," Hua Xiong answers. "If he falls then Mao Xu will be free to move and our lord can recruit him and Wei Yan."
Guo Si scoffs, "Mao Xu will never serve our lord. He is a fool with his heart set on the Han."
"Perhaps our lord is himself bound too much by loyalty. Surely if some subordinate showed initiative he would be rewarded."
"Of course, if the young prince were to have a fall..." Though Guo Si says prince, Baozi has no doubt he means the Emperor. It is of course a possibility he has been aware of, but it is shocking to hear the officers talking about his murder so casually. At that moment another door opens.
"Shut your mouths, you fools," Li Ru snaps. "Any of the servants could be reporting what you say to Lu Zhi and his loyalists." He can be heard sending the servants away. Baozi is heartened to her that the great strategist is still thought a threat to the traitors' aims, and that he is not alone within the palace walls.
"Duo," Li Ru says to Guo Si, "go back to your post. After that debacle with Lu Bu I cannot abide your face! To think that you could devise such a plan. If I had my way you would be executed, but Lord Dong still has plans for you." That is unfair. It would have worked if not for Dewang, and then Ding Yuan would be dead, the greatest warrior in China would be within Dong Zhuo's fold, and who would be prepared, let alone able, to stop him?
"Our spies say that Ma Teng intends to interdict our reinforcements. You will go to Chang'an and organise raiders to attack Ma Teng so that Jia Xu can bring soldiers to the capital. And take these letters. One is for Zhang Lu, the other for Han Sui. Bring 1000 taels of gold to each of them as a gift from our lord."
Baozi cannot see that Han Sui will be bought by any amount of gold to attack his blood brother, but Zhang Lu surely will. At least they are now forewarned. Li Ru withdraws into one of the inner rooms of the suite without another word, and Guo Si departs quickly, leaving Hua Xiong alone again. Baozi considers trying to go further - Li Ru must have gone into his own quarters, and the cat's sensitive ears pick up the noise of a man lying with a woman beyond one of the other doors, which is surely Dong Zhuo himself. But with the warrior so close, and having learned so much already, neither seems worth the risk. He slips out the way he came, not entirely unnoticed: Hua Xiong mutters "The damned rats around here..."
Once out into the open air again it is now around midnight and too dark for the cat's distinctive colour to be noticed and Baozi trots along briskly, seen but not heeded. He slinks around the official residences until he discovers the tower in which Lu Zhi has his apartment. At this hour the upper stories are dark, but there are lights on the ground floor. He prowls around the outside of the building and becomes certain that, as he had expected, the minister is under house arrest and guards are occupying the lower floor.
Once again, climbing the walls seems to be the best option, but this time he miscalculates early on and finds himself moving too far from the window that is his goal. He holds his nerve and edges higher until he judges himself far enough above the sill, then takes a sprawling sideways leap that ends with the cat tangled in the curtains, but safe. Baozi holds down the trapped animal's urge to panic and unhooks his claws one foot at a time until he can free himself from the drapery and move into the room proper.
An elderly man, by the look of him a body servant, is sat upright in his bed, staring at the window. He relaxes slightly when he sees it is a cat, but does not lie back down. Fortunately, the door is ajar and Baozi is able to dart across the room and through it before the man makes any attempt to shoo him back out. He pauses, but all is quiet. It is evidently not worth pursuing the cat in the middle of the night.
The minister's own room will be on the top floor. The stairs are empty and so is the landing, from which several rooms open. None yields any sound save the steady breathing of sleepers. One has only a single person by the sound, and he slips past the door to find his guess correct.
Lu Zhi lies in bed, soundly asleep. On the other side of the room is a desk arrayed with papers, and between, his armour on a stand, and another with three tiers. The topmost rack is empty, customarily reserved for the Emperor's own sword, the bottom has what must be his own weapon, and the middle bears the sword of authority given to the minister when he was made Imperial Commander.
Baozi hops silently up onto the desk, trying to avoid treading on paper lest he has any dirt on his paws. The characters are meaningless marks to the cat's eyes and he has to focus hard, but he makes out reports on the troops in the capital, and commits to memory what he did not already know. There are letters from the governors as well: refusals to get involved from Liu Biao and Zhang Lu, Qiao Mao's assurance that he supports the Emperor... but his duty is first to the Eastern counties. He is a coward. Wang Kuang's resignation is also there.
That is somewhat informative, but how much more if he could talk to Lu Zhi himself? Perhaps he can. He is in private with the one man within the palace who will certainly not betray his presence to Dong Zhuo's guards. The cat sits back on its haunches, and after a few minutes of concentration Baozi stands up, careful not to stand where he might be visible through the curtains.
He shakes Lu Zhi gently by the shoulder. The older man stirs.
"It is Mao Xu, I am here in the palace as a spy for Ding Yuan. I-" He does not get any further before the minister, now fully awake, springs from his bed and snatches up his sword, which he holds to Baozi's throat. The younger man does not flinch from the blade, but stops speaking. There is a moment of silence, then Lu Zhi, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, says incredulously, "Mao Xu Baozi?"
"Yes."
"We have met once before. Tell me the circumstances." He does not move his weapon.
In a low voice, Baozi gives a plain statement of how things stand outside the palace, and what he has just learned from listening to Dong Zhuo's officers. There is no need to explain the significance of things to Lu Zhi.
Finally, the minister sheathes his sword. "However you got here, you are in danger. It is only a matter of time before Dong Zhuo names Yuan Feng Grand Tutor, and from there controls the court. Ding Yuan will be a rebel within a week."
"That is not good. I knew that we had no time for a long siege but I had hoped for more than that to find a way in."
Lu Zhi nods. "With the eunuch faction gone there is no majority to oppose him, though I know his dictates will be of no more use than those of the boy Emperor or the Dowager.
"Dong Zhuo has replaced the Imperial Guard with his own soldiers and the loyalists 'defect' every day though I know they are being killed."
Baozi notices for the first time that he is dressed in the white robes of a dead man. He tries not to show his shock, and makes no mention of it. "Have you any advice for this worthless student, Master? As I can see it, either the palace must be taken by force, or the traitor Dong Zhuo assassinated, if he is to be stopped. Do you think either can be done?"
"The guards are compromised and I cannot say who is loyal to the Han and who to the usurper. If the palace is stormed I fear the emperor will die in the violence or by treachery but the outcome is the same. If the tyrant can be killed that may help, but in these dark times who can say if that will end it?" He is silent for a moment and then asks, "Baozi, you came to me in secret, could you carry the young Emperor away the same way?"
Baozi's stomach twists. He had no wish to bring false hope. He cannot meet Lu Zhi's eyes as he answers, "I... I am sorry, Master. I can... I have means to conceal myself but it is beyond my power to do the same for another."
The great man looks stricken, and seems to stifle a groan of despair. "If only Jian Shuo were still with us then we would have hope. But Guo Sheng bows to Dong Zhuo and the other attendants to him."
"I am sorry not to bring you better news, Master, but I will try to find a way he can be defeated. I must not stay much longer, though, and I am not likely to get inside again. If there is anything else you would have me know, or would ask me, then tell me quickly, and then I must leave."
Lu Zhi hesitates, then looks over at the sword given to him by Emperor Ling where it lays upon its stand. He picks it up and offers it to Baozi. "This sword represents the greatest moment of my life, take it and give it to Ding Yuan."
Baozi flushes red with shame. He does not take the sword, but is it several moments before he can find words. "I am sorry, Master. Even this simple thing your useless servant cannot do. I came in unarmed, because I could not pass unseen carrying a weapon." His clothing is always transformed along with his body but he has tried in the past while wearing a sword or holding objects and always they are left behind.
Lu Zhi is downcast. His shoulders slump a little, and he looks older than his forty or so years. "Yes, of course..." with the sword in his hands he looks over at his armour, and stands straighter again, an expression of grim resolve on his features. "Then tell Ding Yuan that at noon tomorrow he should assault the gates of the palace. Those who are loyal will be there to great him."
Baozi realises with a start what he intends, and looks away, afraid that he cannot master his emotion. When he decided to speak to the minister he had no intention of such a thing. "Yes, Master." His voice cracks a little. "And now I must leave." He moves towards the door, and then stops.
He must change his shape again before he leaves the tower, but dare he leave even this room in his true form? Can he be certain of Lu Zhi's servants, or that the guards will remain downstairs? But the alternative is to do it here, in front of Lu Zhi. Even those who know his secret have never watched him make the change. But he trusts the minister implicitly, and, he hates the part of himself that thinks rationally of it, but if Lu Zhi intends to die the next day then what can it matter how many secrets he knows? At least, he thinks with very slight comfort, revealing his ability will explain the mysteries he would otherwise have left him with.
"I dare not risk being seen as I am by anyone but you," he says. "I must... I must assume my disguise in this room. It... is not... not an ordinary disguise. Master, I.. I have no right to ask anything more of you, but you would do your humble student a great favour if you do not speak of my greatest secret to anyone."
Lu Zhi nods, but says nothing. Baozi kneels down, facing away from him, and tries to forget that he is being watched as he focuses his mind on the transformation. It takes a little longer than usual and there is a moment where he fears he cannot do it, but finally, the golden-brown cat trots forward to the door. If Lu Zhi is startled by this display of sorcery, he does not show it.
Lu Zhi calls for his servants as Baozi is making his way out of the tower. The man he passed on his way in is among them, but they are hurrying to their master and spare no more than a glance for a gold cat as it trots past them. There is little difficulty getting out of the palace and back to Ding Yuan's camp.
After he has gone, Lu Zhi orders his servants to dress him in his armour, and paint it white. "When the sun is highest tomorrow, I will die for the Han."
There is a lamp burning in Dewang's quarters. He has waited up all night. Baozi, returned again to his human form, goes to him first, to put his mind at ease that he is safely returned. He is not sure how to explain everything yet, and only says "I must go to Lord Ding at once," and hurries away.
A guard goes to rouse Ding Yuan at Baozi's request: if Mao Xu says it is urgent, then he dare not disobey. The Governor appears a little time later, hastily dressed and looking annoyed. He waits impatiently as all the words Baozi had rehearsed go out of his head and he takes a few moments to find his tongue again. He hopes that he won't be questioned too closely as to how he got his information.
"I have just learned that ... that the situation is worse than I had realised," he begins. "There is no more time to continue the siege: you sh... you must attack immediately."
"Are Hua Xiong and Jia Xu here already?"
"Hua Xiong is, but only with one hundred men, and Jia Xu is still weeks away. But Yuan Feng maybe named Grand Tutor at any day, and then Dong Zhuo will control the court and you will be declared a rebel. And worse, the usurper's officers speak of murdering the Emperor with a staged accident."
"Can an assault on the palace succeed?" Ding Yuan seems doubtful, and no wonder.
"I have had word from Lu Zhi." That is almost a lie, but if he ever will admit that he heard it from the minister's own lips, that is not important right now. "He asks that you assault the main gate at noon tomorrow, and promises that... that those who are loyal will be there to greet you. He will create an opportunity. The fighting will be bloody but it is most likely your only chance to save the Emperor's life."
Ding Yuan attacks at mid morning. The advantage is plainly with the defenders, but as the sun reaches its height the gate is stormed from within by four dozen warriors, all of them dressed in white. Within a quarter of an hour, the gate begins to open. Lu Bu bursts through as soon as the gap is wider than a horse and lays about him left and right with his halberd, slaying at almost every stroke. Mounted on Red Hare he is more unstoppable than he has ever been, man and horse moving as one, and his soldiers spur their horses to their best speed to stay behind him.
The bright chestnut for which the mighty stallion was named is soon soaked to a deep crimson with the blood of his master's foes, as his men sweep in behind him and take the outer courtyard by storm. A platoon gallops wide around the bulk of the fighting to get a clear charge at a company of guards. The leader is a slender figure on a tall horse, dark grey splashed with white, who dashes fearlessly into the fray at his rider's cry of "Shooting Star! Charge!" striking out with his hooves and trampling men underfoot, even as his seemingly delicate rider wields a halberd expertly to cut down yet more.
Only Hua Xiong can stand before the onslaught. He succeeds in rallying men around him, and attracts the attention of Lu Bu himself. Even before the great warrior, the barbarian does not fall, though he cannot advance, but maintains his defence through a dozen exchanges. Finally, Wei Yan and his horsemen break through and Hua Xiong must withdraw or be surrounded.
Finally the fighting draws to a lull. The inner palace is still defended by half a thousand of Dong Zhuo's men, but the outer walls firmly in the hands of Ding Yuan. Of the men in white, not one survives. Mingled with the bodies of the guards, many of them lie around the gatehouse, the rest within, where they were cut down to a man defending Lu Zhi. The loyal minister himself is found, his armour no longer white but red with the blood of a dozen wounds. He did not fall defending himself: his sword is sheathed, and his hands instead grip the wheel that opens the gate.
A Combustible Lemon wrote:Death is an archaic concept for simpleminded commonfolk, not Victorian scientist whales.