Beneath Ceaseless Skies #100 Read online

  “This condition I have seen in newlyweds before,” the hastily summoned physician said after examining Xu Jian, “but never this severe.”

  Nevertheless, he prepared medicines, gave instructions for their proper use, and advised the obvious—rest. “You must be mindful of your husband’s strength,” he said to Lady Green Willow.

  “I could never forgive myself if he came to harm,” she replied. The old doctor stroked his beard and looked thoughtful but said nothing else.

  “Do you think he suspected?” Xu Jian said after the man was gone.

  “Ghosts are not the only creatures with an excess of yin, it seems.” Lady Green Willow said. “He is puzzled, but I think he has enough doubts to avoid coming to the obvious conclusion.”

  “Then all is well,” Xu Jian said, and managed to pat her hand, though it took all his strength to raise his. “I will be fine.”

  There were tears in her eyes. “And what about next time? We have already seen that my control is far from perfect.”

  “And who held you tight when you were ready to let go? No, Wife, there’s blame enough for two. After I am recovered, we will try again, and this time we will both be more careful.”

  It was three weeks before they dared to share a bed again, and this time the effects were nowhere near lethal. Nor were the results anywhere near satisfying for anyone involved.

  “One who hesitates is sometimes saved,” said Lady Green Willow philosophically.

  “One who hesitates will always miss the ferry,” said Xu Jian. “In this one regard, must I be fearless for us both?”

  On the third attempt they were closer to the balance Xu Jian had once spoken of. Further experimentation was of course required, and in the next few months they finally settled on something like a schedule. They found that Xu Jian could share his bed with Lady Green Willow in relative safety about once every seven days. A two-week separation was better for Xu Jian’s strength but not especially preferred, since a longer absence tended to make both of them less mindful of potential consequences.

  “The more often we can be safely joined, the sooner your excess of yin may be compensated for,” Xu Jian.

  “Yes, Husband,” Lady Green Willow said, and she blushed, which pleased Xu Jian a great deal. She had only done that once before, at their first meeting, and he took it as a good sign.

  Meanwhile the business of life continued despite the odd but hidden nature of Xu Jian’s household. The jade lion was given a place of honor in their home and was much admired by all who saw it. As ghosts, Lady Green Willow and her two attendants still could not venture out into sunlight, but a second tier of servants were engaged to handle needed excursions outside the home, and it was not considered unusual for an official’s wife and her closest attendants to remain relatively secluded.

  Yet complete seclusion simply was not possible. There were social duties required of the household of someone in Xu Jian’s position that could not be avoided, but to Xu Jian’s surprise, even this proved no difficulty. Lady Green Willow showed herself to be an excellent hostess, with a knack for inviting both well-connected and entertaining guests, and Patience and Wind Whisper showed themselves to be fine dancers and musicians, playing flute, pipa, and guquin alike with consummate skill. Soon Xu Jian was known for the quality of the wine-tasting, moon-viewing, and poetry-composition parties held at his residence that, while modest, he still referred to as the Palace of the Jade Lion.

  Gradually, Xu Jian noticed changes in Lady Green Willow and her two winsome servants. For one thing, when they walked through the house now, he could usually hear their footsteps, soft though they were. For another, they spent less and less time resting as spirits do among their bones within the jade lion and more and more time reading, sewing, playing music, writing poetry, gossiping, or simply, for want of a more accurate term, living. Lady Green Willow now had her own apartments within the villa for those times when she was not sharing Xu Jian’s bed, where she and Patience and Wind Whisper often slept as human women do. All these signs told Xu Jian that his original theory, born of desperate hope, was proving correct, and that the excess yin energy that bound the three women to their ghostly state was slowly losing its dominion.

  He also knew that matters were at a delicate pass in Lady Green Willow’s recovery and all their hopes could yet be easily undone.

  It was the jade lion itself that proved to be their greatest danger. By the material of its construction alone it was obviously of great value, but more to the point, it was also an exquisite work of art; even the most refined and well-traveled guests often remarked that they had never seen its equal. The second time thieves invaded his home attempting to steal the treasure, Xu Jian began to understand his dilemma.

  “I know Patience and Wind Whisper don’t mind,” he said, after the last two unfortunate thieves’ bodies had been discreetly removed, “and that such... incidents, may actually speed our future happiness. Yet these deaths grieve me. I had assumed, as in the case of the Lung brothers that, after the first thieves’ example, further warnings would not have been necessary.”

  “In the average official and bureaucrat, fear will always trump greed,” Lady Green Willow said. “Unfortunately, not all men are officials or bureaucrats. I am sorry, Husband, I should have foreseen this and advised you to keep the jade lion hidden.”

  Xu Jian sighed. “And in my foolishness it never occurred to me that there are men in this country who would covet anything I possessed... other than yourself. I’ve noticed the way Governor Zheng looks at you. And he does write a good deal of poetry these days.”

  Lady Green Willow blushed again. Was this only the third time? Xu Jian thought so.

  “Husband, Governor Zheng is a dear old man and an incorrigible flirt, but that is all. I think greed is our greatest concern. Perhaps one day matters may be different, but right now whoever possesses the jade lion possesses our three spirits. You, my husband, see that as a virtue. One who lusted for the jade lion itself would call for an exorcist.”

  “That had occurred to me. Also, King Youmiu is noted for acquiring whatever he desires, art or women, and there’s a good chance that word of the jade lion has reached him by now. It’s not the thieves who come in the night that worry me the most, Wife. Would it be possible,” he hesitated, then went on, as delicately as he could, “to remove, perhaps, your mortal remains from the jade lion?”

  She sighed. “After so many years our essence is as bound to the jade lion as it is to our ashes and bones. We will not be free from the one until we are free from both.”

  Xu Jian considered. “There has to be something we can do.”

  Lady Green Willow’s countenance brightened. “Ah! The problem is that you are known to possess a treasure. What if it was known that you did not?”

  He frowned. “You mean we hide it?”

  “In a manner of speaking. At our next gathering you let it be known, as an act of piety, that you’re donating the jade lion to a temple in the far south. A large armed caravan will be sent from your villa toward Handan in due course. Everyone will see it leave.”

  “Which everyone will also assume bears the jade lion,” Xu Jian said, stroking his small beard. “While we keep the lion itself hidden, as it should have been from the beginning. But what if the caravan is attacked by bandits and they discover the truth? There are those who would risk it, whatever their chances.”

  Lady Green Willow smiled. “I said the caravan would be seen to leave. I did not say it would be seen anywhere else, by anyone. Ever.”

  “Ah.”

  Xu Jian well remembered the manner in which their home had been refurbished, and understood what Lady Green Willow was proposing now. He knew it was a good plan. It might even have worked, if there had been time to put it into action. That was not to be.

  * * *

  The very next morning as he tried to assume his duties, Xu Jian found the two gates to his villa manned by armed guards, who refused to let him leave the compound.
<
br />   “What is the meaning of this?!”

  “Censor Xu, you are to remain in your home until His Majesty’s Counsellor, Master Huang Ti, arrives tomorrow to question you. Those are my orders,” said the guard captain.

  “B-but why?”

  The guard feigned ignorance, but after a while Xu Jian got the man to admit that Master Huang’s visit had something to do with an object in Xu Jian’s possession. Xu Jian didn’t need much imagination to guess which one was meant.

  “It is as I feared,” he said to Lady Green Willow. “Doubtless the counselor’s mission is to seize the jade lion for the king on some pretext or other.”

  “Do you think they will harm you?” she asked.

  He frowned. “Harm? Oh, I suppose they might. Even the king sees the need for a cloak of legality and will need to justify the theft if I do not give up the jade lion freely. I’m certain there’s something I can be accused of, and someone willing to swear to whatever it is, if I do not give in.”

  She bowed. “If you have the chance, you must make of us a gift to the king, if that will save you.”

  “And what will happen to you and Patience and Wind Whisper if I do that?”

  “Likely we will be exorcized, but that would happen whether you surrender our ossuary freely or no. I have heard of this Master Huang. He is a Daoist of some skill. He will recognize us for what we are.”

  Xu Jian hesitated. “Wife, I must beg your forgiveness.”

  She frowned. “Why, Husband?”

  “I know you were not happy where I found you, but at least you were not suffering from a false hope. Yes, I wanted to save my own life, but I sincerely thought there was a chance for both of us. I offered you the life you never had, and now it will be taken away. I never meant to be so cruel—”

  She stopped him. “Whatever happens next, I have no regrets. Patience, Wind Whisper, and I have been happy these past months, and for the first time in centuries. That alone is more than any of us dared to hope.”

  There didn’t seem to be anything else to say. They spent that day together, Xu Jian trying to read a scroll on exorcism in the vain hope of learning how to prevent one, and Lady Green Willow doing calligraphy and sewing. As evening approached, she summoned Patience and gave her one of the scrolls she had made.

  “What was that?” he asked.

  “If all goes as we fear tomorrow, it’s a last gift to a friend. He always admired my calligraphy, as well as my person. I’ve asked Patience to pass it on to a servant to deliver.”

  “Governor Zheng?”

  She smiled then. “Don’t be jealous, Husband. I’ve also asked for a small favor from him. Perhaps he can help us.”

  Xu Jian sighed. “I know the governor is a good man at heart, and I suppose it can’t hurt to ask, but even he won’t dare stand between us and the King’s Counsel.”

  “I didn’t ask him to. Pardon me for a bit, Husband. I feel a need to visit our altar.”

  She took the other scroll she had prepared and left his studio. For a while Xu Jian toyed with the wild hope that his ghostly wife was up to something, but he knew that was only his desperation, grasping at nothing. They were trapped, all of them, and he could see no way out of it. If Lady Green Willow could find some solace in prayer, then so much the better.

  After a while, and for want of a better plan, he decided to follow her example. When he came to the altar, however, Lady Green Willow was no longer there. The warm ashes in the brazier and a hint of jasmine scent mixed into the smoke told him that she had been, but she herself was nowhere to be seen.

  He searched through the house but couldn’t find either his wife or her two maids, until he approached Lady Green Willow’s apartments and found Wind Whisper laying out her mistress’s silk robes.

  “Where is my wife?” he asked.

  “Bathing, Master,” she said, “and if you’ll forgive an observation, you could do the same.”

  Xu Jian started to rebuke her, but then he remembered what he had forgotten, under the weight of his worry. “Oh. It’s tonight, isn’t it?”

  “Master is distracted,” Wind Whisper said, smiling impishly. “So I won’t let my mistress know that you forgot.”

  She then led him off and prepared a bath for him. After a time he had to admit that the warm water felt good and that, once he emerged, he felt quite a bit better. He put on the clean clothes Wind Whisper had brought out for him. He considered going to his bedroom to wait, but then he changed his mind.

  He found Lady Green Willow in her bedchamber, almost as if she were expecting him. She was dressed in a new robe, and Patience was combing out her mistress’s long black hair. Xu Jian was certain that she had never looked more beautiful. Lady Green Willow smiled at him and then at Patience, who discreetly withdrew.

  “This might be our last night together,” he said, “and I must confess now to a very selfish thought. Tonight I do not want to worry or think about holding back, or holding you back, or anything that by necessity has always been a barrier between us. I might die, I know that, but believe me when I say that I do not seek the coward’s way out of our dilemma. I simply want you.”

  Lady Green Willow took a long, slow breath, and her eyes were shining. “It will be as you wish. I only ask for one favor in return.”

  “What is it?”

  “If you die,” she said. “Take us with you.”

  * * *

  Xu Jian came back to consciousness in a shimmering pool of light. For a moment he thought it might have something to do with heaven, but after a bit he realized it was only the sunlight filtering in through an upper window. After a moment or two he sat up, somewhat amazed that he could, indeed, sit up. In fact, he felt only a pleasant and, in his opinion, well-earned weariness.

  “Good morning, Husband.”

  Lady Green Willow lay beside him, propped up on one elbow. Apparently she had been watching him sleep.

  “I’m alive,” he said, and he knew he sounded a little surprised. So surprised, in fact, that it took him a moment or two to realize that Lady Green Willow was sharing the pool of sunlight with him. “Doesn’t the sunlight bother you?”

  “A little,” she said solemnly. “There was a time when anything more than a mere touch of it would have turned me to vapor and ash, but I have developed a tolerance for it lately.”

  Xu Jian sighed. “That makes me both happy and sad. If only there was a little more time. We were so close....”

  “It can’t be helped. But since we are both still here, in our fashion, then I suppose we will be facing Master Huang together,” she said. “Are you worried?”

  “Terrified.”

  She nodded. “Me, too. Though perhaps matters are not as bad as we feared. We had a message this morning from Governor Zheng. It seems Master Huang was delayed on some business with the governor and will not call here until this evening. Perhaps there will be a way to use that to all our advantage.”

  He sighed. “I wish I knew what that way might be. I would ask Patience and Wind Whisper to treat Master Huang as they did all the other thieves, except—”

  “Except that we are very close to being human again. The unfortunate part of that is it’s now impossible for us to deal with Master Huang as we dealt with the Lung Brothers. We could have done so, once, but now this matter is beyond them,” Lady Green Willow said. “And me as well. Especially since....” She stopped.

  Xu Jian frowned. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “I think so,” she said very seriously, “but I am not really sure.”

  Lady Green Willow was reluctant to say any more on the matter, and Xu Jian was too concerned about the coming evening to press her. He finally withdrew to his own rooms and armed himself, concealing a short but very serviceable dagger in the sash of his robe. He had no idea what, if anything, he could do with it, but he felt a little better knowing it was there. Otherwise, there was little else to do but await Master Huang.

  The priest arrived shortly after sun
set, accompanied by the captain of the guards Xu Jian had spoken to the previous morning. Master Huang was a tall man, perhaps fifty, with long gray hair and beard. He wore the robes of a Daoist priest in rich fabrics. Xu Jian greeted him alone, having thought it best to send Lady Green Willow and her maids to their apartments. He could not imagine any competent priest not recognizing a ghost when he saw one, and there was no point risking more troubles than they had already.

  “Censor Xu Jian, you have been accused of corruption,” Master Huang said.

  “That is a very serious charge, which I know to be untrue. Who has sworn against me?”

  Perhaps it was his imagination, but Xu Jian thought that the priest looked a little uncomfortable. “It is not a formal charge yet. It may not yet come to that. This, you understand, depends somewhat on you.”

  Xu Jian did understand. Master Huang’s words only confirmed what he already suspected: that this wasn’t about anything he’d done or even anyone he had harmed or offended. It was about one thing only.

  “You’ve come about the jade lion,” Xu Jian said. “The king has sent you to take it from me.”

  Master Huang’s face reddened, though whether with embarrassment or anger, Xu Jian was not sure, even after the priest answered harshly.

  “It is not the custom of His Majesty to seize property without cause,” he said.

  “Then I take it your office is to find that cause?”

  Xu Jian had trouble believing his own words echoing in his own ears. He had never spoken so freely, and certainly not to a king’s counselor. As much as he was worried about his own and his wife’s future, he was also deeply offended by the complete injustice of it all. As he spoke, he found himself wondering if Huang Ti was aware of that injustice, despite the fact that he obviously did not wish to be.

  “You presume too much, Xu Jian,” Huang said, “and this does not help your case. I wish to examine the jade lion now.”

  Since there was no help for it, Xu Jian bowed. “This way,” he said.

  He led the two men to his studio, where the jade lion was prominently displayed on a table of ebonized wood. At his first sight of it, the priest couldn’t suppress a gasp. “I see that its quality was not exaggerated. This confirms the king’s suspicions.”