In those times, however, the language of fragrance was at the level of art, although just a few people had mastered it. Shi wished he could run away and hide himself, but his duty as a warrior and a sovereign demanded courage. He took it as a trial. At the moment of infirmity, when he felt a note of ylang-ylang in the cacophony of smells, he felt an instant wish to have Van next to him and feel her hands caressing him. His eye lids closed, and he gave a soft groan, but immediately came around and continued observing the situation.

When, finally, the guests proceeded to their rooms and his tortures were over, he went for a walk in the garden. He could hear sweet groans from the windows. It was a good sign: guests, who were making love in the house of the host, were contributing to the prosperity and the fertility of the household. Children who were conceived in the house of the lord brought good luck and prosperity. And since at that time of unrest visiting others was too risky and, for this reason, extremely rare, everyone decided to use that opportunity. Who could know, maybe the children who were conceived in that house would return to it?

Shi approached the pond. The paper lanterns were gleaming on its still surface. The fish were already sleeping, and only one of them, by habit, approached Shi in a lazy, lethargic manner. Its gold side flashed in the light of a lantern, and the fish disappeared in the cool depth. Shi was sitting motionless, trying to keep his consciousness clear of any thought, but the bright images of the past day were tearing his mind.

All of a sudden he quite clearly smelled ylang-ylang. From instinct, he stretched out his hand and his fingers touched a piece of the lightest, softest silk. Now he was sure that it was the smell that had been accompanying him throughout the entire day. A faint smile touched his lips. Now his morning adventure seemed amusing to him. After so many self-confident women had been casting their eager glances at him, he found his morning hesitance and escape simply funny. Of course, if he could swap the events, he would not have missed his morning chance. The astrologists are going to identify the best match for him, but who knows if the chosen one is going to be to his liking? What if he cannot love her? Of course, he is allowed to have a number of wives and concubines. But the first one…

At the moment Shi heard his Tutor calling him to go to his room.

Shi was lying and gazing at the stars, holding the little warm piece of fine silk close to his cheek. All of sudden a misty golden spot emerged from the dark. It drew nearer, and Van emerged from it. She was wearing the same, still torn, pale pink dress made of the finest silk, a piece of which Shi was holding in his fingers. The girl was standing and watching Shi with a tender smile. Slowly, she undid her belt, which caused the embroidered cape to slip down, leaving her in her pink undergarment torn in such a way that Shi could see her breasts, and even her navel. Taking off her sandals and putting aside the black laces that fixed her pale-jade harem pants right above her ankles, she sat herself down right next to Shi, and started gently caressing his naked body.

Shi was lying motionless, in the same position as before. He saw it, but he was watching it as though he were an onlooker. He could see his room, its walls decorated with pieces of cloth embroidered with fancy birds and flying women with a lotus flower in their hands. He could see the silk cushions scattered about, and he could also observe himself, lying in his bed and holding the piece of silk close to his cheek. He did not move, and he did not wish to move.

The smell of ylang-ylang filled the air in the room. Van’s touches were delicate and cool, just like swallows of cool water in the middle of a hot day. His body was imbued with peace, trust and power. Van lowered her head onto his pillow and placed her hand on Shi’s stomach. But suddenly many women were coming from every corner; they were stretching their arms towards Shi, caressing him, hiding their faces behind their fans and laughing. Then Van rushed up to them, chasing them away, and covered Shi’s body with hers. Her body was weightless, as if it were only a breeze. An acute desire to proceed overwhelmed Shi. He tried to move and embrace Van, but his arms felt leaden, and when he made an effort, he saw nothing, but a tiny piece of silk and a fragile beam of the sun in his hand. He could sense, like the whispers of grass, the featherlike steps of the servants outside who were making preparations for the new day.

Having stretched his body, and tying his belt, Shi headed to the garden where he had a special place arranged for his practice. All of a sudden he saw his Tutor following him. Taken aback, Shi stopped.

“My Illustrious Lord, you are not allowed to see anyone, or to talk to anyone before your marriage. And no one can see you either. Your Father said I’m staking my life on this.”

“But why, Tutor, can’t I even see my parents?” asked Shi, trying to look naive.

“This is the moment when your destiny is being determined, and nothing should affect it. Any odd look can let an evil spirit harm your marriage. It may be envy or some other bad feelings. You have stepped onto the road of change, and this road will open the way for contacts between you and your deceased ancestors. Right now they have to decide among themselves who will come into this world with your first baby. You have to spend your time in meditation and peace to make sure that the best among the best will come to you. Your food should be restrained and your prayers prolonged.”

Bewildered, Shi went back to his rooms. As of that moment, no one would be allowed to even approach that part of the house. Only the Tutor could bring Shi food once a day, just because the Tutor was a monk.

In the remaining part of the mansion the servants were rushing about, the guests were waking up, the granddames were happily chatting, and the rarest, absolutely white peacocks were gracefully wandering in the garden. Maidens stood near small trees and using squirrel fur brushes to carefully apply the pollen to the pistils of the crimson flowers with a syrupy fragrance, then covered each pollinated flower with a tiny sack made of the finest white silk.

Men were picking up the flowers from the trees along the alleys that had fallen at night. The flowers looked like rhododendrons, but were much bigger, and their colours and smells were reminiscent of lilies. Each of the flowers had the shape, the hue and the note of fragrance that made a perfect harmony, and was a model of how to learn good taste, which is why it was especially valued by the Head of the Nan Song family. The fallen flowers were picked up and used to prepare the most valuable incenses with the finest fragrances, while the opening flowers were harvested to make a special honey potion, served only on special occasions, as it was believed to be able to open the way to the fine worlds.

The Tea Ceremony Hall was filled with great agitation. The room was being prepared for the announcement of the astrologists’ conclusion.

Women were not allowed to take part in the Tea Ceremony, as during one of the rituals, called ‘Introduction to Tea’, tea was to rest on the palm of the hand for some time. Woman, who possessed the Yin nature and were closer to earth, might have lowered the energy and the status of the ceremony. This is why, following the advice of the Tutor, the Head of the Nan Song house, allowing his first wife and his favourite daughter to attend the ceremony, decided not to allow other women into the sacrament of the Tea Ceremony. Having a Tea Ceremony was risky as it was: the presence of heads of other influential clans at the Tea Ceremony could be charged with problems.

It was decided that the women would be offered a healing drink ‘for all seasons’, which would be served in another ‘small’ hall, and from there, later, they would leave for home. The tea was, actually, not just tea. It was a blend of fine components, each of them symbolizing one of the five elements – earth, water, wood, fire, metal – or, correspondingly, the organs of the body – the spleen, the kidneys, the heart, the lungs – or, in another projection, the seasons —Indian summer, winter, spring, summer, autumn. The drink was made from a cherry-like fruit, a flower resembling an aster, a nut, the skin of which when soaked in hot water would produce a most refined flavour, from a little crystal, which in the boiling water would turn into a stinging jelly-fish, and from the tea leaves themselves. The drink was intended to give the guests strength to restore the energy they had spent at night and to endure the long way back home.

The men were offered a three-hour tea ceremony as a shortened morning variant. It was decided to serve only two kinds of tea – the Yunnan peach tea, a blend of fresh moist tender spring leaves, and tea harvested a bit later in the highlands by maiden beauties, who used their delicate thin fingers to roll up the leaves and their saliva to glue them into rolls. The Yunnan peach tea did not have peach leaves at all, but the peach trees that enclosed the secret tea plantation shared with the cultivated tea their special peach flavour, which would bloom only after the second brewing.

The bamboo flutes started, followed by ‘shen’, the wind instruments, the divine harps, the citharas and little ceremonial drums. To soften the atmosphere of the men’s gathering, the female Yu mode had been chosen. The most refined, tender plays of the tunes were suggestive of the coolness of a mountain stream, or of a tranquil movement of water in a valley river. In the context of female absence, it was a hymn to that water, which was delivered from a special spring up in the mountains in the vicinity of the Celestial Masters’ Small Temple.

The Tea Ceremony was a covert event; even the musicians sat behind a special partition made of ebony encrusted with mother-of-pearl. The most refined tea emanations were transforming each other. The tea did not hurry to give up its secrets, and the guests had time to enjoy every nuance of the procedure. And only the special status of warriors did not allow the men to express their exhilaration.

Well, the Tea Ceremony merits hours and hours of descriptions and scientific Taoism treatises and poems, and still its heavenly nature will remain untold, because there are no words that could describe your feelings at those moments, and the revelations you receive under the impact of the finest fields that emerge in the process of communication with a Kun-Fu-Chia Master. The fields are so fine, that they transfer over long distances and you would be able to influence events that are taking place a long way from you, if they are important to you at the moment.

This is why, in order to improve the interaction and the mutual understanding among the heads of the clans, who had armies of their own and were influential enough to unite people in a joint effort to repel the Jurchens, the Tea Ceremony was held. Besides, it was intended to reduce the possible disappointment of those whose daughters would not be chosen at all, or would be selected as second or third wives.

The music stopped. The tea-ware was taken away. The astrologists entered the hall. They were seven. Six of them seated themselves on silk cushions in pairs facing one another. The Elder remained standing and addressed the Lord and the guests.

“Illustrious Lord, the Book of Destinies reads that the deeds of your son will be sacred and multiyear, and his son, likewise, will be a happy and remarkable ruler, and he will be borne by the first wife. Her name is Bao and she is from the Li Hong family.”

Hearing this, Chen Li Hong, Bao’s father, turned pale.

The astrologist went on, “The second wife will be Chou from the Hi Lin family, and the third wife will be Ho from the Shao-Zun. The wedding ceremony for Shi and Bao will be held under the Chen (Chen, the Cart, is the last of the 28 Chinese Zodiac constellations, the last of the seven constellations of the Red Bird of the southern celestial sector), that is, in fifteen days.”

The astrologist bowed and retreated, followed by the other astrologists. Men started rising one after another; in silence they gave their ceremonial farewell honours to their Illustrious Lord, and left the hall. Thus the destiny was calculated. But they were astrologists, neither future-tellers nor Taoists. And that rescued Chen Li Hong. Still pale, he was the last to rise from his seat.

“Why? Aren’t you happy? Is my son not a worthy mate for your daughter?” asked the Illustrious Lord with a smile.

“My Lord, it’s the greatest honour for me. But she is my favourite daughter, and she is still so attached to her mother.”

“So, what? Daughters are nothing but flowers in the garden: the flowers are doomed to wither – what can you do about it? Go, hurry to inform her of the great honour and her upcoming happiness.”

Chen Li Hong stood up, offered the due ceremonial honours and left the hall in silence. While walking in the shade towards the stables, he did not utter a word, neglecting the anxious attempts of his beautiful wife to look into his eyes and read the reason for the unusual behaviour of her husband.

Chapter Four

Openly repair the gallery roads, but sneak through the passage of Chencang

Still silent, Chen Li Hong took his place in the procession, made sure that everybody was in, and signalled to move. It was a long journey to make, but fifteen days later he would have to come back to this place with his daughter. Two white stone Tigers with strange muzzles, which resembled monkeys more than tigers, were dispassionately watching the procession go. The green and grey roofs of the stone building of the country-side mansion of His Illustrious Lord were slowly disappearing behind the tops of pine trees. One farewell glance towards the mansion – and after the bend in the road all that one could see was the impenetrable forest.

It was then that Chen started realizing the desolate implications of the situation. He had a number of wives, and many daughters and sons. But his favourite wife had only one daughter. All the other children by her died in their infancy; after that she appealed to the nuns in the cloister, who gave her a herbal drink which made her unable to get pregnant.

The astrologists, who were invited upon the arrival of the daughter, were merciless. They refused the bounties offered to them in order to reserve the right to tell the truth. The estimations made on the basis of the date of conception and the date of birth undoubtedly showed that the only daughter by his beloved wife Fan had to die at the age of fifteen. But Fan was happy to hear even that, as all of her other children had not been able to live even a single full day. Bao was a reward to Fan, she was literally the greatest treasure Fan had in her life.

Fan was exceptionally beautiful, but rather simple-minded. She talked the astrologists into changing the date of her daughter’s birth so that the predictions could be favourable.

“What if the Gods see that date and give my daughter a chance?” thought Fan.

The astrologists, charmed by the beauty and guilelessness of the hostess, did what she was begging for. They wanted to soothe her pain. Chen, also, did not want to contradict his wife and allowed to be entered the re-calculated date of birth instead of the real one. One could not change destiny, but if one could give Fan some relief and soothe her pain caused by numerous losses, why not do that? The baby had fifteen years ahead of her, maybe something would happen that would help the little one survive.

The baby was growing feeble and was prone to illness, but she was dazzlingly beautiful, just like her mother. The sisters from the cloister visited Bao and helped her mother to cope with the problems. Bao loved the nuns, and they loved her dearly. They would bring her books, they taught her calligraphy and how to play the harp, and also the special exercises she could do to support life and energy in her feeble body.

Bao spent a lot of time reading books. She did not join the games of her sisters borne by the other wives. They were younger and spent whole days playing happily and carefree in the garden. However, she liked to watch how they would dress up in various clothes, wear masks and make up their faces with fancy designs, and perform funny skits. Later, when the servants came to wash them, they would scream, and laugh, and splash water at one another, and they also tried to reach for the tap and close it with their tiny fingers, so that the spurts of water reached everyone within three zhangs .