Incarnation
Feb. 4th, 2017 07:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rix_scaeduI wrote this to cluudle's prompt "A story from a previous incarnation of someone in the main Nai story.". It occurs quite some time ago....
The learned scholar was sitting in a tea house Xindong Village. He had before him a teapot, two cups and a mahjong set. What he wanted was someone to talk to who was not the village headman. Zhou Mang was a good man but there were things that he wasn’t telling the official from the provincial capital. Said official was glad that he hadn’t told the headman, in whose large family farmhouse he was billeted, that his commission came in fact from the Solar Emperor himself. As a supposed representative of the provincial governor he was receiving hints that one of the Zhou nieces was a sensible, good looking girl who would make him a fine concubine – he was too much the coward to want to know how they would react to his actual rank and circumstances.
“Is anyone sitting here or are you hoping for company?” The speaker was a well set up man of about the scholar’s own age whose clothing was flashy but worn.
“I was hoping for company,” replied the scholar easily. “Would you care for tea and a game of mahjong? My name is Ju Lee.” He bowed without rising.
“Ah, the man from the provincial capital come to look at bridging the river!” The newcomer smiled and added, “You’re the subject of gossip for li around, you know. I am Gou Hu, and I do a little of this and that to keep body and soul together.”
“A necessity,” agreed Ju Lee pleasantly. “So, tea and a game?”
“If I may,” said Gou Hu as he sat on the stool opposite the scholar. “I admit that I am happy to be your guest for the evening.” He accepted the cup of tea from Ju Lee, saluted his host with it and drank a little before he put it down so that he could help shuffle the tiles. The two men worked quietly to build their walls until Gou Hu asked, “So, what’s it like building bridges?”
“A little more complicated than this,” admitted Ju Lee. A roll of the little stone dice made Gou Hu the dealer for the first hand and as the other man dealt the tiles he went on, “Mahjong doesn’t involve land ownership and property rights while bridge building frequently does. Also, people don’t seem to realise that the best place for the bridge might not be where the ford is.” He set up his hand of tiles in front of him.
“So the road to the river crossing might be through the woods instead of the town?” Gou Hu grinned then said apologetically, “I’ve heard that the salt merchants petitioned for a bridge so that they can still trade when the river is in flood. I’ve also heard that there have been riverfront acquisitions in the village.”
“I’d gathered that,” remarked Ju Lee as he laid out the first Pong of the game.
His opponent laid out a Kong, saying, “My connections tell me that Ju Lee is the personal name of the current incarnation of the Radish Seed Scholar.”
“And you would be the bandit known as Dog Fox,” replied Ju Lee as he picked up one tile and discarded another. “I’m not going to send salt merchants through the woods for you to plunder, you know.”
“And you’re not going to let said salt merchants impoverish a bunch of peasants whose land they’ve forcibly purchased, are you?” Gou Hu added apologetically, “I’m a professional bandit and I can do without an influx of desperate need-to-bes.”
“I quite understand,” said Ju Lee gravely, then the two men clinked their cups and drank in another salute before going on with their game.
cluudle's prompt "A story from a previous incarnation of someone in the main Nai story.". It occurs quite some time ago....The learned scholar was sitting in a tea house Xindong Village. He had before him a teapot, two cups and a mahjong set. What he wanted was someone to talk to who was not the village headman. Zhou Mang was a good man but there were things that he wasn’t telling the official from the provincial capital. Said official was glad that he hadn’t told the headman, in whose large family farmhouse he was billeted, that his commission came in fact from the Solar Emperor himself. As a supposed representative of the provincial governor he was receiving hints that one of the Zhou nieces was a sensible, good looking girl who would make him a fine concubine – he was too much the coward to want to know how they would react to his actual rank and circumstances.
“Is anyone sitting here or are you hoping for company?” The speaker was a well set up man of about the scholar’s own age whose clothing was flashy but worn.
“I was hoping for company,” replied the scholar easily. “Would you care for tea and a game of mahjong? My name is Ju Lee.” He bowed without rising.
“Ah, the man from the provincial capital come to look at bridging the river!” The newcomer smiled and added, “You’re the subject of gossip for li around, you know. I am Gou Hu, and I do a little of this and that to keep body and soul together.”
“A necessity,” agreed Ju Lee pleasantly. “So, tea and a game?”
“If I may,” said Gou Hu as he sat on the stool opposite the scholar. “I admit that I am happy to be your guest for the evening.” He accepted the cup of tea from Ju Lee, saluted his host with it and drank a little before he put it down so that he could help shuffle the tiles. The two men worked quietly to build their walls until Gou Hu asked, “So, what’s it like building bridges?”
“A little more complicated than this,” admitted Ju Lee. A roll of the little stone dice made Gou Hu the dealer for the first hand and as the other man dealt the tiles he went on, “Mahjong doesn’t involve land ownership and property rights while bridge building frequently does. Also, people don’t seem to realise that the best place for the bridge might not be where the ford is.” He set up his hand of tiles in front of him.
“So the road to the river crossing might be through the woods instead of the town?” Gou Hu grinned then said apologetically, “I’ve heard that the salt merchants petitioned for a bridge so that they can still trade when the river is in flood. I’ve also heard that there have been riverfront acquisitions in the village.”
“I’d gathered that,” remarked Ju Lee as he laid out the first Pong of the game.
His opponent laid out a Kong, saying, “My connections tell me that Ju Lee is the personal name of the current incarnation of the Radish Seed Scholar.”
“And you would be the bandit known as Dog Fox,” replied Ju Lee as he picked up one tile and discarded another. “I’m not going to send salt merchants through the woods for you to plunder, you know.”
“And you’re not going to let said salt merchants impoverish a bunch of peasants whose land they’ve forcibly purchased, are you?” Gou Hu added apologetically, “I’m a professional bandit and I can do without an influx of desperate need-to-bes.”
“I quite understand,” said Ju Lee gravely, then the two men clinked their cups and drank in another salute before going on with their game.
no subject
Date: 2017-02-06 08:17 am (UTC)And how he makes all of this work out is up to Ju Lee. Besides he may be sent after the bandit Dog Fox at a later date - it doesn't hurt to know your enemies.
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Date: 2017-02-06 10:42 pm (UTC)Indeed. And I'd guess Dog Fox doesn't prey on the peasants -- who have little anyway and may sometimes be friends or allies, at least to the extent of "not having seen him" when Imperial or other officials come snooping.
Which means he probably targets merchants-- maybe sometimes salt merchants-- and the occasional rich traveler. Though the latter is risky, since you never can tell who might be high-ranking enough to make real trouble for you, especially if they travel under an alias, unlike Ju Lee here.
no subject
Date: 2017-02-07 09:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-12 04:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-12 05:46 am (UTC)