Chapter 646: Never a Second-Time Slave

Sonin, a Grand Secretary of the Qing's Inner Secretariat, had spent this whole period locked in a struggle with his own belly. Every few days he would stage a hunger strike — not to lose weight, but to show Zu Kefa, one of the four officials escorting him, his determination never to become a second-time slave.

He, Heseri Sonin, was born a slave of the Great Qing, and when he died he would be a ghost-slave of the Great Qing. In any case, he could never surrender to the Ming and become a second-time slave!

After reaching Dengzhou, knowing that he was about to meet the Ming Hongxing Emperor, who was sojourning there, Sonin solemnly announced to Zu Kefa that he was going to starve himself to death for real this time, and go off to be a ghost-slave of the Great Qing. And so he stopped eating altogether.

But what he never expected was that the Zhu Emperor, sojourning at the Penglai traveling palace on Danya Mountain, was busy consulting with the Ming's senior officials and great generals from Shandong and Liaodong about consolidating Shandong Province and establishing a Liaodong Province — and for the moment had no time to see a loyal slave of the Qing like him.

So one fast turned into three whole days!

Sonin was so starved that stars were dancing before his eyes by the time Zu Kefa finally came to take him to the Penglai traveling palace.

"Grand Secretary Suo, have you eaten? I've brought you Penglai spiced donkey meat, Dengzhou shaobing, and Longkou lamb and glass-noodle soup — all local Dengzhou specialties."

Zu Kefa was as courteous as ever, and he had not come empty-handed: he carried a finely crafted three-tiered food box. Inside was a basin of fragrant spiced donkey meat, a stack of baked, perfectly square shaobing, and a bowl of lamb and glass-noodle soup still steaming.

The three snacks were laid out on the table, and the aroma was so overwhelming it set the gluttons in Grand Secretary Suo's belly rumbling loudly.

Sonin was so ravenous he could hardly stand it. But the dignity of a loyal Qing slave must not collapse! He had staged hunger strikes off and on all along this journey, and now, on the verge of meeting the Ming emperor, if he gorged himself and broke his fast, what would that make him?

"Take it away, take it away! I, Heseri Sonin, have made up my mind: born a Qing slave, dead a Qing ghost. So I would sooner starve to death than eat Ming donkey meat, shaobing, and lamb and glass-noodle soup!"

Zu Kefa watched Sonin, pale-faced from hunger, putting on an air of righteous martyrdom while swallowing his own saliva — it was both infuriating and laughable.

"Fine, fine. If you don't care for the donkey meat, shaobing, and glass-noodle soup, so be it. It's getting late — let's be on our way!"

"On our way?" Sonin suddenly grew a little nervous. "Where to?"

Zu Kefa, seeing how jumpy he looked, was sorely tempted to say "the execution ground, to have your head chopped off" — but unfortunately Sonin's time had not yet come.

"To the Penglai traveling palace on Danya Mountain," Zu Kefa answered truthfully.

"Good!" The moment Sonin heard they were going to the palace on Danya Mountain, his energy surged. He sprang up from the brick bed where he had been sitting, flicked his little queue, put on an utterly carefree expression, and bellowed, "Lead the way! This lord is going to meet your Hongxing Emperor today!"

With that, Sonin made to stride out the door — but at the doorway he was blocked by the Embroidered Uniform Guard standing outside.

After Zu Kefa had delivered Sonin to Dengzhou Prefecture, he had been confined in a large residence located between Penglai county town and the Dengzhou water fortress — an area that was now the most prosperous and bustling part of Dengzhou.

By now, Penglai county town, the Dengzhou water fortress, and the palace city on Danya Mountain had all become the inner city, because outside these three a ring of "sandbag walls" had been built, called the Dengzhou outer city, and beyond the outer city a broad, deep moat had been dug — giving people an especially strong sense of safety.

And so the area inside the Dengzhou outer city had become a refuge for Shandong's wealthy. The ground between Penglai county town, the water fortress, and the Danya Mountain palace city, ringed as it was by three inner cities, seemed especially secure, and Shen Tingyang had developed it into a market district and luxury residential quarter. The mansion where Sonin was held stood in one corner of this Dengzhou luxury quarter — a quiet spot amid the bustle.

This mansion had high walls and a large courtyard, a stout, solid gate that stayed shut all day, and no plaque outside announcing "the residence of so-and-so" — giving it an air of mystery.

Of course, anyone of any standing in Dengzhou city knew that this residence was none other than the Shandong station of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Northern Pacification Office!

"What's this? Not letting me leave?" Sonin turned his head and looked at Zu Kefa.

Zu Kefa smiled. "Wait a little longer — there are others. Your Qing country's Shandong Governor Sun Zhixie, and Kong Youde's adopted son Kong Sixi, are also held here. You may skip breakfast, but they have to eat! They've been held here for nearly two months now — if they went on hunger strike every day, they'd really starve to death."

"Hmph, how can you compare those two slaves to me?" Sonin said with utter disdain. "I am a loyal slave of the Great Qing. Sun Zhixie and Kong Sixi are both twice-serving traitors."

Before he had even finished speaking, someone outside the door started shouting: "Who are you calling a twice-serving traitor? Who's a twice-serving traitor? I, Sun Zhixie, walk straight and stand tall — an upright, honorable loyal slave of the Great Qing's Plain Green Banner! Call me a Han traitor and I'll accept it, but call me a twice-serving traitor and that's slander!"

It turned out that Sun Zhixie had just finished his breakfast, wiped his mouth, and come out under the escort of two Embroidered Uniform Guard. He happened to be passing Sonin's door and heard Sonin calling him a twice-serving traitor.

Hearing Sun Zhixie's voice, Sonin hurriedly craned his neck to look, and saw Sun Zhixie wearing a patched, faded Qing official robe, bareheaded and hatless, his shaved pate nearly hairless, with a little queue trailing from the back of his head — the very image of a loyal Qing slave whom no force could bend.

Sun Zhixie spotted Sonin too, and his face changed at once. "Isn't that Grand Secretary Suo? How did they catch you too? Could it be that Beijing has already..."

At this point he suddenly bent at the waist, lowered his head, and lunged forward, clearly meaning to smash his bare forehead against the doorframe. If he had connected, his head would surely have split open and bled — but fortunately the Embroidered Uniform Guard holding him was quick, and grabbed him with one hand.

Zu Kefa quickly spoke up to explain: "Governor Sun, don't misunderstand. Grand Secretary Suo wasn't captured in Beijing. He was on his way back to Beijing from Tibet, and when he passed through Ningxia, Wu Sangui seized him!"

Sun Zhixie straightened up, looking astonished. "What? Wu Sangui has turned too?"

"How can you call it turning?" said Zu Kefa. "Wu Sangui is the current dynasty's imperial brother-in-law, and a meritorious subject of the Great Ming. He only submitted to the Qing because he had no choice. If he now brings all of Shaanxi back to us, his service to the Imperial Ming will be greater still — his righteousness will rival Lord Guan himself!"

"Bah! A shameless three-time servant like him dares compare himself to Lord Guan the Second?" Sun Zhixie was full of contempt. "Grand Secretary Suo and I — now that's what loyalty and righteousness look like!"

At this point Sonin spoke up. "That's not right. Longfu, you once served as a Ming subject."

Sun Zhixie said gravely, "Grand Secretary Suo, you may not know this, but back in the first year of Chongzhen, that fatuous ruler struck my name from the rolls! Once struck from the rolls, I was no longer a subject. So when I later joined the Great Qing, I naturally cannot be counted as a twice-serving traitor."

"This..." Sonin counted on his fingers, and found it made sense! In the early Chongzhen years, Sun Zhixie had been one subject; then his subject status was revoked, so one minus one left nothing; then he joined the Great Qing, so of course he was still only one subject.

"My offense, my offense!" Sonin hastily clasped his hands in apology.

Just then Kong Sixi was escorted over as well. He wore a tattered Qing official's robe of the fifth rank, was also bareheaded and hatless, with a long, thin queue wrapped once around his neck, and had the look of a scoundrel who cared about nothing. As he walked he was saying, "I, Kong Sixi, as a slave of the Qing, must serve one master to the end. I will never surrender to the Ming and become a second-time slave!"

He, of course, was also a "one-time slave" of unshakable loyalty — in Ming times he had been nothing more than a common soldier, and his pay had been withheld besides, so he had never even qualified as a "subject."

Seeing Kong Sixi arrive, Zu Kefa laughed. "Good, everyone's here. Let's go together. And don't be afraid, you three — today is not the day you're dragged off to be beheaded, and no one is asking you to become second-time slaves. It's just that your Qing country's peace-and-marriage envoys, Jin Zhijun and Fan Chengmo, have arrived together and want to see the three of you."

"What? Peace and marriage talks are still on?" Grand Secretary Suo pressed.

"That's right!" Zu Kefa said cheerfully. "After fighting this long, both sides are exhausted. What else is there but peace and marriage talks? Once terms are settled, the three of you can go back and carry on being loyal slaves of the Qing. I've said all there is to say — let's be off."

But Sonin raised a hand and pointed at the food on the little table. "Wait for me a moment. I need to eat a couple of bites of that shaobing and spiced donkey meat."

(End of Chapter)