Chapter 191: Section Eight: The Poet

On the twelfth day of the sixth month of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, at Zhangsheng Island, in the Vice General’s residence.

Dishes of every kind were carried in like flowing water, and in the hall a circle of gorgeously dressed singing girls danced gracefully. Huang Shi and Zhen Yucun from Shandong were toasting each other and drinking with great merriment.

Zhen Yucun had just been promoted. The political storm stirred up by the Eunuch Party had finally swept into Shandong, and the Provincial Governor and Provincial Surveillance Commissioner belonging to the Donglin Party had both fallen from power. Although the Eunuch Party had sent a new batch of officials, Zhen Yucun and other mid-to-low-level officials like him were the pillars of the local administration, so the Eunuch Party had no intention of moving against them. The various Prefects of Shandong had also been very perceptive and immediately switched their allegiance to the Eunuch Party.

“The various my lords of Nanjing asked me to convey their regards to Lord Huang on their behalf.” This time Zhen Yucun was even more courteous toward Huang Shi. From the moment he disembarked at the dock, he had been pulling Huang Shi into idle chat, and after entering the banquet he was even more jovial and animated.

“Lord Zhen is too kind, and the various my lords of Nanjing are also too kind. Those copper coins will be just right for paying the soldiers’ wages.” Huang Shi smiled broadly and toasted Zhen Yucun again. Most of the officials in the Nanjing Coinage Bureau had also shed their Donglin Party skins and switched to another faction, continuing to mint their copper coins — though this time they were somewhat more restrained. But the several chief heads of the Coinage Bureau had no chance to clear their names and were all arrested as hardcore Donglin Party members.

“The remaining copper coins were originally meant to pay the merchants of Denglai. I still owe them quite a bit of money. Ah, the expenses of running an army are truly enormous.” Huang Shi sighed and put on a nervous expression as he asked, “If these merchants go to Laizhou Prefecture and Caizhou Prefecture to make trouble, I will be in serious trouble.”

Zhen Yucun naturally understood the implication in Huang Shi’s words immediately. Having received so many benefits from Huang Shi, they could not just sit idle — that would be a complete lack of professional ethics. Zhen Yucun at once took it all upon himself: “Lord Huang, rest assured. We colleagues all know how hard the frontier soldiers of Liaodong have it. If these merchants earn a bit of hard-won money, we won’t interfere. But if they get greedy and come to the government office to make trouble, we will certainly drive them out with clubs.”

“On behalf of the soldiers of the Left Auxiliary Division, I thank Lord Zhen.” Huang Shi of course would not use those trash copper coins to harm patriotic merchants, but this groundwork absolutely had to be laid. If he took no benefits for himself at all, the Shandong civil official clique would grow suspicious of Huang Shi’s motives: “Lord Zhen, I have minted a kind of military scrip, which also yields a seigniorage of several percent. I have stipulated that this military scrip can only be exchanged for copper coins on Zhangsheng Island, so…”

Zhen Yucun, having spent so many years in officialdom, immediately caught on again: “Lord Huang’s meaning is clear to me. Zhangsheng Island’s military scrip shall under no circumstances be exchanged for silver in Laideng. All military pay will be delivered directly to Zhangsheng Island by us.”

“In that case, many thanks to Lord Zhen.” Huang Shi felt that no matter how well-made the military scrip was, it could not compare to real gold and silver. If the Shandong merchants colluded with the local officials and schemed against him the way they had schemed against Mao Wenlong, his military scrip plan would suffer a severe blow.

With the serious matters essentially settled, Huang Shi saw that everyone had drunk about enough. Several officials from the Shandong Military Defense Circuit were each claiming they could drink no more, so he clapped his hands and beckoned those singing girls over. Huang Shi had inquired in advance exactly how many grain officials would be coming this time, and had hired these singing girls from Shandong according to the headcount. At the time, his subordinates had hinted that they should hire one for Huang Shi as well, but he had flatly refused. These singing girls had traveled all the way from Shandong and also had to bear the risk of being abducted or drowning, so each one’s price was considerable. Huang Shi had no inclination to spend such a large sum of money on a romantic dalliance.

Amid the women’s soft, alluring voices, Zhen Yucun and his group were each plied with drink until they were reeling. Huang Shi smiled with satisfaction, and even consoled himself with the thought — at least he had saved quite a bit on the meat dishes.

Once thoroughly drunk, the civil officials began to chant poems and compose verses. This was both a way to show off and to increase the fun of the drinking contest. The power of the eight-legged essay was immediately on display, just as Huang Shi had heard in his previous life: once you mastered the eight-legged essay, composing poetry and filling in verse forms was truly child’s play. Although these civil officials were so drunk they might not even recognize their own fathers, when it came to competing in poetry, every step still left a deep pit and every line struck with bone-deep force.

They took turns using the scenery around Zhangsheng Island as their themes, and no one dared show weakness throughout. This time the theme fell again on Little Black Mountain. Zhen Yucun’s tongue was already thick with drink, yet a seven-character regulated verse still rolled off his tongue without the slightest hesitation. Huang Shi was again the first to loudly shout his praise, only… this time his shout seemed a bit too loud. Through his drunken, bleary eyes, Zhen Yucun suddenly realized that Huang Shi did not seem to have been drinking during this stretch.

“Huang… Brother Huang, you… you should also compose one…”

Huang Shi was just about to decline when the men from the Denglai Military Defense Circuit began clamoring. They seemed to have drunk so much they had forgotten Huang Shi was of military background. Seeing no way to refuse, Huang Shi could only brace himself and plagiarize a great work from his previous life: “Seen from afar, Black Mountain is like a club, narrow at the top and wide below. If you were to turn it upside down, narrow below and wide at the top.”

The several civil officials were instantly dumbfounded. One of them spilled wine onto his official robes without even noticing. Zhen Yucun coughed desperately, inwardly cursing himself for forgetting that Huang Shi was a military man by origin. After finally coughing through that breath, he immediately exclaimed with great emotion: “Lord Huang truly composes a fine hand of poetry!”

“Fine poetry, fine poetry.” After the other civil officials finished coughing, they too praised in succession. Among them, one fellow of rather low intelligence even shouted out: “Lord Huang, give us another poem!”

Zhen Yucun and the other civil officials all glared angrily at that idiot, but Huang Shi actually did feel a surge of poetic inspiration. He immediately stood up, raised a cup of wine, and sang out at the top of his voice: “A hundred thousand heavenly troops march toward Liaodong…”

“What heroic spirit! Worthy of Lord Huang, whose might shakes Liaodong.” The Shandong civil officials were stunned again, and flattering words gushed forth.

Encouraged, Huang Shi strode with dragon-like steps around the hall, making two full circles before he finally squeezed out another line: “Until the Xiongnu are broken, I vow not to return…”

The level and oblique tones are completely wrong… Zhen Yucun slandered inwardly, but his eyes were already squinting nearly shut. The other civil officials were either stroking their beards or clicking their tongues, each swaying their heads as if deeply absorbed in listening.

“…A hundred battles, fine steel blade in hand…” Huang Shi agonized for a long time before finally wrenching out the third line. By now he had made another five or six circles around the hall. The civil officials had each mentally composed several hundred endings in their hearts, all growing unbearably anxious on Huang Shi’s behalf.

But Huang Shi’s pacing in the hall grew faster and faster, until at last he was circling the civil officials like a whirlwind. Quite a bit of the wine in his cup had splashed out. Finally, Huang Shi halted his steps. He drained in one gulp the wine that should have been drunk only after finishing the poem, then hurled the cup to the ground with force. As his arm suddenly thrust forward, his mouth was already opening…

The several civil officials immediately craned their necks, held their breath, and listened intently. In truth, none of them cared what Huang Shi would actually say; they just wanted him to finish quickly so they could continue drinking.

Huang Shi stood frozen for a moment with his hand outstretched and his lips pursed, his brows and eyes writhing. His expression shifted from fierce to relaxed and back again. He remained like that until the civil officials felt their necks were about to stiffen permanently, then Huang Shi flicked his sleeve… and resumed pacing around them…

He paced and stopped several times. Beads of sweat the size of mung beans seeped from Huang Shi’s forehead one by one, converging into tiny streams down his cheeks. Zhen Yucun watched with great sympathy, and finally gritted his teeth, ready to risk everything and step in to smooth things over.

“Kill — kill — kill — kill — kill kill kill.” Huang Shi shouted seven “kill” characters, starting slow and speeding up, then clutched his chest and let out a long breath. His face, which had been flushed bright red, gradually began to return to its normal color.

“Excellent!”

“Excellent poem!”

“Ah, excellent poem!”

Acclamations loud enough to halt the clouds immediately burst from the mouths of the Shandong civil officials.

…

“Pfft…” A mouthful of food sprayed out before her brain could react. The young girl hurriedly covered her mouth with her left hand, but this forced the hot current up into her nasal cavity. Her right hand, still holding food, also clamped over her left hand, and from her throat came a cooing sound like a pigeon’s call, which sounded as if its owner was in great distress.

“Aiya, what a waster of things,” Huang Shi said with a pained expression, looking at the food residue sprayed all over the ground. He sighed and said, “You always complain the food is no good. Today I bring you good dishes and good meat, and you end up spitting it on the ground.” Saying this, Huang shook his head again: “Truly a wretched fate. When you eat coarse grain flatbread, you never drop a single crumb. It seems you have no fortune to enjoy good things…”

Huang Shi grumbled on and on for a long time before the girl, tears flying from her eyes, finally caught her breath. She swallowed the remaining food in a gulp, her eyes curved in laughter as she doubled over: “Lord Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, you call that a poem?”

“Why isn’t it a poem? Isn’t a poem just four lines, seven characters each?” Huang Shi was brimming with righteous confidence, one hand on his hip, wagging a finger threateningly. “What does a little girl like you understand? The Metropolitan Graduate masters present all said I wrote a fine poem.”

“Fine poem, fine poem, narrow below and wide on top, haha.” The girl laughed so hard she swayed like a flowering branch, yet still remembered to cover her mouth with her hand. She staggered two quick steps and braced herself desperately against a tree to steady herself. “This young woman has never heard such a fine poem.”

“Is something wrong with it?”

Huang Shi looked over with a face full of bewilderment. That innocent gaze made the girl stare blankly; the mocking expression on her face froze, then gradually receded. After pondering for a moment, she gave a light curtsy: “Lord Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, this young woman does not understand much about poetry either, but since the Metropolitan Graduate masters all say it is good, then it must be good.”

“Really? I’ve never composed a poem before, and I’ve never read any poetry either. The first time I write a poem, and everyone says it’s good.” Huang Shi asked excitedly: “Do you really think it’s good?”

The girl sighed inwardly, but on her face she gave a slight smile: “Lord Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent’s poem is, of course, good.”

“Is it really good? Don’t lie to me. I truly have never read any poetry.”

The girl smiled gently: “This young woman dares not lie to the Lord Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. This poem is indeed very good.”

Then her gaze happened to drift to the shredded meat on the ground. A pained expression immediately surfaced on the young girl’s face. She quickly walked over and crouched down, about to reach out with her left hand to pick it up.

“Why pick that up?” Huang Shi leaped over ahead of her, and with a light stoop and a sweep, brushed the scraps aside. “It’s not worth any silver.”

“Ah,” the girl straightened up gracefully and slowly, casting a sidelong glance at Huang Shi. “Listening to the Lord Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent’s words, one would think you’ve amassed several thousand, or even tens of thousands, of silver taels?”

The moment the words left her mouth, the girl knew she had spoken improperly. She stole a glance at Huang Shi and saw that he was also intently savoring her words and expression. Her face could not help but flush red. As she turned her face aside to avoid his gaze, her hand also pretended to smooth her hair, gently blocking half of Huang Shi’s gaze.

The sea breeze blew, and the jet-black tips of her hair fluttered against her fair, slender neck. Sunlight spilled down, faintly dyeing the dancing strands of dark hair with a layer of gold.

This scene made Huang Shi involuntarily recite: “Unmatched beauty standing alone under heaven, rivaled in fragrance by none within the seas.”

“Hm?” Her bright eyes were instantly tinged with suspicion, then immediately shrouded in heavy annoyance. The girl was about to loudly question him, but unfortunately she perceived the sentiment conveyed in the verse. Her anger was suddenly laced with considerable shyness. Flushed with both shame and fury, the girl shot Huang Shi a fierce glare and turned her face away. Discovering she could not help but smile, this only made her more frustrated and bitter, so she twisted her body again, nearly turning her back completely to Huang Shi.

After a long while, Huang Shi softly explained: “I was praising the peony.”

“Mm.” A nasal sound as faint as a drifting thread came back. The girl began unconsciously nibbling at the food in her hand. She had turned completely away now.

The two stood in silence for a long time. In that soundlessness, Huang Shi felt the distance between them rapidly closing. He tiptoed softly behind the girl, pursing his lips as he stared at the little back of her head and her gently trembling shoulders. The hands clasped behind his back twitched several times, but in the end he did not reach out. Huang Shi closed his eyes and listened as his heartbeat gradually slowed. He swallowed the saliva in his mouth, opened his eyes to look at the girl still lightly biting her food, and said quietly: “I composed another poem…”

This time Huang Shi vividly described the scene of him circling in the room, and even perfectly mimicked the expressions of those civil officials as they waited for the lines — each holding a wine cup, unable to drink yet unable to set it down. He had only spoken the first two lines before the girl was laughing so hard she could not catch her breath: “You… cough, cough… stop!”

Seeing Huang Shi continue with a perfectly straight face, the girl was so exasperated she wanted to pound him. “Wait… Lord Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, wait until I finish eating before you go on… ha, ha…”

Paying no heed, Huang Shi was still imitating Zhen Yucun’s bitter gourd face, while his right hand, like that of another civil official, raised a thumb. His left hand stroked an imaginary beard as he cried out in an exaggerated manner: “Fine poem, what heroic spirit indeed —”

“My lord.”

A deep call suddenly came from beside them. Huang Shi froze and withdrew his hands. Turning his head, he saw it was Hong Antong who had arrived. He stood not far away, bowing in greeting. The girl also jumped two steps away like a startled fawn. Hong Antong straightened up, his armor clanking as he walked over, and again clasped his fists in salute: “My lord, your subordinate has military intelligence to report.”

“Mm.” As Huang Shi responded in a deep voice, he also gave a slight nod. The frivolous bearing and expression had vanished from him without a trace. He turned his head and said to the girl: “I take my leave first.”

"This humble maiden respectfully sees off General Huang."

As he left, Huang Shi swept a sidelong glance at Hong Antong behind him. The latter's gaze had been fixed on that girl the whole time, cold and full of suspicion.

"My lord." When there were only the two of them on the road, Hong Antong finally could not hold back and asked, "What is that woman's name? May my lord inform his subordinate?"

"Mm," Huang Shi did not answer directly but instead asked in return, "How did you find me?" Hong Antong furrowed his brow almost imperceptibly and answered with the utmost deference, "My lord sees clearly. Your subordinate inquired with the guards along the way. Someone saw my lord heading this way, so your subordinate searched along the shore and thus found my lord."

Huang Shi knew that Hong Antong must have been very anxious at the time — having military intelligence but unable to find him. He sighed and said nothing more.

"My lord?" Hong Antong called softly again.

"She is eighteen this year, mm, surnamed Wang…" Huang Shi still felt uneasy deep down, so he instinctively defended himself the moment he spoke. He had also reported the girl's age by her traditional nominal age.

Hong Antong, however, paid that no mind. He silently committed the information Huang Shi gave to memory, planning to assign the Internal Guard to investigate as soon as they returned to the main camp. After Huang Shi had finished speaking, Hong Antong asked further, "My lord, shall your subordinate arrange men to protect Young Lady Wang tomorrow?" Hong Antong paused, then added another question, "Shall your subordinate arrange for Young Lady Wang to be moved to the main camp?"

"No need." Huang Shi felt that making a big show of things would be very bad. She had not agreed to anything, and he himself had demanded nothing. Huang Shi was now secretly congratulating himself for having kept himself in check earlier — otherwise Hong Antong would have gotten a free show.

"As ordered." Hong Antong did not press further. Expressionlessly, he added, "Your subordinate ventures to request my lord's clear instruction: when my lord goes to see Young Lady Wang in the future, should your subordinate arrange close personal Internal Guards, or deploy an Internal Guard security perimeter two li out?"

Huang Shi did not make a sound for a long while. After waiting a long time with no response, Hong Antong spoke again, "I beg my lord to give instruction."

"I think neither is necessary. I can protect myself perfectly well — no need to bring Internal Guards." Huang Shi cried out impatiently. Changsheng Island was so vast, with such precious secluded beaches and hills. If every time he went on a rendezvous he had to be followed by a guard platoon, it would utterly ruin the scenery.

Hong Antong was greatly alarmed. "How can that be? My lord bears the entire weight of Liaonan's safety on his shoulders. How can he place himself in danger…"

Huang Shi angrily cut Hong Antong off, reined in his horse, and roared at him, "I said no need, so no need."

"My lord, forgive my offense." Hong Antong tumbled from the saddle and knelt before Huang Shi's horse. "Your subordinate is dull-witted, yet has received my lord's trust and been entrusted with the heavy responsibility of the Internal Guard. This matter falls within your subordinate's duty, so I dare not remain silent. I venture to beg my lord's clear insight. My lord bears the heavy responsibility of the state, and his person concerns the safety of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers. Therefore he absolutely must not place himself in danger…" Hong Antong bowed his body down heavily. "Your subordinate ventures to beg my lord's clear insight."