Chapter 24: Section Three

After Sun Degong gave the order, he suddenly noticed that Huang Shi’s expression had turned very stiff. Puzzled, he asked, “Huang Shi, what’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Huang Shi said with an embarrassed laugh, then quickly called to his personal guards, “Hurry and thank His Lordship.”

“We thank Lord Sun.”

“Good,” Sun Degong said, beaming at Huang Shi. “Garrison Commander Huang, let’s go inside too.”

“Yes.”

The two walked one behind the other. Sun Degong teased with a laugh, “Huang Shi, you’re a Garrison Commander now, yet you have the nerve to come to my house for a meal empty-handed. Aren’t you afraid your men will laugh at you? In the future they’ll follow your example and go to your house empty-handed too, ha ha.”

After the laughter, Sun Degong suddenly realized the person behind him had made no sound. When he turned to look back, he found that Huang Shi had long since stopped in his tracks, already a full ten paces away. Though he could not make out his expression clearly, he saw that Huang Shi was trembling all over. Sun Degong stopped laughing. He walked back to Huang Shi with a dark face and demanded in a low voice, “Huang Shi, what is wrong with you? Did I say something amiss?”

“What my lord says can never be amiss,” Huang Shi replied instantly, but the anger he was barely suppressing still made Sun Degong freeze for a moment.

Sun Degong forced himself to calm down. He swept a glance around — everyone else was standing far away. “Huang Shi, if you have something to say, speak freely.”

“This subordinate dares not. This subordinate has nothing to say.” Huang Shi dropped to his knees. Though the words he spoke with his head lowered were humble, the fury in his tone showed no sign of dissipating.

Sun Degong gave a heavy snort, and his tone turned unfriendly as well. “Garrison Commander Huang, I raised you up with my own hands and have treated you with exceptional favor. I have no idea where this resentment of yours comes from. But I do not believe I have wronged you in any way. Today…”

Sun Degong had merely been making a couple of casual jokes, and Huang Shi had flared up at him for it — it truly baffled him. He was about to rebuke Huang Shi for his strange temper when he saw Huang Shi suddenly raise his head, his eyes blazing with fury, which made the words die in his throat.

“This subordinate does not believe he has wronged my lord in any way either.” Huang Shi’s voice suddenly rose by a full octave. He strained to recall all the hardships and perils he had faced since coming to the Ming, and at last he felt the rims of his eyes grow warm. “Whatever mission my lord assigned to this subordinate, no matter how dangerous, no matter how, how…”

At that point Huang Shi fell silent too, merely glaring at Sun Degong with indignation, his chest heaving violently. By the bright firelight, Sun Degong also noticed the glistening sheen in Huang Shi’s eyes. Utterly astonished, his tone abruptly softened. “Xiao Huang, what on earth is going on? Let’s go to the study and talk it over slowly. You can tell me anything. Do you still not trust me?”

When Huang Shi had conferred with Zhao Manxiong earlier, the two had agreed that the old trick of “truth comes out with wine” was too clichéd — words blurted out in anger seemed far more believable. As the saying goes, a man does not easily shed tears; if he could squeeze out a couple of drops at the right moment, the effect would surely be excellent.

So Huang Shi immediately burst out loudly, “This subordinate naturally trusts my lord. It is my lord who does not trust this subordinate.”

That booming voice startled Sun Degong. He quickly swept another glance around. The commotion seemed to have drawn the attention of nearby household servants; some were already gathering to watch. Sun Degong hurriedly waved them away. “How have I not trusted you?”

“My lord sent me to Liaoyang, and this subordinate did not utter a single word of protest. My lord wanted me to betray… Whatever my lord wanted this subordinate to do, this subordinate never had a second word. Yet my lord always probes me again and again, as if afraid this subordinate harbors disloyalty, and this subordinate has never once complained… This subordinate was always just a dog of my lord’s. If my lord cannot trust this subordinate, then just take this life away.” Huang Shi spoke this long passage with bitter fury, his voice growing louder and louder.

The more Sun Degong listened, the more alarmed he became. This lengthy tirade from Huang Shi could only be described as resentment surging to the heavens. The core message was that Huang Shi felt he was being subjected to groundless suspicion, and he believed that given his merits, he should never have been suspected in such a way.

Now completely composed, Sun Degong commanded in a tone that brooked no argument, “We are going to the study.”

Once they reached the study, Huang Shi’s anger seemed to have subsided. Apart from incessantly cursing himself for deserving death, he did nothing but apologize profusely. By now Sun Degong had no patience for such polite formalities. With enormous effort, he finally managed to get a basically clear picture of the matter.

After figuring things out, Sun Degong realized that Huang Shi was clearly under excessive pressure. Now he saw everyone as either Wang Huazhen or a spy sent by Sun Degong to probe him, so he was putting on an act day and night without respite. Tonight’s incident with the personal guards had been the spark. The speaker had no particular intent, but the listener read meaning into it — those few words of his just now had landed in Huang Shi’s ears as a deliberate warning.

Understanding the cause and effect made Sun Degong secretly breathe a sigh of relief. In his eyes, Huang Shi was still a greenhorn. Sun Degong believed that Huang Shi was being crushed between “longing for wealth and rank” and “fear of punishment” to the point of a mental breakdown. Although Huang Shi’s wariness toward him left him somewhat displeased, he figured that since he had found the root of the problem, resolving it would not be particularly difficult.

“Huang Shi, do you know why I called you here today?”

“This subordinate does not know,” Huang Shi answered honestly.

“It was so my wife could meet you. At the banquet later, my wife will also make an appearance. She wishes to hear your conversation and gauge your insight.”

“This, this…” Huang Shi raised his head and looked at Sun Degong with an expression of utter disbelief.

“Yes,” Sun Degong said, smiling at Huang Shi encouragingly. “Huang Shi, you are my trusted confidant — that goes without saying — and I am also very satisfied with your character. My daughter is just sixteen. I wish to betroth her to you. She is my legitimate daughter, so my wife must meet you first.”

“My lord,” Huang Shi was so overcome with emotion he could barely get a complete sentence out, “this subordinate, this subordinate…”

“No need to say more. It is enough that you understand.” Sun Degong smiled kindly. “Originally this matter was to be discussed only after my wife had met you, but since you had a knot in your heart, I have told you in advance.”

After deliberately letting his expression go through a series of changes, Huang Shi rose and knelt before Sun Degong. He drew a deliberate deep breath. “My lord, this subordinate was originally just a common soldier. Without my lord, this subordinate would have nothing and be nothing. This subordinate has heard a saying: ‘First there must be a Bo Le in the world, and only then can there be a thousand-li horse.’ To this subordinate, my lord is a second parent. And now my lord is even betrothing his daughter to this subordinate. This subordinate has no way to repay such kindness.”

Having delivered such a long speech in one breath, Huang Shi paused to catch his breath. “With the blue heavens above and the thick earth below, with the gods and ancestors as witnesses — if Huang Shi ever forgets the kindness of Lord Sun Degong, may heaven strike me with thunder and shatter me to pieces, leaving neither corpse nor bone; may my ancestors’ tombs know no peace; and may my sons and grandsons be thieves and bandits, and my daughters and granddaughters be harlots!”

It seemed that Huang Shi had made a good impression on Sun Degong’s wife, for within a couple of days Sun Degong indicated that Huang Shi could come to present the betrothal gifts. Sun Degong’s legitimate daughter — he had truly staked a great deal. After Sun Degong and Huang Shi became formally engaged, the way Sun Degong’s personal guards looked at Huang Shi held not only jealousy but also an added eagerness to please.

When he went to Sun Degong’s residence today, Huang Shi once again enjoyed this treatment. While he was waiting outside the study, he suddenly noticed a girl dressed as a maidservant who had been staring fixedly at him from the corridor. Huang Shi naturally dared not look too much at the women of Sun Degong’s inner household, and only swept his peripheral gaze over her occasionally. To his surprise, the girl was perfectly poised and composed, and she studied him for a long time without the slightest scruple.

After a while, the girl actually walked over to him with graceful steps. As Huang Shi stood there dumbfounded and at a loss, she gave him a deep curtsy. “May I venture to ask, my lord — are you Lord Huang Shi?”

Huang Shi hurriedly returned a military salute. “I dare not claim such honor. I am indeed he. May I ask what instructions the young lady has for me?”

The girl gave another curtsy and said softly, with the utmost respect, “This servant is no young lady — Lord Huang does this servant too much honor. This servant presumes to ask Lord Huang a few questions, if I may?”

What followed was a string of questions about Huang Shi’s preferences in food and drink. It went on until Sun Degong came out, and the girl called out “Master” to Sun Degong before taking her leave.

Even if Huang Shi were as dense as an ox, he could guess what status this maidservant held. As expected, once they entered the study, Sun Degong told him bluntly, “That was my daughter’s personal maidservant. My wife and I have decided to send her along as part of the dowry. She is very clever and quick-witted. In the future, you can entrust many of your inner household affairs to her.”

Without waiting for Huang Shi to express his thanks, Sun Degong clapped his hands. “Very well, now let us discuss serious matters.”

…

“For Zhu Youjiao to employ such incompetents — he is handing Liaodong over to the Great Jin with his own hands. It is Heaven’s will. What does my lord have to worry about?” During a secret conference with Sun Degong, seeing that he seemed somewhat worried, Huang Shi remarked dismissively.

Every time he heard Huang Shi call the Great Ming Son of Heaven by his personal name, Sun Degong always shifted his body with some discomfort. This time was no exception. Huang Shi had noticed that neither the Han turncoat generals nor the Jurchens of the Later Jin — not even Hong Taiji — were as brazen as he was in this regard. In this era, a deeply rooted consciousness of hierarchy was ingrained in everyone’s heart; calling the Emperor by his personal name was something the ancients found nearly impossible to do.

It took a while for the unease that Huang Shi’s jarring form of address caused Sun Degong to fully dissipate. But as always, his momentum was persistently affected by it, and in the discussion that followed, he accepted nearly all of Huang Shi’s views and opinions wholesale. When Huang Shi took his leave, he noted some complex emotions flickering in Sun Degong’s eyes. As time passed, Huang Shi, growing ever more confident, saw his own momentum rise day by day. The relationship between the two had shifted from one of pure subordination to one that was half subordinate, half cooperative. Huang Shi believed that Sun Degong had sensed it too.

Back at his quarters, Yang Luhuo rushed over to help Huang Shi remove his cloak and armor. The other personal guards brought out the meal and tea. Huang Shi never drank alcohol, and his guards had quickly grown familiar with this trait of their commander.

As he sat down to eat dinner, Huang Shi asked Wang Yong, “Tomorrow afternoon I am going to Liuhe Guard. Are my clothes and the gifts I am to present all prepared?”

“They are prepared, my lord.” Yang Luhuo knew that Huang Shi attached great importance to this matter, so he had bought all the various gifts well in advance.

With Huang Shi’s sponsorship, the Zhang family’s second son was finally getting married. The twelfth month had no auspicious days, so the Zhang family had picked a passable day at the end of the eleventh month — which was tomorrow. Huang Shi had prepared a very generous gift for the occasion.