Heavy snow pressed down on the city, and the towering imperial palace lay under a blanket of white. In the passage between the vermilion walls, Madame Lu and the Empress Dowager stood shoulder to shoulder, both in fire-fox capes, like two peonies bursting into bloom amid the drifts. The Empress Dowager had long dwelled in the heights, so a certain noble air clung between her brows, while Madame Lu was the gentler of the two.
"Hongluan, I asked you to keep Xu Buling in hand, and you don't seem to have taken it to heart. A few days ago at the Dragon's Roar Poetry Gathering he beat Xiao Ting again. Xiao Ting is Xu Buling's elder, after all—how can he be so utterly without regard for courtesy?"
The Empress Dowager's tone was stern, but since she and Madame Lu were of an age and stood on much the same footing, it looked more like a sister grumbling about a sibling who wouldn't take advice.
Xiao Ting trailed behind them, nodding like a chick pecking at rice. "That's right. I held myself back, and then I held back some more—not because I'm afraid of him..."
"Shut up." The Empress Dowager's almond eyes narrowed slightly as she glared at her spineless nephew.
Madame Lu had no wish to look Xiao Ting in the face at all; she only gave her usual faint nod. "I will certainly discipline Buling when I get home. Rest easy, Aunt." But her expression made it plain she had taken none of it to heart.
The Empress Dowager said a few more words, and seeing that Madame Lu had not taken them to heart, she let the matter drop. Ten years ago her eldest brother, Xiao Chuyang, had sent her into the palace to be empress; but no sooner was the phoenix crown set on her head than the late emperor passed away and she became Empress Dowager. The Son of Heaven who called her "Mother" was more than ten years her senior, and she simply could not control a soul.
After a token reproof to make a show of it, the Empress Dowager left with her palace maids. Madame Lu bowed slightly to see her off, and only when that elegant figure had vanished behind the palace wall did her face darken; she turned a frown on Xiao Ting.
Xiao Ting was dressed thinly, both hands tucked in his sleeves, shivering so hard his teeth chattered. Meeting Madame Lu's gaze, he instantly put on an innocent look:
"Sister-in-law, I'm the one who got beaten."
Madame Lu gave a faint sniff and turned to walk out of the palace. "Buling is your junior. So what if he gave you a beating? Children are bound to be a little mischievous..."
Xiao Ting's eyes went wide with disbelief, and he trotted after her. "Xu Buling is a month older than me! If he's a child, then I—"
"You are his elder. You ought to be mature and steady. Frittering your days away grinning and idling—is that any kind of Xiao family man?"
Madame Lu wore the look of I'm favoring Xu Buling, and that's that, not in the least afraid of anyone noticing.
Xiao Ting had long known Madame Lu's temper. He sighed, rather wounded. "I didn't come to the palace just to complain about him..."
A trace of contempt in her eyes, Madame Lu said, "Then what did you come for? Have you any other business of consequence?"
Xiao Ting shrugged. "I'm the legitimate son of the Xiao family—would a man like me stoop to that sort of pettiness? I came today to have a word with Eunuch Jia. At the last Dragon's Roar Poetry Gathering I wrote a couple of fine pieces, didn't I? Even Libationer Song praised my writing. He's bound to name me in his commendations—"
Madame Lu narrowed her eyes slightly. "Song Baiqing praised you? Did you go and buy yourself a poem?"
Xiao Ting's face stiffened, then he put on a look of injured pride. "Sister-in-law, I come from a family of letters, after all. Turning out a couple of verses is nothing to me. And how can you call it buying? I didn't spend a single coin—when a scholar does it, it isn't buying at all, it's 'drawing inspiration'..."
Madame Lu drew in a few breaths of the cold air, and in the end only gave a huff. "If only Buling had half your ability."
Xiao Ting's eyes lit up, full of wonder. "Sister-in-law, you're actually praising me? The sun must be rising in the west! I've always said Xu Buling is no match for me—apart from a bit of brute strength, in looks, in literary talent, in character..."
"Like cloud and mud."
"Exactly... Sister-in-law, you certainly have a way with words."
For perhaps the first time in his life, Xiao Ting had been "praised" like that, and he felt rather light on his feet. He groped at his waist, and finding he had brought no fan, had to settle for clapping his hands with a rueful air.
Madame Lu had not seen Xu Buling in two days and missed him sorely; she had no time to spare for this idiot. She changed the subject:
"I just heard the Empress Dowager say the court officials have all been taken up with the great drought in Chuan-Shu. If His Majesty sits down to appraise poetry now, the censors are certain to call him a ruler who neglects his duties for idle amusements. Going to pay your respects now will do you no good. Go home and stay put." With that she took her maid and climbed into the carriage.
Xiao Ting was still floating on air. He knew perfectly well that His Majesty would not be appraising any poetry these next few days, yet he still went off to have a word with the Chief Eunuch—just so that when the next batch of poems was submitted, the ones he had sent this time would not be squeezed out.
So long as His Majesty laid eyes on his "My Chancellor Daddy," he was sure to toss in a word or two of praise. After all, even Grand Libationer Song had said it was well written, and he was a Great Scholar of Chang'an, famed through the whole city...
Mulling it all over to himself, Xiao Ting had just stepped out of the palace gate—his servant had not even brought the carriage around yet—when he heard clop-clop: hooves striking the white marble road, coming at him fast.
Xiao Ting blinked. Who's got the nerve to gallop a horse through the imperial city? Is His Majesty coming out?
He looked up and saw Xu Buling in a white robe, riding Windchaser Snowhoof down the white marble avenue, his robe snapping in the wind like a general charging an enemy line alone. The Imperial Guard beyond the palace hurried out of his way; not one of them so much as tried to block him.
"Good God!"
Xiao Ting's face changed drastically. He thought Xu Buling had found out about his coming to complain and had ridden over to cut him down in the street. Scared clean out of his wits, he scrambled to chase after Madame Lu's carriage, already far away.
But before Xiao Ting had run a few steps, he felt himself go weightless—hoisted up like a chick and slung across the horse's back—and with a turn of the reins the horse thundered off.
Xiao Ting went pale as paper and bellowed, "Xu Buling! Have you lost your mind? I'm the Empress Dowager's nephew! If you dare touch a single hair on my head—"
Xu Buling reached up and plucked a few hairs from the top of Xiao Ting's head.
"What're you going to do about it?"
"I... I'll be the bigger man and overlook it..."
Xiao Ting's stomach was heaving from the jouncing, as though a storm were rolling through his chest and belly. Seeing that Xu Buling was not out to kill anyone, he relaxed a little. "Are you drunk again? You go your way and I go mine—we've never crossed each other. What do you want with me all of a sudden?"
Xu Buling galloped on, soon leaving the palace district behind. "You grew up in Chang'an. Do you know Li Tianlu?"
"Li Tianlu?"
Xiao Ting frowned. "The son of the Li family—the Marquis of Loyalty and Valor—down at the end of the street. Runs about fighting and killing all day, a hothead just like you. Know him? I know him, all right. We're not close; now and then we'd go drinking with the courtesans together, that's all..."
Xu Buling nodded. "What sort of place is White Horse Manor?"
Sprawled over the horse's back, Xiao Ting thought for a moment. "White Horse Manor... that's a farmstead Emperor Xiaozong granted the Li family. Li Tianlu is always inviting the young lords of the capital out there for fun. He even invited me once, but I reckoned it was a place for peasants and didn't go. Why? You planning to hire on as Li Tianlu's farmhand?"
"Go home and change your clothes. I'm taking you along to White Horse Manor."
"I don't want to go."
"You'll be my driver."
"Hiss—no problem... it's a deal... only a bastard turns down a free bargain..."