The Mandate of Heaven Read Online Free PDF

a deep drink from the gourd-bottle: the water tasted earthy. Hsiung had also bought some steamed buns which she ate hungrily. Then she froze. Voices out in the bamboo groves, calling and whistling to the rhythm of sticks threshing the undergrowth. She winced her way to the crawl-way and peered out through leafy branches. Lights in the wood, flickering red demon eyes moving methodically towards her. Yun Shu pulled the concealing foliage tight and wiggled back, stifling a cry when she stubbed a tender, bruised toe.
    In the dark ruin she felt the panic of all trapped creatures. Was it best to flee before they reached the tower? Or remain hidden? Her feet were too damaged for a swift escape.
    Yun Shu gingerly ascended the round stairway and crawled into a corner. Too late she realised the water-gourd and pile of clothes remained in full view: anyone peering into the tower would spy them immediately. By now voices surrounded her; she even picked out words.
    ‘Here’s the cliff. If she’s gone further she has wings.’
    ‘Hey, P’ao! What’s that hole?’
    Yun Shu tried to merge with stone.
    ‘Some animal’s been digging,’ came the reply.
    ‘What about this tower? Perhaps the little bitch is in there listening.’
    ‘Hush! Master might hear.’
    ‘How? He’s dining at Jebe Khoja’s while we search for his precious daughter. That’s how much he cares about her.’
    ‘I’ve heard Jebe Khoja likes to invite Golden Lotus to dinner along with Master.’
    ‘Ha! Ha! You’re bad!’
    ‘Who’s this Jebe Khoja?’ asked a new voice with a strange accent.
    ‘Only Prince Arslan’s favourite nephew. And Deputy Governor of the Province. You can be sure Master will rise alongside him.’
    ‘I didn’t agree to this kind of work,’ said the new voice, crossly. ‘What kind of man can’t protect his own daughter?’
    ‘It’s not his fault she was taken by rebels.’
    ‘ If she was taken. Maybe she ran away. The maids say she isn’t afraid of anything and disappears for hours at a time. I’ve heard she even reads her father’s books when he’s not around.’
    ‘What about this tower?’
    Their torches flickered beyond the walls and she sensed them staring up at the ruins.
    ‘Nothing here,’ called P’ao. ‘Let’s tell Master.’
    ‘Not yet,’ suggested another. ‘Wait for a while on the Hundred Stairs. That way it looks like we searched longer.’
    So saying, they left. Yun Shu listened until their noise faded into the sounds of a wood at night.
    The puppies had instinctively gone silent at the sound of human voices. Now, in their hunger, they mewled once more. Yun Shu descended to the lowest step and arranged her spare clothes as bedding.
    What use was it to stay here? Teng was right, sooner or later she would be forced home. The longer she hid, the deeper her disgrace and Father’s anger. Yet as Yun Shu hugged herself on the step, gazing up at the clear night sky, she thought of Immortals floating through patterns of stars. Then she remembered another occasion she had slept out beneath stars, in an open river junk bound for Hou-ming and Father’s wonderful new appointment as Salt Minister. She’d been just four. Her mother was already thin and pale with the nameless disease that killed her not long after Golden Lotus became Father’s concubine.
    Yun Shu stared up at the constellations, longing to hop across them like stepping stones. She had read in Father’s books that invisible threads connect night to day, river to land, moon to stars, earth to water. For the first time she understood properly. The Eternal Dao joined all things.
    This odd thought comforted her until she fell asleep.

    Doves were perching on the tower’s jagged walls when Yun Shu woke. She stretched and winced. Yet her feet no longer felt aflame. Though purple and blue, they were already mending. She massaged her toes in the dull light of an overcast morning. The pale sun was higher than she had expected. In her exhaustion she had