The Mandate of Heaven Read Online Free PDF Page B

slept late. Yun Shu heard boots tramping in her direction.
    ‘Is this the place, boy?’
    Sergeant P’ao’s voice! Yun Shu ducked fearfully before accepting the futility of further concealment. No, she would not be found cowering or dragged out. Instead she crawled out into the sunlight and tottered upright.
    At that moment Salt Minister Gui turned the corner of the tower, carried in a sedan chair by two sweating porters. Behind him, escorted like criminals by Father’s soldiers, came Teng and Hsiung. Last of all, the hunchbacked scholar, Deng Nan-shi.
    Yun Shu tried to find Teng’s eye but he evaded her. She became aware Father was gripping his abacus with white knuckles.
    ‘Cover your feet!’
    She struggled to her knees and bowed, trembling.
    ‘Is this where you hid her?’ he demanded, turning to Hsiung.
    Hsiung said nothing, his face blank.
    ‘Sergeant P’ao, if he does not answer, hit him!’ commanded the Minister of Salt.
    ‘Your Excellency,’ broke in Deng Nan-shi, ‘my son has already explained. A stupid child’s game, that is all! They could not imagine the upset they were causing.’
    ‘A g-game?’ snorted Gui. ‘Then I hold you responsible.’
    Hopping from foot to foot, Teng cried, ‘Father didn’t know! It’s our servant’s fault. I warned Hsiung … Oh, he never listens to me! But I found the tower and showed it to her. I should take the punishment, not Father!’
    Gui’s glassy, slightly bulging eyes flicked from child to child, one defiant, the other tearful. He turned to Sergeant P’ao. ‘Search the tower, as you should have done yesterday.’
    No one spoke until he returned. In his arms were diverse things: Yun Shu’s clothes, the empty gourd and the mother dhole ’s corpse. A second soldier retrieved the puppies, blinking and wriggling.
    ‘Otherwise, Master,’ said P’ao, ‘there’s only old bones.’
    Gui turned back to his daughter. For the first time wariness softened the anger in his voice. ‘Is this where you chose to spend the night? In a charnel house? With a wild dog? It’s b-big enough to be a fox fairy!’
    She was too afraid to reply.
    ‘How did the creature die?’ he asked, fingering a protective amulet attached to his silken girdle. ‘P’ao, how do you think it died? Was it through magic?’
    The soldier bent over the corpse.
    ‘Skull crushed inwards, Your Honour,’ he said. Then Sergeant P’ao turned to Hsiung. ‘Boy, is that how your leg got injured? Fighting this wild dog?’
    Hsiung would not answer. He met the sergeant’s eye then looked away in contempt. P’ao bent forward and whispered: ‘Better to answer Master’s questions, son.’
    ‘Honoured Excellency!’ cried Teng. ‘Our servant saved your daughter! He fought the wild dog when it was attacking her and killed it. Hsiung saved her life! I was too afraid. But not him!’
    The bodyguards murmured their approval at the boy’s courage. Sergeant P’ao went so far as to slap his back.
    ‘Is this true?’ demanded Gui, turning to his daughter.
    She nodded. ‘It was scared for its pups, Father! Hsiung arrived and …’
    ‘Enough!’
    The Minister of Salt turned to the silent boy. He raised his abacus and rattled the beads. ‘Lucky for you the accounts b-balance. Therefore, you shall not be punished.’
    The soldiers grunted approvingly until their master silenced them with his fishy stare.
    Deng Nan-shi cleared his throat and smiled affably. ‘It appears the matter is settled, Your Excellency! We shall leave you to your delightful daughter …’
    ‘Shut up, you !’ said Gui.
    The soldiers reacted to such grave discourtesy with narrowed, expectant eyes. The boys stared miserably at the ground. A dark look transformed Deng Nan-shi’s urbane face and his smile froze. Had he possessed the power of his ancestors, things would have gone very cruelly for the Salt Minister.
    ‘Are you aware,’ said Gui, crimson with rage, ‘what g-grade of human the Great Khan classes scholars ?’
    ‘I