Whenever my master was tense — whenever he sought retreat from the stress of duty, he would retreat to his writing. He had become a famous poet since the publication of the great Nan Tu. Now, it was expected that he would write much sought after works on a weekly basis. Sometimes his majesty would circulate them throughout the country. Sometimes, the more private works, just found their way to the tea-house, stroked on fans and screens.

Now this affair with Yueh Fei laid heavy on my master’s mind. I know. I mixed the ink. I cleaned the brushes. For days after Yueh Fei’s arrest I sat beside my master as he butterflied away in wonderful verse and caliigraphy - while I peddled some soup - and nagged him to take some noodles. Only Fu Lin-t’o could get him to eat when my master was so intent on writing.

Mei Lin would take the children away during time as these. The children were most distracting — not to say that Fu didn’t distract at times. Li was a model father - strict with Li Pao-t’ien and less so with little Li Pao-xi. It was a perfect family life, now that we stopped roaming from place to place. The air at Hang-chou was ideal for family life - the perfect family. Husband, wife, two children and a male-lover. What more could be wanting now that things had settled down. Oh, but my master speaks.

(hands K’u Ko-ling a brush) Ko-ling, this brush needs repair.

At once master.

At once.

(to Fu) That last poem is quite pretty, don’t you think?

Hush, I’m on the last line. (reads) Oh ho! It’s clever, not pretty. And a bit subversive.

You always think my poetry is subversive.

Well, I suppose you can never get away from your work. It seeps into everything.

Not our bed.

Well I don’t know about that. I have caught you reviewing documents after you have had your way with me.

Never. I have never acted so crass.

Well, perhaps not. But, look at this line.

Which line?

This - "And he fell down, drunk with the spirit of his own words."

Well, it’s fitting. The philosopher is selling his wisdom. He peddles them up and down the garden on a warm summer day. Why shouldn’t he be enraptured by his own words and fall down drunk.

Logical. But look at these characters here. These sound more like "the old goat was poisoned by the hand of those who cozzened him."

No they don’t.

Yes, they do and you know it. It’s subversive. You are the master of the character and the sound - and you can get more double meaning out of any line of poetry than any other poet of our times. But, have a care.

Now you sound like his majesty.

Never. It’s true he sees you as his soul mate - but I claim that as my right. But, Emperor ‘though he be, I am more passionate in bed, aren’t I?

It was only once. And we were drunk. And it didn’t mean anything . . .

To you. But to him, I am afraid, it was an experience he has never forgotten. As long as he looks at you as a posisble future Empress . . .

Oh, don’t be absurd - and flip.

Well, maybe I am as flip as you are subversive; but, his majesty is the greatest threat to my future happiness.

Please, my love. Never worry on that score.

When we were with Yueh Fei, did you see how I treated you? Did I hide you or make excuses.

I was your "friend and companion."

And that you are. How else can I tell a person like Yueh Fei of our relationship. Especially since he knows. Everyone knows. I do not deny it, even to those who feel uneasy about it. Yueh Fei can understand "friend and companion." He could never picture us as lovers.

Master, Ch’in Kwei is here.

See! you do bring your work home. Shall I leave? Ch’in Kwei is less than please with me as your partner?

No. Stay. Sit up there in the pavilion. (to K’u Ko-ling) Show the First Privy Councillor the way.

He never visits me.

It’s this Yueh Fei affair.

I will not abandon my stand on this issue.

Pardon the intrusion, Li K’ai-men. I have been meaning to call on you for days. You have not been at court. I guess you have a well deserved and earned rest at hand.

Ch’in Kwei, this is my little retreat from matters of state. You can understand that. You must surely have such a place.

I do - but it is in Ho-nan.

Ho-nan? But that’s 1,000 li away. Whenever do you get there?

Rarely - actually never.

Have you ever met my "friend and companion" Fu Lin-t’o.

(rather uncomfortable). Yes. I have. Is he staying?

Why shouldn’t he? This is his place. At my side when I am here in a domestic arrangement.

Oh, but isn’t your wife . . .

Mei Lin and the children are spending the day at Lake Hsi. The children enjoy the break from their studies; and Mei Lin — well you have met Mei Lin.

A rare and rich jewel indeed.

Rare indeed. But is your call a pleasant social one; or are we to renew our quarrel over my friend General Yueh.

Quarrel? What quarrel? We are both doing our jobs. You advise his majesty — and I enforce his policies. You know where I stand - and I know you well.

Do you?

Many years now. You are a very consistance colleague. I know when I can count on you and . . .

And when to woo me.

Woo? What do I know of wooing?

Indeed, diplomacy and politics is all wooing and undoing. But here in my haven there is nothing but poetry and singing. Do you write?

Of course. What gentlemen doesn’t write. But, you dear sir are famous.

Ah, a thing of beauty.

"Welcome is the scholar in his lair, the philospher in his stroll,
When the fine spring day bursts and gives way to summer’s joy."

What a pretty start. Lovely?

"And the strolling singer writes his words on the leaves as they fall,
Selling his verses to the passing stranger.
For the child he scrawls a fairy tale;
For the beauty he jots an abstract throught;
For the gentlemen a paradigm of inner spirit;
For the King, an admonishment to look to winter’s frost."

Very clever. I like the rythm and the choice of characters. I would have never thought to work such sound in that adminishment.

Thank you. It is second nature.

Second nature and true to the spirit of the first.

"And the wind blew hard across the lake,
Rippling the surface and the song-seller’s hair.
He danced to a frenzy as he found good use for the cash receipts
And he fell down, drunk with the spirit of his own words."

Wonderful. This is simply perfection. You have indeed made good use of your retreat.

I thank you my lord.

And we should be better friends, Li. You shall see. I am an intense man. I could learn much from you. Indeed, just this little soujourn has educated me well. But, I won’t presume on your time any longer. I must attend to the matter at hand.

The treaty.

How perceptive.

Well, good day to you.

Better friends indeed. The air is foul in his trail.

Please Li, have a care.

Have a care.

Sweet taste of your hand dear wife. Ch’in Kwei has afforded me little pleasure here — but daily these cakes arrive, filled with the caress of your caring hand, dear wife. Oh, in them I find the sunlight of freedom, of the distant T’ai Mountains and the frolicing wind of the northlands. I was born on those breezes - lost breezes now. And it appears that no one shall rescue the homeland now. If I were free of this place today, I doubt if I could muster the strength to do it now.

(weeps) In defeat. I have never known defeat. I have the heart of justice and the mind of fortune, but not the feet of sand. Iron is my metal, not soft gold - but mow I melt away in this dank place, in shame and defeat. I pray that my ancestors have plead my case before the Jade Emperor - that I had many victories and that in defeat men are merely shadows of their former selves, but they are still men.

I once killed a man for not standing his ground in battle. He was a young man. I never knew his name, but I recall his face. It was so innocent and smooth. Yet, he fled before the enemy halberds. He slumped in a millet field, where he was found with his pants peed and his ass crapped, shaking like a feather in the wind. I saw him, and his face. I pitied him. I drew my sword and said to him - "Man, where’s your pride?" And he said, "I have seen the monster and will never sleep again."

I held my sword aloft and waited for an eternity before I realized that I could grant him sleep. So I did. As my sword fell on his head, he shut his eyes, and sleeps even now. I gave him back his bravery in that stroke. Now, his majesty has rejected my sweet offer to give him back his bravery, for he has seen the monster and will never sleep again.

And I rode up to the river’s edge. We threw him a line and towed him in. I bowed low to him, but he held me close and wept. I remember those tears mixed with the rain. And his hair was matted to his eyes. I said, "Your majesty, fear not. I will get you to safety. I will be your rock. I will protect you with my own life."

I remember his face. He reminded me of the young soldier - only now it was a soft lordling, helpless and dependent. I took my vow seriously - and now he sends me to this darkness. Even my health is failing. Man, where’s your pride? I should have given him his sleep then! I should have given him his bravery then.

Who is there?

Li K’ai-men.

Ah friend Li. Have you come to set me free?

I fear not. His majesty is reviewing the situation. Meanwhile, (he sees Yueh and is shocked). Great heavens. K’u Ko-ling, bring the torch closer. Yueh Fei! I scarcely can recognize you.

I have been weak and ill.

Have they fed you? This is disgraceful. I will inform his majesty of this treatment.

I am fed - but am afraid to touch it. I fear poison.

We will get you a taster then. You deserve it.

I am beyond that dear friend. If it were not for the sweet almond cakes my wife sends, I would have no nourishment whatsoever. Small favor Ch’in Kwei grants with these cakes.

I’ll hear no more. You must get your strength back. You must be ready when the time comes to leave this place.

I see your "friend and companion" has come with you.

Sir, I will be a witness to such treatment to a man of your honor.

Witness well then. You see what remains of the Sung Army leadership. Thus you see the opportunity for strength sapped by these dibilities.

Many spoke out in your defense. I think if it were othewise, you may have been executed.

I am resigned to it. I am too weak to lead - and what do I know of rest and retirement? I have lingered too long in this life. An ungrateful nobleman betrays me. The jackel has spoken and the lion commands me fade away.

Steady. You are still our oak.

A willow now indeed.

You must focus on the next strategem.

Battle plans are cut through now. Even the element of surprise is gone. I only fear the wingspan of the crow now. My family must be protected Li K’ai-men. My wife and sons must come under your protection. If I am declared a traitor and bring shame on my ancestral temple, surely Ch’in Kwei will eradicate my household - and my friends.

I will see what can be done.

Ah, my friend. You are in danger as well.

I have told him so.

Don’t consider that. My bond to his majesty is indelible. I am his familiar. We quarrel at times, and he will always win — after all his is the Son of Heaven; but, I wear his ring of protection.

This reminds him that I am his companion . . .

And friend.

Yes. What do I know of having a care as long as I have this ring?

I know the sweet protection as such. No ring, but these cakes. They bring life closer to my lips with each swallow.

We shall bring you a feast - a trusted feast - as sure as we are to you.

All manner of fish and fowl will grace your pallette again.

(looking very ill) It would be useless. The thought of it makes me sick. I will be the feast soon — Ch’in Kwei will be the crow.

In the marrow lurks death’s terror. It silently eats at our lifeway and makes us turn to heaven for respite. The black sleep is prayed for. The red morn is delivered. And still the fever creeps apace through the heart and breath. Yueh Fei was sinking fast.

My master called for a physician, but there was a delay. No physician would come for fear that Ch’in Kwei would ruin their practice. Soon, my master and Fu Lin-t’o were like prisoners as well. Free to come and go in the darkness, they tried to administer Yueh Fei back to health.

It was a busy time for me. Death does not scare me. When you are close to the earth like me, there’s not much room between life and death’s descent. But I did make a mean kettle of goose liver broth and a great scallion stew. The general did take a bit of it. But only his wife’s almond cake could be kept down — and that came regularly, with tender love and care.

Finally, with anger and terror, my master returned to his master.

The time is at hand. I am weary of the wandering life. Here at Hang-chou is a haven for us. Lake Hsi cradles us with her shimmering stream and her reflective powers. The cool hill breezes great our morning. The market is full - the canal supplies us with wherewithal and the palaces are magnificent. So the time is at hand to declare you Lin-an.

Lin-an. You will be Lin-an for the ages, greater the K’ai-feng or Lo-yang. Even greater than Ch’ang-an. The fortunetellers have said it. They say that the world will beat a path to your treasures. None shall compare with your great pulse and heart. Ships will return laden with the riches of Nien-shan and Po-xia, mystical islands of Pearl. Your docks and bridges will teem with craft from this peacemaking. We will thrive again and be richer than the Chin.

Lin-an, you are near. The time is at hand. Just the matter of the treaty and I can declare your permenancy.

Your majesty!

Nan Ya. I had no idea - where have you been? I haven’t seen you for days.

I have been with Yueh Fei.

Was that wise, my friend. Yueh Fei is a danger to us all.

Yueh Fei is a dying man.

Dying? I have not ordered him executed. I have nothing on my conscience for that.

No, he is weak with fear and starvation. He is sinking fast. I called for a doctor, but Ch’in Kwei has refused.

Refused? Why would he refuse such clemency?

I do not know. That is a question for him, sire?

Now, Nan Ya. Don’t get high handed with me in this matter. This is not a play at tiles or fan tan. You can snap at me then. This is a matter of state.

No, sire it’s a matter of loyalty and friendship.

You sound accusative. I have been his friend. I have not executed him.

Please, your majesty. Let him be moved from the Gao-hsin. Let him be under house arrest. I will take him in. He cannot escape - he is too week. Then when he is stronger, he could be sent to Lung-fa castle. It’s fortified, but not bleak. He deserves better than this from . . .

Enough, Li K’ai-men!

Your majesty, I meant no offense.

You meant none, but you did offend. You are implying that I have betrayed a friend. I have not. I have given Yueh Fei riches and power. I have settled on him lands and placed his family in good positions. He repays me by taking the imperial prerogative into his own hands.

Nan Ya, this is the deed to peace. It declares Hang-chou the Imperial capital and renames it.

Lin-an.

Lin-an - sacred of sacreds - Forest of Peace. And I know that you love K’ai-feng and that this disowns the old capital from it’s rights, but the Jurchen are there now. This is fact. We will never regain th North. It is a fantasy to think otherwise. So, my good friend Yueh Fei is living a fantasy. I did not ask him to challenge me thus. We need peace and stability. What do we know of peace, Nan Ya, strutting from Yang-chou to Ning-hsia to Wen-chou to Hang-chou to Lu-ch’ou to . . .to . . to every fucking place these wretched invaders choose to push us.

Ah Ch’in Kwei. Get Yueh Fei a physician. He is ill.

Yes, your majesty - at once.

And Li K’ai-men suggests that we move the general to his house to get his strength back. Then let us consider moving him to Lung-fa castle.

Lung-fa? Why not Yen-hsin-t’ieh, it would be more comfortable.

We’ll discuss it. You see Nan Ya, I am not a vicious tyrant.

I never implied you were.

Master Chao. Master Ho. What brings you unannounced to these precincts?

Ch’in Kwei, you must attend at once. Yueh Fei is dying.

Impossible. We are taking every care to assure his strength and continuance. We are moving him to a more comfortable place - in fact, to Li K’ai-men’s household.

Nonetheless, Ch’in Kwei, Yueh Fei barely breathes. And he is calling for Master Li.

We will attend him at once.

Your majesty, I will assure the public that our intentions were in the best interest of the state. We cannot help if a man in prison catches a cold and dies, can we? We will all mourn his passing.

Physician called at once — too late. Comforts arranged with ease — too late. This is the way with these slovenly bureaucratic cabinets. They follow the path of rite and sureness and result in tragic apology and cries of "too late."

What a tragic loss for the nation. Is there any way to know what ailment spirited him away?

Absolutely. I am not a quack. I know the entire science and have the experience of the ages at my disposal.

Well then, what rotten miasma stole my friend away?

None.

None. And you call yourself a physician?

With all due respect, what do you know of ointments? This is not a curative session; this is a determinative one. It is clear to me. It would be clear to the neophyte. This man was poisoned.

Poisoned? How can that be? Impossible. His food was screened - and evenso he would not eat it!

You sir may be the model of government, but I wouldn’t know about that. I am a paragon of my craft. This man has ingested poison. I would say in small doses. But I smell it on his breath.

You are mistaken doctor. What you smell on his breath is almonds.

That is correct. The poison smells of almonds.

But that aroma is from his wife’s almond cakes.

(smelling the cakes) Exactly so, these are poisoned!

Poisoned?

(in horror) Ch’in Kwei!!!!

Murder! My master cried murder. He went to the Emperor and presented his case. The Emperor Kao listened long and hard - then asked for proof. "Where is this physician?" But the physician was no where to be found. Gone to the West on official business. Then, where are the cakes? Gone, swept away in the airing out.

But my master persisted. He accused Ch’in Kwei to his face of the crime. Ch’in Kwei reminded my master that he was going to remedy the condition of Yueh Fei. That there was no purpose in Yueh Fei’s death. My master reminded him of the treaty terms - but, Ch’in Kwei had those terms amended, so the motive was gone.

My master was so furious, he asked to be excused for a few day to sort things out. Of course, the Emperor granted him this wish. So, my master retreated to his quarters with Fu Lin-t’o.

Bad humours always efffect me most of all. My master always seems to take out his frustrations on me. And when he drank, he became unusually loose and wearisome. He called for wine often, now. "More wine, K’u Ko-ling!" he would shout. "More wine!"

More wine, K’u Ko-ling. More wine.

At once master.

My dearest Fu, I am numbed by these turn of events.

You are numb, dearest heart, by the wine.

The audacity of Ch’in Kwei. He put down Yueh Fei as if he were an old curr whose days were made useless by a kennel change. It is unseemly that he should rule this state and be unpunished. And his majesty was concerned. Oh he was concerned alright. He listened intently and questioned Ch’in Kwei most vigorously, but then pressed me hard for evidence.

Where is that doctor? They say he was sent to heal the Lu-shan regiment near Lake Wu. I think it very convenient that the man was whisked away so suddenly.

He’s alive. His luck at least sustained that notion.

And the cakes. You know Yueh Fei’s wife said she had not been sending the cakes. That should tell you a great deal. And when I confronted Ch’in Kwei, he claimed that Yueh Fei had a mistress who baked them and sent them to the prison daily — through Ch’in Kwei’s office mind you. Through his office. How convenient. The general refused to eat for fear that Ch’in Kwei would poison his food, then he eats those trusted cakes not realizing that they pased through an untrustworthy source.

And what of this mistress?

Out of respect for the widow, Ch’in Kwei has paid the women off and asked for her silence. Out of repect for the widow. How gallant. How very, very conveniently gallant.

Drink up and come to bed. You are weary - and I am weary of this. The man is dead and will not be returning soon. It’s obvious that Ch’in Kwei has covered his tracks well.

Fu, are you suggesting that I allow this puppy to get away with murder?

He has gotten away with murder and with the best accomplice available.

Who? What do you know of conspiracy — you who are purity itself?

Pure or no, it seems his majesty is determined to keep Ch’in Kwei in his service.

Have a care with talk like that.