Книга - The secret of the flying woman or the Confession of Tea Elder

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The secret of the flying woman or the Confession of Tea Elder
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A Chinese Taoist nun Lin Bao from a monastery located in the picturesque Wudang Mountains, who was a famous Chinese scholar in worldly life, possesses phenomenal knowledge of history and medicine, a master of sexual kung fu, turned out to be immortal, known in history as �Tea Elder�. She announced her intention to realize the body of light and made public her diary, giving permission to publish it. The first of the translated manuscripts tells about the love of Elder Tea and the seventeen-year-old Emperor Shi, about the unusual birth of their son, about the meeting of Shi and Genghis Khan, which determined their fate and the whole course of world history. The magic book about unusual people.




Dedicated to my Tutor, Mantak Chia



Chapter One

Deceive the heavens to cross the ocean



Far, far away, in the Universe, there is a place that can be called Nothingness. Can be, but no one knows what it really is. I have never met any people who came back from that place. But this is not because such people have never existed, we just did not meet with them in time. When they started their journey to WOO-CHI � this is what that place is called � I had not yet arrived in this world. Thus, I can make judgments about it basing my opinions only on the information they left behind on this Earth.

Soon, in the year 2003 Anno Domini, according to my calculations, the stars will be exactly in the most favourable position, the one that would make the way to WOO-CHI the fastest and easiest, and I too will go there.

WOO-CHI is the final destination of all travels, it is a Mecca for the immortal. Of course, I might have left for WOO-CHI earlier, but I like to experiment. According to my calculations, the favourable star position occurs once every 10,800 years. So, I want not only to leave for WOO-CHI, but also to check the accuracy of my estimations.

Yes, I have always liked experiments. When I decided �to curb the dragon�, I was still young, and my only wish was to love and to be loved back, just like in my twenties, and it had been like that throughout all my life. That was why I found another way of doing it, not like all others, who feared or worshipped that �dragon�. I tamed him, and he became my friend and my support.

Of course, if you fear or worship, you can be giving away to him your pristine energy, JIN, from the very beginning, every month, probably little by little, but still you would be giving it away. And you can even change your life rhythm and cheat on the moon, make the tide periods longer, but all these, whether you recognize it or not, would be your concessions to your fear. No, I decided to make a loving agreement with the �dragon�, and he yielded to me. This is how I got the powerful support of his energy and was able to keep my JIN energy intact.

Sisters, however, did not assume my practice, they were just followers, in the direct meaning of this word, very talented, though.

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They were not contributing anything new to the practice, because they considered it perfect. However, it was freedom that accounted for the perfection of it. I dearly loved Sun Bu�er, I adored both her and her poems. But she started practicing only when she was fifty-one, when a considerable part of her pristine energy, JIN, had already gone, and she did not have to spend so much time to resolve the problems associated with her dragon. This is why she did not value my experience. Besides, she had already had three children.

My first child arrived in this world when I was nineteen, and I gave birth to my beautiful goddess when the date of my birth moved by two centuries away from me.

I first met Sun Bu�er in 1184, when she was just sixty. She was sitting at the edge of a cliff, her eyes closed.

�To stop the Dragon.

When everything remains immobile,

It causes movement.

Yin and Yang are creating one another.

Catch the Jade Tiger

At a blow of the wind,

Catch the Golden Bird in the moonshine.

Follow the process of internal change,

And keep focused

On the cessation and return.

When all the bridges are crossed,

The alchemical energy

Returns to the oven.�

She slowly turned her head and addressed me, although I had not given any sign of my presence.

�Sister, come down and join me. It�s a nice morning today. My children are coming to see me and to celebrate my birthday. Earthly duties are also rewarding. I hope to see all my grandchildren. The tea ceremony preparations are in process.�

�Well, since you have noticed me, there is no point in hiding. I liked your poems, Sister. But what do you mean by �immobility�? However, I think, we will talk about it later, and now I want to give you some tea as a gift. You are sure to love it. It grew among peach-trees at the secret slope of Lu-Shan Mountain.�

�I do appreciate, Tea Elder, your calling me �Sister�. Your fame is like the tender odour of the eternity for those, who have chosen the Way.

�Please, follow me into the house. Soon, it will be filled with the cheerful voices of my grandchildren. It�s not often that we can allow ourselves to indulge in watching the joyous playfulness of these little rulers of the world.�



���.



This wonderful meeting with Sun Bu�er and her children touched me so deeply, that when I was left alone, I had an irresistible wish to experience maternity again.

It was a risky decision, which involved a great deal of responsibility. It was not hard to guess that no one would have approved of my move, even Sun Bu�er. Over the eight centuries I had preserved my �jade cluster� intact. Now it was time �to eat� one of the grapes of this wonderful garden. Besides, it had been quite a challenge to preserve one�s pristine energy for so long, and there was no way to measure it. How could I know whether my decision would be fateful for me, whether I would be able to get over the energy loss, and, besides, whether I would be able to pass on enough energy to my child?

This is why I decided that I should find such a father for my baby, who would possess the most pristine energy. I also made a point of choosing a man of great wealth and a most illustrious name, a man, whose parents might, in case of his death, take good care of the baby and bring him up appropriately. Children have to make their own way. A child needs to get care from both parents, the support of his entire blood, and develop the ability to live among people.

Since my blood was quite influential at the time of my birth, I realized the importance of this. Unfortunately, now the descendants of my family live all across the Celestial Empire, and the link with my parents fades with time, which makes me seek in the lower world support for my child in the strong family of the future father.

Guided by these considerations, I undertook a trip to the lower world to find a positive and potential family. Maybe, some time later I will tell you about that trip, too.

Well, be it for good or for evil, I managed overcome all these problems. But as soon as I had completed my search, I approached a new, an entirely comical problem.

Yes, it was all about love, and about passion. Even you, living in today�s world now, are very well aware that the energy of the embryo is the energy of the love and passion of both the parents. There was this concern: will this young, seventeen�year�old offspring of a wealthy family, who was spending more of his time practicing Kung-Fu than reading books, incite enough love in me. Another, still more amusing question was: which image I should take to make him desire me so passionately that our embryo would get the maximum of our energy support.

Maybe, it was then when I wondered for the first time why in Christianity it was a dove, which came to Virgin Mary. It might have been amusing to see an immortal to come in his real image. Yes, we do not know his name, we do not know what practices allowed him to gain such wisdom and such a degree of immortality, but one thing is clear, he is a great immortal. And one of the reasons to undertake my journey to WOO-CHI is the hope to meet him there.

Often I would imagine the idyllic pictures, how Jesus Christ, hand in hand with his father, was flying over a new beautiful planet somewhere in the vicinity of WOO-CHI. Maybe, they are the same age now, maybe not. Maybe, the father of Jesus Christ is on his second voyage to the Earth, and, maybe, it is not yet the second voyage.

Some time later I will tell you what I was able to learn about Jesus Christ. But I will do so when it is time for it. When you deal with matter, not with information, you are making amazing discoveries. But you get still more excited when you find written evidence of our suppositions in historical documents. It makes me think that some practices at that time in that region � the territories of modern Egypt and Israel � were well developed and accessible to some mortals.

The story of Jesus Christ has always been fascinating to me, but I will come back to this issue another time. I have too much to say about it. At least due to the fact that his father, just like myself, was obsessed about immortality, and also to have had a baby by an earthly, not enlightened, human, a beautiful young virgin. Unlike myself, he knew what destiny was in store for his son, while I did not know anything. I could not even foresee what my baby would be, a boy or a girl. I just wanted to have a baby. I had no one to ask for advice, I did not know any cases of this kind, and everything was against me.

So, who was he, the young man of my choice? His name was Shi, which means a �noble man�. He was a descendant of the Southern Song dynasty, N�n S?ng, which at that time was controlling vast territories in the south-east of the central part of China; it is the territory of the modern Guangdong Province. It was there, high in Longhu Shan, Dragon Tiger Mountain, where one could find the most favourable conditions for the alchemical practices of the immortal. It was there, where I was living at that time � these picturesque mountains had been known for thousands of years as a retreat for famous anchorites.

The first time I saw HIM was when he was meditating at dawn on the sports ground in the garden of his house. He was perfection itself. A boy-warrior, whose posture spoke of his great future. He was sitting in the lotus position, his heart meridian closed, a tender, wondering smile on his face. Everything was as clear and transparent as water in a mountain stream � I understood at once that the time had come for him to become a man. His tender heart was doing its best to protect against the storm of youth�s wishes. But who was the one he was going to entrust his heart to, and who was he smiling at in such a sweet way? The petals of peach blossom were slowly drifting down, acquiring the tender pink tints of the rising sun. The entire Earth had sunk into the bottomless silence, and the anticipation of the upcoming endless spring day, that would be filled with passionate looks, the droning bumble-bees, the redolent Jessamine bushes, the thin transparent air, which was manifesting itself by gentle touches of the silky wind on his half-parted lips.

I softly joined in his morning meditation, trying to guess the secret of his heart. It was entertaining to me. But at a certain moment I felt that he started leading me towards his secret dream and I saw the image he was cherishing in his heart. Seeing his dream girl stung my heart, and I cut short the connection, which betrayed me.

An experienced warrior, he jumped on his feet like a tiger ready to repel any attack, but then froze still in astonishment, as he could not see anyone. Not trusting his eyes, he cut through the air with his razor sharp sward. As my presence had been detected, I had to withdraw, leaving him with the fragrance of ylang-ylang flowers.

Well, this is how I learned about his dream girl. It was a maid, a servant, Van by name. Nothing to worry about, but his heart was occupied. Of course, I did not think that he would take her up just to satisfy his desire. But is the young flame of passion always reasonable? I had to hurry up. Just two hours later I had a piece of good luck: the doll-like submissive mortal was sent to the market-place with all other servants.

The house was getting ready to receive guests. Everyone was busy, and Shi went to the back courtyard, where there was a little pond with red and gold fishes. When he was a child, he used to spend hours watching them. When someone would approach the pond, those tiny tremulous creatures would feel that and move towards him. And when someone would walk along the edge of the pond, they would follow him. When Shi was a child, he used to play with the fish. He would hide, crawl along the bank of the pond, trying to deceive them, but each time he would raise his head to look at the fish, he would unfailingly see the fish close to him.

Shi squatted down and pillowed his cheeks on his hands in a childlike manner watching the fish �rushing� towards him from all over the pond. Today he felt ill at ease. He knew that there was a reason to invite so many guests. He anticipated something important, something that would probably affect his life.

The fish were playing, nearly tail-walking, showing their glittering red and golden sides. Shi was watching them in a detached way. Then one of the fishes headed to the opposite bank of the pond. It was followed by another, and then the third, and the fourth� They crossed the pond and started playing there as if someone were standing on the opposite side. Shi did not like that. He rushed to cross the little pond over bridge and � ran into Van.

Of course, it was not Van. I needed to do something to test him. It was a serious bewilderment for a warrior. He had spent years in training and meditation to learn to read the thoughts of others, to feel them at a distance, and� to run into � a girl? It was amusing to watch his feelings whirl: the wish to kill the cause of his shame, and the eagerness to touch, and his embarrassment in this unexpected situation. But it was not enough for me, and I added fuel to the fire. I covered my face with my hands and �rushed away�, catching � by accident, of course � my dress on a branch of a Jessamine bush, and tearing it in such a way, that it could not hide anything. On top of that, I tumbled over a little rock, and fell down on the grass near the pond, my energy dragging Shi to follow me.



Chapter Two

Kill with a borrowed knife



My objective seemed to be so close: his body lowered upon mine gently, enveloping me with his pleasant heaviness. I closed my eyes and was appealing to him in my thought to be more daring. He, however, drew two short breaths, jumped on his feet, and rushed to the house. I had nothing to do but quietly disappear, leaving behind a piece of silk impregnated with the thick odour of ylang-ylang, which, apparently, had betrayed me, having reminded Shi of the morning incident, when his anxiety caused by the invisible danger became entwined with the scent of ylang-ylang.

What was left for me to remember about this meeting of ours was the sweet memory of both the heaviness and lightness of his young body. This gave me wings, and I was inhaling the aroma of the spring mountain air with all my lungs, by impulses originating in the very heart of my being, in my Dantian.

It seemed to be the very first inhalation given by God to pristine man, the inhalation that made him a living being, the inhalation that gave him life, the soul. Air, inhalation, inspiration, spirit, breathing � all these words have the same root in my language. The Chinese language is remarkable, because if the original meaning of the word is forgotten and is interpreted by different people in different ways, there is always a hint in the form of the graphical representation of the word, the hieroglyph, which depicts the concept. Yes, nowadays lots of hieroglyphs are written in an abridged form and, thus, have lost their original magic sense, their visual formula, but still there is something left.

In my childhood, I used to enjoy myself meditating with my focus on hieroglyphs. I used to write them on large pieces of finest, almost transparent silk, usually of a white or golden yellow colour. Then I would hang them on the wall in my room, which I had painted pale purple, and gaze upon them like magic paintings. At that time, I sincerely believed that those were the structures of the universe � so harmonious they seemed to me.

Now I realize that it was invaluable experience, which the majority of contemporary mankind lack. People of other cultures, who do not use hieroglyphs, are deprived of the experience of building correct and harmonious visual images. Beautiful landscapes, photographs, even paintings fail to provide such an opportunity to process and make elaborate the space of the image. But people � their thoughts take the form of images, not of words, after all.

Comparing the space of the visual images of an individual, who uses hieroglyphs to write, with that of somebody, who uses an alphabet, as, say, the English do, is similar to comparing a classical violin concert with city noise. And our psyche is nothing, but a set of patterns in the space of visual, audio, and kinaesthetic images. It is this fundamental difference that accounts for the lack of western people�s understanding of the behaviour of their oriental neighbours.

Quite often, when my male and female pupils approached me, their eyes filled with tears of despair due to the seeming hopelessness of their situation, be it love or economic problems, I would apply a simple technique to change their inner picture of the world, their way of thinking and attaining their goals � a very simple technique indeed. Guess what? Yes, indeed, I would take a large piece of paper and a brush and would write some hieroglyphs, and then I would encourage my pupils to meditate while looking at it, telling them that looking upon those magic symbols was the key to their situation.

No, I was not cheating them. That was a simple shaman technique. Some elements of this technique are used by modern psychology. Nowadays it is called �working with submodalities� and �goal behaviour�. But no matter what elements modern psychology borrowed from ancient practices, this would be just leaves torn from a living tree, doomed to death and oblivion.

Well, I will write about it too, some day. But now, let us go back to that day, the longest day in my life.

So, the spring of 1184.



.......



I was sitting on the slope of a mountain, coming back in my thoughts to that delightful moment and experiencing again and again that ambrosial feeling. A smile was wandering over my lips. It was not the meditative smile of the Buddha, it was the mischievous smile of a young girl who did something she shouldn�t have. If only he knew that the storm of his feeling was caused by a �girl�, whose age was over eight centuries. But I was proud of myself: one problem had already been solved. The energy, as hot water, started its way up, along the spine, up to the top of my head, and I had to use much effort to curb it and to direct it the right way, so that it would rotate all the orbits. It was so light and pure � I was just floating above the earth without any effort. Baguas were rotating in all joints at the speed of 60,000 revolutions per second. Sure, it was not easy to control the speed and the direction of rotation in all seventeen points at the same time, but with experience you stop thinking which way to rotate every joint, they start revolving by themselves when I wish it so.

If you ask a centipede how it walks, the poor creature would probably freeze and stay still until the end of its days, trying to figure out how it manages to do it. If you ask a bird how it flies, it will not understand your questions. The same with people: with age they forget their first step, the difficulties they had to overcome, the persistence they had to have and the bumps it cost them to learn to walk steadily.

But if you ask an adult, �How do you walk?� he would misunderstand it. By the way, my observations make me think that many people cannot walk, run or sleep correctly. And this costs them a lot of bodily diseases, which are often rooted in these seemingly primitive, basic things.

The matter is that it is very simple. Using modern concepts, which comprise the nature of electromagnetic fields and their interaction, the predetermination of a certain way of life and the innate disposition towards certain diseases can be explained as follows.

Right after conception the formation of the embryo�s spine starts. It takes the form of a flexible chord, something like a threadlike tube with a high concentration of blood, which indicates iron. This chord, in terms of the 20th century�s physical picture of the world, functions as a little aerial, which catches all electromagnetic waves coming in from the universe. And these fields affect the formation of the fine structure of the spine. Its nuances are determined just by the juxtaposition of the planets at the moment of the conception. This is why karma � some determination of one�s fate � enters the embryo right at the moment of its conception and immediately after. This is why the day and the time of the conception are so important for astrological forecasts.

The human backbone consists of thirty vertebrae. And there are thirty pairs of nerves in each of the vertebrae. The tiniest angles that form some time after conception send impulses to certain organs. This explains why people, who are born under the same Zodiac signs, have similar features of the character and are prone to the same diseases. The signals, of course, are very weak, but they are coming and coming � for years. They are like drops that eventually wear away the stone. The books of destiny are not in the heavens � they are in your backbones. Change the record, and you will be able to change your destiny. The key to success here is the agreement among all physical and psychological methods you might choose.

Fortunately, in my time people did not separate the physical and the psychological. Your body is the home of your soul, and they should match. That�s why all practices combine training both the body and the soul. And this was the reason why the practices were allowed to choose the path of the spirit, and not to fall into the karmic pitfalls of the low order.

Every step along the path towards perfection of those Who Are Walking the Great Way is a step towards freedom. Has freedom any boundaries? I don�t know. I don�t know it, even now. For me, the boundary of freedom runs where my knowledge and my command of practices end. It�s very simple.

First, a foetus rests in his mother�s womb, and this sets the limitations to his freedom. Then the baby stays in the cradle, which becomes the boundary of his freedom. The first step � and the toddler extends his freedom beyond the fence of his parental home. The ladder of freedom has its beginning, but nobody knows where it ends.

Yes, on that happiest and longest day of my life I was floating above the slope of the mountain. I was radiating light, I was as lustrous as a rainbow. Luckily, the sunshine was exceptionally bright that day, and nobody noticed me. Were it night, however, I would have been running the risk of being noticed.

A light wind of disturbance distracted me from daydreams and sentiments. I looked down and saw the Butler from Shi�s house. He was followed by Van. There was something in the peaceful scene that seemed wrong to me. I lowered myself to the grass at the edge of the terrace and continued watching them, trying at the same time to read the book of the recent past.

While I had been indulging in my sweet daydreams, the following incident was taking place in Shi�s house.

Once the servants had come back from the market, the Butler summoned Van.

�Was the way to the city difficult for you?� he asked.

�No, Sir,� answered Van, in due humble and respectful manner, not anticipating anything wrong.

�Was the market crowded today?�

�Yes, very crowded, Sir.�

�Do you love your young Illustrious Lord?�

�With all my heart, Sir,� replied Van, and with this her cheeks acquired the slightest tint of pink.

What else could a servant reply? This was the only possible answer for her. However, the slight flush caused the fatal decision.

�Well, I�m happy to hear that,� said the Butler. �Then you won�t mind accompanying me to the nearby village to choose flowers in honour of the young Illustrious Lord?�

The red silk ribbons on Van�s clothes were light-heartedly waving in the breeze. She was watching the path and simply following the Butler, in her habitual mincing-steps manner. On her back there was a bright green basket, it was as long as Van was tall, which she was carrying by holding onto a thick rope. In silence, the two reached a rickety suspension bridge which connected the two edges of a rock split in twain by a rapid stream of a crystal clear river flowing from up high in the mountains. The Butler waited for Van, and let her go first.

The bridge, as if alive, gave a sigh when Van stepped on it, its dry twigs responding with a crunch to every step they were making. The Butler was walking slower, and started falling behind Van. He was making deliberately heavy steps, which made the bridge shake in a baleful way. All at once Van�s straw sandal caught on a twig, and she lost her balance. At that moment, the wave of the bridge�s shaking reached the place where she was, and the bridge swayed to one side. Van fell down on the bridge, but as she feared to lose the basket, she kept holding its rope.

The shaky wave was going back in the other direction. The Butler, knowing what it meant, immediately lay down on the bridge and clutched at it, his fingers like cat�s claws. Van was trying to hold on by the twigs to avoid falling off the bridge, but she failed to find a good place to clutch by. At last she dared to let the basket go, but it was already too late � the bridge was shaking again, and, just like a horse that knows how to spill an inexperienced rider, it spilled Van, wresting its twigs and the last hope from her. Everything happened in no time at all, and the girl was so shocked that she did not even scream. The current picked up her body and carried it downstream. The only reminder of Van�s existence was a piece of red ribbon caught on some twigs of the bridge.

Some time later the bridge stilled. The Butler stood up and came to the place where Van had fallen off. For a while he watched how the stream was carrying away the basket, which already looked like leaf fallen from a tree. He could not find any sign of Van. So, he took the piece of red ribbon and headed back to the house. There, he showed the piece to his Mistress, and she understood everything.

Of course the parents could not let their son t


have a relationship with a servant, but they did not have another way out, such as sending the girl away. It was the time of unrest. For security reasons, no one who served in the Northern House was allowed to leave if he knew the Lord and his children by sight. That was why it had been impossible to send Van back to her home village to her parents, and her staying in the house after the morning incident near the pond was out of the question.

That made me sad. But the trip to the low world that followed made me worried. Van�s body was the incarnation of one of the cruellest rulers of a clan that was feuding with the Shi Nan Song family who had to suffer humiliation in his subsequent incarnation as a girl. The fact that his soul might find a more �suitable� body was a matter for concern, as then it would be a more serious threat for the Nan Song family. And this would be likely to happen during the lifetime of my child.

In the evening guests arrived. They were the heads of the noble families and their wives who had been invited to the Northern House of the Nan Song to bring their registries of days of conceptions and births, so that the most favourable marriage could be chosen for Shi. The astrologists were sitting in a separate room, where the heads of the families were invited in turn. After all the dates had been copied and verified, the astrologists started their calculations. They had a lot to do.

Following a long walk in the garden, where the visitors could admire the fish in the pond, and wondrous trees and flowers, the guests headed for the dining hall, where they could see a huge revolving disk which served as a table. There were, actually, three concentric disks that made up the table, the largest was the lowest, the smaller ones were placed one above the other. In the centre of the top disk, there were four big gilded statues of the Buddha and four smaller ones, thus, in total, eight; they were surrounded by plenty of flowers in special flat vases and cassolettes with incense. The candles were placed in lotus shaped gilded candle holders which reflected their light and made its structure fine, which, in turn, made the silk glitter as if alive.

The guests and the hosts could see each other. All disagreements were forgotten. They were looking forward to a peaceful dinner. Since there were a lot of guests, the table was spun at a special signal, the ring of a tiny bell, so as to please every guest. In a twinkling of an eye all three disks were covered with steaming dishes. The empty plates were noiselessly disappearing, and new and new dishes were coming as if by magic.

It was a gastronomical feast. Cashew nuts, and chicken bits of the same size dressed with sesame oil, bamboo shoots fried golden � everything was disappearing fast. Black eggs, salted ears, calamari, sea cucumbers, long seed white rice with shrimps and something else, unrecognisable; black rice with salted nuts, fried vegetables, fried pieces of eel, and lots and lots of other foods, which would take thousands of pages to describe � it might be the tastiest book, though. The sweet dishes were also a success that day, only the mini cakes could make a separate story: they were impregnated with juices of different fruits and berries, contained transparent candied fruit or green, red, orange and all other unthinkable colours. It is worth mentioning, though, that the tremendous abundance and diversity of food did not mean that every guest was expected to try everything � not at all! Each person was choosing his or her food, the one which was good for him or her, correct on this day of life according to the gastronomic horoscope.

When the treats were eaten and the dishes cleared away, there was a short pause before the Hostess announced a surprise. Everybody became still in anticipation.

From nowhere appeared dressed up girls. Each of them was holding a little golden bowl in her hand. Approaching �her� guest each girl bowed to offer the bowl.

A great cheer went up from the guests.

�This is lotus fruit compote,� said the Hostess.

In the bottom of each bowl was a little oval seed, a bit bigger than a pea, but of irregular form.

�I bestow it upon you to show my appreciation. May the fine emanations from this treat instigate harmony and prosperity in each home.�

That was the concluding chord to the long day. The ladies proceeded to their rooms, and the gentlemen used that time to talk shop, to discuss military or political matters, which, however, was not essential for them.

It was announced that the astrologists� calculations would be provided the next day, after the tea ceremony. And right after that the guests would have to leave for their homes.



Chapter Three

Tossing out a brick to get a jade gem



Shi did not like the ceremony, but it was his duty to be present there, because that moment was to determine his fate. One of those guests was to become a relative of his children. The women were looking at him, and everyone was remembering her wedding ceremony, and it was evident that some women were even trying the role of his future bride themselves, which made their cheeks flush even through the thick layer of powder, betraying them. Their attire and hairdos were incredibly sophisticated constructions, and to describe even one of them you would need as much silk as it took to make their outfit. It was a fireworks of forms, colours, and filigree details. A multitude of embroidered flowers, birds, bamboo shoots, could fit onto a tiny piece of silk, the size of a child�s palm, without making it heavier.

A special pride of each woman was her fan. It served as the extension of her hand, and the extension of her sight, and a magic item of power for each of them. None of them would exchange her fan for a diamond necklace, although their costs were comparable, because the fans were unique pieces of the finest art. Every lady was a virtuoso in using her fan, so that if she were prohibited from talking, the fan would speak on her behalf.

Never in his life had Shi seen so many exquisite granddames. His heart was beating violently, although none of them had incited a desire in him. For him it was the first time that he was confronting the feminine element, something unknowable. It was a different world, infinite and scary. He had a feeling that he was sitting alone, absolutely naked and unprotected, and he felt their sight, and hands stretching out for him, touching him, teasing him. He was doing his best to control himself and look relaxed, but the jade baton did not want to obey him and was responding to their furtive, imaginary caresses.

The incenses were smoky, helping everybody to relax and indulge in pleasant conversation, but they could not suppress the notes of jasmine, cananga, geranium, patchouli, lavender, cinnamon, rosemary, neroli, rose, which made hearts now beat faster, now flutter. These fragrances were thronging the senses, sending the present moment from their minds. The women knew what they were doing. They had been preparing for this visit thoroughly, choosing the best perfumes to harmonise with their bodies. But there were too many of them. Overlaying each other, the scents of their bodies, which combined finest attars and feminine hormones, were awaking the deepest and the most ancient layers of the consciousness. They were causing bellicose excitement in men and making their bodies inject immense amounts of adrenaline into their blood.

Modern perfumes involve a great deal of chemically synthesized components to ensure steady quality; this is why their data cannot be read, not because there was no meaningful input, but as we do not attempt to read the meaning of a clearing in a forest. They either fail utterly to stimulate these primeval centres, or stimulate them in an uncontrollable way.

In those times, however, the language of fragrance was at the level of art, although just a few people had mastered it. Shi wished he could run away and hide himself, but his duty as a warrior and a sovereign demanded courage. He took it as a trial. At the moment of infirmity, when he felt a note of ylang-ylang in the cacophony of smells, he felt an instant wish to have Van next to him and feel her hands caressing him. His eye lids closed, and he gave a soft groan, but immediately came around and continued observing the situation.

When, finally, the guests proceeded to their rooms and his tortures were over, he went for a walk in the garden. He could hear sweet groans from the windows. It was a good sign: guests, who were making love in the house of the host, were contributing to the prosperity and the fertility of the household. Children who were conceived in the house of the lord brought good luck and prosperity. And since at that time of unrest visiting others was too risky and, for this reason, extremely rare, everyone decided to use that opportunity. Who could know, maybe the children who were conceived in that house would return to it?

Shi approached the pond. The paper lanterns were gleaming on its still surface. The fish were already sleeping, and only one of them, by habit, approached Shi in a lazy, lethargic manner. Its gold side flashed in the light of a lantern, and the fish disappeared in the cool depth. Shi was sitting motionless, trying to keep his consciousness clear of any thought, but the bright images of the past day were tearing his mind.

All of a sudden he quite clearly smelled ylang-ylang. From instinct, he stretched out his hand and his fingers touched a piece of the lightest, softest silk. Now he was sure that it was the smell that had been accompanying him throughout the entire day. A faint smile touched his lips. Now his morning adventure seemed amusing to him. After so many self-confident women had been casting their eager glances at him, he found his morning hesitance and escape simply funny. Of course, if he could swap the events, he would not have missed his morning chance. The astrologists are going to identify the best match for him, but who knows if the chosen one is going to be to his liking? What if he cannot love her? Of course, he is allowed to have a number of wives and concubines. But the first one�

At the moment Shi heard his Tutor calling him to go to his room.

Shi was lying and gazing at the stars, holding the little warm piece of fine silk close to his cheek. All of sudden a misty golden spot emerged from the dark. It drew nearer, and Van emerged from it. She was wearing the same, still torn, pale pink dress made of the finest silk, a piece of which Shi was holding in his fingers. The girl was standing and watching Shi with a tender smile. Slowly, she undid her belt, which caused the embroidered cape to slip down, leaving her in her pink undergarment torn in such a way that Shi could see her breasts, and even her navel. Taking off her sandals and putting aside the black laces that fixed her pale-jade harem pants right above her ankles, she sat herself down right next to Shi, and started gently caressing his naked body.

Shi was lying motionless, in the same position as before. He saw it, but he was watching it as though he were an onlooker. He could see his room, its walls decorated with pieces of cloth embroidered with fancy birds and flying women with a lotus flower in their hands. He could see the silk cushions scattered about, and he could also observe himself, lying in his bed and holding the piece of silk close to his cheek. He did not move, and he did not wish to move.

The smell of ylang-ylang filled the air in the room. Van�s touches were delicate and cool, just like swallows of cool water in the middle of a hot day. His body was imbued with peace, trust and power. Van lowered her head onto his pillow and placed her hand on Shi�s stomach. But suddenly many women were coming from every corner; they were stretching their arms towards Shi, caressing him, hiding their faces behind their fans and laughing. Then Van rushed up to them, chasing them away, and covered Shi�s body with hers. Her body was weightless, as if it were only a breeze. An acute desire to proceed overwhelmed Shi. He tried to move and embrace Van, but his arms felt leaden, and when he made an effort, he saw nothing, but a tiny piece of silk and a fragile beam of the sun in his hand. He could sense, like the whispers of grass, the featherlike steps of the servants outside who were making preparations for the new day.

Having stretched his body, and tying his belt, Shi headed to the garden where he had a special place arranged for his practice. All of a sudden he saw his Tutor following him. Taken aback, Shi stopped.

�My Illustrious Lord, you are not allowed to see anyone, or to talk to anyone before your marriage. And no one can see you either. Your Father said I�m staking my life on this.�

�But why, Tutor, can�t I even see my parents?� asked Shi, trying to look naive.

�This is the moment when your destiny is being determined, and nothing should affect it. Any odd look can let an evil spirit harm your marriage. It may be envy or some other bad feelings. You have stepped onto the road of change, and this road will open the way for contacts between you and your deceased ancestors. Right now they have to decide among themselves who will come into this world with your first baby. You have to spend your time in meditation and peace to make sure that the best among the best will come to you. Your food should be restrained and your prayers prolonged.�

Bewildered, Shi went back to his rooms. As of that moment, no one would be allowed to even approach that part of the house. Only the Tutor could bring Shi food once a day, just because the Tutor was a monk.

In the remaining part of the mansion the servants were rushing about, the guests were waking up, the granddames were happily chatting, and the rarest, absolutely white peacocks were gracefully wandering in the garden. Maidens stood near small trees and using squirrel fur brushes to carefully apply the pollen to the pistils of the crimson flowers with a syrupy fragrance, then covered each pollinated flower with a tiny sack made of the finest white silk.

Men were picking up the flowers from the trees along the alleys that had fallen at night. The flowers looked like rhododendrons, but were much bigger, and their colours and smells were reminiscent of lilies. Each of the flowers had the shape, the hue and the note of fragrance that made a perfect harmony, and was a model of how to learn good taste, which is why it was especially valued by the Head of the Nan Song family. The fallen flowers were picked up and used to prepare the most valuable incenses with the finest fragrances, while the opening flowers were harvested to make a special honey potion, served only on special occasions, as it was believed to be able to open the way to the fine worlds.

The Tea Ceremony Hall was filled with great agitation. The room was being prepared for the announcement of the astrologists� conclusion.

Women were not allowed to take part in the Tea Ceremony, as during one of the rituals, called �Introduction to Tea�, tea was to rest on the palm of the hand for some time. Woman, who possessed the Yin nature and were closer to earth, might have lowered the energy and the status of the ceremony. This is why, following the advice of the Tutor, the Head of the Nan Song house, allowing his first wife and his favourite daughter to attend the ceremony, decided not to allow other women into the sacrament of the Tea Ceremony. Having a Tea Ceremony was risky as it was: the presence of heads of other influential clans at the Tea Ceremony could be charged with problems.

It was decided that the women would be offered a healing drink �for all seasons�, which would be served in another �small� hall, and from there, later, they would leave for home. The tea was, actually, not just tea. It was a blend of fine components, each of them symbolizing one of the five elements � earth, water, wood, fire, metal � or, correspondingly, the organs of the body � the spleen, the kidneys, the heart, the lungs � or, in another projection, the seasons �Indian summer, winter, spring, summer, autumn. The drink was made from a cherry-like fruit, a flower resembling an aster, a nut, the skin of which when soaked in hot water would produce a most refined flavour, from a little crystal, which in the boiling water would turn into a stinging jelly-fish, and from the tea leaves themselves. The drink was intended to give the guests strength to restore the energy they had spent at night and to endure the long way back home.

The men were offered a three-hour tea ceremony as a shortened morning variant. It was decided to serve only two kinds of tea � the Yunnan peach tea, a blend of fresh moist tender spring leaves, and tea harvested a bit later in the highlands by maiden beauties, who used their delicate thin fingers to roll up the leaves and their saliva to glue them into rolls. The Yunnan peach tea did not have peach leaves at all, but the peach trees that enclosed the secret tea plantation shared with the cultivated tea their special peach flavour, which would bloom only after the second brewing.

The bamboo flutes started, followed by �shen�, the wind instruments, the divine harps, the citharas and little ceremonial drums. To soften the atmosphere of the men�s gathering, the female Yu mode had been chosen. The most refined, tender plays of the tunes were suggestive of the coolness of a mountain stream, or of a tranquil movement of water in a valley river. In the context of female absence, it was a hymn to that water, which was delivered from a special spring up in the mountains in the vicinity of the Celestial Masters� Small Temple.

The Tea Ceremony was a covert event; even the musicians sat behind a special partition made of ebony encrusted with mother-of-pearl. The most refined tea emanations were transforming each other. The tea did not hurry to give up its secrets, and the guests had time to enjoy every nuance of the procedure. And only the special status of warriors did not allow the men to express their exhilaration.

Well, the Tea Ceremony merits hours and hours of descriptions and scientific Taoism treatises and poems, and still its heavenly nature will remain untold, because there are no words that could describe your feelings at those moments, and the revelations you receive under the impact of the finest fields that emerge in the process of communication with a Kun-Fu-Chia Master. The fields are so fine, that they transfer over long distances and you would be able to influence events that are taking place a long way from you, if they are important to you at the moment.

This is why, in order to improve the interaction and the mutual understanding among the heads of the clans, who had armies of their own and were influential enough to unite people in a joint effort to repel the Jurchens, the Tea Ceremony was held. Besides, it was intended to reduce the possible disappointment of those whose daughters would not be chosen at all, or would be selected as second or third wives.

The music stopped. The tea-ware was taken away. The astrologists entered the hall. They were seven. Six of them seated themselves on silk cushions in pairs facing one another. The Elder remained standing and addressed the Lord and the guests.

�Illustrious Lord, the Book of Destinies reads that the deeds of your son will be sacred and multiyear, and his son, likewise, will be a happy and remarkable ruler, and he will be borne by the first wife. Her name is Bao and she is from the Li Hong family.�

Hearing this, Chen Li Hong, Bao�s father, turned pale.

The astrologist went on, �The second wife will be Chou from the Hi Lin family, and the third wife will be Ho from the Shao-Zun. The wedding ceremony for Shi and Bao will be held under the Chen (Chen, the Cart, is the last of the 28 Chinese Zodiac constellations, the last of the seven constellations of the Red Bird of the southern celestial sector), that is, in fifteen days.�

The astrologist bowed and retreated, followed by the other astrologists. Men started rising one after another; in silence they gave their ceremonial farewell honours to their Illustrious Lord, and left the hall. Thus the destiny was calculated. But they were astrologists, neither future-tellers nor Taoists. And that rescued Chen Li Hong. Still pale, he was the last to rise from his seat.

�Why? Aren�t you happy? Is my son not a worthy mate for your daughter?� asked the Illustrious Lord with a smile.

�My Lord, it�s the greatest honour for me. But she is my favourite daughter, and she is still so attached to her mother.�

�So, what? Daughters are nothing but flowers in the garden: the flowers are doomed to wither � what can you do about it? Go, hurry to inform her of the great honour and her upcoming happiness.�

Chen Li Hong stood up, offered the due ceremonial honours and left the hall in silence. While walking in the shade towards the stables, he did not utter a word, neglecting the anxious attempts of his beautiful wife to look into his eyes and read the reason for the unusual behaviour of her husband.



Chapter Four

Openly repair the gallery roads, but sneak through the passage of Chencang



Still silent, Chen Li Hong took his place in the procession, made sure that everybody was in, and signalled to move. It was a long journey to make, but fifteen days later he would have to come back to this place with his daughter. Two white stone Tigers with strange muzzles, which resembled monkeys more than tigers, were dispassionately watching the procession go. The green and grey roofs of the stone building of the country-side mansion of His Illustrious Lord were slowly disappearing behind the tops of pine trees. One farewell glance towards the mansion � and after the bend in the road all that one could see was the impenetrable forest.

It was then that Chen started realizing the desolate implications of the situation. He had a number of wives, and many daughters and sons. But his favourite wife had only one daughter. All the other children by her died in their infancy; after that she appealed to the nuns in the cloister, who gave her a herbal drink which made her unable to get pregnant.

The astrologists, who were invited upon the arrival of the daughter, were merciless. They refused the bounties offered to them in order to reserve the right to tell the truth. The estimations made on the basis of the date of conception and the date of birth undoubtedly showed that the only daughter by his beloved wife Fan had to die at the age of fifteen. But Fan was happy to hear even that, as all of her other children had not been able to live even a single full day. Bao was a reward to Fan, she was literally the greatest treasure Fan had in her life.

Fan was exceptionally beautiful, but rather simple-minded. She talked the astrologists into changing the date of her daughter�s birth so that the predictions could be favourable.

�What if the Gods see that date and give my daughter a chance?� thought Fan.

The astrologists, charmed by the beauty and guilelessness of the hostess, did what she was begging for. They wanted to soothe her pain. Chen, also, did not want to contradict his wife and allowed to be entered the re-calculated date of birth instead of the real one. One could not change destiny, but if one could give Fan some relief and soothe her pain caused by numerous losses, why not do that? The baby had fifteen years ahead of her, maybe something would happen that would help the little one survive.

The baby was growing feeble and was prone to illness, but she was dazzlingly beautiful, just like her mother. The sisters from the cloister visited Bao and helped her mother to cope with the problems. Bao loved the nuns, and they loved her dearly. They would bring her books, they taught her calligraphy and how to play the harp, and also the special exercises she could do to support life and energy in her feeble body.

Bao spent a lot of time reading books. She did not join the games of her sisters borne by the other wives. They were younger and spent whole days playing happily and carefree in the garden. However, she liked to watch how they would dress up in various clothes, wear masks and make up their faces with fancy designs, and perform funny skits. Later, when the servants came to wash them, they would scream, and laugh, and splash water at one another, and they also tried to reach for the tap and close it with their tiny fingers, so that the spurts of water reached everyone within three zhangs .

Their favourite pastime was to play a game called �Bride�. Some girls would climb into red sedan chairs, designed like little rooms with windows, decorate them with their dolls, toy birds, images of saints, multicoloured flags and ribbons with pompoms, and cover them with embroidered table cloths with colourful tassels on the sides. Then, having applied make-up and put on dresses of vibrant colours, they asked their servants to carry them in the sedan chairs along the alleys of the garden, while other sisters and servants were expected to play various musical instruments or pretend to be the bride-groom and his family.

That day they found somewhere a huge dusty cloth dragon, and climbed on it in order to scare the servants. The servants prostrated themselves; they were doing their best to demonstrate their sacred awe. It was not clear who enjoyed the game more.

At that very moment the main gate of the estate opened and a procession entered the courtyard. The stablemen rushed to the horses, the servants hurried to bring the sedan chair to take Missus Fan to her room. Mister Chen, darker than the night, went to his library, silent. He stopped, though, when he saw the little ones playing with the dragon, and gave a faint smile, but soon it gave way to a frown, and a tear slowly went down his dusty cheek. He bit his lip and hastened to the library.

�Once Missus Fan is ready, let her join me here.�

The servants hurriedly took the travel �armour� off their master. He proceeded into his bathroom, where there was a cool rosemary bath waiting for him. It looked like a little swimming pool at the level of the floor, and the man slowly sank into it. The comforting, warm bitter smell of the �heart herb� took away the weariness of the journey and set his heart at ease. The feelings of illness and uncertainty went away, but the anxiety remained.

Now Fan entered the bathroom. Chen signalled her to join him. The servants helped her to undress and descend into the bath by the slippery golden steps. From above, through the blue-and-purple-and-pink stained glass of the skylight which featured a lotus flower on still water, light filtered into the bathroom. A candle in a flat candlestick, was positioned in a little polygonal mirror niche, was filling the room with a special, joyful lighting enhanced in the reflection of several mirrors positioned at certain angles to each other.

The lengthy travel and their nervous tension whetted their feelings. Chen slowly raised his eyes and looked at Fan. His eyes were caught by Fan�s breezing. Her fluttering eyelashes were gently repeating the ups and downs of her chest. Rosemary helped increase blood circulation in her heart.

Soon their breaths merged into soft waves. Fan�s lips parted and her eyes dropped. Then Chen inhaled her breath and gently touched her hand. A slight blush suffused the pale cheeks of his wife. Her eyelids started trembling, but Chen was not hurrying to grant her his satisfying touch. Watching the tender waves of passion going over her delicate body made him smile with delight.

Suddenly Fan gripped her husband�s hand, digging with her sharp nails into it, and went still. Some moments later her lips parted again and a gentle smile shone on her face. Her body became soft and yielding. Chen drew her near and she embraced him with her legs, slightly slanting back and holding onto the gilded bars with her hands. Slowly and tenderly the jade baton touched upon its flower. The entry gate trembled, as if under an electric current, and welcomingly parted. The labia, like the palms of two hands, enfolded the gentle soft jade baton, pulling it deeper and deeper inside. Having swallowed the whole of it, they firmly enveloped it at its root, sending soft waves from the base to the top of the heavenly palace. The jade baton started growing bigger and stronger, tenderly screwing deeper and visiting every corner of his home. �Hello, my dear little hollow, how nice to see you, my lovely little hill. I am back home at last, my precious lips. I am back today, won�t you let me in? Ah, you are not willing today. That�s not nice, I am leaving��

�Don�t leave!�

�No, now you have to wait. A little bit. However, yes, you softened my heart, I forgive you. I am coming back in ��

Incense and candles were noiselessly replaced by the servants. The water was as warm as new milk, but the time of Yin was coming, and the water was acquiring its dark force. Still embracing, they slowly moved to the cushions. The bath was emptied, capped with mosaic tiles and covered with a carpet. Servants, like bodiless ghosts, anointed the bodies of their master and mistress with rose oil and disappeared into the shadows. It was the beginning of a night of love�



The morning broke with loud warbling of birds. That morning�s cacophony could not be called bird singing � so many different birds were trying to outsing the other. Chen lay on the pillows and watched Fan smiling in her sleep. He signalled for tea to be brought. The nuns always recommended a small cup of tea at dawn. Fan opened her eyes.

In a little while they were sitting on cushions in their soft silk dressing gowns, a tiny tea table with two little cups made of paper-thin porcelain between them.

�In fifteen days Bao and Shi will have to unite in matrimony,� said Chen.

Fan turned pale, and her weakened body began to sink onto the pillows. The servants knew what to do, as faints were not unusual with their mistress. However, this time it was much worse. It was decided to send for the sisters from the cloister, urgently.

�According to the astrologists� forecast, their marriage will be long and happy. She is to bear a son, who will be conceived during their first matrimonial night. If this does not happen, you know what will be done to Bao and all the rest of us.�

�But she hasn�t turned fifteen yet, and the red dragon hasn�t visited her. She is not able to conceive.�

The cloister was located high up in the mountains, which, however, were not far away from Chen Li Hong�s home.



....



Having left Shi under the solicitous care of his Monk Tutor, I did not worry for him. At that moment I was much more concerned about his future bride, whom I was eager to meet. Having assessed the situation, I realized that it was most favourable. Entering the cloister I introduced myself as a �nun, who knows all herbs�, and willingly volunteered to leave for the first �call�, which, I was sure, would allow me to enter the home of Li Hong without arousing anybody�s suspicion.

Sister Fu (Talisman) was Master of the Art of the Emptiness of Love, Master of Internal Alchemy, of Herbal Healing and Surgery. She was the private counsellor of Missus Fan and taught the elder girls �The Art of Delights�. She was happy to have a new counterpart. She had a warm smile. Sisters from the cloister treated her with reverent awe. There were rumours that she could take away youth and energy from young lads and lasses through casting a glance at them. She welcomed me and treated me well, happy to have a travelling companion and an aide, which meant she could take more books, herbs and other things she needed for that visit.

The news that beautiful Bao, the favourite daughter of Missus Fan, had been chosen to become the wife of the son of the Illustrious Lord, instantly spread over the cloister, as many sisters had been involved in her life. The number of items and messages was gathering like a snowball, but we had to hurry, and sister Fu and I left the cloister.

The cobblestone road that we were following was, in fact, a giant, gently sloping staircase rounded at the top with mossy curbs, built in the dense forest that was covering the slope of the mountain.

Oaks, planes, acacias, larches and pine-trees with long silky needles lined this road. Around a bend we suddenly saw a little waterfall with crystal-clear water, the beginning of a little stream, where the willows were bathing their slender twigs.

Suddenly a little rock fell right in front of me. I raised my head and saw white goats walking in the water upstream. The one closest to me turned its head and stared at me in curiosity. When approaching Chen Li Hong�s mansion, we made a stop near a partially destroyed octagonal swimming pool. In the centre was a statue of a dragon carved from stone, which had kind eyes and an open mouth.

Sister Fu took out a little pebble from her basket and gracefully threw it into the mouth of the dragon.

�He accepted the gift. Everything will be fine,� said she smiling, addressing either me, or someone far away.

At the entrance there were people waiting for us. Servants rushed towards us to offer us sedan chairs. I had not been used to such kind of travel, but I had no choice. It was pleasant to observe the two strong handsome men running along the cobblestone path carrying the chair so skilfully that I didn�t feel any lurches at all! The sedan chair which sister Fu was riding in was decorated with a little gold bell, giving out melodic chimes and glittering in the rays of the midday sun.

The servants brought us straight into the library of the Master, where Missus Fan was still lying. Sister Fu introduced me, �This is the One Who Knows All Herbs.�

Then she took out of her basket everything she needed and started examining Missus Fan. Having taken Fan by her frail wrist, she sank deep in thought, and was looking at me without seeing me, which made me feel quite ill at ease.

�What can you say, One Who Knows All Herbs?� she asked me, as if it were I who was taking the pulse. I replied, �Lavender, rose, mint, anise, geranium, and neroli.�

�Well done! Make the drink!�

While I was making the drink, she took out two metal bowls with rounded thick edges covered with wood. One was a bit smaller, and the other one slightly larger. She helped the Mistress to lie down on her back and signalled to bring her candles. She laid bare Fan�s left arm and chest down to the navel. Holding the small cup in one hand, she took the candle, and swiftly, so that that the candle even did not go out, covered the candle with the bowl and put the bowl, its hollow down-side, on the left arm of the Mistress, somewhere (about one palm�s width) above the wrist. The second bowl, the larger one, was put in the same way in the centre of the woman�s chest, between her breasts, to the point, which obviously was the centre for the heart joint. She took a miniature hourglass out of her basket and sank further into meditation.

Yes, one did not need to take Missus Fan�s pulse to state that the woman had a weak heart. Her refined paleness resulted not from her high breed, but from a heart disease, and the same was the reason for the bluish shadows under her eyes, which made them look sad and appealing. All these were symptoms of a serious disease.

Right when the last bit of sand sank into the lower part of the hourglass, Sister Fu opened her eyes, removed the bowls and signalled me to serve the drink. Fan took a couple of swallows and fell asleep. Her cheeks acquired a pink tint, which put us at ease, and we proceeded to the library.

Mister Chen had already been waiting for us.

�Sisters, I really need your advice. You know that our daughter Bao has been chosen as a bride for Shi from the Nan Song family. We teach all our daughters to make good wives. But Bao�s health is weak, and we did not expect that it would be she, who would leave us. But this is not all. When Bao was born, astrologists predicted her departure right after she turned fifteen. Fan asked the astrologists to calculate another date, which would allow our daughter to live a happier life, and she convinced me to enter that date into the family book as the date of birth of our daughter. And this is why the astrologists of the Nan Song�s house selected Bao. If this is revealed, Bao will be executed, as well as all my family. I cannot bear the thought of having to kill my beloved daughter right after the wedding party to save the lives of the other children. If I could, I would rather kill myself, but without me everyone would surely die.�

His words and thoughts were frantic.

�Mister Chen,� I started gently, �if Bao is doomed to die at the age of fifteen, how old is she actually now?�

�Now she is fourteen and a half.�

�So, why to kill her, why to rush things?�

�The matter is that according to the astrologists� predictions, she has to bear a son, who will become the heir to the throne. But this is not possible. The red dragon has not visited her yet, and she has got only half a year to live before she turns fifteen. Maybe, I will talk to her and ask her to take in poison by herself? I don�t know what I am talking about. I don�t know what can be done.�

Now we understood the reason of Chen�s anxiety.

�Please, allow us to examine Bao.�

Chen clapped his hands and ordered to bring in Bao. The youthfulness and the beauty of the girl wrung my heart. She was beautiful in the way only children could be, who arouse your desire to take them into your arms. Her cheeks pink from running, her smile happy and with not a single thought about the upcoming misfortune. However, what did she have to do with the predictions of the astrologists? She happily greeted everyone.

�Bao, the sisters want to have a word with you,� said Chen and left the room.

Sister Fu opened the basket to present her with all the gifts sent by the sisters from the cloister. Bao, just like all the other people in the home, was still unaware that she had been chosen to become the bride. She was happy to get so many gifts, and she was thanking every sister, calling her by name.

�Sister Fu, but why so many gifts?� asked Bao.

�There may be some changes to your life. May I ask you some questions?�

�Yes, of course.�

�Please, tell me, has the red dragon visited you?�

�No, it hasn�t, Sister Fu. I did everything you had told me, but there has been no change.�

�Can we examine you?�

Her skin was tender and delicate. I was just admiring her youthfulness and beauty, but Sister Fu was becoming more and more grave. And when I managed to focus on Bao�s body through the mist of admiration, I was surprised too and looked at Sister Fu in astonishment. Could what I have seen, or, rather, failed to see, be true? Fu kept her hand on the abdomen of Bao, and, frowning, was trying to gently press on her stomach here and there, but then she regained control over herself, gave Bao a smile and allowed her to get dressed and go to call servants, who would bring the gifts to her room. We exchanged understanding looks. Sister Fu broke the silence.

�The red dragon won�t come within fifteen days. Everything is too calm.�

I realized that she had failed to notice everything. The true situation was still worse. Bao lacked jade cluster at all! Just little bare pedicels, the size like of those of a squirrel. Sister Fu interpreted it as a development retardation, but I clearly saw that her ovarian reserve was empty. Suddenly a bold idea struck my mind.

�Sister Fu, let me help Bao. My Tutor knew this disease, he taught me to make a drink form chicken entrails and field mushrooms, which, I know for sure, will cure Bao.�

�Talisman� gave me a glance, or rather looked through me, which made me feel cold in the pit of my stomach. Then she smiled and said, �Well, this is why you came here. Very well, let it be the way you want it.� And she slowly started packing her things into the basket. Then she looked at me again and said, �I invite you to attend my lecture. The pupils here are sweet.�

We decided to postpone the talk with the parents of Bao and with Bao herself until the night. Mister Chen ordered us not to disturb him until night too. Missus Fan was still sleeping. Sister Fu ordered us to invite Bao to attend the lecture too.



Chapter Five

Take the opportunity to pilfer a goat



The elder girls got together in the practicing room. They were cheerfully chatting. I noticed little sachets filled with rather big � the size of a dove�s egg � burnished pebbles of various colours. Everyone had five pebbles: blue, red, yellow, green and white.

The most challenging task was to correctly locate the pebbles in their jade chambers � so that each pebble matched the associated organ. The sensitivity of the jade chamber had to be such that each girl could feel the �energy� of the pebbles.

The blue pebble (however, not always was it of really blue colour, as each girl had a unique date of birth, and the pebbles where chosen to match her Zodiac sign, and to match the amount of energy of each organ, reducing or re-enforcing it), had to be located right at the entrance to the jade chamber, in the place where the outer petals of the bud open and embrace the energy of the pebble. The next was to be the green pebble � the eyes of the liver, and still further the yellow one, which embodied the golden trabeculae of the spleen; still further, closer to the inner gate of the jade chamber, on both the sides of the entrance, was the place for the red and the white pebbles, like flame, which added pink tint to a white lily and turned it into a lotus (the heart which gives love, and the lungs, which give life).




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