Chapter Sixty Six - Lâoshi Finds No Worth

The butterfly sought flowers

But remained unsatisfied by the azaleas

And the Lilies turned it away

The Lotus claimed what it wanted

Had touched its heart and move on

The butterfly sought flowers

But amongst the chrysanthemum and plum

The Peonies failed to grow

A Willow Tree beckoned it

For it hid an Orchid in its shadow

"What is this trash!" The papyrus upon which the poem had been written was torn in two.

The two boys bowed upon their knees, their palms touching the floor before their heads in front of a man, who was not their father, as he destroyed the carefully written words of Yu Long.

Once the harem had moved to the East Wind and Rising Moon Palaces, two of the traditional palaces on the Imperial Grounds where the Concubines were kept, the two Princes had remained in the White Orchid Palace. There came no word from the Emperor, their father of what was expected of them, so they had continued their days beneath their tutors, learning martial arts from Shifu Chen Dong and keeping out of the watchful eye of Huáng Hòu. Such peaceful days could not last forever.

The Empress had visited them early, she had fully expected to be able to give the boys a reprimand for lounging away while the day moved on. However, she had been disappointed, for they had already broken their fast and had been competing over a game of Go, before they respectably bowed once she was announced. She could also not lecture them about the state of their quarters, as Feng Chun had ensured that there remained sufficient staff to keep the Palace well maintained and the boys well fed. And so without the east winds supporting her, she had simply introduced them to the man, who she claimed would become their new tutor. His name was Huang Kong. At mention of his name, the two Princes could not help but glance at each other. This did not escape the man's sharp eyes.

Huang Kong could be considered handsome, were his features not twisted into a mask of cruelty. His square jawline was framed by a stunning mane of black silk, half tied into a knot upon his head. His black eyes were large, but cold like ice. A sneer seemed to be permanently formed on thin lips. He wore robes that seemed humble, but were cut of quality silks in deep indigo blue.

Once the Empress had left the Princes in his care, the two had dared to rise, only this man prevented them by brandishing a bamboo cane. "I will impart on you the knowledge you will be required to know, I will discipline you that you might not grow to be unruly and I will polish you into jewels the Empire will acknowledge and in return you will respect me in the way you offer respect onto his Imperial Majesty. You will bow before me when I enter your room, you will remain silent in my presence unless I permit you to speak, you will do as I tell you when I tell you. Failure to abide by my rules will result in your punishment. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Lâoshi," both boys said, unable to say anything different, there was no one to support them here. Even Xiao Ping was away from the Palace on some errand for You Zhi.

"I will test your knowledge," he said, allowing them to rise and proceeded to test them. Wáng Jie Long was a mediocre student when it came to most lessons involving the Four Books and Five Classics, with perhaps the exception of history. This was because he enjoyed reading tales of war and battles and as with many boys, the more bloodthirsty the better! Wáng Yu Long had greater patience and intelligence than he, but far from being envious, he was proud of his younger brother and unlike the stuffy poems of old or anecdotes of youths trying to impress masters, he actually liked his brother's poems. He didn't understand them well, he just liked them.

Huang Kong did not appear to like them nor was impressed by Wáng Yu Long in any manner. Not only did he rip the poem his brother had just created in two, he also tore down the small poems their mother had displayed upon their walls, to show her pride in her son. The two Princes, but could do nothing but tremble before him. His chest puffed outward like a rhino over these cowering boys and he was pleased. "Your calligraphy is too poor and your understanding too weak," Huang Kong announced. "You shall not learn the Four Books and Five Classics until I am satisfied with your foundations. You will practice basic forms everyday for three hours, then you shall memorise passages that I dictate until you can repeat them perfectly. Do not expect to be able leave these rooms until I allow."

*****

"In other words," Yu Long sighed, "we are to become stupid and uncultured enough that Wáng Ya Bao becomes like the sun while we remain as fireflies."

"So how long until she moved?" Jie Long asked, the anger he had felt was now slowly simmering within his heart.

"35 days," Yu Long calculated, as he collected the remnants of the poems. The few maids that they had were suddenly no longer available to assist them, having been suddenly reassigned or given other duties to attend to today. But truthfully, he didn't want someone to handle these poems, he'd found writing them helpful to his stem his impatience for finding his lover. Not a single hair had he discovered and his heart still ached. "35 days since the death of Wáng Si."

Jie Long slipped a papyrus note from beneath his pillow of their shared bed. Since the expulsion of their mother, they had felt it safer should they move into the same bedroom, even though it meant they shared a bed. "Ah, your guess was closer!"

"Of course it was!" Yu Long gloated, without malice. "Actually, I am surprised she waited this long, seeing as the Emperor turned out mother with the other concubines." Such a little man was this relation of Huang Lei He, that he might only feel his worth in belittling children! His posturing ways had him trembling with restrained laughter. He did not think that this would be the last of her tricks.

"It's probably due to Feng Chun," Jie Long said, placing the note away. "But now Feng Chun has other duties." They had long learnt that this eunuch was their distant ally, but even with his powers, he could not protect them all of the time.

"Yes," Yu Long agreed. "He has to select new Concubines for the Emperor." The boys had decided that they could not call that man father.

"What should we do now?" Jie Long asked his brother.

Yu Long thought for a moment. "We can still learn what we need to, we do not need let that man dictate everything. He will view with eyes of the frog at the bottom of the well. We need not let him know that the sky is far greater than what he perceives." He placed the torn poems to their secret hidey hole beneath their bed. "We must also find out who we may trust."

"That will be hard," Jie Long replied. "There have been many new faces recently."

"The Empress has begun to place her spies in every Palace corner," Yu Long agreed. "But there is still Xiao Ping and Feng Chun. We now have Palace Guards guarding this Palace, that was likely Feng Chun's order. They have not yet been replaced."

"Ah, Wu Tian, Keung Shui, Xiang Yan and Ling Jun are their names," Jie Long mentioned.

"How is it that you know this already?" Yu Long asked, in some surprise.

"I spoke with them of course!" Jie Long replied, he had actually pestered them to spar with him, they refused but helped him with tips for his form and tricks for his swordsmanship. "Wu Tian is the son of General Wu, who holds the First Army. He has a brother Wu Chang, who has been declared a military genius and will probably take the reigns of the third army some day! His cousins are also soldiers! Xiang Yan actually comes from a farming family, but says that there is little food spare these days, so he trained with the army at the age of twelve, before becoming a palace guard a few months ago."

"Good," Yu Long had pride in his big brother. He felt between the two of them they could survive the poisonous heart of the Empress long enough to escape the Palace and her clutches. He had no wish to be Emperor, though he wasn't sure whether Jie Long thought the same, there still might be those that tried use them for their own gain if they were not careful. "You should continue to foster relations with them. If they are loyal to us, then she cannot touch us."

"I will do, brother," Jie Long agreed.

Author's note; I wrote this poem! And since I am boasting, I thought I would share its meanings as there are some references from ancient China and some more modern meanings.

The butterfly sought flowers refers to a man seeking love

But remained unsatisfied by the azaleas azaleas refer to female beauty in paintings, I see this as could mean women who are only pretty in paintings!

And the Lilies turned it away Lilies have other meanings, but this was for our Lilies Leilei and Savannah and the fact his lover is not with them.

The Lotus claimed what it wanted, Had touched its heart and moved on

The central part of the lotus represents the wheel of life, so I used it to refer that his lover was reincarnated and not yet found in this life.

The butterfly sought flowers as above, just repeated

But amongst the chrysanthemum and plum, The Peonies failed to grow peonies are considered in competition with chrysanthemum and plum for supremacy and it is considered ill omen if peonies fall sick in gardens.  So hints of the trouble he is having perhaps?

A Willow Tree beckoned it this refers to Willow as the lover in his last life.

For it hid an Orchid in its shadow Confucius referred to the Orchid being the emblem of the perfect man, anyone else reading the poem might think he meant the perfect female beauty.  The fact it is in shadow means his lover has not been found yet and as the shadow is Willow's, he can't see beyond his lover's past life yet.

Other translation;

frog at the bottom of the well. A frog at the bottom of the well only sees the sky as as big as the top of the well and doesn't see the sky is actually far larger. If someone is referred to as this frog, it means they have narrow views.

Author's extra note; I have another poem for this story, which will be added later, down the line, but I'll let people guess at Yu Long's hidden meanings hee hee.