The Roman Saga. Behind The Great Wall

Lacius did not remember the way to the palace gates. The old barn immediately gave way to a small room, where they spent the whole night and the next morning. In the afternoon, the eunuchs came and ordered to follow them. Lacius checked the knife tied under his belt and thought that ending his life by killing several eunuchs would also be a good idea. Though, it was stupid and not as honourable as in battle, with a sword in his hands. Probably, dying at the hands of the strong warrior in the black robe would be much better than in a dimly lit room, where they were going to be made sexless creatures, but there was no choice.

However, no one was going to emasculate them. The eunuchs showed where to wash and what clothes to wear. Then they stepped aside and began to wait. After the Romans had washed, they were led through strange narrow streets between high walls and out into a small garden. There were about ten trees that looked like cherry trees. The eunuch bowed to the figure dressed in a light green robe on a bench under a tree and turned to Paul Domician.

– You will sing together with impeccable Mingfei. She will tell you what to do. And to your son. And you, – he turned to Lacius, – will have to stand and listen. – If they ask you, you must answer. If not, shut up! – the eunuch went to the bench and sat down behind the girl. The second eunuch stood on the other side. Five or six more were sitting under the trees. They were holding in their hands some musical instruments with strings, small tambourines, copper cymbals, bells, and flutes. There were flowers nearby. Quite fresh. Lacius suddenly realised that for today his long road to an unpleasant future was over.

– Come closer, please! – a ringing voice rang out with a slight tinge of sadness. Paul and Zeno approached. Lacius stood behind them. Mingfei turned out to be a very pretty girl with incredibly regular facial features, a small nose, and thin eyebrows. Only the eyes were different from the eyes of other Han women, they were wider and larger, attracting the gaze. The black eyelashes further enhanced this impression, and they seemed to take up most of the face. A small nose and neat lips did not spoil, but complemented this beauty. There were two earrings hanging in her ears, to which two translucent balls made of aqua-coloured gemstone were attached to the bottom. The hair was gathered on the head in a fancy hairstyle: the knot at the back of the head was fastened with three gold knitting needles. Two tufts of hair extended from it in different directions, which, without touching the ears, flowed further down in smooth semicircles, to a thin, delicate neck. The upper part of the hair from the back of the head to the forehead was covered with a beautiful composition of golden flowers with stones and pearls. On the forehead, it turned into a thin mesh of tiny shiny stones and ended in the shape of a triangle, directed between the eyebrows to the nose. There, at the very edge, a small oval medallion with a red stone was fixed. The collar of the robe was raised and went around her neck in an even, smooth line, emphasizing the contours of her face. “A precious bird in a golden cage,” thought Lacius. The girl raised her fan and made a sign to a eunuch. The fat man immediately brought her a long instrument with several strings. – Sing me your songs, – she asked, and Paul and Zeno began to sing what they had learnt during the transition to the capital. Mingfei played along with them, finding the right sounds, and soon they were trying to sing together. Lacius was bored and silent.

A few days later the girl began to ask them about the Xiongnu tribes and Parthia, Asia and Rome. At the same time, listening to the stories of Lacius or Paul, she drew strange drawings of lines on long strips of paper, which attracted the attention of Lacius more than empty talk about an incomprehensible harmony.

– Beauty is always associated with the strength of the body and the flexibility of the mind, – Paul once answered her when Mingfei asked him to describe this word. – A strong man is like a big tall tree, but a strong wind can break him. – And an intelligent person is like a blade of grass, it is not afraid of the wind, but any animal can step on it or eat it, – he said with inspiration, flattered by her attention. – That’s why it’s important to be strong and flexible.

– It’s quite interesting. I believe that beauty is the harmony of the four principles, – answered Mingfei. – The first is rhythm. This seven – string qixianqin29 helps to understand the whole world and all people. It reflects the strings of their soul. The second is an understanding of the symbols and colours of nature. To do this, you need to be able to draw and read the paintings of others. Third is harmony. Harmony helps you perceive every day in a new way and find something new in it. What was big yesterday may become small today. And small is big. But they will always be together at the same time. This is what calligraphy teaches. We learn to write from childhood. The fourth is the ability to think and reason. Thought is endless, it cannot be interrupted or stopped. To understand this, one must constantly guide it between two opposing forces, of which there are many in nature.

– And a man should be able to do all this? – Lacius asked, unable to bear it.

– No. For what? A man does not need to own beauty. – He needs to own a woman, – the concubine answered with a naive smile, as if she were teaching him simple truths.

Returning to the room in the evening, Lacius called her the Han Cicero, to which Paul and Zeno heatedly objected that he did not feel her words and thoughts, which were like beautiful birds in the blue sky.

– Right, I don’t know half the words she says! – he was indignant and added with irritation: – And I don’t want to know. Why do I need them? Do they help you sing? It’s good for you, you don’t have chains on your feet. You can walk from place to place. And for me it’s hard.

– You’re right, – Paul agreed. – Well, one of the eunuchs said that she has “a mouth like a crystal waterfall”, but to me she sounds like a mountain stream…

– Shut up, you, little creak! – Lacius could not stand it. – I can’t stand it! It’s so hard for me…

– Sorry… but it’s not very hard for me, – Zeno suddenly interjected and blushed. – She is so kind and beautiful.

Paul Domician sighed and muttered:

– Maybe this beauty will pity our gods and save us from death. How do you think? The Xiongnu won’t just feed us for nothing. Who will share the herd with you now? Only singing will feed you. The people there are wild, you know it better than me.

In such cases, Lacius would wave his hand and lie down in a corner to rest his tired legs. Zeno would stay with the blind singer, and they used to discuss the words of the imperial concubine until late at night.

One day she asked Lacius what he would like more than anything in the world.

– Go back home, – he answered immediately. – It’s just a pity that the gods don’t want to help me.

– Don’t the gods give you happiness? You’re alive, so you can easily find what you can enjoy, – she was surprised.

– Maybe they give it to him, – Lacius nodded towards Paul. – He lives by his songs. He is always happy when people listen to him. But I have no life here. I can’t sing. There are only pain and torment here. It hurts…

– And you, young man? – she turned to Zeno.

– I don’t know, – he hesitated. – It’s hard for me to judge, I’m still young. When I sing here, I feel good. But when I go back to the room, it’s bad, – he lowered his gaze and blushed again. Lacius sighed with understanding and, grimacing his face, turned away. The teenager clearly liked the beauty, but that didn’t make it any easier for him.

Time passed, and the new Xiongnu Chanyu, named Huhanye, Zhi Zhi’s brother, was soon to arrive. Therefore, Lacius wanted this time to either fly by faster and he could finally understand how to live further, or something would happen that would change his fate again.

– You have never seen the harmony of the stars. Today you can return here in the evening, and I will show you their beauty, – said the concubine one day. Zeno and Paul were beside themselves with happiness. Only Lacius remained dissatisfied.

Soon they were brought some food. Having swallowed his portion and washed it down with water, he smoothly slid under the tree and immediately fell into a deep sleep, not listening to the concubine’s conversations with his comrades. Noticing this, the next day Mingfei invited him to stay in the room where they were kept at night. Lacius was pleased with this offer and sincerely thanked her.

A few days later, literally on the eve of the arrival of the Chanyu’s ambassadors, an incident occurred that Lacius did not tell his friends about, but which made him wary. When the three of them were in the wash room, his knife suddenly disappeared. He was so used to having it always tied under his shirt on his belt that he even forgot about it. Only after getting dressed, he suddenly realised that he did not feel the usual heaviness on his side. He rushed to look for it under the bench and behind barrels of water, but the knife was nowhere to be found. Nobody said anything, the eunuchs didn’t ask any questions – everything was as usual. Only there was no knife.

All day Lacius puzzled over this, but he could not remember whether he had the knife before they came to wash or not. And in the morning, when it was just dawn in the sky and the sleep was so sweet that he didn’t even want to move, Paul unexpectedly woke him up.

– What are you doing? – Lacius asked displeasedly, blinking in bewilderment and trying to understand what happened. A streak of light was not yet visible on the wall, which meant that the sun had not even risen yet.

– Hush, hush, – whispered the blind singer in a pleading voice. His words reminded Lacius of yesterday’s disappearance. The sleep suddenly vanished, and his chest immediately began to ache with an unpleasant feeling.

– Found it? – he asked in a whisper.

– What? – Paul was taken aback. It was clear that this was not what he was going to talk about.

– Did you find the knife?

– The knife? Ah, that’s it! – he raised his eyebrows and shook his head thoughtfully. – Now it’s clear.

– What’s clear?! Speak quickly! What’s happened? – Lacius looked at Zeno, but the young man spread his arms to the sides in confusion.

– We sang in the garden. I fell asleep. Then he woke me up and told me to go back. That’s it.

– Be quiet, – Paul interrupted him and told Lacius what happened. The two of them stayed with concubine Mingfei to listen to the night harmony and poems about the beauty of the night. She read to them for a long time until she got tired. The eunuchs escorted her to the inner rooms. And Paul and Zeno approached the very edge of the stone fence, waiting for the guards. The young man wanted to look at the stars not through tree branches. Usually the warriors and eunuchs returned immediately, so they calmly waited for them at the fence.

However, time passed and no one was there. Zeno sat down on the ground and fell asleep. When the voices were heard, Paul first wanted to wake him up so that he could rush to meet them, but something in their intonation alarmed him. The men were acting too nervous. They were a senior eunuch and two women. Shi Xian showed them where the concubine sits, where the slaves stand, what they sing when they leave, and who takes them away. They talked about Concubine Mingfei and the big slave with a scar on his face. The two women constantly reminded the senior eunuch that the concubine should be given the same scars as Lacius in order to spoil her beauty. He told them that he had a knife that could do this. And there is a person who will do it. In the end, the slave with the scar will be to blame, as he said.

The senior eunuch had his own scores to settle with Mingfei. She never paid him and his servants, so he wanted to punish her. The two women were glad to hear such words. They wanted to know where they could hide to see what would happen. But the senior eunuch Shi Xian said that this was impossible at night. It will be dark and they won’t see anything. But the main thing is that they may be missed by the female half, and then troubles will not be avoided.

Lacius sat, staring blankly at the spot of light that appeared on the wall. His face did not express anything, but his thoughts were already there, in the garden, where at night Mingfei’s face was to be cut with his knife. Everything was clear and understandable. People were the same everywhere. He told Paul about his suspicions and the missing knife. The blind singer immediately understood everything.

– Maybe it’s better to tell her? – Zeno asked with pity in his voice.

– Wait, let me think, – Lacius muttered without looking at him. Paul only sighed, realising that the young man was driven by his love for his beautiful concubine. But now they had to think about their salvation, and not her beauty.

The next day, they were not taken out anywhere. Towards evening, everything got clear – the ambassador of the Chanyu Xiongnu arrived in the capital and announced that Huhanye himself should arrive the next day. For half a day this news was reported throughout the palace until it was brought to Mingfei. This required words of gratitude and appreciation from her, which were to be written down and conveyed to the Emperor. On that day, she was supposed to spend her last evening “in the quiet harmony of souls” with two singers.

– Look, how can you blame me if I’m there? – Lacius asked.

– Only if they kill you, – Paul answered thoughtfully. – Or give you some wine to make you fall asleep, and then put the knife in your hand. – Well, how else? I don’t even know…

– It turns out that I need to stay here so that they don’t hit me on the head or poison me, – Lacius lamented. – But they could kill me here, and then drag my body out into the garden.

– Yes, the gods have confused our paths in an impossible way, – the blind singer remarked philosophically.

– You can tell her to hide, and Paul will sit in her place. His voice sounds like hers. No one will notice. Especially if you sing to the strings, – Zeno suggested.

– Well, you exaggerate! Mine doesn’t! A little like that… I just imitate, – the flattered singer became embarrassed, – only when we sing together, well, you know, sometimes it works, yes. She is perfection…

– Wait! – Lacius interrupted him. It dawned on him what to do. – Come on, tell me again about this beauty and harmony! – he demanded from Domician and grabbed him tightly by the shoulders. The blind singer began to confusingly explain to him everything that the Emperor’s “last concubine” had managed to tell them in two weeks. After listening to him, Lacius pondered what he had heard for some time and then briefly told him his plan.

CHAPTER XIII. RESCUE WITH UNUNDERSTOOD CONSEQUENCES

In the afternoon, the eunuchs, as always, lazily led the Romans out of the room and up the steps into the garden. It was clear from the beardless faces of the Han servants that they were very tired of this whole ceremony and were clearly bored. Instead of seeking benefits and receiving gifts from other concubines, the guardians of the harem were forced to stand or sit, listening to the same thing day after day. Lacius guessed that these people clearly did not participate in the conspiracy of the senior eunuch. With them, he would hardly have risked attacking his concubine. This meant that the attack would be carried out at night, when it would be dark around and everyone would be sitting half asleep by the trees. Or they would leave. Therefore, there would be little time…

They greeted Mingfei, who informed them that this was the last day of their meeting. Tomorrow the Chanyu should arrive, and they will follow him to the lands of the Xiongnu tribes. Paul sang several sad songs with her, then he and Zeno sang her favourite polyphonic hymn, and only Lacius did not share their touching farewell mood, all the while looking at the shadows and the sun. As soon as the orange circle approached the horizon, he coughed and Paul suggested Mingfei to rest a little.

Lacius immediately pushed the blind singer back and asked the concubine about the Han theater. Only men were allowed to play in it, and this seemed to Lacius a violation of the harmony about which she spoke so much. While Mingfei sincerely told him about theater and music, actors and scenes, he pretended to listen, and then, seizing the moment, suggested:

– Do you mean the theater is part of harmony?

– Yes, it is! – she immediately confirmed.

– And you said that in every part of beauty it is important to see yourself from the outside. The way we see nature, right?

– You understood everything correctly. After all, “the outer picture is generated by the heart.”

– Erm… I didn’t quite catch the last words, but no matter! You know, I so often confuse your voice with the voice of my blind friend. Sometimes he imitates you and becomes a part of you.

– Does he? Perhaps his soul is beginning to feel harmony…

– Could you ask the eunuchs to give him a woman’s robe and a long – sleeved shirt to look at himself from the outside? —

– From the outside? – she asked in surprise.

– Yes, from the outside. You’ve just said that it is interesting and important to be able to see yourself from the outside. Paul will sit in your place, and you will listen to him sing in your voice. As you called it… “the outer picture”, right?

– Oh, yes! We might even switch songs. This is so interesting! – his words got her juices flowing with excitement. Mingfei was excited with his idea. She immediately called her maid and sent her and the eunuch to get necessary clothes.

Lacius watched the other servants closely. They sat in their places and nodded their heads half asleep. This convinced him once again that these people knew nothing about the plot – their dark, bag-shaped shadows under the trees continued to lazily listen to the playing of a musical instrument, gradually merging with the darkness.

Along with the robe, the maid brought two lamps. They were placed next to the bench. The shadows were already beginning to dissolve in the approaching twilight, and the first stars appeared in the sky. Zeno pulled a shirt and a long robe on Paul, and he looked like Mingfei. The resemblance became especially striking when he sat down on the bench and picked up the multi – stringed instrument.

Following Lacius’s plan, Paul began to offer her those songs that the girl loved most, and tried to repeat her intonations – sad or cheerful – which constantly aroused her sincere delight. Mingfei hasn’t been this happy for a long time. It was quite dark, and although the moon was bright that night, Lacius constantly looked around, trying to see or hear the approach of danger. But everything was quiet. This made him more and more nervous.

Trying to cope with his excitement, Lacius suggested that Mingfei go to the edge of the stone fence in order to better see the stars. In fact, this is how he wanted to avoid attack from at least one side, from the wall. It was easier for him to look in one direction than to turn his head around.

The young man took the blind singer by the elbow and helped him walk, as if he were a concubine. She followed them in two steps and already behind her, yawning and swaying, were walking two maids and two eunuchs. Lacius was moving quietly a little further, a few steps behind them. He constantly looked back at the slumbering figures of the eunuchs and the black shadows of the trees, feeling the tension growing.

A quiet rustle and a barely audible thud on the ground forced him to turn his head in the direction from which these sounds came. To his horror, it was right in front of Paul and Zeno. Mingfei stood a little to the right, and Zeno deliberately walked in such a way as to cover her. Lacius saw the figure that had jumped from the stone fence, rise and take a step forward. Zeno got in his way and was immediately hit in the stomach. Groaning, he fell to the ground. Everything happened so quickly that no one even had time to understand what it came about. Lacius was just taking the first step towards him, cursing the heavy iron ball, and the stranger was already standing in front of Paul Domician.

– Zhe shi siwang30? – asked the blind singer in a trembling voice, and the black shadow, shuddering, froze. The stranger realised that in front of him was a man, not a woman.

– Who are you? – the attacker asked in confusion and immediately received a blow to the head. It was inflicted by Lacius. The two maids finally came to their senses, and their wild screams woke up the other eunuchs. They immediately surrounded Mingfei, and instantly, as if he had been waiting for this moment, the senior eunuch with other servants appeared in front of them. They had torches in their hands, and Lacius noticed that everyone except Shi Xian looked sleepy and was tucking in their dressing gowns as they walked.

Crouching next to Zeno, Lacius examined the wound, but it seemed that the blow was not strong and passed tangentially without touching the insides. The attacker was immediately captured and taken away somewhere. The concubine Mingfei, accompanied by maids and several eunuchs, was also sent to her room. Only Lacius and Paul Domician and the wounded Zeno remained at the wall. The senior eunuch walked silently in front of them. It was clear that he was indecisive. Stopping in front of the blind singer, he suddenly saw a woman’s robe on him, and his face was distorted in a grimace of anger.

– We sang… – bleated Paul Domician, but there was no answer. A spark of rage flashed in Shi Xian’s eyes, but he restrained himself and stepped aside. Lacius realised that he had guessed everything. So now this sexless avenger will turn his wrath on them. And it was dangerous.

– Take them back! – the senior eunuch angrily said to his assistants and quickly walked towards the far entrance. Raising the iron ball on the chain, Lacius stepped slightly to the side while Domician said something to the eunuchs, who were taking off his woman’s robe. Near the fence itself, almost flush against the wall, an oblong object was visible. Having lowered the ball, Lacius crouched down and carefully covered it with his palm. It was his knife! Without raising his head, he straightened up and, repeating the same, unchanging words “hao, hao” to the cries of the eunuchs, followed Paul to the nearest entrance. Nearby, on a piece of cloth, the servants carried the wounded Zeno.

When the door was closed and silence reigned in the room, the offended voice of Paul Domician was heard:

– They took the robe… It smelled so gently of rose petals!

– You could have been killed. What are you talking about? A robe? – Lacius muttered displeasedly, blaming himself for not walking next to his blind friend and entrusting this to Zeno.

– Ah, what is death? It’s only part of the beauty, – Paul said dreamily. —Where did they take Zeno?

– I think they’ll bring him back. He is the Emperor’s slave. They’ll see what’s wrong with the wound and return him. Believe me.

Zeno was indeed soon brought back. They cauterized the wound, but did nothing more. The young man quietly moaned in the corner from the burning pain, and Paul Domician sighed dreamily for a long time, remembering the smell of the magic robe of concubine Minfei. Lacius alone looked sullenly ahead, warily listening to rustling sounds in the darkness. Anything could happen before morning, and he didn’t want it to happen while he was sleeping.

CHAPTER XIV. “PEACH GROVE” IN THE HOUSE OF GOVERNOR BAO SHI

The entire next day they were kept in the same gloomy room as before, without being taken outside. Eunuchs and a doctor came to Zeno several times. First, he examined him, and then applied some ointments. The wound was not dangerous, but it was hot, and dirt could get in there. The knife cut through the muscles on the stomach and side, above the thigh, without touching the insides. There was no fever, and Lacius hoped that in a week it would begin to heal. They spent the day in short conversations, unable to discuss the same thing for the hundredth time, and only in the evening they learnt that at that time the Chanyu of the Xiongnu tribes named Huhanye arrived to the palace.

Throughout the night, Lacius slept intermittently, feeling danger and afraid to relax. He fell into a deep sleep only in the morning, when Zeno and Paul woke up. But already in the afternoon he was awakened, and the eunuch ordered all three to leave the room. Without saying anything, they were taken to the gates of the inner city and handed over to the head of the Governor’s guard, Fu Xing.