Wang returned Hou's smile, then tilted back his head, enjoying the freshness of the morning. It was simple really. Li Yuan had begun the process a year ago, when he had presented his package of changes to the Council. Now he, Wang Sau-leyan, would push things farther, letting his "friends" in the Above know that he supported their demands for new, more extreme changes to the Edict. At the same time, Chi Hsing, Hou Tung-po, and he would finance a faction in the newly reopened House to press for those changes: changes which Li Yuan could not afford to grant.
"What will he do?" asked Hou, coming out onto the balcony.
Chi Hsing turned, looking back at them. They were all equals here, yet it was to Wang Sau-leyan that they looked for guidance.
Wang's moon face looked away as he spoke. "Li Yuan will oppose us." Then, turning back to face them, he added, "He and his friends Tsu Ma and Wu Shih."
"And then?" Chi Hsing asked, concerned. They had gone over this ground three times already, and yet still he wanted it fixed. "With Wei Chan Yin sure to support them in Council, they could simply overrule us, four to three."
"Maybe so. But I think our cousins will think twice before being so hasty. Much has been said about the autonomy of the new House—of it not being an instrument of the Seven. Well, we can use that, neh? The people will be watching things closely in those first few weeks. They shall want to see whether the Great Promises will be fulfilled, the bargain between People and Seven properly made. The last thing our cousins want is for their words to seem empty. A demand for further changes, made publicly—constitutionally—in the House, will be a great embarrassment to them. They will have to oppose it, of course—they have no choice but to oppose it—but they will find it awkward doing so."
Wang smiled, looking from one to the other. "Our purpose is not so much to oppose Li Yuan as to make him show his hand in public. To force him to intervene. For our part we must cultivate a reasonable air, conceding the difficulty of change while acknowledging its necessity. That way we might, at first, lend tacit support to the idea while not committing ourselves to it."
He paused, then pushed away from the rail. "As for Li Yuan, we must find other ways of isolating him from his allies in Council. We must make him seem unreasonable, his schemes harebrained, disastrous in their consequences. Tsu Ma, perhaps, might stay with him, but Wu Shih is his own man and might be swayed. As for Wei Chan Yin, he is his father's son and, like his father, will vote to maintain the stasis. Within the year things will have changed. It will no longer be four against three, but two against five. And then we shall use the Council itself to bridle our young cousin."
Hou nodded enthusiastically, but Chi Hsing was still hesitant. In spite of his fears he liked and respected the young T'ang of City Europe, and his blood had sung with satisfaction when Li Yuan had acted against the rebellious sons of the Above. Yet what he wanted most of all was peace. Peace, so that his sons might live and grow to be men. And Li Yuan, for all that he liked him, threatened that peace. Chi Hsing met Wang's eyes and nodded. "So be it," he said.
Wang smiled. "Good. Then I shall begin at once, wooing our cousin Wei. Rumor has it that something has been eating at him. Some secret inner grief, connected to Li Yuan. Perhaps a private meeting between us will reveal just what seed of bitterness he nurtures."
"And Wu Shih?" Chi Hsing pushed out his chin as he spoke. It was an almost belligerent gesture, one Chi Hsing himself was entirely unaware of, but to Wang Sau-leyan it was revealing. He knew that Chi Hsing disapproved of his lifestyle—particularly of the Hung Moo concubines he kept—but this was rooted elsewhere. Seeing that gesture, he understood that he would not be able to trust Chi Hsing completely. If it came to a crucial choice Chi Hsing might yet side with Li Yuan.
Again he smiled. "As I said, Wu Shih is his own man. He will vote as before. For tradition. And to preserve the functions of the Seven." He shrugged. "As for Tsu Ma, he is Li Yuan's shadow. But two against five cannot carry policy. Li Yuan will see this and, in his frustration, seek to circumvent us."
Wang Sau-leyan looked from one man to the other and smiled, a great feeling of satisfaction washing over him. Each had their role to . play. Hou Tung-po would placate the Minor Families, wooing them with new concessions—concessions that Wang Sau-leyan would draft and present to the Council of the Seven as legislation, principal among them a guarantee of posts in all the major Ministries—posts they had, in effect, been denied this last half century.
And Chi Hsing? He was to penetrate the higher levels of Li Yuan's administration—to buy and blackmail those nearest the young T'ang. For they must know for certain what he was thinking, what planning in the months to come.
Only reluctantly had Chi Hsing agreed. Yet he had agreed, and his agreement bound him to this conspiracy. As time passed, circumstance would bind him much closer to their cause. He would be shaped by his actions until he became what he acted. And all the time his actions would be against Li Yuan.
"Come inside," Wang said, embracing the two men. "Let's drink to peace. And to a freer, happier world than this."
Chi Hsing smiled and nodded, but before he went in, he turned, looking back at the darkness of the river, wondering.
LI YUAN leaned forward, spreading his hands along the cool wooden balustrade, and looked across the lake toward the distant hills. He had thought never to come here again, but here he was, not three years passed since his last visit, his heart hammering in his chest at the thought of the meeting to come.
The day was hot and still, unnaturally so, even for this southern climate, but where he stood, on the north balcony of Yin Tsu's summer palace, there was shade of sorts. Two body-servants stood behind him, their heads bowed, the long-handled fans moving slowly, indolently in their hands.
Li Yuan breathed deeply, trying to prepare himself, but there was no preparing for this moment. He heard her soft footsteps coming down the broad twist of steps behind him and turned, suddenly awkward, moving between his servants to face her. Fei Yen had stopped, six steps from the bottom, her head lowered.
"Chieh Hsia, I..."
Her hesitancy was a new thing. When she had been his wife there had been a natural arrogance about her which had somehow awed him. Back then he had always; felt inferior to her, but the years had changed that. He was older now and T'ang. And she was a cast-off wife, exiled from the Court. Twice exiled, he thought, remembering the two years mourning for his brother.
He took a step forward, holding out his right hand to her. She came down the last few steps and knelt, taking his hand and pressing her lips to the great Ywe Lung ring, her small, dark head bowed beneath his gaze. He bade her get up, then stood silently, staring down at her.
She was still as beautiful as ever. That same porcelain delicacy he sometimes dreamed of was still there in her, undiminished.
"How have you been?"
She had been looking down all this while, her eyes averted. Now she glanced up at him. "I am well, Chieh Hsia."
"Ah . . ." But he had heard otherwise. The man who had been here when he arrived was but the latest of a long line of lovers she had taken. As if there were some lack in her that she could keep no man for long.
"And Han?"
"He has grown, Chieh Hsia." She paused, then. "He is with his nurses just now."
Li Yuan sighed. This too he had heard. As if the mother shunned the son who had brought her fall from grace. The last time he had seen the child, Han had been barely nine months old. And now the boy was almost three. For a moment old feelings stirred in him. Looking at Fei Yen he frowned, wondering where he had gone wrong with her. But he had thought this through many times. The blame was not hers. The mistake had been marrying his dead brother's wife. All wrongness flowed from that.