Undercover - In China - Book 7

Part 69 - A cautious man

Cho Cho noticed the blood stains on my clothes and ordered servants to attend to my wounds. Most of it wasn't my blood but I didn't argue. I was led away to another room where, to my acute embarrassment, a group of young women removed my clothes, bathed me and bandaged my scraped knee and swollen ankle while others measured me for new clothes. They were all fascinated by my freckled skin and barbarian blue eyes. I wouldn't let them take Triple Oh's armband. He was my only hope of rescue. The servants gave me a set of black robes and a funny hat which they had to tie on to my head with a ribbon under my chin. I insisted they pack my mud-caked old clothes into my shoulder bag. 

 When I was ready, the servants took me back to the meeting hall where Cho Cho was in conference with generals Cho Ren, Xiahou Dun and Cho Hong and Yin Jia, Kongming's spy. Yin Jia made no sign that he recognized me, and I pretended not to know him as Cho Cho introduced me to everyone as his newest advisor. I bowed quickly and found a seat as far from Cho Cho as I could get. 

 Kozak whispered that Yin Jia could be found at the granary later. Kozak translated as Cho Cho said he planned to take Xiahou Dun and most of the men back to Xiangyang leaving Cho Ren and Cho Hong to remain in Jiangling and Yiling to control southern Jingzhou Province.

Cho Ren protested, 'If you take most of the army, how can we defend Jiangling and Yiling?'

'Very simply,' Cho Cho answered. 'Do not attack! The city walls of Jiangling and Yiling are in excellent condition. You will have no trouble defending them and Zhou Yu cannot keep a large siege army here for long. I will reinforce Hefei to threaten the Southland ruler, Sun Quan from the east. Because he is a cautious man, he will order Zhou Yu to send reinforcements to Hefei. That will relieve the pressure on you.'

'But what shall we do if we are unable to hold off Zhou Yu's army?' Cho Ren asked.

'I will give you instructions in this sealed box,' Cho Cho replied. 'These will allow you to defeat Zhou Yu, but you must not open the box unless you are desperate.' 

 After the meeting broke up, Cho Cho ordered Kozak and me to follow him to his private rooms where we waited as he wrote out the secret orders. 

 When he had finished writing, I felt bold enough to ask, 'Do you really think those orders will save Cho Ren, your excellency? 

 Cho Cho chuckled when Kozak translated. 'I suspect you have a low opinion of Cho Ren's ability.'

I had a feeling I should stop before I got into real trouble, but my big mouth kept talking.  'He failed to defeat Xuande three times.' 

 Kozak explained and Cho Cho laughed. 'For one so young, you are an excellent judge of character. Cho Ren is indeed an good warrior but a poor tactician. You think I should be more specific about trapping Zhou Yu in the city?'

I though fast. Cho Cho had inadvertently revealed his plan. But I was talking before I had decided what to say. 'Tell him to leave some soldiers inside the city . . . in case he forgets.'

Cho Cho thought that was very funny. 'An excellent idea,' he chortled. 'It confirms my own thinking.'

'When I leave, I order you to stay here in Jiangling as an advisor to Cho Ren,' Cho Cho told me.

He paused for a moment to write. 'Now tell me something about the land of your birth,' he said, 'and why you do not remove your arm band when you are bathing?'

Cho Cho had changed the subject so abruptly, I felt suddenly off balance and my thoughts raced. The real story would be incomprehensible . . . 'I come from the barbarian city of Rome,' I said as calmly as I could. 'Please forgive my poor speaking. My father sent me to learn from the greatest civilization under heaven and he gave me the arm band to remember him.'

'Yes,' Cho Cho said thoughtfully after Kozak had translated my words, 'I remember the Roman envoy at the Han court when I was a boy. He tried to steal the secret of how we made the silk cloth that we send to Rome in exchange for gold.'

To my relief Cho Cho did not question me further but instead told me a long rambling story about his struggle to become prime minister. Eventually, I was saved by Xiahou Dun who arrived with details of troop movements for the following day. Kozak and I went back to the advisors' quarters where we changed into our old clothes and climbed out of a window.