Legend of the Dragon Princess

Chapter 13.2: Lost Song

Dear Mother, I did not know there was such a place where many beautiful women, all slender and pale like the fresh spring peonies, play guzheng and bamboo instruments for you—where they could read poetry and freely discuss the greatest Chinese literature of our time. To me, I did not understand why old Jie Jie and young Lan warned me to never come here since they were all sugary-sweet with orchid fragrance and through their graceful, courteous behavior.

"Let's play Finger Guessing!" yelled out Ying Ku, his cheeks glowing scarlet from drinking. He set down two small porcelain cups between me and him on the low tabletop, and with a few claps of his hands, two young beautiful women flowed out to the floor, each carrying a large clay pot of wine. Another pair trailed after, with more cups. "Wei, you're going to be the man for this special occasion! Everything is on me!" He flashed me three of the gold coins I had left behind for Chi and winked. "Here's to our new friendship!"

"So, this is how you spend your coin, Ying Ku!" I chuckled, sitting down across from him, with Xin Yi next to me—his arms crossed. "Alright, pengyou, how do we play?"

Secretly, I was enjoying myself from the elaborate displays of wealth, cleanliness, and lovely aroma from all around me. When I had asked about what the women do behind the tall paneled screen dividers with the men, one girl offered to 'show me'—but Xin Yi had yanked me away. He can be such a stern bodyguard! Like father, like son, I guess.

Before I knew it, we were screaming at the top of our lungs and laughing loudly like the obnoxious men I would see leave the late Emperor's feasting at night. For each match of Finger Guessing, Ying Ku and I hid and randomly stretched out our fingers at the center at the same time, we would yell out a number from two to twenty, and if one of us guess a lower number than our opponent's total number of fingers, the loser drinks a shot of wine while the winner does not. After each time though, I found myself chortling—which was not princess-like at all! Ying Ku's lips widened more and more, him also holding his side because of how hard he was convulsing with full-blown laughter.

Then, to further challenge one another, the older boy added, "Okay! Wei, let's not give out numbers anymore!" I nodded, listening in between the numbing of my mind and exuberance from the sweet rice wine. "Let's shout out poetic phrases in relation to the numbers!" I agreed, almost bouncing in my seat with glee.

Right away, Ying Ku threw in his chosen fingers as I did the same, calling out, "Two kind brothers!"

"Three shining stars, hanging high!" was my answer.

"Unbelievable! I lost!"

It was not until after a few more matches when Xin Yi, to my surprise, decided to swap places with me as Ying Ku's opponent, only leading the game to such fiery, passionate competition!  Never had I seen Xin Yi become so committed to winning. 

For every loss that Xin Yi suffered, his expression would reflect a piercing glacier as he would drink his shot in one aggressive gulp.  On the other hand, Ying Ku's lips would tug into a playful side smirk before casually drinking his share—and sometimes, he would arrogantly drink two—just because he can—all while eyeing Xin Yi with taunting eyebrows.  As a previously sheltered princess, I could not fathom the full sense behind their sprightly rivalry and forced, cheery smiles—since at times, I almost wanted to step in and ask if they were mad at each other.

"Two springs, reflecting the moon!" Ying Ku yelled out, throwing out three fingers.

"Eight immortals!" Shaking his head, Xin Yi revealed four fingers at random.  With this, his red lips cracked a small smile. "As losers, we both must drink then!"

It was a while longer before Xin Yi would put a stop to the Finger Guessing game, and in response, Ying Ku allowed the surrounding women to guide him off to the side where they played music for him.  As I admired the world of translucent sashes of rose-pink, orange, and lemon-yellow hues—one young girl wrapped her pearl-white arms around my neck and pressed her bosom firmly against my shoulder.  It felt like a strange dream—even though I, myself, am a woman in disguise.