The Foreign Empress

Ambush on the Yellow River Pt. 2

With most of our forces now encircled, some of the bandits turn toward Quan Kou. The dozen or so corpses by his boots send a clear message but after some debate, the bandits attack anyway. Four of them charge Quan Kou, spears leveled. Three of them suddenly collapse, knives protruding from their skulls. The remaining bandit howls in rage and delivers a mighty thrust, intent on spearing Quan Kou only to collapse headless with two swift blows from the elderly Heizhenzu agent. Seeing their comrades die with such ease causes the remaining bandits to retreat.

I let loose a short sigh of relief. Then an arrow flies past my face. The bandits have unslung bows and are now pelting Quan Kou from a distance. At the same time, another group of bandits has advanced closer, splitting up onto either side of the door. This leaves Quan Kou in a dilemma; he can't attack the archers lest he abandons the doorway to the flanking bandits. On the other hand, he can't attack the flankers without exposing himself (and me) to the archers. As a result, he can only stand in front of the doorway and try to deflect arrows as best as possible.

At first, it seems like he can do it. The elderly man becomes a tornado of steel, swinging and twirling his jian in such a fashion that it cuts arrows out of the air. Yet as the unrelenting barrage continues, I can see signs of him weakening. His twirls become smaller and smaller, covering less and less of his body as his arms tire. Soon a black-feathered arrow pierces through his knee. In the split second that Quan Kou stops spinning his blade as a result of the sudden pain, a second black-feathered arrow finds his chest.

"STOP!" Quan Kou cries out with a force and authority that belies his injured state. The sounds of battle fade as all are transfixed by this old, dying man. "Do you thieves know whose barge you assault? Do you want to court death? This is the ship of the Eighth Princess! Attacking the imperial family is punishable by the execution of nine generations!" The bandits look at each other, many of them going pale at the mention of execution. With the bandits now hesitating, Quan Kou presses home his attack, "If you cease your attack now, Her Highness will undoubtedly overlook your transgressions. Otherwise, do not expect mercy."

The ship is rapidly consumed in conversation as the bandits try to decide whether or not to abandon their attack. Eventually, a masked bandit steps out from amongst her companions. She is slender, almost to the point of being emaciated, a trait, I suddenly notice, that shared between almost all the bandits. Hair tied in two knots on either side of her head, she carries a powerful longbow and a quiver filled with black-feathered arrows. Her voice muffled by her wooden mask; she replies to Quan Kou, "If we just kill all of you then no one can report our crimes, right?" She nocks an arrow.

Execution of nine generations- Known in Chinese as 株连九族 (zhū lián jiǔ zú) or 灭族 (miè zú) quite literally guilt by association ofnine of a group/clan or familial extermination. An execution of nine generationswas a collective punishment associated with high treason or, especially asregimes grew more tyrannical if the Emperor demanded it. Familial exterminationwas viewed as extraordinarily tyrannical though it became more common in Chinaas time went on being especially prevalent in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Thenine generations to be exterminated are as follows: the criminal's livingparents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings & siblings-in-law,uncles & aunts as well as their spouses, cousins, the criminal's spouse,in-laws, and finally the criminal themselves. In some cases, especially in theMing dynasty (whose precedence TheForeign Empress will follow), the women could be forced to become 瘦马 (Shouma)or state prostitutes while children under a certain age became slaves or eunuchs.