The Middle Kingdom Read Free Page A

She
held a tiny bundle. Something still and silent. He stared at her,
appalled, and shook his head violently.
    "No,
Excellency," the woman began, bowing her head re-, spectfully.
"You misunderstand. . . ."
    Chung Hu-Yan
glanced fearfully at the Tang. Li Shai Tung had turned away; was
staring down at his dead wife once again. Knowing he must do
something, Chung turned and grabbed the woman's arm. Only then did he
see that the child was alive within the blankets.
    "It lives?"
His whisper held a trace of disbelief.
    "He lives, Excellency. It's a boy."
    Chung Hu-Yan
gave a short laugh of surprise. "Lin Yua gave birth to a boy?"
    "Yes,
Excellency. Four catties he weighs. Big for one born so early."
    Chung Hu-Yan
stared at the tiny child, then turned and looked back at the T'ang.
Li Shai Tung had not noted the woman's entrance. Chung licked his
lips, considering things, then decided.
    "Go,"
he told the nurse. "And make sure the child is safe. Your life
is forfeit if he dies. Understand me, woman?"
    The woman
swallowed fearfully, then bowed her head low. "I understand,
Excellency. I'll take good care of him."
    Chung turned
back, then wentiand stood beside the T'ang.
    "Chieh
Hsia?" he said, kneeling, bowing his head.
    Li Shai Tung
looked up, his eyes bleak, unfocused, his face almost unrecognizable
in its grief.
    " Chieh
Hsia, I—"
    Abruptly the
Tang stood and pushed roughly past his Chancellor, ignoring him,
confronting instead the group of five doctors who were still waiting
on the far side of the room.
    "Why was I
not summoned earlier?"
    The most senior
of them stepped forward, bowing. "It was felt, Chieh Hsia—"
    "Fefe?"
The T'ang's bark of anger took the old man by surprise. Pain and
anger had transformed Li Shai Tung. His face glowered. Then he leaned
forward and took the man forcibly by the shoulder, throwing him
backward.
    He stood over
him threateningly. "How did she die?"
    The old man
glanced up fearfully from where he lay, then scrambled to his knees
again, lowering his head abjectly. "It was her age, Chieh
Hsia ," he gasped. "Forty-two is late to have a child.
And then there are the conditions here. They make it dangerous even
for a normal labor. Back on Chung Kuo—"
    "You
incompetent butchers! You murderers! You . . ."
    Li Shai Tung's
voice failed. He turned and looked back helplessly at his dead wife,
his hands trembling, his lips parted in surprise. For a moment longer
he stood there, lost in his pain; then, with a shudder, he turned
back, his face suddenly set, controlled.
    "Take them
away from here, Chung Hu-Yan," he said coldly,
    his eyes filled
with loathing. "Take them away and have them killed."
    " Chieh
Hsia ?" The Chancellor stared at him, astonished. Grief had
transformed his master.
    The T'ang's
voice rose in a roar. "You heard me, Master Chung! Take them
away!"
    The man at his
feet began to plead. " Chieh Hsia . Surely we might be
permitted—"
    He glared at the
old man, silencing him, then looked up again. Across from him the
others, graybeards all, had fallen to their knees in supplication.
Now, unexpectedly, Chung Hu-Yan joined them.
    " Chieh
Hsia , I beg you to listen. If you have these men killed, the
lives of all their kin will be forfeit too. Let them choose an
honorable death. Blame them for Lin Yua's death, yes, but let their
families live."
    Li Shai Tung
gave a visible shudder. His voice was soft now, laced with pain. "But
they killed my wife, Chung. They let Lin Yuadie."
    Chung touched
his head to the floor. "I know, Chieh Hsia . And for that
they will be only too glad to die. But spare their families, I beg
you, Chieh Hsia . You owe them that much. After all, they saved
your son."
    "My son?"
The T'ang looked up, surprised.
    "Yes, Chieh
Hsia . You have a son. A second son. A strong, healthy child."
    Li Shai Tung
stood there, frowning fiercely, trying hard to take in this latest,
unexpected piece of news. Then, very slowly, his face changed yet
again, the pain pushing through his mask of control