Yan Liang
A cacophony of music and laughter could be heard from the main hall of Sui Yan's tea house. However, Yan Liang preferred to play Go in a private room on the second floor with his best friend, Yubang.
He sat on the futon opposite Yubang, and a set of brewed tea accompanied them, wafting the scent of thick green tea in the room with one open window.
"So, have you met the three princes and Duke Kuan yet?" asked Yan Liang.
Yubang nodded slightly, placing the black go seed onto the go board.
Yan Liang grew increasingly curious, but he covered it up by asking casually, "What do you think?"
"They are weak, and this dukedom has no hope of growing."
Yan Liang peeked at the man in front of him as he reached into the go seeds in the container.
Yubang was not the type of person who quickly judged others. He will seek the truth before speaking. If he says weak, it is a sign that something is bugging his mind.
"Oh? Is that so? How can you say they are weak, yet the people love their Duke?"
Yubang clucked angrily. "To be loved doesn't mean to be respected. Their duke is indecisive in his decisions, their crown prince is grumpy and seems to be a puppet, not to mention the two princes."
Hearing Yubang's laments, Yan Liang sighed. "Aia, didn't you say the second prince was a great person?"
"I regret trusting a merchant from the Liao tribe. Maybe he was boasting that the second prince killed a white wolf by himself at eight."
"So, what do you think of the second prince?"
"He's friendly and kind but fitter to be a servant. He has no ambition at all. Then the third prince, in his brain, there is only business. Ning's envoy managed to get him to support Ning with some fawning. Pathetic."
Roughly Yubang put go seeds on the go board, and it seemed his feelings made his playing rough.
Not blaming him. He must have been pissed off after his expectations were missed.
Yubang's frustration makes his game fall apart, and this time Yan Liang wins in a game of Go.
"Yan Liang, let's go to the Sun. We serve crown prince Sun Bing. He has the air of a leader and is intelligent and wise. Besides that, the Sun dukedom is now in the top three strongest dukedoms. Let's get out of this annoying place."
Yan Liang took a sip of his hot tea, then shook his head. "I'm native Sun, and I wandered around looking for people worthy of serving. Now you're sending me home, and you act just like my mother."
They chuckled as they continued playing Go.
For Yan Liang, helping a duke in a great dukedom would not get his name written down in the history books.
History would write about the great duke and the prosperous dukedom, not about Yan Liang.
What Yan Liang was looking for was a place for him to show off his skills and a chance to inscribe his name into anal of history in golden ink.
Yan Liang, the Great Prime Minister, made the Duke able to build a dukedom. He only exists once in every millennium. That's what he wants.
Yubang said, "A good bird chooses the right tree to build a nest."
"I'm looking for the right place." Yan Liang remained calm in his game of go.
"You said you hate winter in Kun, right?"
Yan Liang nodded.
"My friend, Yan Liang, let's get out of here. Your skills are wasted here. Two years was a long time, and two years could dull a sharp sword. Just like your mind being dulled."
"So you want to ask me to join Sun?"
Yubang nodded. "Come on. Together we can become a pillar of the dukedom of Sun."
"If we work together, you will feel dwarfed by me."
"Arrogant!"
Without Yubang noticing, Yan Liang had won the game of Go.
Yan Liang chuckled in satisfaction. "Now we're even, 30-30. Come on, give me back my swan fan."
Suddenly Yubang was confused and scratched his cheek while putting on a guilty face. "Ahm, I used your fan as a present to meet my former idol."
"What? You give my beloved fan to the second prince of Kun?!"
"Aia, it's just a quill fan. It's cheap in the market."
"You do not understand. The fan is special, the number of feathers is twenty, and the height of all the feathers is twenty, then the engravings are twenty of Ahn Empire's writings! The fan is rare!"
"How much it costs?"
"Two Hundred Gold Coins–"
"You want to blackmail me, huh? Here twenty gold coins." Yubang placed the coin on the edge of the Go table.
"My friend, it's two hundred–"
"You like the number twenty, right? After all, your bastard fan is only three pieces of silver on the market! Come on, and I just want to go."
"Yubang!"
Yubang got up and left the private room.
The price of the fan was only two pieces of silver. It was just that the fan was excellent and rare. Not all feather fans have parallel feathers and number twenty.
Yan Liang counted the coins and smiled. "Yes, with this, I could party for two months without working—"
Suddenly a beautiful woman with a bitchy appearance seizes the heart of Yan Liang's money. "You've been living for free the past few months. I'll take this as your living expenses."
"Sui Yan, I work forced labor at your place. I eat a little too–"
"Eat lightly but lavishly!" snapped Sui Yan. "See, that first-grade green tea is at least fifty silvers!"
Yan Liang did not move. The truth was he always eats a delicious and expensive meal. "Uhm, give me five gold coins to buy a new fan."
"A new fan for five gold coins? push!" Sui Yan reached into the pocket of her dress and handed ten pieces of silver to Yan Liang. "There, you can buy five fans with that money! A man in his twenties should be working hard, not just playing go!"
"Aia, ten pieces of silver equals one gold coin. How heartless you are, Sui Yan."
"Listen, freeloader. If you don't accept, you can leave from here. Anyway, better get ready, there's a rich merchant who wants to meet you. Squeeze him, ask for a lot of money, okay?" Friendly Sui Yan patted Yan Liang on the shoulder, then left him.
"It's a good thing you're beautiful." Yan Liang put the money into the money bag by the window.
He found Kun Lan dismounting from the horse alone, entering Sui Yan's tea house.
Was he the guest that Sui Yan was referring to? Yan Liang thought.
****