“Turmoil”: Battle for the Han Empire sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“Yes, I have,” Lady Qiong interrupted. “His consorts are very pretty…
don’t you think…?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Guo Si asked obliviously.
“…He wants everything, you can see it in his eyes,” Lady Qiong suggested.
“He plans your death… so that he can rule alone.”
“Nonsense!” Guo Si chortled. “He’s had loads of opportunities to
be rid of me, and I’m still here! Him and me, we’re friends!”
“…I hope that you’re right,” Lady Qiong giggled. “So are we to
‘enjoy’ the gifts that he sent you, of food and wine…?”
Guo Si frowned again and said, “I was waiting… but if it’ll shut you up,
we can eat some of it now, to show you he means well.”
Guo Si got up and walked into his kitchen: his staff scattered, as they assumed that they were
about to be punished for something.
“…You’ll not get me to eat anything given to us by Li Jue,” Lady Qiong
scoffed as she followed her husband into the kitchen.
“Why?” Guo Si chuckled. “You’re afraid that it’s poisoned now…?”
“…Let’s just say that I would rather test it on a dog first,” Lady Qiong replied.
Guo Si scowled, took up some of the seasoned meat in his hands, and walked into the garden; a
mangy guard dog ambled over, and Guo Si chucked the meat onto the ground in front of it.
“Such a waste of good roasted pork,” Guo Si complained as the dog gorged on the food.
“Why do I do it…? You’re the most untrusting person I know, so-”
Suddenly, the dog started to behave strangely: Guo Si backed away in horror as the animal convulsed,
vomited, and collapsed.
“…Th-that… that…!” Guo Si whimpered.
“I told you, he wants you dead!” Lady Qiong declared. “Perhaps he suspects you
of carrying on with his women, or-”
“Look, he knows that I wouldn’t!” Guo Si cried. “We had a deal: he stays away
from mine, I stay away from his! That way, we wouldn’t…! …How can this be???”
A group of household staff congregated around the dying dog: Lady Qiong smirked and said, “Perhaps
you don’t know each other as well as you thought you did.”
“…You did it,” Guo Si decided as he looked at his wife. “You put poison in the
food to make me mistrust him, didn’t you???”
“If you want to believe that, fine,” Lady Qiong replied. “But you’ll see the
truth about Li Jue soon enough… he’ll kill you eventually.”
Lady Qiong turned and retreated into the house; Guo Si stood and stared at the dog, muttering, “It
has to have been her… it can’t have been Li Jue…!”
Days passed.
“…Where is Guo Si?” Jia Xu asked as he waited in the
chancellery meeting hall with Regent Li Jue. “Did he not receive the request to meet
us here, Lord Li…?”
“Look, Mister Jia, I’m not his keeper,” Li Jue grumbled. “He turned
up at my door drunk the other night, going on about a dog. If he isn’t here, he
isn’t here.”
“A dog…?” Jia Xu mused. “Ah, yes; I heard that there was some
disturbance at the Guo residence a few days ago… a guard dog was poisoned.”
“Perhaps a burglar killed his favourite dog, and he’d come to complain about
it,” Li Jue sighed. “I’ll be honest, Mister Jia, I didn’t care: I
told him to go back home, and then he said something about his wife, and staggered off somewhere.”