On the seventh day of the second month of Jinghe Year Fifteen, spring's chill still bit.
Suzhou, Lakeview Tower.
The tower stood beside the water, only two stories high, in a secluded corner of exquisite tranquility.
Below it ran a branch of the Grand Canal, narrow but deep. Boats passing here hushed their oars, afraid of disturbing those upstairs.
There were a handful of private rooms, their windows facing the water.
Open a window, and distant mountains appeared dark as painted brows, while mist wreathed the nearby waters.
On ordinary days, gentry and wealthy merchants often held banquets here.
A pot of wine, a few dishes, and half a day slipped away.
A private room in Lakeview Tower.
Civil officials favored broad sleeves; military men chose narrow ones.
Civil officials wore jade belts; military men cinched their robes with waist wraps.
Xiong Hui wore a headcloth and a narrow-sleeved purple tunic. Thirty-nine years old, he was burly and rugged.
Six years in the Suzhou Guard had honed the brute who once knew only how to charge into battle into an old hand at reading faces and weighing words.
Presently, the partition door slid open, and a man in a blue silk robe stepped inside.
Xiong Hui rose and cupped his hands. "Master Li."
"You're too courteous, Commander Xiong." Li Jin returned the greeting and sat opposite him.
Wine and food had already been laid out in the private room.
One pot of wine, still warm, and four dishes, mostly vegetarian.
Xiong Hui knew Li Jin ate neither meat nor fish. He had not forgotten that longstanding habit.
Li Jin glanced over the table and smiled faintly.
"You've been thoughtful, Commander Xiong."
"Please, Eunuch Li."
Xiong Hui took the pot, filled Li Jin's cup first, then poured one for himself.