I guess because I really enjoyed that chapter... OMG, I can't wait until the next chpater but there's one question I have, maybe you could correct it, like at the VERY end, Gai Gong Gong was thinking how Tao Gong Gong was 'saving his own hide' what do you mean by own, do you mean Gai Gong Gong's or Tao Gong Gong?
Here it is:
Chapter 37
The Summoned One
Wing Yi¡¦s badly bruised body was quickly carried into her room and carefully placed on the soft bed covers. Ceuk diligently lowers her head onto the pillow as Gai Gong Gong followed him close behind with a wooden medicine box.
¡§Cieu Ceuk Tu,¡¨ Gai Gong Gong said weakly, situating himself on the stool beside Wing Yi¡¦s bed. ¡§Just put him there.¡¨
¡§Can I do anymore to help?¡¨ Ceuk said, desperately wanting to help.
¡§No.¡¨Gai Gong Gong answered with a long sigh. ¡§You¡¦ve already done more than enough. The best thing you can do now is just get back to work, and I¡¦ll take care of the rest.¡¨
¡§Yes sir.¡¨ Ceuk said as tears swelled in his eyes. ¡§If you need any assistance, please don¡¦t hesitate to call me.¡¨
As Ceuk goes to the door, Gai Gong Gong says softly, ¡§Don¡¦t worry, he¡¦ll be alright. You can come by and see him tonight if you want.¡¨
¡§Thank you Gai Gong Gong.¡¨ Ceuk said, happily wiping his tears. ¡§I¡¦ll bring by some food for you then. Don¡¦t worry sir, I¡¦ll let myself out.¡¨
¡§Yes, yes.¡¨ Gai Gong Gong said with a smile and a shake of the head.
Now he turns all his attention to Wing Yi, whose face is covered with smut and brown dirt. Although he did not know what had occurred during the hunt, Gai Gong Gong can see that tree branches along with small pebbles had injured her. And from the looks of it, the poor thing was somehow dragged in some matter or fashion to wear down the fabric on the knees and elbows.
As he goes to examine her pulse, he could see that her right wrist had a distinct red marking around it. He was trying to put the pieces of information together from her injuries in order to make some sense of what had happened.
¡§You will have a lot of explaining to do when you wake up.¡¨ Gai Gong Gong said to the unconscious Wing Yi.
He went out to fetch a bucket of water and begin to clean her wounds. Luckily, she was unconscious because after cleaning off the dirt, he found splinters all jammed into her flesh. Slowly and carefully, he picked each and everyone of them, apply medication before bandaging. The process was tedious and tiresome, but by the time he had finished, both knees and elbows were in clean white bandages. Fortunately for her, she did not sustain any internal injuries or any broken limbs, but she did have a splint in the right elbow, which would heal easily enough.
Gai Gong Gong lets out a long sigh, ¡§Child, if you keep this up, I don¡¦t know how much long I will be able to keep up with you.¡¨ Seeing her sleeping so soundly and peacefully, he decided to leave the cleaning for later and went out to the living room to pour himself a cup of tea.
All of a sudden, a knock is heard at the door.
¡§What is it now?¡¨ he thought as he goes reluctantly to the door.
Standing in front of the door was one of the palace guards. He looked at Gai Gong Gong before proclaiming, ¡§Gai Gong Gong, the emperor wishes to see you.¡¨ Without giving him anytime to process the sentence, the guard quickly ushers him to the emperor¡¦s study room.
As he listlessly walked behind the guard, Gai Gong Gong pondered about this whole situation.
¡§Did Wing Yi offend the emperor unknowingly in some way?¡¨ he thought in puzzlement. ¡§No she couldn¡¦t possibly have.¡¨ Then a light bulb went up, and the name that popped into his mind instantly was ¡§Tao Gong Gong.¡¨ When they came up to the study room, all his thoughts quickly dissipated into thin air and were replaced by apprehension. In almost ten or fifteen years, Gai Gong Gong has only seen the emperor several times but was never actually summoned to see him.
As he stood facing the door, the guard announces that Gai Gong Gong was here and ready to see him.
¡§Let him in.¡¨ came a deep voice from within.
The guard immediately opened the door and ushered Gai Gong Gong in before heading back out.
Gai Gong Gong found himself standing in front of the emperor, who was comfortably situated on his large gold chair with two imposing golden dragon statues on either sides of his desk. Standing beside the desk was Enjun and standing beside him was Xie. Wen Zhuo was found standing uncomfortably, but nothing the less, straight and proper beside the right gold dragon statue. Last but not least is the infamous Tao Gong Gong standing there with a half-concealed smirk on his face.
The first thing Gai Gong Gong did was bowed to the emperor on his knees.
¡§You may rise.¡¨ the emperor demanded in a casual tone. ¡§You are probably wondering why I have summoned you here today.¡¨
¡§Yes, your majesty.¡¨ Gai Gong Gong spoke up, as he rose to a standing position.
¡§I went on a hunting expedition today with a few companions.¡¨ the emperor began, looking at him. ¡§In the middle of the hunt, my son and nephew decided to venture off. When I ask them why, they tell me that they were rescuing someone in the forest. I got Tao Gong Gong to follow them.¡¨ The emperor changes his voice to a deeper tone, ¡§I have gathered them here to get their account of what seemingly happened out there today. I have asked them all. They tell me that the wounded person was one of the eunuchs.
Now, I am wondering why this poor eunuch was dragged across the forest floor to begin with. I have summoned you here, since the eunuch is under your care.¡¨ He pauses and then leans his arms on the desk to peer closely at Gai Gong Gong.
The emperor asked demandingly, ¡§Do you know why he is out there?¡¨
¡§No, your majesty,¡¨ Gai Gong Gong replied with a questioning look at Tao Gong Gong. ¡§All I know is that when I opened the door, someone brought him to me. I had to clean and bandage his wounds, but I do not know what had happened.¡¨
¡§It was I your majesty.¡¨ Tao Gong Gong interjected quickly. ¡§I rode her back with the command given to me by prince Enjun.¡¨
¡§Oh, so I see.¡¨ the emperor slowly inquired, stroking his long beard. ¡§ Enjun, quickly recap your account.¡¨
¡§Wen Zhuo and I were headed south to look for some big deer, but just then we heard a cry for help. Both of us followed the screaming and finally we found one of the eunuchs lying face down behind one of the large trees. We found that he had a rope around his wrist, but I am not sure why.¡¨
Gai Gong Gong pondered on what Enjun had just said and then asked, ¡§Your majesty, the last known location of Tieu Wing Tu was that he was attending a meeting with Tao Gong Gong¡¦s group in the pavilion. I cannot understand how he got from there to the forest.¡¨ The emperor was pondering over this, but Tao Gong Gong quickly spoke up in his own defense.
¡§Your majesty.¡¨ Tao Gong Gong implored. ¡§If I can have a word.¡¨ The emperor simply waved which as a sign that gave him the go-ahead.
¡§Indeed I was at the pavilion but one of the messenger came to tell me that you were going on a hunting expedition and would be needing some assistance with carrying the weapons. I had chosen about seven of the eunuch in my group to accompany me in this endeavor. Tieu Wing Tu was one of the chosen ones. Unfortunately, I forgot that he was new. I assumed he had some skills in horseback riding. He was fine most of the way. I even thought he was riding along with us as we hunted but it seems that somewhere along the way, he had ridden off by himself. It was my fault for failing to notice.¡¨
¡§But he wasn¡¦t dragged by a horse?¡¨ Enjun interrupted with a puzzled look.
¡§Enjun,¡¨ the emperor implored. ¡§Let him explain.¡¨ Enjun nodded obediently and remained quiet but gave Tao Gong Gong a critical glance.
¡§As I was saying.¡¨ he continued. ¡§I did not realize we had lost him. There were too many people and with the excitement of the hunt. The only explanation I can come up with is that he fell from the horse and then the animal pull him a good bit, before the horse finally broke free and ran off.¡¨
¡§How can anyone survived being dragged by a powerful horse?¡¨ Wen Zhuo asked, looking at Tao Gong Gong.
¡§I was wondering the same thing myself.¡¨ the emperor said, once again stroking his beard.
Gai Gong Gong realized that Tao Gong Gong was trying to save his own hide but also he could use Tao Gong Gong¡¦s alibi to help Wing Yi get out of an entangling situation.
¡§I have to somehow help convince them.¡¨ Gai Gong Gong said to himself.
Posted on Feb 7, 2003, 9:57 PM from IP address 172.161.129.197