010. Seeking Flowers and Willows

Li Laosan considered himself a man of the world, yet even he found himself dazzled and overwhelmed upon arriving at the mule-and-horse market. He smacked his own forehead hard, muttering, "Careless, truly careless. I’ve been in Linzhou for so long and never knew there was such a place—damn it, all those good years wasted for nothing..."

With this thought, he vented his frustration upon his left foot, giving Xiao Shitou a fierce kick. "You little bastard, you knew about a place like this and never mentioned it?" Xiao Shitou, rubbing his aching calf where the kick had landed, forced a smile. "You wrong me, big brother! I only heard about it this morning from a Shatuo captive. Places like this aren’t exactly spoken of openly—how could we have known?"

Li Laosan could not be bothered to find out if this was true or not. What did it matter anyway? Could lost time ever be reclaimed? Better to focus on the present. At this, his mood brightened again. He slung an arm around Xiao Shitou, beaming. "Shitou, you and I have always gotten along. I count you as a true brother. Now, I need you to do something for me." Xiao Shitou was so delighted by these words he almost knelt down before Li Laosan.

"Brother, just say the word. I’d go through fire and water if you asked," he thumped his chest in earnest.

"No need for that. Just run some errands for me: go from house to house and ask if there’s any girl who can sing and dance—must have real talent. You’ve seen the song and dance troupe in our residence: no matter how they toss it about, it’s always the same old tricks. This time, I want to find someone..."

Here, Li Laosan faltered, at a loss for the right word to describe what he envisioned.

Xiao Shitou blinked and jumped in, "Someone with unique charm, who’ll dazzle everyone at first sight."

Li Laosan glared, making Xiao Shitou shrink his head, but then burst out laughing and gave Xiao Shitou a hearty slap on the back. "Damn it, you really are the worm in my gut! Go on—find someone who catches your eye and bring her to me. As long as she’s good, money is no object. Once you get this done, I’ll swear brotherhood with you, head of a rooster and yellow paper and all."

Xiao Shitou was beside himself with joy. "Just wait, big brother!"

Once Xiao Shitou was off, Li Laosan let out a sly chuckle. His followers, Heihu and Wang Wu, laughed as well, giving him thumbs up. "Brother, you’re brilliant—just a few words and that kid will risk his life for us!"

Li Laosan asked, "Do you think he’ll get it done?"

Heihu replied, "Of course! The girls here—grab any one of them and the young master will be over the moon."

Li Laosan clapped his hands. "Then what are we waiting for, brothers? Let’s drink!"

They found themselves seats at a tavern called the Spring Pavilion. The madam quickly brought out seven or eight girls for them to choose from. Li Laosan picked a girl of about fifteen or sixteen, with a face no bigger than a palm. Heihu chose a tall, black-haired, green-eyed foreign girl, while Wang Wu opted for a voluptuous, sturdy young widow—each found his own delight.

No one knew how much time had passed, but wine was flowing freely, and the three women, thoroughly plied with drink, stripped themselves to their underclothes before their guests even laid a hand on them.

Heihu and Wang Wu soon took their prizes off to find private rooms. Watching them leave, Li Laosan nudged away the young girl in his arms. "Go fetch Mistress San for me. I want to hear Jasmine and Flowing Cloud sing."

The girl’s dark, lively eyes sparkled. "Jasmine and Flowing Cloud were bought out by a wealthy client two months ago. They don’t perform anymore. Perhaps you’d like to hear someone else? We have a new girl, Oriole, who sings beautifully."

Li Laosan pinched her nose, "Is she any good? Can she sing The Great Wind Song?"

The girl shook her head, and then her eyes widened in surprise. "So you know of Master Li the musician?"

Li Laosan gave her a hard squeeze on the rear and barked, "What Master Li? Never heard of him. Go quickly." Watching her scurry off in a fluster, Li Laosan chuckled to himself. "If not for your Master Li, I wouldn’t even bother coming."

The Linzhou mule-and-horse market was renowned far and wide. How could a seasoned man of pleasure like Li Laosan not know about it? In truth, he had known about it since arriving in Linzhou two years prior and had visited Flowery Pavilion more times than he could count. He knew every madam and instructor by name.

About two months ago, he was drinking at the Spring Pavilion when he heard a few uniquely charming songs. His heart was instantly taken, and he considered buying the singer to present to his young master. But at the time, the war was still uncertain, and he didn’t know when he would be able to return to the capital. He wanted to buy the girl and send her, but feared rebuke: if asked by his master, “How can you think of such things with the front in crisis?” what answer could he give? He’d be in trouble for sure.

After some thought, Li Laosan bought the girls anyway and left them in foster care, planning to bring them to Chang’an after the war was over as a gift for his master.

The two girls, called Flowing Cloud and Jasmine—sixteen and fifteen respectively—were of only above-average looks and decent voices. What caught Li Laosan’s eye was the uniqueness of the songs they sang.

They claimed the songs were composed by a musician named Li Xu.

This musician was from Shazhou in Longxi. His family was well-off in his childhood and he had read a few books, but as a youth, his family declined, and he was forced to wander, working as a beggar, a runner in an inn, conscripted as a soldier, captured as a prisoner of war by the Tibetans, herded sheep and sheared wool among the Uyghurs, served as a cook for the Shatuo, then was bought by the Shiwei as a horse slave, and eventually became a slave of the Khitans. Only last summer did the border troops rescue him, but, owing debts, he was sold as a slave and put up for sale in the mule-and-horse market.

Years of hardship broadened Li Xu’s horizons. Living so long on the borderlands, he learned countless strange and wonderful folk ballads from Tibetans, Uyghurs, Khitans, Shatuo, Xi people, and Arabs. He refashioned these into a repertoire of fresh, unique songs.

Li Xu hummed his own little songs, enduring the passing years, his feet wandering Longxi, Qinghai, the desert, and the grasslands, meeting only setbacks and frustration everywhere he went. Until one warm autumn afternoon.

That day, Mistress Hu San of the Spring Pavilion, bored and idle, went strolling in the mule-and-horse market with her maid Flowing Cloud. By chance, she overheard one of Li Xu’s songs and was so struck by it that she bought him on the spot to serve as the house musician.

Moved by her recognition, Li Xu composed thirty songs for the Spring Pavilion in a single month.

His songs, clear and original, created a sensation. Listeners could not help but tap their feet in praise. He was an instant success.

At the time, Li Laosan was so delighted he immediately tried to negotiate with Mistress Hu San to buy Li Xu outright. Such a talent would be a rare gift for his master. But even after offering three hundred strings of cash, Mistress Hu San refused to let go of her golden goose.

Left with no choice, Li Laosan settled for second best and struck a deal: he would pay tuition for Flowing Cloud and Jasmine to study under Li Xu, with the understanding that in two months’ time, they must master fifty new songs.

Li Laosan had met Li Xu only once and exchanged fewer than ten words before Mistress Hu San interrupted, ever wary that someone might steal her money tree.

At first, Li Laosan had given up. It wasn’t that he lacked the nerve to cut off someone’s livelihood, but he did not wish to court trouble. But now things were different. Yang Zan was dead, and a replacement was needed. Li Xu not only resembled Yang Zan physically, but even his voice was nearly identical.

This was why Li Laosan dared to present the “substitute the plum for the peach” scheme to Liu Motong, and volunteered to find the replacement himself.

Times had changed. With the army soon to return victorious, even if he stirred up a hornet’s nest, who could stand against him now?