Chapter 6 — The General's Wild Daughter

Instantly, the general's long staff swept forward with effortless precision, pinning the intruder flat to the floor with a dull thud. A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the chamber. Mother looked from the empty table to me, and I looked right back at her. Then, raising my chin with an air of immense pride, I announced,

"Direct hit."

Tears finally welled up in mother's eyes. It was not because she was frightened, but because she was boiling with absolute rage.

"General."

The master of the house handed the captive over to the guards and hurried back inside. The moment he crossed the threshold, mother pointed a trembling finger straight at me.

"Did you see this?"

The general cast his gaze down upon me. I lifted my tiny face, eagerly waiting for praise. After a long, agonizing silence, he cleared his throat and offered a strained assessment.

"Her accuracy is not bad."

Mother gasped for air and instantly hurled a silk pillow straight at his chest. He made no attempt to dodge. The soft cushion struck him lightly before tumbling to the floor. My eyes shone even brighter. So mother knew how to attack people as well! Eager to emulate her, I snatched up another pillow, threw all my might behind it, and launched it toward the general. The pillow managed to travel halfway across the room before dropping with a pathetic plop. I frowned in disappointment. The general bent down, retrieved the pillow, and handed it back to mother with a deferential bow.

"My lady, the night air is chilly. Do not let your anger harm your health."

Weeping, she began to scold him bitterly.

"I do not wish to raise another menace exactly like you."

The general lowered his head.

"I understand."

I scrambled up onto mother's lap and reached out to wipe the lingering tears from her cheeks.

"Mother, do not cry."

She lowered her gaze to look at me. I puffed out my chest and patted it firmly with my small hand.

"I will protect you."

Her tears only fell faster.

"I do not need your protection. I simply need you to be a good girl."

I nodded with profound solemnity.

"Good."

Outside the window, the guards were hauling the assassin away. A distinct red mark still lingered on the man's forehead where my teacup had struck him. I glanced out the window, then offered a helpful addendum.

"Once I finish beating them, I will be good."

Mother clutched her chest in despair. The general turned his face away, his broad shoulders trembling faintly. Mother instantly dropped her voice into an icy register.

"General."

When he turned back around, his expression was as solemn and upright as a minister listening to an imperial decree in the grand hall.

"I was not laughing."

Yet after that fateful night, the way everyone in the estate looked at me subtly changed. Previously, they had called me young miss in voices as soft and sweet as honeyed syrup. They still used the exact same title now, but whenever I so much as reached for a teacup, the maids would collectively lunge forward to clear away anything remotely throwable.

The following morning, a messenger arrived from the imperial palace, bearing the news that the assassins from the previous night were actually spies dispatched by an old enemy from the northern frontier. The emperor had flown into a towering rage and bestowed upon the general countless treasures as a soothing gesture. Among them was a delicate white jade ruyi scepter. The eunuch chuckled, explaining that this was a special gift meant specifically for the valiant general's beloved daughter.

Mother finally let out a long breath of relief. At the very least, a jade scepter was not a lethal weapon. She placed the scepter gently into my small hands and smiled softly.

"Look, An, how exquisite it is."

I clutched the scepter, testing its heft and weight in my palm, then turned my head to look at the general. The color drained from his face instantly. I flashed him a toothy grin.

"This can be used to hit people too."

Mother's vision went completely dark. At that precise moment, the steward came rushing in from the courtyard, breathless and panicked, reporting that one of the assassins, caught just before he could bite off his tongue to commit suicide, had blurted out a name.

The steward knelt on the flagstones of the veranda, rainwater dripping steadily from the hem of his robe. He whispered that the name uttered by the assassin seemed to be intricately linked to the opulent estate of a prominent nobleman within the imperial capital. Mother pulled me tightly into her arms, her expression growing colder by the degree. Ordinarily, she was gentle and soft-spoken, conversing in hushed, melodic tones. But when she stopped smiling, the entire room seemed to plunge into an absolute, breathless hush.

The general ordered the courtyard gates securely bolted and commanded a thorough search of every nook and cranny both inside and outside the mansion. I was kept firmly tucked within mother's embrace, forbidden to step foot outside. I found this state of affairs exceedingly dull. I wanted to catch a glimpse of the wicked men. I wanted to watch the general interrogate the culprits. And above all, I wanted to know how many jagged shards my teacup had eventually shattered into.

Mother cupped my little face in her hands and turned me toward her.

"An, look at mother."

I stared up into her eyes. The rims were still tinged with a faint, sorrowful red, so I immediately became on my best behavior. Mother was strikingly beautiful; weeping did not suit her at all. She stroked my hair and spoke in a low, gentle murmur.

"In the future, if you encounter danger, you must never rush to the front lines."

I nodded obediently.

"I will not rush."

Just as the barest hint of a smile touched her lips, I helpfully added,

"I will stand in the back and throw things."

Her smile froze stiffly upon her face. The general, standing nearby, let out a soft, involuntary cough. Mother slowly pivoted her head to fixate on him.

"Did you teach her this?"

The general assumed an expression of profound innocence.

"I have never once instructed the child in the art of teacup hurling."

Mother emitted a cold, incredulous laugh.

"Then how is it that her aim is so astonishingly precise?"

The general glanced down at me, then shifted his gaze toward the pile of broken porcelain debris on the floor.

"Perhaps she inherited your natural dexterity, my lady."

Enraged, mother struck him across the arm with her handkerchief. The general stood as rigid as a statue, letting her land two blows. I reached out a tiny hand, eager to snatch the handkerchief for myself. Mother instantly snatched it back out of my reach.

"You cannot grab this either."

I let out a heavy sigh. Being a child was remarkably difficult. This was forbidden, and that was strictly off-limits.

For several days, an atmosphere of intense vigilance shrouded the estate. The general steadfastly refused to let mother step outside the gates. By nature, she cared little for bustling crowds and lived a fairly tranquil existence anyway. Yet after three days of enforced peace, she began to grow anxious once more, primarily because I was becoming increasingly restless and impossible to contain.

I had mastered the art of hitching myself up by the edge of the bed to scramble onto the plush daybed. I could effortlessly spill the dried herbs out of the scented sachets and arrange them in a long, neat row across the floor. Moreover, whenever the wet nurse momentarily turned her back, I would unroll yards of fine silk fabric and drag them gleefully across every room in the chambers.

Mother found me amidst the chaos and asked what on earth I was doing.

"A rope," I replied proudly.

She massaged her temples in defeat.

"What do you need a rope for?"

I tilted my head up.

"To tie up bad people."

She fell into a prolonged silence, then promptly ordered the servants to gather up and lock away every single bolt of long silk in the entire household.

Yet while she could successfully banish the silk, she could not banish me. By the time I reached two years of age, I could sprint through the sprawling courtyards with absolute proficiency. I knew every secret corner: the anthill nestled beneath the blossoming crabapple tree, the slick, mossy stepping stones beside the ornamental fish pond, and the exact third blue brick before the outer courtyard's entrance that would let out a distinct creaking groan whenever stepped upon. I also knew that the small, unassuming aperture beneath the armory's window provided a clear view of the weapon racks gleaming within.

I knew all of these wondrous secrets, but mother remained entirely oblivious. She only knew that whenever I dashed out the door wearing my pink skirts, I looked like a tumbling cluster of peach-blossom clouds, but by the time I returned, I resembled nothing more than a stubborn lump of wet mud.

The maids would pant as they chased frantically behind me. The wet nurse was often left leaning against the corridor wall, gasping for breath. Sitting beneath the veranda, mother would watch my antics, growing more despairing by the day. The elaborate double hair buns she had meticulously combed for me would inevitably warp into the shape of a disheveled bird's nest within half a hour. The handcrafted scented sachets she personally pinned to my robes were invariably stained with crushed blades of grass, and the ivory-white dress she adored so dearly would mysteriously bear muddy smudges of unknown origin along its hemline.

At last, mother reached the absolute limit of her patience.

"An."

I froze instantly in my tracks. When mother used that particular tone, it usually meant she was about to impart a profound moral lesson. She curled her finger, beckoning me toward her. I trotted over obediently. She produced a handkerchief and began wiping the grime from my face. As she scrubbed away the dirt, the edges of her eyes grew red once more.

"Why can you not be even a little bit like mother was when she was a child?"

I blinked up at her.

"What was mother like when she was little?"

She spoke in a soft, reminiscent tone.

"When I was a child, I was remarkably obedient. I could sit quietly and practice embroidery for an entire day."

I stared at her in utter astonishment.

"An entire day?"

She nodded. I knitted my brows together in deep, profound thought.

"Did your legs not go completely numb?"

The general, who had just taken a sip of tea, nearly choked on the liquid. Mother shot him a sharp glance, causing him to instantly straighten his posture and look thoroughly chastised. She lowered her gaze back to me.

"Then can you promise to sit completely still for my sake for just half an hour?"

I looked into her tear-rimmed eyes and my heart inevitably softened.

"I can."

Thus, I was deposited onto a stool beside the window, a miniature embroidery frame placed squarely before me. I held my back ramrod straight. One stick of incense burned down completely, and I remained rigidly upright. A second stick of incense turned to ash, and my gaze began to drift toward the window frame. Before even half of a third stick of incense could burn away, the sound of the guards drilling echoed suddenly from the outer courtyard.

"One, two, lift!"

The delicate silver needle in my hand gave a violent start. The tip pierced the fabric entirely off-course, instantly transforming what was meant to be a graceful leaf into a bizarre, misshapen triangular flag.

Mother slowly closed her eyes.

"What is this?"

I answered with absolute, unvarnished honesty.

"A flag."

She drew in a long, shaky breath.

"Why on earth is it a flag?"

I pointed a small finger out the window.

"They shouted it."

Without another word, mother rose to her feet, lifting the hem of her skirt as she swept out the door. The general was currently putting the men through their paces in the outer yard. The moment he caught sight of her approaching, he barked an immediate order for the guards to halt all training. Mother stood at the threshold of the courtyard—a vision of delicate, soft-spoken grace—yet her mere presence was enough to cause every single burly man in the yard to lower his head in silent deference.

"Starting today, move the drill grounds thirty paces further out."

The guards chorused their unanimous compliance. The general echoed them obediently. Standing directly behind her skirts, I watched them all bow in unison and felt a surging wave of profound admiration swell within my chest. So mother did not even require a teacup to conquer an entire courtyard full of grown men.

That evening, I crawled up beside mother and announced with utmost solemnity,

"Mother, you are truly formidable."

She paused, a glimmer of amusement finally breaking through the heavy restraint in her gaze.

"Then will you learn to be like mother?"

I nodded vigorously, throwing my entire upper body into the motion.

"I will learn."

Just as she was about to beam with gratification, I tilted my head and asked,

"Can you teach me how to make the general obey your every word?"