‘Your mother asked for my help and I gave it to her. Why must you always twist the truth into something so ugly?’ There’s a sharp edge to Big Wang’s tone, the closest he ever gets to being outright angry with me.
Old hurts war with Old Zao’s advice. I feel bad that I jeopardised the plenary session today, but I am also perversely pleased to have gotten a rise out of him. The soft words that could smooth things over choke in my throat. I can’t bring myself to say them.
After a long moment, Big Wang picks up the white linen napkin in his lap, shakes it open, then replaces it. ‘You’ve had years of anger management lessons, and yet at the slightest provocation, you lose all control.’ He dips his chin towards the wriggling sack at his feet. His gaze settles on me, heavy with disappointment. ‘You will fix them through contemplation and meditation—’
‘What? No, I can’t—’
‘Youcanand youwill.’
I drop my head. ‘I don’t know how,’ I whisper, hating how pathetic I sound. ‘They’ll follow me. Everyone will know what I did.’
‘You should have considered that before you lost your temper,’ Big Wang says. The edge in his tone is gone, replaced by a note of pity which makes me feel even worse.
Mr Lee shifts in his chair, and I catch his rotted doe eyes on me. Anger wraps around me, a buffer against the hurt and humiliation. My feet itch to get away from the unwanted attention.
‘You cannot run from this, Little Jing,’ Big Wang says, correctly guessing my intention. ‘Since you insist on behaving like a child I am forced to treat you like one. No more kanhoo evenings with Lady Gi. It’s a pity since Lang was granted a pass to visit Hell, and it would have been nice to give her news in person. She is, after all, the only person in Hell who will tolerate your poor manners and bad temper.’
‘Only because you give her a credit line at the mahjong halls,’ I mutter.
‘Hu Xian Jing!’ The table shakes from the force of his words and his eyes blaze so brightly we are shrouded in a red haze. ‘Enough of your back talk. You will return to the Lake Heart Pavilion and stay there under Old Zao’s supervision, meditating until you can both control your wayward tongue and return the rooster to its original form.’
‘You can’t make me.’
‘Do not tempt me.’
The memory of compulsion pressing me to my knees makes me shudder. Big Wang searches my face, the twin beams of his gaze so intense I’m forced to avert my gaze. He sighs. ‘It is your hundredth birthday soon,’ he says, his tone soft. ‘I wish to grant you a ministerial position. The ability to travel between realms at your own discretion. You came of age decades ago. And yet you are as irresponsible as a child who needs constant supervision and chaperoning. You will be confined to the Lake Heart Pavilion until you are able to control yourself.’
I fight the urge to stamp my foot. I don’t want a rotted ministerial position, but... the freedom to go where I want, to see a sunset or to stargaze whenever the fancy takes me – it makes my heart hurt. Usually Big Wang is more forgiving of my fuck-ups, but two in quick succession was a bad move on my part. All of this is Soo’s fault. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have had to go through that humiliating ordeal last night, witnessed by the whole of the Mahjong Council, nor would I be here being blamed for yet another diplomatic embarrassment with the Hulijing Court. Because of the Flaming Bitch incident, the hulijing are only permitted to visit Hell when they are officially summoned to the Mahjong Council. If they are going to steal the dragon pearl, it will be in the next two days. This is the perfect opportunity to thwart them, but I can’t do it if I’m stuck being babysat by Old Zao.
An idea comes to me. What if I’m the one doing the babysitting? I could show Big Wang I’m in control of myself, barter for him to fix the roosters, and use the whole ruse as a cover to be a pain in the pigu to the hulijing. If they want the dragon pearl, then I want to make sure they can’t get it.
‘Why is he here?’ I point at Mr Lee.
Big Wang glances at his guest. ‘Mr Lee is an expert financier, educated at Columbia and Yale in mortal United States. He’s part of my project – with the civil unrest in the mortal realm, joss money is drying up at an alarming rate. Mr Lee is here to modernise banking in Hell so we will no longer rely on mortals burning joss money. We can print our own.’
Bo-ring.Even so, this is something I can work with. ‘Fascinating,’ I say, then pick up the last dumpling in the basket. If I have to spend the day with the mortal, I ought to make sure I am not hungry. An apprentice whisks away the empty bamboo baskets and places a freshly steeped cup of jasmine tea on the table. I pull on my mahjong face and ready myself to play my hand.
‘You are wrong about my self-control. When I first met Mr Lee he failed to show me his invitation card, so I didn’t know he was your guest. Even so, I withstood the impulse to drain him dry.’ Mr Lee whimpers softly but I ignore him and keep speaking. ‘That proves I can control my primal instincts. I also brought him to you safely and without harm to his person, despite how annoying he was with his constant courtly crap and his lack of talisman. That proves I can control my temper. With regard to Lady Soo – well, she and I have a long history. Let’s call that old wound a weakness of mine. But don’t we all have weaknesses?’
Big Wang inclines his head, acknowledging my logic.
‘I am working on my temper with regard to Lady Soo, but you cannot deny in other respects my patience is infinitely better than it was. Your guards have not had cause to chase me for many months now.’
Big Wang inclines his head. ‘This is true.’
‘So, how about we make a deal. The plenary session is this morning. Mr Lee will not be in attendance, given most ministers’ attitudes towards mortals.’ Big Wang nods in agreement. ‘And since Mr Lee lacks a talisman, I will chaperone him around yin Shanghai in exchange for you fixing the roosters.’ I hold Big Wang’s gaze, channelling everything I have into not looking away.
Big Wang presses his lips together. ‘Mmmgh. There is merit in your argument. If I agree, then you must abide by one condition,’ Big Wang says. ‘You leave the hulijing emissaries alone.’ He leans forward, pins me with his ember gaze. ‘Do not cause any mafan. I cannot afford another embarrassment, especially not today.’ After a beat, he adds, ‘And forget about the dragon pearl. It is not your concern.’
Damn. I can definitely leave the hulijing alone, it’s better we don’t cross paths. But forget about the dragon pearl? The whole point of traipsing around yin Shanghai with that fool mortal is so I can get the dragon pearl myself and hide it from those bitches. I scratch the back of my neck, weighing my options. The mortal seems easy enough to control. And if Big Wang catches me? I won’t get much worse that what he’s already threatening me with.In for a wen, in a for a tael.
‘Fine,’ I lie, keeping my face neutral, though Big Wang’s scrutiny makes my skin itch.
Finally he says, ‘Keep Mr Lee safe. Keep him unsullied.’
‘Keep the yaojing from sucking his qi and leaving a dead husk you mean?’
The newspaper crinkles in the silence and the mortal’s eyes peer over the edge, wide and frightened. This Tony Lee will allow me to go where I wish without interference – I smile at my good fortune, but he mistakes my expression for reassurance. His eyes go soft. I have to sit on my hands to keep myself from slapping that gooey look off his face.
