Breaking Bamboo Read Online Free

Shih.
    Now the strange gentleman smiled again.
    ‘You do not recognise me, do you?’ he said. ‘If you did you’d be on your knees. Yet I am sure the name of Wang Bai is familiar to you. Oh, now you know me! And I know you.
    Good night, Dr Yun Shih. No, don’t bother to kneel. It is rather late for that.’
    The man left as suddenly as he had come. Shih realised he had been conversing with the most powerful man in Nancheng after Wang Ting-bo. The Honourable Wang Bai was the Pacification Commissioner’s nephew and Second Heir. As the Prefect of the Twin Cities, Wang Bai was responsible for all civil concerns. Worse, Shih realised that neglecting to fall to his knees, as was proper before so high an official, was generally punishable by harsh strokes of the bamboo.
    Dr Shih sniffed the air. The breeze, little as it was, had turned to the east, yang ’s foremost direction.
    Back at Little Tortoise’s divan, he found Chung drooping.
    ‘Is the breath more even?’ asked Shih.
    Chung yawned and shrugged.
    ‘I cannot be sure, Master.’
    ‘You must pay closer attention,’ chided Dr Shih, still unsettled by Wang Bai’s warning. ‘I will attend the patient until dawn. Make sure the case of needles is to hand. We may need them at short notice.’
    A gong in the palace was ringing the third hour of night when Little Tortoise awoke. At once he retched bile and phlegm into the bowl Shih held out. The doctor praised each foul-smelling globule of mucus, calling him a strong boy and making up silly rhymes about tortoises, so that the child laughed even at the height of his misery. Shih listened frequently to his little, heaving chest, afraid the draining was less than he had expected.
    The hour before dawn brought the final onset. Shih had prepared his needles in readiness and applied them at once. With each inhalation he inserted, twisted, and extracted in time to the next exhalation. Little Tortoise’s breathing was so uneven, a series of wild gasps, that Shih struggled to anticipate the out-breath.
    Then, almost unexpectedly, it was over. The boy’s breath grew more regular, chest rattle lessened. When Shih took the pulse it swelled with yang . As dawn brought soft light to the bedchamber Little Tortoise fell asleep and the doctor half-dozed beside him.
    Third Tutor Hu snuffed out all the lanterns except one and glanced severely at the other servants, who were struggling to stay awake.
    ‘Prepare a fine breakfast for Dr Shih and Apprentice Chung,’
    whispered the Third Tutor. ‘A breakfast worthy of a prince.’
    Day took possession of the room. Shih slept lightly, dreaming of his twin brother, Guang, in far off Wei Valley. As ever when he imagined Guang, emotions contended – just as the shadows of leaves dance in bright sunlight, alternating between dark and light. Yet this time a greater darkness seemed to swallow Guang whole, extinguishing all his brightness, and Shih cried out in fear. Then his dream turned to Cao, sipping tea in their shop at dawn, awaiting his return to Apricot Corner Court, her thoughts reaching out to embrace him so that he felt comforted and dreamed no more.
    Little Tortoise curled himself into a tight ball beneath the silk sheets, his burned and punctured body gaining strength with each dear breath.
    *
    Dr Shih woke with a start. Light reached through the open windows of Little Tortoise’s bedchamber. A faint breeze was still blowing from the east, trailing scents of morning. Birds twittered and flitted around the eaves of the Pacification Commissioner’s mansion.
    His eyes instinctively sought unwelcome signs in his patient, but Little Tortoise slept as babies sleep, small fingers clenched, breath bubbly with life. Dr Shih detected a faint rattle of lungs, nothing much, only what one might expect.
    He rose and was surprised to find Third Tutor Hu still crouching in his corner, watching intently. The other servants were asleep. Even for those accustomed to dutiful waiting, it had been a