The three friends gathered in a cheap teahouse down a nondescript alley, an unspoken agreement among them to 'lay low' for a while.
They all sipped on cups of tea, nursing their hangovers.
Despite a throbbing headache, Bai Li sat erect and unmoving, a stern expression on his face.
Tan Bowen wore a look of determination rarely seen on his easy-going countenance.
The Prince's deep-set eyes had an evil glint.
"Good work, Tan Bowen," Bai Li led off. "That ... was the worst thing I've ever done in my civilian life, and you've forced me to lie to my good friends."
"That's your interpretation of last night?" asked Tan Bowen, incredulous. "You just saw a once-in-a-generation vision. You should be on your knees thanking me," he glowered.
"I'll be thanking you alright. I'll thank you with my fist," Bai Li growled. "Your way of solving mysteries is a crime. And now you've bound the three of us in some kind of unholy alliance. I'm terrified I'll lose my marbles when I'm old and tell somebody the tale... The only saving grace in this mess is that I covered your eyes at the end."
"Who gave you the right to do that? You're not my father!" Tan Bowen raised his voice.
"Poor form, Bai Li," the Prince agreed coldly.
Both men glared hatefully at Bai Li.
"Tell us what you saw at the end," Tan Bowen demanded. "Try to be descriptive. None of your one-word answers. I feel like I've invested all my time in a ten-volume series only to be denied the satisfaction of the ending," he moaned.
Bai Li stuck out his rock-solid right arm and thumped Tan Bowen in the chest, knocking him backwards to the floor.
"Bai Li!" Tan Bowen was outraged.
"Bai Li, I order you to do as brother Tan asked," the Prince attempted to pull rank.
"I'll do so when the sun rises in the west your highness," Bai Li looked steely. "I can obey you in all things, except this. You two must forget what you saw. I'm the one with the worst offence. I must take responsibility. I've spoken to my father this morning. We'll be going to see her family to request a betrothal promise immediately."
He spoke officiously, like some hardship had befallen him, but 'sigh'... even so, he must do his duty.
"Like hell you will Bai Li! Ha! So that's how you're going to play it is it? The 'I'm just doing my duty' card? No way in hell Bai Li! All three of us were all there. Why should you be the one to 'take responsibility'? Step aside! Let me take responsibility!" cried Tan Bowen, who'd clambered back to his feet and now stood, posed like an orator. "I haven't slept a wink! It's like I've been punched in the guts, and I can't breathe. For the first time I truly understand Li Bai's work;
Endless longing breaks my heart.
" His eyes shone as he clasped his chest.
"Pfft," Bai Li huffed. "More like endless desire. If this is the first time you've felt like this way, then I'm a hat-wearing macaque."
"Don't belittle my emotions brother macaque!"
"I agree with Tan Bowen," the Prince said seriously. "There's no reason for you to take responsibility Bai Li. What makes your position any different than ours?"
"I don't need to explain any further why that is, and a gentleman would not speak of it in any more detail."
Bai Li, who prided himself on being cool under pressure, felt that his cheeks were hot.
"Truth be told, I can offer her more than either of you can," the Prince spoke arrogantly.
"Can you make her your wife?" asked Bai Li. "Your marriage will be a political alliance. You can only offer her the position of concubine."
"Even so, it will be an exalted position and a life of endless comfort."
"In Gu?" asked Tan Bowen rudely. "More like endless dust and snow ... and the occasional Mongol raid."
When a prince came of age at twenty, he must move to his fiefdom and seek permission to leave it. Only the Crown Prince could stay in the capital. Being the Second Prince, Zhu Yicai had been granted a fiefdom that was on the northern border. His father had usurped the throne from his nephew, so he was highly sensitive to royal rebellion...
The Prince leapt across the table and grabbed Tan Bowen by his lapels, placing his face inches from his friend's.
"Don't push it Tan Bowen. I won't hold back," he warned.
"Y... your highness?" called his chief guard nervously, grabbing the hilt of his sword.
The Prince motioned angrily for him to stay back.
"I'm not asking you to hold back," Tan Bowen drawled insolently.
The two men fell to the dirt floor of the teahouse, grappling for the upper position, barely holding their punches.
Bai Li leapt into action, trying to wrench the Prince off Tan Bowen. The Prince gripped Tan Bowen tightly between his thighs and turned and grabbed Bai Li, pulling his robe from his shoulder and dragging him into the mess.
The guards watched in alarm as the three friends rolled about on the floor, sending tables and chairs flying and destroying the afternoon's business at the quiet teahouse.
Bai Li took a shoe to the face from the Prince. He flushed with fury, but he held back from unleashing it on his Lord.
Instead, he knocked Tan Bowen's hair loose and sat on him, taking some small satisfaction in squashing the annoying man.
Although Tan Bowen wasn't much shorter than Bai Li, he was a finer build altogether, and he was a scholar not a fighter.
"Bai Li, you great ox, get off me!"
Tan Bowen struggled wildly, giving Bai Li a good run for his money.
The Prince now stood scowling alongside the pair.
"Fighting won't solve anything. Let's discuss this like civilised gentlemen," the Prince wiped his hands fastidiously.