Ma Da Teng was a humble man, so there were few things he was proud of. One was his reputation. In his near 300 years as commander of the Golden City guard, he had received countless accolades for his meritorious pursuit of duty without compromise. In conversation, many would often change his name 'Da Teng' or 'Great Gallop' to 'Da Zheng', or 'Great Justice', in reference to his ceaseless endeavors to rectify wrongs and straighten society.

Another thing that Da Teng took pride in was his physique, unparalleled in strength and stamina. His work as commander left him little time for exercise, yet even as he neared his thousandth year he could still outpace all the rowdy young colts in his clan. In the clan race that was held annually from the capital to the western mountains, he was always first or second place.

A third source of pride, and one little known to outsiders, was Da Teng's skill with an erhu*. As a Dama, or great horse mu'ren*, his naturally long fingers gave him an advantage over humans, but even among his own kind he had no equal. Many had challenged him, but Da Teng had bested them all.

That's why when he first heard rumors of a young human courtesan in the night district who could play the erhu 'fit to move the Five Gods themselves', he was intrigued.

So intrigued that that night saw him wandering to the pleasure district of the Golden City. It was an area Da Teng often had cause to visit for work. An unlicensed flower, a patron quarreling over fees, or general drunken mischief were nightly events.

But tonight Da Teng was not dressed in his armor and uniform, and the night air felt strange as it brushed against the exposed skin at his neck. He pulled the collar of his plain tunic higher and the brim of his wide woven hat lower, nervous lest someone he knew see him on the streets and misinterpret his presence. Carefully he matched his pace with that of the crowds, doing his best to blend in.

"My lord, my lord, come here!" Da Teng glanced to the side then quickly away. Half clothed women hung from the windows of a gaily lit building, holding silken flowers which they used to beckon customers to them. Flowers in the hands of flowers*.

Da Teng quickened his steps. The brothel he was seeking out was near the canal, one of the largest and finest of establishments. He was worried he would not be able to see the woman in question, if the establishment was so fine. Many of the most famous prostitutes did not take customers at all, and instead had patrons, who paid for exclusivity.

If this girl was so famous that news of her had already reached his circles, she must surely have a patron. But perhaps if he made clear he only wished to hear her play the er'hu, he would be permitted to see her.

Still pondering, he made his way through the crowds, bumping elbows with the other pleasure seekers already ruddy faced with drink. The smell of grilled meat wafted above the street, and everywhere laughter and chatter echoed off stone walls and up to the distant night sky.

Finally, Da Teng reached his destination. A large building, one of the largest along the canal. The building was brightly lit and decorated extravagantly like the other brothels, but no women leaned from the windows, nor was there a line of customers out the door.

Da Teng hesitated beneath the brightly painted gateway, and almost turned back. Surely, it was foolish for him to come here, to risk his reputation just for curiosity at some flower girl's skill.

But then, above the laughter of the night district, he heard it. The sweet strains of an erhu, so delicate, so mystical, as to move his heart and his feet straight through the gate and into the brothel.

"Good evening my Lord. How may I help you?"

Da Teng looked over the servant girl kneeling beside the entrance, then to the board behind her. It was made of old polished wood, with many hooks of brass and gold hammered into it. From the hooks hung two things: wooden name boards and small cylindrical containers, some of glass, some of porcelain, and one of polished gold studded with gems. Into each of the containers was placed a single stem of a flower. Elegant lilies and devastatingly thorned roses seemed the most popular flower, all in shades of bright, sensual red.

Da Teng quickly realized it was a system. The name boards showed the name of the brothel's flowers, and the containers beside them held actual flowers indicating that the girls had a patron. He scanned the board once more. All the containers had a flower.

"My lord?" The girl questioned again. "How may I help you?"

Da Teng frowned and pulled his hat lower. "I had heard you had a girl here who was talented with the er'hu. But it seems she is already occupied. I will excuse myself." Da Teng turned to go.

"Ah my lord! Wait!"

The servant girl stood and gestured for him to step inside. "If you are talking about Miss Hayflower, then she is still in training. But you may hear her play, if that is what you came for."

"Oh," Da Teng stopped. "In that case, I would like to hear."

He stepped out of his wooden shoes and onto the soft carpet of the brothel. Following the maid down the hallway, he admired the decoration. It was far more tasteful than he had anticipated, and he even spotted some antique instruments he wouldn't mind adding to his own collection.

The maid led him up a set of stairs and then another, till it seemed they were on the top floor of the establishment. Finally, at the end of the hall she stopped outside a heavy door.

"Miss? You have someone here to hear you play," the maid said as she knocked, then opened the door.

"Another? Are they all coming now, when they don't have to pa—"

A girl sat on the rugged floor of the room beyond, dressed in plain clothes and without any make up or adornment. Her long hair was down, and it hung about her in a curtain as she bent her head to polish the strings of her er'hu with an oil block.

Both her words and actions stopped upon looking up and seeing Da Teng in the door.

"It's you," she breathed.

Da Teng frowned, and waited for the servant to excuse herself and shut the door. "You know me?"

The girl quickly collected herself. "Of course I know you. You are the famed Ma Da Teng, commander of the city guard." The girl grinned, and looked up through her lashes. "Who would have thought, even the 'Great Justice' himself frequents the red light district when off-duty."

Da Teng's frown deepened. "I have just come to hear you play."

The girl did not stand to greet him, and instead gestured casually to a long low couch piled with cushions. "Please, make yourself comfortable then. I would ask what you drink, but I am only allowed to offer refreshment to patrons."

Da Teng settled himself on the couch. "That is fine. I do not need refreshment. And I have no intention of becoming a patron. As I said, I have just come to hear you play." He nodded to the instrument in the girl's hands.

To his relief, the girl picked up her instrument and began. Her first chords were slow and sonorous, but Da Teng could detect no special skill or talent in them. In fact, it almost seemed as if she was...

"Are you playing badly on purpose?"

The girl put down her instrument and smiled. "Was it that obvious?"

Da Teng frowned. "Why?"

The girl pondered. "Hmmm, if you return tomorrow, I will tell you."

Da Teng stood abruptly. "I have no intention of returning." Trying not to look as irritated as he felt, he threw open the thick door and stormed out.

"I will see you tomorrow then, Lord Ma!" the girl called tauntingly after him.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Even Da Teng thought his behavior from the night before had been childish, so when the next evening found him standing outside the heavy door once more, it was embarrassment that held him back.

"I have no reason to be embarrassed. My actions were completely rational, considering how rudely she treated me," he told himself, then knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Inside he found the girl on the floor polishing her strings as she had been the night before. Tonight however she was dressed magnificently in silks, with her hair done up in elaborate loops and curls and fixed with the most magnificent of phoenix combs. The gold shone in the candle light and sparkled whenever the girl's head moved.

For some reason Da Teng thought suddenly of how she had looked the night before, with her hair loose about her shoulders and dressed only in simple cloth. Simple and plain. Yet pretty. It suits her better. Like a hayflower.

"Good evening, my lord. I thought you would not return?" The girl asked innocently.

With a sigh Da Teng sat. "Why did you play so poorly last night?"

The girl reached to turn the tuning pegs. "Because I wanted you to return tonight."

Da Teng's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Instead of answering him, the girl began to play.

From the first low strains, Da Teng was moved. As the music climbed and swelled, his heart soared along, following the emotions the girl's melody evoked. The feelings, the images... so sad and poignant. Even with all his years of experience with the er'hu, Da Teng had not known the instrument could sound like this.

This is it... this is her skill. And it is far greater than mine.

When the music stopped the girl looked as sad as the song she had just played.

"Did you enjoy it my lord?"

Enjoy is not a word I would use. I had to bite my lip to keep from crying. "It was beautiful. Yes."

The girl smiled, and all the gold in her hair was dull in comparison. "I am glad."

Then her smile faded, and her eyes fell once more. "I suppose you will leave now."

Da Teng stood. "Yes."

He made his way to the door. Then he stopped and turned back.

"How do you know me?" he asked.

The girl laughed. "You really don't remember do you? I suppose such long lived creatures as you have so many memories, such small ones as ours get lost and forgotten."

"Have we met?" Da Teng asked, confused.

The girl smiled sadly. "If you come again tomorrow, I will tell you."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"It was ten winters ago."

Da Teng had, much to his surprise, returned to the red night district for a third night. And much to his surprise, when he had asked for the girl, he had not been shown to the small simple room she had been in before.

Instead he was shown to the grandest room in the establishment, with great open windows overlooking the river below. The girl sat beside one of them, the lights from the lanterns below illuminating her features.

"Ten winters ago. That was when we met," the girl said as Da Teng settled beside her.

He looked down at the river. "Forgive me, but I cannot remember it."

The girl laughed. "I was just a girl, so perhaps that is why." The girl sighed and lifted her skirts over her legs. Da Teng quickly looked away, then back again in surprise. Between the knee and foot the girl's legs were so badly twisted and deformed as to be near unrecognizable as a human limb. Da Teng thought she had always sat around him out of indifference, but now he realized all hope of her standing was gone.

"I was abandoned as a child. Perhaps my parents could not feed me, or perhaps they simply didn't want me. I grew up on the streets of our grand capital, begging, stealing, snatching to survive. The kind of petty crimes you and your guard work so hard to eradicate, my lord," she said with a sideways smile at him.

Da Teng said nothing, but kept his eyes steady on her face.

"Ten years ago, I was running the streets as always when a wagon knocked me down and ran my legs over. It was winter, and cold, but it was the middle of the day, in a crowded street. And yet no matter how I cried and begged for help, no one would stop and give it. No one cared about some broken little street girl freezing to death in the snow."

Goose pimples broke out on Da Teng's arms. He remembered suddenly, a snowy day, a broken little body crying in his arms as he carried it to the nearest hospital. And when he handed it to the doctor, he had said—

"You should be grateful it was not your hands the wagon ran over," the girl said, laughing. "That was what you said when you gave me to the doctor."

Da Teng buried his face in his hands, red with shame. He had meant it as a comfort at the time. What a stupid, thoughtless thing to say.

"I- I apologize for my insensitivity," Da Teng said into his hands. "I did not mean to—"

The girl reached over, peeling his hands away with her own. "Don't apologize. Your words may have been a little unfeeling, but you saved me when no one else would." The girl looked down, smiling at her own small hands holding his much larger ones. "And you were right. I am glad it was not my hands. I was able to learn the er'hu. It let me make a life for myself. And it let me see you again."

Her smile faded, and she let his hands fall. "I am glad I was able to see you again."

Da Teng, still burning with shame, stood shakily. "I will return."

She shook her head. "You can't. Today is the last day of my training. From tomorrow I will only be able to see patrons. And as you said, you have no intention of becoming one of those."

Da Teng opened his mouth, then closed it again. And then he left.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Da Teng stopped to study the board of names and flowers once more before he left.

"Do you have any questions my lord?" the servant girl kneeling beside the entryway asked.

"How does it work?" Da Teng asked, gesturing at the board.

"Ah. If there is a flower beside a name, that means the lady has a patron."

"And the colors?" Da Teng had noticed there were only red and white flowers.

"A patron sends his lady a flower by sundown. Red symbolizes that he will visit tonight, so she should make herself ready. And white says he will not be able to visit, but does not want any other man to have the privilege either," the servant girl explained. As she did Da Teng caught sight of a freshly added name, with an empty earthenware vase hanging beside it. Hayflower.

"And if the lady has no flower?" Da Teng asked.

"Then anyone is free to ask of her services," the maid answered.

"I see," said Da Teng, and left.

*~*~*~*~*~*

All the next day Da Teng was distracted beyond work. Normally focused and perfect in his execution of every duty, by noon he had made several mistakes while checking over the morning missives and had spent a good deal of time staring at seemingly nothing at all.

"Is everything alright sir?" his attendant asked him at midday as the commander took his noon meal.

"Yes," said Da Teng, staring out the window. "Yes, everything is fine."

But by evening Da Teng's attendant was sure something was wrong. Not only had Da Teng barely touched his midday meal, he had neglected to attend afternoon training, something he usually enjoyed.

"My lord... are you sure there is nothing bothering you?" his attendant asked hesitantly.

Da Teng shook his head, eyes once more focused out the window. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Except..."

His attendant watched him anxiously. "My lord?"

"What would you say if you knew I had spent the past three nights in the pleasure district?"

His attendant sighed, and then laughed. "I would say it is a relief to hear, and that you are in need of a well deserved break."

"And what if... I were to take on patronage of a woman there? Do you think the guard would think less of me? Do you think the city would talk?"

His attendant laughed. "Let them talk my lord. We who serve you know you."

Da Teng said nothing.

Then he stood abruptly and cursed, something his attendant had never heard him do before.

"It is almost sunset. Why did I wait so long?" Da Teng hurriedly pulled his uniform cape from his shoulders, letting it fall in a messy pool on the floor. "Send a servant to the kitchens and see if they have any flowers there. And fetch me a runner boy." Da Teng's armor followed his cloak with a clang. "Wait, forget the runner boy. I am faster, I will take it myself. Just fetch me a flower. Just one. Just one flower will do."

Da Teng's attendant hurriedly ran to the hall to relay the instructions. Then he turned back.

"My lord, the servant asks what color flower to bring?"

Da Teng hesitated. Then he decided.

"Tell him to bring..."

Word count: 2972

*~*~*~*~*~*

What color flower do you think Da Teng asked for? 😊 😉

I wrote this for mythandlegend 's August 2022 Forbidden Hearts competition.

Thanks to them for hosting, and to AuthorLilyXu  for entering with me.

And thank you for reading!