Go

It was the nicest day any April could be expected to come up with. Villagers from all around the province poured into the ancient city of Zhangzhou to barter their millet, barley, wheat, pigs and sheep, for clothing, spices, tools, pottery and strong wine. Striding at the forefront of one such group was a brash young man barely twenty years old who looked neither left nor right at the sprouting greenery nor at the fluffy little clouds that gamboled across the bright blue sky like wayward sheep. The whisper went around that this was Yuan Tsen from the little village of T'ian who had come to challenge the hated Shen Wang in the annual championship of GO. 

A warm spring day like this would normally find Yuan in the barley fields scratching away with his wooden hoe, finding feed for their four chickens or milking the goat. Not today. His stride was long and sure and as confident as his belief he would win this match and thus avoid the penury of being a lowly dirt farmer. 

The stakes were high this year. Not only was the loser traditionally beheaded, but this year the Princess had come of age and the winner would have her hand in marriage. This did not matter as much to Yuan as the thirty bags of rice and two dozen pigs he and his family would receive as the winner's share. In his twenty short years, he had never been to Zhangzhou. In fact, he had never been more than twenty miles from his village. There was always a lot of talk from the various travelers that passed through his village so in the foolishness of youth he felt he knew something of the outside world.  

Zhangzhou bustled with eager visitors for the celebration of the equinox and the beginning of a new year: the Year of the Tiger. The heavy gates were flung open wide for three days of gaiety and all the houses were festooned in multi-colored banners. The common people engaged in revelry, music, gossip and dancing with joyous abandon. The nobility, presided over by Han Wu and his beautiful daughter, Princess Hua Wu in her delicately embroidered silks, watched it all from the balcony of the palace while sipping the finest wine. Her eyes were drawn to the young Yuan Tsen who was taking it all in with a certain sense of wonderment He marveled at the clothing, the buildings, the stalls heaped with food and exotic wares but remembered he was not to be distracted from his purpose. 

GO, with its 326 squares, eighteen by eighteen, and seventy-two black or white stones, thirty-six to a side, had existed for more than a thousand years in the musty past, even before the Shang dynasty took power in 1,700 B. C. It is a complex game of strategy that to play well, takes many years of study with a master. Yuan Tsen had learned GO from Chang Peng, a revered master from the northern provinces who was living out his final years in exile from Peking in a house not far from Yuan's village. Yuan played GO with the master whenever he could spare time from his work in the fields. After a few years of guidance and playing he even began to win a few games from Chang. He was usually also the winner in the spirited games he had played with the village children played. His fiercely competitive nature and high intelligence made him wise beyond his years and in the subtle nuances of the game of GO. Many evenings would find him lying prone, practicing by flickering candlelight on a GO board he had scratched out on the packed earthen floor of his family's home. 

Shen Wang, an ugly battle-scarred man of about forty-five years, had taken up the game in earnest twelve years before after his foot had been severed off in battle. His teacher, Hung Kwok, was the finest GO player and teacher in the province but now growing old and lacking the stamina required to sit for hours before the GO board. The townsfolk gave Shen Wang a wide berth whenever they saw him hobbling down the street, bitterly remembering his years of cruelty as Captain of the Guards. He had somehow won this annual tournament six years in a row. 

A lavish reception was held at the palace on the eve of the festival and Yuan and Shen, as the honored contestants were invited to attend. Shen Wang was his usual blustery lugubrious self as he limped around on his crutch, greeting important friends and vying for the Princess's attention. Not only the wisest but the stupidest of men do not change. She politely ignored him with ill-disguised disgust. 

Yuan was quite taken by the strength and loveliness of Princess Hua, resplendent in delicate yellow silk bound by a wide red sash that accentuated her form. He observed that they both shared a wry indifference to the pomposity of regal ritual. Still, he bowed humbly when presented to the royal family. When she complimented him on his past achievements at GO, their eyes locked for a brief but electric moment. She noticed his bafflement at the fanciful stylistic paintings on every wall, and explained, "Art has to tell lies to reach the truth." 

Despite her knowledge of the finer things she was compelled to learn, Princess Hua Wu was always loathe to pursue many of the genteel arts of music, art, poetry and social graces that women of royal blood were expected to learn. She instead preferred horsemanship, archery, jujitsu and other sports where she was nearly the equal of any man. Even though all of her palace clothes were a stunning array of the finest silks, woven from silkworms fed on a diet of mulberries, she felt happier in the leathern tunics and breeches of the sportsman. 

The Princess was far too young to have thought much about love or marriage. She had at times looked favorably at some of the young swains in her circle but was unaffected by their interest. The thought of being married off to some repulsive old cripple like Shen Wang and subject to his vile attentions made her proud heart and very being shudder in revulsion. The fearless Yuan, however, sent unaccustomed flutters through her heart with his confident bearing, simple clean clothing and handsome looks. She noticed that he bowed to no one except when required to by protocol. 

After the presentations and opening ceremonies, a sumptuous feast consisting of pork, lamb and duck in special sauces, various loaves of bread still warm from the ovens and many spiced vegetables and fruits were splendidly served; more food than his entire village would eat in a month thought Yuan, irked at the extravagance. Some lilting singsong music followed by long flutes carved of polished mahogany and bamboo, accompanied by melodious drums made of animal skins stretched over gourds and turtle shells. Yuan Tsen had exchanged a few smiles with Princess Hua Wu which were gracefully returned but nevertheless excused himself early to study and rest for tomorrow's big match. 

A subdued buzz from the crowd of onlookers in the corner palace room where the match was being held was muted somewhat by the rich tapestries on the wall, lavishly woven in patterns of hunting or battle scenes, setting off the intricately carved tables and chairs made of finely polished wood. The room bubbled with excitement from the expectant crowd and many wagers changed hands. 

On the first day, the crafty veteran Shen Wang, playing the white stones, easily won the game with a surprising series of brilliant maneuvers despite a valiant inspired effort from the upstart Yuan. Shen even wished Shen good fortune next time though with an obviously insincere smile tinged with scorn. There was a murmur of disappointment from most of the assemblage as the results were shouted throughout the city in clarion tones. 

"Shen Wang wins!" 

The cry rang out from the game room to the festival celebrants: those who weren't busy with drinking, gambling and women. Runners were even dispatched to the outlying villages with the day's results. Yuan Tsen winced at this, knowing the anguish the news would cause his family and the village of T'ien. Still accepting the best wishes of many and ignoring the merriment around him, he retired early to think and rest.

On the second day, the game favored old Shen most of the way. Yuan patiently countered his every move until Shen became a little tired and careless in the fourth hour. Then Yuan seized the opportunity for a devastating running attack that Shen could not counter. The crowds were atwitter with excitement as the resultant call sang throughout the city. 

"Yuan Tsen wins!" 

The next morning, Princess Hua Wu consulted the carved oracle bones, thrown high in the air and then interpreted by the cracks they made on landing. Sadly for her, they portended that Yuan was not likely to win the match. Still, she secretly wished with all her soul that they were wrong and that somehow he would prevail. 

A tightly woven rope soaked in creosote was slowly burning towards its fifth knot, the fifth and final hour of the third and final game. The throng in the hall was packed in so thickly that the palace guards rudely shoved a few dozen of them back into the street. Princess Hua Wu was in the back of the room on a raised dais draped with bright banners and strewn with fragrant orchids. The few times Yuan glanced up at her, she gave him a smile that shone as much from her sparkling ebony eyes as from the slight upturn of her red oval lips. Yuan's heart filled with renewed courage at these little exchanges but it didn't really matter much. He was losing. 

Every move he made was countered by an even more brilliant move by Shen. Yuan had never seen the old reprobate play so well, especially in this suffocating defensive style. Exasperated, he noticed that whenever Shen's eyes left the board, they would dart in the direction of his old teacher, Hung Kwok. The next time Shen reached for a stone, Yuan feigned a cough and caught a glimpse of old Hung shaking his head imperceptibly. They were cheating! The old master Hung Kwok was slyly directing Shen in which moves to make. They had been cheating all along! 

There was little Yuan Tsen could do now but accept his inevitable defeat. When the chilling call of 'Shen Wang wins' rang through the hall, he gave the Princess one last despairing look. To his surprise, she gave a little nod of her head toward the outdoors, and quietly slipped out the back. 

Yuan was unsure what to make of that but he was sure of one thing, his bloody head would not be rolling on the ground because of these corrupt cheaters - honor be damned! As they led him out through the door, Yuan suddenly ripped the heavy spear from the hands of a surprised palace guard and smashed him over the head with a sickening thud. He ducked as he turned, avoiding a murderous sword slash from the other guard, and drove his spear into the fat belly, disemboweling him. Yuan grabbed the man's Shaanxi sword , dodged the murderous thrust of the last guard and then slit his throat. He then pushed his way out the door as Princess Hua trotted into view astride the finest Mongolian horse in her stable. She frantically beckoned him to her. Yuan bounded off toward her and was astride the huge stallion in one mighty leap. She spurred her mount towards the city gates as the startled peasants scrambled out of the way of its deadly pounding hooves. 

Alerted, the half-dozen guards at the city's gates had them nearly closed and hastily formed a menacing wall in front. The startled steed reared up, throwing them both off as Hua barely managed to hold on to the reins as she fell. Yuan dashed in among the guards, his sharp sword, striking left and right in lightning leaps that would have shamed a panther. One by one they fell, screaming in agony at his furious desperate onslaught. As he spun around to face the last man, he had to spring back as a deadly uppercut from the man's curved sword swished an inch from his belly. Yuan's own sword was knocked from his hands as he stumbled and fell backward on to the dusty ground. 

The guard towered over him, his glittering sword poised high to apply the death blow. Yuan spat and cursed at him but then saw a strange expression come over the man's face as a bronze spear tip suddenly protruded from his chest. The lifeless body fell forward, narrowly missing Yuan as he nimbly rolled out of the way. Princess Hua was the one who had run him through with a superhuman effort and was now springing lithely for her horse's reins. Yuan scrambled to his feet, vaulted atop the snorting stallion, gathered up the Princess with one strong swoop and spurred the charger onwards. 

Hua wrapped her arms around him, laughing merrily, her silks dancing in the wind behind them as they galloped out of the city to whatever future lay ahead of them.