Preoccupations

Commander Ho's decision to negotiate with the Head of the Northeastern Troops was made solely with the incentive to seek entertainment. The result of the negotiation was secondary, and the main focus was the search for a source of distraction. Otherwise the thoughts of Lan Bai-Shan filled his head until they virtually drove him insane.

The site of the negotiation was located in the County of Wantong near Tuolo Bay. The distance between Luyang and Wantong was only a little more than twenty miles, and since Commander Ho had recently secured a new supply of gasoline, he could travel by car, which made it all the more convenient.

The place of the negotiation was in the manor house of Wantong's former governor. With the governor burnt alive and the members of his entire household chopped up, his residence was left empty to subsequently provide lodging for the occupying soldiers. In preparation for the meeting, Li Shih-Yao had two of the best rooms cleaned out and placed in them large round tables to be used for dinner. The stage outside in the courtyard was also set up, prompting a night of feasting and drinking, joy and merrymaking. When men are happy and entertained, their conflicts can easily be put aside.

Commander Ho arrived early. Instead of Lan, his was accompanied by Jin Hwan-Ran and Sun Wei-Ying. The regimental commanders were there exclusively for the party, and Jin had brought a companion—a male one—along with him. The companion wore a delicate prettiness, all tall and slender with a clear, melodious voice and a slightly effeminate look. They all knew he was once a Dan[1] actor called something along the lines of Fan Yü-Ch’ing. A worthless thing. Jin only brought him all the way from Hsian because in the military, using him was more convenient than taking women.

Commander Ho glanced sidelong at Fan Yü-Ch’ing from afar, his mind clicking again. Men...do men have to remain close like husband and wife?

This particular question occurred to him not because he was innocent or naïve in the matter. He had lost his virginity at the age of thirteen, and had played around with both genders over a period of time. However, he had been too young and his built too slight. Failing to take care of himself properly, he was diagnosed with a form of spermatorrhea, and found himself in a situation where he was quite willing in the spirit but helpless in the flesh. Forced to go into recuperation, he managed to hold back before things got too out of hand.

After all these years of recuperating like a celibate, the ailment still surfaced more or less at different times and remained cureless. Fortunately, he had already had his share of experiences, and though the pleasure had been extremely gratifying, even the most luscious delicacies had a satiation point. Ironically, Commander Ho didn’t suffer from suppressed sexual tension like most young men. His dissatisfaction with his pillow was not due to its lack of a hole for the emission of his desires. He merely needed a tinge of external warmth to dry off his damp and disturbed heart.

He thoughts jumped back to Lan Bai-Shan. This Fan looked neither like a man nor a woman, which was not to his tastes. He preferred people like Lan Bai-Shan, and it wasn't about his gender. He purely liked him as a "person".

Lan, in fact, did not possess any form of outstanding merit, his only virtues being his clean neatness and gentle smile. Yet when Commander Ho was stuffed inside the car with only a reeking Li Shih-Yao for comparison, the Chief of Staff Lan Bai-Shan who sat behind him and held him close in his arms seemed especially likable.

He rarely found anyone likable. But this time, for some unfathomable reason, he'd taken a fancy to Lan Bai-Shan.

"He can't possibly want to be with me..." Commander Ho thought indifferently. "He knows exactly what I want. He's just teasing me!"

- : -

As the regimental commanders partied away and Commander Ho remained solitary, Ron Hsiang arrived.

Two regiments of cavalry were clustered around a black automobile as it came to a stop at the front gates. The car was brand new, the horses strong and the soldiers high-spirited. The side door opened and a tall man in a dinner jacket stepped out.

The man stood by the car and looked about, removing his black top hat and passing it behind him, where an adjutant caught it with his hands. Without the visual obstruction of the hat, Commander Ho laid his eyes on the man's true visage—which should have been quite well-favoured, if it hadn’t been so consumed by morphine overdose. His chalky face was tinged with blue, giving him an air of sickly lethargy.

Looking at Ron Hsiang, Commander Ho caught on to his contagious languidness and grew drowsy, and developed a strong urge to go home and have a good slumber. Ron Hsiang, though, glanced up at him with a smile and nodded. "Commander Ho, I've long been looking forward to meet you."

Smiling, Commander Ho stepped forward and stretched out a feeble hand. "Knowing a man by repute is never as good as seeing him in the flesh, Commander Ron, you are truly striking."

Their hands joined and bobbled weakly for a few of times, then the two men accompanied each other inside.

- : -

Commander Ho shared a few words with Ron Hsiang, and almost died of drowsiness.

This wasn't to say that Ron's speech was dull. In fact, Ron's character is quite distinguished; for instance, though he was a man of few words, when he did speak his tone was bound to be terribly gentle, almost as if he was flirting.

In turn, Ron Hsiang found communication with Ho Bao-Ting an excruciating task. Ho's mind seemed to function at a significantly slower speed then any normal man, and since he didn’t appear to suffer from any actual mental retardation, Ron could only deem that the commander's thoughts were wandering elsewhere.

They yawned in unison and slowly guided the conversation toward their true topic. Before Commander Ho could finish refining his words, Ron smiled and interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

"There's no need for this, brother{C}[2] Ji-Ch’ing," Ron started to say. "To tell you the truth, my troops will be moving out to Hsian in less than a month."

"Hsian?"

Ron smiled. "It wasn't a permanent solution to have this many men garrisoned here to start with. Since Fu Yang-Shan just sent me his invitation, I naturally chose to accept it."

Commander Ho's features finally formed into an expression of surprise. "Oh, you are going to Hsian."

Ron Hsiang continued to smile and couldn't be bothered to waste another word with Ho. After a pause of contemplation, Commander Ho finally announced his opinion. "That's great, going to Hsian. At least it'll be more exciting and prosperous there..."

What he left out was, "I would like to go there as well."

- : -

Ron Hsiang finished a listless dinner with Commander Ho, then left in a haste.

In front of the stage, Li Shih-Yao sat messing about with a pair of whores in his arms. They were performing a local Huaku opera onstage. Not understanding a single word, and therefore having no appreciation for its quality, Li was simply drawn to the deafening sound of the gongs and drums, which seemed to be cheering their liveliness right into people. To his left, an even more jubilant Colonel Sun grinned from ear to ear, gulping down endless liquor and biting at a girls' cheeks with his alcoholic breath. Jin Hwan-Ran, on the other hand, acted in a more refined manner and whispered with the effeminate former boy-actor, his hands groping about as they chatted.

Just as the men were in the midst of their rapture, Hsiao-Hu made a sudden appearance and tapped on Li's shoulder.

"Colonel Li, Commander Ho asked for you."

Li turned his intoxicated head toward him, his hand closing around a girl's breasts. "Now?"

"Yes," Hsiao-Hu nodded.

Li mumbled out a curse, and let go of the girl. He stood and staggered behind Hsiao-Hu, who lead him into a room and shut the door behind him before retiring, leaving Li alone to face Commander Ho.

In his drunken state, Li's usual reluctant respect for the Commander faded away. Casually, he pulled over a chair and sat down, looking up at Commander Ho.

"Commander, how did your negotiation with Ron Hsiang go?" he asked. "What's his take?"

With a hand in his pocket, Commander Ho began pacing in front of Li. "There will be no need for an attack. He's just about to pull away."

Li stared at Commander Ho, noticing quite suddenly that tall and thin as the Commander was, his backside was in fact surprisingly perky and full.  It filled out his trousers very nicely.

Commander Ho looked at Li, who had remained silent and was staring at him with a grin. He scowled before continuing. "They are moving out to Hsian. Once they're gone, Tuolo Bay will be left unoccupied, and we will gain a large piece of land without a single bullet—all is well."

Really, Commander Ho's much finer-looking then that boy-actor of Jin's, Li thought to himself. Quite fit as well. It will sure be interesting to get a hold of him and fuck him!

Both men were silent. Commander Ho continued to pace, while Li continued to envision the means of sodomizing Commander Ho, so engrossed in his thoughts that he was almost oblivious of himself.

How hard can it be to do him? The only hard part will be dealing with the aftermath, unless I fuck him to death. Or I can make everybody go at him once, so nobody stands out—then he can't get anyone to do his revenge. To hell with it, I'm definitely taking that ass!

Li swallowed at this thought. Since he was seated, the tent that formed near his crotch went unnoticed. Commander Ho paid him no attention to begin with, but as he grew tired from his pacing, he took a seat across Li. "Do you have anything else to discuss? If not then get out."

Li grinned. "I'll sit with you for a bit."

Commander Ho couldn’t help but scowl at Li, who reeked of liquor and tobacco. "There's no need for that. You may leave!"

"Commander," Li continued. "How about you stay over for the night? I'll have your bedding prepared, all brand new. Just leave everything to me."

Commander Ho sensed Li's abnormal enthusiasm. "There's no need. I have trouble sleeping in new places."

Under the effects of alcohol, Li's felt his cock swell painfully. Unable to do anything about it with the other man in the room, he could only try to hold still in his perturbation.

"It's difficult to travel by night," he said. "Especially the part right outside Wantong, where it's all dirt roads with those huge pits. You've already seen those on your way here, haven’t you?"

Commander Ho shook his head. "Then I'll let them drive slow. If it really ends up getting stuck, I can always ride a horse."

Irritated, Li's eyes were almost spitting fire. "Are you really this determined to go back?"

Having his breathing almost cease due to the smell, Commander ran out of his patience to continue a civil exchange. Rising from his seat immediately, he called out for Hsiao-Hu and stalked out of the room.

Unable to stand, Li could only sit there helplessly and leave him be.

- : -

While Li Shih-Yao wanted to lay his hands on Commander Ho and give him a bit of a fuck, Commander Ho wanted to lay his on Lan Bai-Shan and give him a bit of a fuck.

From the way things had been going, Li's idea seemed more like a fantasy that didn't really hold much of a possibility. Commander Ho's, on the other hand, was far more realistic, but he was still somewhat reluctant to proceed.

Towards Lan, he didn't really have any strong erotic feeling. Rather than to seek sexual relief, Commander Ho's idea of to "give him a bit of a fuck" was more like a ritual, a way to say "I've fucked this man. He is mine."

Then no matter how Lan would try to stir up trouble in the future, this fact will remain unchangeable. Rather like the brand of cattle.

- : -

Lan Bai-Shan's life in the county-town of Luyang was not too bad.

He'd always been able to take things as they came at ease. His ease was superficial, and deep down, he naturally had his own mind, only he'd never let any of his thoughts wander to the surface. Hence, he was at ease yet uneasy.

Originally, he had served the Old Marshal and had served him well. As a result, he rose steadily from an orderly to an adjutant, then to a staff officer, then finally the chief of staff. When the Old Marshal had been alive, he enjoyed quite some prestige; now that the Old Marshal was gone and the Anguo Army governed each by his own, he found himself with neither men nor equipment, and had become a floating-duckweed sort of character. It was because of this that he had taken a very actively role in the Seventh Master's abduction.

To be honest, Commander Ho was a bit of a disappointment. This wasn't to say that the Commander was either weak or foolish. From what he had seen, Commander Ho was not only far from a fool but something of a conspirator, while his tantrums had a touch of the Old Marshal's style. The problem was that though the commander was very close to him, they each seemed to have a different set of goals.

Commander Ho had his grand plans and wanted secure a designation to rectify his status. Then he would rule as the local despot and continue to play his little trick where he promoted one subject as he beat down another, slowly eliminating his dissidents in the process. Lan, on the other hand, wanted to seek shelter within the Central Government—the regimental commanders of the Anguo Army would never allow him the opportunity to develop his own forces, so rather than putting all of his eggs in one basket, he wanted to go out and explore the broader horizon. With talents like his, it couldn't be hard to find help from a new master who would aid him to completely cleanse the Anguo Army.

At the moment, however, talks of cleansing seemed rather distant. In terms of more immediate matters, Commander Ho still had to be entertained. The entertaining wasn't even completely against his will—in fact, Commander Ho proved to be quite an interesting man. Though normally he showed no lack of masculinity, he always seemed somewhat effeminate when he's in a fit—perhaps it was because he had such a petty mind. And there was another thing—he could sense that the Commander's feelings toward him obviously leaned toward the romantic.

Lan Bai-Shan had no intention of going into any romantic relationship with a porcelain doll, particularly one with a dick. But he could still humour him and tease him. Either way the porcelain man had fine looks—it would almost be like keeping a boy-actor for free.

[1] A shizi, the Dan was a Peking opera performer who played female roles.

[2] “brother” was a form of address between  men of equal rank.