Read Online The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu - Free Book Online Page A

good at poking!
    The young man and the matchmaker stormed out of the Matiza residence as Jia laughed, long and very loud.

    There was no way that Kuni could call at the Matiza house. No matchmaker would be so foolish as to suggest that a prospectless gangster could be a suitable match for a respectable, if unestablished, family striving to move up in society like the Matizas.
    Fortunately, Jia had a perfect excuse to be away from the house unchaperoned: She took many trips to the countryside around Zudi to study the local herbs and gather them for her potions.
    Kuni brought Jia to his favorite haunts: the best bend in the river for fishing, the best gazebo and tree under which to nap, the best bars and teahouses, places no respectable young ladies of good breeding should be found, places Jia found refreshingly honest, without the stifling conventions and desperate anxieties that always seemed to gather around those concerned with what was “proper.” In these places, she enjoyed the company of Kuni and his friends, who did not care about how appropriate was her bow or how elegant her speech, but applauded when she drank with them and listened when she spoke her mind.
    In turn, Jia showed Kuni a new universe that he had never paid much attention to: the grasses at his feet and the bushes lining the long country lanes. At first, his interest had been feigned—he thought her lips far more interesting than the flowers whose uses she tried to explain—but after she showed him how chewing ginger and evening primrose did wonders for his frequent hangovers, he became a true disciple.
    â€œWhat is this?” he asked, pointing to a weed with white five-­petaled flowers and two-lobed leaves shaped like praying hands.
    â€œThat is actually not one plant, but two,” Jia said. “The leaves belong to a grass called mercy flax. The flowers are called crowsbane.”
    Kuni immediately got on his hands and knees to get a better look, careless about getting his clothes dirty. Jia laughed at the sight of this man behaving like a curious boy. Kuni acted as if the rules everyone accepted didn’t apply to him, and that made Jia feel free too.
    â€œYou’re right,” Kuni said, wonder suffusing his voice. “But they really do look like one plant from a distance.”
    â€œCrowsbane is a slow poison, but the flowers are so pretty that the crows, as wise as the Blessed Kana and Rapa have made them, cannot resist their beauty. They pick them to decorate their nests with and over time die from their vapors and juices.”
    Kuni, who had been smelling the flowers, pulled back sharply. Jia’s loud laughter echoed in the field.
    â€œDon’t worry, you’re much bigger than a crow. You won’t be harmed by such small quantities. Besides, the other plant, mercy flax, is a natural antidote.”
    Kuni picked a few leaves from the mercy flax and chewed them. “Strange that a poison and its antidote would grow so close together.”
    Jia nodded. “One of the principles of herbal lore is the prevalence of such pairings. The deadly seven-step snake of Faça nests in shady coves where the crying boy mushroom, which secretes an antivenom, likes to grow. The fiery salamander weed, a good, hot spice for cold winter nights, grows better next to the snowdrop, known for its power to relieve fevers. Creation seems to favor making friends of those destined to be enemies.”
    Kuni pondered this. “Who knew that so much philosophy and wisdom could be hidden among weeds?”
    â€œYou’re surprised? Because the art of herbal healing is a women’s art, beyond the notice of real scholars and doctors?”
    Kuni turned to Jia and bowed. “I spoke in ignorance. I meant no disrespect.”
    Jia bowed back deeply in jiri . “You do not assume yourself to be better than anyone. That is the sign of a truly capacious mind.”
    They smiled at each other and kept on