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

walking.
    â€œWhat is your favorite plant?” Kuni asked.
    Jia thought for a moment and bent down to pluck a small flower with a full yellow crown. “They’re all dear to me, but I admire the dandelion the most. It is hardy and determined, adaptable and practical. The flower looks like a small chrysanthemum, but it’s much more resourceful and far less delicate. Poets may compose odes about the chrysanthemum, but the dandelion’s leaves and flowers can fill your belly, its sap cure your warts, its roots calm your fevers. Dandelion tea makes you alert, while chewing its root can steady a nervous hand. The milk of the dandelion can even be used to make invisible ink that reveals itself when mixed with the juice of the stone’s ear mushroom. It is a versatile and useful plant people can rely on.
    â€œAnd it’s playful and fun.” She picked up a puff ball and blew at it, scattering the tiny feathered seeds into the air, a few of which landed in Kuni’s hair.
    Kuni made no move to brush them away. “The chrysanthemum is a noble flower.”
    â€œThat’s true. It’s the last flower to bloom in autumn, defiant against winter. Its fragrance is exquisite, and overwhelms all competition. In tea, it awakens the spirit; in bouquets, it dominates the arrangement. But it is not a flower that endears.”
    â€œYou don’t care much about nobility?”
    â€œI think true nobility is shown in far humbler ways.”
    Kuni nodded. “Miss Matiza has a truly capacious mind.”
    â€œAh, flattery does not suit you, Master Garu,” Jia said, laughing. She turned serious after a moment. “Tell me, where do you think you’ll be in ten years?”
    â€œI have no idea,” Kuni said. “All life is an experiment. Who can plan so far ahead? I just promise myself to do the most interesting thing every time there’s an opportunity. If I can stick to that promise most of the time, I’m sure in ten years I won’t have any regrets.”
    â€œWhy do you have to make a promise like that?”
    â€œIt’s very scary to do the most interesting thing when the chance arises. Most people don’t dare to do it—like bluffing your way into a party you aren’t invited to. But look how much more delightful my life is now. I got to know you.”
    â€œThe most interesting thing is often not the easiest thing,” Jia said. “There may be pain and suffering, disappointment and failure, for yourself and those you love.”
    Kuni became serious too. “But without having endured bitterness, I don’t believe one will treasure sweetness as heartily as one should.”
    She faced Kuni and put a hand on his arm. “I believe you will do great things.”
    A warm feeling suffused Kuni’s heart. Until Jia, he realized, he had never met a woman who truly became his friend .
    â€œWill I?” he asked, a smirk curving the corners of his mouth. “How do you know you’re not being fooled?”
    â€œI’m too smart to be fooled,” she answered without hesitation, and they embraced, careless who saw.
    Kuni felt like he was the luckiest man in the world. He had no money to pay her father a proper bride price, but he had to marry her.

    â€œSometimes the most interesting thing is also the most boring thing, the responsible thing,” Kuni said to himself.
    He went to ask Cogo to get him a job in Zudi’s city government.
    â€œYou don’t know how to do anything,” Cogo said, his brows knit in a frown.
    But a friend was in need, and Cogo inquired around until he found out that the Corvée Department needed a guard to watch the newly conscripted men and petty criminals sentenced to hard labor; they were kept in prison for a few nights until a full squad of them could be sent together to their work assignments. Once in a while, the guard might also be asked to escort the conscripts and prisoners on such