The Jade Seal

by Yuriko Taira

  The will listed all the assets owned by my grandfather which were worth over 100 million US dollars. It stated that my father, Yasuki Yuwen was the first beneficiary; the second beneficiary was me; and in the event of my death without an heir, all the assets would go to an organisation named 'Yuwen Foundation'.

  “Who owns the Yuwen Foundation?” Shinkichi asked.

  “The will doesn’t say.”

  “A hundred million US dollars, that’s a hell of a lot of money. Why doesn’t the will say who owns the Yuwen Foundation?” Shinkichi asked again.

  Shinkichi has gone off on a tangent. I need to something, or he’ll be on and on about the Yuwen Foundation forever, I said in silence. “Mister Huang said I’ll inherit all the money on my birthday. How am I going to manage this? Apart from what I've learned from my Commerce degree, I don’t know anything about money.”

  “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll help you. My degree is in economy & finance. I've some work experience in this field as well.”

  “I thought you were a chef!” I exclaimed, my eyes wide.

  “I’m working as a chef because of you. I’m waiting for you to graduate and go back to Japan with me,” Shinkichi said, with a hint of disappointment that I had not realised the depth of his love for me.

  “Oh, is that so?” I teased him.

  “That’s so,” Shinkichi answered with conviction.

  I smiled and brought up another topic. “In his will, my grandfather said that our family’s Jade Seal is very important and his children must keep it safe and pass it on from one generation to the next. I wonder what it looks like.”

  “I want to know, too,” Shinkichi said.

  The following day, Mrs Shilbury and I took Shinkichi to a hospital nearby. The X-ray showed that his spine was dislocated in a couple of places but the injury was not serious. However, he had to sleep on his stomach for a few more days. Because of this, we delayed our second visit to Huang until a few days after my birthday.

  When we arrived at their suite in the Parmelia Hilton, Huang presented me a large number of documents for my signature, which changed the authority over the Yuwen Estate from him to me, the heiress of the Yuwen Estate. However, he had remained as the executive manager; and would continue to manage the estate operations till I reach 25 years old.

  I felt a need to know more about my family in order to fit into my new role. Huang said that he would take me to the Yuwen family home in California which was in the care of my late grandfather’s butler. But I wanted to know now.

  “Where is the Yuwen Estate’s headquarters?” I asked.

  “It’s also in California, Princess Yuuko,” Huang answered.

  “Who owns the Yuwen Foundation?” I asked again.

  “My child, you’re the owner of the Yuwen Foundation. I’m the chief financial officer for your foundation,” Ibin said with a vain smile.

  I felt the dizzy spell again and searched my handbag for mints.

  “Would you like some water or snacks?” Ibin offered.

  “No, thanks, Mister Gan. She likes this.” Shinkichi took a bottle of apple juice out of his backpack. He had come prepared this time.

  “Thanks, Shinkichi-san.” I had a few mouthfuls.

  “Would you please tell me the activities of the Yuwen Foundation?” I asked Ibin.

  “Sure, Yuuko. The Yuwen Foundation was established about twenty years ago by your late father to provide aids and financial support to Xianbei descendants living in China, Japan, Russia and the USA.”

  “Are you a Xianbei descendant, Mister Gan?” I asked, wondering why my late father had chosen this ghost-look-alike man to be in charge of an organisation which could be the recipient of the Yuwen family fortune.

  “No, I’m not. I've got this job because I was the best friend of your late father and helped him to establish the Foundation.”

  “Does the Foundation own any assets or make any money?” Shinkichi asked.

  “No, it doesn’t own anything. The Foundation is a charity organisation. All the money it spends, coming from the Yuwen Estate,” Ibin answered.

  “Yuuko-chan can stop the funding at any time, right?” Shinkichi said, without thinking of the consequences.

  “Err…” Ibin was obviously not keen on the idea.

  I quickly changed the subject. “Uncle Huang, do you know anything about my family’s Jade Seal?”

  “Ah, Princess Yuuko, I was going to talk to you about this.”

  “Oh…?”

  “The Jade Seal is the symbol of the Yuwen Imperial House. Its formal name is the Yuwen Imperial Jade Seal. It has magical powers and your ancestor once ruled China through relying on its powers. It’s priceless.” Huang spoke as if he was giving a lecture in history.

  “Is it in my family home in California?”

  “It mysteriously disappeared from your family home many years ago. Prince Yasuki, your late father went all the way to Russia to look for it. Unfortunately, everyone who went on the mission hadn’t returned. And soon after this tragedy, your grandfather also passed away.” Huang’s voice was sad. “I spent many years to search for members of the mission, and had found only you.”

  CHAPTER 4

  “Iwould say the Jade Seal has evil powers,” Shinkichi said in a cold tone.

  “Ha-ha, ha-ha; Shinkichi, I don’t blame you for saying that. Many people have died because of the Jade Seal. Princess Yuuko is now the only person who can find it.” Huang returned to his usual cheerfulness.

  “How…? I’ve never seen it before.”

  “You’ve seen it before but you can’t remember,” Huang said with absolute certainty. “However, none of this matters.”

  “Why?” The word came out of the mouths of Shinkichi and me at the exact same minute.

  “My Princess, the Jade Seal will shine when you come near it. It recognises its owner.” Huang smiled at me.

  Shinkichi was not smiling. He appeared to have totally lost interest in the subject. “The Xianbei Dynasty was destroyed by the Chinese more than a thousand years ago. The Jade Seal is meaningless now. No point searching for it,” he said, in a cold and emotionless tone.

  The smile disappeared from Huang’s face. “The Jade Seal is the symbol of the Yuwen Imperial House. Princess Yuuko is the last in the bloodline. She must recover it to honour her family and her people. This is the wish of her late grandfather.” His voice was colder than ice.

  “If the Jade Seal means so much to her family, it couldn’t have been lost.” Shinkichi rebutted in a sarcastic tone. “I don’t want to see Yuuko-chan vanishing like all her family members.” He added bluntly.

  A dark cloud appeared on Huang’s face. I could sense the anger inside him. I must act quickly before Shinkichi starts a full-scale war with the old man. “If the Jade Seal is important to my family, then I’ll look for it,” I said calmly.

  “Oh, really?” Shinkichi was not pleased with my initiative.

  All the way home, Shinkichi was grumpy, insisted that searching for the Jade Seal was a suicide mission.

  “Shinkichi-san, I’m the only person who can find it. I’m sure my grandfather in heaven would be very pleased if I found it,” I said, hoping this would change his mind.

  “Grandfather, Grandfather! You don’t even know what he looked like or how he died. Those two Chinese guys may have made up the whole thing to get you to willingly become their sacrifice.”

  “They wouldn’t have chosen me if I’m not the only person who can find it.”

  “They've chosen you because they can steal the hundred million if you die.”

  “Mister Huang is like a grandfather to me. He won’t—”

  “He won’t kill you, is that what you’re thinking?” Shinkichi did not give me time to respond. “Oh, really? Why did you have two accidents that almost killed you?”

  “They were accidents. Why did Mister Huang spend years to find me if he wants me dead?”

  “Without your dead body, he can’t land his hands on the hundred mil
lion.”

  “He doesn’t need to wait till now to kill me, does he?”

  “That’s because he hasn’t succeeded in doing so.”

  “I don’t agree with you. Since when you’ve become so negative?”

  “Since the minute you've agreed to get yourself killed.”

  The summer breeze brought us the sound track of ‘Advance Australia Fair’, the national anthem of Australia. This is unusual. We had a look at each other, stopped arguing about the suicide mission, and hurried into Mrs Shilbury’s front yard through an unlocked man-hole in the gate.

  A CD player was singing on the lawn while Mrs Shilbury was decorating the small garden trees with Christmas bells. A folding ladder stood in front of the verandah and a tall man in an olive-green army uniform was up the ladder, putting Christmas lighting around the verandah. He had turned when we came through the man-hole as if he had eyes in the back of this head.

  “Sean!” Shinkichi cried out with joy and ran to the man.

  Sean flew off the ladder and landed on the lawn as quiet as a bird. He hit his right fist against Shinkichi’s gently, then they hugged each other like brothers who had not seen each other for a long time.

  This is Sean, the best friend of Shinkichi. He’s so tall and handsome… I stared at Sean who looked so different, if not totally opposite, from what I had imagined.

  He was about half a head taller than Shinkichi, at least six foot three inches in height. Unlike regular soldiers, his wavy light-brown hair was not shaven but short; and a bit messy.

  “Missus Shilbury, is Sean your son?” I asked in a quiet voice.

  “Yuko, all of you are my children. Sean is the eldest but hardly ever comes home. This is the first time he’s come home after more than twelve months.”

  “Mum, I was on a tour of duty,” Sean said, coming towards us with Shinkichi.

  I gave them a 30-degree bow.

  “Sean, this is my girlfriend, Yuuko-chan.”

  “How do you do, Yuuko? I’ve heard so much about you.” Sean bent a little, and bowed to me in a cheeky way; then he looked straight into my eyes.

  His blue eyes were lighter than Mrs Shilbury’s, cold and sharp, as if they could penetrate people’s minds; but like a deep sea, no one could fathom them. God, this handsome soldier could kill his enemy with his bare hands and a smile on his face as well. And, he’s barely a few years older than Shinkichi. I sucked in a cold breath.

  “Nice to meet you, Sean-san.” I bowed again to avoid his cold gaze.

  “Love birds, would you help us to finish the Christmas decorating?” Mrs Shilbury asked.

  “Sure.” Shinkichi gave me his backpack and climbed up the ladder straightaway.

  “Yuko, would you please go inside and check the washing? If it’s done, hang it up please. After that, make us afternoon tea, won’t you?” Mrs Shilbury smiled warmly as she gave her orders.

  My tummy started singing when I heard the words ‘afternoon tea’, reminding me that Shinkichi and I had forgotten to have lunch on our way home.

  "Yes, Missus Shilbury." I was eager to carry out her orders, so I ran inside the house, put away Shinkichi’s backpack and my shoulder bag, then went into the laundry. The washing machine had completed one load of washing. The olive-green uniform indicated to me that these were Sean’s clothes. After hanging up the washing in the backyard, I walked through the family room to the kitchen. An olive-green backpack lay open on the floor of the family room, showing a sandy-colour beret.

  Australian soldiers wear a slouch hat, turned up on the left side. Why is a beret in his bag? My curiosity rose and I went for a closer look. Pinned to the beret, there was a black metal badge in the shape of a shield, with a gold-and-silver sword depicted. Is this Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur? I wondered. On both sides of the sword, there were what looked like fire flames burning upwards from the bottom of the hilt; and a scroll across the front of the sword inscribed with the words: ‘Who Dares Wins’. A soldier from the Special Forces! These guys carry out top-secret missions for the government.

  A sense of secrecy rose inside me. I tiptoed out of the family room, into the kitchen, and quickly put on a kettle. While waiting for the kettle to boil, I made four slices of toast with butter and blue berry jam; and emptied a packet of sweet biscuits onto a plate; then took a china teapot and mugs out of a cupboard. I put everything on a silver tray and carried it to the front yard.

  “Everyone, afternoon tea is here.” I put the tray on the lawn.

  “Gee, I’m starving.” Shinkichi came off the ladder within seconds and swallowed a piece of toast as quickly as he put his hand on it. Sean followed him.

  Mrs Shilbury saw this and went into the house at once. Within a few minutes, she returned with a cold roast chicken, bread rolls, butter, sweet and sour cucumbers, plates, knives and forks. “Kids, come and fill your tummies up.”

  “Wow, Mum, you’re the best mum in the world.” Sean sat on the lawn, pulled a thigh off the chicken and devoured it with only a few bites.

  Somehow, I saw James Bond 007 sitting in front of me; the famous British spy is a superman with brains and bravery; who always finds a way out of danger and lives to fight another day. Now, I understood why Mrs Shilbury took in only one student in her big house. She reserved one bedroom for Sean and the other for guests.

  “Sean-san?” I called in a small voice.

  “Call me ‘Sean’, Yuuko.”

  “Okay. Sean, how did you meet Shinkichi-san?” I asked, with some confidence in my voice this time.

  “I met your boyfriend at judo.”

  “You practise Japanese martial arts?” I was surprised to hear this.

  “Yes, of course.” Sean turned to Shinkichi. “Hey, mate, did you master judo and laido while I was away?”

  “Of course. I’ve got two black belts now. As a reward, my father gave me our family’s katana (samurai long sword) and wakizashi (samurai short sword).”

  “Well done, mate! Practise with me later,” Sean said, patting Shinkichi’s broad shoulder like a big brother.

  “Sure.” Shinkichi’s small, brown eyes became two curved lines on his face.

  “How about you, Yuko? Tell us how you met Shinkichi,” Mrs Shilbury asked.

  “I accidentally ran into him at my friend’s party,” I replied.

  “Accidentally? It took me a lot of effort to persuade Sayuri to arrange that party for me,” Shinkichi said.

  “Eh…?” I did not expect to hear this, and stared at him with my eyes wide.

  “Aha, Shinkichi, I didn’t know this side of you. Tell us the details,” Sean said and moved closer to Shinkichi.

  “Uh, [GROANS].” Shinkichi cleared his throat. “A few weeks before the party, I met Yuuko-chan and her friends at the mall. They were having fairy floss like little kids; especially Yuuko-chan, she seized the opportunity while people were talking, stuffing more fairy floss into her little mouth. She looked greedy but very cute. Thus, I asked Sayuri to throw a party for me so I could get to know her.”

  ◆◆◆

  The embarrassing scene appeared in my mind as if it had only happened yesterday. That day, Sayuri insisted on me coming to her biggest ever weekend party. I thought that it was a girls-only party and accepted the invitation. When I arrived, I was astonished to see more boys than girls there. Most of them were Japanese, and a few were German or Indonesian. Sayuri had never introduced me to her male friends because I lived in a girls’ hostel which did not allow male visitors.

  “こんばんは、あなたは日本人ですか。” (Good evening, are you Japanese?)

  A young man popped up in front of me from nowhere, and gave me a fright. Although I was five foot two inches in height, this man was a head taller than me, the tallest Japanese person I had ever met.

  “私は阿部真吉です。” (I am Shinkichi Abe.)

  “こんばんは, 阿部~さん。” (Good evening, Mister Abe.) “いいえ、私は日本人ではありません。” (No, I am not Japanese
.)

  I had learned some Japanese from Sayuri and could hold a simple conversation without difficulty. Shinkichi casually brushed the fringe of his short black hair to the right-hand side with his fingers, his long, jet-black eyebrows now clearly visible.

  “Are you Chinese?” Shinkichi had changed to speaking in English. His small eyes sparkled with intelligence, and became smaller as he smiled, like two curved lines on his almost square face.

  I hesitated, remembering Huang’s warming to me.

  “I’m Yuuko.” I said coldly and tried to walk away.

  Shinkichi stepped forward, blocking my way. “So, you are Japanese.” He did not want to end the conversation.

  “No, I’m not Japanese.”

  “Yuuko is a Japanese name.”

  “Eh…?” I was lost for words. He was right, but my situation was a bit complicated. While I was searching my mind to find a way out, Shinkichi had grabbed my hand.

  “Yuuko-chan, come with me.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Shinkichi had pulled me through the crowd to a corner away from everybody. When I freed my hand from his grip, I found myself being circled by him with his hands on the wall although he did not touch me. He stared down at me.

  “Can we talk with more distance between us?” I felt intimidated.

  He gave me a cheeky smile and stood upright, towering over me. His hands were still on the wall and circled me between his arms. This is more intimidating than before, I thought.

  “Where do you come from?” he asked.

  “Hmm… I’m… I’m…” Should I say that I’m from America or China? I did not know what to say to get his attention away from me.

  Shinkichi had looked down at me, waiting for my answer anxiously. “From Japan.” He lost his patience and answered for me.

  “No, not from Japan. I’m from some… somewhere on planet Earth.”

  “Ha-ha, ha-ha; good answer. I’m from somewhere on planet earth, too.” Shinkichi laughed.

  I did not think my answer was funny. I turned my face away. At that moment, someone passed by carrying a tray of drinks. Shinkichi took two glasses of wine off the tray and gave one to me.