“Fifty people?” the empress spat. Jiayi wasn’t sure if the empress was going to laugh or scream. “This is a secret expedition, you fool. You will complete this expedition with three people—yourself, Lady Jiayi, and Eunuch Lo.”
“What?” Zhihao nearly yelled back before he remembered who he was addressing. Jiayi could almost see Zhihao physically biting his lip to keep from correcting the empress. One did not correct the empress if he valued his head upon his shoulders.
“You accepted the task of finding the seal. Do you still believe you can find it? Are you capable, Long Zhihao?” she demanded, using his family name for emphasis.
He nodded, but he fidgeted with his hat in his hands. Jiayi could see he was swallowing his words and his pride.
“I will find the seal, Your Majesty,” he finally said aloud. “You will not be disappointed.”
“Good,” the empress said. “You will leave at first light tomorrow.” She stood, and Jiayi and Zhihao knocked their foreheads to the floor. They did not rise until the empress and her ladies had left the room.
When they sat up again, Zhihao’s face was red. Jiayi did not know if it was from anger or from holding his face to the floor. She hoped it was the latter but was reasonably certain it was the former. She felt the need to say something, to placate him in some way, yet she did not know this man well enough to temper his moods.
“This is a fool’s errand,” Zhihao finally said through clenched teeth in a low voice.
Jiayi looked at him sharply, her eyes wide. “But you said—”
“What else was I supposed to say?” he snapped, then his eyes darted around the room and he saw Eunuch Lo watching them. He took a breath and lowered his voice before continuing. “When I accepted the job yesterday, I didn’t think to ask how many men I would be able to take with me. I thought that whatever I needed would be at my disposal. I didn’t consider that she would handicap me with a eunuch and a woman.”
He stood up and stomped out of the audience chamber, apparently sure he had gotten the last word in.
Jiayi felt her own anger rise up. She should have expected nothing less from someone so infuriating. She got to her feet and followed him out of the building and down the stairs.
“You would not have a chance at finding the seal at all if not for this woman,” she yelled. He turned back and looked at her with a scowl on his face. “If we find the seal, it will be because of me. If you get your museum, it will be because of me.”
“Drop the act,” Zhihao said with an exasperated sigh. “We all know your visions are nothing but an elaborate show.”
“What?” she asked. After her demonstration yesterday, she thought he believed in her, at least a little bit. That he now completely doubted her was shocking and upsetting.
“There is a perfectly good explanation for all of this,” he said. “Of course the empress would know the seal was missing. She has access to imperial archives that no one else does. She could have known about the battle at Conghua Pass even though there is no record anywhere else. And she could have a spy at the university. She has spies everywhere else. She could have known ahead of time that I was bringing Queen Elizabeth’s brooch. It all makes sense.”
“What about me?” she asked. “If there is an explanation for the rest of it, why am I here?”
“Who knows?” he said. “The empress could just be—” He stopped himself.
Jiayi narrowed her eyes and leaned toward him. “Say it,” she dared him.
Zhihao paused and looked up, probably rifling through his mental thesaurus. “Eccentric,” he finally settled on.
Jiayi gritted her teeth. Eccentric was the same as crazy, but for rich people. He didn’t believe her, and what’s worse, he didn’t believe the empress. If he didn’t believe, would he even try to find the seal? Was this a holiday for him? At least if he didn’t find it, he wouldn’t be any worse off than he was now. But what about her? They had to find the seal if she hoped to stay in the empress’s good graces. Her hope for a better future depended on him, but he didn’t seem very dependable right now.
She wanted to yell and scream. Tell him how mean he was and how he was putting her life at risk. But Jiayi had learned a long time ago that it was her powers that would save her. She had to depend on herself for her survival. She reached over and took a pin from his hat, one she had noticed he always wore even if the hat was different. She took a short shallow breath because she didn’t want to be gone for long. She only needed to gather enough information to prove she was real.
When she opened her eyes, she was sitting at a table across from Zhihao. It was daylight and they were in what looked like a large dining hall, but there were lots of tables and lots of people…lots of white people. Zhihao was the only Chinese man in the room. She looked at her hands and realized she too was white. She reached up and pulled down a strand of hair. Blonde curly hair. She had to be in England, maybe London, back when Zhihao was studying there.
“It’s gorgeous,” he said, holding up the pin she was holding in real life. “You are too sweet, Rebecca.” He reached across and took her pale hand in his tawny one. “This has been a wonderful birthday.”
She smiled sweetly and did her best not to recoil at his touch. “I only want you to be happy,” she said.
He frowned and looked pensive. “You know I love you, Rebecca,” he said.
Jiayi felt her eyes widen. Thankfully he was looking at her hand and not her face. He loved her? A foreigner? How ludicrous! But how should she respond? Did Rebecca love him back? She couldn’t tell, and she didn’t have much time to figure it out.
“Of course…darling…” she forced herself to say.
“But I cannot take you with me. My parents would never allow it. Even if we married here, they would not recognize you once we arrived back in China. I’m sorry.”
She was stuck between Rebecca’s intense emotions and her own anger. She could feel that Rebecca wanted to burst into tears. Her heart was breaking. But Jiayi was incensed. Of course his parents would reject such a match. It was ridiculous. He would have to marry a girl of his choosing. He should submit to his parents’ will.
She finally settled for a compromise. She allowed some tears to escape, but she would not wail and cause a scene. As a few tears leaked from her eyes, she looked around and noticed many of the other people were already watching them. In London, a Chinese man and a white woman together must have seemed just as shocking as it would in Peking.
“I…I understand,” she said, giving the safe answer. She picked up a napkin and dabbed the tears from her cheeks with it. “You must respect your parents.”
He chuckled. “You don’t believe that any more than I do,” he said. “I want to marry you, take to you China, but…it’s more than my parents, it’s the whole society, the whole culture. You would never be accepted. You would never be happy.”
“I’d never be happy without you,” Jiayi blurted out, and her tears fell a little harder. She must have been losing her control over Rebecca. She would probably wake up any second. “Is this really about me? Or is it about him? You’ve never forgiven yourself for Eli’s death.”
“Rebecca, please,” he said, shaking his head, nearly to tears himself. He pulled his hands away and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Don’t do this. Don’t bring him up. This is only about us, I swear.”
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Maybe someday I can come back to you,” he said. “I’ll write you every week. We would at least stand a better chance here than in China.”
“I’ll wait for you…” she said as her vision blurred.
Jiayi gasped as she woke up. She was lying on the grass under the shade of a tree. Zhihao must have caught her as she fell and carried her here. Speaking of Zhihao, she glanced around and finally saw him. He was sitting near her, looking at her, but not with the eyes of love she just saw. He still looked angry.
She sat up. “Do you still write to her every week?” she asked.
/> Zhihao put his hand to his mouth, stifling a gasp. He ripped the pin away from her and put it back in his hat.
“No,” he said, looking ashamed. “I…I was foolish. Just an idiot boy.”
“You broke her heart, you know. The day she gave you that pin.”
He stared at her, deep in her eyes, as if he was trying to see Rebecca there. She wondered if he saw her. She had seen through Rebecca’s eyes, had felt what Rebecca felt. Did Rebecca feel anything of her?
“I…always wondered about that,” Zhihao finally said. “I know we cared for each other, but how much we really loved each other is anyone’s guess. We were stupid. The idea that we could be together was just…”
Jiayi raised an eyebrow at him.
“Yes,” he said. “I was crazy. We were crazy. You…” He shook his head. “You are not crazy. There is no way you could have known that. I’ve never told anyone here about her.” He paused and then asked, “Do you know her name?” He was giving her one last test.
“Reb…Rebka,” Jiayi said, knowing she was saying it wrong but hoping it was close enough.
Zhihao nodded. “Rebecca,” he said. “She never…hmm. Never mind. I shouldn’t tell you anything more. It’s not your problem.” He stood up and straightened his clothes. She followed suit.
He was right. It wasn’t Jiayi’s problem, but she couldn’t help but be curious. She wondered what she would learn from his pocket watch…
“Pack your things,” he said. “We will leave tomorrow at dawn.”
“So, you believe me?” she asked, hope swelling in her chest.
“I…” He paused, as if searching for the right words. “I shouldn’t, but I can’t deny what you saw. The rational part of my brain is saying that this isn’t possible. But Rebecca…How could you know that? Even if the empress had been spying on me while I was away, you were too specific. You know too much. I don’t know what is going on, but I will do my best to give you the benefit of the doubt.”
“That is all I can ask,” she replied.
Seven
The next morning, Zhihao was ready and excited to go. He had packed all the equipment he could imagine they would need for both living and working outdoors for several weeks—maps, tents, ropes, pickaxes, shovels, grappling hooks, brushes, buckets, cooking utensils—and was eager to get started.
Zhihao prepared three horses and a pack mule, but it had been a while since he had ridden a horse. Horses were not common pets or means of conveyance in China. He actually rode horses far more often when he was in England than while he was living in China. He was worried that Jiayi would not be able to ride a horse. Why would she? But she was even more eager for this trip than he was. He was sure she would be willing to learn if necessary.
When he arrived at the west gate of the Forbidden City, Jiayi and Eunuch Lo were waiting for him. Jiayi was smiling and nearly bouncing on her pot-bottom shoes. Pot-bottom shoes? Zhihao nearly wanted to yell. What was she thinking?
“You aren’t going to be wearing that, are you?” Zhihao asked her, and the smile ran away from her face.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
Zhihao held out his arms to demonstrate proper expedition attire. He was wearing a white cotton shirt that buttoned down the front, khaki pants, a brown, wide-brimmed hat, and heavy black boots. Jiayi was still dressed as a court lady in a floor-length chaopao, her hair wrapped around a batou, and pot-bottomed shoes.
Eunuch Lo was not dressed much better, with his simple robe and cloth-soled shoes.
Jiayi shifted on her feet and stammered. “I don’t own anything else.”
“This simply won’t do. You can barely walk in those shoes, much less go climbing around on rocks and in caves.”
“What am I to do?” she asked.
Zhihao sighed, annoyed. But he wasn’t sure who he should be annoyed with. Anyone should know that she couldn’t go dressed like that, but what Chinese woman ever wore anything else? How was she to know?
“Very well,” he said. “Let’s find a rickshaw for you and you can follow me.”
Jiayi nodded as Eunuch Lo went to the street and hailed a rickshaw. Zhihao yelled an address to the rickshaw puller. He led the horses and mule to a shop very near the Foreign Legation, which ran along the south wall of the Forbidden City. The Foreign Legation was where almost all foreign citizens residing in Peking lived. There were people of all nationalities living there, but mainly British, American, French, Russian, German, Belgian, Dutch, and Japanese. The Foreign Legation was its own city, but the area around the legation also catered to foreign tastes. The shop Zhihao had in mind was a dress shop.
Zhihao and Jiayi entered the shop to many staring eyes while Eunuch Lo waited outside by the door. Zhihao addressed the shop owner, a Chinese woman, in English.
“Good day, madam,” he said. “We are going exploring in the countryside and my female friend here needs some proper attire.”
The woman was Chinese, but she carried herself like a foreigner. She was tall and held her head high. Her hair was curled and piled on her head and she wore a corseted gown.
Zhihao could not help but notice Jiayi cover her mouth in shock. He assumed she had never seen a woman dressed in such a way before, at least not in real life. But she had to have seen them in her visions.
The shopkeeper looked both of them up and down, at least as well as she could from behind her nose, which she held aloft, and then made her determination. Apparently, Zhihao’s fine English had won her over.
“What exactly are you looking for, sir?” she asked.
“Something practical,” he said. “Something for walking in, something that won’t show dirt.”
“Believe it or not,” she said, “but I have just the thing.” She went to a rack and rifled through it for a moment. “You wouldn’t believe how many young women stuck over here are suddenly struck with the idea they want to run off on expeditions and have grand adventures. Their parents must be appalled, but what can you expect? These ladies have none of the comforts or confinements of home. They should just all stay back in London…” She droned on to herself as she found just the outfit. “Ah! Here it is. This girl is quite small, so the outfit will have to be taken in a bit, but I think it is just what you are looking for.”
Zhihao nodded his approval. The ensemble was a corseted brown top that buttoned down the front and a brown pair of pants that had legs wide enough to almost look like a skirt. All Jiayi would need to complete the outfit was a pair of boots and a hat to protect her from the sun. He turned to Jiayi and explained in Chinese that the woman would help her dress in something more appropriate.
Jiayi hesitated and looked nervous, but eventually she followed the shop owner into another room to change. After several minutes, the owner returned.
“I’m sorry, sir,” she said. “But the girl refuses to come out. She says she won’t wear the top in public.”
“Why?” he asked. “What’s wrong with it?”
“She says it’s indecent,” she explained with a sigh.
Zhihao chuckled. “Nothing of the sort! It looked lovely.”
“Try as you might, sir,” she said. “I could not convince her.”
Zhihao sighed and tapped on the door. “Jiayi,” he said. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t wear this outfit,” she replied softly from the other side. “It’s not proper.”
“What is wrong with it?” he asked. “She can make adjustments so it fits better, if you need.”
“The whole style is wrong,” she said. “It just isn’t right.”
“What are you on about?” he asked. “Here, let me see.”
“No!” she gasped. “That wouldn’t be right!”
“Are you wearing the clothes?” he asked.
“Yes…” she said.
“Then I need to see what the problem is. I can’t help you if you don’t let me see.”
She didn’t reply, but after a moment he heard the click of the lock. He opened the door an
d couldn’t help but gasp when he saw her. She looked amazing. The corset cinched in her tiny waist and propped up her small chest, giving her a rather desirous bosom. The legs of the pants were straight, but they still hugged her bottom. Her hair, which was usually tightly wrapped around the batou, was long and free. He’d never seen a Chinese woman dressed this way before and she took his breath away.
“What…umm…hum…what’s wrong with it?” he finally stammered.
She crossed her arms over her chest as though to hide herself from his gaze. “Everything!” she said. “I can’t wear this in public! It’s indecent!”
“Come now,” he said. “British women dress like this all the time. Not the pants so much, but a very similar skirt. Would you rather wear a skirt?”
“No!” she said. “I can’t wear any of it. I can’t let men see…me,” she said. “I feel…exposed and just…wrong…”
Zhihao could see that she was near to tears and realized he was the person in the wrong. Even though European women were not afraid of showing—and emphasizing—their curves, for a Chinese woman it was nearly an inconceivable thought. Chinese chaopaos covered a woman from her neck to her feet and were long and straight. Chinese men wore clothes that fight tighter than women did. For her curves to be visible would be nearly the same as being naked to her. It was too much for him to ask of her.
“Very well,” he said. Give me a moment. He left the shop and went to a Chinese tailor down the road. He picked out some more practical clothes for Eunuch Lo and returned to the ladies’ shop with a man’s chaopao, but a very simple dark cotton one. He handed it to Jiayi. “Take off the top and wear this. Tell me what you think.”
She did as she was told and after some back and forth with the shopkeeper they finally arrived at a compromise. She would wear the man’s top, but have the sleeves shortened. The chaopao itself was shortened to her calves, had slits up the sides, and was taken in some at the waist. She kept the brown wide-legged pants. The shopkeeper also found her a wide-brimmed hat. Jiayi wore her hair in a long braid down the back like Zhihao. She finished the look with a pair of heavy black boots. Zhihao had never seen anything so ridiculous and yet incredibly charming in his life.
The Emperor's Seal Page 5