The Emperor's Seal

by Amanda Roberts

  “What are you doing?” Jiayi asked.

  “This way I won’t get lost,” he said. “And I’ll have something to grab onto in case I fall. Eunuch Lo, you come with me, in case something goes wrong. Jiayi, you stay here for now. I’ll yell or send Eunuch Lo back for you once I determine it’s safe.”

  Jiayi couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed at being left out, but she nodded. Zhihao was the person in charge, after all.

  Zhihao lit two torches and the men entered the cave. It wasn’t long before they and their torchlight were absorbed into the darkness.

  Jiayi stood at the edge of the cave, watching intently. She didn’t even hear the footsteps behind her.

  “Well, well,” a familiar voice said. “I was hoping to see you again.”

  “Marcus!” she gasped as she turned around.

  “The one and only,” he said with a sweeping, exaggerated bow. “So, what brings you out here?”

  “Just…exploring…” she said.

  “Now you and I both know that isn’t true,” he said. “There is no way Teddy would be out here in the middle of nowhere without a solid lead on something specific.”

  “You…seem to know him quite well,” she said.

  “Probably better than you,” he said. “And you’re supposed to be his sister.”

  Jiayi looked away. It was clear from his tone that he didn’t think she was Zhihao’s sister. There was no reason for her to reply. Lying further would only make her look like a fool, but telling him the truth could compromise her position.

  “You don’t have to tell me who you really are,” Marcus said. “But I would love to know what you are looking for.”

  “You know I can’t tell you that,” she said.

  “I can make it worth your while,” he said, holding up a gold coin.

  “I don’t need your money,” she said, which was a lie, but seemed to be the right thing to say.

  “Then what do you want?” he asked. “You seemed awfully interested in my…business dealings.”

  Jiayi thought for a moment. She had hoped for a chance to meet with him again and talk more about his business or find out if he could help her get out of the country. Was she now going to be too scared to take that chance?

  “I want to leave China,” she said quickly. “Go to England. Or America. I don’t care which.”

  “That’s…a tall order,” Marcus said, rubbing his chin.

  “I can pay,” she said. “Or, well, I can barter. I have…items I can sell. Or you can sell for me.”

  “Like what?” he asked.

  She reached into her bag with a gloved hand and pulled out one of the empress’s combs, the one Eunuch Lo had seen her steal. She had been wanting to get rid of it for as long as she’d had it. It was too dangerous to keep. The comb was studded with jewels that were undoubtedly real. One jewel would probably be worth enough for passage on a ship, and this comb had a dozen jewels studded in it, not to mention the fact that the comb was made of gold.

  Marcus whistled. “Hot damn, little mama,” he said. “Where did you get something like that?”

  “The same place I got this,” she said, pulling out the statue she had stolen from him the day before.

  Marcus nearly barked a laugh, but caught himself. He shot a look back into the cave, clearly not wanting Zhihao or Eunuch Lo to hear him. He nodded and took the statue from her. “That is one impressive trick. I noticed later that it was missing, but I didn’t suspect you in the slightest. I thought I must have just left it on the table by accident. You could make a lot of money with a skill like that.”

  “I know,” she said, recalling her thieving days. “But that’s not what I want to do. I just want to get to San Francisco or New York or London and get an honest job. I know you can sell that comb for me and get me the money.”

  “Not really a matter of money,” he said. “It’s a legal issue. Lots of borders are closed to Chinese women.”

  “I’m sure you have means,” she said even though she had no idea what legal issues he was referring to.

  “That I do, little miss,” he said. “But what’s in it for me? Like you, I don’t need money.”

  She nodded. “You make the arrangements, and I’ll tell you what we are looking for.”

  “Arrangements aren’t an issue,” he said. “I know a ship leaving the Tanggu Port in three days.” He handed her a small card. “Show my card to anyone at Tanggu, and they will show you which ship is mine.”

  She took the card and looked at it as if she was reading it. “Thank you,” she said. “When I arrive at the ship, I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

  “Fair enough,” he said. He opened her hand and placed several coins into it. He closed her fingers around them. “This should be enough if you need to hire a ride to Tanggu.” He kissed her closed fingers far more gently than she would have thought possible for a man as large and burly as he was.

  “Pleasure doing business with you,” he said with a tip of his hat. “And I look forward to much more pleasurable business.”

  Jiayi blushed and pulled her hand from his. She deposited the coins in her bag. “In three days,” she said.

  “In three days,” he repeated as he walked away.

  As soon as he was out of sight, she exhaled. She couldn’t believe that she had just made a deal like that with someone who was clearly dangerous. It was exciting. Even though a part of her felt like she had just made a huge mistake, she also felt bold and strong. She had just bargained for her passage out of China. She was going to escape!

  Of course, she wasn’t sure if she would take him up on his offer. After all, she had no idea if she could really trust him, if he could actually get her into another country, and what kind of work would be waiting for her. Zhihao had said that he could get her a job at a museum or for an art collector. That would be wonderful. She would have to talk to him more about that. If she could secure help from Zhihao, she wouldn’t need help from Marcus. She just wouldn’t show up at the Tanggu Port and he could leave without her. He might be angry, but he would get over it. He still had her comb as payment, after all.

  Everything seemed to be going wonderfully. She had a feeling they were close to the seal. They would surely find it. And she had two solid leads on leaving China. Her heart beat furiously in her chest. Everything was working out in her favor for once in her life.

  Fourteen

  “Jiayi!” Zhihao said, dropping a hand on her shoulder. She turned to him, startled. “Didn’t you hear me calling you?” he asked.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I…I thought I heard something out that way.” She pointed toward a pile of rocks.

  “Probably just a snake or rabbit,” Zhihao said.

  “Did you need something?” she asked. “Did you find anything in the cave?”

  He held up some arrowheads. “Just these,” he said. “Maybe if you touch them, you’ll learn something that could tell us if we are on the right track.”

  “I don’t know,” she said, clasping her hands behind her back. “I think I should conserve my energy. Besides, I don’t think Lady Cai would come into contact with weapons. I think we should wait. If we don’t find anything else, I can try.”

  “Fair enough,” he said, putting the arrowheads into his bag.

  “You didn’t find anything else in there?” she asked.

  He shook his head as he helped Eunuch Lo wind the rope. “Nothing related to the seal. I did find this, though.” He handed her a tin can. She tapped it and then sniffed it, making a face.

  “What is it? It smells rancid,” she said, handing it back.

  “Can of tinned beef,” he said. He pointed to the bottom of the can. “Crosse and Blackwell. A British company. Marcus has been here. He might not have found the seal, but he’s been here. He’s one step ahead of us at least.” He sighed in frustration and shook his head.

  “Oh dear,” Jiayi said. “But you don’t think he found the seal?”

  He finished winding up
the rope. “I don’t think so. The cave was nothing special. I found a couple of broken spears. Maybe the rebels who attacked the imperial procession used this cave before or after the attack.”

  “Then we can still find it first,” she said. “But I think we need a better plan than just going from cave to cave hoping to find something.”

  “I wish I had one,” Zhihao said. “But unless you can see something to help us narrow down the search, I don’t have a better idea.”

  Jiayi sighed and sat on a rock nearby. She pulled her folio out of her bag and began flipping through the pages.

  “Are those she sketches of your visions?” Zhihao asked, walking over. “Can I have a look?”

  Jiayi tilted the pages away from him so he couldn’t see and shook her head. “I’d rather you didn’t,” she said. “They aren’t very good. Just let me look for a moment, see if anything stands out to me.”

  Zhihao put his hands up in surrender and backed away, though now he wanted to see her sketches more than ever. Was she really that self-conscious? Or was she hiding something? Zhihao tried to distract himself while he waited, looking at the various rocks and dead trees that surrounded him, but his eyes kept going back to Jiayi. Her brow wrinkled as she studied the images, her eyes focused. A few wisps of hair framed her face. He wished he had any artistic skill so he could sketch her in this moment. He would have to see if he could procure a camera so he could take a photograph of her. After all, if they did manage to find the seal, they could become famous. It would only be fair if she were pictured by his side as he made the brilliant discovery…

  “Here is something,” she said, looking up. She stood and handed him a drawing of a landscape. It was quite good, in Zhihao’s non-professional opinion, clear and detailed. She could probably be a respected artist if she were given any formal training.

  “What are we looking at?” Zhihao asked.

  “Here,” she said, pointing. “According to my last vision of Lady Cai, she went to a tent and wrote a letter to her brother.”

  “I remember,” Zhihao said. “But you said you didn’t see anything useful.”

  “That’s what I thought at the time,” she said. “What stood out to me more than anything was the fact that Lady Cai had her own tent at all. She should have been in a tent with the rest of the Inner Court, the other ladies and their children.”

  “That is true,” Zhihao said. “But how does this help us?”

  “What if it wasn’t her tent?” Jiayi said. “What if it was actually the emperor’s tent? She could have been staying with him as his Favored Lady.”

  “True…” Zhihao said, still not seeing why this was significant.

  “Look,” she said, handing him the image. “This is how the tent looked as she approached it. See how one side of the tent is flush against the wall of the mountain pass?”

  “Yes,” Zhihao said. “That is somewhat odd, I suppose. Usually, an imperial tent would be open on each side so guards could patrol the whole thing.”

  “If we line up the map and this drawing, there should be a cave right on the other side of that rocky wall.”

  “You think Lady Cai…dug through the wall and into the cave on the other side to hide the seal?” Zhihao asked, rubbing his chin.

  Jiayi sighed and ripped her drawing away. “You’re right,” she said. “That’s stupid.”

  “No!” Zhihao said, grabbing her arm. “I’m…heh.” He couldn’t help but laugh a little. “I’m just shocked because it is so brilliant.”

  “Really?” Jiayi asked, her eyes brightening.

  “Well, I don’t think she dug through the wall, but the emperor could have ordered someone else to. And as you said, it’s a better place to start than just picking random caves. Might as well check that one first.”

  “Great!” Jiayi said.

  Zhihao couldn’t help but bask in the warmth of her smile. He had been a teacher for many years, but he didn’t enjoy it. He never had any students that stood out to him or surprised him. Jiayi made him feel like a real teacher, a mentor, someone who inspired. In a way, she inspired him. Her zeal for finding the seal and her excitement at every new discovery rekindled a love for archeology he hadn’t felt…well, he hadn’t felt since he returned to China. In a way, she reminded him of Rebecca. Rebecca also inspired him, though in different ways. No, he couldn’t think about her right now. She was long lost to him. He had to let her go.

  Fifteen

  Never had anyone made Jiayi feel so smart and capable. Of course, they most likely wouldn’t find anything in the cave, but still, she had examined the evidence and made a reasonable guess that no one else did. And Zhihao praised her for it! This well-educated, world-traveled man had called her brilliant. It almost made up for the time he called her crazy.

  Almost.

  As they walked to the cave, Jiayi took deep calming breaths and drank plenty of water. If they found anything in the cave, she wanted to have enough strength to see what it could tell her. Her heart raced as they approached the area.

  “So according to this map,” Zhihao explained, “the back of the cave, where the tent would have been, is to the east of this ridge, but the proper entrance to the cave should be to the west.”

  “The west would be where the goatherd said there was a cursed cave,” Jiayi said. “But would it be better to try to find Lady Cai’s entrance?”

  “I’m sure that entrance is well hidden,” Zhihao said. “It wouldn’t have done much good to leave a big hole in a rock wall leading straight to the seal. The emperor probably had a few trusted men place a large boulder in front of it to seal the entrance.”

  Jiayi nodded. “Can I go into the cave with you this time?” she asked. “I…I want to be there when you find it.” In truth, she didn’t want to be left alone again in case Marcus came back or was still watching her. Her earlier confidence after striking a deal with him had worn off a bit. She didn’t think she could keep her nerves in check as well as she had before if he spoke to her again.

  “Sure,” Zhihao said. “But you’ll need to stay back, just in case.”

  Jiayi sighed. “Of course,” she said, finding his protectiveness a bit extreme. “Just in case.”

  As they arrived at the cave, it did look exactly as the goatherd described, like a dragon’s mouth with sharp fangs pointing up and down. It was rather fitting, Jiayi thought, since the emperor was represented by the dragon. Though “dragon” is not the way she would describe the current emperor, the empress’s nephew. He was a thin waif of a man who spoke softly, if at all. Images of dragons could be found everywhere in the Forbidden City, from wall decorations to food bowls. She also knew that the emperor’s seal was adorned with dragons. She had a sketch of it in her notebook.

  Zhihao followed the same procedure as before, tying the rope around a nearby tree, and then each of them took hold of it as they entered the cave. Eunuch Lo lit a torch and held it before him. They proceeded into the cave slowly, but had to move even more carefully as they stepped further in. Not far beyond the jagged mouth of the cave, the rocky floor descended quickly. They were soon climbing over boulders and slipping through narrow passages. Jiayi was thankful for the rope. She would have been swiftly lost without it. But then the rope went taut.

  “We are going to have to abandon the rope here,” Zhihao said. “We’ve reached the end of it.”

  “How will we find our way?” Jiayi asked.

  Zhihao pulled a stick of chalk out of his pocket. “We will mark the walls with this.”

  Jiayi breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Now, all we have to do is…Ahh!” Zhihao yelled as he lost his footing and fell backward. Where he fell, Jiayi could not tell in the dark. She started to run toward him, but Eunuch Lo placed his hand on her shoulder. He then pointed toward the ground.

  It took her a moment, but as she moved her torch and her eyes adjusted, she saw it—a long piece of twine was stretched along the path. She cautiously walked over to where she had last seen Zhi
hao and called out, moving her torch to and fro.

  “Are you all right?” she called out. “Can you hear me?”

  “Ah-ahh!” she heard him yell from below.

  “What is it?” she asked again, more frantically. “Are you hurt?”

  “N…no…” Zhihao groaned. “But I’m not exactly alone down here. There’s a dead body.”

  “What?” Jiayi yelled back, sure she misheard him.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “The path is just a steep incline here, not a straight drop. You can come down—carefully!”

  Jiayi slowly tested each step two or three times as she moved down the incline. She finally made it to Zhihao. He was still sitting on the ground, his white shirt streaked with mud. Next to him was indeed a dead body—what was left of one anyway. It was mainly a skeleton.

  “It’s all right,” he said, seeing her apprehension. “It won’t bite.”

  “Are you sure you are not hurt?” she asked.

  “Only my pride,” he said as he held his torch to hers to relight it.

  “Nonsense,” she said as Eunuch Lo appeared next to her and moved a little ways further, closely looking out for more traps. “You tripped over a piece of twine across the path. It wasn’t your fault.”

  “A piece of twine?” he asked as he stood and dusted himself off. “I didn’t see a thing. Where would it have come from? Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Eunuch Lo spotted it after you fell.”

  “The goatherd said that the cave was cursed, right?” Zhihao said more than asked. “If there are traps set in the cave and people have died exploring here, that could have caused the locals to think it was cursed.”

  “But why would there be traps here?” Jiayi asked.

  “Because,” Zhihao replied with a smile, “we are on the right track.”

  Jiayi thought about that for a minute. “So you think Lady Cai hid the seal here and then set the traps to kill anyone who came after it.”

  “That is my theory,” Zhihao said, standing up and rubbing his back. “We can’t stop now.”