“That’s exactly it,” Zhihao said, not wanting to reveal where he found it. “This had been missing for over sixty years. The Qing have not had the Mandate of Heaven in three generations. Why are they still on the throne?”
“Because people are willing to hand over power if they think it is easier,” Lian said. “People rarely act in their own self-interest.”
“And you think keeping the seal will be in the best interest of all Chinese?” Zhihao asked.
“I think ridding China of the Qing plague is the best course of action, however it comes about,” Lian said. “But you don’t agree?”
“I don’t know what to think,” Zhihao said. “I don’t like the Qing on the throne either. But who would be better? Some warlord? Some idealist who has no idea how to actually govern?”
“There would be a difficult era of transition, that is certain,” Lian said. “When has setting up a new government ever been done without bloodshed? Even the empress has killed to keep her place secure.”
“But whose blood would be shed in this case?” Zhihao said. “The Qing? Or those who stand against them? Me? My family?”
“All of the above?” Lian said.
“And the girl,” Zhihao said. “I would have betrayed her. She thinks we are friends, a team. If I don’t show up tomorrow, I can never see her again.”
“Is that a price you are willing to pay?” Lian asked.
Zhihao didn’t think so. He had already lost Rebecca. Could he lose Jiayi too? Once again would his own bad decisions cause a rift between him and a woman he cared about that could never be healed? Would the empress hold Jiayi responsible? Would he be able to ever forgive himself if the empress put her to death because he stole the seal?
“Are you involved in this kind of stuff?” Zhihao asked. “Would you know who I could give the seal to?”
“I…know some people,” Lian said. “But would the revolution start right now? No. These things take time, planning. We need to gather support, momentum. You should have told me what you were looking for, then I could have been ready when you returned. But now…I don’t know. If you don’t show up tomorrow, the empress will know what you did and that you plan to use it against her. She probably already has a plan in place just in case she does not get the seal back.”
“So…you think I should just give it to her like I promised?” Zhihao asked.
“Only you can answer that, friend,” Lian said. “But know that this is not the only chance we will have to overthrow the Qing. Their days are numbered. Will it happen sooner if you keep the seal? Maybe. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that the destiny of an entire country rests with you.
“A country is made up of her people, not one man. The people’s rule, the people’s power, the people’s livelihood. These are the basis of a good government.”
And just like that, Zhihao knew where Lian stood. The teachings of Dr. Sun were unmistakable.
“You don’t just know people involved in the rebel groups, do you?” Zhihao said. “You are one of them.”
“I won’t deny it,” Lian said. “But we must all be cautious.”
“Why have you never told me before?” Zhihao said.
“You never really seemed interested in changing the status quo,” Lian said. “Though, I considered it when we first returned from England. I thought maybe your broken heart would be ripe for planting new ideas.”
“Then, why didn’t you?” Zhihao asked.
“I was young and still new to the movement myself. I was unsure of how to recruit new members safely. By the time I started growing my confidence and getting more involved, you seemed to have resettled in your life here. I didn’t think it was my place to disturb you. But it sounds like you have been having doubts since before this seal fell into your lap.”
“What man can call himself a Han and not have doubts?” Zhihao nearly spat. “I think many of our countrymen have settled for life the way it is under the Qing, but they would not think twice about raising their fists against them when given the chance.”
“The Qing would agree with you,” Lian said. “They are terrified the Han will rise up against them. We outnumber them ten to one. Why would we not?”
“Why haven’t we, then?” Zhihao asked.
“Fear of the unknown. Fear of the risks, of self-sacrifice. Many reasons. But it’s only a matter of time before the dam breaks.”
“So, what should I do? You aren’t helping me make a decision,” Zhihao said.
“I can’t answer that for you,” Lian said. “But whatever you decide, you can’t go back to the way things were before. You can’t deny the revolutionary blood coursing through your veins.” Lian gripped Zhihao’s arms and stared deep into his eyes. “You know what is coming. You know what is happening. You might not be able to start the revolution today, but you can’t stop it from coming. Join me, brother.”
Zhihao was mesmerized by Lian’s words, by his passion. Zhihao had felt his disdain for the Manchu ruling class growing for a long time, and meeting the empress had done nothing to stem that trend. If anything, she made him hate the Manchu more. The empress was ruling without authority and wielded her power with cruelty. When he thought about the way she held Jiayi captive, his fists instinctively clenched.
Jiayi.
He couldn’t just leave her there, no matter how much he wanted to stop the empress. If anything, he had to help overthrow the Manchu rulers for her. To help free her, even though she was one of them. But she was not of the ruling class. She was Manchu, but she was just as oppressed as any Han. When he thought about Jiayi, he felt a fire in his belly. Without her, he didn’t think he could find the strength needed to be part of the revolution.
He would return the seal, but only to save Jiayi and overthrow the Manchu once and for all.
Twenty-Two
The sedan chair seemed to arrive only moments after Zhihao sent the message to the empress letting her know that they had found the seal. As the chair-bearer lifted the flap to the chair, Jiayi hesitated before stepping in and felt her heart sink. She was getting back into her cage. Even though she, Zhihao, and Hu Xiaosheng had agreed it was for the best, she was afraid that if she willingly went back to the empress, she would never have another chance to get away. Standing at the foot of the stairs to the library, she looked left and right, wondering if she had any chance of getting away if she fled. She thought that the chair-bearers might not chase her if she did. They were not guards, after all. She looked back at Zhihao, and he gave her a reassuring smile.
“I will see you in a few short hours,” he said.
She nodded and climbed into the chair.
“Princess Der Ling!” she gasped when she realized she was not alone in the chair. Her instinct was to kneel before the princess, but it was not possible in the chair. She bent at the waist instead and kept her eyes to the floor.
“Sit up,” Der Ling said.
Jiayi did as she was ordered but kept her head bent down.
“So, you found the thing?” Der Ling asked. “You really found the emperor’s seal?”
“I…We did, your highness,” Jiayi said. “Zhihao and I were successful in our mission.”
Der Ling was silent for a moment, then she started to laugh. Jiayi lifted her eyes for a moment. The princess was shaking her head as she laughed, as if in disbelief.
“I can’t believe it,” the princess finally said. “All this time I have wondered if you could really be true. If you were just making up such fantastical stories. Even though the empress has believed in your abilities for years, I thought she must be crazy. That you must be far more clever than you let on to be able to fool the empress.”
Jiayi felt the corner of her mouth lift. At least the princess was giving Jiayi enough credit to think her clever; that was more respect than most people gave her. But she had no idea how to respond. Should she thank her? Tell her she was wrong? The safest option was always to stay quiet, so that was what she did.
“Lo
ok at me, Jiayi,” the princess said after a moment.
Jiayi lifted her head, but kept her eyes downcast. Der Ling reached over and just touched the tip of Jiayi’s chin with her finger, urging her to look up with barely a movement.
“I said, look at me,” she whispered.
Jiayi did as she was ordered.
Der Ling was not a princess by blood. She was actually a foreigner. Her mother was French and her father was the Chinese foreign minister to France. She had been born and raised in France, but the family had returned to China only a couple of years before due to the minister’s failing health. When the family appeared before the empress upon their return, the empress had become smitten with the charming Der Ling and asked that she join her household as a lady-in-waiting, to which Der Ling readily agreed. She quickly became the empress’s favorite, and as a gift, the empress styled Der Ling as “princess,” a title Der Ling was more than happy to accept and exploit to the fullest.
Der Ling’s bright shining eyes were mesmerizing to Jiayi. They were unlike any eyes Jiayi had seen before, and her face was white, her nose pronounced. She had thin, painted eyebrows and outlined her eyes with kohl. She wore the largest, most ornate batou, and jewels danged from holes in her earlobes that Jiayi thought must have been excruciatingly painful.
Finally, after what seemed like minutes, Der Ling removed her fingertip from Jiayi’s chin and nodded. “There is nothing but sincerity in you, is there?” she finally asked, but didn’t seem to want an answer. “You look terrified. Are you afraid of me?”
“I…I don’t know why you are here,” Jiayi said, which surprised her. Even the most bold of court minister was often cowed by the mere presence of the Princess Der Ling. Jiayi was shocked she could make a croak, much less a coherent sentence.
“I want you to do something for me,” Der Ling said. Out of her sleeve, she pulled a sheathed dagger. Jiayi gasped and recoiled. “Calm down, girl,” Der Ling said with a roll of her eyes. “I want you to touch this for me. Tell me who it belonged to.”
The dagger was curved and ornately carved. The hilt was shaped like a phoenix and the whole thing was encrusted with jewels. It looked more ceremonial than functional, but Jiayi knew that even blunt knives could draw blood.
“Does…does the empress know?” Jiayi asked. “She doesn’t like for me to use my powers without her orders.”
“She doesn’t know where you are,” the princess said.
“But…the summons…” Jiayi said, confused.
“I intercepted the message from Zhihao,” the princess admitted. “I just bribed the eunuch who was delivering the note. I told you to return. I wanted to speak with you first. Learn for myself if your powers truly were real.”
“Where…where are we going?” Jiayi asked as she scooted as closely to the door as she could. The flaps to the chair were tied tightly. She wasn’t sure she could escape very quickly if she needed to…unless she used the dagger to cut the ties loose.
“We are headed to the Forbidden City,” Der Ling said. “It is late. You will slip to your room unnoticed. In the morning, I will tell the empress you have only just returned and she will be none the wiser. She will be so excited to get her grubby little hands on the seal, she won’t think to ask why you did not return sooner.”
Jiayi felt her jaw drop at the disrespectful way Der Ling spoke of the empress, but Der Ling just waved her hand as though it was of no consequence.
“She is not feeling well anyway,” she continued. “She has not left her porcelain bowl for hours.”
Jiayi shook her head in shock. Did this spoiled foreigner have no respect for the elderly?
“Forget about her,” Der Ling said, holding the dagger out. “Touch this. Tell me who the owner was.”
Jiayi’s hands were clasped in her lap. She often held them together to keep from touching anything by accident. She wrung them together now. She didn’t know what was going on, but she did not want to make an enemy of Der Ling. She finally nodded and held her hands palms up. Der Ling smiled and dropped the dagger into her hands.
Jiayi was weeping. She couldn’t help it. Something terrible had happened. Something that shook her to the core, but she had no idea what. She raised her head and wiped her eyes so she could see. She was in a room she had not been in before, but it was exquisitely furnished. She looked down at her dress and recognized her style of clothes. She was in the Tang Dynasty. But she certainly was not Lady Meirong.
“The emperor approaches!” a voice rang out.
The emperor! She stood and tried to calm her host and then kneeled as the door opened.
“My dear,” the man said as he rushed to her side and lifted her to her feet. He embraced her tightly, and she hugged him back gently, surprised at such affection from him. “How are you?” he asked as he pulled back and gently cupped her face. “Are you injured?”
Jiayi’s eyes widened in surprise and then touched her chest and stomach, checking for injuries. “I…I don’t think so.”
The emperor sighed in relief. “That is good. Do not worry, the bitch will pay for what she did.”
“I…certainly hope so,” Jiayi said, even though she had no idea what was going on. She needed to find out quickly so she could tell Der Ling. And where was the dagger?
“She thinks that just because she is the empress, I cannot punish her,” the emperor said. “But she will learn that she cannot control me any longer. I should just depose her, put her to death, and name you my empress.” He was angry now, stomping around the room. To Jiayi, this seemed vaguely familiar.
“You mean…Empress…Wang?” Jiayi asked hopefully.
“Who else would I be talking about, you silly thing?” the emperor asked.
“Forgive me,” Jiayi said, trying to act sad and scared while controlling her excitement. She knew who she was. Empress Wang was the proper first wife of Emperor Gaozong. Which meant Jiayi was the woman who would become Empress Wu.
“I…I am still so upset,” Jiayi said as she slumped down into a chair. “I’m not thinking straight.”
Gaozong ran to her and kneeled in front of her. He kneeled! The stories were right. Gaozong was so enamored with the young Wu Mei that he humbled himself before her.
“I know, my love,” he said. “That is why I have brought you a gift.” He reached into his robe and pulled out the dagger that Der Ling had given her. She reached out and ran her fingers over it. “If the empress ever sends an assassin after you again, I never want you to feel weak or powerless. You will always be protected.”
“Thank you,” Jiayi said as she took the dagger from him. She held it up and watched as the jewels reflected the light from the room’s braziers.
Jiayi gasped as she opened her eyes. She coughed as she tried to take a full breath. Der Ling was now sitting by her side instead of across from her, and she was patting her on the back.
“Thank the gods,” Der Ling said in relief. “I was beginning to think you weren’t coming back.”
“Forgive me,” Jiayi said. “It took a while for me to figure out who I was.”
“But you did it?” Der Ling asked, her eyes sparkling. “You saw who the owner was? Tell me!”
“It was Empress Wu,” Jiayi said confidently, and the two women smiled at each other.
“Yes!” Der Ling pumped her fist in the air in triumph and kicked her feet. She then hugged Jiayi and took the dagger from her. She kissed the dagger and held it in her arms like a precious baby. “I knew it. I knew you were the one.”
“The empress will be ecstatic when she finds out,” Jiayi said. But when Der Ling shot her a dark look, she wished she hadn’t.
“The empress can never know about this,” Der Ling said.
“But…the empress has been looking for Empress Wu,” Jiayi said, confused.
“And she can keep looking,” Der Ling said as she moved back across from Jiayi. “This is my link. This dagger, I was sure it belonged to Empress Wu, but I had to know for certain. What did you see in y
our vision? What happened?”
“Not much,” Jiayi said. “Gaozong gave it to her after Empress Wang tried to have her killed.”
Der Ling nodded. “She carried this dagger with her for the rest of her life. We will need to get more visions of it. I believe this is no ordinary dagger.”
“What do you mean?” Jiayi asked. “Not ordinary?”
“You’ll see,” Der Ling said. “As long as you keep having visions for me.”
“But the empress won’t like that—” Jiayi started to say.
“The empress must never know,” Der Ling said. “Not yet, anyway. This will be our little secret.”
“But…” Jiayi sighed and hemmed and hawed over her words. She couldn’t say no to a princess, but if the empress found out, she would be furious. She could toss Jiayi out without a second thought, or worse. “I work for the empress. She gives me things to see. If I spend my energy on the dagger for you, I could become useless to her.”
“I will make it worth your while,” Der Ling said. She leaned forward on her knees and looked at Jiayi slyly. “What is it you want, Jiayi?”
To escape, Jiayi wanted to say but bit her tongue. She had no idea how much she could trust Der Ling, if at all. In the two years that Der Ling had been a lady-in-waiting, the two had barely exchanged more than passing pleasantries. Yet now, she was asking Jiayi to trust her with her life? After the changes and excitement of the last few days, this was the last thing she expected to happen.
But could this be another opportunity? She was working with Zhihao and would be taught by Hu Xiaosheng. Was this just another way for her to help herself and possibly gain another ally. If she could find a way to trust Der Ling, she could be a powerful friend. Der Ling was wealthy, well-educated, and knew people all over the world. Jiayi felt a tinge of greed in her chest. She wanted Der Ling’s help, but if Der Ling betrayed her, it could cost her her life. She needed something in exchange.
“Are you loyal to the empress, princess?” Jiayi asked.
“Of course I am,” Der Ling said without an ounce of sincerity. “I am loyal to the end of my days. Aren’t you?”
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