by Yuriko Taira
“It’s hard to tell, but the Jade Seal isn’t likely to be as big as this stone,” Shinkichi said, scratching the large stone gently with his finger-nails.
Some powder came off, showing carvings on the surface of the stone, but we could not tell what language it was written in.
We left the cave. The stag had followed us to the foot of Mount Rausu. I patted the stag gently. He knelt down by my side, and let me kiss his antlers.
“Bye, handsome sika. I’ll see you another day.”
“Ah wow,” the stag roared, stood up; and watched us leaving the forest.
We dropped off Kaga and Eiji in front of their house; and took off for Sapporo immediately, boarding a flight back to Osaka.
Now, the only possible lead to the Jade Seal was the auction in Seoul, and the mystery of my family was growing.
“I wish the sika stag was human. If so, he might be able to tell me something about my family. I’m feeling so alone…” I said sadly.
“Babe, you’re not alone. I’m your family. I love you... more than anyone else.”
Shinkichi came closer, rubbing his face against mine. He had not shaved for a couple of days. His face was like sand paper, gently sanding my skin.
Early in the morning of Saturday, I was woken by Mrs Abe. She and a wedding maid had come to dress Junko in a shiromuku (Japanese white wedding kimono).
“I’ll go to Shinkichi,” I said to them, taking the furisode kimono out of a drawer of the wardrobe.
“No, you’re not going to Shinkichi, just yet. I’d like you to stay and watch,” Mrs Abe said. “It’ll be your turn soon.”
“Yes, Okaasan.” I sat down on the tatami, putting the furisode kimono by my side.
The shiromuku was made of at least seven layers: underdress, inner belts, kakeshita (white kimono), obi, obi-ager, obi-jime, uchikake (coat), and wataboshi (white hat).
At around 9.00 am, we stepped out of the house. Mr Abe led the way to the main road, where a white limousine had been waiting for us. The wedding maid walked by Junko’s side, holding her hand. I was behind them, wearing the Abe family’s treasure, the red furisode kimono; and Shinkichi walked next to me, wearing a dark-blue silk kimono with a black-and-white male obi of lattice patterns, a pair of grey hakama (skirt-like trousers), and a haori himo (cotton balls with cords) tied to the front of his kimono jacket which had kamon (white emblems) on both sides of the chest, at the centre of each sleeve, and in the middle of the back close to the collar.
Kamon indicated a family’s lineage, blood line, ancestry and status from ancient times. The more formal the kimono, the more kamon was displayed on it.
Onlookers lined both sides of the street, watching the wedding process. Among them, a head of light-brown wavy hair stood above the crowd. I pulled Shinkichi’s sleeve. He looked down at me with a question mark in his eyes. I pointed to the head above the crowd. Shinkichi smiled broadly, and waved his hand. Sean pushed his way through the crowd and came over.
“I’m just in time for the big date.” He smiled at us.
“We’re delighted you’ve come. I was worried you might not manage to get here on time,” Shinkichi said.
Sean was invited into the limousine, and met the Abe family members.
The limousine took us to the Osaka Tenman-gu Shrine, where Gakuto and his family waited for our arrival. Gakuto looked very handsome wearing a black montsuki haori hakama (groom’s gown) with a haori himo tied to the front of his kimono jacket.
The wedding master, with his team of two maidens and two male musicians, led the bride and groom to the main building of the shrine for a Shinto ceremony. We had followed them. As soon as we stepped inside, a monk directed us to our seats.
The ceremony began with Sanshin no gi where a presiding priest conducted ritual purification for the bride and groom before announcing their marriage to the Kami (Japan’s native gods) and seeking their blessing.
Then it proceeded to Sankon no gi where the groom had the ichi no sakazuki (first drink symbolising heaven) and the bride drank after him; and then, the ni no sakazuki (second drink symbolising earth); afterwards, it was the san no sakazuki (third drink praying for fertility).
The third routine of the ceremony was Mikushi azuke no gi where the bride picked up a woman’s hair comb and gave it to the groom. The groom accepted it, showing his willingness to make the marriage work. Then the groom conducted the Seishi hodoku (reading of the vows) and the bride accepted them.
After this, they were given the Tamagushi hoten (offering of the flowering branches of the gods). They held the branches and prayed to the gods of Japan, then put the branches on a table with the ends facing the gods.
The last part of the ceremony was Shinzoku katame no sakazuki (in-laws’ drink) to celebrate the two families coming together.
After the ceremony, we went to Tenman-gu Kaikan Ume-no-Ma for a wedding reception. While the bride, groom and their parents exchanging greetings with guests, we had turned our attention to Sean.
“Did you get our latest news?” I asked him.
“What news? All Shinkichi said was ‘We need you, come here immediately.’ So, I’m dropping by on my way home; and I do have some news about the Yuwen Foundation.”
“The Yuwen Foundation? What’s the news?” I was curious.
“I’ll tell you later, in private,” Sean said quietly; and turned to Shinkichi, “What do you need me for, mate?”
“We've accepted Huang’s invitation to Seoul for an antique auction. What do you think of it?” Shinkichi said, and looking at his mate anxiously.
Sean’s eyes brightened as if he was excited by the thrill of danger.
“Interesting! When are you leaving?”
“This evening,” I said.
“Count me in. By the way, if your sister didn’t wear white, I’d have thought you two were getting married today,” Sean said, half seriously.
“Some brides do wear red. Yuuko-chan’s kimono can be a wedding kimono. The red represents a virgin, the cherry blossom represent beauty; and the white cranes are birds of happiness, which represent good fortune and longevity…” Shinkichi went on and on...
“Why not turn it into a double wedding? It’s a popular thing in Australia.” Sean encouraged him.
“Well, babe?” Shinkichi turned to me, his voice full of hope.
“I can’t think about a wedding right now,” I said in a quiet and worrying voice.
“Fair enough, let’s get to work then.” Shinkichi was unusually agreeable this time.
CHAPTER 13
Our charter private jet landed on K-16 Air Base in Seongnam, Seoul just after dinner time. This airport was one of the South Korea military bases not operated by the USA. It was used for presidential and other private flights, also hosting a few American troops.
“My mate will meet us at the arrival hall,” Sean said, as we were getting off the plane.
“Is your mate from the Special Forces?” I asked, but received no response from Sean. Suddenly, I remembered something of importance. “You haven’t told me the news about the Yuwen Foundation. I truly want to know now.”
Sean gave me a strange look. “Yuwen Foundation is a suspect for funding criminal activities in California,” he said in a cold tone.
“That’s not true. My father wasn’t a criminal. He couldn’t have set up the Yuwen Foundation to fund criminal activities. You must be mistaken.” I tried very hard not to scream at Sean.
“Kid, your father might not know his money is being abused for criminal activities.”
“He should know, he ought to know!” I had lost my cool.
“Babe, don’t worry about your father. He might be in heaven now. Let him rest, eh?” Shinkichi comforted me.
A Korean man in a chauffeur’s uniform walked up to us and saluted Sean. “Sir, welcome to Seoul.”
Sean returned his salute but did not say a word, nor introduced us to the man. In silence, we followed Sean and the chauffeur to a bullet-proof BMW.
&
nbsp; About 30 minutes later, we arrived at the Grand Hyatt Seoul, a five-star hotel built in 1978, located 10 minutes away from the city centre. Our suite faced north with a 180-degree view of the Namsan Mountains.
Sean turned everything in the suite inside-out, and upside-down. Satisfied that the suite was not bugged, he said to me, “Kid, you may call your Uncle Huang now.”
“Okay.” I picked up the phone.
It happened that Huang was also staying in the same hotel. He invited us to supper at Akasaka, a Japanese restaurant in the hotel which had a teppanyaki and sushi bar.
Huang was accompanied by his son-in-law, Ibin Gan. My hand went to my neck as soon as I saw them. I shook my head, trying to shake off the dizzy spell.
A waiter led us to a table by the window. After we were seated, Huang handed me a wine menu which had an extensive list of sakes. I passed it to Shinkichi and looked out through the glass window. I could see a nice view to the hotel pool and Han River under the stars.
“My child, you’ve brought all your friends.” Ibin tried to get my attention.
“Yes, Mister Gan. Do you have a problem with that?” I snapped, seeing him again reminded me the shadows who had burned down my family home. You wish that all of us were burnt to ashes, don’t you? I looked into Ibin's eyes.
As if he had sensed my suspicion towards him, Ibin said, “Of course not, the more the merrier.” He smiled without showing his teeth.
“Oh, you’ve already met her new friend?” Huang asked Ibin.
“Yes, Uncle Huang. Mister Gan met Sean when he picked us up at LA International Airport last time,” I answered for Ibin.
“How do you do, Mister Sean?” Huang stood up and gave his hand to Sean.
“I’m Stirling, Sean Stirling. How do you do, Mister Huang?” Sean stood up, too; and shook hands with Huang.
They both sat down again.
“How did you meet Princess Yuuko?” Huang asked Sean.
“We’re housemates in Australia,” Sean said, smiling at Huang and Ibin.
“So, moving out of the girls’ hostel has done you good, my Princess. You’ve made more than one friend; ha-ha, ha-ha,” Huang laughed as usual.
Shinkichi was not pleased, and not hesitated to challenge Huang whenever there was an opportunity. “Mister Huang, I don’t think Yuuko-chan needs your approval to do whatever she wants to do. If she needs permission from someone, that person can only be me.”
“Why is that, young man?” Huang asked, not happy with what he had heard.
“Because I’m her future husband,” Shinkichi said with determination.
“Are you sure about this, young man? In order to become her husband, you’ll have to adopt the surname 'Yuwen' and become a Prince of Xianbei.” Huang disapproved of Shinkichi again, although he was a bit more polite this time.
“I’ll do anything for my girl.” Shinkichi would not give in.
“Look, stop talking about me! Uncle Huang, are you sure the Jade Seal is up for auction tomorrow?” I interrupted them.
“Ha-ha, ha-ha; my Princess, I’m not sure. There are over a hundred jade pieces on the auction list. I hope one of them is the Jade Seal. They offer pre-view in the morning before the auction starts. Will you accompany me to the pre-view?”
“Yes, I will,” I said without hesitation.
“Me, too,” Shinkichi said loudly.
“Me, three,” Sean said quietly.
“Ha-ha, ha-ha; my Princess, you’ve got two bodyguards now.”
“Uncle Huang, it isn’t what you think. They’d accompany me everywhere I go because we’re close friends travelling together.”
The auction was to be held in the hotel ballroom and the auction items were stored in the conference room next door. Two-armed security guards stood by the entry to the conference room, but there was no guard for the ballroom.
I pushed the double doors of the ballroom, which to my surprise, were unlocked. I peeked inside.
“Wow, this is a lot bigger and grandeur than the one at my high school,” I said, walking inside to admire the size and decoration of the ballroom.
Shinkichi came in, following by Sean.
“May I have this dance with you?” Shinkichi said, bowing in the same way as he did at my graduation ball.
“Yes, I haven’t been to a ball since finishing high school.” I gave him my hand.
◆◆◆
The Year 12 Ball was one of the most memorable moments in my life, and the first formal event I attended. That night, Shinkichi dressed in a black tail suit with a white shirt, bowtie and gloves, looking like a handsome Japanese prince.
After our first dance, Shinkichi was taken away by a girl in a black ballgown; a bit taller than me, slim with tanned skin, big brown eyes and long, wavy black hair.
A few minutes into the dance, the girl let her hands walk their way up, and wrap around Shinkichi’s neck. He did not know what to do about her advance and lost control of the dance. He kept stepping on the girl’s toes.
I watched from behind the curtains, and could not stop laughing at Shinkichi’s clumsiness, but eventually, decided to come out of hiding to rescue them.
“May I?” I gave a gentle pat on the girl’s shoulder.
“What?” Anger was in her voice.
“May I save your toes?” I said kindly.
“Mind your own business. I can help my man to get it right!” the girl yelled at me.
“Sorry, Miss. I’m not your man, not even for this dance.” Shinkichi’s voice was cold and harsh.
He removed the girl’s hands from his neck, and wrapped his arm around my waist. There is a fine line between jealous and hatred. What I saw in that girl’s eyes was hatred.
A man who looked like her father walked over to us quickly and took her away.
Shinkichi held me in ballroom position, and continued the second waltz.
“I didn’t know you’d lose control in front of forward women.” I teased him.
“I wasn’t out of control but being polite. Where were you all these hours?”
“It was only a few minutes, not hours. I was behind the curtains, watching you dance,” I said, my body moving in perfect harmony with Shinkichi’s.
Shinkichi liked that I had watched him, but said something totally opposite. “Since when you’ve learned to spy on me?” He put on a face of disapproval.
“No, not spying but watching over you.” I mimicked what he had said before.
“Ha-ha, ha-ha; my babe is learning fast,” Shinkichi laughed happily, lifting me up for a swan pose.
The light-blue ballgown that he had gifted me flew in the air like water surrounding a swan. All the other couples stopped dancing to watch us. When the music came to an end, the crowd cheered. Within seconds, we were surrounded by high school leavers.
◆◆◆
“Babe, let’s do the second waltz now,” Shinkichi said, taking me into a ballroom hold. “One, two, three, go…” I followed his lead, moving with him in perfect timing.
“Hurry up, children. We don’t have all day.”
We heard Huang calling us; and looked towards the sound, found him at the door of the ballroom with Ibin standing next to him. We let go of each other and ran towards them. Sean smiled cheekily, following us.
Huang led us into the conference room next door. A few large boxes were laid down on the floor. On temporary shelves, among a group of small objects, there were a few rows of jade seals. As we approaching, a dim green light blinked. The light became brighter as we came nearer.
“The Jade Seal!” I said, my heart was about to jump out of my throat.
I ran to the rows of jade seals. The green light came from a dark-green jade seal which was about ten centimetres tall, and three centimetres wide and deep; strips of gold were at the edges and black pigments in the lower part; some carvings were visible in the upper part and on the top. A tag hung from a string tied to the jade seal reading ‘Auction Item 100’.
“This is it, exactly the same a
s the photo,” I whispered with excitement.
Standing on my toes, I carefully took down the Jade Seal with both hands, and it shone brightly in my hands. We were bathed in a dome of green light.
Fweet, fweet… the security guards ran towards us with whistles in their mouths.
Shinkichi took the Jade Seal off my hands quickly, and the dome of green light disappearing. He put the Jade Seal back onto the shelf, taking my hand and leading me towards the door. As we were walking away, the green light became dimmer and dimmer, then extinguished.
We went to the lobby in silence; but Sean stayed behind, having a chat with the security guards.
I was overwhelmed by the experience and excused myself. Shinkichi followed me back to our suite. I washed my hands again and again, wondered if it would stop the strange phenomenon of a dome of green light from happening next time.
“Babe, it’s the Jade Seal, not your hands,” Shinkichi said gently.
“Nfu, nfu… what am I going to do now?” I started crying.
Shinkichi took me into his arms and caressed my hair. “Babe, don’t be scared. I won’t let anything happen to you. When we buy back the Jade Seal, I’ll put it in a box and lock it in a safe. You won’t see it ever again.”
“Is it as simple as that?” I sobbed in his arms.
“Yes, babe. It’s that simple! Let’s go sightseeing for a few hours, shall we?”
“Okay.” I rubbed my face on his chest, drying my tears on his jumper.
We walked down Gyeongnidan-gil Road hand in hand. Pricey international cuisine and coffee filled this one-kilometre long street. We were not interested in buying fancy things that we could find in Australia, so we took a taxi to Changdeokgung, one of the five grand palaces built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897).
Changdeokgung palace was set in a large park in Jongno-gu, well-preserved with a public palace, a royal family residence, and a near garden. It was said that past kings of Korea were resting in the near garden which had a gigantic tree that was over 300 years old.
CHAPTER 14
