by Jeremy Han
“Chamberlain, how could they allow someone as important as you to come all the way here?”
“I am old now. My body is full of creaking bones. They say I creak louder than the wooden beams in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. It is not difficult for an old man to take a little leave to recuperate in milder climates. I am old. The palace has younger men to serve, so they no longer need me around as much.” He waved his hand, dismissing his own importance in the palace.
“It is a long way from the capital for someone so important to come and visit a tanner.”
Zhao said with mirth in his eyes. He was genuinely happy to see the old man but also sharp enough to know that a chamberlain of the Forbidden City would not go out of the way to visit a smelly tanner. The old man’s world was a perfumed one. It was a world of glazed tiles and carved timber, of silk-robed, perfumed and spiced men and women who recited poetry and debated philosophy. Zhao’s world was one filled with blood and violence, pain and death. Now it was saturated with shit and piss. Zhao walked over to the hut and returned with a flask and two cups. The flask was glazed brown earth, rough to the touch. It was cheap and plentiful in the empire: the utensils of the poor. Still he poured generously and the sweet fragrance of wine filled the air. The chamberlain accepted it gratefully. Friendship demolished all rank and the two men drank in silence. The chamberlain looked into the distance and said,
“You still like your drink I can see.”
“Winter is coming. Even rough people like us feel the chill.” Zhao added, “Wen Shu, ‘Uncle Wen’, you looked burdened.”
Wen laid the cup on the rough-hewn table with a sigh, eyes still focusing on something distant. “It’s been eighteen years. How has life been to you?”
“I’m alive. That’s as good as one can expect for a court fugitive.”
“Is business good?”
“It allows me to get by.”
“I know why you chose tanning. It allows you to stay away from the city; gives you a legitimate reason to live in the outskirts.” After a pause, Wen added softly, “It must have been hard on you.”
“You know Uncle Wen, we are fugitives. Ever since that fateful night, all of us have been hiding, making a discreet living, trying to forget but never do. Always wondering when the knock at night would come. We wake at the slightest noise, ready to die fighting. Someday, it will come to us.”
Zhao said it with sadness. Wen could hear the wasted years living on the edge come out as words only to disappear like mist, like the best years of their lives spent hiding.
“I know I owe you all, your band of brothers, the most loyal of men. I should leave you out of this but I have no choice. Believe me, I have no options left.” Wen said with tears in his eyes.
Without prompting, he recounted Yong Le’s orders given two months ago to find Jian Wen. “Yong Le is in poor health now. Yet he holds on to power like a tiger. He is afraid; his sickness plays on his mind. This is the result of having too much blood on his hands. Innocent blood is a debt that will never go away. And now he wants to increase it.”
Zhao nodded his head in sagely understanding after the chamberlain paused.
“I know why you are here. You want us to rescue him again.” Zhao said softly. There was a silence as the weight of the matter settled like a rock sinking into dark and treacherous waters. Zhao spoke first,
“For the last eighteen years, we have lived like hunted animals, moving here and there, trying to avoid detection. I know what Yong Le did to those who were loyal to our master. Finally, the waves died down, and we were slowly forgotten. We yearn to live the normal life, have a wife and children, a decent living without fear. We have it now but you want to stir the waters again.”
“Only if you agree to it. I cannot ask for more from you and your brothers. It is not fair to add to the ordeal you have already suffered because of your loyalty.”
Zhao laughed. “Come on Chamberlain, you have something up your sleeve. Spit it out. What is your trump card? You did not come all the way here to tell me that you won’t force me into another of your grand ideas. Whatever you have, I’m sure it’s going to be mind-blowing.”
“A place where the Eastern Depot cannot reach you forever! That is the only way to save Jian Wen from his murderous uncle. If after eighteen years that madman still wants to kill him, then nowhere in the empire is safe. I have a plan to send him away to faraway lands where he can be forgotten, so will those who escort him there.”
Zhao looked at him with scepticism as he waited for Wen to continue. He almost fell off his chair when the old man told him of his plan. After a moment of silence Zhao spoke,
“You will need to let me think about this.” He said without looking at Wen; his eyes staring far away.
“I can tell from your tone your answer is no.” The old man said softly, almost tenderly as though he had expected the rejection.
“I understand that you have built up a new life, but it is an illusion of safety you know. The Eastern Depot will tear the silk screens of anonymity and find you.”
“This is too much for me to digest. You want me, us, to throw away everything at a moment’s notice. We no longer work for the court. We are free men.”
“Are you, Pet Tiger? Are you really free?” Wen looked at him sadly. “I’m offering you a chance to truly be free.” Zhao used to be known as Jian Wen’s ‘pet tiger’, so ferocious was he in defending his master.
“What about you? What would you do after this is over?”
Wen sighed, “I am old. It does not matter. It will be a matter of time before they find out my involvement. I will die by then. It does not worry me.”
Zhao noticed the use of the word will die and frowned. They lapsed into silence as each gave the other space. Then as Wen got up to bade farewell, he said,
“Gather the men. Let them decide if they want to be part of this, but do not tell them about the last stage of escape. It is too sensitive. If it fails, too many good people will die. I will speak to them about the rescue. I owe it to them to hear from me directly.”
“Chamberlain, it is late and it is quite a way back to the inn. Why don’t you stay the night?”
“What? Stay here? I’ll die of suffocation. I don’t understand how you can live here amidst the stink. No…no…” he waved his hand dismissively, all the while shaking his head as he turned and walked into the twilight leaving Zhao to contemplate the possibility of one last mission – one that could give him complete freedom or could doom him after eighteen years of hiding. He watched the old man walked slowly and painfully the way seniors do, and wondered whether this was worth it for him. After a life of servitude, Chamberlain Wen was entitled to a comfortable retirement, but he was risking it for a man the world had forgotten, save his murderous uncle. Wen’s courage and sense of righteousness inspired him and if he had been younger, he would not have hesitated. But eighteen years was a long time; it had dulled his sense for adventure. He had remained alive because his zeal was buried by his cover as a tanner. Zhao Qi knew that Wen spoke the truth that as long as he remained in the empire, he was in danger. That was why under the bed he kept a sabre. He kept the blade sharp and in good order: this was one discipline he kept from his days as a member of the imperial bodyguard – no less as the chief of Jian Wen’s personal guard. As a ranked member of the military, he had sword but he had thrown that away over the course of his escape and journey into obscurity. A sword bearing the seal of an emperor was a dead giveaway to his identity. A sabre was crude and common; anyone could wield one. Nonetheless, in the right hands it was deadly. To the many he killed, it made no difference. Zhao Qi had a nickname then: The emperor’s pet tiger. But even tigers grow old and lose their edge. Zhao Qi sighed. Part of him felt duty bound to follow Wen, but the other part of him told him not to compromise the comfort of anonymity he had build up over the years. He had a comfortable income, a home he had gotten used to and a peaceful life. Still something nagged at him: The Eastern Depot. He remembered Ji G
ang: ruthless, cunning, dogged and deadly. If he is onto this, not only Jian Wen was in danger, but Zhao and the rest who had helped the emperor escaped. Perhaps the old man had knew that Zhao would say no because his present circumstances had softened him. Perhaps the Chamberlain genuinely cared for the team of men who had saved the emperor and did not want them to fall into Ji’s hands one by one. Eventually the Eastern Depot would know it was Wen who leaked its secrets. The old man won’t survive the torture, and would reveal who he had met. Zhao’s sharp mind told him that Wen had already decided on what to do as a final conclusion to his involvement in the rescue. Whether Zhao agreed or not, the Eastern Depot would come knocking. Whatever Wen’s reason for approaching Zhao might be, Zhao knew that he was left with little choice. Either they run together, and have a fighting chance or to face their greatest enemy one by one and die.
By daybreak, Zhao had packed his bag. He shifted his bed and lifted up the slab of stone that concealed his secret cache. He hefted the sabre out, feeling its familiar weight. Its metallic clink woke many memories. The last time he had used this weapon was the night he rescued the emperor. Now, it was being unearthed for the same reason. He shook his head at the uncanny circle of fate that seemed to bind Jian Wen’s freedom to his sabre. He wrapped his weapons in long sheets of leather to conceal them before he put them into a bag. He stuffed the roll of leather in to give the impression that he was a leather seller hawking sheets of animal hide. He locked the door, gave one last look at his abode of eighteen years and followed the path that Wen took last night. He did not look back.
SIX
Ji Gang had received his reports. After the night he received his special orders from the emperor, he had sent out special agents to the different border posts to ascertain if Jian Wen had left the country eighteen years ago. Granted that it was not foolproof, but he needed a working assumption. Investigative work often started with a process of elimination. Due to the passage of time, it was difficult tracking down reliable witnesses to the escape. Moreover, this was not a topic people would readily talk about or leave records on. Border guards and officials were no longer at their posts. Most had been redeployed in the vast empire, some had died. His men returned from the western-most desert posts of Yang Guan ‘Sun Pass’ and Jiayu Guan ‘Jiayu Pass’ reported that due to the hardship of the post and the constant clashes with barbarians, the commanders of these two frontier posts were newly posted there and knew nothing. Their commands were also rotated so there were hardly any veterans who remembered anything. Official and unofficial records revealed nothing. Agents who reported in from the Southern seas told a similar story.
“So at least we have a working assumption; the former emperor is still within the realm. This is both a problem and a blessing. It is a problem because it means we have no reason to give up on this momentous task, but it also means that we can utilise all our resources within the country to find him.” Ji sighed.
“Lord Ji, may I speak?” One of his agents, Li Wei spoke respectfully to his commander. Li Wei was in his late thirties. He was An Deli’s contemporary. Li Wei rose from the Brocade Guards like the rest. Medium built with a carefully kept moustache. He looked like a scholar except for his fitness from the thousands of hours training and using weapons: A man of intelligence and martial prowess, an epitome of the Eastern Depot agent. Li spoke.
“Lord, could he have sailed away into the eastern or southern seas? If I were him, that would be what I would do. He would know his uncle’s temperament and this day would come. If he had the mind to stage his own escape from the palace, would he stop there? I would not. While I still had the support and connections, I would either have risen in rebellion or ran away and never came back. It’s been eighteen years and we have suppressed Jian Wen’s loyalists, but there was never any sign of him, so we can eliminate the possibility that he even considered to stay and fight.”
“You are saying he left the Empire by the sea?” An intense look formed on Ji’s face as his mind masticated on the possibility.
“Yes Lord. It is a possibility we must seriously consider”
Li Wei replied with his head bowed. An older agent, the oldest in the group, Lu Ximing, who was Li’s partner, spoke,
“Lord, I once heard a rumour from a long time ago. It was forgotten, but now that Li Wei had brought this up….”
“Speak Lu.” Ji added impatiently, waving his hand to indicate haste.
“It was said that the Grand Admiral, on the eve of his first voyage, received an imperial envoy bearing a top secret order. The orders were only for the Grand Admiral alone.”
“And?”
“The orders seemed to be for Zheng He to scour the seas and the vassal states for any trace of Jian Wen and to kill him. Each time the Admiral set sailed, he would receive the same orders.”
Lu continued after a pause and a glance around to see if his colleagues were following. Ji’s impatient gaze pushed him to continue, “Which means two things; One, Jian Wen never did leave the country and Zheng He was barking up the wrong tree. Two, Jian Wen did leave the country and the voyages of the Treasure Fleet would continue until Zheng He could find the former emperor. Since he is leaving soon in the next change of winds, we can presume that he would receive the same orders again.”
After a pause, “Which means that the emperor is still acting on the assumption that Jian Wen is alive overseas and Zheng He is still searching for him.” Lu added.
Li added, “Provided Jian Wen is no longer in the country.”
Ji turned to the other two agents assembled, “An Deli and Ma Hun, what do you think?”
An Deli, being the elder, spoke.
“Lord, to this point there was also no evidence to suggest that the former emperor left through the Jiayu Pass. We have discussed this matter at length on our way back and there seems to be only two possibilities. He left by sea or he remained. If he left by sea, then he falls under the Grand Admiral’s responsibility. If he is still in the empire, we will need to find him.”
Ji continued, “In other words, we will need to seek the Grand Admiral’s cooperation.”
He frowned at his own conclusion because of the confidential nature of his task. If the supreme naval commander was tasked with this, then he must be privy to the emperor’s orders to kill his nephew, or at least he would not be surprised at such an edict. How should he plan his next move? He paced his room before the assembled men, thinking. Then Lu spoke again breaking the silence,
“Lord. We did not consider a third possibility.”
“Which is?” Ji asked.
“That Jian Wen is already dead. Eighteen years is a long time after all” Lu replied.
Ji laughed. “That would be best for everyone. We all know the emperor’s paranoia but we are rational men here. Eighteen years is indeed long, and anything could have happened. Jian Wen could have died of anything! And if he is dead already, all we need to do is to produce a corpse and our job is done. But we cannot be seen to do nothing until we have that proof.”
He paused before continuing, “But first of all, we must prove him dead. We cannot have a case where we produced a corpse and then Zheng He returns with a life prisoner.”
At that moment, an assistant entered. The agents fell silent, as Ji barked angrily, “What are you doing here? I said no disruption to my meeting!”
“Lord, an order has…” “Shut up! Get out!” Ji shoved the man. He fell and tried one more time, “Lord…it’s urgent. From the emperor…, he summons you.”
Ji fumed. He had nothing concrete to tell his master. “Get out of here. I’ll report shortly.” The man scurried away, and Ji turned back towards his men.
“We will work our dragnet inwards. Eighteen years ago, Jian Wen would not have been able to escape without any help. I want you,” he pointed to An Deli, “to investigate all surviving officials that were close to Jian Wen. Pay attention to the low profile ones. The high profile ones are all dead. And usually the low profile ones are more danger
ous.”
Turning to Li and Lu, he said rapidly, “Listen for any strange occurrences that happened eighteen years ago. For example, a strange person appearing out of nowhere, with no past, with no identity. Use as much resources as you need to and track every lead.”
“Yes Lord!” The men replied in unison. Ji continued speaking,
“And as for me, I will seek the emperor’s permission to interrogate his pet eunuch the Grand Admiral.” He signalled to the remaining agent in the room, a man named Yong Ju. “Yong, you will come with me when the emperor gives the permission. Make preparations for us to go to Suzhou and pay the admiral a visit at his base. I will go and see the emperor now.”
Yong asked respectfully, “Lord, is it wise for us to speak to the emperor about the admiral?” Ji answered him as he walked out of the hall,
