The Emperor's Prey

by Jeremy Han

  After Wen’s servant had departed, the chamberlain leaned back against the hard wood backrest of his chair. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. He knew it would come to this. He rubbed his temples for awhile feeling the sensation of release. Tian! ‘Heavens!’ So much work to do. Alas, he thought, after Ji’s visit, it would be unlikely for him to be doing what he had been doing for so many years. He wondered how Zhao and Sanbao were doing and inevitably, his thoughts drifted to Jian Wen. He smiled. He wondered how the former emperor looked like now but somehow in his mind’s eye, the image of a smiling, toothy boy could not be changed. Tenderness filled his heart, and he knew that he had done the right thing. He chuckled to himself, the way fathers do when they thought of children doing something admirable or memorable, slowly shaking his head. He wished them all good luck. He was proud of Zheng He and Zhao Qi, men who stood up to injustice. Now, he would do his final part. After putting everything into motion, he needed to do just one more thing to make it all work. He needed to ensure that the Dong Chang was delayed.

  “Chamberlain Wen!”

  Ji’s voluminous voice echoed throughout the room. He walked past the tall book shelves, the little mountains of knowledge that the servant had earlier tried to navigate as he brought Wen the ominous news. He ignored the fine antiques and classics; he considered himself a man of action rather than ideas. Even the scrolls of poems hanging on the wall, which had given much pause to visitors to contemplate the words or wisdom, did not slow the commander. Yong Ju continued at a respectful distance behind his master. However, the younger man was visibly more nervous; his hands tightened on the grip of his weapons as though any moment the eunuch’s guards would appear from behind the book shelves and antique furniture to ambush them.

  Even Ji was shocked by what he saw. While Ji was striding through the corridor, Wen knew the time for his final play was up. He knew that he was the link to all the players, and if the link was destroyed, the chain would be scattered into different unconnected pieces. He would not be able to argue it out; Ji would not be interested in listening or debating. Ji would more likely torture it out of him before the due process of law could take place if it ever. When the emperor knew what he had done, there would be no justice for him. Ji would seek a confession even before anyone could come to his rescue, and Ji Gang was fully capable of extracting anything out of anyone. Wen knew that Ji was ruthless, but he was not stupid or reckless. He would not have come unless he was very sure. Ji, for all his power could not even touch the Chamberlain if the eunuch was innocent. Only the highest of crimes would allow the Eastern Depot to come for him so directly. And Wen knew without a doubt in his heart that he had committed treason. He took out a satchel and poured its contents into the still streaming fragrant tea. He waited a few seconds as the powder dissolved then he drank it down in one gulp. Better this than paying the Dong Chang headquarters a visit. He rather take his tea here than there.

  All Ji found was an old man slumped over the desk. He was motionless. On the floor, there was a broken porcelain cup; its white fragments scattered around the smudge of spilt liquid. Next to the stack of documents was a piece of paper. The fold lines were still visible. It was once a satchel containing a light coloured powder. Even from a distance, Ji could smell a faint fragrance of almonds coming from it. Ji ran over, anxiety gripped him as he tried to detect any life signs in his prey. The old man was quite dead. In his rage, Ji rammed his fist against the hard wood table. The ancient wood did not splinter but the sound of an unstoppable force meeting an unbreakable object echoed across the room. The force of the blow sent the little piece of paper floating gently and nonchalantly to the ground. There was only one way to escape the reach of the Eastern Depot and the old man had taken it.

  A few days later, Ji Gang sat at the head of a table in a covert location outside a city. The chair creaked under his massive frame. His face was tight as he waited for each of his team to report. The men had returned from their tasks. They had arrived earlier than their commander and stood at attention. Word had gotten out that Ji Gang was in a foul mood, so no one dared to speak. Without a word, he glared at the first pair next to him, agents Li and Lu. That was the signal to report,

  “Lord, we found the former Jinyi wei known as Tu at his workshop.”

  Li, being the senior, recounted how they have tracked him, staked out his place before finally confronting him. Up to that point they accurately repeated the incident until the end. Being in government service long enough, they knew what they needed to tell their boss. Since they were certain of the man’s involvement, they could massage the part on how they obtained the information without compromising their own position by giving their leader a chance to cast doubts on what they did: More so when there were other agents around who would see it as weakness. Li continued,

  “After we subdued him, he revealed that he was part of a group approached by Wen. The mission was to rescue the Emperor Jian Wen.”

  “And what happened after that?”

  “He said we will never take him in; he would rather die than endure a day at the Eastern Depot.”

  Ji Gang squinted at the men. “He gave up his secrets so easily?”

  “Lord, by then he was dying. He said we were too late. Wen had approached them earlier, but he had turned the eunuch down.”

  “Why did he do so?”

  “Because now he had a life. He had a stable living; he did not want to give it up for another adventure.” Then Lu added, “That was why he could be tracked to his home.”

  “What happened next?”

  “He killed himself.”

  “Did he reveal who was in the team?”

  Li and Lu paused before Li spoke again, “A man named Zhao Qi.”

  Ji Gang nodded his head in satisfaction. He indicated for An and Ma to speak next. Ma Hun could not wait. He immediately recounted how he had extracted the information from Zhang. The information corroborated with Li and Lu’s; Zhao Qi was the leader. He left out the information about the torture and the rape, but made it rather clear it was he and not his more senior colleague who had obtained the secret. An fumed.

  “Do you have something to say?” Ji Gang sensed his subordinate’s anger and addressed him.

  “Lord, even though Ma had gained the information we need, he did not follow the code of conduct set by the Eastern Depot.”

  Ji raised an eyebrow and An continued, “I do not wish to fight him for the glory; he is young and that is important to him. What I care about is that the Eastern Depot fulfil its mission without compromising its first and foremost duty: to fight against enemies of the state, and not use its power against the innocent.”

  “How is it so?

  An Deli looked at Ma Hun and pointedly said, “Ma extracted the information by raping Zhang’s wife and torturing his child. He purposely left me out of the investigation, hiding things from me so that he could be there without me. When I found them, Zhang was dead, his wife was raped before murdered and his child was gutted.”

  “Ma Hun, is this so?”

  Ma looked uneasily toward the ground as he replied his leader, “Yes Lord. Zhang is an enemy of the state. A treasonous man, so the laws for treason must be applied. According to the law, all his clan and kin must be executed along with him.”

  “Executed, not raped and killed. I do not recall any part of our laws that says that rape is included as part of its punishment.” An rebutted Ma.

  “You taught me yourself that conventional ways do not work didn’t you? You killed those men at Jiayu Guan to extract the information you wanted.”

  “Those men were criminals, smugglers.”

  Ma Hun glared at An to convey a threat. “An Deli, you are just jealous of me. I broke the man, not you. So now you are trying to find all ways to discredit my success. You look so dignified but really, you are despicable!”

  “Lord Ji, what do you have to say?” An knew that Ji was boss after all. Instead of saying anything, Ji Gang took out
a silk parchment and put it onto the table for all to see. It was exquisitely stitched with gold thread. The Imperial Seal stared back at them all. “This arrived two days ago. The emperor wants to know our progress. Even when he is campaigning so far away, this matter rests heavily on his heart.” He looked at all his men firmly, fixing them with a glare like a school master lecturing a group of delinquents on the priorities of life. “I replied him that at the centre of it was the man he trusted most – Wen Xuan. Now I know the emperor well enough to know that this news would jolt him. If he could not trust his chamberlain, who could he trust? Yong Le would want us to uncover every stone using whatever means to do so. War is never nice. Laws are for peaceful times. But we are at war now. And such a war is even more insidious than enemies from the outside like the Mongols because this is a war against those we thought we can trust. In normal circumstances, law forbids what Ma had done, but we are at war now. The emperor’s peace is at stake and therefore we should spare no measure in our fight against this enemy.”

  He looked pointedly at Ma. “Normally I would not condone your behaviour, but for this instance, well done. You got the information. That is what I care. All that is important now is whatever that can bring peace to our master. You are saved by imperial decree and only by his Majesty’s intervention to expedite this investigation. After all, the emperor did say to use all means.”

  Turning to the rest, Ji continued, “This applies to the rest as well. I don’t care what methods you use as long as it keeps us going. You have your convictions. I don’t care and I do not need to know. I just want results. I don’t wish to go to the emperor and have him think the Dong Chang is soft. And the final result I want is Jian Wen’s head. Anything and anyone else who stands by the way you shall deal with as you see fit.”

  An seethed, but he kept silent while Ma basked in the praise, although it came with a warning. He had gotten the recognition he so craved. He snuck a look at Yong Ju, who for once did not look so smug. He could not believe he did better than the commander’s pet. Ji continued now that this matter has been settled.

  “Now that we have established two things, we will take action appropriately. Our target is the Temple of White Clouds. We must get there before Zhao Qi and his men. We must find the former emperor and bring him back, or we must bring his head back to the Forbidden City. And now we know who is leading the enemy, we must be fully prepared. We will employ all means to stop him. All restraint is lifted in this fight. Do not let him get away.”

  He fixed everyone with a penetrating, cold gaze, the determination in him searing them.

  “Yes Sir!” They replied in unison. “Yong Ju.” Ji signalled with his hand. Yong laid a map before the assembled team. All the men came forward toward the map. “To get to the temple, there are two ways. One way would be through the city of Chongqing by water. This way is longer, but the city would be a good base. If I am Zhao, I would take this route. Or rather, I have no choice but to enter the remote areas of mountains through this way. It will be the fastest way into the interior by water, then through the city, and into the dense bamboo forests and steep cliffs that hide the temple. We, on the other hand, will ride hard through this pass.” He traced the path they would take. “This area is a royal hunting ground guarded by the army. We can access it, but they can’t. This will reduce the time we need to get ahead of them. In all likelihood, they have already gone ahead of us. This way will take us ahead of them, allowing us to cut them off. If we miss them, they could get Jian Wen and disappear. This is the only point that would allow us to get them all in one fell swoop.”

  The inn keeper stirred. Something had pricked the bubble of sleep that ensconced him comfortably. He laid there in between two worlds, neither awake nor asleep. His mind was a blank, but he knew that something was going on. Slowly, like a man swimming towards the surface, his senses became more attuned and consciously regained the ground that sleep had gained. Noise. Horses whinnied and hooves struck stone. He could make out the urgency conveyed in the sound; the secretive men who came in the dead of the night were in a hurry to go somewhere he did not wish to know. Every month, he received a princely sum in silver from an unnamed government agency. In return, he must keep a room for the men who came in the night and left before the sun rose. Last night, he saw the large man with a round, bald head enter. His domed head shone as though it was polished from marble. He pretended he did not see the sullen man enter the secret basement. Best to avoid any eye contact. Now they were leaving as mysteriously as they came, their origins and mission as enigmatic as the night. But he knew not to ask. The rule of the game was to take the money and shut up. That had been made plain to him if he wished to live.

  Tian! How he had gotten himself into this mess! It would have been better for him if he had become the son-in-law of the King of Hell than to get himself embroiled with these people. Back then, he was in debt. Certain gentlemen from the government had approached him with an offer; a substantial monthly payment for the use of an anonymous secret facility. It was a deal with the devil; either he take it and benefit from it or they will raze his place simply because they spoke to him. His existence will be nothing more than a dream, so he had to sleep with the devil.

  Sometimes men came and went without incident like this time, other times it was not so peaceful. He had seen men dragged in alive and against their will. Often the victims were obviously in great fear. And later a dead body or body parts would be brought out. Evil things were being done in his inn, and sooner or later, it will visit him. He must continue on with this game. If he told the gentlemen he no longer wished to lease his basement, they would smile and tell him it was no problem. And that night, his family and him would be murdered and the inn burnt down with their bodies all inside. That much he knew because they had allowed him to know the consequences. All he didn’t know was the agency that rented his humble hotel was the infamous Eastern Depot. He sighed with relief as the horses rode away into the dark, dark night.

  TWENTY THREE

  There were so many people. Yula felt uncomfortable looking at the crowd. Seeing so many people made her want to jump back onto the much hated boat. Besides water, the next thing she could not accept was the crowd. In the steppes, one hardly saw another person when shepherding the flocks. She learnt to enjoy the space that solitude brought, the peace, the feeling of being one with the Great Nature. She appreciated the deafening silence, and heard what the great creator was trying to say. She grew up like any other girl from the tribes, taking the flock out with her brother sometimes, other times helping her mother with work among the gers. Still, the plains were vast and empty, the wind on her face being the only sound across the miles and miles of emptiness. The animals of the great land contributed to the echoes of life as they called to each other. They complemented the sounds of nature that Yula loved since she was a child. In between all those, she learnt to shoot, to hunt and to fight. There were bears and wolves that hunted her flock, and rapists and slave traders who preyed on her tribe. The wilderness could be wild, but at least you could flee or see your enemies coming. Here, you couldn’t.

  The city seemed to crush her soul. She felt giddier than when she was on the bow of the fishing boat. She took the steps up the pier one at a time, fighting the floating sensation she felt while trying to maintain her balance over the moss and algae growing on the stone steps. Long Wu came alongside her and held her arm to steady his lover. “You alright?”

  “Yes but damn this place.” She hissed.

  “You’ll be fine.” Long grinned. He knew when she was trying to be tough. “I said I am fine.” She pulled away her arm. Behind her, Zhao looked at Long with raised eyebrows. Long responded with a raised shoulder. Both of them were equally puzzled by the female species. The crowd seemed to have a life of its own, as it morphed and changed its form with each addition or subtraction of people. Tradesmen pushed their goods on carts shouting for the way to be clear before they too were swallowed by the throng. Children ran betw
een the spaces too small for adults to squeeze through. Everyone wanted to join in the throng as it forced its way into the tiny alleys that fed the people into bowels of the city. Lining the narrow alleys were two and three storey houses made of grey brick. Balconies and roof tops were also occupied by people as they looked down on the teeming mass with disinterested expressions: city folks dulled by the non-stop, numbing crowds. On the balconies, there were house ladies hanging out laundry to dry or performing some other chore that occupied their lives. Water dripped onto Long’s head and he looked up; and saw several potted plants lining the numerous balconies. If any of them fell, it would be impossible to miss the knotted mass of people below.