Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 11

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voayages
Buddhist Sin Tak College, Ng, Elise - 15
Another intolerably scorching summer day. Standing outside the maroon gates of the vast Forbidden City, I felt
beads of sweat were breaking out all over my body—tip of the nose, neck, back, chest... the dazzling sunshine would
not let us servants go, not until our masters had come to our “rescue”. Sigh! How pleasantly cool it would be inside the
majestic palace!
However, the courts were having a meeting of paramount importance with His Majesty, so they wouldn’t show
up any time soon. I started to get dizzy. The world was spinning quicker than ever. My eyesight seemed blurry, my
eyelids kept drooping even when I tried my best to keep my eyes wide open. I could tell I was about to faint.
“Oh look!” exclaimed my peer, servant Mong. “Here comes our master! Hurry up, hurry up!” I immediately
threw my dipping head up, seeing our master pacing out with an admirable noble bearing, wearing a noticeably rare
smile. “Master Zheng, your humble servants are here at your service.”
In veneration and fear of getting caught, I stepped up without hesitation, beginning. “How could we help you?”
“Just carry me home,” as the deep voice bellowed just above us, we lowered our heads more.
“Yes.” The servants and I choired in unison.
No sooner had we arrived at the Mansion of Zheng’s than servant Mong and I were summoned to Master’s study.
Upon being called, I elbowed Mong nervously and stuttered out my fear, “H...Hey, Mong, do you...do you think we’ll
receive heavy punishment because of our—no—my laziness? He probably saw that!”
“Take it easy Kok,” but he gave a bitter, dry laugh that hid nothing. “If that were the case, we wouldn’t have
been called over but directly punished instead. Am I right?” I was so anxious that my stomach clutched and twisted like
my mind. Maybe Mong’s did too.
Not giving any more time for us to pray, Master Zheng called, “Come in.”
Scared at the thought of getting severely punished, we were both as silent as a muted bulldog, expecting a harsh
scolding. To our surprise, the Master grinned and announced, “Well, I have a good news for you.” Mong and I
exchanged looks in disbelief. Am I hallucinating? Good news? However, we were instantly relieved to know we were
not going to be disciplined. That could be considered as good news anyway! “His Highness has approved my proposal
for the biggest large-scale fleet sail ever. What’s more, you will be brought on board to help us with handling the
cargoes.” The atmosphere grew tense as we were completely astounded and speechless, silence took over the room.
We finally realised what it meant, which got us thrilled to bits. ”Thank you, Master!” Kneeling down before him,
we expressed our sincerest gratitude towards the man who offered us this priceless opportunity that we had never
dreamt of.
Time flew by while we were busy preparing to set sail, soon everyone only had a few remaining tasks—double
checking cargoes, testing ship materials for the last time and so on. Not only were my hands trembling after handling
boxes of supplies, but my whole body was quivering in sheer bliss!
Hark! The percussion of the drums indicated Zhengs’ fearless sail to the unknown; with every beat of the drum and
unified echo of the soldiers’ calls it uplifted us and gave us courage to tackle every obstacle on our long and arduous
journey! The Emperor had come personally to show his unconditional support on this monumental journey. We never
imagined people from poor families like us could be part of history, especially at this young age; actually, this was an
extremely surreal experience for us. “Oi, Mong, I think it’ll be a good idea if we give each other a real big pinch. After
all, it’s still hard to believe!” I poked him and whispered.
Everything was fine within the first few days of the voyages, except for the embarrassing seasickness I suffered. I
protested to Mong, “How do you do it? I’m vomiting three to four times a day!”
He mocked slyly in reply, ”That’s because you haven’t got the clue!” We were getting along better and better,
until that one night that I'll never forget.