Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 219

The next few days were a blur. As Zheng commanded the ships, his mind went back to the princess, then
to his prophetic dream, then to the obsidian in his cabin, and finally to the disappearance of the priestess.
Where on earth was she? That night, he had gotten his entire crew on board, and waited until the first
streaks of light started to appear before realizing the girl wasn’t coming along, and with a pained heart,
ordered his crew to set sail. While he didn’t wanted to, Li, his faithful advisor, had urged him on, persuading
him that the life of a girl wasn’t worth the thousands aboard his ships. Thus, he had left Kozhikode with a
heavy heart.
An encounter with the brown men will set the events in motion.
Her words after hearing of his dream echoed through his mind as he was glancing out to the horizon, and
suddenly he understood. The encounter with the Zamorin and his daughter had brought the obsidian to
him, which represented one of the choices in his dream.
But what of the jade?
Zheng suddenly had an ominous feeling about what was about to happen.
And it turned out to be correct. The minute he docked his ships at Nanjing, there came an order to arrest
him immediately. Zheng had demanded an explanation, which was given to him only after an unfair trial
was forced upon him.
Apparently, ‘evidence’ of an affair between him and his mistress, the Princess Dachang, had leaked out. She
had accused him of forcing himself upon her, despite the immense trust placed upon him by the emperor,
and an apparent ‘letter’ was read out in court as well, largely humiliating the eunuch, who was sentenced to
death.
Zheng could only laugh hollowly at the entire situation, for what could he do? While it was true that he
did not have an affair with Princess Dachang, a search of his belongings could possibly reveal his relationship
with her , whom he could not put at risk. Thus, he could only keep his silence, and await his fate without
struggle.
Fate apparently had other plans; however, when that night, a key turning at the door of his cell roused
him. He opened his eyes groggily, prepared to look at the stern faces of the guards, when instead he saw her
trying to let him out.
“Feiyan - ! What on earth are you doing here?”
“Shh!” She hushed him and glanced around, fearful of any incoming guards. As soon as the coast was clear,
she opened the door in one swift motion, and started working on the shackles around his feet.
“But…why?”
“I cannot let you die on behalf of another woman,” She replied fiercely, and tossed the heavy manacles
back into the dreary cell. “The emperor wanted you gone, and therefore made up this nonsense about an
affair with the princess. But I won’t let you die, so I had come to rescue you. This way!”
As soon as his limbs were free of their confines, Feiyan pocketed the key and grabbed his hand, running
out of the prison and out to the port of the palace. The moment they arrive, she started untying a small
sailboat tied to a post, hands flying over the knots while Zheng stood paralyzed in shock, until he caught
sight of something dangling from her sleeve.