Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 205

The Voyages of Benevolence
Korean International School, Shum, Colin - 11
One day, Ming Dynasty’s Emperor Zhudi, together with his advisor and general Chenghe struck up a
conversation about his worries about the Empress’ dire illness, the Emperor looked at the empty throne and
said he would give anything away just to be able to see her next to him again.
“Your Majesty, I will do anything to make you smile again, I will search everywhere to look for a cure,”
and with that promise, Zhenghe set sail, braving waves to uncharted lands all over the world.
First, the fleet arrived at Sumatra. Zhenghe presented an exquisite vase as a gift to the King and asked if he
has any cures. The King did not have any but presented some Batik cloth as a favour. Zhenghe did not give
up and set sail again.
“We will sail further South and present more gifts. I have no doubt that one of these unknown lands will
spare us a cure in return,” Zhenghe cheered on whilst marching back to his ship.
Suddenly a small group of little children sprang up.
“We are orphans and have nowhere to live, can we join your ships? We promise we will work hard!” the
children begged.
“Of course! And I have gifts for each of you too!” Zhenghe had always had a soft spot on children as he has
none of his own. To him, children were all special and nothing made him happier than seeing them smile.
However, unbeknownst to the men, they were being watched. Two mischievous twins were watching
them. Their names were Ru and Pran, and they wanted to steal all the gifts on the ship.
“So what’s the plan?” asked Pran, turning to Ru.
“Listen up. The only way to get those gifts is by causing a distraction. Any ideas?” asked Ru.
“Explosions?”
Pran gave him a quizzical look.
“We will pretend to be one of them, get on board and grab the gifts!” pointing his fingers.
“Brilliant!” Pran said, his eyes glinting with greed.
Zhenghe kept on sailing in search for the cure. He saved many orphaned children along the way who
worked very hard on the ships. Zhenghe was very happy seeing the children feeling proud of their
achievements. Each year, he would give each kid a special present, and all the children looked forward to
that special day.
Eventually, the ships reached Europe. As the sailors were getting ready, a loud boom came from the
harbour. Some ships were on fire and strange ships surrounded the fleet were firing cannonballs at the boats.
“Pirates!” Zhenghe shouted, “Defend the boats! Don’t let them take the gifts!”
With a mighty roar Zhenghe and his crew drew their swords and charged into battle. As the battle raged all
around them, Ru and Pran crawled around Zhenghe’s ship, searching for the gifts. At last they found them
but as they fled the ship to escape, Pran tripped over a sword lying across the deck and fell headfirst into the
ocean.
“Pran!” Ru shouted, dropping their loot and running to the side. “Pran!”
Suddenly, a cannonball struck the ship, toppling Zhenghe into Ru.
“Give me my sword, kid,” Zhenghe requested. Just then, Pran climbed back from the portside of the boat
and threw a rope to Ru.
“On the count of three!” shouted Ru whilst throwing the sword back to Zhenghe with his right hand, and
catching the end of the rope with his left. At the exact moment when the duo shouted three, they swung
the rope with all their might, which sweeped the pirates’ swords out of their hands. Suddenly all the pirates
were disarmed and in a panic, they all jumped overboard into the ocean.