Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 214

Treasure Voyage
Norwegian International School, Chow, Jasmine – 10
While I was playing in the palace garden, I overheard a ceremony in the royal banquet hall. Oh, by
the way, I’m Princess Changning, the youngest daughter of Zhu Di, the Chinese Emperor of Ming
Dynasty. So, back to the ceremony. I saw servants walking around with plates of delicious food. Hiding
behind a stone wall, I was curious and listened. “We will send a fleet of treasure ships to the South and make
friends with the regional kings. We want them to recognise our might and power.” I heard a familiar voice.
It was my father, the Emperor!
Even though I knew that girls weren’t allowed aboard, I desperately wanted to venture out. So I
asked my father if I could go. Of course, it was a no. I didn’t give up. “If I’m not allowed aboard, I’ll
secretly sneak aboard...” I thought. And that’s how it all started.
I looked at the sundial and hurried to the study in the palace for my class. The teacher taught us
about our country. As he took out an outfit that ordinary people would wear, an idea popped up in my
head. “When the teacher isn’t looking, I will take that outfit and wear it to pretend to be a boy for the
treasure voyage!” I thought. That was what I did at lunch time.
The day after, the Admiral Zheng He told the crew to line up and we boarded the ships. The ships
were like twenty times the size of my bedroom! I was assigned to be the cook on the third ship. I was good
at cooking, so I was relieved.
I strolled over to the flight of stairs leading to the kitchen where I bumped into another cook!
“Ouch!” the cook yelled. It was a girl’s voice! She quickly clapped her hands over her mouth. I looked
straight into her eyes and asked. “Are you a ….girl?” She shook her head. “I promise I won’t tell.” I
whispered. She thought for a moment then nodded. I beamed and said, “So am I, but don’t tell anyone.
What’s your name?”
“I’m Ling, daughter of Zheng He’s assistant. I heard about this exciting trip so I decided to sneak
aboard.” She replied. I introduced myself and we soon became friends. Later on the trip, I found Ling pretty
shy, but she was still fun.
When the ship sailed to the coast of Malacca, we found it to be a beautiful town with houses along
the shore. As the others took out bags of gold and silver, Ling and I explored the place. We walked further
and further away from the seaside and deeper and deeper into the woods.
“I think we’re lost!” Ling said with a worried look. We looked around and something bright
caught my eye. I slowly walked towards it for a closer look. Ling followed. Suddenly, the trail was
brightened up by tons of glowing blue creatures. One of them greeted me, “Hello. I’m a little dragon of
Malacca. I predict the future. Call me Scales.” “Hi, Scales, we’ve traveled here to send treasure to the king.
We are lost. Can you help us?” I asked Scales. “Just follow our trail.” Scales pointed to the blue lights.
We followed the trail and joined the others. Scales slid into my pocket without a sound. Then we
all set off to send treasure to the ruler of Malacca. He told us about the fierce pirates, led by Chen Zuyi.
They were notorious for robbery and all sort of crimes.
In the bedroom that night, I whispered anxiously, “Scales, will the pirates attack us?” Scales looked
a bit upset and said, “I’m sorry, I’m just a baby dragon, and can’t predict that far. But, I know what you two
will be doing tomorrow! You will learn to cook some local cuisine.”
The next day, that was exactly what we did. First, a man showed us how to make coconut rice.
We then learnt at least ten more recipes. They all tasted great. Rising over the mountain, the moon shone
brightly as we served coconut rice for dinner. As expected, the entire crew loved it.