The Color of Jadeite. Eric D. Goodman
that Silver Hair and Bowl Cut were still intently searching in the wrong place, we moseyed south, to the smaller pavilion.
“It almost looks like a mini-version of the main one,” Mackenzie said.
Salvador looked confused. “I thought bigger treasures came from heaven.”
“There’s more to big and small than size,” Wei Wei said, which only made Salvador look more confused. We climbed the marble stairs and looked into one of the open doors.
I was anxious to start our search. “C’mon.”
Wei Wei grabbed my arm. “No, wait,” she said. The touch of her soft hand felt good. “Just one or two of us should go in.” She gave me an intense look and I knew she meant it should be the two of us, alone. I was all for that.
“Too many cooks in the kitchen?” Mackenzie asked.
Wei Wei nodded.
Salvador cleared his throat. “I’ll keep watch, let you know if any friends come by.”
Mackenzie noticed my reaction as Wei Wei took her hand off me. “I’ll let you two lovebirds enter the chapel alone,” Mackenzie said.
There weren’t any tourists here, most of them focused on the larger structure we’d just left. Wei Wei was already sneaking over the waist-high metal gate before one of the Vault of Heaven’s openings. Salvador gave me a thumbs up and stood at the top of the marble platform, outside the structure, looking back and forth in all directions as he pivoted from one leg to another. Mackenzie had found a place to rest against the large curved wall enclosing the platform.
I followed Wei Wei into the darkened room, hoping to find more than a clue. The only light in the room came in the form of natural sunlight from the few open doors, so my eyes took a moment to adjust. I bumped into her.
Once my eyes had adjusted, I was nearly blinded by the intricate craftsmanship of our surroundings. The green, blue, and gold ceiling of painted wood exploded like a Chinese firework, and the same red and gold pillars surrounded us. A yellow wall brightened the inside with the emperor’s own color. In the center of the room rested a huge throne of carved stone, and in it sat a stone tablet.
Wei Wei approached it. “This is the Heavenly Great Tablet.”
I looked at the numerous stone tablets along the sides of the room. “And these must be the heavenly lesser tablets?”
Wei Wei stared at the tablet in the throne, mesmerized—undoubtedly taken in by such an important artifact of Imperial history. It reminded me of the woman I loved many years ago.
Back in college, Yuming used to get the same faraway look when we visited museums and spent hours gazing at artifacts like these. I shook off the memory. I’m not one to dwell on the past, and I hadn’t thought of my college sweetheart in a good long while, even though she was always, somehow, with me. The people you learn to love become a part of your personality forever.
I stepped up beside Wei Wei and took her hands, drawing her gaze away from the Heavenly Great Tablet. I longed for her to gaze at me the way she did that tablet, and she almost complied—but I think that was just the lingering effect of the tablet, the way the sun stays in the eye after turning away. We stood face to face, her hands folded in mine. Maybe it was the experience of being here in Beijing, or the thrill of getting caught up in all of this Chinese history and folklore … but there was no question I was feeling for Wei Wei much the same way I did for Yuming a lifetime ago. I knew we should be focusing on our search, but I honed in on her glistening green eyes, her smooth, high cheekbones, those thin, pink lips and button nose, her long, elegant neck … and I closed in for a kiss.
She pulled gently back. “I think we should look at the stone tablets,” she said in a voice that sounded as though she’d just awoken from a dream.
“Yes,” I agreed.
“These stone tablets date back hundreds of years.”
“So what we’re looking for,” I said, examining the tablets, “is one that looks more modern?”
“Yes.” We were on the same wavelength in this, at least. “A stone planted here by the collector, as a clue.”
As we inspected the stone slabs, another voice filled the room in a soft but audible whisper. “Think they’re making out in there, Sal?” It was Mackenzie. I looked at Wei Wei, confused.
Wei Wei shook her head and continued inspecting one of the stone slabs. “She must be standing along the echo wall.”
“That stone wall surrounding us?”
“Yes. The wall is flat and smooth, so sound waves travel far.”
“I know,” Mackenzie said. We could only hear her side of the conversation since only she stood along the echo wall. “I’d say get a room, but I guess they already have.”
Wei Wei and I continued examining stone tablets. “Some of these are more than five hundred years old,” she said.
I looked up at Wei Wei. “But this one isn’t.” She came to kneel next to me before the stone tablet.
“You’re right!” She smiled at me, then focused on the stone. She rubbed away the dust and dirt that was undoubtedly applied to make it blend in with the others. Once cleaned, the stone clearly stood out as newer than the others.
She translated the writing, that sparkle in her jade eyes. Then in English: “The greedy dragon lies beneath a veil. The remains of her greed live here.”
It took me only a few moments to understand what Wei Wei already did.
8
Dragon Lady
About six miles northwest of Beijing, Yiheyuan, or the Summer Palace, sprawled out all around us. The emperor’s summer retreat covered more than 700 acres of wooded land and tranquil lake. At a hurried pace, we took in the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, the Garden of Harmonious Pleasures, Hall of Jade Ripples, and Hall of Happiness and Longevity, Salvador complaining all the while about the elaborate naming conventions. We strolled restlessly, aimlessly along the long corridor, an outdoor path with thousands of scenic paintings along the wooden beams above us.
Salvador limped behind us. “What are we in such a hurry to get to?”
“We haven’t figured that part out yet,” I snapped back.
Salvador grunted. “If it wasn’t for my bum knee, I’d be leading the pack.”
Wei Wei threw him a glance, then looked at me, her face melting into a smile. “Somehow I doubt that.”
Men played chess and Go at stone and wood tables outside the corridor. But we weren’t here to take in the surroundings. When Wei Wei read the clue chiseled on the stone tablet in the Vault of Heaven, we both knew where we needed to go. The greedy dragon lies beneath a veil. The remains of her greed live here.
“The greedy dragon,” I explained to Mackenzie and Salvador, “was Empress Cixi. This was her favorite place.”
Wei Wei added, “This was the retreat of emperors long before Cixi was in power. But it’s associated with her because of how much of the peoples’ money she poured into it. She had it completely rebuilt twice: once after the French and English destroyed it in 1860, and again in 1902, after it was damaged during the Boxer Rebellion.”
As we continued along the wooden corridor, I glanced back at Mackenzie and Salvador. “Since this is where the Dragon Lady spent most of China’s money, her greed lives here.”
Mackenzie looked around as we raced along the corridor. “And I thought 9,999 rooms was a lot to cover.”
We walked up a modest hill, off the main wooden corridor, and stopped at the Garden of Virtue and Harmony.