Chapter 11: A Little-Known Secret

Wei Yong turned and got into the car. The rain had soaked through my clothes, but the chill in my heart far surpassed that of my body. I wiped the rainwater from my face and sat down. Wei Yong was tapping his fingers casually against his crossed leg.

"I have been inside the underground palace of the Daci'en Temple. Since you thought of digging from underneath, you must have discovered the secret chamber within. There is a map of the Holy Monk’s Journey to the West on the floor of the rear chamber; surely you saw that empty rectangular groove."

"I speculated that the Heirloom Seal of the Realm was meant to be placed there, but that object has been lost to history. Judging by the mechanism, it requires a ten-jin weight—the weight must be exact. Even with modern technology, no one knows how heavy the Heirloom Seal truly is."

"That is one point. The mechanism is indeed a ten-jin drop, but the groove is not perfectly square; there is a distinct chip in the bottom right corner," Wei Yong said, his voice low. "Because of that chip, what you only guessed, I can state with certainty: the object placed there was indeed the Heirloom Seal."

"How can you be so sure, Secretary Wei?" I asked, puzzled.

"How many people in this world have actually seen the real Heirloom Seal?" Wei Yong retorted with a meaningful look. "Everything we know about it comes from documents; it is something heard of, but never seen."

"If that is the case, surely you haven’t seen it either, Secretary Wei?"

"Having witnessed the vast sea, other waters are hard to admire..."

Wei Yong gave a faint smile and looked out the window, his expression momentarily melancholy before it vanished. He turned back, asking seriously, "How much do you know about the Heirloom Seal of the Realm?"

"In the nineteenth year of the reign of the King of Qin, after Qin defeated Zhao and obtained the He Shi Bi, the world was unified. Ying Zheng proclaimed himself the First Emperor and commanded Li Si to carve the eight characters 'Having received the mandate from heaven, may one enjoy eternal prosperity' in seal script. The jade artisan Wang Sunshou of Xianyang polished the He Shi Bi and carved it into a seal," I recited fluently. "The precious jade, the superb calligraphy, and the masterful carving made this seal a peerless treasure. This became the Heirloom Seal of the Realm."

"Do you know how many seals were carved at that time?"

"Seven!" I answered without hesitation. "When the First Emperor established the system of imperial seals, he established a system of seven seals based on his own will and the needs of governance—one large and six small. The large one refers to the Heirloom Seal, while the six small ones refer to the three seals of the Emperor and the three seals of the Son of Heaven. The large one was used for securing the nation and imperial sacrifices, while the small ones were used for handling internal and external affairs."

I suddenly realized something and looked up, asking tentatively, "Although there were seven, the 'large' and 'small' did not refer to size, but to rank. Could it be... are you suggesting that while the Heirloom Seal was lost, these six smaller seals still exist?"

Wei Yong lit a cigarette, took a drag, and said calmly, "Actually... it wasn't seven. There were eight!"

"Eight?!"

***

"How much do you know about the succession of the Heirloom Seal?" Wei Yong ignored my confusion.

"At the end of the Qin Dynasty, the world was in chaos. Liu Bang led his troops to break through the Wu Pass and advanced to Baling, forcing his way to Xianyang. Ziying, the Prince of Qin, could not resist and surrendered outside the city. He knelt by the Zhidao road and respectfully presented the seven seals and other tallies to Liu Bang. After Liu Bang founded the Han Dynasty, this seal became the Han Heirloom Seal, kept in the Changle Palace as a national treasure."

"And then?" Wei Yong asked calmly.

"At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang poisoned the fourteen-year-old Emperor Ping of Han with spiced wine and placed the two-year-old Ruzi Ying on the throne, seizing the Heirloom Seal to control the world."

Wei Yong flicked his ash and turned to me, his expression profound. "Those are things recorded in documents. Let me tell you something that is not."

I looked up and said firmly, "I am listening."

"Wang Mang was desperate to become a true emperor and wanted the seal, but it was in the possession of the Grand Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun. She was Wang Mang's aunt, and he could not confront her directly. He sent his cousin Wang Shun to persuade her. When she realized their intent, she was enraged and threw the seal to the ground. A corner of the jade broke off. Wang Shun hurriedly picked it up and gave it to Wang Mang, who was overjoyed and had craftsmen repair it with gold that very night. From then on, it became the Gold-Inlaid Jade Seal."

I thought of the chip in the bottom right corner of the groove—that was the reason. Yet, history books never mentioned this. No wonder Wei Yong was so certain about the seal. But how did he know something even I, a professional, had never heard?

Wei Yong exhaled a cloud of smoke and continued calmly.

"After Wang Mang’s Xin Dynasty fell, the seal changed hands many times before ending up with Emperor Guangwu of Han. During the late Eastern Han, eunuchs held power. He Jin and Yuan Shao plotted to kill them, but He Jin was murdered. His subordinates led troops into the palace to hunt the eunuchs. The eunuchs Zhang Rang and Duan Gui fled with the young emperor in a panic, leaving the seals behind. Upon returning, they found the Heirloom Seal had disappeared."

"That was the first time it was lost," I picked up the thread. "Later, Sun Jian, the Prefect of Changsha, participated in the campaign against Dong Zhuo and was the first to enter Luoyang. His men found a dead palace maid in a well in the south of the city, and in a silk bag around her neck, they found the Heirloom Seal. Sun Jian kept it, but the ambitious Yuan Shu found out and demanded it. When Sun Jian refused, Yuan Shu held his wife hostage. Sun Jian had no choice but to surrender the seal. Later, after Yuan Shu died in defeat, the seal returned to Emperor Xian of Han."

"Then..." Wei Yong’s expression turned strange. He fell into a deep contemplation, silent for a long time until the cigarette burned his fingers. He frantically dusted off the ash. In my impression of him, Wei Yong was never this distracted. What could possibly trouble him so much?

"After that, Cao Pi declared himself emperor, and the seal was in the hands of the Cao Wei. After the Three Kingdoms were unified, it went to the Jin. At the end of the Western Jin, chaos reigned, and it changed hands frequently until the Northern Zhou destroyed the Northern Qi, and the Sui destroyed the Northern Zhou. The seal then went to Emperor Wen of Sui."

When he spoke of this period, his tone was different—filled with an indescribable grandeur and authority. It was as if he were not recounting history, but remembering the past.

"It wasn't until the Tang Dynasty that the seal enjoyed nearly three hundred years of peace. From the time Zhu Wen usurped the throne, the seal met with misfortune again. It passed from the Later Liang to the Later Tang. Not long after, the last emperor of Later Tang, Li Congke, was defeated by the Khitan. With no way out, he took the seal and climbed the tower to set himself on fire. The seal, which had witnessed the rise and fall of so many dynasties, finally ended its thousand-year journey."

When Wei Yong finished, I looked at him thoughtfully.

***

"Secretary Wei, many people know the story of the seal, but you mentioned there were eight, not seven. Yet even in the records of Li Congke’s death, there is no mention of an eighth seal. Where did it come from?"

"The seal is proof of imperial legitimacy. Without it, one’s claim is not recognized. That is why emperors have always craved it. Zhu Yuanzhang unified the world without it, but he was a strongman; as they say, 'times make the hero.' No one questioned his background. But in a feudal society where men were superior to women, if a woman wanted to be emperor, without the seal, she would have..."

"Wu Zetian!" I turned to him, shocked. "You mean... Wu Zetian made her own Heirloom Seal to ascend the throne?!"

"Wu Zetian wanted legitimacy; how could she use a fake to prove her status? Even if she silenced the nobles and ministers, she couldn't silence the world."

"But... if the seal Wu Zetian used was the real one, then the Tang Dynasty’s seal..."

I was stunned, my finger trembling as I pointed.

"The Heirloom Seal was never lost! Wu Zetian swapped the real one for a fake, and everything that was passed down afterward... was a fake!"

"Heh, it seems you’ve figured out why there are eight seals!" Wei Yong smiled faintly. "You only need to find the real seal that Wu Zetian swapped, and you can open the secret chamber."

My joy was short-lived, quickly replaced by a dark expression.

"Wu Zetian’s swap was an extremely covert act; no historical record mentions it. She is a figure from a thousand years ago—no one knows the whereabouts of that seal. Even with this new lead, it’s no different from it being lost."

"Of course it’s different. Dust to dust, earth to earth. At least you know where Wu Zetian is now, heh."

I pondered his cryptic words, then slowly opened my mouth.

"You mean... the Heirloom Seal is in Wu Zetian’s mausoleum?!"

"I don't know if it's there, but you’ll find out once you go in and look!" Wei Yong’s smile was relaxed.

I froze, staring at him, dumbstruck.

"You... you want me to rob the Qianling Mausoleum!"