Читать книгу The Color of Jadeite - Eric D. Goodman - Страница 15

7

Abundant Harvest

We found the right driver and made it to Temple of Heaven Park in twelve minutes—thanks in part to the driver speeding along sidewalks and plowing through crowds of people, all of whom moved casually and intuitively out of the way as though this were a normal traffic pattern.

Buying our admission tickets stalled us momentarily, but we made it through the gates and into the park before seeing any sign of our rivals. Inside the park grounds, men and women did tai chi, aerobics, and played badminton. Men sat along cement walls and at tables playing chess and cards and Othello. Others played instruments and smoked pipes and cigarettes. Not one of them had a “Chinese Checkers” board out.

“Where’s the temple?” Salvador asked.

Wei Wei looked around. “Temple of Heaven refers to the entire park system here. It’s even bigger than the Forbidden City.”

Salvador seemed relieved to have a momentary break from running. He kicked back his leg, holding his foot behind him to stretch it, grimacing.

Wei Wei’s eyes scanned the surroundings. “The trouble is figuring out where to start.”

I ended our resting period and darted along the outdoor corridor. “A good place to start is the main one,” I said. Wei Wei, Mackenzie, and Salvador followed.

When the main temple came into view, we found out that our friends had a good driver, too—better than ours. They were already running up the marble stairs. “Now what?” Mackenzie asked.

“Let’s hold tight, see if they find anything,” I said. “There’s four of us and two of them. If they do, we can confront them.”

Salvador scoffed. “I could take them myself.”

“You may get a chance,” I said.

We took cover in the crowd and walked slowly around the magnificent circular structure like dogs around prey. We weren’t tourists, but it was hard not to appreciate the elaborate temple. Planted on an enormous platform of white marble, the hall towered high with three round eaves covered in blue-glazed tiles. The inner hall was visible from outside, and the handiwork even more masterful than the outside. My eyes darted from Silver Hair and Bowl Cut—both of them rummaging around inside the temple—to the interior itself. Multi-colored wood beams made up the elongated caisson ceiling, painted with the golden dragons and phoenixes, filled in with tall pillars of red and gold. My eyes followed one of the intricately painted poles up to the visual explosion of a multi-colored wood ceiling. “Inspiring.”

Wei Wei nodded. “This is the where the emperor, as the Son of Heaven, would come to make sacrifices or pray to the ancestors in heaven, or take counsel with the gods.”

“We could use some guidance from the gods,” Salvador said, though I doubted he believed in any.

“Tian Tan, or Temple of Heaven, refers to the entire area,” Wei Wei reminded. “The park itself is a temple. This is actually the Altar of Prayer for Abundant Harvests.”

I considered. “This is where the emperor used to make sacrifices?”

“That’s right,” Wei Wei said. She had a sparkle in her eye, anticipating where I was going with this.

“What are the names of other structures in the park?”

Wei Wei looked around us and recalled. “Palace of Abstinence …”

“Let’s avoid that one,” I said, noting an eye roll from Mackenzie and a smirk from Salvador.

Wei Wei offered a playful frown. “The Circular Mound Altar. Divine Music Hall … Imperial Vault of Heaven …”

As Wei Wei’s voice drifted off, a thought fell into my mind like a coin into a beggar’s cup. “What did the clue say? The proverb?”

Wei Wei recited it. “Great blessings come from Heaven; small ones come from man.”

The two temple raiders poked around in the animal-shaped sacrificial altars along a side of the interior.

“This Altar of Prayer for Abundant Harvests would be a place where men offered gifts to the gods,” I said. “Great blessings don’t come from man, they come from heaven.”

“The Imperial Vault of Heaven?” Mackenzie asked.

Wei Wei’s face illuminated, her eyes glistening with contagious excitement. “Yes, that’s where heaven’s treasures would be built up. Let’s go!”

“Casually!” I said. “Don’t attract attention.”

Verifying 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.