“I don't feel like eating,” shouted the old man, “and you can't force me. I'm the Emperor. And I don't want to meet any pipsqueak sent by Maximilian to interfere. As if I didn't have enough to worry about.”
“Now, now, father” said the woman, raising her eyebrows in embarrassment to Jia and Matilda. “You have to eat something or you'll end up disappearing.”
“That's my mother, Choy Ziang's Number One Daughter,” Jia whispered to Matilda.
“Sometimes I think disappearing wouldn't be such a bad thing,” moaned the Emperor, “except that it would make that miserable wretch Li Peng happy. The hide of the man! He's ruined everything. And all for his own selfishness.”
Jia's mother helped him seat himself on a low chair at the head of the table. Up until now he hadn't bothered to recognise either Jia or Matilda.
“What a rude old man,” thought Matilda. “And talk about the kettle calling the pot black. He and Li Peng are both as selfish as each other.”
At last Jia's mother looked over at them. “Hello, sweetheart,” she said to Jia in a gentle voice, “and welcome to the Dragon Province, Matilda. My name is Choy Bo but I would like you to call me Bo. I apologise for my father's rudeness but these are difficult times.”
“I understand,” said Matilda diplomatically.
“Don't apologise on my behalf,” the Emperor shouted at his daughter, completely ignoring Matilda. “I have nothing to apologise for. It's Maximilian that should be doing the apologising. He's allowed Li Peng to get away with robbery and done nothing about it except to send someone to pester me.”
Naturally, Matilda felt uncomfortable and unwelcome.
“What a horrible person,” she thought and lowered her eyes. Jia reached over and squeezed her hand.
“I hope my daughter is looking after you well,” said Bo, to change the subject.
“Oh, yes,” replied Matilda. “She has been very kind and what she has shown me so far is extremely interesting.”
“Good,” stated Bo. “Now let's eat.”
She signalled to the servants standing against the wall and they shuffled into what must have been the kitchen, appearing moments later with silver pots and porcelain bowls. They placed the bowls before everybody and spooned a delicious soup into them. This was followed by dishes of rice, pork, quail and pheasant, and finished off with fried ice cream and lychees. During the meal not a word was spoken, which made things very uncomfortable. The Emperor ate very little, only stubbornly picking at his food, to prove his point.
When the meal was over Bo helped the Emperor to his feet, blew kisses to Jia and Matilda, and left the dining room.
“I'm so sorry,” said Jia, with tears in her eyes.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” replied Matilda. “I must say I was prepared for rudeness given the situation here at the moment but that was way over the top.”
“Yes,” agreed Jia, “but I will make it up to you, I promise.”
“Well, there is something I've noticed that you can explain to me,” said Matilda.
“Anything,” answered Jia.
“There seem to be so many beautiful things made of silk – furnishing, clothing, cushions,” said Matilda. “Where do they all come from?”
Jia smiled. “Tomorrow I will show you. We will take a trip to see something amazing.”
“That sounds wonderful,” said Matilda, leaning over to give Jia a hug.
When they returned to their room, Peri reappeared.
“You were very polite not to say something rude to the Emperor,” she commented. “I was tempted to use my wand and turn him into a toad.”
Matilda laughed. “Unfortunately that wouldn't help at the moment but keep it in mind for later.”
“Now you can see why these two cranks can't get on,” said Peri. “If they ever met it would be like two tornadoes colliding.”
“Yes,” agreed Matilda, “and that makes our task very, very difficult. Keep thinking my little friend but, for now, I think we should get some rest before Jia's trip tomorrow.”
Chapter 11
The Silk Factory
The next morning breakfast was served in their room. After they had finished eating, Peri flew onto Matilda's shoulder and disappeared as they proceeded down the corridor. When she reached the front of the palace Matilda saw Jia was waiting beside a small carriage.
“Your transport,” said Jia, sweeping her arm towards the horse and carriage. “Climb aboard and we'll be on our way.”
“Wow!” exclaimed Matilda with a smile as she stepped up into the carriage. “This is different.”
“All part of the service,” laughed Jia. She hopped in beside Matilda, took up the reins and they set off out of the palace grounds.
The journey took them through the suburbs of the city where Matilda was surprised to see that there was very little activity. As she had observed yesterday on her way to the palace, people were sitting in front of their houses, but the streets themselves were empty. It was as if a black cloud of despair hung over the city.
They travelled for over an hour before they cleared the city and reached the countryside. The tightly clustered houses gave way to green hills, rice and vegetable fields, and little mud-brick farm houses. The air smelt fresh and the sky was a clear blue. Jia steered the carriage up into the hills and they finally arrived at a ridge overlooking a valley. This valley was filled with thousands of mulberry trees. They stretched across the valley and down as far as the eye could see. Workers moved amongst the trees with large sacks into which they placed the mulberry leaves that they had picked.
“Food for the most treasured object in our province – the silkworm,” announced Jia. “Now we will see where these remarkable worms produce their heavenly product.”
She slapped the reins lightly on the horse's rump and they started down towards the valley below.
They reached an enormous cleared area to the side of the mulberry trees. Hundreds of long, low sheds stretched down in lines and men and women were taking the bags of mulberry leaves inside.
Jia led Matilda across to one of the sheds and, when they entered, they saw metal drums at each end with fires in them to keep the air warm and humid. Along the sides of the shed were benches that held wooden trays where the workers were placing the leaves. When Matilda went over to one of the trays she saw that it was full of silkworms crawling over the mulberry leaves and nibbling away at them.
Farther down the shed she came across boxes full of yellow cocoons where the silkworms had gone into the stage where they changed into moths. These cocoons were being collected by other workers and placed in baskets for transport to the silk room. Jia took Matilda's hand and led her towards other buildings set into the side of the hill.
“Here's where the real work takes place,” she informed her.
They entered the first building to see large vats with charcoal embers glowing beneath them. Hundreds of cocoons were floating in the hot water, and workers were scooping them out with nets. The heated cocoons were then placed in bags and taken down the aisle into the next building where workers sat on stools beside benches, using their fingers to unravel the fine silk thread, turning it onto bobbins.
“Some of the moths are allowed to hatch and lay eggs for future silkworms. Each moth can lay thousands of eggs. When the thread from the heated eggs has been unwound it is taken on the bobbins to another building for dyeing,” explained Jia, “and then on to the workers who use looms to make the silk material. Follow me and I'll show you.”
They walked along a lane between the buildings until they arrived at another set of sheds where the workers were delivering the bobbins of dyed silk in a vast array of colours. Inside, there were rows of looms with experts turning the silk into swatches of gleaming material.
“That's amazing,” commented Matilda.
“The best is yet to come,” said Jia and she took Matilda to another large building where seamstresses were decorating the silk cloth and turning the mat
erial into clothing. Carpenters and upholsterers were using the material to cover pieces of furniture. Matilda had her breath taken away. The finished products were exquisite. They were finally displayed in a showroom, where they were inspected for quality. After inspection, the items were loaded onto various horse-drawn wagons for delivery to shops in the city and to warehouses, ready for trading with other countries.
“Wonderful,” enthused Matilda. However, she had noticed that these workers and artists also looked sad and, during the tour, she had not seen any of them talking to each other. She mentioned the fact to Jia.
“Yes, the loss of balance in our lives has affected everybody,” stated Jia. “But life must go on and these people realise the importance of their work to our province and the Emperor so they work on despite their misery. We all depend on the trading of silk for our survival. If we ever stopped producing these beautiful materials we would have another reason for sorrow. Now, let us find something to eat. I'm starving after all that walking.”
“Good idea,” agreed Matilda.
Chapter 12
A Confession
Jia and Matilda returned to their carriage and travelled up the hill again. They reached a small village where a cluster of mud-brick buildings was strung along a dirt road. Jia stopped the carriage in front of one of the houses that had a sign outside. It read “Zhu Long Canting” which Jia translated as “The Pearl Dragon Restaurant”.
“It doesn't look like a restaurant,” commented Matilda. “It's more like a family home.”
“Exactly,” said Jia, “and that's what it serves – home-cooked family food. This restaurant is famous throughout the province. Come, we'll go inside.”
Both Jia and Matilda climbed down from the carriage and walked up to the open front door where they were warmly greeted by a small, chubby old woman in traditional dress. She hugged Jia.
“Matilda, this is Chang Bik,” said Jia as the old woman shook Matilda's hand, “the best cook in the Dragon Province.”
The old woman giggled in embarrassment and gently pushed Jia on the arm, before leading them into the restaurant. The inside of the building belied the simple exterior. Low dining tables surrounded by bright silk cushions were sprinkled around the room and the walls were decorated with elegant scrolls picturing the Pearl Dragon in various poses. It was quite delightful.
Chang Bik took them to the table farthest from the kitchen, which was the most honourable place to be seated, and where they were apart from the other diners. Because of Jia's attachment to the Emperor she attracted everybody's attention so, at Jia's request, the old woman also arranged for a bamboo screen to be placed around them for privacy. The sweet aromas of cooking filled the air.
“M-m-m,” said Matilda. “That smells wonderful.”
“It will taste even better,” said Jia, then became serious. “Now that we are alone there is something I must ask. Is your research the only reason you are here in the Dragon Province?”
“What makes you ask that?” enquired Matilda as she felt a nervous flutter in her stomach.
“I was impressed with your self-control despite the Emperor's rudeness last night. I would have expected some reaction from you and it would have been correct. But instead you showed a great deal of . . . diplomacy. I thought that was strange, that your purpose here was not just research and you had to make sure you didn't offend the Emperor.”
Matilda was caught off guard and had to think quickly. “Not at all. I certainly didn't want to upset the Emperor and what you saw was simply good manners in a strange new land.”
“Very well,” said Jia. “Now let's enjoy the meal.”
The waitress arrived first with bowls of bird's nest soup, a new and curious experience for Matilda. This was followed by pork in plum sauce accompanied by a stir fry of fresh vegetables and finished off with small cups of green tea. Unfortunately, Matilda was wracked with the guilt of lying to her beautiful and gentle companion and could not enjoy the food as much as she should have. At the end of the meal she excused herself to visit the bathroom.
When she had closed the door of the simple room with its hole-in-the-floor toilet and wash stand, she whispered, “Peri”, and the fairy appeared.
“I can't do this,” Matilda said with tears in her eyes.
“Can't do what?” asked Peri.
“Keep lying to Jia,” said Matilda.
“I understand,” replied Peri, “and I think that the time has come to tell her the truth. Jia could be an extremely valuable ally.”
“I'm so glad you said that,” said Matilda with a smile of relief. “And you don't mind me telling her about you?”
“Of course not,” said Peri. “She deserves the whole truth.”
“Thank you,” said Matilda, hugging the little fairy to her cheek. When Peri had disappeared, she returned to their table.
As she sat down, Matilda looked directly into Jia's eyes. “I have a confession to make.”
Jia looked surprised. “What's that?”
“You were right. Research is not the real reason I am here.” She went on to explain the mission Maximilian had given her to solve the problem of the hostility between Choy Ziang and Li Peng.
“How intriguing,” commented Jia thoughtfully. “Thank you for your honesty. I am delighted that you feel you can trust me and I'll do everything I can to help you, although it will be a huge challenge.”
Matilda was elated and added, “There is something else I need to tell you. I am not alone.”
“Oh?” exclaimed Jia in surprise.
“I have a secret companion, a magic fairy who has come with me as my protector,” said Matilda, then whispered, “Peri”, and the fairy appeared again.
Jia burst out laughing. “You are full of surprises.”
Matilda introduced them. “Jia, this is Peri, my dear friend and defender.”
“Hi,” said Peri, waving a hand.
“Hello,” said Jia with a smile. “It is a real pleasure to meet you and I can't wait to work with you both in bringing peace to the two provinces.”
“Likewise,” added Peri. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to where I came from.” She waved her wand and vanished.
“Well, that was refreshing,” commented Jia taking Matilda's hand. “Once again, thank you.”
“I'm so happy that everything is out in the open,” enthused Matilda. “I know I'll need all of the help I can get.”
“You have it,” declared Jia.
After Jia had paid for the meal they returned to the carriage and rode back towards the city and the Emperor's palace.
Chapter 13
A Friend Drops In
From the village they travelled along a road that ran close to a mountain range.
“Those mountains form the northern border of our province,” Jia pointed out as their horse trotted along. “Fortunately they form a barrier between us and the people of the northern plains, the Vandals, who defeated the Mongol nation and moved into our region from the west over a century ago.”
“Vandals?” queried Matilda. “In our culture vandals are people who go about damaging public property.”
“These Vandals do much the same except it isn't just public property they damage; it's anybody else's property. They're a ferocious group and not ones to have as a neighbour.”
They passed by a river cascading down from the mountains, and crossed a wooden bridge. “We call this river Jin He, the River of Gold. It supplies our province with all of the water we need. It is our life-blood,” said Jia.
Suddenly there was a whoosh! over their heads and, when Matilda looked up, she saw a scarlet coloured dragon, about the size of the carriage, looking down at her. Their horse reared into the air in fear.
“Whoa!” shouted Jia, pulling on the reins as the dragon landed gracefully on the road in front of them. The horse stopped, shook its head and neighed.
“Don't do that, Hong Long!” Jia said angrily, staring at the dragon.
The dra
gon lowered its head as if ashamed of what it had done then turned its eyes towards Matilda, smiled and winked.
Jia saw what the dragon had done. “And don't think it's funny,” she added but couldn't help laughing. “You cheeky thing.”
The dragon looked at her and breathed a puff of flames into the air.
“Matilda, this is Hong Long, the Red Dragon,'” said Jia. “She is one of our guardian dragons that live in those mountains. We call them the Dragon Defenders.They make sure that our border is protected and we are free from enemies such as the Vandals . . . but not the enemies that come from within the provinces. I speak of Lin Peng.”
Jia reached into her pocket and brought out a handful of cocoon shells which the dragon greedily lapped up when they were held in front of her.
“After they have been stripped of their silk the husks of the silkworm cocoons are a special treat for the dragons. We always bring the finished husks up to the mountains for them. The dragons absolutely love them.”
“How many Dragon Defenders are there?” asked Matilda.
“Four,”stated Jia. “All different colours – the Red, Green, Blue and Yellow Dragons. We believe that the province would not exist without them. They are our friends as well as our protectors.”
“Scary friends,” commented Matilda.
“Only to our enemies,” said Jia as she climbed down from the carriage and walked over to stroke the Red Dragon's head. The dragon purred like a large cat. “They are the brothers and sisters of the Pearl Dragon.”
When the Red Dragon heard that name, tears formed in her eyes and trickled down her face.
“She knows what has happened,” explained Jia, stroking the dragon again. “She shares our sorrow. All will be well again soon,” she whispered in the dragon's ear and, pointing to Matilda, said, “Our friend here will help make that happen.”
The Red Dragon looked at Matilda and puffed out another stream of flames.
“That's her way of showing that she accepts you,” said Jia, then addressed the dragon. “Go back to your sisters and brothers and tell them we promise that the Pearl Dragon and the Golden Phoenix will be joined together again soon.”