William Wu - Emperor

“I see,” said Hunter.

“MC 5 could get the post of courier, but he will be closely watched during his first months on the job to see that he is reliable. Within the palace grounds, his movements will be severely restricted. He will be assigned to accompany a trusted courier during this time, to learn his way around and to earn the trust of his superiors.”

“Then we must learn if this new courier really is MC 5,” said Hunter.

Polo frowned thoughtfully. “To your knowledge, could he be a danger of any kind to the khan?”

“No,” said Hunter. “In fact, if given the opportunity, he would risk his own well-being to save the khan’s life. But he might wish to gain the ear of the khan someday and offer some opinions.”

Polo laughed. “Nearly everyone in the empire would love to have the khan’s ear for one reason or another.” He glanced at Xiao Sung. “Is that all?”

“He has more, master,” the head servant said politely.

“Oh. Please go on.”

“I must also inform you that a search for an evil spirit of the description of this man called MC 5 is already underway in the streets.”

“Eh?” Polo glanced at Hunter. “My Chinese is poor, but did he say that a search on the streets has already begun for this man?”

“Yes,” said Hunter. “A business rival of mine also hopes to make contact with him.”

“Ah! I see.”

“Supposedly, a couple of good spirits have come down from the sky to capture MC 5,” said Xiao Sung.

“What do they look like?” Steve asked suddenly in Chinese.

“Like foreigners,” said Xiao Sung. “They resemble Master Polo and your friend, in a general way.”

Steve grinned and glanced at Hunter. “Yeah, that’s our business rival, playing games. Have they offered a reward for finding MC 5?”

“No, sir,” said Xiao Sung. “No reward is offered, but the more superstitious people in this part of the city are looking for him.”

“Do you believe in evil spirits?” Steve grinned at Xiao Sung. “Does everybody?”

“Of course, sir,” said Xiao Sung, frowning in puzzlement. “But I do not confuse every foreign guest with visitors from the spirit world.”

“Good,” said Steve.

“Would it be possible to receive a letter of introduction from you?” Hunter asked. “I must go to the palace and see this new courier for myself.”

“I will do more than that,” said Polo. “Several days ago, I reported to the khan on my most recent trip out to the provinces. Now I am taking a week or so to relax, which leaves me free today. I, too, am curious about this mysterious stranger, so I will take you to the palace myself.”

“I am imposing on you,” said Hunter.

“Nonsense. I will enjoy the walk.”

“Then I am in your debt.”

Polo glanced up at this servants. “You will accompany us,” he said in Mongol.

The servants left the house first, followed by Polo and Hunter. Steve and Marcia walked behind them. The young woman servant followed, first closing the front door behind them and then the gate in the wall.

“Hunter is going to be worried even more about altering Polo’s actions,” Steve said quietly.

“That’s true. Well, Polo was always welcome at court, so this isn’t likely to be too significant.” Marcia took a deep breath. “I can hardly believe it. I’m about to see the palace of Kublai Khan…’

Ishihara waited as Wayne and Jane took a break under a large tree on the edge of a city street.

“Look,” said Xiao Li. “One of my cousins is running through the crowd toward us.” He pointed.

Ishihara looked. A young man from the village dodged around a peddler’s cart and stopped, breathing hard. “Your friend has been seen.”

“Where?” Ishihara asked.

Beside him, both Wayne and Jane tensed.

“A man saw him deliver a message from the palace of the Emperor to the home of a general, then return again.”

“What did he say?” Wayne asked in English, impatiently. “Does he know something?”

“He went to work in the palace,” said Ishihara in English. “The seat of power.”

“You will come?” The man looked back and forth between Wayne and Ishihara. “If an evil spirit is working in the court, he may cause harm for everyone.”

“He is not an evil spirit, remember,” said Ishihara. “He is merely a misguided spirit who belongs with us. We will take him away from the court if someone will take us inside the palace grounds.”

“My mother’s cousin is a minor attendant to one of the princes in the court. He will come to the gate if I ask the guard to call him.”

“Can he let us in?” Ishihara asked.

“I believe so,” the other man said slowly. “I have never tried before.”

“Will we be stopped inside?” Ishihara asked. “We cannot disturb the palace routine.”

“That’s right,” said Jane. “We can’t afford to cause any trouble, remember?”

“My mother’s cousin has often said that the palace grounds are like a separate city within Khanbaliq. Thousands of bureaucrats, servants, and other workers do their daily duties inside the walls.”

“This is acceptable,” said Ishihara. “A few more people can get lost in the crowd during the day. Will you take us to the palace?”

“I am at your service.”

“Good.”

“Are we going?” Wayne asked in English again. “Can we get to MC 5?”

“Yes,” said Ishihara.

Steve stared at the towering walls around the palace grounds as he drew near behind Polo and Hunter. The grounds covered the equivalent of many city blocks, though Steve could not judge how many from this perspective. The walls rose up at least as high as the Great Wall. Sentries stood guard outside the closed gates. When they recognized Marco Polo, however, they bowed and opened the gates without comment.

Within the walls, the palace grounds were also laid out in the manner of a city. Broad walkways and large buildings lined up on a right -angle grid. Trees shaded the walks and the buildings. Marcia took his arm and pointed.

“See that long building with the statues by the entrance and the wooden threshold? By the architecture and the statues, I think that’s a temple of some kind.”

Steve nodded. “How about the other buildings?”

“I can’t be sure of most of them. These buildings did not last into our time. Too many are made of wood, and they were replaced one by one as the centuries went by.” Marcia looked to each side, then into the distance. She pointed to a huge edifice topped by a roof of vermilion, yellow, green, blue, and red, shimmering in the sunlight. “The largest building is the palace itself. In Marco Polo’s book, he says the palace is the greatest that ever existed. He wrote that the largest hall can hold six thousand people at dinner. The khan’s quarters are there, and those of his four wives.”

“Yeah?”

“And the other buildings must house various bureaucratic offices.”

“I wonder if there’s any chance we could see Kublai Khan himself.”

In front of them, Polo and his entourage came to a halt. Polo spoke briefly to a young man in a long, black robe who bowed deeply and hurried away. Then Polo turned to Hunter with an amused smile.

“I have been fortunate to enjoy the khan’s favor ever since we arrived here. Many of the attendants know me; that man recently passed the examinations necessary to enter government service. He will speak to the chief of the palace couriers, and bring MC 5 to us.”

“Thank you,” said Hunter.

“It’s going to be that easy?” Steve muttered to Marcia. “Hard to believe.”

“Dr. Nystrom sent us on a long detour to the Great Wall. I just hope Jane’s all right.”