“I wondered what that was,” Tonglong said. “I assumed it was a simple dragon pendant. I should have known better.”
The Emperor did not reply. Instead, he held the small rectangular object before him in his good hand and awkwardly untied a knot that had been positioned very close to one edge. The pendant separated into two halves. The back half was plain and smooth on all of its surfaces. The front half, however, was different. A simple dragon had been carved on the outside to make it look like a standard pendant, but an elaborate dragon had been painstakingly carved on the inside portion.
Tonglong snatched the seal from the Emperor’s hand and dipped the special dragon into the spilled ink. Then he pressed the seal against the decree, below the Emperor’s signature.
ShaoShu watched Tonglong apply a steady, even pressure in order to make the seal stand out clearly, and something unexpected happened. The seal crumbled to dust between Tonglong’s fingers.
Tonglong hissed and reached across his desk with one hand, grabbing the Emperor by the throat. “How dare you play games with me!”
“No games,” the Emperor somehow managed to say. “It may still have worked. Look closely.”
ShaoShu looked at the paper from across the room, but all he saw was a blob of black ink and clay powder.
Tonglong took the paper in his free hand and tilted it sideways, shaking it. The powder drifted from the decree, and ShaoShu saw that the seal was somewhat smeared but still identifiable, even from a distance. He did not know a thing about official documents, but this one looked authentic to him.
Tonglong released the Emperor’s throat. “It was designed to disintegrate like that, wasn’t it?”
The Emperor nodded and coughed. “It is a safeguard against unauthorized use. It is meant to break and destroy the seal’s mark as well. You must have an extraordinarily soft touch.”
“We will see how soft my touch is when I start breaking more of your fingers. Where are the real seals?”
“That seal was real.”
“I mean, where are the ones you use on a regular basis? I doubt you use those clay versions.”
“The royal set is back at the Forbidden City, in Peking.”
“Do you have more clay seals?”
“No.”
Tonglong stood and pounded his fist on the desk again. He glared at the Emperor. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
“It means that you will have to keep me alive longer than you expected. You will never be able to execute another initiative like this conscription without the seals, and you will not be allowed inside the Forbidden City without me.”
“Plenty of new emperors have entered the Forbidden City with the old Emperor’s head on a spike.”
“But not you,” the Emperor challenged. “At least, not yet. You still have the substantial Western army to contend with. From what I have overheard among your men, Xie is alive and well. If he makes it back to his homeland, he will take the role his father held as Western Warlord, and his people will crush you. They are a powerful, merciless lot. And they have horses. There are also the imperial forces under my direct supervision within the walls of the Forbidden City.”
“Your Forbidden City forces are more susceptible than you think,” Tonglong jeered. “A little bit of treasure and the promise of power have gone a long way right beneath your nose.”
“My men are loyal to the death.”
Tonglong laughed. “Why? Because you pay them well? I will pay them more. In fact, I already have. I have one key individual who has made me confident that I will win the rest over soon enough. He will convince the others to join—or kill them. With your own imperial forces turned against you, combined with my current Southern and Eastern armies and the men I will recruit, even the mighty Western army will not stand a chance.”
“Do not forget about the bandits and their Resistance,” the Emperor said. “They will declare all-out war against someone like you. They have been a thorn in my side for years.”
“Let them try. I crushed them once and took their stronghold, and I will gladly do it again. Their life span is coming to an end. As for your life span, you are correct. You will walk this earth at least a little longer. Signatures are easy enough to forge, but that seal is far too complicated to reproduce without an original to copy. If you cooperate, I may let you live once we reach the Forbidden City.”
Tonglong picked up the decree and stared at the seal, shaking his head. He carried the document to the far side of the room and placed it on top of a long table, then glanced at the mess he had made on the desk and the scrolls he had knocked to the floor. “ShaoShu, tidy up this place. I am taking the Emperor back to his private pigsty now.”