"Forget not thy dignity, O n.o.ble Li," said Woo-san-Kwei, touching that prince upon the shoulder, and adding, "Yet it is but just that such an a.s.sertion, made in the very presence of the Emperor, should be verified."
The Emperor came to the rescue, saying, "Open thy lips, youth, for, well as we think of thy honesty, thou hast uttered words against the n.o.blest of our yellow girdles, which as they are true or false merit reward or punishment."
Thus challenged Nicholas fell upon his knees, and related his adventure at the palace of retirement, declaring that the two men were plotting the dethronement of the Emperor, and that the chief of the two was the Prince Li-Kong himself. At this bold and circ.u.mstantial accusation, the young Prince Yong-Li and the great lords on the steps of the throne, placed their hands upon their swords, and alternately glancing at Li-Kong and Nicholas, awaited the command of the Emperor to seize either accuser or accused. For an instant the lips of Li-Kong quivered with fear or rage, but, recovering his equanimity, he gave a signal with his hand, when a large body of military mandarins came around him, and fell upon their knees before the Emperor, when Li said, "Are the services of thy servant so soon forgotten, have the rebels been no sooner chastised, and peace restored within the empire, that the exterminator and his officers should be as mice before the words of this less than a dog? O my sovereign! let these officers be questioned, and they will prove that on the night of which the dog speaks, their general was engaged in discovering a new conspiracy among the Fan-Kwi priests."
"What words are these, O prince?" said the Emperor, whose alarm had been artfully turned in another direction. "Have we not honored these priests, even to making their chief the president of our high board of mathematics?"
"Yet such is the ingrat.i.tude of the barbarians, O my Emperor, that, in league with the outer barbarians, they seek to overthrow the empire."
"Let my guards instantly secure every villain priest within the walls of the city," said the terrified Emperor.
"Thy slaves have been diligent, and thy command antic.i.p.ated, O Emperor; the miserable chief of the mathematics and his brethren have been carried before the three tribunals, their guilt proved, and most mercifully adjudged to be strangled; the sentence but awaits the vermilion pencil of the Emperor," said Li-Kong.
"The judges have failed in the duties of their office by so mild a sentence, for which let them all be degraded three degrees of rank, and the priests be cut into ten thousand pieces," said the Emperor.
"If the crime be proved, the sentence is light; if not, terrible must be thy remorse, O my sovereign, for the learned father"s services have been great. Surely, then, thy wisdom alone should seek to discover the guilt or innocence of this enormous culprit, or much-injured priest," said Woo.
"The words of the venerable Woo, O my royal father, are worthy of his years and the imperial dignity; let not thy indignation rather than thy justice adjudge this priest, but command that he be brought before thee," said the young prince, earnestly.
"Thy words are but reasonable, my son; we will examine the Christian dog ourselves," said the Emperor. When, at a signal, the aged missionary, Adam Schaal, was brought before the throne, so laden with iron chains that his form was bent to the shape of a bow; still, with his long white hair and beard, and the unflinching, piercing blue eye of his German race, he looked, as he was, a willing martyr for the cause of his Saviour.
At the sight of his old favorite thus humiliated, even the Emperor melted with pity and doubt as to his guilt. "Can it be under heaven,"
said he, "that so holy a body should contain so vile a heart? Have we not protected and fostered thee and thy companions in the heart of our empire, giving thee permission to build thy temples and even to convert the people to thy religion; nay, moreover, raised thee to the first rank among the learned? Canst thou answer, thou villainous old man?"
"It is even these favors, O mighty Emperor, that have raised the envy of the enemies of Christ, who, jealous of the success of thy servant"s cause, seek to destroy him, that they may triumph over his religion; and if their malice should prevail, the Christian priest will die blessing the great Emperor who enabled him to do so much good."
"What says the accuser to these words?" said the Emperor, sternly, more than half believing in the father"s innocence.
"Stand forth, O Hung," said Li-Kong; when a mandarin of the second degree fell before the throne and held above his head some medals, a book, and a chaplet of beads, saying, "Are not these proofs of the old rogue"s guilt?"
"They are, O my sovereign, the mysterious symbols and secret marks used by the initiated in the great conspiracy, which is now insidiously spreading throughout the empire, and known to each other."
"How! what dog"s words are these, thou ignorant slave? Dost thou not know that these are the symbols of the Lord of heaven"s religion?"
replied the Emperor, who, at the beginning of his reign, having befriended the missionaries, and made himself master of the mysteries and symbols of their religion, was far beyond most of his n.o.bles in intelligence.
"It is so alleged, O dread sovereign, by the villains, for their own vile ends, and should it be even so, the Son of Heaven can not doubt this proof of guilt," replied the mandarin, placing a letter in the Emperor"s hands.
For some time there was a dread silence; when, however, the Emperor had perused the doc.u.ment, his eye sparkled with rage, and he exclaimed, "Truly the proof is overwhelming, and it is to the viceroy of Quang-Tung the Emperor owes the discovery of this villainy. Bring hither the pet.i.tion of the criminal tribunal for the villain"s execution. Moreover, let it go forth through the earth that every Christian dog be exterminated;" and the court having prostrated themselves three times in token of obedience, one of the colaos presented the pet.i.tion or sentence to the Emperor, which as he was about to confirm, by affixing the signature of the vermilion pencil, Nicholas threw himself at the foot of the throne, crying at the risk of his life, "O great Emperor, thy slave dares proclaim the extreme villainy of the great viceroy of Quang-Tung, whose jealousy and envy of the favors his royal master has bestowed upon the good father has caused him to seek his life."
"Is the boy pirate mad that he dares so insolently presume upon his small services, as to interrupt the course of justice?" exclaimed the angry Emperor.
Taking from his vest the letter his father had given him for Father Adam, Nicholas said, boldly, "This letter, O great sovereign, thy servant was commanded by his parent to place in the hands of the priest Adam. Should it contain treason, the Emperor can punish on the spot, for both the priest and the son of the writer are in his hands. Should it be otherwise, his royal generosity will know how to reward."
No less surprised than appeased by the boy"s vehemence, Wey-t-song commanded the censor Woo to proclaim aloud its contents, to which the n.o.bles, as they were friends or enemies of the priests of Christ, listened with divided attention. The doc.u.ment was lengthy and tedious, and directed by Chin-Chi-Loong, the merchant of the south, to his ill.u.s.trious teacher and religious parent, the Father Adam Schaal, warning him that the viceroy of Quang-Tung, in conjunction with the bonzes of the court, whom he had bribed at Pekin, had organized such a scheme that it could not fail to appear clear that the Christian priests in China were at the head of a conspiracy to dethrone the Emperor, at whose feet he advised the Father Adam immediately to prostrate himself and demand an investigation, promising speedily to send proofs of the viceroy"s villainy to Pekin.
"The wickedness of this viceroy must be great, O my sovereign," said Woo, when he had concluded.
"Truly the great father of the empire will not believe the miserable charge of a wretched pirate against one of his highest officers," said Li-Kong savagely; but making an angry motion to the prince for silence, the Emperor said, "What says the priest?"
"Truth, O great sovereign, is deeply emeshed in falsehood, that time alone can unravel; yet, had that letter reached thy servant"s hands, his imperial master would have been saved an act of injustice; of, not receiving the great merchant"s warning, the cruel viceroy succeeded, the storm of persecution burst over Hang-tcheou-fou, the churches of Christ were destroyed, and their priests loaded with chains whipped, tortured upon the rack, and otherwise degraded, it being only by the providence of the Almighty that thy servant was enabled to escape and reach Pekin in safety--where, alas! the persecution followed, and burst out with redoubled fury; thy servant, the head of his Church, being the first to feel and glory that he was the first to suffer for the cause of Christ."
"Can these words be true, O Woo? Has such villainy taken place in the land?" said the Emperor.
"Such things, O great prince, have been done in thy holy name by roguish ministers, who (_may I be pardoned for my boldness_) have taken advantage of the luxurious retirement of their Emperor to serve their own vile ends," replied Woo.
"Then be it the care of the upright censor to see that these miserable mandarins, who have so traitorously brought their Emperor"s name into contempt and hatred, be exterminated with their whole families," said Wey-t-song, who was as impulsive for good as for bad.
"Surely my great father may be upon the brink of great injustice; he may be sacrificing the lives of many devoted servants. It would be but justice that accusers and accused should be confined till the matter is sifted, and the truth discovered," said the young prince.
"The prince, our heir, has wisdom beyond his years; his words are good, and shall be followed," said the Emperor. At which there was an indecorous murmur of satisfaction, which was, however, instantly suppressed by the Emperor making the signal with his sleeves, that the audience was at an end.
CHAPTER XXIV.
NICHOLAS UNVEILS A REBEL CHIEF, AND OBTAINS A t.i.tLE.
When Nicholas arose the following morning, his first care was for the safety of Chow, whom he discovered to be still in the custody of the criminal tribunal, where by the laws, he would be kept till the will of the chief colao became known. Feeling, however, satisfied that the boy would meet with no harm, now that he himself was in such high favor, he prepared for the promised private audience; and scarcely had he donned the state habiliments, which had been supplied to him by the chamberlain, than he received the imperial summons, and having been conducted through a series of large courts, he was shown into the innermost apartment of the palace, where in deep thought over a letter, sat the Emperor; upon the left (the place of honor) stood the young prince; upon his right, the aged Woo.
Having complied with the court etiquette by running quickly up the apartment, throwing himself on his knees, and performing the kow-tow, the Emperor commanded him to arise, and, placing his hand upon the letter, said, "The n.o.ble youth, then, is the son of the daring writer of these terrible characters, which declare most boldly that the n.o.blest of our generals and relations is a traitor and rebel."
"The life of thy servant, O great prince, is at the will of his sovereign if those characters are not as truthful as the sacred books themselves," replied Nicholas.
"We dare not doubt them, youth, if these other characters are not forged by some villain," said the Emperor, placing a letter in the hands of Woo; adding, "Let the venerable Woo, who knoweth all things, declare the pencil that portrayed them."
Falling upon his knees and taking the letter, the aged man said, "Truly, O prince, these characters are from the hand of the General Li-Kong, whose treason is indeed stupendous, for he offers the supreme command of the four seas, and the sovereignty of the barbarous island of Formosa, to the merchant pirate, providing that sea chief will, with his mult.i.tudinous ships and great wealth, aid him (may the sound of the words not deprive me of reason) in subverting the dynasty of his holy Emperor. The crime, O my sovereign, is too huge to be conceived, and its author should be hewn into ten thousand pieces. Yet the eyes, nay, the very reason of thy aged servant, may be failing him, therefore it behoves us to have greater proof that these characters are not forged; for, though great is the cunning of villainy, surely so great a crime cannot exist beneath heaven."
"The words of the aged n.o.ble are magnanimous, for surely the Prince Li-Kong is the enemy of him and his; yet, though magnanimity is taught by the sacred books, it must not endanger the life of our great sovereign and father," said the Prince Yong-Li; adding, "Surely Li-Kong is famous for his vileness; his character is known to us all, yet if greater proof be wanting, let it be sought from the lips of this n.o.ble youth, whose life will be the penalty of so false an accusation."
"It would ill become so mean a person to traduce so great a general as the Prince Li-Kong, yet the safety of his sovereign must unseal his lips. Know, then, dread Emperor, that the General Li-Kong is at this very moment plotting thy ruin," said Nicholas, who then gave in detail the conversation he had heard at the palace of retirement, which the Emperor had no sooner heard than he said hastily, "Convey our command, O n.o.ble Woo, to the general thy son, to search for this traitor, and bring him in chains before us."
"Thy servant is unfortunate, for this is not possible, my sovereign. The brave Woo-san-Kwei, knowing his duty too well to remain in idleness at Pekin, while the Tartar-barbarians were hara.s.sing his army like hungry wolves,--truly the body was of little use without the head,--departed for his command after the council yesterday," replied Woo.
"How!" said the Emperor pa.s.sionately; "dared the general take his departure without an audience of leave."
"Let not thy wrath, O great sovereign fall upon the head of thy faithful servant, who presumed so far because his Emperor has, of late, foregone the salutary ceremonies laid down by his ancestors," said the aged minister.
Angry at this rebuke yet feeling its truthfulness, the weak prince despairingly threw himself backward in his chair, when the young prince said "Surely the throne should be defended by its heir. Thy son, O my Emperor and parent, will depart with the guards of the palace and bring this arch-traitor to his father"s feet;" and not receiving a denial, the prince respectfully took his leave, when, having recovered his equanimity, the Emperor again took up Chin-Chi-Loong"s letter.
"Truly, boy," said his majesty, "this daring pirate, thy father, knows more than the Emperor or his ministers. How know we that he is not as great a traitor as the prince he denounces, for surely by commerce alone he could not have obtained this wealth of ships, men, and money, which, like a king, he so insolently offers to his sovereign and master?"
"Truly, O great Emperor, if my ill.u.s.trious parent were a traitor, he would not have placed the life of his only son, thy mean servant, in so great a danger," said Nicholas.
"The words of the youth, O prince, are as true as his deeds are brave,"
said Woo; adding, "Let then thy slave pray that the sunshine of the Emperor"s favor may fall upon his race; for, fearing that the intentions of this great merchant were treasonous, I have long caused his actions to be watched and his ships to be hara.s.sed by the sea mandarins; but indeed with little use, for the n.o.ble Chin-Chi-Loong overcame them all, to the disgrace of the board of arms of thy empire.