Page:Romance of the Three Kingdoms - tr. Brewitt-Taylor - Volume 1.djvu/84

 bag. Opening this a red box was found, with a golden lock, and when the box was opened they saw a jade seal, square in shape, an inch each way. On it were delicately engraved five dragons intertwined. One corner had been broken off and repaired with gold. There were eight characters in the seal style of engraving which interpreted read, “I have received the command from Heaven: may my time be always prosperous.”

Sun Chien showed this to Ch‘êng P‘u who at once recognised it as the hereditary seal of the Emperor.

He said, “This seal has a history. In olden days one P‘ien Ho saw a phœnix sitting on a certain stone at the foot of Ching Hill. He offered the stone at court. King Wên of Ch‘u split open the stone and found a piece of jade. Early in the Ts‘in dynasty a jade cutter made a seal from it and Li Ssŭ engraved the characters. Two years later it was thrown overboard in a terrific storm on the Tungt‘ing Lake as a propitiatory offering, and the storm immediately ceased. Ten years later again, when the Emperor was making a progress and had reached Huaying, an old man by the road side handed a seal to one of the attendants saying, “This is now restored to the ancestral dragon,” and had then disappeared. Thus the jewel returned to Ts‘in. The next year Emperor Shê died.

“Later Tzŭ-ying presented the seal to the founder of the Han dynasty. In Wang Mang’s rebellion the Emperor struck two of the rebels with the seal and broke off a corner, which was repaired with gold. Kuang-Wu got possession of it at Iyang and it has been regularly bequeathed thereafter. I heard it had been lost during the trouble in the palace when ‘The Ten’ hurried off the Emperor. It was missed on His Majesty’s return. Now my lord has it and certainly will come to the imperial dignity. But you must not remain here. Quickly go east where you can lay plans for the accomplish ment of the great design.”

“Your words exactly accord with my thoughts,” said Sun Chien. “Tomorrow I will make an excuse that I am unwell and get away.”

The soldiers were told to keep the discovery a secret. But who could guess that one among them was a compatriot of the elected chief of the confederacy? He thought this might be of great advantage to him so he stole away out of the camp and betrayed his master. He received a liberal reward and Yüan Shao kept him in his own camp. So when Sun Chien came to take leave saying “I am rather unwell and wish to return to Changsha,” Shao laughed saying “I know what you are suffering from; it is called the Hereditary Seal!”

This was a shock to Sun Chien and he paled but he said, “Whence these words?”

Shao said, “The armies were raised for the good of the State and to relieve it from oppression. The seal is State property