9. Stealing Tombs
In late June 1928, Sun Dianying's troops, under the command of warlord Zhang Zongchang, were defeated by the National Revolutionary Army and retreated to Ji County, Hebei Province. The army was temporarily stationed outside the Eastern Tombs, 80 miles from Peking. Chiang Kai-shek sent someone to incorporate them into the 12th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, but did not pay them any wages or supplies. Sun Dianying then sought out the quartermaster to discuss the matter.
"Soldiers who aren't paid and aren't fed are bound to rebel. Let's think of a way before things escalate to that point!"
"What can we do if Chiang Kai-shek doesn't pay us? We can't just rob him, can we?"
"Yes! That's exactly what I wanted to hear! Rob! But not the common people, we'll rob the emperor! There's no telling how much gold and silver treasure is buried right here, and we just happen to be stationed here—it's fate!"
(Figure 2-9-1) Sun Dianying led his troops to the Eastern Ch'ing Tombs, preparing to block them under the guise of military exercises to carry out tomb raiding.
"What's wrong with that? We're a revolutionary army now, we can even overthrow the emperor, what's a little grave to us? Are we going to let the bandits do it first?" Sun Dianying was referring to the fact that several bandit groups around the Eastern Tombs had been robbing the graves of officials and palace maids, and that the troops had even fought several battles with them. "this……" "Shut up! Go find Company Commander Ma!" "Yes Sir!" The quartermaster immediately went to make the phone call. Company Commander Ma was a young captain who looked somewhat like a foreigner, but he said he was a Hui from Sinkiang. He had recently joined Sun's engineering company from another unit. Sun Dianying had summoned him to discuss the technical issues of blowing up the underground palace of the imperial mausoleum. "The tomb entrance is very sturdy, made of piled-up stones. However, I have some new explosives provided by foreign experts. They are extremely powerful. I heard they were leftovers from when they bombed Marshal Zhang in Huanggutun last month!" Captain Ma said. "Foreign experts?" Sun Dianying asked curiously. "A Mr. Shaw, who used to work in the British Air Force." "Alright! Go and make the preparations. We'll try frying one tomorrow. We'll ask Mr. Show to come and help too!" "There are many here, which one should we bomb first?" the quartermaster asked. The fourteen mausoleums of the Eastern Tombs contain the tombs of five emperors, namely Shunzhi, Kangxi, Qianlong, Xianfeng, and Tongzhi, fifteen empresses including Xiaozhuang, Ci'an, and Cixi, and one hundred and thirty-four concubines, including Xiangfei, a favorite of Emperor Ch'ien-lung. "Emperor Ch'ien-lung was the richest, and Empress Dowager Cixi was no less so. I think we should blow up these two first!" Sun Dianying said.
"Reporting to the commander! Digging up someone's ancestral grave is always a big taboo. Paying a respectful visit will put the soldiers at ease!" said the quartermaster.
"Then hurry up! Don't get in the way of important matters!" After saying that, Sun Dianying turned around and walked towards Captain Ma.
"Is everything alright?"
"Reporting to the commander, there's no problem!" said Captain Ma, who was crouching behind the bunker.
"Who is he?" Sun Dianying pointed to a foreigner next to Captain Ma.
"That's Mr. Shaw!" Captain Ma said. "Mr. Show provided us with new explosives and also guided us on how to conduct the blasting."
"That's great! If we find any treasure later, Mr.Show can get a share too."
"Thank you! All the gold and silver should belong to Commander Sun. I only want one thing," Show said through Captain Ma's translator.
"What is it?" Sun Dianying asked.
"The bead in Empress Dowager Cixi's mouth!"
"A luminous pearl? You foreign devil really know your stuff! Hmm... you can have it if you want!"
By this time, the soldiers had already brought over the detonating wire. Show wrapped the wire around the detonator and handed it to Captain Ma. Ma said to Sun Dianying, "Reporting to the Commander, it's ready!"
"Attention everyone! It's going to explode!" Sun Dianying shouted back and then hid under cover. Captain Ma pressed the detonator, and with a loud bang, the tomb door exploded open, and the entire wall made of piled stones collapsed.
After a while, Sun Dianying looked up and saw the passage to the tomb chamber appear before him amidst the smoke and dust. He couldn't help but laugh loudly, "I've got it! I've got it! Captain Ma, you lead a few brothers in to take a look!"
Captain Ma led three soldiers, each carrying a gun in one hand and a flashlight in the other, cautiously entering the tomb chamber along the passageway. The passageway was a tall, arched tunnel, its walls and ceiling constructed of white marble. They reached a large stone door, noticing numerous talismans pasted on its surface. Captain Ma studied the door's structure, then ordered a soldier to bring a wire and insert it through the crack, easily pulling open the bolt. Together, they pushed the heavy stone door open, and as it did, the talismans ripped apart, sending a gust of cold wind blowing out and scattering ashes everywhere.
(Figure 2-9-3) Soldiers used bayonets to cut open the corners of Empress Dowager Cixi's mouth in order to dig out the luminous pearl inside.
Captain Ma inspected the rest of the tomb chamber and came across a completely decomposed corpse bound to a stone pillar. The body was covered in talismans, and a yellow cloth bag covered the head. Curious, Captain Ma approached to examine it. As he lifted the bag, all the talismans and ropes suddenly shattered. A fragment of a talisman was blown away by the wind and stuck to Captain Ma's face, causing him to scream in terror. Soldiers rushed over and removed the talismans, stopping his screams. Looking back, he saw that the corpse had collapsed into a pile of dust, which was completely gone with the wind. Captain Ma's face was ashen, and he was helped out of the tomb chamber by soldiers.
Sun Dianying spent seven days and seven nights ransacking the Empress Dowager's tomb. At the same time, Emperor Ch'ien-lung's Yu Mausoleum was also robbed. Sun Dianying obtained the legendary Ch'ien-lung sword, which was said to be able to cut iron like mud, as well as many of Ch'ien-lung's burial objects.
Although Sun Dianying returned laden with spoils, he left the remains of the Empress Dowager and Emperor Ch'ien-lung in the wilderness for wild dogs to devour. Not only did the luminous pearl fail to preserve the Empress Dowager's body, but it also ended up exposed in the wild—a fate she had never anticipated! In the end, it was Puyi, who was living in Tiantsin at the time, who appointed several former Ch'ing officials to collect the bodies.
On the day the tomb raiding was about to end and Shaw was about to leave, Sun Dianying started acting like a hooligan. At the exit of the cemetery, just as Shaw was about to get into his car and leave, a group of guards surrounded him, each holding a loaded Mauser pistol.
"Mr. Shaw, this is an ominous object. I think I should keep it for you!" Sun Dianying stepped forward and said.
"Alright!" Shaw readily handed the cloth bag containing the beads to Sun Dianying: "Please keep it for me for now, Commander Sun!"
"Mr. Shaw is very kind! Then I'll gladly accept it!" Sun Dianying thought Shaw would resist, but to his surprise, Shaw was so straightforward. So, his expression changed to a fawning smile, and he said, "We can't let Mr. Shaw go back empty-handed. So, this package of jewels is for you! Company Commander Ma, escort Mr.Shaw to Peking!"
"Yes sir!"
Shaw got into the car driven by Captain Ma and headed towards Peking under the moonlight. It was the seventeenth day of the lunar calendar, two days after the full moon. Captain Ma's face looked even paler under the bright moonlight.
"Got the bead?" Captain Ma said coldly, his accent was different from usual, and his voice seemed to come from deep underground.
(Figure 2-9-5) Captain Ma was suddenly possessed by the Grand Master, who seized the luminous pearl and drew his gun to kill Shaw.
"Are you alright?" Shaw noticed something odd about the voice, but assumed Captain Ma had just caught a cold and was fine, so he smiled and replied, "Of course I got it!"
He took out a bead from his pocket, which emitted an eerie blue light under the moonlight. It turned out that he had anticipated Sun Dianying's evasion and had prepared a fake bead in advance. When he received the real luminous pearl, he immediately switched it with the real one. And this Captain Ma was his accomplice.
Captain Ma parked his car by the roadside, reached out to borrow the bead to admire it, and suddenly burst into laughter, exclaiming, "Haha! This treasure has finally been returned to my Great Ch'ing Dynasty!"
"The Ch'ing Dynasty?" Shaw was taken aback, thinking he had misheard. "What does this have to do with the Ch'ing Dynasty?"
He was even more shocked when he turned around and saw that Captain Ma's handsome face had shrunk and withered, turning into a zombie-like appearance.
"What...what's going on?"
Captain Ma pulled out his pistol and gestured for Shaw to walk towards the bushes by the roadside. Shaw thought he was about to be silenced in this desolate wilderness. As he walked, he suddenly heard a gunshot behind him that had gone silent. Alert, he quickly jumped into the tall reeds and rolled down the hillside. Even after hearing Captain Ma's car drive away, he still didn't dare to come out. It wasn't until dawn that he found a village, asked for directions, and walked three kilometers to the train station to catch a train back to Peking.
The tomb robbery caused a public outcry, especially among the remnants of the Ch'ing dynasty, who demanded that the Nationalist government solve the case within a specified time. However, the Central Plains War broke out soon after, and the case was left unresolved. Under pressure from Chiang Kai-shek, Sun Dianying had no choice but to present the fake luminous pearl to Soong Mei-ling, hoping she would intercede on his behalf. In reality, Sun himself didn't know it was fake, as very few people had ever seen a genuine luminous pearl and couldn't distinguish it from a fake!
"So the luminous pearl has been taken by Captain Ma?" I said disappointedly.
"But at least I don't have to dig my own grave!" Mr. M said.
"But where am I supposed to look for it now?"
"We do have a direction!" Lawrence said.
"Do you have a twin brother?" Lawrence asked.
"Twin brothers?" I was completely confused. "I don't have any brothers or sisters. Besides my father, I'm the only one left in my family."
“I’m telling you, the Captain Ma I just mentioned looks exactly like you!” Lawrence said. “He was recruited by our North China group. When I first saw him in Peking, I thought you had secretly followed me to North China. If I hadn’t known you before, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to tell you apart.”
"I've met the person Colonel Lawrence mentioned before. I remember when we first met in Peking last year, I also mentioned someone who looks exactly like you. You should remember, right?" Mr. M said.
"What on earth is going on? It sounds terrifying and horrifying."
"Based on your lineage, you should be a descendant of the Loulan princess, right? If that's the case, then you are qualified to inherit the throne. But if your mother gave birth to twins, then a problem arises. To avoid future disputes over the throne, the later-born child must be killed. Many cultures around the world have this custom." Lawrence said, "Paul, do you know whether you were born the eldest or the second son?"
"I don't know either. Shortly after I was born, my guards took me to Tiantsin and gave me to my father to raise."
"I don't see much difference!" Mr. M said. "If you're the eldest son, he might want to kill you to seize the throne; if you were the second son, he'd have even more reason to kill you! Isn't that right?"
(Figure 2-9-6) Paul Draken, TE. Lawrence, and Mr. M have afternoon tea at MI6's secret base. Lawrence tells Paul about the theft of the luminous pearl from the Dingdong Mausoleum.
"The Loulan Kingdom is gone, what's there to fight over?" I asked, puzzled. "But perhaps he really really is my brother. No wonder he needs the luminous pearl. That would make things easier for me; he can search for my mother in my place. That wouldn't be bad!"
"Really?" Lawrence said. "You should see how he looked the night we left Eastern Tombs; he was like a vampire!"
"By the way! Your father has made arrangements for your work," Mr. M said. "Because you've been in China for over a year without returning, the Navy needs an explanation, so he used his connections to get MI6 to temporarily assign you as a naval intelligence officer stationed in China. That way, you can stay here legitimately. Here's the official dispatch document; report for duty early next month."
"Really? That's great! I was just racking my brains over this a few days ago!" I said. "Um! Wait... then I'd become your subordinate?"
"Don't worry! I'm being transferred to Moscow next month, you won't be able to find me to cause trouble!" Mr. M said with a hearty laugh.
Mr. M had his driver take me back to where I had parked my motorcycle. When I arrived, I found several Chinese police officers waiting for me around the motorcycle. They greeted me with smiles as they saw me.
"Is it time to pay again?" I was slightly annoyed, but I still took out a few bills and tried to give them to the leading policeman, but he resolutely refused to accept them.
"Our chief detective invites Young Master Draken over for tea!" said the leading constable.
"I don't know your chief inspector, and I wouldn't dare bother you!" Although I haven't been in Shanghai long, common sense tells me that if the police station invites you for tea for no reason, you must be in trouble.
"Please tell him I'll visit him again when I have time!"
"We're just doing this for someone else, so please don't make things difficult for us officers, Young Master Draken!" the lead constable said, one hand on the holster at his waist.
It seemed there was no way to back out, so I had no choice but to bite the bullet and get into their car, heading straight for the main police station.
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