CHAPTER
67

Even with the Luminous Stone, it was not easy to see the emperor. At first, the guards at the gate ignored them, and when they finally acknowledged Yishan’s persistent requests, they did little more than pass the message on to a servant. To the guards’ amusement, the children camped out by the gate, waiting for a response.

“Go home,” one of them said. “Do you really think you are going to be let into the Imperial Palace?”

“When the emperor hears we have the Luminous Stone,” Yishan said, “he’ll let us in. He’ll want to see us.”

“See you! The emperor?” the other soldier said, laughing coarsely. “Even I have never met with the emperor! How would two little beggars like you meet with him?”

Yishan said no more, but as the morning turned to afternoon and started toward evening, Pinmei felt her hopes dip with the sun. But just as the sky began to darken, an imperial ­servant arrived.

“The children who say they have the Luminous Stone That Lights the Night,” he said, looking at Yishan and Pinmei huddled in the corner, “is that you two?”

They jumped up, nodding.

“Come!” the servant said. “The emperor wants to see you.”

The waiting guards said nothing, but their eyes bulged like crickets’ as the children passed. “Goodbye, gentlemen,” Yishan said with a wink, and Pinmei marveled at his composure. They were going to the Imperial Palace! They were going to see the emperor! She could scarcely breathe.

They stepped out into the immense courtyard with red walls and columns, carved green and gold. Five marble bridges lay ahead of them, their jutting posts like bones of a skeleton. As they walked over one of the bridges, ­Pinmei looked down and saw a fish trapped in the ice. She shivered.

They passed through another elaborate gate and courtyard, their footsteps the only sound in the emptiness. Ahead, a commanding ­gold-­topped building of ­blood-­red loomed before them.

“Come,” the servant said with impatience as Pinmei stopped to stare. The building, everything inside the imperial gates, was cold and imposing.

Pinmei gulped, but Yishan nudged her. “I like the Sea King’s palace better,” he said. “More light, lots of ­colors—­this is a bit ­off-­putting, don’t you think?”

Pinmei gave Yishan a weak smile and shook her head, but her awe lessened. Her dread, however, remained. Her knees shook as they climbed the tiered staircase, the carved dragons frozen on their ramps of marble slabs. The servant continued forward to push open the studded crimson doors.

In front of them was the emperor.