“Yellow Sky”: Crisis for the Han Dynasty sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

“But that isn’t all, is it…?” Su Kang prompted. “What else is there…?”
“Attendant Bu Zhuo has not been seen for four days… he is apparently ‘sick’, but I cannot discover the malady, nor can I trace his whereabouts,” Cao Jie said with concern. “He is a lot of things… but stalwart and tight-lipped are not two things that I would credit him with. Shan Bing filed the sickness report… I suspect something.”
“I shall speak with Attendant Zhu Yu,” Wang Fu promised. “He is still trusted… he can get into Dou Wu’s office, or near the Dowager’s private correspondence if that is what is required.”
“A sound idea,” Cao Jie agreed.
The group of a dozen eunuchs nodded as a sign of mutual respect and comradeship and returned to their roles.

The very next evening, the Dowager prepared to bathe and informed her ladies-in-waiting and attendants of her wishes for the remainder of the day; the eunuch Zhu Yu watched with his fellow attendants, and bowed ingratiatingly. Once the Dowager had retired from her living quarters, Zhu Yu took the opportunity that had presented itself. His fellow eunuchs were busy, so Zhu Yu was able to inspect the small wooden letter tubes without being discovered. He quickly found three that had been put aside as a group and hidden under the table; he took out the first, studied the contents, and returned them without concern.

Shan Bing finished his work for the morning, and put the draft of the indictment - along with the forced confession from his secret prisoner, the eunuch Bu Zhuo - in wooden tubes, and stored them amongst correspondence that was known to be high-security, private documentation. He smiled slightly and left the office of his superior, Dou Wu, to carry out other duties.
     Several minutes later, Zhu Yu entered the office of Dou Wu; Shan Bing was still absent, and the only person present was a junior secretary.

“Why are you here…?” the secretary asked.
“I, uh… was asked to retrieve something by Grand Tutor Chen Fan,” Zhu Yu lied.
The secretary assumed that the request was genuine and said, “Fine,” before returning to his administrative duties.
Zhu Yu noted the slack attitude of the secretary with delight and moved toward the private and secure correspondence. He quickly located the letters that Shan Bing had gone to great pains to conceal, and as he read the indictment, Zhu Yu shuddered and whispered, “We are doomed…!”

Zhu Yu ignored the need for calm and fled Dou Wu’s office with the incriminating documents. Within an hour, Zhu Yu was stood with Cao Jie, Wang Fu and a third prominent eunuch, Guan Ba, in an otherwise empty corridor.
“What have you found…?” Guan Ba asked impatiently. “Why have you dragged us away from our duties…? What is so urgent???”
“I… I…!” Zhu Yu whimpered as he produced the wooden tubes; Cao Jie snatched them from his hand and pulled the cloth document out of each in turn.
“…We must act quickly,” Cao Jie said as his eyes left the draft indictment and looked at each of his fellow eunuchs in turn. “We will need the Dowager’s seal, and we will need to secure the Emperor as well.”
Wang Fu frowned, snatched the indictment from Cao Jie, and started to examine it.

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