Free Everything Under the Sky by Matilde Asensi Page B

willing to pay however many silver taels I asked.”
    “And you didn't sell it?” I asked in surprise.
    “I couldn't, madame. I had offered it to Rémy the same day the lot arrived on the Shanghai Express, and he bought it, naturally. The chest was no longer in my possession, and that's what I told those honorable gentlemen from Peking. They were not at all pleased by the news and insisted I tell them who owned it. I refused, of course.”
    “How do you know they were from Peking?” I objected suspiciously. “They could have been members of the Green Gang in disguise.”
    The antiquarian Jiang smiled so broadly his eyes disappeared in the folds of his Oriental eyelids.
    “No, no,” he replied happily. “The Green Gang appeared a week later, accompanied by a couple of Dwarf Invaders—Japanese, that is.”
    “Japanese!” I exclaimed. I immediately called to mind what M. Favez had told us about the Nipponese: They were dangerous imperialists with a large army and had been trying to take control of Shanghai and China for years.
    “Let me continue, madame,” Mr. Jiang begged. “You're making me lose the thread of my story.”
    “Sorry,” I murmured, surprised to see how that rotund Paddy smiled in satisfaction at the reprimand I had just received.
    “The distinguished visitors from Peking were very upset when they left my shop, and I was certain they'd be back or would at least try to find whoever owned the chest. Their attitude and words made it abundantly clear that they intended to get what they wanted, by fair means or foul. I knew that the object now in Rémy's hands was an excellent piece, an original from the reign of the first Qing emperor, Shun Zhi, who ruled China from 1644 to 1661, but why such interest? There are thousands of Qing objects on the market—many more since the fire of June twenty-seventh. I could have understood if it had been a Song, Tang, or Ming 7 piece, but Qing? In any event, so that you will fully understand my surprise, let me just tell you that at first I paid no attention to the shrill falsettos these obstinate customers used. Then, as they left my store, I noticed the short little steps they took, with their legs close together and bodies leaning forward. I could no longer ignore the fact that these were Old Roosters.”
    “Old Roosters?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”
    “Eunuchs, Mme De Poulain. Eunuchs!” Paddy Tichborne burst out with a guffaw.
    “And where are there eunuchs in China?” Mr. Jiang asked rhetorically. “In the imperial court, madame. Only in the imperial court in the Forbidden City. That's why I told you the gentlemen were from Peking.”
    “I wouldn't exactly call them gentlemen….” the Irishman commented disagreeably.
    “What are eunuchs, Auntie?” Fernanda wanted to know. For a moment I wondered whether or not to answer; the girl was old enough to learn certain things. Strangely, though, I immediately decided not to tell her.
    “They're servants to the Chinese emperor and his family.”
    My niece looked at me as if waiting for further explanation, but I was done.
    “And because they're the emperor's servants, they speak in falsettos and walk with their legs together?” she insisted.
    “Different customs, Fernanda, can be a mystery to outsiders.”
    Mr. Jiang interrupted our brief dialogue. “I hope, madame, that you can understand how frightened I was when I realized just who my fellow countrymen in Western clothing were as they stormed out the door. I had dinner with Rémy that night and told him what had happened, warning him that the hundred-treasure chest could be dangerous. I thought it best to advise him to give it back to me so I could then sell it to the Old Roosters, getting us both out of a difficult situation, but he paid absolutely no attention to me. Since he hadn't yet paid for the chest, he thought I simply wanted to obtain a better price and so refused to return it. I tried to make him understand that someone