Lin Jiang’s Wish
Ankit Kumar Misra, Group 2: Fiction, Delia School of Canada
t was a dark, gloomy night. Emperor Qin was fast asleep in his Royal Palace. The door opened,
and Li Si, the Emperor’s advisor, entered the room.
“
Yo
The
ur Majesty,” he addressed uneasily.
Emperor scowled at Li Si, and asked, “What are you doing here so late?”
“
Your Majesty, the Huns struck in the dead of night.”
“
What? In the dead of night?” cried the Emperor.
“
Yes… But one of the knights, Lin Jiang, heard them sneaking into the castle. He followed the
Huns, who headed straight for the kingdom’s treasury. Lin Jiang drew his sword and jumped into their
midst. The Huns were bewildered by Lin Jiang’s excellent sword-fighting. They fled, but unfortunately,
they took along a lot of prisoners with them,” explained Li Si.
I
The Emperor couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night. For the first time, the Huns had threatened to
rob the treasury. If they had succeeded, the empire would have been ruined. It looked like it was time to
do something about it.
Next day, the Emperor called Lin Jiang to the royal court, and said, “Good work, Lin Jiang. You
have proved your loyalty to me. For this great exploit, I grant you one wish.”
“
I will ask for my wish when I really need it, Your Majesty,” Lin Jiang replied.
Then, the Emperor turned to General Tian and ordered him to lead an army of 300,000 warriors
against the Huns. Immediately, the army set off in the direction of Mongolia. A few months later, the
army returned with a lot of prisoners. When Emperor Qin saw the hostages, a bright idea sparked in his
head.
In the presence of his courtiers, the Emperor declared, “I have had enough of those Huns! I am
going to prolong the defensive walls built during the Warring States period!”
Then, he turned to Li Si, and said, “You will be in charge. Use these Hun-prisoners as slaves to
build the wall. The wall must be 20-25 ft tall and 15-30 ft wide.”
Lin Jiang was worried about the prisoners. He knew that the sadistic Emperor could be very harsh
at times. Once, the Emperor had even ordered 460 scholars to be buried alive just because they had
been discussing about his arrogance!
Next morning, a huge party led by Li Si set off towards the north. When a few of the existing walls
came into sight, they stopped. “We will start the construction here!” declared Li Si.
Temporary shelters were built for Li Si and the knights. But the slaves were ordered to sleep on the
bare ground. They were hardly given enough food to survive, while Li Si and the knights ate their
heart’s fill.
Everyone set to work immediately. The slaves started stamping earth between board frames, and
adding them to the previous walls. A few knights were put in charge of controlling the slaves. The
others were sent to capture more Huns. Lin Jiang was among them. However, he wanted to see how the
slaves were treated, so he persuaded Li Si to let him stay.
Lin Jiang spent a few days looking sadly at the despondent slaves sullying their hands in menial
labor. Deaths due to exhaustion and starvation were followed by the dead bodies being dumped inside
the wall. Lin Jiang could not sleep at nights, and kept whispering to himself, “Oh my goodness! These
slaves are treated terribly! What should I do?”
One day, Lin Jiang woke up early, and set off towards the Royal Palace. He walked into the
Emperor’s court, where the Emperor sat deep in his thoughts.
“
Greetings, Your Majesty,” said Lin Jiang.
The Emperor looked at him, and said, “Aha, Lin Jiang, what brings you here today?”
“
Your Majesty, I hope you remember that you granted me one wish,” said Lin Jiang.
“
Oh, yes, yes,” replied the Emperor. “I remember. What do you want?”
“
I wish that you put me in charge of the construction of the Great Wall.”
“
What? Have you lost your mind?” raged the peevish Emperor. “Li Si is wise and intelligent, and
you… you are nothing but a brainless knight!”
“
But you promised me, Your Majesty.”
“
But…What if something goes wrong?”
“
You can punish me however you want.”
“
All right, then,” sighed the Emperor.