The Empress’ Ring
Pui Yu Shek, Group 2: Fiction, Singapore International School Primary
nce, there was a beautiful country called China. A great Emperor lived and ruled, his name was, Qin.
He was a kind and generous Emperor, people of China loved him. He had a wife, who was wise and
kind, her name was Empress Qin. They have been married for 4 years and now, and they always had
happy times together and no arguments at all!
was
On the day of their marriage, Emperor Qin gave a large, shiny, crystal clear ring to his wife! It
worth a lot, but it didn’t matter to Emperor Qin, as he loved his wife very much. Empress Qin
wore the ring everyday, every hour and every minute. Of course, she would take it off when it was time to
sleep .Until one night…
O
It was raining cats and dogs; lightning struck the windowpanes of Emperor and Empress Qin’s room.
Empress Qin lay in bed, twisting and turning while Emperor Qin was sound asleep. Empress Qin could not fall
asleep from all the noise outside, so she decided to take a walk through the hallway. She sat up and rubbed her
eyes, she reached for her ring that she left on her bedside table. Before she could reach it, her ring started
glowing, brighter and brighter! She defended herself by covering her eyes with her arms, soon she felt that the
brightness was gone, she quickly removed her arms and did not recognize the place at all! There were people
with scars, wounds on their faces and even tattoos!
“
Where am I?” thought Empress Qin nervously. She got frightened by the people there as they stared at her
when they walked past. Empress Qin clutched her gown as she got even more frightened. Suddenly, a big splash
of mud splashed onto her gown! “Oh dear!” she thought as she lifted up her gown to avoid it from touching the
muddy ground. She knew no miracle would happen if she just stood there, so, she started walking down that
street looking from right to left to see if there was any sign of where she was.
Soon she arrived at a booth with an old woman, with her crystal ball, she was a fortune teller.
“
Hee…loo…” the old woman greeted her with a spooky voice.
“
Um…Hello…”Empress Qin replied with a timid voice. “How… can I help…you?” the old woman asked
with a drag at the end of every word. “I would… um… like to know where am I?” “That is not… a question for
a fortune teller…” the fortune teller replied to Empress Qin’s question. “Well… what will happen to China… in
the future?” “Ah… Lets see...” the fortuneteller circled the globe with her hands until a picture appeared.
“
Oh…dear…” “What? What is happening?” The Empress broke out in cold sweat. “Take a look yourself…”
Empress Qin looked closer into the crystal ball and saw intruders using all kinds of weapons to attack China!
“
Oh my!” Empress Qin took a step back. “Wait…are you the Empress of China?”
The fortune teller suddenly said. Empress Qin smiled and nodded. “Oh! I wanted to warn … you about
something…” The Empress’ smile turned into a worried frown. “Your country is in danger, you will have to
build a wall, a great one, to defend your country from intruders and enemies…” The fortuneteller’s voice trailed
off …
“
POOF!” Empress Qin was back in her room, still in the pose of reaching for her ring.
“
What…what…happened??”She was puzzled. A minute ago, she was at the fortuneteller’s booth, and now she
is back at her very own room! Her heart bet faster and faster…that was when she remembered what the
fortuneteller had warned her about. She shuddered, as she did not really believe what the fortuneteller had told
her but did not want to risk China of being attacked.
The next day, she warned Emperor Qin about this insane dream or miracle that had happened to her a night
ago. Emperor Qin looked worried and ordered his men to build the wall.
A few decades later, when both Emperor and Empress Qin had passed away, intruders did come and even
enemies! They did not get to attack China as the wall was great, very great, and that is why, it was called the
Great Wall of China.
* * *