Chapter 203 - Seal of Approval

“What’s going on, Abbott?!” Earl Shum demanded. He continued backing up until he bumped into his desk. The heavy wooden table lurched against the hardwood floor as he caught his balance. “What have you done with my butler?”

“Please calm down, Earl. I mean you no harm.” Abbott Deacon raised his hands in a passive gesture, “Don’t you recall our appointment to discuss the festival plans?”

“No, I don’t. Guards! Help!” Earl Shum called out once more as he navigated around the desk to put as much distance between himself and the monks as possible.

“Sir, please calm down.” The old butler looked distressed as he stepped forward, “Their appointment was written on the books. This is why I let them in.”

“Where are the guards?” Earl Shum asked his butler.

“They should be nearby, sir. Do you want me to fetch them?”

“Yes!” Earl Shum hissed.

“Very well, sir.” The butler bowed.

The monks respectfully stepped aside, letting the servant leave. The door closed heavily behind him, leaving Earl Shum alone in the room with the Abbott and his six monks.

A shiver traveled down the Earl’s spine as he realized he was trapped. He found himself unable to believe that his servant was truly summoning the guards.

“Please, have a seat.” Deacon Glass gestured for Earl Shum to sit behind his desk.

The podgy man took his seat, while the Abbott sat in the guest chair opposite the table. He crossed one leg over the other in a relaxed pose. His accompaniment of monks stood at the back of the room, giving the two space to talk.

“I’ve come today to discuss the festival plans. Do you recall my proposal which I brought up during Sansen Zhao’s ball?”

“Yes.” The Earl said, “You wanted to make a performance in Tye Ann Square.”

“With the grand opening for the Five Kings Festival only a few days away, we really need to finalize the plans.” The Abbott said, “There are a number of preparations to be made, materials to bring into the city. I’d like your approval to go ahead with our performance.”

Earl Shum frowned, unable to figure out the Abbott’s goal. He was absolutely, adamantly sure that something was wrong. But the butler’s comment about the appointment being listed in the books gnawed at his mind.

If that was true, perhaps the butler felt it would be too rude to turn away the esteemed Abbott. Maybe when he had given the butler instructions to turn away visitors, he had interpreted the term to mean ‘uninvited visitors’. The Abbott, too, was acting quite calm and not pushy at all.

No! Something is definitely wrong! The strange petal that had appeared in his cigar chest had turned black and crumbled when he placed it against the butler’s forehead. The Earl didn’t know what it meant, but it assured him that this entire situation was highly abnormal.

The nightmare that he had had - the bluish grey cat that had warned him about visitors - it was a real warning.

The Abbott was certainly up to no good.

“I- as I mentioned at the party, it is not solely my decision.” Earl Shum replied. He tried to put on a brave face but faltered. His eyes fell to his table as he muttered, “There are other ministers, you see, they need to sign off on it. Plus the vendors’ spots, as you know we discussed it, it’s all been planned for weeks now…”

“Further- furthermore!” Earl Shum said, “Last night’s disaster! The city is in chaos! This is no time to be discussing the festival!”

“Oh?” The Abbott put on a concerned look as he stroked his chin, “The newspapers this morning say there’s nothing to be concerned about.”

He beckoned one of his monks over, who unfolded a sheet of paper and handed it to the Abbott. He held the large sheet of paper in front of him and dictated.

“A rare solar eclipse was accompanied by strong winds from the east. This unusually strong spring storm produced a howling wind as it traveled across the mountain range. According to city records, this natural phenomena last occurred two hundred years ago and is a rare and fortuitous weather pattern that typically precedes a good harvest year.”

“…The giant tree in the Chenmai Forest to the south east that sprouted suddenly overnight is a rapid-growing variant of a species common in the Fuha Wastelands to the south. Its defining characteristic is its size and claw-like branches which evoke images of a hand. Chu Ping, a well traveled trader, tells stories of his travels through the southeastern coast of Fuha, where these trees are commonly seen.

“It is clear that Fuha cultists have smuggled in a sapling and planted it in the forest, which germinated during the seasonal storm. Officials are planning to cut the tree down after the Five Kings Festival. In addition to this tree, many invasive species from the south have been spotted across the Chenmai Forest. Citizens are warned not to approach or enter the forest, and to report any unusual sightings to the police…”

“The official statement from the ministry states that there is nothing to worry about.” The Abbott folded the paper up, “I assumed this meant that the festival is still going on. What was it you said at the ball? We cannot afford to let the events in the forest affect people’s decisions to come.”

“Yes, but-“

“And you were supportive of my idea as well when we discussed it.”

“Yes, but the other ministers you see-“

“We are in luck, then.” The Abbott smiled, beckoning another one of his monks over. The monk presented a rolled up scroll to the Earl, who unfurled it to find several stamped sheafs of parchment.

“As you can see, I have already managed to get the seals of approval from a number of the ministers. All we need now is for you to officially give your blessings.”

The Earl’s eyes opened wide as he flipped through the papers. Each paper was handwritten in brush, providing support for the Cloud Peak Monastery to proceed with their performance at the Tye Ann square. In the bottom left of each paper was the personal stamp of each minister in red ink, signifying that the document was genuine.

Earl Shum carefully examined the seals and found nothing wrong with them. Even more perplexing was that several of the ministers who had given their approval were the same ones who were against the plan in the first place.

“How did you convince all these ministers to approve?” Earl Shum asked incredulously.

“Let’s just say that they came around eventually.” Deacon Glass said enigmatically, “I assure you, they are all quite enthusiastic about this performance now.”

Earl Shum reread the stamped letters a second time as he couldn’t help but find himself speechless at this development. Here was approval from the Market Coordinator, who refused to move the vendors out of the square, to amend all the vendor contracts and move them several blocks away. And then there was the extremely conservative Minister of Development approving the installation of large metal basins to hold the bonfires to light up the inner city ring wall.

Surely they couldn’t have all had a change of heart in such a short period of time. Were they blackmailed by the Abbott? With all the events going on in the forest, why was the Abbott so pushy about this performance?

“Is something bothering you, Earl?” The Abbott asked. “If you have any concerns, I am open to discuss it.”

“No, no. Not at all.” Earl Shum smiled weakly. If he refused the Abbott here, would something happen to him? His butler had been gone for a while now, and the guards hadn’t shown up.

Something was really not right. But all of this was for what, permission to run a performance during the festival? Surely the Abbott wouldn’t be rash enough to cause a scene here.

The Earl didn’t dare look the Abbott in the eye, fearful for his own safety.

“That’s good.” The Abbott replied.

“Yes, ah. It all seems to be in order.” The Earl tried to smile again as he tapped the sheafs on the table, “Yes, absolutely we should go ahead with this plan. You have my full support. Let me draft up a letter which will allow you to proceed with your preparations…”

Half an hour later the Abbott left with his monks, holding a writ of approval from the Earl to proceed with their festival plans.

This included a number of items. It granted the monastery permission to set up twelve bonfires on the inner city walls in a ring around the Tye Ann Square. It permitted them to transport in materials and props and store them in a warehouse near to the square, and it granted access to the stages and restricted areas of the square for preparation and the performance itself.

Earl Shum stood at the side of the window in his office and watched from behind the drawn curtains as the Abbott departed. Only once the gates closed and the Abbott’s rental carriage took off did he finally relax and slump down in his chair.

“This is fine.” The Earl muttered to himself, “I will call for the ministers to meet up and hear whether they were extorted. If so, we can press charges against the Monastery and have the Abbott arrested. Even still, it’s just a performance, there isn’t anything that will cause trouble here…”

Part of him wondered if he was just imagining being threatened. After all, the Abbott was perfectly diplomatic during the meeting, and didn’t threaten or force any issue. He was even ready to dismiss the petal, if it meant simplifying the situation in his mind.

“Yes, perhaps I was just on edge from the nightmare. It’s just all in my head. In fact, I was supportive of the performance to begin with. It’s reasonable for me to continue supporting it. I will just call the ministers together and see what they say.”

The Earl suddenly jumped in his seat as a thin voice spoke out from the corner of the empty room, “The ministers have all been compromised.”

“W-who’s there?!” Earl Shum demanded, turning to look at the corner of the room. There was nobody there.

“Even you were in danger.” The voice said calmly, “But thanks to your spinelessness, you survived.”

Strange shapes began to churn and twist within the shadows as the light in the room dimmed considerably. Illusory insects and worms began to crawl across the darkness as a young man dressed in a black cloak materialized out of thin air.

“Spinelessness-!“ Earl Shum stammered, too shocked to be offended.

“Don’t worry, you did just fine, Earl Shum.” Zwei Xing, the newest member of the Pearl Lotus Society, looked at Earl Shum with a quiet, lazy expression, “Go ahead and call the ministers together. We have a lot of work to do to foil the Abbott’s plans.”