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"Emperor Napoleon receives Ambassadors from the Chinese Emperor and they present him with a very special gift - a magic cabinet! - Napoleon and his staff are cynical about its magic properties until the three Chinese Ambassadors enter the cabinet and simply disappear - for good. But Napoleon is struggling to retain his crown; will he use the gift to change his fortunes?"
Episode may contain the following warnings:
“All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical figures, are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are entirely fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the entirely fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Author’s notes about this episode:
[1] Remember: Please read the 'DISCLAIMER' notice regarding the inter-action of historical characters who are woven into the author's stories! Napoleon Bonaparte is a very well known character in history, but should you wish a little more information, then check out the 'WIKIPEDIA' entry for the great man HERE.
[2]
It is Part 1 of a SPECIAL TWO PART story.
[3]
This episode is “linked” with episode: “Napoleon’s
Chinese
Cabinet of magic –
Part 2.”
[4]
The original Title for this episode was: ‘NAPOLEON’S GIFT.’
[5]
A ‘Jericho Tibbs’ original story.
[6] "NAPOLEON'S CHINESE CABINET OF MAGIC - PART 1." This episode, was conceived and written by the author. Copyright © 2011-2025 Stephen Williams. No reproduction of any part without written permission. The episode illustration is an original drawing created by the author. It is copyright ©2011 - 2025 Stephen Williams. Again, no reproduction of any part without written permission.
Episode details:
Concept
date: 13th December 2016.
First
published: 20th June 2017
Status: COMPLETED & PUBLISHED.
Location: BOOK SERIES 3 – EPISODE 5.
Revisions: 6 [last revised October 2019]
Version:
Final.
Published Episode No. 29
Previous
episode: “Stranger’s Market.”
Next
episode: ““Napoleon’s Chinese Cabinet of
magic – Part 2.”
Age
recommendation: 15+
Average
reading time: Approximately 60 Minutes.
Angel-in-charge: Philippe
Team Assigned: Team 74
Mission: 6 - 093367 - 12 – 1814
human years:
Episode Preview:
1. A GIFT FROM ONE GOD TO ANOTHER.
Captain Jean Pullaire stared at the crate which had been lowered with great care onto the polished wooden floor. He rubbed his chin in puzzlement and spoke quietly to the two footmen standing next to him; “Fetch Colonel Le Grande and inform his Majesty the gift from the Chinese Emperor has arrived and get some labourers to open the damn crate.” He turned and smiled at the three strange little men with feathers adorning their small black hats; he had to admit that he had never seen a real Chinese man before and these three resembled exactly the drawings he had viewed in his youth. “I have sent for men to open the crate, Lord Yin.” He nodded at the smallest of the trio, who bowed and in prefect French thanked the captain for his assistance.
From around his neck, Lord Yin produced a gold key fixed upon a gold chain and
spoke directly to Captain Pullaire; “I need to place this key directly into
your God’s hand; it was placed directly into mine by my God Emperor Yongyan
and must be passed on in the same manner.” The little China man bowed yet again
and smiled.
Several burly labourers had arrived with removed hats, accompanied by Monsieur
Cission; the Emperors Chief Carpenter who viewed the heavy crate with an expert
eye. “Use the bloody bars carefully you morons.” He said, wiping his face with
a clean polishing rag. The old man sighed; not more bloody pieces of expensive
wood to maintain – the Palace of Fontainebleau was full of the stuff - and now bloody
foreigners from the other side of the world were sending their gilded
crap!
He stared at the three China amen and blew his nose hard into the polishing
cloth; “We’ll undress her gently Captain.” Monsieur Cission smiled at Pullaire
with a mouthful of yellow teeth and wiped snot from his heavy grey moustache,
adding; “Will his majesty be present when we open her?”
That question was answered by the regulated stamp of army boots upon the
shining wooden floor and through the doors, hurriedly opened by a sweaty
Footman, came a dozen of the ‘Old Guard’. With precision they took up positions
around the room and snapped to attention at the command of their young
Lieutenant. Pullaire and Cissions exchanged glances; Lieutenant Vaccaro was not
a popular officer or man, who held his Commission directly because of who his
father may be: The Emperor.
“I see the little poodle still hasn’t found a hat small enough for his tiny
brain.” Cission whispered to the captain who wagged a disapproving finger at
the far too blunt carpenter – but smiled broadly. The Lieutenant’s hat was
clearly too large and had been the subject of arguments between him and the
Quartermaster of the Regiment; without success it appears.
Quartermaster Possini had informed the young man that Officer’s supply their
own uniform and that naturally; included the hat. But Vaccaro had been unable
to find a decent Milliner to furnish such a small hat at a reasonable price –
his ungenerous nature added to his unpopular character. So, in desperation, he had
purchased the hat from another young Lieutenant who was dying in the local
infirmary from wounds received in Prussia – the fact that he gave the young
widow to be, a handful of centimes for it, really did his popularity no good. To quote
many; ‘he was as unpopular as would be finding Wellington in the Emperors
bathtub.’
Vaccaro gave Pullaire a clumsy salute and announced that Colonel Le Grande was
attending the emperor and they would appear within minutes. Pullaire returned
the salute but said nothing. The appearance of Marshal Nay in the chamber signaled
the arrival of Napoleon. A large gaggle of Officers and Politian’s poured into
the small chamber, splitting into little groups and all staring at the
strangers who stood quietly by the crate, which was being opened with great
care under Cission’s direction.
Napoleon sauntered into the room and all conversations stopped. Le Grande spoke
directly to him and pointed at the Chinese group; “The small chink is called
Lord Yin, he’s apparently their Emperor's Ambassador, I don’t know about the
other two, you’re Majesty."
The three bowed low as Pullaire whispered to Le Grande; “He speaks perfect
French.” Le Grande shrugged his shoulders and grunted; “Thank you Pullaire, now
get on with it – the emperor is a busy man.” Le Grande was not marked out for a
career in Diplomacy. But he was a damn good Officer on the field of battle and
possessed a characteristic that Napoleon looked for in all his officers; he was
lucky.
Le Grande had been shot off his horse on no less than four occasions and walked
away with just scratches, and then during one battle, his churning stomach
forced him to find a quiet clump of trees to relieve the pain. Squatting down
with liquid fire emerging from his bowels, he saw through the trees that the
Austrians had left a gap in their right flank to bring up the supply wagons.
Clutching his trousers, Le Grande reported the mistake to Marshal Nay. French
troops poured through the gap and the Austrians fled the battlefield in
disarray. Napoleon had thanked the captain himself and promoted him to
Headquarters’ staff with the rank of Colonel.
Napoleon gestured to Lord Yin and the little China man approached bowing quite
low: "Your brother Emperor Yongyan sends greetings of love and friendship
and hopes you will be pleased with this little gift.” He offered the gold key
and chain with both hands and Napoleon took it slowly and smiled; "Please
inform your Emperor that I will be most pleased to accept any gift from my dear
brother and send him my warm regards.”
There were little gasps of admiration from the crowd as the final pieces of the
dull grey crate were stripped away; revealing a black and silver cabinet
decorated with astronomical symbols and gold dragons – it was tall as a man,
wide as a double wardrobe and deep as a card table - it was simply magnificent; a real masterpiece.
Napoleon nodded his approval to Lord Yin who spoke quietly to the emperor,
positioning his back to all others; “My Lord, with such a gift that can only be
shared amongst God’s comes a responsibility – a great responsibility - You must
never open or enter the cabinet during the hours of darkness and keep her
locked at all times. Please keep that key upon your person, no mere mortal must
have access to her; only you.”
The emperor looked quite puzzled by his comments and studied the simple gold
key; “What does the cabinet contain my Lord Yin?” He asked and the strange
little man smiled and ran his long fingernails through his grey beard;
"Darkness and light your majesty.”
Lord Yin bowed low, then walked over to the cabinet and opened the doors; a
stunning white light shone from the interior making everyone step back, but
Napoleon felt himself drawn to it and peered inside, shielding his eyes a
little. The interior panels were decorated with glass and silver and Napoleon
realised at once; that none of the ‘mirrors’ showed a reflection.
He turned slowly to Lord Yin and said quietly; “How old is she?” Lord Yin held
up his hands and said, “We believe that four such cabinets were created by the
God TAI-SUI-XING and given as presents to the early Emperors of the great Chin
dynasty; they came into being at the start of human time.” He smiled and added;
“The interior panels have been re-housed many times over the Centuries, the
present construction is only some four hundred years old and so should last; at
least that again.”
Lord Yin bowed again and gestured to his two silent colleagues, who shuffled
gracefully into the cabinet, and both bowed low. He turned to Napoleon and spoke
quietly; “We must now return home and report all is well between the great
European God and our father who resides in the Heavens – Farewell my Lord and
remember that light is darkness to devils and darkness is light to them.” Lord
Yin stepped into the cabinet of TAI-SUI-XING and slowly closed the doors.
Everyone stood in silence for a few moments until Le Grande tapped gently on
the doors and called out; “Lord Yin, what the fuck are you doing?” The emperor
smiled and told Le Grande to open the cabinet and help the crazy China men out
of his gift.
Everyone was laughing until the doors were opened; the three Chinese men had
vanished – completely. There was total silence in the room for some time until
Marshal Ney shouted for guards to search the Palace and grounds for the
mysterious visitors.
Napoleon and the carpenter Cission examined the cabinet closely and found it
solid. He ordered Cission to have it removed to his private study and locked
the doors with the gold key, which he hung about his neck. He gripped Cission
by the shoulder and said quietly; "I have a task for you my old friend and
it must be kept between the two of us." Cission nodded his head; the old
carpenter had known the emperor since the days of the Revolution.
But no trace of the three Chinese ‘Magicians’ were ever found, and no-one was
allowed near the gift without Napoleon’s express permission - But the Emperor
had more pressing matters to contend with - his abdication.
"NAPOLEON'S CHINESE CABINET OF MAGIC - PART 1" CONTINUES IN 'TEMPORAL DETECTIVES' BOOK SERIES 3 [EPISODE 5.]
End of Preview
