“Please bring our guests to one of the best rooms in this palace!” ordered the emperor to
his servants.
Marco was taken by the picturesque palace. The palace was so grand that the walk seemed
endless. The palace floor, made of marble, was as white as snow. Room by room they passed, it
was not until 15 minutes later that they had reached the room.
“Now that we have time to freely roam around, I might rest up before attending to some
unfinished business with Maffeo,” said Niccolo in a determined voice, “Marco, you stay here.
You’ll need plenty of rest before we head home. We’ll be back in six days.”
“What unfinished business do you have to attend to?” asked Marco curiously.
“Before we returned from our last journey, we discovered another city in the Gobi Desert. But
we did not have time to go there. We need to take this opportunity to explore it, to expand our
trade business,” explained Maffeo and he and Niccolo left for the city the next day.
Days passed. Niccolo and Maffeo had not returned yet. Marco grew more and more concerned
until a palace servant came with terrible news.
“Mr. Polo,” said the servant, “I am afraid we bring you bad news. While our soldiers were
patrolling the outskirts of this city, they found the body of your uncle. He died from a sandstorm.”
The news came as a great shock to Marco.
“What about my father?” asked Marco in despair.
“Unfortunately, they only found your uncle.” said the servant with sympathy.
“The emperor offers his most sincere condolences to Maffeo and requests to see you in the
throne room,” said the servant.
Marco ran to the throne room immediately. But even running, it seemed as if the time taken
to get to the throne room was longer than walking there.
“I should have stopped them. Now, Uncle Maffeo is dead and my father’s missing,” said Marco
with regret, “Tell me why your people look terrified. Something must be terribly wrong.”
“So, you’ve already noticed?” said the surprised emperor.
“Have I already noticed?” said Marco angrily, “Are you trying to tell me that you’ve already
known that this would happen to my father and uncle?”
Marco approached Kublai Khan aggressively but was stopped by the guards.
“Marco, I am truly sorry for your loss.” said the emperor with pity, “But I believe you want to
know the reason behind your uncle’s death and your father’s disappearance.”
“The people of Shangdu are afraid of the curse that haunts the Gobi,” said the emperor, “I
can tell you the myth of it but it is forbidden to mention the name of the city and its emperor.
Mentioning it will bring us misfortune.”
“Legend tells that there once was an emperor. While he was at war, his enemy made a
strategic move to cut the city’s water supply because they knew that the city is located in a
remote area, and that it would weaken his army. Though the emperor was prepared for battle, his
daughter convinced him that he will eventually lose and be killed because the enemy proved to
be too powerful. After a discussion with the enemy, they came to a conclusion that they should be
allowed to enter the city without military resistance at dawn in the west gate. During the night,
the enemy gathered outside the west gate waiting for daybreak while the emperor and his army
fled through the east gate. However, his daughter stayed behind to open the west gate at dawn
to fulfill the promise. Instead, she was slain by the enemy but she did not have a proper burial.
When the emperor received news of his daughter’s death, he spoke ‘black’ words in a fury rage
