The Child Emperor

Chapter 25: The Strange Servant-Girl

The servant-girl Dong Qing E stayed behind in the room to attend to the Emperor. Soon, the bedsheets and blankets were prepared, and she helped the Emperor get into his sleeping attire.

Han Ruzi was long used to being moved around by his attendants, so he numbly cooperated. In his mind, many messy thoughts swirled around. Various people such as the Empress Dowager, Prince Donghai, Meng E, Yang Feng, made their appearances in his mind, refusing to give him any space, to the extent that it was quite a while before he realized that Dong Qing E remained standing by his bedside. However, he had already changed and was about to lie down to sleep — he did not require any one to attend to him anymore.

“Is there something else?” Han Ruzi asked politely. In his mind, he thought that there were quite a few servant-girls with the word E in their names, though Meng E and Meng Che may well be aliases.

Dong Qing E’s face turned red for some unknown reason. She said softly, “I can attend to Your Majesty’s bed rest.”

Han Ruzi had never seen any servant-girl as shy as her. He smiled and said, “You already have.”

“Mm.” Dong Qing E did not move.

“Is this your first time attending to someone?” Han Ruzi was very willing to chat with people. In the past, nobody would engage with him — those eunuchs and servant-girls were quick to run away and no one was willing to stay by the Emperor’s side. This was the first time someone refused to leave after finishing their own duties.

Dong Qing E nodded and then shook her head. “This is my… first time… attending to Your Majesty.”

“I have no special requests. This is fine. Other attendants would usually sleep by that couch. If you think it too small, you can go to the other rooms. I sleep soundly so I do not call on people in the night.” Han Ruzi would actually prefer for others to clear out from his bedroom.

Dong Qing E’s face grew even redder and her soft turned softer. “I can… can… sleep on Your Majesty’s bed.”

Han Ruzi turned around and looked at his bed. It had a large and wide bed frame — it could nearly fill a small room by itself. But for a servant-girl to make such a request seemed to be overstepping boundaries overmuch. Han Ruzi thought for a moment and asked, “You are not used to sleeping on a couch?”

Dong Qing E looked down without speaking.

“I guess so. That couch is quite small. Even I have to curl up when I lie on it, you would find it even smaller.”

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Dong Qing E was five or six years older than the thirteen year-old Emperor, and was half a head taller. She had a fuller build, and would therefore take up more space.

“Very well then. You may sleep on my bed,” Han Ruzi agreed. Ever since young, he had never treated his servants poorly, nor would he start in the palace. “But do not tell anyone else. You know, the palace has strict rules. If someone were to discover that you are not abiding by the rules, you may be punished.”

Han Ruzi still remembered the two eunuchs who were harshly punished because they had not seen the Emperor secretly write a message.

Dong Qing E nodded her head lightly, and slowly sat beside the Emperor. She was close to him — so close that they could nearly hear each other’s breathing.

“Then rest and have a good sleep.” Han Ruzi got up and smiled towards Dong Qing E. He strode towards a table and blew out the candle before fumbling his way to the couch. He lay on the couch where small pillows and a thin blanket was already prepared. The weather was not too cold, so it was just right.

“Your Majesty…” From the bed came Dong Qing E’s shocked and confused voice.

“You sleep on my bed, I’ll sleep on the couch. It’s fine, the bed I used to sleep it was no bigger than the couch — I’m quite unused to sleeping on such a large bed. Oh, remember to wake earlier tomorrow morning. We need to switch back so nobody finds out.” Han Ruzi tossed and went to sleep, thinking that this was a truly strange servant-girl. But at least she was willing to speak and even dared make requests of the Emperor, to him, this was a good thing.

Soon, he started thinking about other matters. Would he be “retired after accomplishments”? Using the previous Emperor’s era name: was there precedent for this? After thinking it through, he felt like the era name “Gongcheng” seemed to bear an inauspicious smell.

And then he fell asleep. He thought that he would be awakened by Meng E in the middle of the night, but he slept until morning the next day. The servant-girl Dong Qing E woke the Emperor up and assisted him in getting dressed. After that she notified the eunuch outside, and the eunuch called even more eunuchs and servant-girls into the room. They began to wash and dress and the Emperor, in preparation for his visit to pay respects to the Empress Dowager.

Han Ruzi discovered something strange. Dong Qing E’s expression looked sullen. Not only was she not grateful to the Emperor for letting her have the bed, but she also looked very disappointed.

There were too many people around, so Han Ruzi did not have the chance to ask questions. He only felt that this servant-girl was even stranger than Meng E, and even more difficult to please. If he were not afraid of getting her into trouble, he would ask Yang Feng what it was about.

Yang Feng did not appear this day. Usually he would escort the Emperor when he went to pay respects to the Empress Dowager, and sometimes he would escort the Emperor to the Soaring Cloud Pavilion for his lesson. This day, however, he had completely disappeared and left the Emperor with Grand Consort Shang-guan.

When breakfast was done and the Emperor was heading to the Soaring Cloud Pavilion, Yang Feng was still nowhere to be seen. In the Imperial Gardens, the number of young nobles accompanying the Emperor increased from the usual fifteen or sixteen, to nearly fifty. They lined up in rows, and under the directions of the decorum officials, respectfully paid their respects to the Emperor.

The Emperor’s entire entourage numbered four to five hundred. Most of them could not see the Emperor himself. Previously, the Empress Dowager had selected fifteen youths around the same age as the Emperor to accompany the Emperor. This time, the number had increased more than three times, and the oldest was in his thirties. Amongst them, many had long noses and deep eyes, and they looked like princes from distant countries.

The feeling of strangeness grew deeper and deeper in Han Ruzi’s heart. He could obviously tell that these attendants were more respectful than usual — even more there were more of them, they were noiseless when they did their kowtow.

To match the increase in nobles, the number of eunuchs and guards escorting the Emperor was also increased by a hundred. The footpaths of the Imperial Gardens appeared congested.

“Where did Lord Yang go?” Han Ruzi could not help but ask Zuo Ji by his side.

Zuo Ji did not have his usual smiling demeanor. He answered softly, “Lord Yang has been entrusted with an important task by the Empress Dowager, and has left the Capital.”

Han Ruzi was shocked. He stopped his steps, and as he did so, the long line of people behind him hurriedly stopped in their tracks. The sudden stop caused some people at the back to bump into each other. Fortunately, nobody fell.

“Out of the Capital? Where?” Han Ruzi felt like he had been abandoned. Without Yang Feng, he felt quite helpless.

Zuo Ji was shocked as well, and regretted being too talkative. However, he could not take back his words, so he could only say, “The Empress Dowager was looking for an envoy to deliver an imperial edict to the various lords of Guan-dong. Lord Yang set out last night with Chief Censor of the Right, Lord Shen.”

Han Ruzi was even more shocked. He turned and looked at Prince Donghai, and found that he was as surprised as he was. Yang Feng’s departure from the Capital was evidently something decided last night. As for whether he had decided it himself, or he had no choice but to obey orders, that could not be known.

“What imperial edict?” Han Ruzi asked.

Zuo Ji felt more and more awkward. For the Emperor to not know what edict he had promulgated was rather improper. He could only lower his voice and say, “Your Majesty, at Qinzheng Hall, your fury caused the Heir of Qi to beg for mercy, and Your Majesty issued an edict calling upon the lords of the realm to muster their troops and strike at Qi together.”

“We understand.” Han Ruzi continued walking forward. He had done a big favor for the Empress Dowager, but the pros would outweigh the cons if Prince Qi could be defeated. Nevertheless, he wished Yang Feng was by his side to give him advice.

The teacher for the day was Luo Huan-zhang. Even he appeared more courteous to the Empreor today. However, he did not ask the Emperor to select a topic. Instead, he said, “The war in Guan-dong rages on. Let me tell Your Majesty the last time the empire faced rebellion from the lords.”

Han Ruzi’s great great grandfather, the Martial Emperor’s grandfather, was the Fiery Emperor. During his reign, the Chu Empire experienced a rebellion from the princes, its scale far larger than the current one: five princedoms and seventeen prefectures rose in rebellion.

The Fiery Emperor was worried at the time. He even prepared to move the Capital to the south. But the war did not last more than four months. The combined armies of the princes, while appearing fierce and overbearing, were blocked at Hangu Gate. After a few minor battles that resulted in a stalemate, the combined rebel armies broke apart. The Chu army seized the chance and fought a decisive battle, securing victory in a single stroke.

After the war, the Fiery Emperor took the opportunity to weaken the princes. From then on, the various fiefdoms of the regional lords started shrinking over time. The Princedom of Qi this day was only half the size it originally was.

Han Ruzi collected his thoughts and listened carefully. He asked, “The princes fell in one hit. Was it because they did not practice benevolence and righteousness?

Prince Donghai snickered. Luo Huan-zhang sternly looked at him, causing him to look down and focus on his book.

“At that time, the five princes treated their followers with dignity, reduced taxes on the people, respected the old and took care of the young. It could be said that they were benevolent and righteous.”

“Then why did they not have a path of escape after their defeat in battle?”

“It is like a blade. When a tough warrior wields a blade, he can fight ten by himself. When a child wields a blade, he hurts himself. Benevolence and righteousness are sharp tools of state. When an ordinary man practices it, he benefits his village. When a lord practices it, he benefits his fief. When the Son of Heaven practices it, he benefits all life. The five princes’ benevolence cannot be compared to the benevolence of the Fiery Emperor, hence their defeat was inevitable. Your Majesty, you sit on the most revered throne. To you, benevolence and righteousness is like the blade to the soldier, the saddle to a treasured horse — integral and complementary. Its importance is indescribable.”

Han Ruzi felt that Luo Huan-zhang was rather pedantic. He suddenly felt a sharp gaze shoot his way. When he turned his head, Prince Donghai was already looking down. Han Ruzi understood something. He looked at the two eunuchs at the door — the two of them did not understand anything, and were just standing blankly.

Luo Huan-zhang was the first official who took the initiative to come into contact with the Emperor. Even though his words were subtle, Han Ruzi understood his meaning.

He did not know how to respond.

Luo Huan-zhang did not probe further. What he spoke of next was all about the Fiery Emperor and how he defeated the five princes.

The morning’s class was shorter than usual. An hour before noon, Zuo Ji entered and asked the Emperor to move.

Han Ruzi arrived at the Hall of Diligent Administration again. From this day, he would have to take some time every morning to sit at the Hall, watching the senior officials deal with affairs of state. He knew his place — the unusually numerous eunuchs around him were a constant reminder — and hence he never spoke, and only watched and listened.

At least this was much better being completely ignorant and trapped within the palace. He was able to understand a little about the progress of the war in Guan-dong, the movements of the military within the realm, as well as the unique cultures and circumstances of each prefecture and district.

But this day, he could not find out where exactly Yang Feng had gone, and when he would be back.

In the afternoon, it was his martial arts lesson as usual. Meng Che increasingly had the demeanor of a wizened instructor. He spoke more than he acted, and only occasionally struck his fist or sword to get a reaction from the Emperor or the young nobles.

For the first time, Han Ruzi felt that the Emperor’s life was a busy one. However, this busyness was a mere illusion. He could gain little from it. Until this night, there was something that he had to do personally and could not dlegate.

At the time, he was already very tired. After washing up and getting dressed, he wanted to quickly go to sleep. As to whether he was to sleep on the bed or on the couch, he did not care.

The servant-girl attending to him was still Dong Qing E. Her face was again very red. But her smile was different from the previous night, and her words were all the more incredible. “Your Majesty is about to get married. Is Your Majesty not interested in the way of husband-wife relations?”

Han Ruzi’s first thought was Luo Huan-zhang’s oft-cited “way of benevolence and righteousness”.