The sky gradually became light and Qian Long watched
the sun rising from the east as the
eunuchs laid out
the Imperial breakfast for him. It consisted of many
delicacies, but he found it difficult to swallow them.
With Chen and Princess Fragrance gone, he felt nervous
and unsettled.
That day, he did not grant an audience to his
ministers, and spent his time napping fitfully. On
several occasions, he sent guards out to search for
news, but the sky grew dark and the moon sailed up
over the palace walls, and still none of them had
returned to report.
He started to become extremely anxious and tried to
calm himself by staring fixedly at the desert murals
on the walls of the Precious Moon Pavilion.
"Seeing as she likes him, she will certainly like
Chinese clothes," he thought. "When they return he
will already have convinced her, so why don't I take
off these Manchu clothes and put on something Chinese
to give her a surprise?"
He ordered his
eunuchs to find him some, but where
would Chinese clothes be found in the heart of the
Manchu court? Finally, one bright young
eunuch ran
over to the theatre troupe and brought back a
theatrical costume, which he helped Qian Long to don.
Qian Long examined himself in front of a mirror, and
was
delighted by his
dashing appearance. Then he
noticed a few white hairs
amongst his whiskers and
urgently ordered the young
eunuch to get a pair of
tweezers to pull them out.
Just as he was sitting with bowed head to allow the
eunuch to remove the offending hairs, he heard the
patter of light footsteps behind and another
eunuchannounced: "Her Highness the Empress Dowager has
arrived."
Qian Long started in surprise. He looked up and saw
the Dowager's image in the mirror, her face stern and
pale and full of anger.
"I trust you are well, Madame?" he said,
hurriedlyturning to face her. He escorted her to the couch
where she took a seat, and then dismissed the
eunuchs
with a wave of her hand.
There was a moment's silence.
"The slaves say you have not been well today," she
began in a deep voice. "They said you did not hold
court this morning and haven't eaten, so I have come
to see you."
"I am better now," he replied. "It was just that I ate
something fatty which made me a little uncomfortable.
It was nothing. I would not have dared to have
bothered Your Highness about it."
"Huh! Was it Muslim fat or Chinese fat?" she said, to
Qian Long's consternation.
"I think some roast lamb I ate last night disagreed
with me," he replied.
"That is one of our Manchu dishes. Huh! You seem to be
tired of being a Manchu."
Qian Long did not dare to say anything.
"Where is that Muslim girl?" the Empress Dowager
asked.
"She was in a bad mood so I sent her out with someone
who can talk some sense into her."
"She has a knife, and would clearly prefer to die
rather than give in to you. What use is there in
getting someone to talk to her? Who did you send?"
Qian Long noticed
anxiously how close her questioning
was becoming.
"An old guard officer, surnamed Bai," he replied.
The Dowager looked up and let the silence hang for a
moment. Then she laughed coldly. "You are the Emperor,
the master of all under heaven. You can do whatever
you like, and concoct whatever lies you like, too."
Qian Long knew the eyes and ears of the Dowager were
many and guessed he probably would not be able to
deceive her about this affair. "The other person I
sent with the girl," he answered quietly, "was a
scholar I met in the south, who is very learned..."
"It's someone from the Chen family of Haining, isn't
it?" the Dowager's voice rasped out sharply.
Qian Long hung his head, not
daring to utter a sound.
"No wonder you've put on Chinese clothes. Why haven't
you killed me yet?" Her voice had become even harsher.
Qian Long knelt down in fright and began kowtowing
frantically.
"May I be
damned by Heaven and Earth if I have been
unfilial in any way," he said.
The Dowager flicked up the long sleeves of her gown
and walked out. Qian Long rushed after her, then
stopped when he realised he was still wearing the
Chinese costume. To be seen wearing such clothes would
not do at all, so he
hurriedly changed back into his
usual gown and rushed out after the Dowager. He found
her in a side room of the Martial Hero Pavilion.
"Please don't be angry, Madame," he pleaded. "I have
committed some errors and would
willingly accept your
criticism."
"Why have you called that man Chen into the palace
several days running?" she asked coldly. "And what
happened in Haining?" Qian Long hung his head and was
silent.
"Do you really intend to restore the Chinese style of
dress?" she shrieked. "Are you going to kill every one
of us Manchus?"
"Please don't listen to the
nonsense spouted by
servants," he replied, his voice shaking. "How could I
plan to do such a thing?"
"How do you intend to deal with this man Chen?"
"His society is large and
widespread and many of his
followers are
martial arts masters who would die for
him, so I have been polite to him throughout while
waiting for an opportunity to deal with them all at
once. I want to remove the roots as well as chopping
off the grass."
The Dowager's expression softened slightly. "Is this
true?"
Qian Long knew the secret had leaked. With no room
left to maneouvre, he
decided he had no choice but to
swear to destroy the Red Flower Society.
"I will see to it that Chen is beheaded within three
days," he said.
The shadow of a smile appeared on the Dowager's
forbidding face. "Good," she said. "Only then will you
be
holding to the wishes of our ancestors." She stood
up. "Come with me," she added.
She stood up and walked over to the main hall of the
Martial Hero Pavilion with Qian Long close behind. As
they approached, a
eunuch gave a shout and the huge
doors were opened. Inside the brightly-lit hall, two
files of
eunuchs stretched away from the entrance
towards eight princes kneeling on the floor to receive
the Emperor. The Dowager and Qian Long walked over to
two chairs on the dais in the centre of the hall and
sat down. Qian Long saw all eight princes were of the
immediate Imperial family, including his own brothers.
He wondered
uneasily what the Dowager was planning.
"When the late Emperor passed away," she began slowly,
"he left orders that the command of the Imperial
Banner troops should be divided
amongst eight members
of the Imperial family. But because of the constant
dispatch of forces to the Muslim border regions in the
past few years, it has never been possible to act on
the Emperor's last wish. Now, thanks to the blessed
protection of the Ancestors, the Muslim areas have
been pacified, and from today, the
leadership of the
Banners will be divided
amongst the eight of you." The
princes kowtowed and expressed their great gratitude.
So she has
decided to
disperse my military strength,
Qian Long thought.
"Please make the assignments, Your Highness," the
Dowager said to him. He knew he was in a losing
position, but he
decided that as long as he did not
attempt a revolt, a
temporary dispersal of military
power would be of no great consequence. The Dowager,
he could see, had been very
thorough, and he guessed
that she had also made preparations in case he
refused. So he assigned each of the eight princes to
be commander of one of the Banners.
Meanwhile, the eight princes, all full of curiosity,
were thinking: "Based on the wishes of the
founder of
our
dynasty, three of the Banners should be under the
direct
leadership of the Emperor, and the other five
subordinate to them. The Dowager's action to divide
the Banners among us is a serious
violation of rules
laid down by the Ancestors and is obviously intended
to
weaken the Emperor's power." None of them dared to
directly refuse the Dowager's command, but all
decidedit would be best to return the command to the Emperor
the following day in order to avoid the possibility of
execution.
The Dowager signalled with her hand and one of the
princes came forward
holding a tray on which was
placed a small iron box. He knelt before her and she
picked the box up and opened it, and took out a small
scroll. Qian Long glanced at it out of the corner of
his eye and saw the
inscription, written in the
Emperor Yong Zheng's hand, read "Posthumous Edict."
Next to this was a line of smaller characters: "If
there should be any political changes, the eight
princes who lead the Banners must gather together and
open this."
Qian Long's face drained of colour as he realised his
father had long ago taken precautions to guard against
his secret ever being revealed. If he dared to alter
in any way the instructions of his ancestors, let
alone attempt to
overthrow the Manchus, the eight
Banner commanders would be required to dispose of him
and set up a new Emperor. He steadied himself.
"The late Emperor was far-sighted indeed," he said.
"If I can match even a ten thousandth of his
abilities, then you have no need to worry further,
Madame."
The Dowager passed the
scroll to the most
senior of
the eight princes and said: "Take this edict of the
late Emperor and have it placed in the Lama Temple.
Assign one hundred bodyguards to guard it day and
night." She hesitated for a moment, then added: "They
are not allowed to leave their posts for a second,
even if ordered to do so by the present Emperor."
The prince complied with her command and left with the
scroll for the Lama Temple. The temple was in the
northern part of the city near the Gate of Serenity,
and had been used by the Emperor Yong Zheng as his
home before ascending the
throne. After he died, Qian
Long had had the residence expanded and turned into a
Tibetan Lamaist temple in memory of his grandfather.
Her arrangements complete, the Dowager yawned lazily.
"The achievements of our Ancestors must be
safeguarded," she sighed.
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