Inside the Palace, two days later - The Prince

I wake up as the sun filters through the dusty curtains round my bed, with the echo of a dream in my head.  I’m on horseback, galloping across a vast grassy plain, the wind in my hair and the sun on my back, free.  As the dream dwindles, the usual feeling of emptiness and misery descends.  I shake my head and my lips twist in something that’s not a smile, because there’s not much to smile about in my life.  I say to myself, how could I dream about galloping across plains?  I’ve never been near a horse in my life.  I’ve never even been outside the Palace.

My personal eunuch Ah-Cheng hears me moving.  He’s got ears like an eagle and can hear a mouse burp at fifty paces.  He rushes over, obsequious but kind, and pulls the bed-curtains open.

“Did your Highness sleep well?  How does your Highness feel?  The water’s hot.  I’ll help your Highness bathe and dress.”

I frown.  “What’s the rush?  It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”  My gloom deepens as I think about the long boring day ahead, just like all the other long boring days.  It’s getting more and more difficult to force myself to study or to practise my music, just so I can say the day wasn’t wasted.  In my darkest moments, I don’t know how much longer I can keep going.

I suddenly notice that Ah-Cheng’s in more than the usual dither.   “Out with it.” I say, “What’s on your mind?”

His expression becomes even more agitated. 

“What’s the matter, old man?” I say.

“The - the Empress wants to see your Highness.  In an hour from now.”

A chill goes down my back.  It’s been a long time since the Empress last called me to her presence and the memory isn’t pleasant.

“What does she want?”

He shakes his head, his hands writhing inside his sleeves. “I – I don’t know.” He looks at me helplessly.  “Nobody’s told me anything.”

I pull myself together and climb out of bed.  “Well, I won’t find out staying here.  Bring the purple robe.”

He rushes to obey.

Ah-Cheng’s been my only servant for the last four years.  He does my laundry, cooks my meals and takes care of my clothes.  No-one else attends me, by the Empress’s orders.  The only other person I see us my tutor and, when I’m ill, the Imperial doctor.  My residence is shabby and run-down, the furnishings dusty and uncared-for, the carpets and curtains musty.  There’s a garden, unkempt and overgrown, with a high wall round it.  All the trees near the wall have been cut down by the Empress’s orders.  There are guards outside the front gate and all around the walls.  When I was younger, I was allowed to attend ceremonial occasions and festivals, along with my half-brothers and sisters, but that doesn’t happen now.  I am, in fact, a prisoner.

Like most prisoners, I imagine, I spend a lot of time planning escape.  I know it’s a fantasy, because even if I could get out of my residence, I’d still have to find my way through the maze of the Imperial Palace, which is huge and crawling with guards.  But who knows, the opportunity might arise and in the meantime it helps to keep me sane.  If I could only get away, I might be able to find a small house somewhere far from the capital.  I’ve got a little hoard of gold and silver and I have some jewelry I could sell.  I play the zither well enough to teach music.  I write a good hand and I know the classics.  I could make a living writing letters for people and copying books.  I could have a garden, maybe get a dog.  I could travel.

Empress Xu Yating hates me, so this visit isn’t something that I’m looking forward to.  What can she possibly want?  I ponder this as Ah-Cheng washes and then dresses me, while I stand like a clothes-pole with arms outstretched.  As he scurries off to bring me breakfast, I reflect that her residence is some distance away, so at least I’ll get out of this room and into the fresh air.  As I eat, Ah-Cheng does my hair in a complicated style with lots of plaits and knots, finished off with a jade and gold crown.  Having my hair done is a small sensual pleasure which I appreciate.  There aren’t many.

I’m ready to go.  But at the last moment Ah-Cheng produces a hat with a veil and reaches up to put it on me.

I flinch.  “What’s this for?”

“The - the Empress’s orders.”

There’s no point arguing.  I put the hat on and we walk out past the guards into the sunshine.  Spring colours are everywhere:  the leaves on the trees just bursting out, early flowers blooming, birds singing in the branches.  The sound of running water soothes the ear.  But Ah-Cheng won’t let me linger.  We hurry along the garden paths and go in through an even more imposing door with impassive guards outside.  Ah-Cheng’s not allowed into the presence.  He takes the hat from me with trembling hands and I go into the Empress’s reception room alone. 

She’s sitting like a statue on a platform at the far end, dressed in gold and green, magnificent.  There’s no-one else in the room except a huddle of eunuchs in one corner and the Empress’s chief eunuch and adviser, Du Xun, who’s standing beside his mistress, his hands hidden in his sleeves.  He’s a tall man with an icily-handsome face.  He hasn’t run to fat like many eunuchs.  On the contrary, he looks extremely fit   He has an evil reputation.  The whole household is terrified of him. 

I walk across the floor to the correct distance and perform the required salutes and greetings, on my knees.  I see my reflection in the polished floor each time I lean forward.  Then I raise my head, but not too much, and wait respectfully. 

Xu Yating’s in her late thirties.  She’s fiercely beautiful.  As she gets older, the fierceness comes out more than the beauty, but she’s still eye-stopping.  But the look on her face today is that of a cat looking at a particularly tasty mouse.  The chilly feeling in my spine increases.

She doesn’t call me by my name.  She never has.  She just calls me “you”.

“You’re going on a journey,” she says.  Her eyes aren’t kind.

A journey?  I look up, hopefully.  “Yes, Imperial Mother,” I reply politely.  “May this Prince ask where?”

“The Kingdom of Qiu,” she says, still with that cat-like look on her face.

My brain whirrs through the possibilities.  Could it be – a diplomatic mission?  I know there have been negotiations with the King of Qiu.  Am I going to get out of here at last?  My heart starts to pound. 

I say, “What will this Prince’s role be, Imperial Mother?”

Xu Yating’s enjoying this.  She gets up in a rustle of brocade and stretches idly, arms and fingers outstretched.  Then she turns, smiling, for the kill.

“A very suitable one.  You’re going to the King’s harem, as part of our gifts to Qiu”.

Harem?  I’m aware that I’m gaping.  Harem?  I try to struggle up, but my arms are seized from behind.  In my shock, I hadn’t heard anyone approaching.  Then she comes down off her platform and approaches me.  There’s triumph in her eyes.

“Well, isn’t that the most suitable role for you?” she says.  “After all, your mother was a lowly concubine, so now you’re going to be one too.  Call it fate.  Call it what you want.  You’re going, whether you like it or not.  I’m sure the King of Qiu will appreciate your charms.”

I find my voice and yell out:  “I’m not going!  You can’t make me go!  Let me speak to Imperial Father.  I want to speak to my Father.”

She bends down and says softly by my ear:  “Imperial Father has left this decision to me.  And don’t be deceived, I can make you go.” With a swirl of her robes she turns away and gestures to Du Xun.  He takes a bowl from a side table and comes towards me.

“Hold him,” he says.  The hands on my wrists and shoulders tighten and although I’m struggling desperately, I can’t get free.  They hold me kneeling on the floor, someone grabs my head and Du Xun takes my jaw in his hand and tries to pry my mouth open.

“Not very obedient, is he?” he says.

“I don’t suppose the King of Qiu will mind,” the Empress’s hateful voice replies, “He’s said to like a challenge.”

I shake my head violently, but Du Xun says “Hold his nose”, so after a minute or two I need to breathe and the liquid goes down my throat anyway.  I manage to knock the bowl out of his hand so some of it goes on the floor, but the Empress says:  “Give him more” and by this time, I’m too weak to struggle and I’m forced to swallow it. 

“Let him go,” the Empress says and I sprawl on the floor, gasping.  I try to get up but my arms and legs seem to have gone missing.  Everything’s going fuzzy. 

I hear the Empress’s voice. ”Have a pleasant journey”, she says. 

And then I’m out of it.