China by Edward Rutherfurd (historical books to read TXT) 📕

the old man say, “They’ll be delivered directly, Majesty.”

Then I heard the emperor sigh. “It’s so peaceful in here,” he said. “I always feel better when I come to see you.”

It seemed a strange thing to say when, as far as I was concerned, the entire paradise of the Yuanmingyuan was a haven of peace. But I suppose it wasn’t the same for him.

The emperor left, and after waiting until he was well out of the way, I scurried off myself.

The next day, for the first time since I’d been at the Summer Palace, just as I was entering the eunuchs’ quarters beside the imperial residence, I found myself face-to-face with head eunuch Liu. I really didn’t want to encounter him, but there was nothing I could do, so I bowed low.

“Ah,” he said. “Are the palace people being nice to you?”

“Yes, Mr. Liu,” I answered. “It’s very kind of you to ask.”

“Have you made any friends?”

“Your servant has only just arrived,” I said. “But I have had the honor of making the acquaintance of Mr. Ma. He is good enough to talk to me when I visit his tree nursery.”

“You always find the interesting people, don’t you?” he remarked. He sounded almost friendly. “Have you seen the emperor yet?”

“Your humble servant saw the emperor yesterday, when he was visiting Mr. Ma,” I replied.

“And what did you think of him?”

Was it a trap? Was he hoping I’d say something bad about the Son of Heaven that he could report?

“His Majesty was very kind to Mr. Ma,” I said carefully. “Your servant had the impression that he was fond of the old gentleman.” After all, it was true.

And just for a moment Mr. Liu’s face seemed to soften. “He is. Ma’s a dear old man, no question. What else did you notice?”

“His Majesty said he felt at peace there. Was His Majesty tired, perhaps?”

“He’s a wreck. He’s still young, of course. I suppose he might live for years.” As on previous occasions, I wasn’t quite sure if Mr. Liu was talking to me or to himself. “Well, I must go,” he said briskly, and left me.

So now I had another thing to worry about. Not only did my life depend on the Noble Consort Yi, but on whether the Son of Heaven continued to live. And it didn’t sound as if the prospects were too good.

What would happen to me if he died? I had no idea.

—

Several days later I went to see Mr. Ma again. I followed him around in silence, leaving it to him to speak to me if he wished. After a while he showed me an unusually complex little tree and told me it was the same age as he was. I didn’t like to ask what age that might be, so I just nodded politely.

“They can grow to be centuries old, you know,” he remarked. Then he turned and looked up at me with his watery eyes. “I am not yet centuries old,” he added.

I laughed and bowed. “Not yet, master,” I said. I was pleased that he had shared a little joke with me, and I called him master because, to me, that’s what he was. He noticed the compliment and silently accepted it.

This emboldened me, a few minutes later, to venture a question concerning myself. “I am so happy to be in this place, master,” I told him. “But I am only here because of the favor of the Noble Consort Yi. Without that favor, Mr. Liu would send me away at once.”

“So I have heard,” he said.

“Yet sometimes I think that despite his opposition, Mr. Liu likes me,” I went on. “I’ve also noticed that all the palace people have been very kind to me, and I don’t think they would be without his instructions. Can you tell me what all this means? Is it possible that one day, even if I lost the Noble Consort’s patronage, he might change his mind and be my friend?” One might say I was grasping at straws, but I was so anxious to find some way of staying in that paradise.

The old man didn’t answer at once. After I’d waited a bit, I thought he wasn’t going to answer at all.

But in the end, he asked me a question. “Why would Mr. Liu tell the palace people to be nice to you?” When I couldn’t answer, he continued: “If the palace people were unfriendly towards you, the Noble Consort would hear about it, wouldn’t she?”

“I suppose so,” I said. “Actually, she asked me if they were being kind to me.”

“Exactly. And if they weren’t nice to you, she’d blame Mr. Liu and be angry with him. And powerful though he is, he’d avoid that. But there’s another reason he wants everyone to be kind to you. Can you guess why?”

“No,” I confessed.

“He wants you to be happy.”

“You mean he likes me?”

“You’re intelligent, so he may. But that’s got nothing to do with it. He wants you to be happy so that one day, when he sends you away, your pain and humiliation will be greater.”

“Why?”

“To show his power.” He paused to let that sink in. “No one will have driven you out. For fear of him, all the palace people have smiled at you so that, when the day comes, you will fall by his hand alone, while they all watch. It’s like a ritual. He has to sacrifice you to save his own face, even if he does like you.”

“I’ve been very foolish,” I said.

“It’s a palace. You rose too fast. If you want to rise in the world, you need a lot of friends.”

“Has anything like this ever happened to you?” I asked him.

“No, I stuck to gardening.” He gave a wry smile. “Only my trees obey me.”

—

People sometimes complain about the summer weather in Beijing. I never do. First, in the month of May, as the barbarians call it, comes the fifteen-day period we know as Summer’s Coming. Then Full Grain; then