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

Ear of Grain; then Summer Solstice. Some sixty days in all—mostly calm and clear. Is the heat uncomfortable? Is it too humid? Not up in Beijing.

After the fifteen days of the Summer Solstice come the Lesser and then the Greater Heat. Here, I grant you, it’s hot and humid. A few thunderstorms at first, downpours later. Our clothes stick to our skin. But we shouldn’t complain. The land needs the water.

For just as the Winter Solstice is the male season of the yang—when the emperor must be in the Forbidden City to make the sacrifices for the return of the sun to the sky—so the Summer Solstice is the time of the female yin, when the earth brings forth her fruits and is nourished by the rain.

In fact, out in the hills and lakes of the Summer Palace, I hardly felt the humidity. And when the thunder did come rolling in and the curtains of rain drew across the sky and the flashes of lightning lit up the nine islands in the lake…those were some of the most exciting moments I ever experienced in my life.

As for the outside world, by the Solstice that year, I’d almost forgotten about it. The Taiping were far away. There was no sign of the barbarians returning. After my duties tending to the nails of the Noble Consort Yi and her ladies, she often told me to remain in attendance, and I’d find myself one of a party visiting the islands in the afternoon or evening. Sometimes the eunuchs put on little plays to amuse everybody. Several were notable musicians. One old man was a master of the twenty-one-string guzheng zither; another of the bamboo flute; another of the lute. Though the most magical moments of all, for me, were listening to the mournful song of the two-string erhu drifting over the lake as the sun went down.

I discovered another thing about the Summer Palace, too. It wasn’t only the most beautiful park in the world. It was a gigantic treasure house.

Every villa, every temple, was full of the most wonderful objects—porcelain, lacquer, statues of gold, furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl and precious gems, gorgeous silk tapestries, jade stones, paintings…collections built up over centuries. Even in the eunuchs’ quarters there were beautiful old beds and chairs and carpets. In the passage by the main entrance there was a gleaming antique sword, its hilt encrusted with rubies, just hanging on the wall within easy reach. I should think it was priceless. I daresay someone, maybe a hundred years ago, had hung it there temporarily and then forgotten about it.

At Summer’s Coming, the Noble Consort Yi had told me I should go to see my family for a day or two. This was very thoughtful of her. I informed Mr. Liu, who gave me my wages.

My little family was pleased to see me. I’d bought presents for my parents and the two children and a beautiful painted fan for Rose. Naturally, they wanted to know all about the Summer Palace, and I gave them detailed descriptions of everything I’d seen. My father was especially amazed at all the treasures I told him about.

“They must have a lot of soldiers to guard everything,” he said, “or it’ll get stolen.”

“First of all,” I reminded him, “though there are a few soldiers at the guard post by the outer gates, they can’t enter the Summer Palace precincts because they aren’t eunuchs. Secondly, none of us would ever steal anything. It’s unthinkable.”

“What are you talking about?” he said. “What about the eunuchs who take bribes? Or the people like Mr. Chen who take a cut out of every contract? Isn’t that what you want to do?”

“That’s totally different,” I told him. “Those are the perquisites that go with the job. Everyone knows that.”

“I don’t see much difference,” he said. “It’s still grabbing something for yourself.”

“You think I’d steal a work of art from the palace?” I cried. “I’d sooner be dead.”

Of course, that’s what he’d done, really, when he stole the lacquer box that got me in trouble in the first place. And he knew it. So perhaps I shouldn’t have said it. That was disrespectful. But I didn’t care.

“Well, we won’t quarrel,” he said.

“No,” I said. “We won’t.” But that was the only unpleasantness during my visit home, I’m glad to say. I played with my little children; I spent a delightful night with my wife; and she said she hoped I would come back again soon.

—

I began to see the emperor and the Noble Consort Yi together quite often during those summer months. Perhaps because there was less business to occupy him, he quite often joined the parties on the nine islands, together with the empress, the Noble Consort Yi, and the other women of the court. He never spoke to me in person, but I could tell he knew who I was, and he even gave me a smile one evening while we were listening to music.

So was there trouble brewing between him and the Noble Consort? Naturally, I watched them whenever I got the chance, but the Solstice came and went and I didn’t see any sign of it. They seemed happy in each other’s company, and I heard they quite often shared a bed.

As for his health, it was hard to say. Some days he looked a little better, some days he didn’t. I wanted to ask how the state would be governed if something happened to him, but that’s a dangerous question inside a palace, so I kept my curiosity to myself.

The only clue I did get came from old Mr. Ma one morning. We were walking back from his tree nursery towards the eunuchs’ quarters when a carriage drew up by the entrance to the Audience Hall. We bowed low when we saw the four figures that got out of it.

Every so often, some prince of the royal clan would come to see the emperor. Sometimes they’d join the evening party and stay