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

wouldn’t have been dignified for the emperor to appear, but there’s a little pagoda beside his quarters, and the Noble Consort told me that he’d gone up there and watched them from a distance with a telescope.

I’ve always had difficulty telling one barbarian from another. Some are tall, some are short. They’re all hairy. But it was very gratifying to see these arrogant villains in chains. After we’d all had a chance to laugh at them, they were carted off to jail in the House of Corrections. They wouldn’t have had a very good time there. The dungeons are full of rats and lice, and there’s a poisonous maggot that can kill you. Serve them right, I thought.

Soon after this, we heard that a force of French and British troops was moving on the city and that they were furious we’d got the hostages. But in order to reach the city they’d have to cross a bridge and come face-to-face with that Manchu division drawn up there.

“That’s where we’ll destroy them,” everyone agreed. “There’s no way they’ll get through. We outnumber them five to one.”

—

With all this encouraging news, I wasn’t surprised that the emperor decided he’d go out to the lake islands that evening.

He chose the small, sheltered island that contained the Temple of Universal Peace—on the principle, I suppose, that as soon as Elgin was crushed, peace should be the order of the day. The temple, which stood in a pond, had a very unusual shape—for its floor plan was in the form of a cross with an extension at a right angle on the end of each arm. This was the character we call “wan,” which signifies the peaceful Heart of Buddha. I’ve heard that the Western barbarians call this sort of cross a swastika, though I believe in their lands the extensions point the other way. In any case, the Temple of Universal Peace was a pleasant place to relax and watch the moon at any time of year.

Naturally, I wanted to be one of the party if I could. So I stood at a spot where I knew the emperor and his entourage would pass. If the Noble Consort saw me and gave me a nod, I could fall in behind. And sure enough she did.

Besides the empress, the Noble Consort Yi, her son, and several court ladies, Prince Sushun and his brother were in the company; also a few officials, who’d come out to the Summer Palace to urge the emperor to stand fast; and Mr. Liu, together with a dozen other eunuchs, including me. One of the court ladies, I remember, was Prince Gong’s auntie. Prince Gong himself wasn’t there, because he’d gone down to keep an eye on the barbarians at the bridge.

The long corridors of the temple had spaces for many shrines, looked after by a few elderly monks. In the central crossing, the bodhisattva Guanyin, made of precious woods plated with gold, sat on a lotus throne. She had more than forty hands and eyes. They say Guanyin hears all the sounds of the world. And if she does, then you might think it would make her angry or despairing; but the priests say her compassion knows no end.

After we had prayed before her and lit candles, we gathered in one of the temple’s outer arms, and a lady musician played the pipa to entertain us. She played an ancient piece called “Ambushed from Ten Sides,” which was a good choice, considering what was going on just a few miles to the south, and the emperor told her to play it again. When she finished, we sat in the warm silence. Outside, the evening sky was still pale blue and pink, and I caught sight of the half-moon. Everything seemed so perfect at this temple on the water that you could quite imagine the whole world was at peace. And I remember that, just at that moment, everyone was smiling—including even the emperor.

So nobody even noticed that Prince Gong had quietly entered the room until he spoke. “Majesty, the barbarians have broken through.”

—

Prince Gong was visibly shaken. And he blamed himself. “We’d seen what happened downriver at the forts,” he said. “But they had heavier cannon down there, and I thought that with our best cavalry, who are highly mobile, waiting for them on open ground, as well as the infantry with muskets, they’d take so many casualties that they’d retreat. Now I know better. Bravery is useless. Our men never wavered. But the French rifles and British guns cut them to pieces. It was terrible to see.”

“With your permission, Majesty,” one of the mandarins quietly offered, “a skirmish on open ground is one thing, but the walls of Beijing are another.”

We all looked at the emperor. He was staring into the middle distance, as if he were in another world. “If they took the forts, why wouldn’t they take Beijing?” His voice was dull, almost mechanical.

“Their rifles won’t help them against the city walls,” said Prince Gong. “And if they did get in, no general would risk his army inside a huge city where every man, woman, and child could slit their throats. Now they’re at Beijing, they’ll want to negotiate.”

“If we negotiate,” asked Prince Sushun bleakly, “what other cards have we in our hands?”

“The forty men we have hostage,” said Prince Gong. “Both British and French. They’ll want them safely back.”

“They’ll bargain for forty prisoners?” Prince Sushun frowned in disbelief.

“I think so. The barbarians care more about their men’s lives than their countries’ honor.”

“Doesn’t that show they are weak?” the Noble Consort Yi demanded.

“Perhaps,” said Prince Gong. “But it helps us.”

I was sitting on a low bench just behind the Noble Consort. I could smell the jasmine scent she’d used that day. She was sitting very straight, wearing a pale green silk dress.

I heard an owl outside. The owls at the Summer Palace often used to cry before the sun went down. It was a mournful