My third son had had a very difficult birth. For ten whole days, I had battled with the pain, refusing the doctors’ advice that I should sacrifice him. It was only thanks to the prayers of the peripatetik monk Xuan Zhang, who had brought us the Great Sutras from India, that this seventh prince of the imperial household had come into the world. Just one year after he was born, Future had received the crown of the Kingdom of Zhou and the seal of the Great Governor of the province of Luo, which included the eastern capital. At twenty, he had become King of Ying and Great Governor of the province of Yong that surrounded the town of Long Peace. For many years, he had attracted attention on the polo ground wearing his floppy hat at a jaunty angle, with his sleeves rolled up and shrieking at the top of his lungs, or at imperial banquets where he would dance gracefully to the tune of The Snows of Early Spring. He was a fervent enthusiast of cock fighting and organized tournaments with his brothers, provoking my celestial husband’s anger because the latter saw a perverse hint of fratricide in this cruel sport. After Splendor’s premature death and Wisdom’s dismissal three year’s before the Emperor’s death, the title of Supreme Son had fallen on this boy who had grown up in the shadow of his two elder brothers. Men reveal their true qualities once they have risen or fallen. Emperor Yang of the previous dynasty, for example, had been a humble and thrifty heir, but had proved to be a despotic and extravagant sovereign. Future had once been a naive, enthusiastic child, but now that he had been crowned, he was revealing his appalling nature as a pretentious and impulsive man.
My husband had entrusted his people and his empire to me. The Yellow Land devastated by four years of famine was like a vast arid field that needed sowing with new hope. Instead of helping me rebuild it, my son could think only of exploiting the privileges of being Emperor. The young Empress had an ill-fated influence over him; it was she who was encouraging him to set himself free.
A few days later I was informed that the Great Secretary Pei Yan wished to have a secret meeting with me. I sent Gentleness to find him, and he took an underground passageway to reach my calligraphy pavilion. When he saw me, he prostrated himself completely, from head to toe. I was curious to know why he used this salutation that demonstrated total submission, and I ordered him to speak without delay. That very morning, he said, the sovereign’s private officials had come for him to take him to the Palace. Future had dictated two decrees to him. In the first, the son of his wet-nurse was granted a noble position in the fifth imperial rank, and in the second, the Sovereign Lady’s father was appointed Chancellor and made a member of the Council of Great Ministers. All imperial orders had to be approved and published by the Imperial Secretariat, and Pei Yan had tried to dissuade the sovereign, explaining that such unreasonable promotions would encourage the political ambition of the Empress’s family. Future had been so irritated that he had thrown his ink well at the old man, shouting: “I am the Emperor! I do as I please! I shall not only name the Empress’s father Chancellor, but I shall also offer him my empire! No one will be able to stop me!
“Supreme Majesty,” Pei Yan wailed, “the Empress Wei Xuan Zhen’s noble father was military attache in the province of Pu. When his venerable daughter was elevated to the position of Heir’s Wife three years ago, he was promoted to governor of the district of Yu. He has not yet completed his term of office. As he is a man of no particular merit, his extraordinary elevation through the imperial hierarchy would awaken suspicions among officials. Your Supreme Majesty once wrote A Warning to Relations from Outside in which she denounced abuses of power by the families of empresses. Could she now bear to see Lord Wei admitted to the Council of Great Ministers and allow the Empress’s clan to take command of Court? The word of a Chinese Emperor is irreversible. For him to announce before his minister and servants that he will give his Empire to Lord Wei amounts to a solemn undertaking that must be respected. Supreme Majesty, dark clouds have come to eclipse the sun. Earth is shaking with fear. Birds are circling over the Forbidden City, afraid to settle. The Tang dynasty is in danger!”
I remained silent. Pei Yan inched closer to me on his knees and prostrated himself.
“Supreme Majesty, the rightful Emperor wants to give this throne conquered by his ancestors to an outsider. This betrayal is not mere negligence; it is a crime that must be punished! The previous sovereign often used to say that all human beings are equals in the face of justice. May your Supreme Majesty apply the law!”
“ Lord Pei, please give me one night in which to think.”
That evening I ate little. After a long period of prayer, I felt cleansed of all the mire of this earthly world. I took Gentleness with me and climbed to the top of the tower at the observatory. Up there the air was piercingly pure. The moon threw her icy beams over the astronomer’s spheres. In the last three years, the celestial area representing the throne had become darker and darker. That evening I saw through a light veil of clouds that the stars were almost extinguished.
On the sixth day of the second month in the era of the Sacred Heir, I invited court officials to undertake the morning salutation in the Palace of the Crimson Zenith, which was usually reserved for the annual Great Veneration. When Future sat on his throne, I took the seat to his right. He immediately sent a eunuch to ask my serving women why I had called him there and whether we were expecting a visit from a foreign king.
The jangling of weapons reverberated around the hall as men climbed the steps to the palace. The Great Secretary Pei Yan and the vice-secretary; the Great General of the cavalry of the Left, overseer of the imperial Forest of Plumes Guard of the Left; and the Great General of the leading army, overseer of the imperial Forest of Plumes Guard of the Right; came into the audience hall in battle dress.
Pei Yan took a scroll from his sleeve and read out loud the decree I had dictated to him in secret the previous evening: “My son, the Emperor Sacred Heir, the fourth Emperor of the Tang dynasty, has turned his back on the teachings of the previous sovereign by neglecting his sacred duty and by dishonoring his ancestors. His actions have tarnished the reputation of imperial authority. Exercising the power passed on to me by the Emperor Lordly Ancestor, I shall therefore withdraw his crown. He shall be disinherited of all his noble allowances and positions and will bear the simple title of King of Lu Ling.”
Pei Yan stowed the scroll in his sleeve and climbed onto the stage. He pulled the sovereign from his throne.
“Mother!” my son cried in astonishment. “What mistake have I made?”
Instead of questioning the legitimacy of my actions, Future was behaving like a child found in the wrong.
“You offered the Empire to Wei Xuan Zhen,” I said icily. “That was your mistake!”
“It was said in jest, mother.”
“An emperor does not speak in jest before his subjects.”
“Venerable Mother, forgive me! I shall not do it again!”
The man who had reigned for two months over the world’s greatest empire broke down and wept. Princes and Great Ministers remained prostrate at the foot of the stage in the hall. My eyes swept over them looking for my fourth son, Miracle. He crouched with his forehead to the ground, shaking from head to toe.