CHAPTER XXII.
THE BOY PRINCE AND THE RIVAL GENERALS.
Thus were the great princes and lords of China awaiting the coming oftheir imperial master, and with something like impatience, for often, oflate, had his majesty kept them waiting for hours, and then granted noaudience at all. Such, however, was not to be the case then, for soonthe sounds of wind instruments were heard, pages and eunuchs enteredfrom the door which led to the imperial apartment, followed by thefavorite body attendants of the sovereign, then the Emperorhimself;--and the mandarins in the body of the hall, and the lords uponthe steps of the throne, bent their heads till their foreheads touchedthe floors, in which position they remained, awaiting the command of themonarch to arise. Wey-t-song, the last of the Ming Emperors, was ofmiddle height and spare figure, at least for a Chinese, whose notion ofmanly beauty consists of large and bulky form; he was attired in a robeof yellow silk, embroidered with five-clawed dragons, a necklace ofcostly pearls, and a golden girdle fastened around his waist by ajeweled clasp; his high cap or crown of purple satin, sparkled withjewels, and was decorated with the peacock's feather, which fell uponhis long black hair; his boots were of purple satin, and fitted tightlyto the shape of the feet; as for his hands, they were hidden beneath thefolds of his robe.
When the Emperor had seated himself upon the throne, a graceful movementwith his ample sleeves gave the sign for the kneeling courtiers toarise, and they stood with their arms straightened and eyes turned uponthe ground, pretending that the sight of so much majesty was toodazzling for their vision.
Thus, for a time, all was silent, till the censor Woo, falling upon hisknees, and holding above his head his silver seal of office, gravelysaid, "Since our lord has vouchsafed us his heavenly audience, and thedoor of the imperial apartments is no longer disfigured by theaudience-denying tablet, it is the duty of the meanest of his slaves toopen his lips, even at the risk of his life."
"Rise, thou venerable noble, for it is not seemly that one who is atage's extremity should kneel, even before the Emperor. Rise, noble Woo,for thy years demand that thy petition should be heard standing," saidWey-t-song, aiding the aged man to his feet.
"Alas! dread prince, thy servant's days have been too long, for he haslived to see a successor of the great Emperors, Yu and Yaou, forget thatHeaven had made him the father of his people," said Woo, sadly.
"What words are these? Surely the noble Woo presumes upon his age, forhas it not been wisely said that the will of the Emperor isomnipotent?"
"It is written in the sacred books, O prince, that it is equallycriminal in the Emperor and the subject to violate the laws. Truly thelife of the minister is the property of his sovereign, but the dignityof his office belongs to the country, which is even now torn into shredsby maladministration," replied the firm old noble; adding, "For when theEmperor becomes negligent of his duty, and sinks into a lover of luxuryand ease, the spirit of indolence must pervade the occupant of everymandrinate; so, at the present time, every viceroy and governor hasgrown to think himself the sovereign, instead of the father and teacherof his province; each minister, in defiance of the law, sells places tothose unfit to occupy them; and thus the people, being oppressed, havearisen in rebellion over the empire, to the advantage of rogues andthieves, who await but the finding of some bold bad man to enable themto change, O prince, thy very dynasty. Yet surely this is not withoutcause, for hath it not been asked, 'Why hath Heaven placed the Emperorupon the throne, if not to be our parent?' and therefore he ought not tomake himself feared, but in proportion as he deserves to be loved forhis goodness and virtue; therefore, at the risk of his life, the censordares tell his dread sovereign that while the people are suffering, theEmperor should forget his pleasures, fast in his palace, punish theoffending mandarins, remit the taxes of the suffering provinces, andemploy his whole thoughts in alleviating their misfortunes. Like theEmperors of old, he should lament night and day till the evils areremedied. Such are the words of the aged Woo, who hath lived throughthe reigns of six of thy illustrious predecessors, and they have beencalled forth, O dread prince, by thy neglect of the petitions which hehas laid upon the imperial table. If thy slave offendeth, O prince, lethis worthless head be the penalty, for he has done his duty; and the oldnoble again fell at the feet of Wey-t-song, who, giving way to aparoxysm of passion, rose, and, placing his hand upon the hilt of hissabre, exclaimed, 'What words are these old man? Is the Emperor a slavethat thou darest so far?' But, despot and even cruel as he was, the ageand daring of the old noble had excited in the eyes of the surroundingcourtiers such unmistakable gleams of satisfaction, that, really afraidof proceeding to extremities, he fell back upon his throne, saying,"Arise, noble Woo, and that in the licence of thy office thou hastuttered words of wind against thy Emperor, the rebel-subduing GeneralLi-Kong will testify."
Upon this, the Prince Li-Kong, falling upon his knees, said, "Truly, Oaugust and sovereign Emperor, the age of the noble Woo must havediminished his eyeballs, or he would have seen in the Imperial Gazettethat the Emperor, our father, having heard of the rebellion in theprovinces, had despatched his mean servant, myself, with a correctingarmy, and that thy unworthy relation had secured a lasting internalpeace."
"And thy reward, prince?" said the Emperor."
"The generalship of the home armies, and the favor of my greatsovereign, who will not open his heavenly ears to the words of theserogues, who accuse thy servant and mean relation of ingratitude andtreason."
"This reminds us that the reward is inadequate to thy services, mostprincely Li. Let it therefore be proclaimed throughout the empire thatthe grateful Wey-t-song is about to bestow upon the kingdom-soothingPrince Li-Kong the hand of his only daughter in marriage," said theEmperor.
But before the prince could thank the Emperor, the General Woo-san-Kweifell upon his knees before the throne, saying, "The humblest but mostdevoted of thy servants would dare to claim the heavenly ears of hismost august prince."
"If the barbarian-subduing general has aught to counsel let him open hislips."
"Then, truly, O dread Emperor, it must be at the risk of my life; for somany moons has thy servant been engaged in defending the frontiers ofthe empire against the Tartar barbarians, that he has lost thesubmissive tones fitted to thy heavenly ears," said Woo-san-Kwei.
"Let the general open his lips, for although his words may be morewarlike, they cannot be rebellious, like those of his noble parent."
"The words of the noble Woo flowed from his heart, O prince, and wereapproved by his son, who now, as in duty bound, would counsel hissovereign, that, although the services of the rebel-exterminatinggeneral have been great, his reward has been greater than his merits,for does he not hold the golden seals of the highest military command?As for the princess, she is the daughter of the empire, and too exaltedto be bestowed upon the noble Li-Kong. Remember O Emperor, it will bethe duty of the historians to record that the Emperor Wey-t-song,instead of commanding, had been weak enough to purchase the services ofa powerful lord, tainted with treason, with the only daughter of hishouse; setting aside the wise custom of his ancestors, who bestowedtheir daughters upon tributary kings, whereby alliances were formed forthe prosperity of the empire," said the Prince Woo-san-Kwei; adding, "Atthe risk of his life has thy servant spoken, O prince, for fear that thytoo great generosity may smear thy page in history."
Scarcely dissembling his enmity, Li-Kong spoke, "Truly my sovereign istoo generous to permit the envy of his servant's enemies to have weightin his dragon ears."
"The kingdom-soothing general speaks well, for who is this turbulentlord, and what the value of his services, that he dares be sorebellious?" said the Emperor; adding, angrily, "Let the dog bearrested;" when the young prince threw himself before the throne, andsaid--
"Let my illustrious parent not so far forget his royal dignity as tovent his anger upon the honest Woo-san-Kwei, who has saved the kingdomfrom the Tartars, and offered his counsel only by right of his highrank. No, O my sovereign, rather le
t the hand of my dear sister bewithheld until the Prince Li has further proved his merits, by showingto his Emperor that he has really performed those wonderful feats ofconquest which he now boasts, but all others deny."
At this speech a half-suppressed murmur of approbation rang through thehall, which brought a heavy frown upon the forehead of Wey-t-song. As,however, he really feared a quarrel with either of these powerfulprinces, he said, "Though young, the words of the Prince Yong-Li arewise, for it is not fitting that our people should be feasting andrejoicing at the marriage of our daughter, while it is not certain thatthe rebels are subdued, and the Tartars upon the frontiers. It is,therefore our will that our daughter's hand be withheld till entirepeace be restored."
Then the whole court bowed to the ground three times in submission tothe imperial will, and the Emperor moved the sleeves of his robe, as atoken that the audience was at an end, when the chief of the eunuchs ranquickly up the avenue formed by the court, till he reached about halfway, when he stood with his head erect and his arms by his side for aminute, then having performed the usual prostrations, he ran to the footof the throne, where he threw himself upon his knees.
"Is the slave mad, that he dares intrude in this our highestcouncil-chamber?" said the Emperor.
"The life of the slave is in the hands of his master, yet must heperform his duty. Treason is within the very walls, O my sovereign."
At the word treason the blood of Tait-sou became weak as water, for theroyal face became livid with fear. He grasped his sabre, saying, "Whatsays the slave?"
"Two boys, O dread sovereign, have been found within the prohibitedwall; one even within the sacred precincts of the imperial gardens."
At the words two boys there was a half-suppressed titter, probably atthe little cause the Emperor had had to fear; but at the mention of thegarden of the inner palace, the aged Woo said, "Surely, O greatsovereign, the worthy eunuch has overstepped his duty; these youngslaves should have been handed over to the police tribunals."
"The noble Woo is right," replied the Emperor. "What has the dog of aeunuch to say for intruding in our presence with such matters?"
"The will of the Emperor is the life-blood of the meanest of his slaves,and but little else is that of the princess in whose presence one of thedogs was found, and at whose command he is brought hither," replied thetrembling eunuch.
"The profane slave!" muttered the surrounding mandarins, clutching thehilts of their swords.
"The will of our beloved daughter is law; let the audacious slave bebrought before us," said the Emperor.
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