by Ng, Wayne;
She looked around the tea house. “I can wait. I can flee. I can take poison to kill my child, though the risk will be great. These all lead to the same fate. Eventually the Son of Heaven will learn that I am no longer his white peony.”
“I have a proposal.”
She scoffed. “Excuse me my Lord, but what could you or anybody possibly do for me? A Prince takes his King’s mistress. By force or whatever means, it matters not to the Son of Heaven. She becomes with child. How could this possibly end except with death? If you are proposing that I accuse the Prince, poison would be a better option. At least then I could choose the manner of my death and perhaps save my family.”
“But what if you had a witness?”
“There was none. And even if there were a witness, they would not sacrifice their life for mine.”
“I agree. But it would not be the Prince who would be accused.”
She stopped and looked directly at me.
“Mei, I suggest you accuse Confucius of violating you. He has no power over you.”
She laughed. “You are asking me to accuse an innocent man. He will be condemned along with me. Regardless, who will believe a woman over the Prince’s respected scholar? You forget he is among Prince Chao’s favorites.”
“It can be arranged that a witness will come forth on your behalf.” I paused and added: “The Prince might also welcome a false allegation and his defense of Confucius would likely be muted.”
Mei looked directly at me. “Who is this scholar across from me who would do such a thing? My Lord, I would not have taken you for one to engage in such duplicity. Why?”
I could not answer her right away, for I did not have an answer, either for her or myself. At last I responded, “I have few options, Mei. In addition to you and your family members, other lives may also be imperiled.”
She pondered this, then said, “This is a flawed strategy. I will be tortured as will any witness.”
“No. I have support within the Palace. No blood will be shed. Confucius will be banished. No one will be harmed, I have been assured of this.”
“By whom, Prince Meng?”
I did not need to reply. It was self-evident. She agreed to consider the proposal, then to find me and give an answer within two days, well before Prince Chao and Confucius were due back. I heard myself sounding like Prince Meng had only days earlier—forcing an argument onto an unsuspecting and blameless mind. It was then that I knew that nothing would ever again be as it had once been.
******
Afterwards, I returned to the Archives. Several of the staff were still there. I attempted to appear as normal and casual as ever in front of them. But despite my best efforts, I’m sure I had lost some measure of civility with them. I imagined each of them to be a potential spy who could destroy me, or another innocent like myself, unfairly scrutinized and judged.
I returned to my residence. Mercifully Kao Shin was asleep. Unfortunately I could not, as I spent much of the night admonishing myself for my naïveté and ignorance for believing I could remain disengaged from the politics and maneuvering within the Palace. Then I began to seethe at both myself and at Confucius. I had come to Chengzhou with the hope of leaving my past behind, and of building a foundation for the Way. With Prince Meng, this was possible in that he was someone who could weave the Way into corridors previously inaccessible to me. Then Confucius arrived full of reverence for me, extolling my wisdom and seeking my opinion on all manners of etiquette. As colleagues, we agreed and sometimes disagreed. But we spoke with a rigor few others understood. Regrettably it had come to this. I never anticipated that the stakes were this high, that such a game was in progress.
He had won Prince Chao’s favor, and by extension the King’s. The path he had chosen was neither harmonious nor natural and far from open. Confucius’ teachings and actions would close the doors on people already shunned, forever affixing the world into artificial roles and servitude. And he would succeed in destroying me, and destroying the Way.
Then there was Prince Meng, who had now revealed a side of his character I had not seen before. Was it desperation or was it decisiveness? That I could not distinguish between the two further showed that my trust was too easily dispensed. I had been a dullard in this game. Patiently awaiting a natural course was not an option when all around me Nature was being violated. Confucius and Prince Chao likely had snickered at my very thoughts, my very being. They saw me as weak and irresolute. I would reveal myself to be otherwise, even if I had to momentarily set aside all I had espoused. They would see that the Way was not to be ridiculed.
Prince Meng had worked hard to convince me to be a fellow conspirator, but I no longer needed his voice to move me. I wanted Mei to side with us, I wanted her to accuse Confucius. I wanted her to disgrace him and his teachings. He may have been an innocent in terms of Mei, but his very presence had stoked this game, and for that his removal would be just.
The next day, the lunar new year provided a momentary reprieve. The occasion called for the Royal Family’s visit to the Temple of Heavenly Worship. As the Son of Heaven, the King led the praying and incantations, offering sacrifices to the sun and the moon. Hours later, they rode through the freshly-swept streets in their carriages, inspecting the many hanging peach wood tablets inscribed with auspicious sayings. The next day the King would be offered gifts and tributes from across the land, ensuring that he would be in a pleasant mood.
I stood outside the Palace gates as the Royal procession returned. Each Royal, save Prince Chao who was in Qin with Confucius, rode in their own carriage. The festival parade was poorly choreographed and the whole occasion lacked any sense of celebration or grandeur. In fact there was an emptiness to it, as though it forebode something foul. I walked away from the Palace, intending to purchase some fresh blocks of ink, then slowed my step. I felt eyes on me. I studied the milling crowds, the fruit vendors, the medicine hawkers, and the fortune tellers. Nothing appeared unusual, no one seemed to notice me. I quickened my pace, then took detours. Glances over my shoulder revealed nothing. But still I felt studied. I found my ink, then took a different route back towards the Palace gate. I rounded a corner when a hand quickly pulled me into an opening between buildings.
Mei put her fingers to my lips, looked around, and then nudged me further into the opening.
“Venerable Master, could you appear any more suspicious?” she said with a grin. “You scurry about as though you carry treasonous secrets ”
I took a deep breath, not sharing in her humor. “Was I that conspicuous?”
She nodded. “The eyes of the Palace are everywhere.”
“What say you, Mei? Are you prepared to stand with us?”
“I have little choice. If this is to work, it must be soon. I am expected to attend to the King’s painful muscles in two evenings. And if I do so he will surely notice I am with child. I could be ready. But who will stand by me? Who will be my witness?”
“That is being arranged.”
“By whom? Prince Meng?”
“I cannot say, but he is to be trusted and he has the means to follow through.”
“My life depends on whoever it is. I must know him. We must meet. How else can our stories support one another?”
She was correct and I agreed to ensure this. I should have been pleased with her agreement to the arrangement. I should also have been pleased that I would be advancing my own cause. Yet nothing felt settled, nothing felt certain. Everything appeared still out of reach.
******
Prince Meng arrived at the Archives appearing tired and distracted. Lines creased his forehead and bags hung beneath his eyes. He had aged. The idealist had grown, though not into the leader I had wished him to be. Not that it was my place to judge. No longer a young man searching for a path, he appeared to have finally found one, however diverted from his more romantic days when we had first met
. While his path had largely been constructed by his station, and chiseled with the blunt instrument and savagery of Palace life, he would make as virtuous a ruler as would be possible. Perhaps his plan was credible. Perhaps it would arrest the misguided direction Prince Chao and Confucius were taking.
When I told him of Mei’s decision he was pleased and his disposition altered. Very quickly he seemed to find more energy. He said that once this was done, we would have an opportunity to truly create a society on a course of its own design, unfettered with misfortune and manmade struggles. I nodded.
“Your silence speaks loudly, Lao Tzu.”
“Your Highness, it is not power I seek. For now I would be pleased to have my name and my work vindicated, and Mei left in peace. In you, my Highness, I believe the world has the best chance of uniting the estranged kingdoms into something more purposeful than war and conquest, that you could define our world by something other than artificial walls and titles.”
“All this is possible. But a consort with a child not belonging to the Son of Heaven cannot return to her original standing. This is obvious, Lao Tzu. As for you, I believe much of the court will come to reconsider your teachings and view you with more respect.”
“But your Highness, would that be respect earned through good deeds or through a new approach within the political machinations of the court?”
“You think too much, Lao Tzu. If in the Way one must accept the natural course of the world, perhaps we must also see that people and politics also have their own inevitable bent.”
Was the young Prince speaking with a wisdom beyond which I had foreseen? My discomfort in this deception clouded my judgment. This game was as foreign to me as it would have been for Prince Chao to walk away willingly from the throne.
I conveyed Mei’s request to meet with the witness. Prince Meng said he had arranged for a very credible person, one intimately connected to and trusted by the King. He would meet her tomorrow. He then arranged for himself and her to have a private audience with the King. But until that audience, his involvement would best be kept secret.
I started to walk away when Prince Meng asked a final question.
“Did she speak of who violated her?”
I held my breath. I would have been simple to bring forth Prince Chao’s name. The brutality of his actions would surprise few, and it would bring favor to Prince Meng in his father’s eyes. But Mei made it clear she understood the repercussions of accusing Prince Chao. Prince Meng might disclose his brother’s brutality for his own gain, but there would be severe repercussions for Mei and her family if she were to do so. In the end, I felt there was little to be gained by disclosing all and my reply to the heir was the least of all evils.
“Your Highness, it is as you said. It matters not by whom.”
The Prince nodded and a glint of a smile emerged as he walked away. And so it was done. I had stepped onto a crooked path. It disturbed me that I could live with this.
16
Pawns of War
I had delivered Prince Meng’s instructions to Mei. She received them with the same glee that a condemned man might reveal had he been told his manner of execution had been changed from beheading to poisoning. I explained that once the King was in a good mood, likely after receiving tributes, Prince Meng would gather Mei and the witness in one of the King’s small chambers. He had instructed that I remain in my own quarters, away from the Palace so that my presence would not lead some to question the credibility of the allegations. I heartily agreed.
That was the plan as I anticipated. But the day began poorly and nothing went as plotted. The Temple ceremonies dragged on, to the point where it sapped the King of his strength, for he was alarmingly weak during the reception of the tributes. His pallor continued to appear ghostly. When he wasn’t trying to shout at his supplicants, he was doubled over with severe coughing fits, prompting the Royal Physician, who had become a regular member of his entourage, to attend to him.
The dull festivities might have been forgivable and quickly forgotten, except that very few tributes arrived, far fewer than ever before. And the absence of so many lords and ambassadors was glaring. The King demanded explanations but was offered only weak excuses. The entire court shook with fear before the King’s rage and humiliation. He had lost face yet again, this time on an auspicious occasion. The King, the Queen and their entourage along with several ministers and their attendants were the first to leave the Celestial Hall. As the only Prince in attendance, Meng would leave next. The plan was for the elder Prince to have Mei and the witness brought to the King immediately afterwards. However, the King was in no mood for more bad news. I would have expected Prince Meng to see this, but he did not appear to consider it as he instead followed the King closely as he exited the hall. I wanted to tell him to abort our scheme for the moment. There was no telling what the King’s judgment would be, given his state of mind. As soon as the Royals left, I attempted to make my way to the King’s complex, but the guards stopped me. They said that all the Royal residences had been sealed. I implored them to grant me an immediate audience with Prince Meng, but they paid me no heed.
With few options, I sought out Yi Ban. I learned that he had left the Hall in a hurry. I found him in his Palace office, head down and massaging his temples with his fingers.
“Yi Ban, there is something of concern I must share.”
“Yes, yes I know of what you speak.”
“You do?”
“Of course, is it not obvious? This festival was a disaster. The King is outraged, and he will be looking to me.”
As the Minister who oversaw the festival and the paying of tributes, it was one of his moments to shine publicly and in front of the King. Yet now, with the King humiliated, he too had lost face.
“Minister, my concern is far greater and of a different matter. It concerns allegations about myself, and separate accusations that may involve Prince Chao and one of the King’s consorts.”
Yi Ban chortled. “Lao Tzu, since when do you allow yourself to be troubled by such talk? Truly, I thought you valued yourself as being above that. I suspect Prince Meng is the source of your discontent, am I correct?”
I nodded. “But the consort…”
“Is the King’s business.” He shook his head in dismay. “This is not the time to upset him further. I will bear the brunt of today’s debacle. My best hope, indeed yours as well, is that his ill-health will expunge this from his memory quickly. In any event, why distress yourself and me when we have genuine matters to attend to?”
It was clear he knew nothing of this affair, which made it impossible for me to seek his support in at least delaying an audience between Mei and the King. I considered speaking of his failure to forewarn me of Confucius’ expected appointment to the new sub-Ministry. But it was clear the timing was inappropriate. I walked out of his chambers despondent and completely unprepared for the events that transpired. The only consolation for the horrid deed to follow was that salvation came from the most unlikely ears and eyes within the Palace.
This and much of what you are about to hear came from the most noble and trustworthy source, whose identity will soon be apparent. Prince Meng did arrange for an audience with the King, heedless of his father’s mood. However, it was not a private audience with him, the King, Mei and the witness alone. At first she remained outside his outer chamber while those present included the King’s Royal Physician, the highest-ranking Ministers, the Queen and Major Huang with a phalanx of Royal Guardsmen. Prince Meng had planted a different seed than we had agreed.
“Heavenly Father, it is with a heavy heart that I must bring such news as you sit in poor health, and with the bitterness of our humiliation still scalding,” Prince Meng said.
At first, the King barely acknowledged his son, then spoke in a voice not much louder than a whisper.
“How many times have I had to endure your
squabbles and disagreements with your brother? Why must you still bother me so? Do you assume that the more you criticize the more I shall give favor?”
Prince Meng remained kowtowing on the floor. “Father, it is because of my love for you and respect for the throne that I must share this despicable news with you.” He paused. “One of your concubines is with child.”
Prince Meng glanced at the Queen who played with her jade hairpiece, then continued.
“It is Mei, the one you refer to as your white peony. She will claim that she was taken by Confucius, Prince Chao’s favored scholar. She will claim to have a witness, but this is a deception. She hides the truth. She protects her true assailant for fear of death. I believe she shields… Prince Chao.”
The King looked ready to laugh, but all that came out at first were deep coughs, then copious amounts of phlegm.
“No man is to have passage to the King’s women, regardless of their station—in this you are correct. But this is an absurd accusation, well beyond the level of pettiness I have witnessed you two engage in.”
“Your Highness, I too scoffed at first. Yet my source is impeccable. But do not take my word alone. Have that consort brought in. If she accuses Confucius as I believe she will, have her present her witness. If she fails to do so, have her tortured. The truth shall not be far behind. If she continues with her story, then I shall pledge allegiance to Prince Chao as your heir, if that is your choosing. I will serve him as my King. However, if she speaks the truth and accuses Prince Chao, I am to be officially named heir. My brother is to be cast aside. The honorable history of Zhou deserves a just and upstanding continuance. I do not wish for it to be tainted with a continuing odor. The King’s virtues must be beyond reproach. Should you do otherwise, and not attend to this matter I will leave Chengzhou. I will not defile our ancestors by remaining a part of a court that respects its Son of Heaven so little.”
The King’s breathing became even more erratic. His physician opened a small jar and handed the King some pills, which he waved off. He leaned forward.