The Last Empress - Anchee Min [110]
"My daughter had a good night's sleep, I can tell," she said. "You are the prettiest girl in Wuhu, Orchid."
I laid my head on her pillow and buried my face in her sheets to smell her scent.
I had the same dream the following morning. It was when my mother's fingers softly touched my cheeks that I woke up.
There was a loud noise in the hallway. Something heavy fell to the floor. It was followed by a eunuch's ear-piercing cry.
I sat up, still in a fog. Then the image of the dead Queen Min flashed before my mind. I pulled open my curtains.
Yung Lu, in full uniform and with a sword in his hand, rushed toward me.
I thought I was still dreaming.
Before he could reach me, Li Lien-ying jumped him from behind. The eunuch's weight pulled Yung Lu down along with the bed curtains.
In one motion Yung Lu pinned Li Lien-ying to the ground like a bug.
"Assassins, my lady!" Li Lien-ying screamed.
I froze, unsure of what was happening.
Yung Lu ordered his men to search the entire palace. "Every moving object, human and animal! Every tree and bush!"
My hands were shaking and I could not find my clothes. All my attendants were down on their knees on the floor. I reached for a sheet and wrapped myself in it.
Several of Yung Lu's men entered and told him that all was clear.
"Give me a moment to dress, will you?" I asked when I could finally speak.
Yung Lu pointed at a chair and said, "Please, I need you to conduct a private audience, right here, right away."
Dragging my sheet, I went to sit down. I felt like a big moth inside a broken cocoon.
On his knees Li Lien-ying collected my clothes. Holding his stomach with one hand, with the other he spread a coat over my bare shoulders.
"I'll let Yuan Shih-kai tell you what happened," Yung Lu said, sheathing his sword.
"Yuan Shih-kai?" I thought the young general was in Tientsin, commanding the New Army and preparing for a royal inspection.
"Your Majesty, Yuan Shih-kai was sent by your son to collect your head."
35
His Majesty summoned me on September 14," General Yuan Shih-kai began. He stood erect in full dress uniform, his head shaved, his neck muscles taut. His voice was clear but "Emperor Guang-hsu asked about my record in Korea and my use of Western military tactics. I said that during my twelve years stationed in Korea, I had learned much but not enough. His Majesty wanted to know my troop strength in comparison to Yung Lu's. I answered that I had seven thousand and Yung Lu more than a hundred thousand."
I glanced at Yung Lu, whose expression was grave. I turned back to Yuan Shih-kai and asked, "What was the Emperor's response?"
"His Majesty asked if my men were better armed and trained." Yuan Shih-kai paused.
"Keep going," Yung Lu ordered.
"Yes, sir. On September 16, His Majesty summoned me again," Yuan continued. "I was honored with a promotion: vice minister of the Board of War and National Security. I was surprised, for I had done nothing to deserve it. I knew that His Majesty had been impatient about implementing his reform plans and that he had met strong opposition at the court. I had been approached by Prince Ts'eng and his Ironhat sons. They wanted to join forces with me and asked me to train their Moslem troops. I figured that His Majesty meant to prepare me to fight his opposition."
"Yuan Shih-kai was summoned one more time," Yung Lu said, trying to speed the general along.
"That's right," Yuan Shih-kai went on. "It was three days after our first meeting, the morning of September 17."
I remembered that the seventeenth was the day when Guang-hsu and I had our biggest fight. I told my son that he would have to kill me before I would agree to do either of two things: one, surrender to Japan; and two, surrender my power at Kang Yu-wei's request. It seemed that our fighting had pushed Guang-hsu to the other side.
"His Majesty