A Qing princess in the Republican era
From the turn of the new century, the Qing empire has been heralded with ominous impediments one after the other. Their miserable defeat at the boxer rebellion only marked the beginning. Inside the walls of the forbidden city, the power struggle between the emperor and the empress dowager was growing ever intense. Outside the walls, nationalists and revolutionaries were clamoring to overthrow the dynasty. The times have gone tumultuous wherein causes of celebration were fleeting. In 1905, a most welcome news from the inner court came. It has been more than a decade since the emperor married and accepted concubines, but he still did not have a son to inherit the throne. With much anticipation, the emperor looked forward to the birth of a prince. However, much to his disappointment, the child was another daughter. In 1912, despite the edict of abdication being issued, the future of Aisin Gioro Wan Li, once known as Gulun Gongzhu Wan Li or Princess Wan Li of the first rank, was still looking bright. Bound by an internal verbal agreement between her mother and the new president of the republic of China, she was promised to marry the 3rd son of the president, Yuan Kezhen, upon reaching adulthood. However, not everything goes as planned. With the assassination of the president and the short-lived restoration of the Qing dynasty, Wan Li had to escape the forbidden city. Wan Li was a princess, but she was still a maiden born in imperial China. Growing up, she was mostly educated only with the moral principles and social code of behaviour called the three obediences and four virtues. Her personality was gentle, kind, shy, and meek. Instilled to her were traits and beliefs of an ideal wife leaning on dependency to a powerful and influential husband. How was she to survive without the privilege of her birthright during the extraordinary times of the republican era? -- This novel will have at least 3 major arcs. (Yes, I have written that far… at least inside my head. Haha!) 1. Wan Li's childhood in the palace/ forbidden city (qing dynasty until early republican era) Age: 0-12 2. After Wan Li escapes the Forbidden city (early republican era/ Warlord era) Age: 12-16 3. Wan Li in Shanghai. (Republican/ Warlord era) Age 16 onwards — What to expect? This novel will have romance, a lot of it later on but it doesn’t revolve entirely on that. There will be politics. Very necessary as it’s what propels the story forward. Character growth, definitely. For the better or the worse, all there but remember each character would be as human as can be. Drama, face slapping, some darkness, adventure, betrayal, all of it will be in this novel. R-18? There will be but definitely not in the early chapters. Oh and this will have a happy ending, though the roads reaching that would be bumpy. — Cover art: the pictures were grabbed from pinterest then edited by me. Important note to readers: Many events in the novel were based from historical facts. Again, many but not all. Some characters were inspired from historical figures. Take note: INSPIRED. Thus, they definitely have different attributes whether looks or personalities. In this regard, please do not assume that they’re one and the same. The characters here were created by me, so if they’re kinda evil or too kind, don’t think that the real historical figure was. Again, though this is historical, it’s still a work of fiction. So a lot of things and reasons leading to certain factual events may have been romanticized by the author (me).
Chapter 17: Of lessons and interactions II
Ruyi noticed that Wan Li's face had gone paler. Deciding that it was time for her to interject, she answered in her stead, "Huang di, Wan Li is grateful for your thoughtfulness. However, she is still in the process of fully recuperating."
Anyhow, she already told herself that she would remedy Wan Li's timidness one step at a time. Being able to stand before Li Shan and even thanking him can already be considered as a huge leap compared to yesterday.
Li Shan was just starting to get impatient. Thankfully, before his temper could erupt, empress dowager Ruyi interrupted. Hearing her words, he furrowed his brows. Did that mean that he can't go out and play with Wan Li still? He already had an itinerary in mind of where they will go and what they would do once out of e'niang's palace. He wanted to show her his palace and toys.
"E'niang, when will meimei get better? Would it take a long time?"
"I cannot say exactly. Perhaps it may take a few weeks or even a few months."
Li Shan counted in his head. Tutor Chen taught him that a week has 7 days, and a month has about 30. His eyes bulked. Did that mean that he has to wait that long?
"E'niang, Wan Li mei mei should rest more so she can fully recuperate faster. Wan Li mei mei, you should not force yourself to come and greet e'niang so early when you're still sick. E'niang will understand." He said, taking into consideration his own experience when sick.
Ruyi's eyes turned to crescents. "Wan Li, you heard that? Huang di, Wan Li came here today early because she wanted to meet you. She did not want to disappoint you when you told her yesterday that you wanted to see her today."
Li Shan felt his ego stroked and now had a better impression of his meimei. Exuberant, he asked, "Really?" then, he recalled that if that were the case and if it were to continue, she won't get better any time soon. "Wan Li meimei, you should not overexert yourself when you're still sick. You should…" then won't that mean he won't be able to see her for a long time?
Ruyi understood what Li Shan's predicament was. So, she said, "huang di is right. Wan Li should come only when she's feeling much better than usual. Does Wan Li understand?"
Li Shan nodded as he looked at Wan Li while e'niang was speaking. Yes, that's what he meant.
Wan Li, the topic of conversation, was still looking on the ground. Still, it did make her feel better to know that she won't have to be under Li Shan's scrutiny every morning. "Yes, e'niang. Thank you, huang shang."
Li Shan smiled. Although Wan Li did not look at him all the while, he was used to people (eunuchs) being unable to look at him in the eye. "Then, I hope you get well soon Wan Li meimei."
Ruyi nodded in satisfaction. It seems that it would be worthwhile to have the two children interact more later.
--
After Li Shan left, it was time for Wan Li to attend her morning class. As usual, she sat inside her study to wait for Lady Yang to arrive. On the table in front of her were her writing tools, and the San Bai Qian (literally translated as thee hundred thousand but here, this is pertaining to the three books namely, three character classic, hundred family surnames, and thousand character classic).
While waiting, she picked up the three character classic. It was her favorite amongst the three, which was not surprising, considering that the hundred family surnames contains as the title says, just surnames. While thousand character classic contained one thousand characters arranged into rhyming lines just so that it would be easier to memorize.
Anyhow, she flipped the first page and read. "People at birth, are naturally good. Their natures are similar, but habits make them different."
"Indeed, that is the case." Lady Yang who just entered the room spoke.
Surprised, Wan Li quickly closed the book, stood from her chair to greet Lady Yang. "Teacher Yang, good morning."
Lady Yang smiled, then inidcated for her to sit down.
Wan Li sat down and curiously looked at the book Lady Yang was carrying. Teacher Yang told her before that she will be learning another set of books in the future, but right now, she haven't mastered the San Bai Qian yet.
Lady Yang enjoyed being Wan Li's teacher. Not only was Wan Li easy to teach, but she was also very respectful. On top of that, she discovered that she, herself, actually had a passion for teaching. Anyhow, she did not mind Wan Li's inspection. Instead, she began their morning lesson by addressing the paragraph Wan Li just read.
"As I told you before, those four verses by Mencius are the core credo of Confucianism. Human nature is inherently good, and as human beings, we have the duty to uphold this goodness not only by being but also by doing. Now, the question is, how?"
--
TBC