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 16: Of lessons and interactions I
Empress dowager Ruyi observed her daughter who was obviously trying to get away after she made her morning greeting. She felt guilty for kind of forcing her, but she was also resolute. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Wan Li's timidity was unhealthy even for a child her age.
She thought of many ways to address this issue last night, but in the end, she determined that the best first step to take was to obligate her presence when Li Shan makes his morning greeting. In this way, Wan Li would be able to get used to being in another person's presence while still being the confines of her comfort zone.
She knew that that was far from enough, but she can figure out the rest later. Anyway, her daughter was already scared, there was no need to add to her misery by immediately submerging her into a completely unfamiliar environment.
"Wan Li, do you know why e'niang asked you to come earlier today?" Ruyi asked.
Wan Li slowly nodded her head twice. She did not want to lie to her e'niang. At first, she was confused why nanny Gui woke her up so early. However, when she was escorted to her mother's room to make her morning greeting, she began to have an inkling. Then, noticing that she was not dismissed after a while, she understood.
If she were not trying to discipline Wan Li, Ruyi would have praised her for being able to connect the dots so quickly. "Do you still want to leave?" she asked.
Wan Li wanted to say yes, but she knew that if she does, her mother would be the only one left to explain why she's not there to Li Shan. She can still recall him telling her that he would see her today. She also still felt guilty about yesterday when her mother thought that she was sick that's why Li Shan has never encountered her. Truth was, she was only avoiding people.
Wan Li shook her head sideways to indicate no.
Ruyi sighed. Although she was not sure what was exactly running in her daughter's head, she could see that she was being repentant. "Come here." she instructed as she patted the seat beside her.
Wan Li walked over and sat beside her mother.
"Wan Li, e'niang asked you to come here for your own good. Yesterday, I noticed that you ran away from huang di as soon as you saw him. Why is that so?" she asked while looking Wan Li in the eye.
"E'niang, I was scared…I am sorry for lying to e'niang." she finally uttered.
Ruyi could not help but smile. She knew she must not indulge her daughter, but she was just too cute. It did not even pass her mind that her mother knew all along and was only lying for her sake. Instead, she blamed only herself.
"Wan Li did not lie. It was me who assumed that that was the case. For that, e'niang is also sorry."
Wan Li shook her head "No, e'niang is not at fault. It was all me. Wan Li knew the truth but still kept silent and let e'niang reason. I'm sorry…"
Ruyi patted the top of Wan Li's head. Her daughter was so sweet and silly at times that she's afraid that she might get taken advantage of. Then again, she was only five.
"Alright. E'niang understands. Now, why were you scared?"
Wan Li bit her lip. She was not so sure herself. All she knew was that, whenever she sees people she's not familiar with, she would feel scared. Maybe her e'niang was right earlier. Maybe she was sick.
"E'niang, Wan Li doesn't know… is Wan Li truly sick?" she asked.
Ruyi was surprised by Wan Li's response. She knew that it was unhealthy, but for her to think that she was sick… wasn't that too much? She never heard of anyone being sick in that way.
"No, Wan Li is not sick. Getting scared of strangers is normal and in fact, I would even encourage you to avoid them in the future. However, huang di is not a stranger but your younger brother. You must make an effort as his sister. Do you understand?"
Though she was still scared, Wan Li nodded her head in understanding. She did not want to disappoint her e'niang.
Ruyi held Wan Li's hand. It was cold. "Wan Li, don't be scared. E'niang is here with you."
--
Arriving inside his e'niang's pavilion, Li Shan's eyes immediately scanned the room for Wan Li. To his delight, he saw her standing beside their e'niang. Fast on his feet, he did not even wait for chief eunuch Jing to lay the yellow silk and just directly kneeled on the floor to respectfully greet his e'niang.
After he stood up, he directly said, "Wan Li mei mei, you're here. Does that mean that you're already feeling well? Oh, before I forget, xiao Jing, hand in the medicine." Yesterday, after he got back in his palace, he immediately ordered the eunuchs to prepare the best medicine available. He wanted his Wan Li mei mei to get better the soonest so that they could start playing together.
Chief Eunuch Jing handed in the package to Nanny Gui who received it.
Wan Li tried her best not to balk from the sudden shower of attention. She tentatively glanced at her e'niang for help but only received a nod of encouragement. She understood that she has to answer him herself. Although her ears were ringing with the thunderous drumming in her chest, she mustered all her courage just to bend her knees for a formal greeting.
"Huang Shang, t-thank you." She finally replied then kept her head low.
Li Shan smiled in a friendly manner. "No need for thanks. So, are you feeling better now?" he asked again.
Wan Li who thought that it was already over had goosebumps all over her body. Cold sweat started drenching her back while suddenly she felt like there was a lump in her throat. She could not speak.
--
TBC