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 14: Exposure I
"Wan Li, come stand in front of e'niang." Empress dowager Ruyi instructed after Li Shan left.
Wan Li, who was conscience stricken, slowly followed her mother's instruction. She kept her head low to hide her glistening eyes while she bit her trembling lower lip to stop herself from crying out loud. Although young, she already had a concept of right and wrong.
"Wan Li, e'niang haven't even said anything about what you did earlier, but why are you already like this?" Ruyi asked.
Wan Li hearing her mother's words felt more guilty. Not being able to keep her tears at bay, she used her palms to wipe them. Then she answered while wheezing, "E'niang… Wan Li is s-sorry… Wan Li is wrong…"
Ruyi sighed. "Wan Li, look at e'niang. Do you know what you did wrong?"
Wan Li hearing that her e'niang didn't sound so angry slowly lifted her head. Meeting her mother's kind eyes, her vision again blurred. "E'niang, a-actually, Wan Li has not been sick… Wan Li has just… has just… I'm so sorry e'niang…" she whizzed.
Ruyi initially wanted to reprimand her daughter, but seeing her like this and hearing her reasoning, how could she still bear to? She's barely six and she's already this sensible. Defeated, she just beckoned her over.
Wan Li quickly went and hugged her e'niang.
--
Stepping out of the palace of gathered elegance, what awaited Li Shan was his large retinue of eunuchs. Quickly, one went on all fours to act as stool for Li Shan to step on towards his palanquin.
Chief Eunuch Jing who was walking behind Li Shan could only pray for his dear soul. Serving a toddler as their emperor was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing as it was easier to enrich themselves behind his back. A curse because Li Shan, as the emperor, was prone to drastic mood swings. What was frightening was that his mood swings weren't as simple as a temper tantrum from a spoiled child.
When he was in a good mood, he could be charming, magnanimous even. He would praise the eunuchs and reward them handsomely with no concept that a piece of high-grade jade bracelet was worth more than what an average farmer can earn in his lifetime.
However, that has become rare as of late. In the past few months, he has turned into a sadist. Realizing that no one could say no nor offend him, he would order innocent eunuchs to be flogged for the lightest transgressions, or even just because, and sometimes, he would even ask them to eat dirt just to satiate his curiosity.
Chief Eunuch Jing was just about to sigh in relief when Li Shan, who was about to step on the eunuch's back, paused.
After Li Shan stepped out of empress dowager Ruyi's pavilion, he has been busy thinking about Wan Li. Although e'niang said that Wan Li has been sick, it still escaped him how he did not manage to know about her. Had he been oblivious? Still, he should have been informed. With this realization, his eyes narrowed into slits. Then he turned to face chief eunuch Jing.
Chief eunuch Jing who saw this almost peed his pants. Although he has always been sly with his words, his logic plays no role in front of the increasingly difficult to placate terror of an emperor. Aside from that, what excuse could he give? Although he was frightened of the little emperor, he would be a greater fool to offend the empress dowager. In the end, he could only hope against hope that by widening his eyes, the emperor would deem him innocent.
Briefly, Li Shan thought of blaming his eunuchs on the spot. However, when he saw the look of confusion and fear on chief eunuch Jing's face, he realized how idiotic that would be.
First, eunuchs were so dumb. So, if he did not know about it, how could they?
Second, he could simply have them flogged anytime he wanted, no need to find a reason to do so.
Last, he wanted to finish the morning greetings to his other e'niangs already. The faster everything gets done, the faster the next day would arrive.
Thus, with these thoughts, he turned back to climb on his palanquin by stepping on the literally man-made stool.
Chief Eunuch Jing who has been holding his breath finally let his shoulders slump as he exhaled through his mouth. Luckily, today was one of those lucky days. Quickly, he took his position which was about 10 paces away from the centre of the procession.
--
"I have been too lenient with her, haven't I?" Empress dowager Ruyi asked as she let out another sigh.
Lady Yang who just came back after her morning lesson with Wan Li smiled to comfort her. "Niang niang, please do not think that way. In truth, nubi has never seen a child as sensible and kind as Wan Li gongzhu. That is all thanks to niang niang's guidance."
Ruyi shook her head. "I'm afraid that her timidness might cause misunderstanding in the future. It is alright while she is still young like now, but when she gets married, she might get in trouble with her husband and in-laws."
"Niang niang, Wan Li gongzhu is a princess of the first rank. Her future in-laws should not be able to find fault especially that gongzhu is so kind and benevolent. Then for her future fuma (prince consort), even if gongzhu is still young now, nubi have never seen a child more beautiful." Lady Yang enthusiastically praised.
Ruyi couldn't stop the upward tilt of her lips. Who wouldn't be happy hearing their child being complimented? What's more, she knew that they weren't just lip-service.
Wan Li was a very obedient and sweet child. Growing up, she has never given her any troubles. Save for being shy and timid, she would say that her child was the best. Then, when it came to looks, she must admit that although Gongxu named her in contempt, the name he bestowed suited their daughter perfectly.
--
TBC