Shan Sa - Empress

Did an emperor and his concubine have the right to know the pleasures of love, so carefree, so light, and so insolent?

ANOTHER PREGNANCY WAS a sign sent from the gods to consolidate my legitimacy. Removing an empress regarded as the Mistress of the World proved a delicate affair of state and required an agreement from the dignitaries of the Council of Great Ministers. A confrontation with these powerful lords would be a bitter and dangerous one, but I was determined to break through this final barrier so that I could embrace my freedom and join Little Phoenix on top of the world.

On my advice, the sovereign first dismissed Empress Wang’s uncle who had the title of Great Minister.

My name, Wu, was an insignificant one, and my commoner’s background a handicap in that Forbidden City where men and women placed much weight on how noble their blood was. I decided to proclaim my father’s glory to increase my prestige. It was, therefore, decided that the Emperor should hold a ceremony commemorating the dynasty’s veterans while traveling in the province of Bing. Among the thirteen now-dead individuals who received homage from the sovereign, Father was promoted to the posthumous title of Great Governor of Bing of the first imperial rank.

The Empress of China had to be a perfect Mistress of the Palace and a model of virtue for all Chinese women. I wrote a book called Inner Warnings in which I denounced the luxury and idleness of Court ladies and praised hard work and thriftiness.

The birth of a second prince gave me an opportunity to rise up in the imperial hierarchy. As the four seals for wives of the first rank had already been allocated, I suggested we create a fifth one called the Luminous Wife. When the sovereign mentioned the plan during an audience, Wu Ji, who was already very worried by my ascension, said it was scandalous. His supporters backed him up, saying that ancestral institutions could not be modified and any changes would debase the Inner Court and undermine the Empire. I learned of their indignation and advised Little Phoenix to save our efforts for other things and give up on this idea. Wu Ji would be the instigator: I would go straight from a Courteous Concubine to an Empress.

In the sixth year of Eternal Magnificence, tension grew at Court. The sovereign’s determination to remove Empress Wang in my favor was common knowledge among Court officials. With the exception of Great General Li Ji, every member of the Council of Great Ministers remained united behind Wu Ji, who was frustrated that his nephew no longer followed his recommendations. Trying to find grounds for reconciliation, I urged Little Phoenix to visit his uncle, and we deigned to present ourselves at his door with ten carriages filled with bolts of brocade and golden tableware. During the banquet, the sovereign promised honorary distinctions to Wu Ji’s three sons and tentatively broached the contentious subject. Without looking up at me once, the Great Chancellor cut short all my illusions. Disobeying a father’s wishes is a sin, he told us sternly. It is impossible to repudiate an Empress chosen by a deceased sovereign.

Little Phoenix was not a gifted speaker. As Wu Ji had made him emperor, he was unwilling to raise his voice or disobey his charismatic uncle. On our return to the gynaeceum, he shed tears of despair in my arms, ready to accept fate. The humiliation I had just endured seared my very soul. Suddenly, I perceived the truth that lay beneath Wu Ji’s words: As a chancellor designated by the previous sovereign, he was defending the barren Empress to ensure the power of his regency. For his partisans and himself, dismissing the Empress would not simply be a breach of the Eternal Ancestor’s wishes, but it would also disrupt the Empire’s ancient orders and culminate in Little Phoenix taking political command.

Wu Ji’s cold calculation could not kill the flame of love. To win the duel, I buried my feelings and deployed my most manipulative strategies. His weapon would be turned against him. I would be icier and more merciless than him.

The Court had been suffering the rule of the sectarian old man for too long. This Chancellor, trusted by the previous emperor and the sovereign heir, had been the author of frequent bloody purges. It was not long before I identified his implacable enemies and promised them the opportunity for revenge. I rallied the talented officials, mostly commoners who had been neglected by the imperial uncle, leader of the aristocratic clique. I gave them the hope of rising in the court’s hierarchy, when the concubine of modest origins would become the Mistress of the World.

A low ranked official called Li Yi Fu was the first to dare to break the silence Wu Ji had imposed on the Court: He publicly called for the Empress to be removed from office because she was barren. After the audience, the Emperor and I received him in the Inner Palace. His courage was rewarded with a flagon of rare pearls. He was soon raised to the position of Vice-Chancellor. From then on more officials resolved to follow his example every day, and they made sure the government was aware of their exasperation. When I could see that opinion was swinging in my favor, I encouraged Little Phoenix to make his determination clear to the Council of Great Ministers.

On that particular day, after the morning salutation, the sovereign called the Council into his offices in the Inner Palace. I hid behind a gauze screen and heard Little Phoenix stammering the words I had dictated to him: “The greatest crime a wife can commit is to fail to procreate. The Empress has no descendants; the Courteous Concubine has two sons. I would like to name her as Empress. What do you think of this?”

Chu Sui Liang, one of Wu Ji’s faithful followers, spoke up loudly: “The Empress is descended from an illustrious clan. During the last reign, she served the previous Emperor without committing the least misdemeanor. Before leaving this world, His Majesty took your servant’s hand and told him: ”I entrust to you my son and my daughter-in-law.“ That voice still rings in my ears to this day. The Empress is still young. She might one day bear a child. The crime of which you accuse her is unfounded. Your servant does not dare obey you and betray the wishes of the Eternal Ancestor.”

Irritated, the sovereign raised his voice: “The Empress has committed crimes too shameful to mention. The Chinese people cannot venerate a woman who has failed in her moral duties and sunk into perversion. The Courteous Concubine is dazzling in her virtue; she would be a perfect model for the women of China.”

“There is absolutely no proof to support the accusations leveled at the Empress,” Chu Sui Liang replied. “Some doctors feel that the imperial child suffocated as a result of gases released by the coal in her overheated bedchamber. Others say that someone might have poisoned the princess to attribute the murder to the sovereign lady who was unlucky enough to be near her. As for the crime of practicing black magic, I am very much afraid that there is some plot against her and that the sovereign lady may fall into the trap a second time. Ambitious women have unfathomable hearts. If Your Majesty is determined to designate a new sovereign lady, I beg you to choose one among the Empire’s noble families. Why this lady Wu? The Courteous Concubine served the previous Emperor; everyone knows that, and Your Majesty cannot deny it. When you have reigned for ten thousand years, what will people say of this incest? Your Majesty follows the path of light. Why would you cover yourself with mire? The decline of the Empire will begin the day the Courteous Concubine ascends to the throne. By resisting your wishes, your servant surely deserves ten thousand tortures, but I would willingly choose death to not fail in the duty entrusted to me by the previous Emperor!”