China, Edward Rutherfurd [comprehension books .txt] 📗

“So you see,” he concluded, “all this attention to order is part of a larger theme. If the palace isn’t perfectly ordered, with everything in its proper place and rank, and morally correct, how can we expect the kingdom to be ordered?”

“I understand, master,” I said. “And I think it’s wonderful.” I still do, as a matter of fact.

—

Learning deportment took much longer. How to walk, how to bow, how to address everybody respectfully. There were so many little mistakes you could make, and even the smallest one could land you in deep trouble.

“You can be grateful that we’re not as strictly treated as the servingwomen,” my mentor told me.

There were scores of these, from the humblest cleaner who polished the floor on her hands and knees, to the women who tended personally to the empress. These last were usually from high-ranking Manchu families, and it was supposed to be a great honor. “I can’t imagine the Manchu ladies waiting on the empress have a bad time,” I said.

“Actually, it’s the reverse,” he said. “They have to keep terrible hours. If a member of the imperial family wants one of these women, nobody cares if she’s sleeping after a long day, she has to get up and run at once. The closer you are to the royal family, the greater your danger. They say that one poor girl dropped a piece of burning ash onto the empress’s gown once—by accident, of course—and it caught light. They put it out, but all the same…Bad mistake. What do you think happened to the girl?”

“I don’t know.”

“Beheaded. Straightaway. So were most of her family, though it was hardly their fault, was it?”

“And if a eunuch had done it?”

“Oh, punished, demoted. But not beheaded—unless they thought you’d done it on purpose. They trust us more, you see. We’re just poor boys who owe everything to the court, so we’re not going to do anything against our masters.”

You can be sure I devoted myself to learning everything I could, and my master never even had to strike me once, though I often heard the other recruits catching it. In fact, by the time Mr. Chen came to see me after ten days, word had already reached him that I was the best pupil they’d had for over a year, and that I was a paragon of virtue.

I’d just had my first pay packet, but when I offered to make a payment towards what I owed him, he wouldn’t hear of it.

“Don’t even think of it yet,” he told me, “your family needs the money.” He smiled. “You’ve done me far more good already, by impressing everybody. I’ve been busy reminding them that it’s all thanks to me you came here.” He made me tell him everything I’d been doing, and nodded approvingly. “Later on,” he told me, “after you’ve completed your training and got a position, there’s a nice little job we’ll try to get you for extra money.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Carrying a sedan chair for members of the royal family,” he told me. “You’re one of a team and you aren’t often needed, but it would give you a second salary.” He laughed. “It was an honor reserved for elderly eunuchs of long service, but after they’d nearly dropped one of the princes a few times, it was given to younger fellows like you.”

When I got home and gave my family my pay and told them all the good news, they were very happy to see me. I played with my little children, and that night I lay with my wife and made her quite happy, one way and another.

So you can imagine what a good mood I was in when I returned to the palace early in the morning.

My mentor was waiting for me, but instead of going with me into the schoolroom we often used for our lessons, he told me to go in alone and whispered: “Mr. Liu wants to see you. He’s a head eunuch. Remember to bow low.”

The only person in the room was sitting in a chair. From the peacock on his silk robe I knew at once that this must be one of the few eunuchs in the third grade. The sleeves of his robe had long white extensions that flapped down to his knees—which told me he served the emperor personally. I bowed very low indeed. As I raised myself back to a respectful attention, I saw there were some papers on the small table at his side.

His face was smooth and still as a statue’s. “Did you know your papers are not in order?” he asked me.

“Your unworthy servant did not, honored sir,” I said.

“I daresay Mr. Chen arranged them for you,” he remarked. I nodded, since this was indeed the case. “Mr. Chen is an important person,” he went on. “If Mr. Chen tells the clerks in my department—for I am in complete charge of all the palace eunuchs, you see—that an applicant’s papers are good enough to be stamped and sealed, they will do as he says. I have the power to countermand him, of course.”

I trembled. He watched me.

“I shall not countermand his orders, however. You will remain here—for the time being, at least.” He paused. “Why do you suppose I am doing that? Do you think it’s because you are an exemplary student, one who shows outstanding talent for this kind of work?”

“I hope so, honored sir,” I said uncertainly.

“Well, it’s true that if you were useless, I’d throw you out at once. I might express surprise that Mr. Chen introduced such an unworthy person. I might even question his judgment. But of course that’s not the case. Mr. Chen has excellent judgment. The reports from your mentor, and others who are watching you—for one is always watched in the palace, you know—are really outstanding. You are considered very promising indeed.”

“I am grateful, honored sir, and strive to please,” I murmured.

“Yet that is not why I am