“Yellow Sky”: Crisis for the Han Dynasty sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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The officials, attendants and senior military commanders of the land were arrayed in the large courtyard in front of the platform, and they kowtowed in respect of their new ruler. The young Marquis of Jieduting - who would henceforth be known as Han Lingdi or Emperor Ling - sat on the throne in his decorated robes and watched his new vassals from behind the bead curtain on the front of his elaborate hat. He was nervous, as he did not truly understand what was going on; the structure of imperial power was complex by corrupted design, and the youth would quickly discover - immediately, in fact - that his ‘unmitigated power’ would be mitigated by everyone around him. The first sign that his power was far from absolute was when he asked that his mother, Lady Dong, be honoured as an Empress Dowager; the sole incumbent in that role, Empress Dowager Dou, refused to share that role, and to Emperor Ling’s quiet distress, his mother was given the lesser title of an imperial consort. None argued for him, and the matter was closed.
Once the ceremony was over, Commander-in-Chief Dou Wu retired to his office in the palace; Grand Tutor Chen Fan followed him, intent on discussing a matter that he considered to be of the greatest urgency.
“Mister Chen,” Dou Wu said with respect. “I think I know why you’re here.”
“They spent the entire thing fawning on the Dowager,” Chen Fan fretted. “She’s obviously enjoying it.”
“My daughter is, regrettably enough, bitter,” Dou Wu sighed. “The former majesty did not favour her: that much has to be admitted. Compared to the other beauties that surrounded the throne, she was ordinary, and so she did not receive any praise. The eunuchs know this, and give her the praise she craves… slowly, the knowledge that it is favour-seeking flattery will be replaced by a genuine desire to believe their words, and that, in turn, will be replaced by the delusion that they are sincere and that their words carry merit… such is that slippery slope of desperate vanity.”
“It ruins everything,” Chen Fan protested. “You must begin taking action against the villains immediately.”
Dou Wu nodded slowly, turned to a eunuch that worked within his own office, and shouted, “Shan Bing!”
“He’s a eunuch,” Chen Fan whispered as the attendant approached.
“But an honest one,” Dou Wu insisted.
“How might I assist you, Mister Dou?” Shan Bing said with a strangely dignified and shameless tone.
“…I understand,” Chen Fan murmured.
“Shan Bing, I intend to draft a memorial to the court, condemning the ones who would ruin us all,” Dou Wu explained.
“Ayah! What is this???” Chen Fan exclaimed. “It’s bad enough that you-!”
“Hush, please, Grand Tutor,” Dou Wu insisted. “Shan Bing, I will need your skill with the pen to make this as professional as it can be. The eunuchs that bring shame on all of those that made the great sacrifice to serve His Majesty will soon be made accountable for their sins.”
“Were it only that good men had done it sooner… perhaps the late majesty might have lived longer, and our land would be strong, as in old times,” Shan Bing replied without a trace of sycophancy.
“Mister Dou, you cannot submit a memorial: they will kill you!” Chen Fan protested.