“Yellow Sky”: Crisis for the Han Dynasty sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

“…We’ll need to work on him,” Cao Jie suggested. “He has to buckle eventually.”
“The only thing that will change his mind is a disaster,” Wang Fu declared. “I, for one, am not desperate enough to cause one to be rid of Empress Song.”
“…Or, perhaps, a favourite consort that has no history of spite that he might believe,” Cao Jie proposed. “Might we-”
“No,” Wang Fu said sternly. “That’s another Liang or Dou waiting to happen.”
“So is the inevitable next empress after Empress Song,” Zhang Rang suggested.

One day, Emperor Ling received a visit from his mother, Empress Dowager Dong.
“Mother,” Emperor Ling said with some humility.
“Your Majesty… and my son,” Dowager Dong said with a rare mixture of reverence and authority. “You look well.”
The emperor dismissed his servants so that he could speak with his mother privately. Once mother and son were alone, Emperor Ling said, “Between us, I must confess that I am suffocating.”
“As am I,” the Dowager admitted.
“I still feel as though I failed you in a way, Mother,” Emperor Ling said honestly. “I invited you into the capital intending you to share in my good fortune… instead, you were given an insulting title and made to cower in corners while Lady Dou and her wretched father continued to rule over the court… even now, even when you are Dowager alone at last, I still feel that I cannot show you the respect you deserve.”
“…I should like to become a little more involved in things now,” Dowager Dong admitted. “If it were acceptable…”
“Mother, I need an ally!” Emperor Ling chuckled. “I trust the eunuchs, and rightly so, for they defend my life tirelessly and without ample reward, but they are not enough. I can trust you, Mother, and desire your advice wherever it is possible.”
“I only wish that your father had lived,” Dowager Dong sighed. “He would have been invaluable.”

“But the officials, they chose me because I was isolated,” Emperor Ling suggested. “Had Father lived, we would not be here now.”
“That’s likely true,” Dowager Dong supposed. “I will help you in any way that I can… perhaps there are ways in which we can improve things. But… if there are any that disapprove of my involvement-”
“You are my mother, not my empress’s mother, and that is a very different matter from those that they might try and liken you to,” Emperor Ling suggested. “I shall insist that you are listened to… they dare not defy me.”
Empress Dowager Dong smiled gratefully.

It would not be long before the new Empress Dowager’s advice earned her scorn.
“Aiee… we did not even have to wait for Empress Song’s removal before we are struck down by another obstacle!” the eunuch Cao Jie complained as he sat with Wang Fu in the latter’s quarters. “Now the Dowager is a problem; again, history repeats, and we are beset by an interfering matriarch!”
“She’s ambitious, the Dowager Dong,” Wang Fu mused. “Unfortunately, her ideas could somewhat ruin things for us.”
“What do you mean, specifically…?” Cao Jie fretted. “Is she looking into-”
“Nothing so intelligent,” Wang Fu scoffed. “No, she’s not out to remove us… never fear of that. The damage she will do is indirect. She’s looking at ways to increase income to the palace, and has come up with some awful solutions.”

<< Main Product Page

<< Previous Page

Next Page >>