CH 51: The Unfortunates

With Prince Qi defeated, the number of people implicated grew by the day. The Princedom of Qi was hit the hardest and had the highest number of arrests. The Imperial Palace was also a disaster site, and it was also the earliest affected. On the night of the Emperor’s assassination attempt, several hundred men were thrown into prison. Under torturous interrogation, they revealed more names, and a few months later, the number of prisoners grew to one thousand and four hundred. To this date, not one has been released.

Nobody knew how long the purge would last, nor did anybody know if they would be next.

“At first, everyone thought it was normal. After all, the assassin had hidden in the palace for a few years, so there was a need to make a thorough investigation. But now, we do not think so. We think…” Even though Zhang Youcai was bold, there were some things which he did not dare say.

“You think that the Empress Dowager has ulterior motives?” Han Ruzi finished his sentence for him.

“Mm. There are increasingly more outsiders in the palace. Like Zuo Ji, he is close to being all-powerful, yet he is just an ordinary eunuch of Cishun Palace. He is not even a ranked Palace Attendant.” Zhang Youcai said indignantly. The person he hated the most was Zuo Ji, not the Empress Dowager.

“Jing Yao is an elder in the palace. His position seems quite secure.” Han Ruzi often saw Jing Yao solemnly stamping the imperial seal in the Hall of Diligent Administration, so he felt that he was highly trusted by the Empress Dowager.

“That’s because he arrests the most people!” Zhang Youcai’s voice was a little loud, so he hurriedly shut his mouth. He listened out for any disturbances before continuing. “Jing Yao is willing to resort to anything to maintain his position. He desperately made arrests in the palace, even his long-time trusted followers were not spared. He said, ‘one can only discern the loyal from the treacherous after they have been thrown in prison a few times’, though he himself had never been in prison.”

Han Ruzi turned to where Dong Qing E roughly was. “The assassin was a eunuch. Are the servant-girls implicated as well?”

“Huh?” Dong Qing E cried out in fear, “There is no distinction between eunuchs and servant-girls in the palace. Anyone who had any contact with Qiu Jizu or Shen Sanhua, even if it was just a few words, would be arrested and interrogated. Zhang Youcai and I do not know how long we will be able to serve Your Majesty. I’ve heard that…”

“Speak freely. I am not the Empress Dowager.” Han Ruzi said encouragingly.

“I’ve heard that the Empress Dowager wishes to transfer eunuchs and servant-girls from imperial holdings outside of the Imperial Palace. She believes that they would not hold ill intents, while us old-timers would be chased out of the palace. Some of us would be sent away to tend to tombs, while some would be buried alive with the Graceful Emperor.” Dong Qing E grew more frightful the more she spoke, her voice as soft as the buzz of a mosquito.

Although life in the imperial palace was not particularly luxurious, no one wanted to leave. Being sent to tend to tombs would be like being sent to suffer a slow death, while being buried alive would lead to actual death. Even if they were sent to other imperial holdings outside the palace, it would be like being sent into exile, and they would never amount to anything.

Han Ruzi felt that there was no reason for the Empress Dowager to get rid of everyone in the palace; this was very likely the panicked rumors of frightened eunuchs and servant-girls. But such emotions were not disadvantageous for him. He said to Zhang Youcai, “Tell me about your group of ‘unfortunate people’. What are you all about?”

In the dark, Zhang Youcai took a deep breath. “Although we had taken an oath not to reveal to outsiders — Forgive me, Your Majesty, by ‘outsiders’ I mean…”

“I understand, continue.” Han Ruzi could understand. In the palace, the Emperor and consorts were the masters, and they would be regarded by the servants as “outsiders”.

“May Your Majesty not misunderstand — we are not some kind of organization, and we don’t even have a name, let alone any ambitions. We are just a group of people who help each other out. We share food, take care of one another when one of us falls ill, and share information on important matters. Sometimes, we gather funds to allow one of us to curry favor with his superior. Anyone who is promoted as a result would only have to remember his friends from the past. We have a saying — do not forget old friends after obtaining wealth and rank.”

 “‘Do not forget old friends when one obtains wealth and rank.’” Han Ruzi repeated the line to himself, vaguely remembering an old man saying something similar before.

Dong Qing E said softly, “Zhang Youcai, you really mean to say everything. Aren’t you afraid His Majesty would find such things childish?”

Han Ruzi said seriously, “Why would I find it childish? That is what I want to say to you both as well: ‘do not forget old friends after obtaining wealth and rank’. You both are my old friends.”

Zhang Youcai and Dong Qing E kowtowed at the foot of the bed. Han Ruzi suddenly recalled something. “Shen Sanhua said in his confession that the assassin Qiu Jizu onced bribed him. Was Qiu Jizu one of your group?”

“No no, Qiu Jizu was not.” Dong Qing E quickly denied it. “Shen Sanhua was. Qiu Jizu was relatively wealthy when he entered the palace, so he was not part of us unfortunate people. Shen Sanhua was one of the persons whose promotion we had funded. He never forgot his old friends, and often took care of us. But now that he is locked up in prison, we hear that he is tortured every day.”

“You are worried that Shen Sanhua will not persevere and will reveal the names of you unfortunate people?”

The two kowtowed again. This was what they were most worried about. Dong Qing E was initially rather reticent, but now that Zhang Youcai had revealed most things, she no longer kept things hidden. “Other than gathering funds to present gifts to superiors, we truly have not done anything else. We often warn each other not to cause trouble. Even if anyone suffers a wrong, we would only console that person, and never help the person take revenge. But this is the palace, and the senior eunuchs have their own backings, and are not one of us. As for the Empress Dowager…”

Dong Qing E did not dare continue, but Zhang Youcai said, “The Empress Dowager does not understand the sufferings of people like us. If she hears of us, she will surely fly into a rage, and consider as accomplices to the assassin. But truly, we are not.”

This group of eunuchs and servant-girls must be at their wits end. Otherwise, they would not come to this puppet Emperor.

Han Ruzi said, “You all… Let us call you the ‘Unfortunates’.”

Even though Zhang Youcai was young, he had quick reactions. He quickly kowtowed and said, “Thank you, Your Majesty, for giving us a name.”

Han Ruzi smiled. He did not care in the slightest that the servants in the palace had secretly organized. Instead, he felt that this was an excellent opportunity. “How many Unfortunates are there?”

“Around… forty to fifty. Those are the core members who can be trusted absolutely. If we add friends of friends, then the number would be even greater, around four to five hundred,” Zhang Youcai said.

“You are a core member at such a young age?” Han Ruzi asked smilingly. Zhang Youcai was around the same age as him and did not seem like some kind of leader.

“I was not; I was only a ‘friend of a friend’. Until today…”

“I am a core member.” Dong Qing E said. At this point, there was no need to hide anything.

“You are? I thought you were like me and only knew about all this today.” Zhang Youcai was shocked.

“Yes, I am. When Zuo Ji was selecting servant-girls to… teach the ways of husband and wife, everyone gathered money to gift a senior eunuch, who then recommended me to Zuo Ji. It was thought that this would be a way to curry favors with Zuo Ji. But Your Majesty refused, so Zuo Ji considered me incompetent, so I offended him instead.”

Han Ruzi was stunned. Even the opportunity to sleep with the Emperor was something to offer bribes for. He did not know whether to feel proud or sad. “Forty to fifty people, that should be enough. Does anyone amongst you know martial arts?”

“No, but a few of us have good relations with the guards.” Dong Qing E said.

“I don’t want to involve ‘friends of friends’. I only want you core members.” Han Ruzi did not wish to expand the scope of people involved.

“What does Your Majesty want us to do?” Zhang Youcai was extremely excited. He was only brought into to the core group of the Unfortunates today, and he already wanted to do something great. “We are not afraid of death. We can do anything.”

Han Ruzi smiled. He did not dare use these Unfortunates to conduct a palace coup. Not only would that harm them, it would also harm him. “Living is better than dying. I don’t want to die, nor will I send you to die. Mm…” An idea slowly came to Han Ruzi. “One day, perhaps soon, I will need your help. Not a coup, not a battle, just to follow me to go to some place. There, I will ascend the throne once more and become a true Emperor this time. When the time comes — old friends will not be forgotten.”

The two kowtowed again.

“Let us agree on a code word. If someone says the code word to you, go look for the others and meet up with him.” Han Ruzi tried his best to make his plan more reliable.

“‘Unfortunates’ is a good code word,” Dong Qing E said.

“Good, that is it then. The person who sends you the code word might not be me. Just believe it when you hear it.”

The Emperor actually had others whom he could use. This led Dong Qing E and Zhang Youcai to be in even greater spirits. They kowtowed non-stop until Han Ruzi stopped them. “That’s it then. Remember, the thing I wish for you all to do might be a little dangerous, but no killing will be involved. I do not wish to kill anyone in the palace. Is that understood?”

“Understood.” The two of them said.

Zhang Youcai was young so he was a little over excited. “Your Majesty must hurry! We are frightened every day. Once Shen Sanhua reveals our existence, we… will be unable to assist Your Majesty.”

“Mm, I will be as quick as possible.” Han Ruzi could not guarantee the time. Matters were not up to him, and he had to wait for the opportunity. He had to wait for the Grand Consort and Luo Huan-zhang to execute their plan.

Grand Tutor Cui Hong would surely secretly return to the Capital. When he arrived, Luo Huan-zhang would reveal two imperial edicts — one to relief the current Grand Marshal of the Southern Army and the other to relief the Captain of the Guards. Members of the Cui clan would be appointed to those positions, and they would join forces with the Grand Consort and Prince Donghai from within the palace.  

Han Ruzi realized that he still had a slim chance: the imperial edict in Luo Huan-zhang’s hands was written by him. The Cui clan’s move must be made in his name. As long as he is able to avoid being killed by the Grand Consort and Prince Donghai on the day itself, and appear before the senior officials in time, then he would still be the Emperor. There was no way the Cui clan would dare openly kill the Emperor. As for how the Cui clan would be dealt with after that, that would be something for later.

The problem was that he still did not know what the Grand Consort and Prince Donghai would do.

Han Ruzi was no longer in a rush to see the Empress Dowager. Instead, he desperately wanted to see someone else — Meng E was the person he needed the most right now. He had a plan which only Meng E could help him implement.

“Go to sleep.” Han Ruzi said, no longer feeling lost.

In the middle of the night, there were three people who could not sleep properly. Zhang Youcai was too excited, Dong Qing E was too worried, and Han Ruzi kept listening out for Meng E.

Hence, in the later part of the night, when the ground suddenly shook and sounds of collapse could be heard, all three of them sat up immediately, wide-awake.

On the 3rd of July, Year 1 of the Gongcheng era, an earthquake struck the Capital. At the time, nobody could have foreseen its far-reaching consequences.