by Poon, Alice;
After the wedding, the Shunzhi Emperor returned to his busy routine of attending to Court matters. He seldom called for the Empress’s service and never visited her at her Residence. Less than a year after the grand ceremony, he had already become so bored with his life that he had to make a personal request on one of his visits to his mother.
“Mother, I have just one small wish that I hope you will approve of. May I order for a selection of Imperial Concubines?”
“You are the Emperor now, Fulin. You can do whatever that you deem suitable. I have no objection to that. But you will still respect your Empress, won’t you?”
“Yes, Mother, I will respect her as long as she knows her place and follows the rules and etiquette of the Inner Palaces.”
There was a barb in his words that reminded Bumbutai of the domineering way that Hong Taiji used to treat her. She was quite startled at how closely Fulin had come to take after his father in exhibiting an imperious attitude towards women, even at his young age.
It also appeared to her that he had a weakness for women. In this respect his indulgence surpassed even that of his father. But Bumbutai concluded that if her son was unhappy with his cousin, he might as well find some distraction with other women, although she had an uneasy feeling that as he began to revel in his power, he could become over-indulgent in pleasure-seeking. At this point, the thought of Siu Fa suddenly came up, and she took the opportunity to implore her son:
“Son, I also have a small wish that I was hoping you might be able to make come true. Siu Fa, one of your father’s Consorts, used to be my maid for many years. Being a widow, she is leading an ascetic life in the Imperial retreat house, which, for her young age, is hard. I would like to take her back into my residence, if you would approve.”
“Mother, it would give me pleasure to grant that.” The Emperor was now in such a buoyant mood that he would grant anything she asked.
On the Emperor’s orders, his eunuch Wu Liangfu arranged through the Board of Rites for a selection of Bannermen clan maidens to join the junior rank of Imperial Concubines in the Inner Palaces.
As prescribed by etiquette, the Empress Dowager would preside as an observer over the final round of selection. In order to show her support for her new daughter-in-law, Bumbutai decided to let the new Empress take her role in the final selection of Imperial Concubines. Twenty maidens - twelve Manchus, five Mongolians and three Hans - had been shortlisted from three hundred to go to the final contest, from which ten would be picked.
After attendants had touched up their hair, faces and lips, the twenty teenage girls presented themselves in two horizontal rows in the plaza in front of the Empress’s Residence, each holding a small tray that contained a name card with the written side face-down.
The Empress, rather than graciously accepting the Empress Dowager’s invitation to take up her role, had felt it a demeaning task. She knew the choices would in truth all be the Emperor’s own and she would have no say at all. So she decided that she would show up late to exhibit her disdain for the process. Shunzhi was infuriated at the Empress’s deliberate tardiness and after waiting for a while, grumpily signaled for the presentation to start without her.
When the eunuch announced the name of a maiden, she would come forward and let the Emperor take a good look at her face and her figure, and then step back. If the Emperor liked her, he would turn the name card face-up; if not, he would not touch the card.
By the time the Empress arrived, Shunzhi was picking his fifth favorite. The Empress sat on her seat inside the lounge, playing with the tassels of her elaborate headdress. At last, the Emperor turned the last name card, and all ten Imperial Concubines were chosen. Five of those were Manchus, three were Mongols and two Hans.
That night, Shunzhi told Wu that he wanted the youngest Han Imperial Concubine, who was a pretty thirteen-year-old daughter of a Chinese Plain White Bannerman, to serve him. Her surname was Tong and her father was a Han Court Minister whose family had lived in Manchuria for generations. The next day, she was promoted to the rank of Consort. Later, her clan would be granted the Manchu clan name of Tunggiya and she would bear Shunzhi’s third son, Xuanye.
Nineteen
Before this selection of Imperial Concubines, Shunzhi had endorsed his mother’s choices of two Noble Consorts and three Consorts shortly after his wedding. These noble women had failed to please him.
With the fresh young girls now added to his harem, all handpicked by him, he was having such a frolicking time that the Empress was pushed right out of his mind. He was already thinking of getting Eunuch Wu to arrange another selection of maidens the following year, even though the tradition was to have such selection only once every three years.
Wu, on his part, was happy to pander to his master’s wishes, as these maiden selections were a good opportunity for him to extort bribes from parents eager to send their daughters into the Forbidden City. It was also not uncommon for Imperial Concubines, Consorts and Noble Consorts who wanted to be called to the Emperor’s bed chambers to offer his eunuch big bribes in the form of precious jewels. Wu was the only one charged with presenting name cards for the Emperor to choose from each night and he benefited accordingly.
The young Empress, spoiled by her upbringing, had little interest in anything other than luxurious clothing and jewels. Her garments were made of the finest satins and embroidered silk with pearls and sequins sewn on. Bracelets, necklaces, earrings, brooches and other jewelry made of green jade, white jade, pink pearls, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and corals filled ten lacquered jewel caskets. All of her quilt covers and bed curtains were made of fine silk. All her personal eating utensils were custom-made in solid gold. Freshly-cut flowers were brought into her lounge and bed chambers every day to perfume the air.
Favored eunuch as he was, Wu Liangfu had a deadly rival in Court. He was Wang, Chief of Staff in the Imperial Household Department, who had come from the Dorgon clique. Wang now found it expedient to curry favor with the new Empress, and he made every effort to pander to her unending extravagant whims.
Used to having her way, the Empress was annoyed by Shunzhi’s cold-shouldering of her. What she wanted now was a way to avenge her hurt pride. From Eunuch Wu, she gleaned the information that the Emperor’s most favored woman was Consort Ningyi from a Manchu clan, deemed the most beautiful of his entire harem, and that she had the good fortune to bed the Emperor once every two or three nights. The Empress chose her as the target for unleashing her vengeance.
One winter’s night, the Empress summoned Wu to her lounge and asked him who the Emperor’s bed partner was that night. He replied that it was Consort Ningyi. She bade the eunuch to come closer and stealthily placed a packet of whitish powder and a green jade bracelet into his hand, then whispered a few words in his ear.
Having unrolled the naked Consort Ningyi from the quilt onto the Emperor’s bed, Wu and another eunuch retreated quickly into the antechamber. The Consort was petrified to suddenly find an eruption of a blistery rash all over her body. She started to scratch her limbs uncontrollably.
Shunzhi, on approaching his bed, was shocked by the sight. He shouted for Wu to take the Consort away immediately and bade him summon a Court physician to take care of her. Wu at this point began to come to his senses. He realized that his true master was the Emperor and not the Empress, and fearing that he might be blamed himself, he fell to his knees and confessed everything to the Emperor. Shunzhi had always had a soft spot for Eunuch Wu, who had been one of his only playmates in his boyhood days. Having heard the whole story, the Emperor immediately pardoned Wu, but became even more disaffected with his jealous Empress. But he said nothing to her and the arrogant Empress mistook the Emperor’s silence for an apologetic gesture for neglecting her. She continued with her malicious tricks on any Consort whom he took a liking to. In one instance, she tried to poison a Manchu Imperial Concubine who was a lissome dancer and a new favo
rite of the Emperor’s. She ordered a maid to take a dish of sweet meats laced with hemlock, which would rupture the intestines, to the Concubine, but at the last minute, the maid alerted the victim and saved her life, only to be flogged to death by order of the Empress. The incident terrified all the maids who served her. News of this incident spread through the Inner Court and finally landed in the ears of the Emperor.
Wu was fully aware that by admitting his crime to the Emperor, he risked antagonizing the Empress, who was also in a position to do him harm. Lurking danger pushed him to mull on a plan that would serve a dual purpose. He knew that the Empress Dowager had been urging the Emperor to cut household extravagances, and that the Empress, egged on by Wang, knew no bounds where her lavish whims were concerned. Also within his knowledge was the fact that his master was deep in a campaign to root out corruption. Perhaps his plan could, in one stroke, strike out Wang and undercut the Empress.
For Wu, dealing with Wang was a relatively easy task, because the latter’s record of having served Dorgon was itself a deadly original sin. If evidence could be found that he was corrupt, then he would be doomed. And if the Empress were to be found implicated in a corrupt act of Wang’s, then the battle would be won. First he would bribe a maid in Wang’s household as well as a maid in the Empress’s Residence, which was an easy enough task. These maids would be his informants.
Wang, meanwhile, had fallen into thinking he had found a safe harbor with the Empress, as she was under the protection of the Empress Dowager. Emboldened by the Empress’s apparent support and protection, he abandoned himself to the fantasy that he was the king of the Imperial Household Department. He would go so far as ignore requests from Consorts for silk fabric, reserving the best for the Empress’s sole use. Maids from the Consorts’ Palaces coming to ask for tea leaves, sweet meats or household supplies would get an acerbic scolding from him for no reason,. He made it a rule to refuse dispensation of such items unless a bribe was paid by the Consort.
Having control over food provisions also meant that he could extend his power to the Imperial kitchens. He arranged coarse fare to the Consorts and ensured that the Empress was served nothing but gourmet dishes.
Since becoming Empress Dowager, Bumbutai had formed a habit of declining birthday presents, and these ended up in the custody of Wang. Some of the presents were valuable jewelry and expensive sculptures, which should have been registered by Wang’s department and then sent to the Court’s Treasury for storage. But Wang never registered them nor sent them to the Treasury.
Over time, he accumulated many exquisite sculptures made of jade or ivory, as well as a collection of the finest jewelry of green and purple jades, rubies and emeralds, filling several lacquered caskets which he kept in a sandalwood chest beside his bed. He had a fondness for all jewelry, but it was the beautiful pink jade antique sculptures that captured his heart. Being aware of the Empress’s love of jewelry, he developed a plan to secure her permanent trust.
One summer’s day, learning from the Empress’s maid that her mistress was in a good mood, Wang took two caskets of jewelry and two ivory sculptures from his sandalwood chest, put them all carefully inside a black velvet bag and headed to the Empress’s Residence.
“Venerable Highness, I have come to make obeisance and offer my very best wishes for your health,” he said, flopping down on all fours as soon as he entered the lounge in the most obsequious way.
The Empress did not even glance down at him. “Wang, you may stand and speak,” she said. “I was going to send orders to you to change the flowers in my lounge twice a day, to make the air fresher.” Her gaze was fixed on her nail-guards which one of her maids was painting. “What have you come to see me about?”
“If I may ask to be heard in confidence….”
The Empress shot an inquiring look at Wang, and then grouchily waved all her maids to retreat.
“So what is it that you deem so important?”
“Venerable Highness, I believe you have never laid eyes on the birthday presents that the Venerable Empress Dowager has received over the years and thought that these might interest you.”
He stepped forward, untied the black velvet bag and took out the contents one by one, placing them on the marble-top side table next to the Empress’s couch. As he opened the jewel caskets, his sideways glance caught the Empress’s eyes dilating with greed.
“What beautiful pieces these are!” she exclaimed. She picked up the jewelry pieces one by one to examine them, paying no attention to the sculptures.
“I was thinking that Your Venerable Highness might like to keep these, perhaps. It seems such a waste for them to idle in my chest…”
“Well, I don’t mind adding these to my collection. I must say, you did the right thing, Wang. You may keep the ivory sculptures as your reward.” Her eyes as she spoke were glued to the sparkling jewels.
“I can’t thank you enough, Venerable Highness. It is so very generous of you.” Wang prostrated himself fawningly in front of the Empress again and kowtowed three times. Then, looking up, he added slyly:
“If it pleases your Venerable Highness, this will be just between you and me ….”
“Don’t worry. No one else will know about it. Now if you will show yourself out, I’m going to take a nap.”
During this conversation, a maid had been hidden behind a richly-embroidered silk screen, eavesdropping. When Wang left, she quietly slipped out after him and went straight to Wu.
Earlier, Wu’s informant at Wang’s house had already confirmed that there was a sandalwood chest full of treasures that he kept beside his bed. Having subsequently found out from Sumalagu about where the Empress Dowager’s birthday presents had been sent, and now in possession of the latest bit of information, Wu could piece together the whole picture. He lost no time in making a full report to his master.
The next day, the Emperor sent a team of his Imperial Guards to make a surprise raid on Wang’s quarters and seize the sandalwood chest. Wang was arrested and thrown into jail, waiting the Emperor’s decision as to his sentence.
Shunzhi personally went to the Empress’s Residence, and brought Sumalagu along to identify the jewels. Sumalagu had been responsible for recording details of all the Empress Dowager’s birthday presents and had kept a written record of them all before sending them over to the Imperial Household Department. The Emperor growled with rage.
“Bring me those two jewel caskets right this moment!” he shouted, his face white with fury.
The Empress’s face drained of blood and her hands shook uncontrollably as she handed the caskets over to the Emperor. Sumalagu checked all the contents against her records and affirmed that they were the Empress Dowager’s birthday presents.
The Emperor, who had never before visited the Empress Residence, couldn’t help noticing the gaudy opulence of its décor and furnishings. He left in disgust without saying one more word. Later, Sumalagu verified the contents of Wang’s chest to be the remainder of the presents.
Shunzhi had not forgotten what Wang had done in Dorgon’s times. Wang had then been eager to please Dorgon and had trimmed Shunzhi’s daily meals to exclude all the sweetmeats he had loved so much as a child. But he was determined to pass a just sentence based only on the evidence of his corrupt crimes, which mounted by the day as his investigators did their work with the eager help of the Consorts and their maids. He thought this to be a good opportunity to clean up Dorgon’s lingering influence.
His Court officials, after deliberating on the case for a while, unanimously recommended a death sentence for Wang. Shunzhi was inwardly pleased but, in a deliberate show of leniency, he ordered the confiscation of all Wang’s assets and sentenced him to permanent exile. In Wang’s place, Shunzhi appointed, on his mother’s recommendation, one of his trusted Ministers, Sonin, who was from the Plain Yellow Banner and was fluent in all three languages, Chinese, Manchu and Mongolian. Bum
butai had known him to be a man of integrity from the days of Hong Taiji.
When Wu heard the news of Wang’s exile, he couldn’t help but smile.He could never forget how Wang had once humiliated him and called him a bitch when he had been serving the child Emperor during Dorgon’s rule.
In the eighth month, Shunzhi paid a visit to his mother, who had just moved back into Cining Palace. He looked unhappy. In response to gentle questioning , he told his mother how he could no longer tolerate the Empress for her petty jealousy, her spitefulness, her lavish indulgences and her general unfitness to be head of the Inner Palaces.
“Mother, I have tried my best to be patient with her, hoping that she would come round to taking her role seriously,” he said. “But she has disappointed me in every way possible. I know you won’t take this well, since she is your beloved niece. I beseech you to consider my view too, for the benefit of the Empire.”
Bumbutai had long known this day would come. She couldn’t argue against the points her son had made, as she knew very well how spoiled her niece had always been as a child.
“Son, this is a matter over which you have total authority as the master of your household. If you have made a decision about her, I believe you have good reasons. What do you plan to do with her?”
“I intend to demote her to the position of Consort and let her live out her life in one of the smaller Palaces. But I was hoping that I could do so with your approval.” From Empress to Consort was a three-step plummet through the ranks.
