My Splendid Concubine

by Lofthouse, Lloyd

  “My love,” he said, taking her face between his hands, “I have no choice. Customs is like an infant, and I am the father. I have to deal with the growing pains and make sure it learns to walk properly.”

  “Customs is certainly a large baby,” she replied. “Since you have to travel all over China to wipe its ass and see to its feeding, you had better hurry so you can return home.” She was smiling when she said this, but she couldn’t hide the disappointment in her eyes and voice.

  He was tempted to tell her that they were going to be married soon. However, he decided to break the news when he was staying home instead of leaving. He held her for the longest time. “I want to be here with you,” he said. “It is lonely on the road, and I think of you often.”

  At first, when he let go, her arms stayed around him as if she didn’t want him to leave. “I am afraid I will never see you again,” she said in a trembling voice. Then she released her hold and stepped back.

  Tears glittered in her eyes, and her lower lip trembled. He reached out to touch her chin and tilt her face toward him. He marveled at how smooth and warm her skin felt. After he kissed her on the mouth, he kissed her neck and whispered in her ear. “You know that I would never abandon you or the children. You are my life and the reason I have become successful.”

  She nodded. He turned away, so she couldn’t see the weakness and turmoil mirrored in his eyes.

  “Guan-jiah,” he said, before he left, “pick another festival in case I don’t return on time.”

  “Yes, Master,” the eunuch replied. “There is the Moon Festival in September; the Winter Solstice in December, and the Spring Festival in February. I will make plans for all three, so it does not matter when you return. We will be ready.”

  “Good man.”

  Events conspired to keep him away longer than planned. When his commissioners or clerks could not resist temptation, his spies fed him information, and he always investigated.

  During an interrogation in Shanghai, one clerk told him that he’d been approached by Captain Patridge and could not refuse the bribe. “I beg for clemency, Inspector General. I didn’t have a choice. I started to visit the opium dens. I couldn’t resist the women. Take pity on me. I have a fiancé in England waiting for me. My father has a weak heart. This scandal will kill him. I’m his only son. I am begging you.”

  “Silence,” Robert said, as he remembered the time he’d taken money from Patridge. He understood why men did such things. The flesh was weak, but he had no choice. He could not go easy on this man or others might stray.

  “You will be going to prison for two years,” he said, “and everything you own will be confiscated to pay the fines. Since you will be in a Chinese prison, if you survive and convince me that you have learned your lesson, I may allow you to work for me again. You will also write letters to your fiancé and your family explaining what you have done and the punishment you are going to suffer. There will be no lies. Only the truth. If you do not write the letters, you will go to prison for five years.”

  “No, you cannot do this!” the clerk said. He fell to the ground wailing. As the guards dragged him away, he broke down and sobbed with his head hanging between his shoulders.

  Late that night, unable to sleep, Robert questioned if he were a hypocrite. What if the man had been married? What if he had children? Would the punishment have been as harsh? He left the bed to write a letter to Patridge warning him to stay away from his people.

  For those caught stealing, the penalties were worse. Such a theft was the same as taking from the Dynasty. He had not forgotten what Li Hung-chang had done to the Taiping leaders for wearing the imperial yellow or what had happened to the bannerman involved in the Forbidden City thefts.

  If the crime deserved a harsher punishment, the guilty faced decapitation.

  One such incident stuck in Robert’s mind for weeks after he handed down a sentence of death. He was in Chungking, thirteen hundred miles inland along the Yangtze, where he gave the final verdict on the lives of several corrupted officers that had worked together to siphon thousands of taels from the treasury. As the lord and master of Chinese Maritime Customs, it was his duty to hand out justice without mercy.

  These men in Chungking had been caught because Robert knew how much to expect from each port. When duties from Chungking fell short monthly for more than a year, Robert sent spies to discover what was going on. He even asked Li Hung-chang for help with his spy network. The evidence gathered had been overwhelming.

  “Why did you do it?” he asked the Han Chinese man, the ringleader of the theft.

  The man twisted his face into a mask of hate. “My family was respectable. They had land, mansions and wealth. That was two hundred years ago when the Manchu invaded China. They taxed us to pay for their wars with the foreign devils that came to rob China. They taxed us to fight the Longhaired Bandits. They taxed us to build their palaces. They taxed us to pay for the elaborate tombs for their false emperors.”

  The trial took place in the largest room at the customs house in Chungking. The desks were moved to one side leaving a space in the center of the room, and Robert’s Manchu bodyguards stood against the walls. Since the entire staff in Chungking had been involved, he had brought replacements and everyone attended.

  The prisoner stood in the center of the room with his hands manacled behind his back, and he looked as if he had been tortured during the questioning from Li’s spies. His face was swollen and bruised.

  “My family lost everything. All we had left until you hired me was one small house. There were twenty-eight of us living in one room with a dirt floor. My grandmother and mother had to cook outside under a shed roof where insects got into the food. Do you know what it is like to have beetles in your rice? Do you know what it is like to go to sleep hungry hearing your children crying?”

  “Enough,” Robert said. “However much your family suffered, many in China suffered worse fates.” He thought of Guan-jiah’s sacrifice for his family after they lost their wealth. This man’s audacity made him angry. “Millions have died in the wars and rebellions that have plagued China. But your family survived. You have no excuse for what you did. At least you had a life. At least you had a family.

  “I expected honesty, morality, and integrity when I hired you,” he said. “You were an intelligent man that would have been the commissioner in Chungking one-day. You swore an oath to live by my standards.” He shook his head.

  “You siphoned ten thousand taels over the last three years to buy your family a big house with acres of land. You are fortunate that I am the one judging you. If this case were in the hands of a Ch’ing Dynasty judge, you would suffer the death of ten thousand cuts or worse, and your entire family would be executed. Since I am the judge, they will live, but we will confiscate the lands you bought with that money. On the other hand, I will be merciful and allow your family to keep the house they lived in when I hired you, the hut with the dirt floor.”

  “I am going to die?” the man said, his face stiff with shock.

  “Decapitation. The money you took was destined for the Dynasty’s treasury, which means you robbed the Son of Heaven. I am ashamed. I have lost face because of your actions. I made a mistake when I judged you an honest man, and I trusted you.”

  “What about the others?”

  “They will go to prison for ten years and lose everything they own. If they survive prison, they will be sent to Xinjiang to live among the Uygurs. You, on the other hand, were the leader and must suffer the ultimate price. I might have been lenient and sent you to prison for twenty years, but you are unrepentant.”

  “You may have the power to have me beheaded,” the man replied, twisting his lips into a snarl, “but you will always be a foreign devil working for the Manchu. You are their dog. The day will come when all the devils will be driven from China like autumn leaves torn from trees by a strong wind. The silver taels we took belonged to the Han, not the Manchu, who have raped China repeatedly sin
ce stealing the Dragon Throne two centuries ago.”

  Right before the executioner chopped off the man’s head, he yelled a curse at Robert condemning his family to a life of suffering.

  Robert shivered as a chill swept through him. When he left Chungking, he carried bitterness with him that tasted like moldy, rotten fruit. When there was a failure like this, he could only blame himself. After all, he’d hired everyone that worked for him.

  It was early in December 1864, and he wanted to go home since the baby was due soon. The distance from Chungking down the Yangtze to Shanghai was thirteen hundred miles. From Shanghai to Tientsin was another eight hundred miles through the East China Sea to the Yellow Sea before reaching the Bohai Gulf.

  Chapter 60

  The courier traveled on a gunboat two-hundred miles down the Yangtze from Nanking. When he arrived in Shanghai, he went straight to the Imperial Maritime Customs house off the Bund with a report from General ‘Head Chopper’ Tseng Kuo-fan.

  “Inspector General,” the courier said, “General Li Hung-chang suggested that you be the messenger to carry this news to Peking.”

  Wondering what kind of report it was that required him to be a messenger, Robert took the report and started to read. What he saw caused him to become short of breath, light headed and dizzy. He had to sit down.

  “Is there something wrong, Inspector General?” a clerk asked, looking concerned. Others came from their desks to gather about him.

  He waved a hand in dismissal. “No, it’s the opposite,” he replied, taking slow, steady breaths to regain a sense of calm. “I must leave for Peking immediately to deliver this news to the Dynasty. Nanking, the Taiping capital, has fallen to General Tseng Kuo-fan. Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the rebels, is dead. What is the fastest ship anchored in the river?”

  “Glory be to God!” An Italian clerk shouted.

  A few days later, he reached Peking. It seemed the news had sprouted wings. A sedan chair waited outside the city gate with an escort of a thousand mounted bannermen, and he was to be carried straight to the Tsungli Yamen.

  It appeared that word had spread to every corner of the city, and the sides of the avenue were crowded with thousands of people wanting to see the messenger. The rest of the wide street was empty, which was bizarre. It was as if he were at the center of a silent parade with no band and no cheering while the world held its breath praying the rumors were true.

  How could he blame the doubts the people must have been thinking? After all, the Taiping Rebellion had started in 1845, nineteen years ago. Tens of millions had died and entire areas of China had been emptied of life. He’d seen the desolation first hand. Would China ever trust Christians again? After all, Hong Xiuquan, a Christian convert claiming to be the younger brother to Jesus Christ, had almost destroyed an empire and caused the deaths of millions to create his Heavenly Kingdom of great peace.

  With the sedan chair in their midst, the only sound was the horses’ hooves as the thousand mounted Manchu bannermen escorted Robert along the avenue toward the Forbidden City. When he arrived at the Tsungli Yamen, he was ushered inside where Prince Kung waited.

  The prince’s face showed no emotion, but his posture was stiff. Robert crossed the crowded, silent room as people stepped aside to make room. He took the report from an inside, jacket pocket and handed it to Prince Kung, who started to read, then relaxed.

  After a silent moment, Kung said, “Robert, when I heard the rumors, I dared not allow myself to believe. Now I see the truth.” He held up the dispatch and shook it. “Our Hart has carried the word to us that the Longhaired Bandits have been defeated!”

  Prince Kung started walking quickly around the room as if he could not contain his energy, and the ministers scrambled to get out of the way before he ran them down.

  “This is the report of the century,” he said, “and it details the final moments of the rebellion.”

  He stopped abruptly and brought the papers closer to his eyes. “Listen. I will read some of General Tseng Kuo-fan’s report. ‘Smoke and flames from the burning buildings filled the city—several hundred female attendants in the palace hanged themselves in the front garden, while the number of rebels that drowned in the city moat exceeded two thousand. We searched the city and in three days killed more than a hundred-thousand men—not one rebel surrendered. Many men and women gathered together and burned themselves in a mass suicide.’”

  “Women on fire. How ghastly,” Robert said. “A great tragedy.”

  Prince Kung’s eyes were animated when he looked away from the report. This wasn’t like Prince Kung. Usually he was a serious, sober minded person who seldom revealed emotion in a crowd. Now he was bubbling like a busy fountain.

  “Robert,” Kung said, “you are too softhearted. Ha!” He shouted. “Listen to me. Our Hart is softhearted.” He laughed. “What does it matter if even ten million set themselves on fire? The threat to the Ch’ing Dynasty has been removed. This is a great day.”

  Kung plopped down in a chair. After taking a deep breath and composing himself, he calmly said, “Robert, you will come to my palace for an official celebration before the end of week. You must honor us with your presence. The nobles will want to see you, as well as any governors that are in Peking. We must have a grand celebration. There will be fireworks. All of China must celebrate. Now, I must carry this news to the young emperor and the Dowagers.”

  That night the city boomed and crackled with the sound of firecrackers while rockets soared into the sky to burst and bloom leaving trails of colored sparks behind them.

  Prince Kung held the celebration at his palace, but Robert did not enjoy himself. The only positive thing was the new connections he made. At one point, he slipped out of the house and went to the gardens behind Kung’s mansion. He spent quiet time strolling among the cranes, parrots and hawks. He watched the gold and black carp darting through the ponds. All the while, he wanted to be home with Ayaou. It took an effort to return to the dinner table.

  “A large family is desired,” Kung said to the crowded table. Then the prince stared at Robert. “It guarantees that you will have heirs to carry on your family name. What is on your mind, my friend? You look sad. Are you still thinking about those women on fire?”

  Robert shook his head. “Nothing is wrong,” he said. He noticed many eyes watching him and everyone was smiling. He did not like the attention.

  “It is time for you to establish a family,” Kung said. “When do you plan to marry?” Servants scurried back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room with fresh platters of food. Everyone was stuffing themselves and there was a lot of chatter.

  He wanted to say that he already had a family with two children and another on the way any day now. Before he could say a word, Prince Kung cut him off. “You and I are about the same age. I am thirty-one. I have a wife that is the daughter of Grand Secretary Kuei Liang, and I adore her. Her status makes me look good in my people’s eyes. A sense of pure nobility is important in China.”

  “Indeed, I have been thinking of marriage lately.” Robert replied.

  “That is good news,” Prince Kung said. “There are only two reasons to marry. One is to create an alliance to strengthen your position. The second is to have many sons to carry on the family name. Whom do you have in mind? To tell you the truth, I am interested to be your matchmaker. I only trust a few people, and you are one. Grant me this honor.”

  “I am thinking of marrying Ayaou, my concubine.”

  “Please do not be kidding, Robert.” Prince Kung looked serious. “Having her as a concubine is one thing. Having her as a wife is another. You can still keep her while you marry with someone of proper status from the Manchu. She will understand. After all, your concubine is Chinese. Do you remember Princess Nee-Nee? She has the blood of Emperor Nurhaci in her body. Do you know who that was? She is from his clan.”

  “Nurhaci was the first Ch’ing emperor,” Robert said. “He founded the Dynasty.”

  “You
have learned. Not like that first time when Captain Patridge brought you to me in Shanghai. You knew so little and your Chinese was clumsy as if you had rocks in your mouth.” He pointed a finger at Robert. “I knew then that you were hungry to learn. You were different from the other foreigners. I was right about that too. Well, Nee-Nee is still available. I know from the way you looked at her when you first met that you liked her. What do you say?”

  How could Robert explain what love meant to a man who had no idea how important it was? Robert remembered when Shao-mei had said she hated him but meant she loved him. Thinking about her caused his eyes to water. He wanted to disagree but feared hurting the prince’s feelings. In fact, he dreaded saying anything, because he might start crying.

  “Not Nee-Nee, huh. Then I have another idea,” Prince Kung said. “Let me petition her Majesty, the Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi, to be the matchmaker. Your status permits you to enjoy such an honor.”

  “I’m afraid, Prince Kung, that I only desire sleeping with my concubine, Ayaou.”

  “That is not a problem. In fact, that is the way to go. How many men in the entire court are sleeping with their noble blooded wives? It is a tradition here for men to lust after their concubines. The young emperor has more than a thousand already, and he is only eight. These women will have to wait before the emperor is old enough to bed them. And his father’s wives and concubines, all three thousand, were retired when my brother died. Most were virgins and still are. It will be proper for you to marry a princess while continuing to share the bed with Ayaou.

  “Why not get a dozen concubines and sleep with them all? It is not important if your Manchu wife has children for she will be the mother to all your children whoever the birth mother is. It is our way.”

  What about Ayaou? Robert thought. He struggled to suppress the anger he felt. He couldn’t see the children he had with Ayaou being raised by another woman. It was not easy, but he managed to keep his expression composed. He had to keep a level head and not fall prey to emotions. After all, the prince was a product of a culture that had a lot to admire. How could he be angry with Prince Kung? No culture was perfect. All had flaws.