Chapter 9
Momma's Boy
Royal Precinct, Tianjing
Crown Prince Wupeng was relaxing in his bath with his concubine Feifei snuggled up next to him. She was something of a simple-minded girl but dutiful and affectionate, which was all he wanted in a woman. She had no prospect of becoming Empress, nor could their two children be formally adopted by him—not while his mother lived at any rate—, but no matter who was arranged to be his wife by whatever political machinations his mother and the ministers devised, Feifei would remain his favorite. He would not be allowed to keep her in the Palace of Heavenly Divinity now that he was to become Emperor, but he intended to be with her as much as he could afford. She would not lack for anything as his Brilliant Companion. Perhaps that would be enough.
He was supposed to be is mourning for his father, but the only thing he mourned was the loss of freedom that would come with being Emperor. While he had his share of rituals and responsibilities as Crown Prince, his workload would be more than tripled now. He had had hoped his father would give him another hundred years or so of peace before thrusting all these unwanted duties into his lap.
"You are so tense, my love," Feifei told him as she caressed his shoulders. "I will have to give you a good rub-down after we get out of the bath."
Feifei was not the most talented masseuse, to be honest, but getting a massage from the person you love makes for good foreplay. She would massage him from head to toe, then they would make love until dawn and maybe for tonight at least he could forget about his worries.
His plans for the evening were spoiled, however, when the door opened and in walked his mother surrounded by six of her bodyguards and a dozen regular Imperial Guards filing in behind her. Those dozen Imperial Guards fanned out around the room while his mother's guards formed a semicircle behind her.
"Mother, what is the meaning of this?" Wupeng demanded.
His mother gave him a sour look and said, "Your father has been murdered. You are to be crowned Emperor. The weight of the whole Empire rests on your shoulders and yet here you are, taking your leisure with your whore."
"Your Majesty, we—"
Wupeng wished Feifei had kept quiet, but it was too late for that now. His mother seized her by the hair and pulled her up. Her cries of pain meant nothing to her.
"Get out," her mother growled.
Wupeng stood up, telling her, "Mother, stop."
His mother glared at him and he felt an overwhelming sense of powerlessness mingled with shame and embarrassment at his nakedness, so he meekly sank back into the tub. Two of his mother's bodyguards pulled Feifei out of the tub. He could not bear to look at her, but he knew she was looking to him for help and he could do nothing. He heard the sound of her sobbing and running away, only to slip and fall on the floor. He could not even bring himself to ask of she was okay. He had never felt more worthless or despised his weakness so much.
"You will send that woman away," his mother told her. "I allowed it as a childish indulgence, but you are a man now. You will have a proper match for a wife and suitable concubines as well."
Wupeng said nothing. If he objected, his mother might have Feifei and their children killed instead of simply sent to her father's house in Chiyuan.
"And you will practice more caution," she continued. "If your father can be murdered in the heart of the Palace of Heavenly Divinity, nowhere is safe. You will have no fewer than twelve guards at all times. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Mother."
Of course, his father was killed by an Imperial Guard, so how was having twelve of them supposed to make him any safer? Not that he would tell his mother that.
"Our enemies are all around us," his mother said. "I want to have that Suzuki girl questioned. She was the last one to see your father alive, but that halfbreed bastard Sturla is protecting her. Between him and his barbarian father, we cannot even put our full trust in the Imperial Guard."
Then why surround ourselves with so many of them? Wupeng thought.
"Mother, Grima is my brother, Sturla is my nephew. Do you think either of them would grieve Sister by plotting Father's death?"
"Barbarians know nothing of love or loyalty," his mother insisted. "It was a mistake to elevate any of them. They deserve to crawl on the ground like the other Infernals."
Wupeng idly wondered how many Man-blooded Guardsmen were among them. How easy would it be to kill him and his mother right now? Perhaps the only thing stopping them was the fact that Uncle Wusheng would be next in line for the throne. A fierce warrior who commanded equally fierce loyalty would be a far more formidable opponent. If whoever was behind his father's assassination was not so proud to insist on claiming the throne outright, he would be content to manipulate Wupeng as an easy puppet. Wupeng could accept this. How was it any different from being ruled by his mother? The burden of responsibility would be lightened and his safety would be assured. He would like to find the conspirators just so he could strike such a deal with them.
Unaware of his thoughts of surrender, his mother continued, "We do not have much time. We need to gather those loyal to us so we might oust Lord Grima and appoint someone more trustworthy as Minister of the Household. You can then disown Yingli and cut off Sturla's path to the throne."
"I am not going to disown my own sister," Wupeng said, "She has done nothing wrong."
"Sacrifices must be made to secure your rule," his mother said. "It is more expedient to remove your sister than to strike at Sturla directly. He knows how fond you are of her. He will never expect it. With father and son removed from influence, no one will bat an eyelash when they are arrested, tried and executed. After that, we simply have to round up their confederates to purge the Empire of their treasonous cancer once and for all."
"But what evidence do you have?"
"As the sage Bei Lia once said, 'Show me the man and I will show you the crime.' There is not a man, woman or child in all the Capital who has not broken the law ten thousand times over. And if their actual crimes are not sufficient, we can invent suitable crimes to go with their punishment."
"Mother, that—"
"Is what it means to rule. You are old enough that you should know this. Power is everything. You must always be reaching for more and never let go of what you have."
But I have no power...
"Yes, Mother..."
"Now stop lounging about. Get out of there and get dressed. It is far to early for you to be ending your day. We have a full schedule, starting with the first round of negotiations to get you an Empress so that we can have heirs to secure the future of this dynasty."
"Yes, Mother."
His mother turned and left, taking her guards with her. The bath attendants came forward to help him out of the bath, all under the watchful gaze of the Imperial Guards. This was what it meant to be the most powerful man in the Empire. More than ever, he felt like a prisoner in the proverbial gilded cage. Perhaps it would have been better if he were born an Infernal. It would be a filthy, miserable existence, but at least it would be short.