Jade Throne, Bead Curtain (Top and Bottom)

Author: Gao Yang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: A panoramic view of late Qing history, the second part of the epic masterpiece "The Life of Empress Dowager Cixi." After the Xinyou Coup, the political situation was in disarray, with everything in chaos. Behind the curtains, the young empress dowager possessed what political skills to gradually ascend to the pinnacle of power? Gao Yang's novels excel in their natural and effortless prose, with meticulous portrayals that are deeply incisive. Among them, the depiction of one of the great figures of the late Qing revival, Peng Yulin, is particularly commendable.
Content: On the 20th day of the sixth month in the third year of the Tongzhi reign, late at night. Along Bingbu Street in the east of Zhengyang Gate, a swift horse arrived from the southern gate. The jingle of the bridle bells signaled that it was a special envoy from a province. Sure enough, the horseman galloped past the Ministry of War and headed straight for the office of the provincial envoys stationed in the capital. Upon reaching the gate, the horseman abruptly reined in, and the person on the horse was thrown off. A red-tipped blue hat, the insignia of a third-rank official, rolled to the side. The man struggled to his feet, staggering two steps, but before he could cross the threshold, he stumbled and fell again, spitting out white foam. The people in the office recognized him as He, a special envoy from Jiangning, who was a corporal. He had originally been a personal guard of General Zeng, and with each victory, he was promoted. His accumulated merits had elevated him to the rank of a third-rank major general, but there were no vacancies to fill, so he was still assigned to the role of a special envoy, which he had held since his days as a corporal.