The Sorceress' Revolt
Author: Toriumi Jinzō
Translator: Ainikki the Archivist
Ko Biji's Story
Part Eight: The Eunuch
The Imperial Guards protecting Ko Biji and Chō Ran transferred men and horses at the Jingxi Road crossing in Henan Province and headed north along the Hai River.
The Hai River was also called the Huimin River and led through Bianliang to the north and out into the Bohai Sea. Other rivers and canals also cut through the city, with the Bian River being the widest and largest. Bianliang was a sprawling city that built out, not up: there were many small settlements on the outskirts of the main city, which was dotted with tall government offices, large inns, taverns and brothels. There were checkpoints along each of the canals and riverways, but Chō Ran and Ko Biji encountered no problems; they were being escorted by the Imperial Guards, after all.
Ko Biji was allowed to get out of the carriage and look around. In the distance to the east was the city wall of Bianliang, about twelve meters high. She could see part of it, but most of the wall was hidden by the trees of an old forest.
***
Bianliang was developed during the Warring States Period (c. 475–221 BCE) when the Wei Dynasty named it Daliang and made the city its capital. After several upheavals, the foundations of the city were solidified by the development of a Grand Canal built on the orders of the Sui Dynasty (reigned 581–618 CE).
The city was further developed under the reforms of Emperor Sejong (reigned 954-959 CE) and was currently the world’s largest city, with a population greater than one million. Bianliang wore its summer colors; flowers bloomed everywhere within the city limits and verdant trees lined the main thoroughfare. The streets bustled with activity that Ko Biji saw at a a distance.
Ko Biji and Chō Ran hopped in a small boat and traveled down a wide canal into the city. They left the carriages they’d taken here behind and disembarked at a dock near a hill. A small village stood atop the hill in full view of Bianliang.
They cut through the forest on foot and approached the city’s high wall. Several canals fed into a moat that surrounded a low wall that stood a few hundred yards outside the larger one; the low wall was about two or three feet high. Past that, high stone watchtowers loomed over them. Guards patrolled atop the towers. There was only one road that led through the city’s front gate, across a bridge. The road saw many travelers each day, but security was tight: Ko Biji saw more guards at the gate watching everyone with sharp eyes. This large of a guard presence suggested that the city had a standing army of significant size.
Ko Biji, Chō Ran and their guard escort were ushered through the city gate and escorted to a large building reminiscent of a castle. It stood nestled in a grove of trees, a bit separated from the rest of the city. There was an iron fence with a gate around the castle.
As they passed through the gate, it snapped shut behind them like a set of iron jaws.
This large, castle-like edifice was the estate of Eunuch Rai Ingyō. Rai Ingyō stayed at the estate when he was not residing in the Emperor’s harem in the Imperial Palace. He used the estate as a personal residence and fortified its defenses; the estate was far more defensible than his relatively exposed chambers in the palace. There were also many political rivals and enemies in the palace that he would rather avoid. He feared being targeted by local underworld organizations.
Chō Ran had Ko Biji wait in one room while he waited in another. Rai Ingyō was not currently at his estate, but he should return there from the palace relatively soon.
It was clear to Ko Biji that she was under surveillance once again. Trying to escape from this fortress of an estate would be all but impossible.
At that time, Tangut people and immigrants from the Khitan Empire settled in Bianliang, and the city’s easy access to the Yellow Sea to the south opened the city to Arabs, Turks, Persians, and others who came to trade. Consequently, the guest room was filled with exotic furnishings that derived from different cultures.
Rai Ingyō returned to his residence protected by the Imperial Palace Guard,then changed his clothes. He wore a flashy Arabian-style outfit of white silk with red and green patterns. After he was changed, Rai Ingyō went to his receiving room to meet with Chō Ran. He took small steps to a chair and lowered his large body into it with great care.
“It’s been a while, Chō Ran.” Rai Ingyō spoke in a high-pitched voice like a woman’s.
“It’s been too long.” Even in front of the most powerful statesman in all of China, Chō Ran remained composed.
Rai Ingyō smiled fawningly. “I’ve been waiting for you. Every day is a lonely one, Master Chō Taihō.”
Chō Ran chuckled. “So, people still call me by that name? I suppose it was pointless to leave it behind.” His tone was plain and casual; he spoke as if he and Rai Ingyō were old friends.
“I have seen no signs of your enemy emerging from hiding,” Rai Ingyō said, wrapping a lock of hair around his finger. He turned his smooth, beardless face toward Chō Ran.
The history of eunuchs was long. They existed in Egypt, Greece, Rome, Turkey, Korea, and all parts of Asia since well before the start of the Common Era. Emperors were absolute rulers, but were as prone to jealousy and loneliness as any ordinary man. It was difficult for them to trust their subordinates, so eunuchs, who were both men and not men, were used as trusted vassals. Eunuchs were considered a necessary evil. Civil servants who had passed the civil service examinations called themselves “clear streams,” which was a euphemism for fine, upstanding citizens with no stain on their records. Eunuchs were dubbed “muddy streams”—a euphemism for contemptible, impure people.
When a man cut off his own genitals, he was called self-castrated, and when a man was castrated by another and served in the harem, he was called a eunuch. During castration, the penis and testicles were tied together with a strong thread, and then cut off along the thread with a razor. The genitals would be held horizontally between two pieces of a bamboo cutting board and the razor would slide along the bamboo in one swift motion.
There were also various other methods, such as placing the genitals on a chopping block and slicing them off in one swift blow. Castration specialists existed: people who made a living by creating eunuchs. There were even parents who castrated their children as babies so that they would become successful eunuchs when they reached adulthood. The organs that were cut off were called sacred treasures and were carefully kept; they served as evidence when a eunuch was promoted in civil service.
Sacred treasures were valuable and sometimes stolen, so there were many eunuchs who bought other people’s organs when they were relieved of their own. A trusted position in the Imperial Court was worth a great deal.
Rai Ingyō was completely castrated, so even at the age of forty, he was completely feminine in appearance. He was emotional, volatile, and weak when isolated. Despite this, he possessed a keen mind and proved impossible to supplant or replace. He was empowered by the Empress Dowager to crush the salt smugglers and had made significant efforts in that direction.
Chō Ran’s parents had tried to make him a eunuch when he was three, but they stopped the process after they had cut off the penis, since they felt sorry for him. This humiliation cast a shadow over Chō Ran’s life and character. He was naturally a calm person, but could sometimes act with ruthless brutality. Unlike Rai Ingyō, he had a dark complexion, a beard, and a deep voice. On the surface of things, he was a man, but he was a man who could not bring himself to sleep with a woman. He was unable to sleep too close to Ko Biji because of this.
Rai Ingyō took a sip of some tea brought in by a servant girl. “The salt smugglers’ unity is greater than I imagined. Ryū Gen is in hiding.”
“I couldn’t catch Tanshi.”
“That’s too bad.”
“He made a great escape. I ended up killing Imperial Guardsmen.”
“Yes, but no one got a good look at your face. Don’t worry about it.” Rai Ingyō didn’t really care about the deaths of some Imperial Guardsmen, even though he held great authority over the Imperial Guards and China’s armies. He even commanded his own unit of special forces. As long as those hand-picked men were safe, he didn’t really mind what happened to the others.
“If you are captured, things will get complicated. The local magistrates and the city governor are dealing under the table. I cannot expunge your record of a crime at this time, not when we are being so closely watched.”
“I understand.”
Local high-ranking officials had strong authority to check—or cooperate with—the prefectural governors. Even among the officials directly appointed by the Emperor, there was complicated intertwining of personal interests. Chō Ran had hidden in an estate in Xiangzhou, following the instructions of Rai Ingyō, to avoid being detected by the Imperial Army. The carriages and horses of the Imperial Guard that came to meet him and Ko Biji were also ordered by Rai Ingyō.
“That said, I intend to apply to have your criminal record expunged when the time is right,” Rai Ingyō said. “I would have already, but these are difficult times. How I long to return to the past…”
Imperial power was now centralized under the Emperor, unlike in the previous Tang Dynasty where power was shared more evenly between the Emperor, the eunuchs and the Prime Minister. Now Empress Dowager Liu twisted the government to support her own interests and weakened the individual authority of everyone else. Even Rai Ingyō struggled under this system. It took a lot of time to placate the fractious people sitting in the Imperial Court, and any one of his orders could be countermanded by Empress Dowager Liu even with everyone else’s consensus. Chō Ran knew this, too.
“I won’t be caught, but I’m more concerned about Vice Chancellor Fan Zhongyan,” Chō Ran said.
Rai Ingyō’s pale face twisted in a grimace. “I was told by an officer serving the Privy Council that he is targeting me.”
“I’ve confirmed this through my own sources,” Chō Ran said sternly.
Rai Ingyō beat his breast and said, “It is so frightening. You cannot even imagine.”
“Is that why you brought me here?”
“That’s right. I’m counting on you to protect me.”
Officers serving the Privy Council were stationed throughout the country. In addition to guarding the Imperial Palace, they investigated illegal activities by government officials and soldiers and reported them secretly to the Emperor. It seemed that Rai Ingyō had one of these officers in his own employ, though this was obviously a conflict of interest.
“The Empress Dowager is also very displeased, and this has an impact on the authority of the Imperial Court, so she wants us to deal with it quickly. Everything depends on catching the big fish. Only by defeating Ryū Gen will you be able to gain the ear of the Empress Dowager and achieve greatness. You will easily be able to obtain the title of Master that you desire.”
“Hmm…” Chō Ran was anxious about Rai Ingyō’s news, but tried not to let it show. “I have a plan, so don’t worry.”
Chō Ran was mildly disgusted by Rai Ingyō’s feminine behavior, but he tolerated it; he’d always had a bit of a weakness for him.
“I will protect you with my life. I will definitely kill Ryū Gen and Tanshi.”
He was not going to assassinate Ryū Gen for Rai Ingyō, even if that was what it looked like from the outside. Everything he did was to advance his own ambitions. Deep down, all Chō Ran wanted was to fight for his own future.
***
The Emperor said: “It is our divine command to subdue the four seas and demonstrate our might to our foreign enemies. This auspicious sign led us to the sacred mountain, Mount Tai, where we will dispatch our troops.” In order to redeem the disgrace that had been caused by the peace treaty with the Khitan Empire made at Chanyuan, Emperor Zhenzong listened to Wang Qinruo’s petition and decided to go to war.
China’s First Emperor Qin and Emperor Wu of Han had both demonstrated their might to the rest of the world through military campaigns just such as this. However, a large imperial procession required an equally large budget for travel expenses. The peasants, of course, were the ones who had to bear all these expenses.
And there was no need for any of this; that was the real tragedy. The sacred scroll that had fallen on the Imperial Palace was a fake created by Wang Qinruo in imitation of the True Buddhism sect. It was a scheme hatched by Wang Qinruo and the martial artist Zhu Neng, who was a guest of honor in the palace at the time. Zhu Neng wanted Wang Qinruo to find a way to advance their careers at court. To this end, Zhu Neng asked his disciple Chō Taihō, who excelled in academics and was knowledgeable about Daoism (though he was not good at science) to create a suitable forgery of a sacred scroll. If the young Chō Taihō were to receive the title of Master from the Emperor, he would gain great prestige in the world of Daoism. Founding his own sect of Buddhism would not be out of the question.
And so fifteen years passed.
***
During the reign of Emperor Renzong, Chō Ran rekindled his relationship with his old friend Rai Ingyō, who had risen to his lofty position in the Imperial Court. Chō Ran petitioned through Ding Wei to be granted a pardon by Empress Dowager Liu. Rai Ingyō advised him that defeating the salt smuggler Ryū Gen would be the only way to impress Empress Dowager Liu and lead to a pardon. He would also gain his own noble title of Master and become Rai Ingyō’s bodyguard.
Rai Ingyō’s face darkened. “I don’t feel at ease if I don’t know where Tanshi is.”
“We have his woman. As bait.”
“Ah, an important hostage. Is she beautiful?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent. The Emperor is newly fourteen years old, so it’s about time for him to start looking for a wife.”
Chō Ran understood Rai Ingyō’s plans. Rai Ingyō had found Empress Dowager Liu and made her the previous Emperor’s wife, after all.
Chō Ran grinned wryly. “Hmm…”
“If you kill Tanshi, will the woman cry?” Rai Ingyō asked.
“Who cares? I was friends with the governor for a long time. I won’t forgive him. He has to die.”
Chō Ran’s friend was none other than the governor of Chenzhou, whom Tanshi had killed.
Chō Ran’s tone became sarcastic. “Do you fear losing money, since I am protecting you?”
“You are not cheap to defend, or to hire.”
“I will kill Ryū Gen, and we will be even.”
“Sure,” Chō Ran said.
Translator's Notes
1 朱能: Zhu Neng served the Imperial Court during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song as an army inspector. He forged a sacred scroll with accomplices. After the plot failed, he was killed. ↩
2 承天門 : Tiananmen (Gate of Heaven-Sent Peace) is the entrance gate to the Forbidden City palace complex and Imperial City. ↩
3 女真: Jurchen is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian people who lived in northeastern China, also known as Manchuria, before the 18th century. Different Jurchen groups lived as hunter-gatherers, pastoralist semi-nomads, or sedentary agriculturists. Generally lacking a central authority, and having little communication with each other, many Jurchen groups fell under the influence of neighboring dynasties, though they were not considered under Chinese imperial authority. ↩
4 淑景園: The Inner Palace, also called the Court Ladies' Residence, was the location of the Emperor's harem inside the Imperial Palace. ↩
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