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I have a friend in Peking who is also a friend of one of the
greatest Chinese officials. This official has gone into the
palace daily for a dozen years past and knows every plot and
counterplot that has been hatched in that nest of seclusion
during all that time, though he has been implicated in none of
them. He has held the highest positions in the gift of the empire
without ever once having been degraded. One day when he was in
the palace the Emperor unburdened his heart to him, thinking that
what he said would never reach the ears of his enemies.
"You have no idea," said the Emperor, "what I suffer here."
"Indeed?" was the only reply of the official.
"Yes," continued the Emperor, "I am not allowed to speak to any
one from outside. I am without power, without companions, and
even the eunuchs act as though they are under no obligations to
respect me. The position of the lowest servant in the palace is
more desirable than mine." Then lowering his voice he continued,
"But there is a day of reckoning to come. The Empress Dowager
cannot live forever, and if ever I get my throne again I will see
to it that those who put me here will suffer as I have done."
It is not unlikely that this conversation of the Emperor reached
the ears of Yuan Shih-kai. Walls have ears in China. Everything
has ears, and every part of nature has a tongue. If so, here was
the occasion for the last plot in the drama of the Emperor's
life, and next to the last in the official life of Yuan Shih-kai
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