The Last Empress
The She-Dragon of China
Chapter One
No joy shall be equal ...
When the Emperor Hsien Feng turned over a jade plaque on
the ivory table next to his chamber the fate of the last
Dynasty to rule the Middle Kingdom was changed irrecoverably
in a single action. The plaque bore the name of a young
concubine from his harem and indicated that she was to be
his bed-companion for the evening. That night, as was the
custom, covered only by a red silk sheet, the girl was carried
on the back of a eunuch to the Emperor's stone-flagged room
and laid naked at the foot of his bed, up which she had to crawl
to the Lord of Ten Thousand Years, so symbolising her complete
subjection to the will of the Celestial Prince.
The girl who was to become the Last Empress of China, was
known to the Manchu as Yehonala, from her clan name, the
Yeho-Nala. She was just sixteen when she was chosen as a concubine
for the Emperor Hsien Feng's harem, and forced to leave
her family home and her betrothed forever. But entrance to the
Emperor's seraglio did not guarantee time with the Celestial
Prince - his harem was well-stocked with beautiful women
chosen from across the Empire and Yehonala was to languis ... read full excerpt from The Last Empress: The She-Dragon of China ebook
