五

"Empress Dowager, do you trust their so-call reforms?"

"Reforms? What kind of reforms?"

"The emperor had recently issued a reform, your highness. A reform of modernizing our country."

"Why should I be worry of this reform? This would benefit us and bring order to the peasantry. But if the reform also includes...."

"Your highness?"

"Zhou ZiTing!"

"Yes, your highness?"

"Have a closer look in these new reforms, report back to me immediately if found anything suspicious."

"As you command your majesty."

[...]

"Done!" DeYue celebrates. Holding in his hands is all of his political and social ideals that he had spent restless nights writing everything and timeless hours he discussed with many other young patriotic reformists non-stop. His hands grew sore and tired, while his backaches in pain. Picking up his tea beside his table, he drinks the tea slowly. Refreshing his ever-drying mouth.

"LiuQi!" he calls.

"Yes, master?"

"Have my uniform ready, I'll be heading towards the palace later!" Saying this, DeYue stretches his body out of stiffness. Walking around his room, he picks up his feather hat. Tidying the feather, he takes a deep breath as his mind runs wild. He closes his eyes, listening to the rhythm of his heart, he counts the number of beats to calm his overworked mind.

He breaks off his process of meditation as soon as he heard LiuQi's footsteps nearing his room.

"LiuQi, tell me. Is YanTing alright these days?" DeYue asks. "Don't you worry master; She is in good hands." LiuQi replies. "That's good to hear," DeYue says.

[...]

"Long live the emperor! Long live his reign!" DeYue kowtowed.

"Arise,"

"Thanks, your majesty." DeYue gets onto his feet. "Say DeYue, mind walking around the gardens with me?" The emperor asks. DeYue complies as he follows the emperor alongside his eunuchs to the Imperial Gardens.

A nostalgic sense of the times where the lands blooms and grass runs wild across the vast lands, Summer floods his mind with every step he takes. The vivid colors of the flowers bring the whole place into life, attracting little insects roaming around the gardens.

"What do you think about the garden?" the emperor asks. "A rare scene for a person like me to witness your majesty." The emperor burst into laughter shortly after listening to his humbleness.

"Now about the reform."

"Oh right," Retrieving his book from his sleeves, he kneels himself before the emperor. "Your majesty," DeYue hands his book to the emperor. "Abolishing Imperial examinations, establishing a modern education system, modernizing and adopting modern military training and drill methods..." the emperor briefs through the pages. "I could almost envision our empire regaining our former strength and finally having the chance of getting revenge from the Japanese. Yet there is something still concerns me to this day," the emperor pauses.

"Your majesty?"

"DeYue, I fully supported your efforts in reforms and political ideas, and also ready to make any form of sacrifices if necessary but If there's anything that could possibly put an end to the reforms. It would be no other than the empress dowager Cixi."