Qing Victorious
A Fearless Leader TL
Prologue: August 1900
The Imperial Capital reeked of chaos...
It also reeked of smoke, gunpowder, and Heaven knew what else. Drawing his peasant’s robe over his face Prince Ronglu grimaced as he shuffled through the streets of Beijing. He could barely contain his humiliation as he continued along the road that led out of the city, how was it that he, a Manchu prince, was was forced to flee his own city for fear of western barbarians? The world had truly been turned on its head in recent years...
But he couldn’t focus on that, right now they needed to get the Empress Dowager out of the capital. Soon enough the westerners would leave, like they had before when they occupied Beijing. Then he’d return along with the Empress Dowager and pick up the pieces, just like they had almost 40 years ago. Exactly how remained to be seen but right now...
A sudden shriek pierced the din of Beijing and startled Ronglu out of his reverie. With a start he turned...
NO!
It couldn’t be, he’d insured that the Empress Dowager and he were guarded by as many Imperial guardsmen as they could spare...
Now as he knelt down beside the crumpled figure that used to be the Empress Dowager he knew it wasn’t enough. Already he could see that she was losing far too much blood, the wound was fatal. Reaching towards the soaked portion of her robe Ronglu’s fingers confirmed his suspicions, the
Empress Dowager had minutes left to live.
Looking up from Cixi’s crumpled form he glared at the guardsmen standing mutely around the pair. “How did this happen?” he demanded.
They said nothing.
Standing up Ronglu grabbed the nearest guardsman “WHO DID THIS?” he yelled
“It was Reshen*...” he said quietly “...it all happened so fast, he moved, and then, then he was gone...”
That was enough for Ronglu who, without thinking, plunged his dagger into the guardsman’s stomach. As he collapsed to the ground, Ronglu turned to face the rest of the guardsmen. “You two...” he said “find your companion and bring me his head.” He paused “The rest of you, we will proceed with the Empress Dowager’s body and make for Xi’an at all possible speed...”
(From “The Anachronistic Empire: The story of the Qing Dynasty” David Jung 1997)
...The assassination of the Empress Dowager Cixi during the final days of the Boxer Rebellion certainly marks a decisive point in the history of the Qing Dynasty. The de facto ruler of China since 1861, the Empress Dowager, had for years played a crucial role as Imperial Regent in the tripartite entity that was the Imperial court. Her assassination along with the downfall of the conservative faction within the court removed two parts of the trinity leaving the Guangxu Emperor as the only remaining piece...
...Following her assassination numerous stories and rumours began to appear as to the exact series of events that preceded her demise. Poison, along with causes both natural and non-natural were put forward. All that is certain is that she died while fleeing Beijing in the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion. Though modern forensic scientists have offered their services as to ascertain her cause of death the Imperial family has declined preferring to leave the Empress Dowager to rest in peace thus condemning us to forever debate exactly what caused the “Dragon Lady” to give up her tenacious grip on life...
...Of particular note is a series of documents labelled as the diaries of an Imperial guardsman. These diaries spin a surprisingly detailed account of the Empress Dowagers’ final moments and claim that an Imperial guardsman having decided that the Empress Dowager was the main reason behind the downfall of the Qing Dynasty took it upon himself to slay her. Upon doing so he quickly left the group and, being disguised in peasant garb, immediately disappeared into the crowds that infused Beijing during the heady days of August 1900...
*A horrible attempt at making up a Manchu name I'll admit
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