The Life and Times of Master Han Fei

Chapter Seventeen

"When dealing with a ruler, if you talk about high caliber people, he will think you are suggesting that he is inferior to them; and if you discuss low caliber people, he will think you are trying to make yourself look good so you can manipulate him."

-Master Han Fei

The prince was ushered into the palace quite (in his opinion) unceremoniously. "How rude!" he sniffed on many an occasion, glaring at the guard as commoners jostled past them, carrying out their daily duties without a second thought.

It wasn't that he wanted the hordes of Qin citizens to stop, gawk, and bow at the very sight of him, but he had expected, and perhaps needed, some show of recognition and reverence. He was a prince, after all.

The exterior of the Summer Palace was underwhelming. Han, had he not been led around by the Qin, would have thought it just another bland, soulless building among a neighborhood of bland, soulless buildings had the guard not said in a very explicit manner, "This is the Summer Palace." And even then, the prince was still so busy wallowing self-pity over being ignored by the commoners that he almost could not hear the Qin guard's loud, clear voice.

It did not resemble, in any way, a palace. The palaces Han had grown accustomed to were temples to royal power; they were shrines to the glorious magnificence of the kingdoms. But this so-called "Summer Palace?" It was not fit to even serve as Han's sleeping quarters!

"Let us not keep His Majesty, may he live a hundred thousand years, waiting too long," the guard cut in snidely, interrupting Han's stream of thought. "People in the Qin kingdom have grown accustomed to being treated with respect. One of the ways to show respect is to be punctual. A shocking and novel idea it must seem to you!"

The Han kingdom prince crossed his arms, fuming silently. The smirking guard knocked on the undecorated doors three times, before stepping back. The doors swung open, and Han, for once, was rendered speechless.

The hallway the doors had concealed was magnificent. It radiated with power, with the might of the Qin king. The priceless wood furniture that decorated the space was carved with the skill only a master could have and was lacquered to perfection; it had an oily sheen, a glow to it that outshone the sun itself.

The only flaw Han could notice was a rather uncluttered part of the wall to the side of the prince, with none of the figurines and scrolls that were hung up everywhere else.

The guard chuckled. "This hallway was installed against the wishes of the king. It is much too ostentatious for his taste. He did not commission these pieces of furniture to be made. It was by circumstance that His Royal Majesty, may he live a hundred thousand years, was forced to have this hallway look like this. "

"I don't understand."

"Everything in this room was taken from the kingdoms the Qin kingdom has overcome. King Zheng, may he live a hundred thousand years, hopes to have finished filling this hallway with spoils of victorious wars by the end of his lifetime. That spot there," the soldier pointed at the empty space on the wall Han had noticed before, "is where he plans to decorate next. He is quite anxious to finish decorating this hall."

Han swallowed slowly. The sheer amount of ornate furniture and other priceless objects of luxury looked different to him, more impressive. Every scroll he passed, every jade figurine...the Qin king had won every one of them, due to the military ascendance he enjoyed over practically every kingdom and minor state. The riches in this hall alone made the meager displays of the Han king in his own palace seem like nothing more than the pathetic boasts of a faded force. It was like comparing a soldier in his prime-lean, hungry, unstoppable-to a war veteran whose body had been ravaged by the twin forces of time and war.