Chapter 363: Mother and the Empress
The imperial palace should have been the Emperor’s home, but after being away from “home” for many days, Han Ruzi upon his return did not feel like he was coming home. Even before entering the city, just thinking of the palace’s high walls filled him with a slight sense of revulsion, and he suddenly realized that one reason he had been reluctant to return to the Capital was that he did not want to go back to the palace.
He quickly adjusted his mood. Regardless, he was now the master of the imperial palace.
The Emperor’s return to the Capital involved many matters to attend to, but the first was not affairs of state, nor was it reuniting with the Empress, but rather paying respects to the Empress Dowager.
Empress Dowager Shangguan remained the Emperor’s nominal mother, and the customs of Great Chu required the Emperor to display sufficient filial piety, while the Empress Dowager had to show sufficient maternal love.
Neither Han Ruzi nor Empress Dowager Shang-guan could truly do this, but fortunately there were the Ministry of Rites and the palace eunuchs. With their rich experience, they used perfect and elaborate ceremonies to make up for all deficiencies and cover all awkwardness: a group of eunuchs presented local specialties on the Emperor’s behalf that he had never even seen, while a female official spoke warm words of comfort to the Emperor who had returned from his distant journey.
Since the Emperor had already assumed personal rule, he no longer needed to kneel. Saying “Your son pays respects to the Empress Dowager; having traveled far abroad, I have caused the Empress Dowager worry” was sufficient to complete the task.
The Empress Dowager only needed to maintain her smile.
It was not until he moved to another room and met privately with his birth mother, Maiden Wang, that Han Ruzi felt at ease and called out with deep emotion, “Mother.”
Maiden Wang had her own palace quarters, but she usually still lived with the Empress Dowager, observing the protocols of a concubine, which earned her considerable reputation.