human
Has the Empress Dowager ceased prosecuting her search for you reformers?
gpt
Not yet,
human
And what is she doing?
gpt
Killing some, banishing others, driving many away from the capital, while still others are going into self-imposed exile.
human
Does the Emperor know anything about this?
gpt
No doubt, he replied.
human
Everybody knows it, why not he?
gpt
That will make his imprisonment all the harder to bear,
human
Quite right,
gpt
There is general alarm in the city that the Emperor himself will be disposed of; what do you think about it?
human
Who can tell? He has not a friend in the palace except the first concubine, and, I am told, that she like himself is kept in close confinement. The Empress stands by her aunt, the Empress Dowager, while the eunuchs now are all her tools. The officials who go into the palace to audiences are all conservative and hence against him, though I suppose they never see him.
gpt
Do you suppose he ever sees the edicts issued in his name?
human
Not at all. They are made by the conservatives and the Empress Dowager and issued without his knowledge.
gpt
And what do you propose to do?
human
I shall leave for Shanghai as soon as I can safely do so,