This short story is an entry in the 2001 Soc.Sexuality.Spanking Summer Short Story Contest and is copyright by the author and commercial use is prohibited without permission. Personal/private copies are permitted only if complete including the copyright notice. The author would appreciate your comments
Category: Adult, or perhaps Edge?
This, believe it or not, is a true story. This actually happened, and all the details are accurate. Yeah, I know you 'know' what happens to eunuchs, but where did you get your information from? Believe me, the details I have given are absolutely true, you will probably be surprised to know. Maybe you will want to discuss this true story with me? Why not. Send me an e-mail, and I'll happily give the truth about the effect of castration on a man, or how concubine Wan rose from being a nursemaid to a small boy, but seduced him when he became heir apparent, and became his regular bedmate when he became emperor, even though she was seventeen years older than he. And she really was flogged, and the empress who ordered the flogging was actually demoted. Who said that truth is stranger than fiction!
The Price of Impetuosity
By
Valerie Meilong <VMeilong1@excite.com>
It was three weeks ago, in August 1465, the first year of the Chenghua emperor's reign, when Empress Wu married him. She was just fourteen. The marriage was still not consummated! She was still a virgin. He preferred his nursemaid, seventeen years older than he, with whom he had been sleeping for some years now. Wu was green with envy.
She thought deeply. Ming House-law required concubines, to get the empress's permission to go to the emperor's bed. It was a formality that was seldom demanded, however, but the law did exist. As empress, she had the power to take action, so she took it. Boldly, and impetuously, she ordered that Wan was to be flogged.
They took Wan to the Court of Punishments, in the north-east corner of the Forbidden City, and spread-eagled her face down on the ground. Two eunuchs held her wrists; two held her ankles. Her trousers were removed, and her skirts were lifted to her waist. The senior eunuch, Li Huang, picked up the four-foot long cane. He was worried. It would be dangerous if a flogging ordered by the empress was not applied with vigour, and yet he knew the victim was the emperor's favourite. He sighed. No matter what he did, he would be unpopular.
A flogging ordered by an empress usually meant one hundred blows, but he decided that forty strokes would be a reasonable compromise. Would the emperor praise him for keeping the number of blows to a reasonably small figure? And he'd better make sure the cane did not break the skin. He lifted the cane high with both hands, and brought it down on Concubine Wan's bare bottom. She screamed. By the tenth stroke she was almost hoarse. She struggled violently. It was not easy to hold her down, but the eunuchs were stronger than she.
The eunuchs at her ankles were enjoying what she was revealing, for eunuchs with only the testicles removed still retain an interest in sex, though much reduced. Both had erections under their loose trousers. Li Huang smiled. He knew that the duty of holding the ankles of females being flogged was a popular one.
The flogging and the screaming continued.
Wan was carried to her quarters, and the emperor, who had heard about the flogging too late to prevent it, hurried to her side. She was lying face down, weeping. He dismissed the two attending maids and removed the silk covering Wan's bottom. He winced when he saw the vivid weals and bruises. He ran his hand over the burning flesh, and she moaned. His anger rose. He too could take action. "Strip the empress of her rank," he ordered. One week later the formalities were concluded. Only thirty-two days after her elevation, Empress Wu was reduced to the rank of a mere concubine, and confined in the Cold Palace.
Of course, a new empress had to be found. This one, however, was more discreet in applying the Ming House-law.
The End
© Copyright Summer, 2001
Reviews
Tami <tamishy(at)webtv(dot)net>
A classic case of jealousy, revenge, and a future wishing neither one had been a factor. My sympathy for the fallen empress. Sometimes you have to stand up for you honor even though you risk losing everything else.
Jodi <ladiejj(at)webtv(dot)net>
This was a very interesting story. I think that the author did a good job of making the characters clear and interesting using so few words. The details of this story were well written and drew the readers attention. A nice story that provided some unknown information.