Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/174

RV 169 (LADY T'AI CHÊN) "Hush!" cautioned his colleague, Han Hsiu. "His Majesty will hear you!"

"Fear not," was the bitter reply. "His Majesty right now has ears for no one but his favorite."

However, the incident gave Chang Kui-ling an idea, and diligently thereafter he nourished his plan until on the occasion of the Emperor's birthday, it was full grown. When others presented rare and costly gifts, he offered only a treatise he had compiled containing admonitions which he had ransacked history to bring together. He called it "The Golden Mirror for the Sovereign's Birthday." Ming Huang was not offended, rather was he pleased by this evidence of diligence. He had great respect for Kui-ling. He admired his integrity and his boldness, but to his wise precepts he turned a deaf ear.

Kui-ling had an engaging way of communicating with other members of his family by carrier pigeons which he called his "Flying Slaves." He had begun training these birds in his youth, with rare understanding, and they responded with all their ability. When his mother died, he planted a purple flowered "shrub of longevity" by her grave whereupon white birds came and nestled in the trees near by, showing by their color that they mourned with him in his grief.

Ming Huang who treasured birds, and gave them sanctuary in the Palace gardens, spent many happy hours with Kui-ling, all cares of state forgotten, experimenting with the little "Flying Slaves," endeavoring to send messages of endearment to Yang Kuei-fei who RV 169 (169)