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Along the same lines, one aspect of the book so far has confused me, not knowing much about the intricacies of the Chinese ruling systems and so forth.
First Cixi is presented as having almost total control after her husband's (he was her husband too, yes?) death and the coup, ruling with the empress and the red ink stamps that they used to make decisions for the young future emperor.
Then, out of nowhere, in I think it was chapter 7, there is I think it was a grand council who seem just as strong if not stronger than her, allowing her favourite eunuch (and possibly her lover) to be executed after he was arrested for leaving palace grounds.
Did I miss part of the text? Did I accidentally skip a chapter where the book explained this council? Because the tone shift seemed jarring to me, from the book making out as if Cixi had all the power to all of the sudden there's this group of men whom she had to be very careful of.
I know there was the council of men who were supposed to rule until her son became emperor that she and the empress overthrew, but unless I missed a pertinent explanation, another council being formed that had that much power wasn't mentioned until chapter 7. Perhaps her forming a new council after the coup was mentioned, but if so, it was related as if they didn't have any real power and definitely didn't have any power over her; as if she ruled over them instead and they could only manage the mundane bureaucracy and must have everything approved by her.
It doesn't make sense. If she ruled with the red ink stamps, then how were the others able to have her eunuch lover executed? Couldn't she have just made a decree with the stamp?
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