Preposterous. Ludicrous. Completely out of hand.
Behind closed doors, these were the words and phrases used most commonly by court officials to describe His Majesty's latest set of decisions.
And who could blame them? The heir of Prince Zhenhai, a warlord's son, breached the rules against leaving his father's territory to visit the capital without permission and trawl through its brothels in a flashy show of decadence. And what did the emperor do? He insisted Xie Qinzhen had been officially called in by secret summons, rewarded such blatant disregard of authority by bequeathing him the title of Duke Xianglin, Duke Vanquisher of Jungles and in the biggest slap to the face of everyone who had disapproved of the imperial marriage between two men, betrothed him to the youngest son of Grand Tutor Lu Yang.
