Alastair Macleod 
Sleepy Lion and Dark Lotus 

‘the Chinese empire was vast and so was the Chinese army. In Bejing the Imperial Palace was enormous with many rooms, for the royal court, for courtiers, cooks and servants.But the emperor had enemies. When you rule a country you cannot please everybody, some are disgruntled because the taxes are too high others because their part of China had been conquered by the emperor in the past. To protect against these enemies the emperor had many guards both outside and inside the palace- trained men, well armed and alert. You would not imagine if you saw him in his living quarters with the empress that the emperor was in any danger’