The Emperor — Volume 04

A palace morning centers on a long-serving attendant who, while performing the routine tasks of preparing his master, becomes emotionally unmoored after hearing a Christian overseer address a group of laborers. The overseer’s message about suffering, consolation, and a promised reunion with the departed awakens memories of loss and prompts fantasies of escape from servitude. Interwoven with details of baths, garments, and worksite rituals, the account contrasts the hardships of slaves and laborers with acts of shared charity and the gradual, quiet influence of religious compassion on individual conscience and social relations within the household.