Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 431 Miss Yuan

Because the emperor died at the young age of nineteen, he only had a princess with Consort Pan who was not yet a month old, and did not have time to give birth to a prince.

Normally, at this point, a close relative of the imperial family would be chosen to succeed to the throne.

But Empress Dowager Hu had fought with the imperial clan for half her life, how could she dare to let a member of the imperial clan who was not related to her by blood become emperor?
"Why don't we just let the Empress Dowager ascend the throne and become an empress herself?" Zheng Yan suggested, offering a bold idea.

"This..." Empress Dowager Hu was tempted, but still felt that how could a woman become emperor? She would definitely be opposed by the people of the world.

In the end, she shook her head and said, "This is not a solution. There will never be an empress in the world."

“Then someone has to be the emperor, right?” Zheng Yan said with a worried look. “If the Empress Dowager doesn’t designate one, it will benefit those members of the imperial clan.”

"We absolutely cannot let the throne fall into the wrong hands!" Empress Dowager Hu said resolutely. "First, treat my granddaughter as a boy and make her emperor to stabilize the people's hearts, and then we can make a long-term plan."

"Huh?" Now it was Zheng Yan's turn to be surprised. "This works?"

"That child is only a few days old, not even registered in the imperial genealogy. I say he's a boy, so he is a boy," Empress Dowager Hu said domineeringly. "Anyone who dares to say he's a girl, I'll exterminate their entire family!"

Thus, the death of the late emperor was announced, his will was issued, and preparations for the funeral and enthronement began—the whole process had commenced…

The emperor was young, and had been riding and hunting just a few days before, when he suddenly died. The news of his death naturally shocked the court and the public.

But what's even more shocking is that a prince actually succeeded to the throne!
"Where did this prince come from?" Upon hearing the imperial edict, the officials and nobles were in an uproar.

The succession of the emperor's sons is a matter of great importance to the nation, and everyone is well aware of this. The late emperor only had one daughter left.

Although the baby girl was not yet a month old and had not been officially registered in the imperial genealogy, her birth was no secret. Not only was it common knowledge, but everyone also sent congratulatory messages to the emperor on the occasion of the birth of his daughter.

What? Suddenly having a daughter has become having a son? There should be a limit to how much Empress Dowager Hu can go on tinkering; this is completely out of line!

The crowd was in uproar. The imperial family members united and led the officials to gather outside Xianyang Hall to demand an explanation.

Empress Dowager Hu, seeing that she had incurred public wrath and knowing that using a girl to impersonate a boy was indeed outrageous, issued an imperial edict stating:

"Since Consort Pan became pregnant in the palace, hoping to give birth to two heirs, but there was no sign of pregnancy, and the necromancer appeared. At that time, because the country was not yet in good health, he pretended to be the heir to the throne, hoping to stabilize the situation and rely on the emperor."

He made a pretext that because the emperor had suddenly passed away without leaving any sons, he had lied about calling the princess a 'prince' in order to maintain national stability.

He even had the audacity to say, "Now that people's hearts have not wavered, we will depose the princess and install the three-year-old Prince of Lintao, Yuan Zhao, son of Yuan Baohui, as emperor." This is blatant lying.

And so be it. They even specifically chose a three-year-old child without a father, making no attempt to conceal their intention to continue ruling as regent.

The court and the public had long suffered under the Empress Dowager's rule, and now they despised her even more. Rumors began to circulate again that the Emperor had been poisoned to death by the Empress Dowager with mutton marrow soup. Later, seeing that he was not quite dead, the Empress Dowager ordered the imperial physicians to insert gold needles into the back of the Emperor's head, stirring his brains into a thin porridge, thus killing him alive.

The rumors were so detailed and convincing, it was as if the emperor had witnessed it himself. And so, one wave subsided only to be followed by another, with members of the imperial family and officials submitting petitions demanding an investigation into the emperor's death, practically asking Empress Dowager Hu to prove her innocence.

"Didn't you promise that no word would leak out?" Empress Dowager Hu scolded as she threw a pile of memorials on the table at Zheng Yan's face.

Zheng Yan knelt on the ground, not daring to utter a word or flinch, but inwardly he was unconvinced, thinking to himself: 'You said that as long as their attention was focused on the woman turning into a man, no one would investigate the emperor's cause of death. But it turned out nothing was delayed…' In truth, such so-called secrets could never be kept hidden forever. And even without anyone knowing the truth, everyone would fill in the blanks with their own imaginations; this has been true throughout history. Empress Dowager Hu and Zheng Yan were utterly foolish—like a mother opening the door for a foolish son.

She thought she could do whatever she wanted just because she was the Empress Dowager, but now she realizes that's not the case at all...

Previously, no one could do anything about Empress Dowager Hu because she was the emperor's mother. Now, she has actually conspired with her male lovers to murder her own son, the emperor. This heinous and perverse act will naturally lead to the loss of public support and her being abandoned by both the court and the people!
However, the military and political power in the capital remained in the hands of Empress Dowager Hu and her male favorites, and the princes and ministers could not overturn it. For a time, they were caught in a dilemma, afraid to fight on both sides, and the situation remained deadlocked.

Until a deafening roar from the sky, the man made a terrifying entrance.

~~
Erzhu Rong has been feeling really down these past few days.

His Qihu cavalry had assembled in the shortest possible time and launched a swift attack, reaching Shangdang and seemingly poised to cross the Taihang Mountains and descend upon Luoyang. Suddenly, he received a secret edict from the capital, in which the emperor actually ordered him to return to his capital.

Erzhu Rong was furious, but there was nothing he could do. Without the emperor's permission, he couldn't possibly enter Luoyang with his mere ten thousand Qihu cavalry.

Just as he was disappointed and preparing to disband his troops and return home, he received new news—the emperor had died, and the new emperor was a baby less than a month old.

Erzhu Rong was completely dumbfounded. How could he have lost even the emperor who appreciated him? How was he supposed to live like this?
The next day, however, news arrived that the young emperor was actually a girl. The Empress Dowager had been playing a trick on everyone; now the emperor was a three-year-old boy, and the previous one didn't count.

"Are you kidding me?!" Erzhu Rong tore the intelligence report to shreds and cursed, "Do you think everyone in the world is stupid?! All the officials in the court should be killed too, yet they let that old hag do things against the tide, ruining the Great Wei!"

"..." Gao Huan, Heba Yue, Murong Shaozong, Hou Jing, and all the generals of the Erzhu family dared not breathe loudly as they watched Erzhu Rong lash out.

In fact, at least the first four people knew very well that Erzhu Rong was not angry that those people had ruined the country, but rather that he had no excuse to go to the capital and seize power.

Moreover, without the emperor's support, he couldn't mobilize a large army and could only rely on his own 10,000 Qihu cavalry. He didn't have the strength to force his way in.

My cousin Erzhu Zhongyuan was still trying to persuade me: "Brother, let's go to Luoyang ourselves. Who can defeat us?!"

"Yes, kill all those who disagree!" A group of Erzhu shouted in unison, "Let's see who dares to disagree then!"

"You know nothing!" Erzhu Rong cursed. "Wouldn't that be considered a rebellion?"

"Let's rebel then!" the Erzhus declared, their necks shrugs.

"Bullshit! Why would I rebel when I'm in such a favorable situation?!" Erzhu Rong cursed angrily. The reason he relied so heavily on outsiders was because his own people were incredibly stupid...

"What do you think?" Erzhu Rong asked, looking at his true advisors.

"Wait, there's no need to rush to dismiss the troops," Heba Yue said in a deep voice. "The political situation is constantly changing, and there may still be an opportunity."

"Why don't we consult your sworn brother?" Gao Huan suggested more proactively, "and see what he has to say."

Erzhu Rong was overjoyed upon hearing this and patted Gao Huan on the shoulder, saying, "Right, right, how could I have forgotten about that?"

(End of this chapter)