Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 148 Liu Hong dies
The sixth year of Zhongping, April of summer.

As the sky gradually darkened, the shadows of the trees swayed, and the birds sang. Apart from the natural sounds, the Jiafu Hall was solemn and quiet, and the air seemed to be frozen, giving people an ominous feeling.

With a creak, the bedroom door opened a little, and the eunuch shouted outside.

“Ginseng soup!”

Soon, someone came up from the dim corner of the side hall and took out a small pot of ginseng soup from the stove. The eunuch took the ginseng soup, closed the door and went inside.

“The ginseng soup is here!”

Queen Mother Dong reached out and took the ginseng soup, scooped up the warm soup with a spoon, and said with concern: "Your Majesty!"

Liu Hong looked pale, leaning against the cushion, and said weakly: "Mother, I'm afraid I can't make it!"

Hearing this, Empress Dowager Dong's eyes turned red and she shed tears and said, "How could Hong'er say such an unlucky thing?"

"Drink the ginseng soup today, and your condition will definitely get better!"

As she spoke, Empress Dowager Dong handed over the soup spoon, and Liu Hong reluctantly took a few sips of the ginseng soup.

After drinking about a quarter of the ginseng soup in the pot, Liu Hong shook his head and said, "Mom, I really can't drink any more!"

Empress Dowager Dong wiped her tears and sighed, then asked, "Your Majesty, is there anything else you would like to eat?"

“I have no distractions.”

Liu Hong looked at Liu Xie who was sitting at the table and sighed deeply, "I am only worried about Xie'er now!"

Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Dong pulled the young Liu Xie to her side and said, "Although your majesty has many concubines, the only ones who can succeed to the throne are the prince Bian and Xie'er, whom I raised. However, the prince Bian is frivolous and casual, and has no manners of a ruler, so it is difficult for him to control the people of the Han Dynasty. Xie'er is young and intelligent, can read and understand the classics, and has the manners of a ruler."

"Forgive my old age, but Your Majesty has been hesitant to appoint a crown prince. If something unfortunate happens, do you intend to allow the prince to succeed you, thereby ruining the Han dynasty?"

Liu Hong sighed and said, "The He family is now too powerful to be stopped. Even if I make Xie'er the crown prince, I'm afraid that because of the He family, Bian'er will succeed to the throne."

Empress Dowager Dong was furious when she heard this and said, "Your Majesty is afraid of the He family, but why would I be afraid of them? If He Jin dares to make trouble, I will order the cavalry to cut off his head and support Xie'er to succeed the throne."

Seeing his mother so ignorant, Liu Hong's pale face was full of helplessness.

He had wanted to transfer He Jin out of the capital to lead troops to fight against the rebels in the northwest, and to punish him for his poor military management. However, He Jin used a delaying tactic to delay the expedition, and as a result, Huangfu Song had no choice but to take over.

In the court today, both He Jin and He Miao have the power to establish their own governments and command the military. How can General Dong Chong be able to compete with them?
Seeing that his grandmother and father were arguing, Liu Xie wiped his tears and said, "My father is seriously ill now, grandma, please don't make him angry. If they quarrel like this, I don't want to be the crown prince."

Empress Dowager Dong hugged Liu Xie in her arms and said distressedly: "Xie'er is sensible, I won't say anything more!"

Seeing his youngest son being so considerate, Liu Hong was deeply touched.

"Call Jian Shuo into the palace!"

Liu Hong said: "The He family holds a large number of troops. Whether Xie'er can succeed to the throne now depends on Jian Shuo's ability!"

"it is good!"

Empress Dowager Dong was delighted and quickly sent someone to summon Jian Shuo into the palace.

Not long after, when the palace door was closed, Jian Shuo stepped into the palace in armor. When he saw Liu Hong lying sick on the bed, Jian Shuo burst into tears.

"Don't cry!"

"Come forward, I have something important to ask of you."

"promise!"

Jian Shuo wiped away his tears with his hands, knelt down beside the couch, and said, "Your Majesty, please give your orders!"

Although Liu Hong was weak, he still managed to look at Jian Shuo and asked, "How do I treat you?"

Jian Shuo said: "Your Majesty has been very kind to me, I cannot repay you even if I die a thousand times!"

Liu Hong waved his hand and said slowly: "I don't want you to die, I want you to live."

Jian Shuo tilted his ear and listened carefully to what Liu Hong said.

"I'm afraid my body can't hold on for too long. If I pass away, I'll only worry about Prince Xie's succession to the throne. Now that the He family is prosperous, I have ordered Prince Xie to be the crown prince. I'm afraid that after I pass away, the crown prince's position cannot be secured." Liu Hong slowly explained the strategy to Jian Shuo.

"So I give you an imperial edict. You order someone to quickly summon He to the palace to discuss the matter of the crown prince. You order your elite soldiers to lie in ambush in the palace, and when He enters the palace, you lead your troops to ambush and kill him. Then seal off the forbidden province, order all the ministers to enter the palace to discuss my funeral, and then show the imperial edict to make Liu Xie the successor to the throne."

"Remember that if Liu Xie succeeds to the throne, he should appoint General Yuan Wei as Grand Tutor and have him share the responsibility of Shangshu with Dong Chong to comfort the old members of the He family."

Liu Hong asked weakly, "Do you understand?"

"Understand!"

Jian Shuo nodded, his eyes showing a fierce look, and said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I swear to help the prince succeed to the throne to repay your majesty's favor!"

"good!"

After explaining all this, Liu Hong's breath was weak.

Seeing this, Jian Shuo bowed to Queen Mother Dong and took his leave.

Empress Dowager Dong secretly stopped Jian Shuo and said, "You are weak and alone, and most of the affairs of the Imperial Palace are controlled by Zhang Rang and Duan Gui. If you want to accomplish anything, you may need the cooperation of the eunuchs."

"Yes!" Jian Shuo understood, slowly left Jiafu Hall, and asked someone to find Zhang Rang and Duan Gui.

In the evening, in the side room of Jiafu Hall, as Duan Gui closed the door, the three of them sat down.

"What's the situation?" Zhang Rang asked.

Jian Shuo shook his head and said, "Your Majesty may only be here for one or two days. Now he summoned me to the palace and gave me the order to help the prince ascend to the throne. Moreover, the Empress Dowager Yongle said that if you can help the prince ascend to the throne, you and I will be allowed to assist Dong Huqi in governing the country."

Liu Hong's biological mother, Dong, was not actually the empress dowager. She was canonized as Empress Xiaoren in the court's canonization. It was only because people took Liu Hong's face into consideration and wanted to distinguish her from Empress He that they respectfully called Dong the empress dowager.

Duan Gui looked unhappy and said, "The He family is very powerful now. If we support the prince to ascend the throne, I'm afraid Queen He and the general will not agree."

Jian Shuo sneered and said, "The He family is close to my eunuchs, but He Jin is against me. He Jin has many followers. If He Jin takes control of the court, he will be bewitched by them and destroy you and me. If we want to survive, we can only rely on the troops led by Shuo and help the prince to ascend the throne."

Zhang Rang nodded slightly and said, "You and I helped the He family to rise to its current glory. Now, for the sake of important matters, I have no choice but to let the He family down."

Duan Gui frowned and said, "That needs to be planned out. We need to kill He Jin first, then summon all the ministers to the palace and seal off the internal and external passages to make it clear what the monarch and his subjects are."

"Don't forget the old fox Yuan Wei. He has many former officials and students from the Yuan family. If we can't get his support, it will be difficult to accomplish anything great!" Zhang Rang reminded.

"Your Majesty has already issued an edict to appoint him as the Grand Tutor, and let him and Dong Chong record the affairs of the Shangshu together." Jian Shuo said.

"it is good!"

Zhang Rang and Duan nodded in agreement. Zhang Rang said, "You will be responsible for killing He Jin, while Duan Changshi and I will take care of the officials in the court."

"Thank you, Second Master!"

"Don't dare!"

Compared with Zhang Rang and Duan Gui, Jian Shuo had very little experience. Many officials in the court who were close to eunuchs were more close to Zhang and Duan. In addition to the troops, Jian Shuo could not do without the help of these two if he wanted to support Liu Xie to ascend to the throne.

While the three were talking in secret, suddenly a scream was heard from Jiafu Hall, followed by a howl.

"Snapped!"

Before the three could react, the young eunuch pushed open the door and said in panic, "His Majesty has passed away!"

"what!"

Jian Shuo was shocked for a moment, then exchanged glances with Zhang Rang. He quickly reacted and ordered, "Send an order. Seal off Jiafu Hall. No one is allowed to enter or leave without my order. Anyone who disobeys will be executed immediately."

"promise!"

Zhang Rang pulled Jian Shuo's armor and warned him, "Now, while the ministers are unaware of the news of your majesty's death, we should quickly summon He to the palace in the name of the crown prince."

"good!"

Let alone Jian Shuo's fake name of Liu Hong to summon He to the palace. But now the study in Yuan's house is brightly lit, and through the thin white window, one can vaguely see people walking around, and I don't know what they are plotting!
"Uncle is inviting Dong Zhuo to the capital. This is a dangerous plan!"

Yuan Ji's expression changed slightly, and he said hesitantly: "Dong Zhuo is unruly and will not obey your majesty's order to recruit him. In addition, the Qiang, Hu, and Di cavalrymen under his command are fierce and brave. If we recruit them to the capital, it may cause chaos in the capital."

Yuan Kui's expression remained unchanged as he said, "Dong Zhuo was my old official. I once recruited him as an official. Now I am inviting him to the capital to help my clan. How can I talk about causing chaos?"

"And Dong Zhuo did not accept the transfer order from Your Majesty and entered the court as the Minister of the Imperial Household. He has already discussed this with me. And now I have ordered him to station his troops in Hedong County and wait for my transfer order to enter the court at any time."

Yuan Ji opened his mouth, but because Yuan Wei was his elder, he could only stop talking.

Seeing this, Yuan Shu smiled and said, "He Jin is just a butcher, but he was appointed as a general because of the eunuchs and the royal family. If he were to take charge of the country, wouldn't our Yuan family be inferior to him? The world is in turmoil today, and only our Yuan family can shoulder the responsibility."

Yuan Shu raised his eyebrows and said, "The Yuan family originated from Chen, and Chen is the descendant of Shun. With the virtue of earth inheriting the virtue of fire, we can respond to the destiny. The world is in turmoil today, and our Yuan family has three dukes in four generations. We should inherit the virtue of fire with the virtue of earth. If this can be accomplished~"

Yuan Kui's face twitched, and he glared at Yuan Shu and said, "Gong Lu, stop talking nonsense. The reason why we invited Dong Zhuo to the capital is because we are afraid that He Jin will commit atrocities and cause chaos in the government. If our Yuan family is in power, we should follow the example of Yi and Huo and support the Han Dynasty."

Yuan Shu was spoiled since childhood, so he was not afraid of being scolded by Yuan Wei. He just laughed and said, "Uncle, I have a little daughter."

Yuan Shao glanced at Yuan Shu and sneered in his heart, feeling contempt for Yuan Shu's fantasy of imitating Wang Mang's operation.

"Benchu!"

"exist!"

Yuan Shao replied respectfully, "Awaiting Yuan Wei's orders."

"You are highly regarded by He Jin, so you need to give more advice to He Jin and ask him to kill the eunuchs. If He Jin accepts the advice of Empress He, you can encourage He Jin to send troops to the capital to force Empress He to promise to kill the eunuchs."

Yuan Wei stroked his beard and hummed, saying, "The He family has a close relationship with the eunuchs. To prevent He Jin from changing his ways, I'm going to see if I can use He Jin's name to attack the eunuchs' families and sow discord between the two."

"promise!"

Although Yuan Shao responded respectfully on the surface, he was filled with dissatisfaction in his heart.

Yuan Kui's plan was to have him offer advice to He Jin and to have him stir up conflict between He Jin and the eunuchs. If He Jin failed in the future, his reputation, which he had painstakingly built up, would be ruined. However, due to Yuan Kui's power and status, he had no choice but to agree.

"correct!"

Yuan Kui looked at Yuan Shu and said, "Zhang Ji'an has a unique vision. He can predict my plan and create ideas for our Yuan family. He is indeed a useful talent. Gonglu can communicate with him more. After the matter is accomplished, I will meet him in person."

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)