Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 271 Liu Qing is Pregnant, the Emperor Has an Empress! (Bonus Chapter, Requesting Monthly Tickets!)

Before the news of Yang Ci's death had subsided, on the morning of June 24, the Imperial Medical Bureau suddenly sent someone to report that Grand Master of the Palace Qiao Xuan had passed away peacefully in his residence at the age of seventy-six.

Qiao Xuan's passing is truly regrettable.

Qiao Xuan was a true gentleman, unafraid of the powerful and wealthy, and not greedy for glory. Even when the domineering general Liang Ji's power reached its peak, he insisted on escorting Yang Chang, Liang Ji's confidant who had violated the law, to the capital in a prison cart.

In his later years, Emperor Xiaohuan faced rebellions from the Xianbei, Southern Xiongnu, and Goguryeo, who plundered the borders. Qiao Xuan was appointed General Who Pacifies the Liao River, granted the Yellow Axe, and quelled all the rebellions. During his three years in office, the foreign tribes dared not invade the borders.

After the death of this renowned scholar who served as one of the Nine Ministers and one of the Three Dukes twice, the number of people from all over the country who came to mourn him was even greater than that of Yang Ci.

Cao Cao, the General of Anbei and Governor of Youzhou, submitted a memorial requesting to personally carry Qiao Xuan's coffin and attend his funeral.

Cao Cao truly treated Qiao Xuan like a grandfather. The two were close friends despite their age difference. When Cao Cao was ridiculed by others, and even his relatives thought he was just an uneducated playboy, it was Qiao Xuan who encouraged and recognized him. Therefore, the two had a very deep relationship.

Cao Cao frequently exchanged letters with Qiao Xuan. After accepting the appointments as General of Anbei and Governor of Youzhou, Qiao Xuan also wrote to Cao Cao about the things he needed to pay attention to in Youzhou, shared his experiences when facing the Xianbei and Goguryeo, and encouraged Cao Cao, hoping that he would not disappoint him and become a wise minister who could stabilize the Han Dynasty.

On the tenth day of the sixth lunar month, Qiao Xuan wrote a letter to Cao Cao, saying that he had dreamt of his young son who had been killed because he refused to pay the ransom. He believed that his days were numbered and joked with Cao Cao in the letter that if Cao Cao passed by his grave in the future and did not bring a dou of wine and a chicken to offer as a sacrifice, Cao Cao should not blame him if he had a stomachache three steps after his carriage had passed. (Note 1)

Qiao Xuan's letter was transported at a normal speed of 150 li per day, while Cao Cao was in Ji County at the time, which was 1,900 li away from Luoyang. It took 13 days for the letter to arrive in Cao Cao's hands on the evening of June 23.

Cao Cao wrote a letter that very night, jokingly accepting Qiao Xuan's agreement, and sent it on the very day Qiao Xuan died.

When a letter delivered by express courier arrived in Ji County in five days, Cao Cao still couldn't believe that Qiao Xuan had really died. He was so sad that he fainted from crying. After waking up, he submitted a memorial to the emperor requesting to return to the capital.

Liu Bian granted Cao Cao's request and arranged a funeral ceremony for Qiao Xuan with the same scale as that for Yang Ci. He also posthumously granted Fu Wan, the General of the Five Offices, the title of Special Envoy, the seal of General of Chariots and Cavalry, and the title of Marquis of Daji Township with a fief of 800 households. He was also posthumously honored with the title "Zhengwu".

Before Liu Bian and his officials could even rest, on the night of June 28th, Liu Kuan, the Grand Master of Ceremonies, died of illness in his residence.

Liu Kuan and Yang Ci were both from Huayin County, Hongnong Commandery, and both died at the age of sixty-six. It was as if these two friends had made a pact to pass away one after the other.

Liu Kuan served as one of the Nine Ministers five times and as one of the Three Dukes twice. His prestige in the court and among the people was not much less than that of Yang Ci, who served as one of the Nine Ministers six times and as one of the Three Dukes three times.

This time, however, Liu Bian did not attend the funerals of Yang Ci and Qiao Xuan in mourning at the emperor's residence, dressed in plain clothes. Instead, he sent Gao Wang to announce that the emperor had fallen ill from excessive grief over the deaths of three important ministers and was therefore unable to attend the funerals.

The officials all understood. Three important ministers had passed away in succession, and the emperor was only fifteen years old this year. Although he was mature beyond his years and good at governing the country, he was still a young man who had not seen much birth, aging, sickness and death. It seemed normal for him to fall ill suddenly due to excessive grief.

Liu Kuan's funeral was conducted according to the usual regulations for the death of an official with a rank of two thousand shi. Although the emperor bestowed a coffin and other sacrificial vessels, posthumously granted Liu Kuan the title of General of Chariots and Cavalry, and posthumously conferred upon him the title of Marquis of Wuxiang, granting him a fief of six hundred households, which was inherited by his son Liu Song, this reward was already considered a special honor. However, with such a fine example before him, all the officials could sense that the emperor did not treat this elder member of the imperial clan with the same utmost favor as he had shown to the late Grand Commandant Yang Ci.

The emperor also set a rule for Liu Kuan to be buried fifteen days after the encoffining. However, the funeral procession was structured differently. The Imperial Censor Huan Dian presided over the funeral, with five Imperial Censor officials guarding the procession in the center. The Cavalry Commandant Cheng Lian led three military officers, Huang Gai and Gao Lan, to accompany and protect the procession in chariots. The only consistent honor was that the Grand Master of Works Cai Yong personally wrote the epitaph for him.

Of course, Liu Bian was not actually sick.

His body wasn't that fragile; he simply didn't want to mourn Liu Kuan.

Liu Kuan was indeed an elder of the imperial clan, but he was the fifteenth generation descendant of Emperor Taizu Gao, while Liu Bian himself was the thirteenth generation descendant of Emperor Taizu Gao. In terms of seniority, he was Liu Kuan's grandfather. Why should he mourn for this descendant of the clan?
Besides the issue of seniority, another reason was that Liu Bian disliked his minister Liu Kuan.

Liu Kuan may have been a good person, but for the Han dynasty, he was definitely not a qualified member of the imperial family. He was deeply poisoned by the ideas of powerful and wealthy families and was extremely opposed to eunuchs, even though the eunuchs of today were all virtuous.

What displeased Liu Bian the most was that Liu Kuan kept trying to instill in him the idea that "the sage emperor governs by doing nothing."

He was no longer a member of the imperial family, but a typical scholar of the New Text School of the Later Han Dynasty, whose ideas and interests were contrary to those of Liu Bian. However, he was still a veteran minister who had served the Han Dynasty for more than forty years, so Liu Bian was willing to give him respect and dignity, and did not lower the funeral standards that a minister of Liu Kuan's status should have because of his personal likes and dislikes.

After discussions among Situ Liu Yan, Taichangqing Zheng Xuan, and numerous scholars and officials of rites regarding Liu Kuan's posthumous title, Liu Bian ultimately accepted Zheng Xuan's proposal and posthumously granted him the title "Zhaolie". (Note 2)

However, with the successive deaths of three important ministers, the Han Empire suddenly seemed to be on the verge of collapse, as if Heaven were about to take away the lives of its most important officials. (Note 3)

Fortunately, the theory of the interaction between Heaven and Man is now considered heresy; otherwise, with the sudden passing of three important ministers, it is unknown how Emperor Liu Bian would have been portrayed as incompetent and immoral.

With the passing of three high-ranking officials in succession, the court finally ushered in a momentous occasion.

On the 30th day of the sixth month of the first year of the Hanxing era, Consort Liu Qing was diagnosed with pregnancy!

The emperor has an heir!

Court officials in the capital and officials from various regions submitted memorials to offer their congratulations and presented tributes.

All the officials knew that the emperor disliked officials offering gifts of money and valuables, so they mostly sent precious medicinal materials, such as fully formed Shangdang ginseng, black Dong'e tribute glue as black as jade, nine-times-steamed and nine-times-dried rehmannia root, tortoise-shaped poria cocos, and six-colored lingzhi mushrooms, which were extremely rare.

Although it is still unknown whether the child in Liu Qing's womb is a boy or a girl, and even if Liu Qing gives birth to a boy, he will not be able to inherit the throne, the officials are all very happy.

After all, Liu Qing's pregnancy proves that the emperor is fertile!

This was a shot in the arm for all officials, especially the former retainers who had served Liu Bian when he was still a prince.

They were all Liu Bian's most loyal supporters and hoped to become the next powerful figure in the Han Dynasty.

If Liu Bian had no children and the throne was passed to a collateral branch, how could their vested interests and future interests be guaranteed?

Now that Liu Bian has proven his fertility and is only fifteen years old, they don't need to worry too much that Liu Bian will not have any offspring to inherit the throne.

(2430 words)
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PS: I promised to update a lot after the editor recommended it yesterday, but I didn't expect to suddenly get sick.

Although I still feel quite unwell today, I feel I should keep my promise to my readers.

Today I added 2600 words, which, combined with yesterday's 1600 words, brings the total to 4200 words.

Dear readers, please give me some extra monthly votes in recognition of the extra 4200 words I've added!
Note 1: "Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Volume 51, Biographies of Li, Chen, Pang, Chen, and Qiao: After his death, if you pass by on the road, do not offer a jug of wine or a chicken to each other as a libation. If you have a stomachache after your carriage has passed three steps, do not complain."

Note 2: The posthumous title of Marquis Zhaolie is not a joke by the author.

He died in the second year of Zhongping, at the age of sixty-six. He was posthumously awarded the seal of General of Chariots and Cavalry, the rank of Special Advisor, and the posthumous title of Marquis Zhaolie. His son Song succeeded him and rose to the position of Minister of the Imperial Clan.

注3：历史上杨赐病逝于185年农历10月初五，刘宽病逝于185年农历2月28日，桥玄病逝于184年农历5月10日。

(End of this chapter)