My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 200 Ambition Grows
No matter what Empress Dowager Hu does.

Having held power for many years, he had seen and eaten in the Luoyang court, and had personally participated in two coups, bringing down Gao Zhao and Yuan Yi. Through this exposure, he had also come to understand some of the ways of power.

Regardless of whether she had any maternal feelings for Yuan Xu.

Zheng Yan and Xu He poisoned Yuan Xu in front of her without her consent, leaving her with no way to defend herself.

Even if she were to push Zheng Yan and Xu He out to take the blame now, it would not be enough to clear her name. In the entire Luoyang, and even in the entire Great Wei, who did not know that she and the young emperor Yuan Xu had been constantly vying for power over the years, openly and secretly, and that they had long since lost any motherly or son-son bond?

Moreover, who doesn't know that Zheng Yan and Xu He are her most favored ministers?

Without her instruction, would Zheng Yan and Xu He have dared to poison the emperor?

Since the deed has already happened, we must do everything we can to make amends.

"You two go and detain the imperial physician. When the time is right, have him announce that His Majesty died suddenly."

"Then bring Pan Chonghua and her daughter to Jiafu Palace. No one is allowed to approach them. The palace guards must be replaced with trustworthy people."

"Yes, Your Majesty's order will be obeyed!"

Zheng Yan and Xu He first carried Yuan Xu's body to the bed, and then hurriedly made preparations for the aftermath.

The next day.

Inside the Tai Chi Hall.

The entire court was stunned; Yuan Xu had vanished.

"Your Majesty has caught a cold and is resting in bed. Today, I will preside over the court session."

Empress Dowager Hu's words failed to dispel the doubts in the hearts of the court officials.

I was fine before, but suddenly I caught a cold?

Could it be... that His Majesty has been imprisoned by the Empress Dowager?
The fact that the young Emperor Yuan Xu wanted to summon Erzhu Rong, an outsider, to bring troops into Luoyang was no secret; the news had already leaked and was known to everyone in Luoyang.

Despite the fact that Erzhu has been sending gifts to Luoyang to cultivate relationships for so many years, it is still a long-standing issue.

However, the imperial relatives, nobles, and aristocratic families in Luoyang did not approve of him, let alone welcome him to bring troops to Luoyang as an outsider.

Qihu was merely a self-designation used by the Erzhu clan to forcibly sever their ancestral identity.

Who in Luoyang doesn't know that the Erzhu family's ancestors were Jie people?

Having gone through the Sixteen Kingdoms period, the Jie people were already notorious among the various tribes of the grasslands surrounding the Central Plains.

This race was bloodthirsty, extremely cruel, fickle, and treacherous. At one point, they were slaughtered by the Martial King Ran Min with a single "Order to Kill the Hu" within three months, bringing the Jie people to the brink of extinction.

If such a person were allowed to lead troops into Luoyang, he would do things that would be even more outrageous than those of Dong Zhuo.

In their eyes, Dong Zhuo was a good and obedient person compared to the Jie people.

Empress Dowager Hu then launched a series of actions.

"Li Shengui was promoted to Grand General of the Capital Region, overseeing all military affairs both inside and outside the capital."

"Fei Mu is promoted to General of the Imperial Guard and General Who Pacifies the North..."

"Yang Shun has been promoted to General of the Northern Army..."

“Promote Zheng Xianhu…”

"Promote Wang Zunye..."

The court officials and ministers quickly figured out what was going on.

Since bringing down Prince Yuan Yi of Jiangyang, Empress Dowager Hu neglected aristocratic families and military men in personnel appointments, relying solely on her own preferences.

But now?
Li Shengui was the son of Li Chong, the Duke of Chenliu. Li Chong was nearly seventy years old and still led troops in battles in the south and north. Two years ago, he was completely wiped out by the Great Wei. However, he came from the Li clan of Longxi. Wasn't his sudden promotion just to win over the clan power behind him?
Yang Shun came from the Hongnong Yang clan, while Zheng Xianhu came from the Xingyang Zheng clan.

Even Wang Zunye, whom the young emperor wanted to promote, was won over by Empress Dowager Hu and promoted to the rank of Vice Minister of the Chancellery, a fourth-rank official, and he came from the Wang clan of Taiyuan.

Besides winning over people from the "Five Clans," there was also Fei Mu, a marginalized military man who came from the Imperial Guard system but had never been given important positions in the officialdom.

When Li Chong discussed who should stay in Yunzhong to defend against the rebels, his colleagues unanimously recommended Fei Mu.

This is not a sign that Fei Mu is popular.

Fei Mu held out for several months before finally abandoning Yunzhong and fleeing south. He met with Erzhu Rong at Xiurongchuan and then returned to Luoyang.

Did Empress Dowager Hu not know that he had contact with Erzhu Rong?
I might not know.

With time running out, Empress Dowager Hu didn't have time to conduct a detailed background check, and could only infer from Fei Mu's previous resume whether he was a "marginalized military man" in the Luoyang court.

Many low-ranking soldiers within the Imperial Guard were promoted.

At worst, he would be promoted to commander of the army.

The extraordinary promotion of the Imperial Guardsmen far exceeded the expectations of the high-ranking officials, and some seasoned veterans in the bureaucracy seemed to have sensed that things were not so simple.

It was only two days later at the court meeting.

An explosive piece of news was announced publicly by Empress Dowager Hu in the Taiji Hall.

Empress Dowager Hu wept bitterly, her face filled with sorrow. "His Majesty caught a cold and suddenly vomited blood uncontrollably last night. He passed away at 3:45 AM last night."

"Today, bandits are rampant in Hebei and Shandong, and the fate of the Great Wei Dynasty is in jeopardy. Fortunately, thanks to the protection of our ancestors, Your Majesty's favorite concubine, Consort Pan, has given birth to a son."

"At this critical juncture, the country cannot be without a ruler for even a day. Today, Your Majesty's youngest son will ascend the throne in the Taiji Hall."

As soon as Empress Dowager Hu finished speaking, a palace maid brought a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes into the Taiji Hall. Empress Dowager Hu then personally stepped forward, took the baby in her arms, and lifted it high.

"Gentlemen, please follow me to pay homage to the new emperor!"

Chengyang Prince Yuanhui, Zheng Yan, Xu He, and other henchmen of Empress Dowager Hu all bowed down and shouted "Long live the Empress Dowager!"
Prince Gaoyang, Yuan Yong, hesitated for a moment before bowing down. Only then did all the court officials follow suit, shouting "Long live the Emperor!" like a thunderous roar.
………………

When Yuan Ziyou received the news at his residence that Yuan Xu had died suddenly and that Empress Dowager Hu had already installed Yuan Xu's young son as the new emperor, he was completely stunned and his mind was buzzing.

"No wonder His Majesty has not attended court or summoned me these past few days."

"No wonder the Imperial Guards in the palace are being moved around so frequently."

"Damn it! How dare those two traitors, Xu He and Zheng Yan, commit such a heinous act... No, they don't have the guts! There must be someone backing them up."

Yuan Ziyou immediately suspected Empress Dowager Hu.

In his view, only Empress Dowager Hu could have given Zheng Yan and Xu He the audacity to commit regicide.

"The Empress Dowager truly shows no maternal affection whatsoever; she is utterly ruthless. This is no ordinary Empress Dowager. For the sake of the continuation of the Great Wei dynasty, we must take decisive action!"

Zheng Yan and Xu He did indeed completely block the sources of information within the palace.

but……

Yuan Ziyou was one of the few people who personally learned from Yuan Xu that Pan Chonghua had given birth to a girl, not a boy.

"Perhaps I could..."

Yuan Ziyou's heart began to pound, and a bold idea that he had never had before arose in his mind.

"Come here! Prepare the horses!"

After changing into a fine dress, Yuan Ziyou personally rode in a carriage to Xi Yi's residence.

When he came to visit, he discovered that Xi Yi had also changed his clothes, seemingly planning to go on a long trip.

The two exchanged a glance.

Xi Yi waved his hand to dismiss those around him, and then asked, "I wonder what brings you here, Ziyou?"

Yuan Ziyou smiled. "Wu Cheng, could it be that you're planning to flee the city?"

Xi Yi made no attempt to feign anything. “His Majesty died under mysterious circumstances, and the Empress Dowager has gone completely mad in her quest for power. These past few days, I have been the one relaying messages between His Majesty and Tianbao. How could the Empress Dowager let me go? The same goes for you. I advise you to leave Luoyang as soon as possible and come north with me to Bingzhou.”

Yuan Ziyou shook his head, "No, it is precisely because His Majesty died under mysterious circumstances that the Empress Dowager will not take action against us."

"If we were to kill His Majesty's supporters so quickly, wouldn't that be an admission that His Majesty was murdered by the Empress Dowager? Wu Cheng, you are Tianbao's trusted confidant in Luoyang. The Empress Dowager doesn't dare to touch you in order to keep Tianbao in check. At this moment, what you should do is stay in Luoyang and continuously send Tianbao the latest news from Luoyang. That would be the best course of action and would also allow you to make a great contribution in front of Tianbao."

After thinking about it carefully, Xi Yi felt that what Yuan Ziyou said made some sense, but he couldn't help but say something.

"Now that the new emperor has been enthroned, he is less than a year old, and the court has already fallen into the control of the Empress Dowager."

Yuan Ziyou smiled mysteriously and shook his head in rebuttal, "What if... the new emperor is not a boy, but a girl?"

"what?"

Xi Yi was shocked. "Ziyou, is this really true? This is not something to be taken lightly."

“It’s true! His Majesty told me personally before his death that Consort Pan gave birth to a baby girl.”

"But if it's a baby girl, it will be exposed sooner or later..."

"The Empress Dowager only needs to stall for this period of time until the baby girl grows up and can no longer be hidden. All the officials in the court are her trusted confidants, personally promoted by the Empress Dowager. At that time, she can choose another person from the Yuan clan to be the new emperor."

"The Empress Dowager does have some tricks up her sleeve; we were all completely fooled by her."

Yuan Ziyou continued to persuade him, "You should urge Tianbao to head south immediately! Didn't His Majesty issue a secret edict to Tianbao before? Now that His Majesty is dead, Tianbao can make this secret edict public and continue his southward journey under the pretext of purging the court of corrupt officials and eliminating treacherous ministers!"

"I will also send people to spread the news in Luoyang that the new emperor is a girl, so that we can work together from the inside and outside to completely overthrow the Empress Dowager's faction."

"In that case, the great undertaking can be accomplished!"

Although Xi Yi was a little slow to react, he also had some doubts in his mind.

The young emperor had just died when Yuan Ziyou started jumping around in a frenzy, even urging him to persuade Erzhu Rong to continue his southward march.

They truly share a deep bond as uncle and nephew, and are single-mindedly focused on avenging the young emperor.
Yuan Ziyou was the third son of Yuan Xie, the Prince of Pengcheng and younger brother of Emperor Xiaowen. According to seniority, he was Yuan Xu's uncle.

Or is there another motive?
Yuan Ziyou no longer concealed his feelings, saying, "Tianbao and I were old friends back in the Imperial Guard, and we both served His Majesty. Our relationship is extraordinary."

"If Emperor Tianbao comes to purge the court of corrupt officials, he will surely establish a new emperor."

"I hope Wu Cheng will put in a good word for me. Once I ascend to the throne, I will certainly not forget your contributions."

“Even if Tianbao holds great power, he will certainly give priority to the Erzhu clan members. Wu Cheng is ultimately just a cousin, not a member of the Erzhu clan…”

That’s it for now.

Xi Yi finally understood.

They are not fuel-efficient lamps.

P.S.: I have no reason to try to whitewash a crazy woman whose reputation is well-established; it wouldn't do me any good.

Regardless of whether Empress Dowager Hu was personally involved, historical records will indicate that she was not clean.

Reality doesn't need logic, but novels do. In the part of the story I wrote, Empress Dowager Hu didn't have a strong motive to kill anyone. Zheng Yan and Xu He, driven to desperation, did it to protect themselves. But outsiders would only think that the two of them had Empress Dowager Hu's permission to do such a daring thing.

(End of this chapter)