The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 14 A Storm Rises in the Hall of Supreme Harmony

In the autumn of the twentieth year of Ding'an, on the second day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar.

May all misfortunes be averted and all things go well.

The new emperor ascends the throne.
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Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, on the left side of the imperial steps, Yu Shaoqing, the Vice Minister of Rites, held the edict of succession and read it aloud.

The emperor was sent to heaven to carry the order, and the edict said:
The fourth son of the emperor, Prince An, Qiheng.

He possessed both literary and military talents, was of pure and kind nature, and was benevolent, filial, respectful, frugal, upright, and wise.
We respect Heaven and Earth, our ancestors, and love the common people.
He possesses the qualities of Yao and Shun, and is endowed with the destiny of a sage.

It is worthy of being called a divine instrument.

For the sake of the well-being of all people, I hereby abdicate in favor of Prince An, who shall be established as the new emperor.
The founding emperor, of imperial lineage, acting in accordance with Heaven's will and the people's will, proclaims this both within and outside the court, so that all may know.
Admire this!

With the edict of succession read aloud, Prince An finally became emperor in law and in principle.

Beneath the throne, Tu Chengyu, along with the crowd, shouted "Long live the Emperor!" three times and bowed three times and kowtowed nine times.

As he stood up, he couldn't help but secretly touch his knees. In just half a day, he had been constantly kneeling and bowing, and his knees were starting to give out.

I was woken up before dawn to prepare, and now, more than three hours later, the enthronement ceremony is only halfway through.

What was just read was the edict of succession received from the retired emperor. Next, the new emperor will issue his first edict of succession since his ascension to the throne.

This is the edict of accession to the throne, which mainly focuses on bestowing titles and rewards, and does not involve anything else.

Tu Chengyu, starving, watched as the Vice Minister of Rites retrieved the edict of accession from the emperor's table. The minister, still standing on the left side of the steps below the table, read the edict aloud to the officials. Tu could only endure the silence and continue listening to the edict.

The first part of the edict of accession was obscure and complicated, and Tu Chengyu couldn't remember a single word. However, he remembered quite a bit of the rewards and honors in the second half.

Firstly, the new emperor's reign title was set as Qihe, and the year following the new emperor's reign was the first year of Qihe.

Secondly, the former emperor, Emperor Ding'an, was honored as the Retired Emperor, his stepmother, Empress Ci'an, was honored as Empress Dowager Ci'an, and his birth mother, Consort Ning, was honored as Empress Dowager Xiaoning.

Thirdly, the eldest son, Cheng Ying, was appointed as the Crown Prince.

Fourth, the deceased crown prince who died due to the rebellion was posthumously honored as Crown Prince Yixiao, and his only son inherited the title by a lower rank, becoming Prince Yixiao.

Then many more were sealed off, but Tu Chengyu didn't pay much attention to most of them, only remembering two or three that were particularly noteworthy.

First, there's his own title. His father bestowed upon him a rather respectable title: Prince Su.

A prince with a single-character title, ranking first among all princes.

Then there were two very abrupt rewards that he still remembers vividly.

One was the promotion of Tu Chengyu's maternal uncle, Chen Chongli, the hereditary third-class Huaihua General, to the title of Marquis of Chengji. Not only was his family's status elevated from a count's mansion to a marquis's mansion, but the hereditary title, which had been downgraded for two generations, was also elevated from the third-class Huaihua General to a count's title. This was unprecedented in the history of the dynasty.

Moreover, the entire court would not forget that two years ago, Prince An and Chen Chongli had a private argument, and the two never spoke to each other again. At that time, the emperor had even punished Chen Chongli.

Unexpectedly, now that Prince An has ascended the throne, he has bestowed such great honors upon the family of the late Princess Chen. Is this to gain more support for the Crown Prince in court, or is there another reason?

The answer to this matter is currently unknown.

The second thing that drew everyone's attention was the punishment of the Duke of Shan, who was the apparent leader of this rebellion.

For the Duke of Shanguo's family, stripping them of their title and exterminating their clan would not be excessive. If the emperor were more merciful, perhaps he could spare one or two sons, demoting them to commoners, so that the Shi family could continue its lineage.

However, the emperor's punishment was merely to demote the Duke of Shan's family from duke to earl, and to allow the Duke of Shan's grandson to inherit the hereditary title of Third-Class Mingwei General. This was more of a reward than a punishment.

Could it be that the new emperor knew that the Shi family was implicated by the crown prince and felt guilty, which is why he imposed such a punishment?

These two questions were temporarily left unanswered as everyone patiently listened to the imperial edict.

After the imperial edict was read, the next step was to offer sacrifices to Heaven, Earth, and ancestors, and to hold the new emperor's first grand court assembly.

Of course, today's grand court assembly is just a formality. The emperor will simply select two simple political matters that have been discussed in advance and review them on the spot.

The sacrificial ceremony was originally to be attended by the new emperor in person. However, since this ascension to the throne was an abdication and the old emperor was still alive, the new emperor decided not to go in person to save face for the retired emperor, but instead to send the crown prince in his place.

This matter had already been decided, and naturally, officials from the Ministry of Rites would handle it.

After the crown prince and his entourage left, the emperor ordered a court assembly. As per the agreed-upon procedure, two or three officials would present minor matters for the emperor's review.

However, one unexpected person stepped forward first. He held a memorial aloft with both hands, walked to the center of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and said:

"Your Majesty, I have a memorial to present."

This man possessed a powerful aura and a loud voice; his words caused the entire room to gasp in astonishment.

Tu Chengyu glanced at it secretly and also found it unbelievable. The one who stepped forward to present the memorial was actually Xie Xishu, the Imperial Censor.

As everyone knows, the censors of the Censorate always submit memorials with the aim of impeaching officials. Therefore, on this occasion, the elders of the Council of State Affairs would never arrange for censors to submit a memorial.

However, Xie Xishu stepped forward, and with his rich experience, he was the first to step forward, even before the others who had been arranged to do so.

Faced with this sudden turn of events, the senior officials in the front row of the Political Affairs Hall were all furious and helpless.

Although they were regents, they could not prevent others from submitting memorials during court assemblies, otherwise they would be suspected of controlling the court and isolating the inside from the outside world.

The emperor, of course, could not refuse outright, so he could only say in a pleasant tone, "Minister Xie, what is it you wish to report?"

Xie Xishu handed the memorial to the approaching eunuch, bowed, and said:
"Your Majesty, this matter involves the Crown Prince. I am writing this at the risk of my life, hoping Your Majesty will grant my request."

Everyone in the hall already knew what he was going to say. A city patrol censor had died in the Censorate, and everyone knew that these protective censors wouldn't let it go easily; everyone could guess that. However, no one expected them to be so bold as to reveal this in the Emperor's enthronement hall, and for the Censorate's head, the Vice Censor-in-Chief, to personally come and report it.

What are they trying to do? Are they trying to put the crown prince on the hot seat?
The emperor stared at Xie Xishu expressionlessly for a long while before uttering two words:

"Granted."

Upon hearing this, Xie Xishu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I learned yesterday that a censor named Lu Feiwu, who was patrolling the city, hanged himself at home yesterday. He left a suicide note, in which he said that he had offended the Crown Prince half a year ago. Now that the Crown Prince has been promoted to the position of heir apparent and holds a high position of power, he fears punishment from the Crown Prince and that his family will be implicated. Therefore, he is willing to die to atone for his sins and begs the Crown Prince for forgiveness. Because this matter is so shocking, I have no choice but to submit this memorial, hoping that Your Majesty will investigate it thoroughly."

The old man spoke in a grand and righteous manner, but in reality, he was still implicating the crown prince. If the emperor did not handle this matter well, the crown prince would be forced to bear a stigma.

The officials in the court were filled with mixed thoughts. They really couldn't understand why Xie Xishu would do this. Even if he was protective of his own and couldn't bear to see his subordinate censor die unjustly, he could have waited until the new emperor ascended the throne. Why did he have to do it now?

Well-informed ministers all knew that the incident occurred yesterday, and the memorial was not delivered to the palace until the evening. The emperor was busy with the enthronement ceremony and had no time to deal with these matters.

Xie Xishu, you are so eager to bring this up today, your purpose is probably to catch the emperor off guard.

Their sinister intentions are evident.

(End of this chapter)