My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 553 Ha!
No surprises.

On the day his eldest son was born, almost past noon, Liu Rong received a summons from Chang Le of the Eastern Palace.

—The two empress dowagers of the Eastern Palace, especially Empress Dowager Dou, summoned Emperor Liu Rong.

Filial piety is of paramount importance, so Liu Rong naturally had no choice but to obediently go.

After exchanging greetings and taking their seats in the guest section of the hall, the two empress dowagers on the imperial couch both cast strange glances at Liu Rong.

Even Empress Dowager Dou, who controlled almost the entire territory, seemed like a clear-eyed, normal person, trying to look in the direction where Liu Rong was.

In the 'gaze' of the two empress dowagers looking at him, Liu Rong saw the same emotion.

"The eldest son of the emperor was born to a woman from the Cao family."

"Although she was a concubine who accompanied the emperor during his dowry, she rose in status because of her son—and eventually became the mother of the emperor's eldest son."

"In the future, when the Empress gives birth to an heir and the Emperor has a legitimate eldest son..."

“The Cao family…”

"Cough, cough, cough..."

As in previous decades, Empress Dowager Dou rarely spoke, but when she did, she always hit the nail on the head.

Upon hearing Empress Dowager Dou's pointed remark, Liu Rong subconsciously shifted his gaze to his mother, Empress Dowager Li, who was sitting on the imperial couch.

Then, Liu Rong gave a strange smile, then lowered his head with a smile, falling into a brief state of thought.

Empress Dowager Dou's meaning was very clear.

—The Cao family of Pingyang Marquis had already acquired the political capital of being the maternal relatives of the emperor, thanks to the birth of the eldest son of the emperor.

In the future, when Empress Cao Shu gives birth to Liu Rong's eldest son, the Cao family will become a huge hidden danger!

This poses a significant threat, at least to the two families of relatives behind Empress Dowager Dou and Empress Dowager Li.

This is not difficult to understand.

Empress Dowager Dou's true intention was to prolong the prosperity of the Dou clan to the greatest extent possible, within the limits of what was permissible.

Although there were precedents set by Empress Dowager Bo and Empress Bo, the late emperor's wife and granddaughter, Empress Dowager Dou had no reason to 'interfere in the empress's position' and thus allow the Han family to have another Empress Dowager Dou to continue the glory of the Dou family.
But apart from that, Empress Dowager Dou had virtually no taboos.

Putting aside other matters, the current Chancellor, Marquis Wei Qi, Dou Ying, was personally promoted to the position of Chancellor by Empress Dowager Dou through a series of political deals with Liu Rong.

In addition to Chancellor Wei Qihou Dou Ying, there was also Grand Master of the Palace, Nanpihou Dou Pengzu, as a double insurance policy.

With these two layers of protection, the decline of the Dou family will almost certainly not begin with the death of Empress Dowager Dou.
It would begin with the dismissal of Dou Ying and Dou Pengzu from their official posts, and even the stripping of their titles and the loss of their power.

However, this does not mean that the Dou family can live a peaceful life under the protection of Empress Dowager Dou and the two important ministers Dou Ying and Dou Pengzu, and always maintain their superior status as the "great relatives of the Han Dynasty".

Like official positions, the status of maternal relatives in the political ecology of the Han Dynasty was also one of fixed positions for each person.

During the reigns of Emperor Xiaohui and the two Shao Emperors, Empress Lü and her Lü clan, her maternal relatives, occupied the position of "powerful maternal relatives" in the Han dynasty.
Therefore, the Zhang family of Xuanping Marquis behind Empress Xiaohui Zhang Yan was never able to truly gain control of the court.

Even after Zhang Ao, when Hou Shizi Zhang Yan was enfeoffed as the Prince of Lu, he was merely a pawn used by Empress Lü to attract the attention and resentment of the court, the people, and even the world when she was enfeoffing the various members of the Lü clan.

Logically, for the Zhang family to seize power in the Han dynasty, they would have to wait until Empress Lü passed away and the Lü family, led by Zhu Jian, gradually faded from the political stage of the Han dynasty.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned—with the death of Empress Lü, the Lü clan, her maternal relatives, almost clashed with the Liu Han dynasty and perished together.

When Emperor Taizong ascended the throne from Dai, his relatives and maternal relatives naturally became the clan of the late Empress Dowager Dai and Empress Dowager Xiaowen: the Bo clan.

As for the Zhang family—even Empress Xiaohui Zhang Yan did not receive a decent explanation or title from Emperor Taizong.

She should have been honored as Empress Dowager when the young emperor ascended the throne, but during the reign of her deceased father's younger brother, she remained in seclusion in Gui Palace as "Empress Xiaohui" until her quiet death.

The empress's family and relatives by marriage were to be controlled by the empress dowager and to serve as her support.

The decline of the maternal relatives of the empress dowager was basically always marked by the death of the empress dowager herself.

During Emperor Taizong's reign, Empress Xiaohui Zhang was still alive, but her political life had essentially ended—or had never even begun.

Therefore, the Han dynasty almost never remembered that there was once a Zhang family, a powerful maternal and paternal clan.

As for Emperor Taizong's maternal family, the Bo clan, their situation was equally unique.

— Bo Zhao was forced to commit suicide by Emperor Taizong himself, and Empress Dowager Bo went into seclusion in the deep palace, never again concerning herself with the affairs of the court!
While that incident didn't quite end Empress Dowager Bo's political career, it was essentially equivalent to her reaching a political understanding with Emperor Taizong.

By retiring to the inner palace and not interfering in politics, Empress Dowager Bo subtly promised Emperor Taizong that during his reign, she would not become a stumbling block or hindrance on his path to becoming a sage ruler.

In return for this, Emperor Taizong accepted the marriage proposal from his maternal relatives, the Bo family, and arranged for a Bo family member to be his crown princess, Liu Qi, who later became Empress Xiaojing Bo.

In short, Empress Dowager Bo sacrificed her own power to create the possibility of a second Empress Dowager Bo emerging and securing a future for the Bo family.

But what happened next is something everyone knows.

Emperor Xiaojing managed to ensure that his empress never gave birth to a child in the more than twenty years that followed!
This also made the Dou family, the maternal relatives of the late Emperor Xiaojing—especially the current Empress Dowager Dou—deeply aware of one point.

No matter which family is related to the Empress Dowager, they should never expect that their family will produce a second Empress Dowager of the Han Dynasty!

For any given family, the Empress Dowager of Han was merely a one-time experience.

Once it's been used, it becomes invalid.

Once an empress dowager appears, this maternal relative family should be content and do its utmost to prolong the family's period of prominence during the empress dowager's lifetime.

At the same time, the problem of "nepotism" also emerged during the power transition between the Bo and Dou families, relatives of the emperor, during the reigns of Emperor Taizong and the previous emperor.

—If the previous generation of maternal relatives does not step down, the next generation of maternal relatives will not be able to become maternal relatives in the true sense, nor will they be able to truly enjoy the privileges that belong to maternal relatives!
During the reign of Emperor Taizong, even though Empress Dowager Bo retired due to the Bo Zhao incident, the Bo family still firmly held the top position among the maternal relatives, and the Dou family had no chance to rise to prominence.

When Emperor Taizong passed away, Empress Dowager Bo was promoted to Grand Empress Dowager!
If Empress Dowager Bo hadn't truly been unwilling to compete, and if the Bo clan hadn't been so small, with only Bo Zhao's son Bo Rongnu barely able to hold up the table, the Dou clan would have undoubtedly had to put in considerable effort, plus three to five years, to take over the top position from the Bo clan as the maternal relatives.

Of course, there's also the present day.

—When Emperor Xiaojing passed away, Liu Rong ascended the throne, and Empress Dowager Dou was promoted to Empress Dowager Dou.

Moreover, with Liu Rong's ascension to the throne, the Dou family did not decline. Instead, like a volcano that had been suppressed for many years and then erupted, they quickly ushered in their peak period.

The Han dynasty tacitly agreed that a prime minister could not be a relative of the empress, but Dou Ying, the Marquis of Weiqi of the Dou clan, did just that. The unspoken rule, both inside and outside the court, that a second high-ranking official could not come from the same maternal relative's family, was also broken by Dou Pengzu, the Marquis of Nanpi.

Most importantly, as the third Empress Dowager in the true sense of the Han dynasty, Empress Dowager Dou was neither as powerful as Empress Lü nor as indifferent as Empress Dowager Bo.

Empress Dowager Dou no longer interferes much in court affairs.

But power was being increasingly grasped by Empress Dowager Dou!

It's not that they can't manage politics, but rather that they don't need to and disdain to manage it!

This ensured that the top position of the Han dynasty's maternal relatives remained firmly held by the Dou family.

Even with the support of Empress Dowager Han, the Li family was still helpless while the Grand Empress Dowager was still alive, and their situation was almost as dire as that of the Zhang family during the reign of Empress Lü.

With Empress Dowager Dou supporting the Dou clan, even the Li clan, relatives of Empress Dowager Li, had to obediently line up. It goes without saying that the Cao family of Pingyang, behind Empress Cao Shu, was even more powerful.

However, everything has two sides.

As long as Empress Dowager Dou and her family could maintain their power, the top position among the empress's relatives would not fall to the Li or Cao families.

Conversely, if the Li and Cao families, as maternal relatives, want to quickly and as soon as possible take the top spot among the maternal relatives of the empress, then the Dou family is the threshold they must overcome.

Only by removing the Dou family, who are occupying the position, and freeing up the space, will the Li and Cao families, who are related to the maternal relatives, have the opportunity to take over the position.

From Empress Dowager Dou's blunt reminder to Liu Rong that the Cao family had become a hidden danger after giving birth to the eldest son and the legitimate eldest son, it is not hard to see that Empress Dowager Dou felt a strong sense of crisis from the Cao family.

Of course, it wasn't because the Cao family, the maternal relatives, was so powerful that even a veteran politician like Empress Dowager Dou felt threatened.

Instead, it was Empress Dowager Dou, who was already very, very old.

Five years ago, Emperor Xiaojing passed away at the age of thirty-seven.

If the late emperor were still alive today, he would be forty-two years old.

As the mother of the late emperor, Empress Dowager Dou is now approaching sixty years old.

Although, according to the original course of history, Liu Rong was able to learn that Empress Dowager Dou had at least ten more years to live, this did not mean that Empress Dowager Dou herself was confident that she could live another ten years.

Again.

In the pre-Christian era, when resources were scarce and medical conditions were severely lacking, the survival of an individual human being truly depended on luck to a great extent.

If one is unlucky enough to catch a minor headache or fever, they could very well die and pass away.

—It's not just the elderly and children, but everyone!

Even middle-aged men in this era would face a severe threat to their lives if they contracted a disease—a minor ailment that would be considered commonplace by later generations.

Therefore, the fact that Empress Dowager Dou could live for another ten years was merely information obtained by Liu Rong, a time traveler, through the 'Heavenly Eye'.

Empress Dowager Dou certainly didn't have a low opinion of her remaining lifespan.

Putting aside the fact that the old lady's eyes were almost completely blind—even if she were a perfectly healthy old lady, at the age of fifty or nearly sixty, it would be time for her to consider and arrange her affairs after death.

For Empress Dowager Dou, the only thing in the world she still had to worry about, and that she needed to personally take care of, was undoubtedly the Dou family, who were backed by her.

It was only right to extend the glory of the Dou family, and the Empress Dowager had already done everything within her power.

At the same time, the Empress Dowager also had to guard against the Li and Cao families—especially the Cao family, who, at a time when she might not live much longer, were prematurely eyeing the position of the Dou family's maternal relatives, which they would occupy for some time to come.

Empress Dowager Dou was not particularly worried about Lady Li.

It wasn't just because Empress Dowager Li lacked the skill and ability, but also because the Li family, her maternal relatives, wasn't particularly capable in combat.

In all these years, only one man of average appearance, Kurikura, has emerged. Within the Dou clan, the Empress Dowager couldn't even count the number of men like Kurikura who were only passable on her fingers!
But the Cao family was different.

Before becoming the maternal relatives of the Han dynasty, the Cao family was first and foremost one of the most representative families among the founding heroes: the Pingyang Marquis family.

For nearly half of the sixty years since the beginning of the Han Dynasty, or almost thirty years, the Pingyang Marquis family has remained at the core of power in the Han court.

During the reigns of Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Hui, which lasted for nearly twenty years, Cao Can was the first Marquis of Pingyang.

During the eight years that Empress Lü held power, it was Cao Zhu, the second Marquis of Pingyang.

Although the Pingyang Marquis family had been on a path of decline since Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse.

Most importantly, even in temporary decline, the Pingyang Marquis family still possesses the foundation to regain its former glory and the experience to do so.

From this perspective, it is quite normal that Empress Dowager Dou was wary of the Cao family—at least wary of them and did not allow them to become the prominent maternal relatives of the Han dynasty too early or too quickly.

However, as she aged, it seemed that Empress Dowager Dou had lost more than just her eyesight;

Even her political insight, which was always able to see into people's hearts and human nature, and her extremely keen political sense, seemed to gradually decline as Empress Dowager Dou grew older.

"Grandmother, why don't you think about it?"

"If it weren't for my intention, how could the Cao family—the Cao family of Pingyang Marquis—have grown into a force that even the Empress Dowager fears in such a short time?"

"Ah……"

Thinking this through, Liu Rong kept a straight face, pretending to be completely obedient to Empress Dowager Dou.

But secretly, Liu Rong remained steadfast.

The Dou family had been prominent in the central government of the Han dynasty for far too long.

From the reign of Emperor Taizong, with his tacit approval, Dou Guangguo, Marquis of Zhangwu, led the challenge against the Bo family, which has lasted for nearly twenty years.

Dou's life was truly wonderful.

So beautiful that even Empress Dowager Dou seemed to forget that the emperor of the Han dynasty would not allow the emergence of an overly powerful maternal clan or related families.

Even Emperor Xiaowen, who was revered as a "living saint" by the people, was not immune to this.

(End of this chapter)