I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 69 Zhao Xu passes away
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The continuous blows, coupled with the fatigue and cold from the suburban ceremony, and perhaps also the fact that a group of royal family members persuaded Zhao Xu to appoint Zhao Ya as the governor of Kaifeng, all aggravated Zhao Xu's condition.

On the day Zhao Xu returned to the city from outside Bianliang, he became critically ill and was unable to attend court.

But what made Zhao Ya feel regretful and even a little resentful was that although Zhao Xu was already so ill, he still refused to appoint himself as the governor of Kaifeng, let alone make himself the crown prince. No matter who tried to persuade him, it was useless. It was as if he would get better if he just held on for a few more days.

Not only that, no matter who tried to persuade Zhao Xu, when that person left, Zhao Xu would watch him leave with resentment.

According to the report from the people who monitored Zhao Xu, Zhao Xu's eyes looked like "Wait until I get better, and see how I deal with you."

Of course, this could also be the conjecture of the people who were monitoring Zhao Xu.

After all, at this time, everyone wants to make some contributions to the emperor so that they can be reused after the new emperor ascends the throne.

But Empress Dowager Xiang had already gone all in and really didn't dare to gamble. Was it because Zhao Xu was sick and confused that he failed to hide his true feelings, or was it because the people who were monitoring Zhao Xu were mistaken, or was it because the people who were monitoring Zhao Xu had ulterior motives?

After repeated persuasions failed, the Empress Dowager Xiang showed her experienced side and decided to go all out. She replaced all the people serving Zhao Xu with her own confidants, under the pretext of taking better care of Zhao Xu.

In addition, all of Liu Qingjing and Zhao Xu's confidants were placed under house arrest by people sent by Empress Dowager Xiang.

When Liu Qingjing was under house arrest, she relied on her status as queen and wanted to resist and even wanted to show off her power as queen.

But Zheng Xiansu, who was sent by the Queen Mother to imprison Liu Qingjing, walked up to Liu Qingjing alone and said in a low voice: "The Queen Mother has not yet blamed you. I hope you will think twice before acting."

At first, Liu Qingjing didn't react. What did Zheng Xiansu mean?
But soon, Liu Qingjing's face turned pale! She realized that Zheng Xiansu meant that Empress Dowager Xiang didn't want to care about the past, but if she didn't know what was going on, Empress Dowager Xiang would have to settle the score with her.

How to calculate?
Liu Qingjing thought of the fate of Prime Minister Meng, whom she had removed, and then thought of the more than 30 eunuchs and palace maids in Prime Minister Meng's palace, who were detained by her people and tortured to extract confessions. In the end, they were all beaten to a pulp, and many of them had their tongues cut off and limbs amputated.

Liu Qingjing was scared.

So, Liu Qingjing stayed obediently in her bedroom and never went to see Zhao Xu again.

Two nights later, Yang Jian, who had been personally monitoring Zhao Xu, suddenly rushed back to Cide Palace and reported, "Your Majesty is in imminent danger. Please ask the Queen Mother to make a decision!"

Empress Dowager Xiang, who had been sleeping in her clothes for the past two days, got up immediately and made a quick decision as she walked out: "Inform Prince Shen to come to the palace, and tell Tong Guan and Wang Bing to lead the guards to accompany me and protect the emperor immediately."

Tong Guan and Wang Bing have been recommended to Empress Dowager Xiang by Zhao Ya, who arranged for them to temporarily take charge of all the guards in the palace. They have been on call 24 hours a day these days.

Upon receiving the order from Empress Dowager Xiang, Tong Guan and Wang Bing immediately led three hundred fully armed trusted guards to escort Empress Dowager Xiang into the palace.

Soon, Empress Dowager Xiang came to Zhao Xu's bedroom.

At this time, a group of imperial doctors were rescuing Zhao Xu.

Seeing Empress Dowager Xiang coming, Mou Jie, the leader, hurried over and said to her, "If there is something important, we must hurry."

He waved to the Empress Dowager, signaling all the imperial doctors to leave.

Without explaining anything to the Empress Dowager, Tong Guan said to the imperial doctors, "You have all worked hard. Please rest in the side hall for a few days. You will be rewarded handsomely later."

Seeing that Zhao Yu's men were doing their job so flawlessly, Empress Dowager Xiang nodded secretly. Soon, everyone who came out of Zhao Xu's bedroom, whether they were imperial doctors or Empress Dowager Xiang's men, were "invited" to a side hall by Tong Guan and Wang Bing and placed under house arrest.

These people also knew that Zhao Ya and Empress Dowager Xiang were afraid that they would take Zhao Xu's edict out and cause trouble. So they just had to wait until Zhao Ya ascended the throne, and then they would be safe and might even be promoted and rewarded.

After driving everyone out, Empress Dowager Xiang brought only Zheng Xiansu into Zhao Xu's bedroom, and then Zheng Xiansu closed the door from the inside.

Then, Tong Guan and Wang Bing led three hundred guards to surround the place in three layers, so that not even a fly could fly out.

Not long after, Concubine Zhu heard the news that Zhao Xu was dying from somewhere, and rushed to Zhao Xu's bedroom, clamoring to see Zhao Xu for the last time.

Wang Bing walked over, pulled out his knife, raised his eyebrows and said, "Without the order of our king or queen mother, no one is allowed to come near here. Otherwise, I will kill you without mercy!"

Concubine Zhu was horrified and retreated repeatedly, not daring to shout anymore that she wanted to see Zhao Xu for the last time.

At the same time, a group of prime ministers and ministers also received the news that Zhao Xu was critically ill. Led by prime ministers such as Zhang Dun, Han Zhongyan, Zeng Bu, Cai Bian, and Xu Jiang, they gathered in the Chuigong Hall, waiting for the change of imperial power in the Zhao Song Dynasty.

Zhao Ya and all the royal family members gathered outside the Funing Palace, waiting for Empress Dowager Xiang to report news about Zhao Xu.

Near midnight, Empress Dowager Xiang sent someone to bring the news: the emperor had passed away, and asked the prime minister and respected people in the royal family to come and discuss the matter of supporting a new monarch.

A group of royal family members and civil and military officials who were not qualified to participate in the enthronement of the new monarch burst into tears.

Zhao Ya was the one who cried the most sadly, as if he had lost his parents.

Soon, ministers including Zhang Dun, Han Zhongyan, Zeng Bu, Cai Bian, and Xu Jiang, as well as members of the royal family including Princess Qingshou and Prince Pu, all came to the east pavilion of Xuanhe Hall and met Empress Dowager Xiang.

After the Empress Dowager's condolences, Zhang Dun asked on behalf of the crowd, "Did Your Majesty leave any will?"

The Empress Dowager Xiang shook her head and said, "Your Majesty left in a hurry and was unable to issue an edict."

When everyone heard this, they understood that Empress Dowager Xiang and Zhao Xu had never reached an agreement until their death. It could also be said that Zhao Xu had never agreed to pass the throne to Zhao Ya until his death.

What others don’t know is that when Zhao Xu was still able to handle government affairs, Zhang Dun once tested Zhao Xu to find out who he should support as the new king if Zhao Xu encountered an unexpected accident.

Zhao Xu did not answer Zhang Dun directly, but Zhang Dun was sharp-eyed and saw Zhao Xu tremblingly write the word "简" on the straw paper in front of him.

According to Zhao Xu's will, Zhang Dun should have proposed that Zhao Si be the new emperor.

But Zhang Dun thought about the ignorant Zhao Si, then about Zhao Ya, who had already demonstrated extraordinary governing ability, and finally about the internal and external troubles facing the Zhao Song Dynasty. He swallowed the idea of ​​establishing a new emperor and changed it to: "May I ask the Queen Mother, who can be the new emperor?"

Empress Dowager Xiang looked at Zhang Dun deeply and said, "I have no sons, and all the princes are illegitimate sons, no different. According to the order of seniority, Prince Shen is the eldest and could have been the king, but he has an eye disease. The next one is Prince Duan..."

Zhang Dun took over the conversation and said, "Prince Duan is a frivolous man, unfit to rule the world."

Empress Dowager Xiang passed by Zhao Ji and said, "The next one is Prince Shen..."

……

(End of this chapter)