[Emperor Hui had three empresses throughout his life. Queen Wang was not his first empress, nor was Emperor Hui Queen Wang’s first husband.]
On the Sky Screen, an illustration of Emperor Hui wearing the ceremonial headdress appeared beside Queen Wang’s portrait. The two stood side by side until Emperor Hui’s image vanished as the celestial narration continued, replaced by a dark portrait whose features remained indistinct.
Queen Wang subtly clenched her hands, her gaze lingering on the blurred portrait as distant memories gradually resurfaced, completing the man’s visage on the Sky Screen.
Everyone knew Queen Wang had been married before.
[Queen Wang hailed from the Huling Wang Clan, cultivated in poetry and etiquette from childhood. Historical records describe her as “orchids embodied in her form,” possessing innate refinement and literary talent comparable to the legendary talent of poetic expression.]
[Her father Wang Zhan arranged her marriage to the promising young scholar Xue Qin. Tragically, an earthquake struck on their wedding day. After completing the ceremony, Queen Wang—then waiting in the bridal chamber—fled outside, while Xue Qin died saving his elderly grandfather when a pillar collapsed on him.]
[The marriage was both solemnized and nullified. Unwilling to let their daughter live as a widow, the Wang family brought her home. Later, when Wang Zhan was transferred to the Imperial Academy in Luojing, Emperor Hui—having heard of Wang’s daughter’s intelligence and beauty—summoned her to the palace and granted her the title of Consort Shu.]
Though the Sky Screen summarized these events briefly, Queen Wang, as the subject of the story, felt far from detached.
When Xue Qin died in the earthquake, some had accused her of being a husband-killer!
Her mother, torn between heartache and fury, had people spread counter-rumors about her auspicious fate being too potent for ordinary men, then had her father bring her home.
Coinciding with her father’s promotion, the family’s move to Luojing gradually quieted the gossip.
Emperor Hui also recalled those years.
They say youthful couples grow into companions in old age.
Though Queen Wang wasn’t his first wife, she had accompanied him to this day. If not love, he at least felt respect and familial affection for her.
He remarked lightly, “The Sky Screen seems quite informed about Your Majesty’s past.”
Queen Wang responded with a faint smile, “Merely bygones from long ago.”
[Let’s be frank—Emperor Hui had somewhat… lustful tendencies. He favored delicate, coquettish women, but Consort Shu was nothing of the sort!]
Silence. Nothing but suffocating silence.
The princes, princesses, consorts, and palace attendants present wished they could unhear what was just said.
The “lustful” Emperor Hui himself thought: All men appreciate beauty—must the Sky Screen mention this?…
Awkward.
[Consort Shu was highly literate and strictly adhered to propriety, never actively seeking to please the emperor. She was content whether he visited or not—in fact, she preferred the peace when he stayed away.]
Queen Wang: Sky Screen, such matters need only be between us. Must you announce them to the world?…
[How did such an unambitious soul become empress? This involves a tale of filial devotion.]
[In the fifth year of Emperor Hui’s reign, rebel ministers rose. His original wife Empress Shen took an arrow for him, saving his life. With her dying breath, Empress Shen begged the emperor to care for their daughter.]
The Sky Screen’s scene shifted to clashing blades and bloodstained petals, showing a young emperor weeping as he held his arrow-stricken wife.
Princess Shunyang gazed at the dying woman—this was her birth mother!
The mother she had no memory of, who in her final moments had thought of her, worried for her, and could not let her go!
Princess Shunyang’s eyes grew moist.
Empress Shen and Emperor Hui had two children together, with the eldest son dying young. The only one remaining now is Princess Shuyang Zhu Xuanyi. Shuyang was the founding place of the Great Yin Dynasty, and the fact that the princess received this title shortly after her birth was enough to show Emperor Hui’s deep affection for her. Now that Empress Shen—the woman Emperor Hui loved most—had died for him, and entrusted him with the care of their daughter on her deathbed, how could Emperor Hui refuse?
Of course, Emperor Hui could not refuse! After Empress Shen’s death, Emperor Hui took Princess Shuyang under his personal care and raised her himself. It wasn’t until Princess Shuyang turned six that Emperor Hui fell seriously ill.
Here it comes, everyone thought. It was this very illness that allowed the obscure Consort Shu Wang to become Queen Wang, earning her the chance to be mentioned and recounted by the heavens on the Sky Screen!
Jealousy twisted their faces!
Some concubines wished they could travel back in time!
It was a dark and windy night, with a lone moon hanging high in the sky. The princess, anxious and fearful after her beloved father had been unconscious for days, overheard a palace maid whispering before bed that sincere prayers to the gods would earn their protection. So, with remarkable determination, the princess went alone that night to the Shoukang Palace—where the late Empress Dowager Gao, a devout Buddhist, had dedicated a hall to enshrine the Buddha.
Hearing this, the Crown Prince lowered his gaze. Hadn’t he also been by his father’s side during that time, attending to him and serving his medicine? He, too, had been filial!
Perhaps the gods were moved by the princess’s sincerity. The next morning, Emperor Hui woke up. Not seeing the princess, he panicked and ordered the entire palace to search for her. Soon, she was found in the Shoukang Palace.
The little princess, dressed in white sleeping robes, lay before the Buddha statue, her hands clasped in prayer and her knees still in a kneeling position. A group of frantic palace servants surrounded her.
Having caught a chill in the cold, the princess developed a high fever and remained unconscious for several days. When she finally woke, the Emperor asked her why she had gone to the Shoukang Palace.
On the Sky Screen, the Emperor sat by her bedside as the little princess, still weak, replied in a frail, childish voice, “Your child sincerely prayed to the Buddha, offering my own lifespan in exchange for the Buddha’s protection, so that Father Emperor may live a long, healthy life, free from illness and disaster.”
Hearing those innocent, feeble words from the Sky Screen, Emperor Hui’s eyes instantly welled up with tears. The memories flooded back, and he murmured to himself, “Yaoyin, there is no child in this world better than Xuanyi!”
Other princes and princesses might also have claimed they would exchange their lives for the Emperor’s in prayers to the gods. But were their actions heartfelt and voluntary?
No, they only did so under someone else’s guidance, performing filial piety as an act for his benefit.
Zhu Xuanyi was different.
Raised personally by Emperor Hui, her actions came purely from the heart—a genuine love for her father, unprompted by anyone.
This was what truly moved Emperor Hui. His paternal love had been reciprocated, and Princess Shuyang had given him the rare gift of sincere familial affection in the imperial family.
After Princess Shuyang recovered from her illness, Emperor Hui granted her Shuyang as her fief, with all its tax revenues belonging to her, making her the true Princess Shuyang.
Princess Shuyang also recalled these past events with emotion. Her father had once treated her so well; she had been his most beloved daughter. Yet, when her own child was inadvertently killed by her eldest brother, her father had refused to truly punish the Crown Prince…
After this incident, Emperor Hui realized a problem. Burdened with state affairs and limited energy, he could not care for Princess Shuyang as well as he wished. He needed to choose a foster mother for Princess Shuyang.
Queen Wang’s portrait appeared as she knelt before Emperor Hui, listening to him say: “You are gentle, virtuous, and exceptionally talented. We intend to have you raise Princess Shunyang. Are you willing?”
[Of course Consort Shu was willing! Princess Shunyang was clever and adorable – who in the palace didn’t love her? Some claimed Consort Shu was raising the princess to compete for favor, but honestly, did her previous behavior suggest someone who loved to compete for favor? Moreover, after she began raising Princess Shunyang, although she saw the emperor more frequently, she never gave birth to a child of her own. Either she had physical issues, or she simply didn’t like the emperor and didn’t want to bear his children.]
Did Queen Wang have physical problems?
Did Queen Wang not like His Majesty?
Well… we just don’t know.
What we do know is that Queen Wang was very healthy and showed great respect toward His Majesty.
Respectful, treating each other with courtesy.
Silence, then more silence.
[Returning to our story, Consort Shu was a gentle, kind-hearted, and devoted person. She raised Princess Shunyang as her own daughter, putting her heart and soul into it. Princess Shunyang also greatly loved this Lady Wang, and lacking maternal love, she regarded this sincerely caring person as her own mother. Not long after, Emperor Hui elevated Consort Shu to the position of queen.]
[Thus, Wang Qingran, a noble lady, completed her transformation from a young widow who lost her husband right after marriage to the empire’s queen.]
In Luojing, at the Wang residence, Queen Wang’s elderly father Wang Zhan stroked his beard, smiling broadly as he told his wife: “Thanks to your firmness back then, wife. If Qingran had remained with the Xue family, how could she have achieved today’s honor as queen, or gained the glory of being mentioned by the Sky Screen?”
Madam Wang glanced sideways at him: “I couldn’t bear to see our daughter suffer!”
If not for the imperial decree being difficult to defy, Madam Wang wouldn’t have wanted her daughter to enter the palace either.
Fortunately, her daughter was blessed, having Princess Shunyang to bring her joy.
How wonderful Princess Shunyang was!
Every time she saw Madam Wang and that old man Wang Zhan, she would cheerfully call them grandmother and grandfather!
“Ah…” Madam Wang sighed, “Poor princess lost her child when she first became a mother.”
Wang Zhan’s smile immediately vanished. He knew a bit about this matter – the princess losing her child was an undeserved disaster resulting from the Crown Prince and Prince Chen’s struggle.
The Crown Prince intended to take poisoned ghee himself to frame Prince Chen, but unexpectedly the Crown Princess mistakenly gave the poisoned ghee to the young lord. The poison dosage wouldn’t kill an adult, but the young lord…
Prince Chen was pleasure-seeking, impatient and violent in temperament, unsuitable to be heir apparent. But this Crown Prince, who appeared benevolent and righteous, was nothing special either.
[As for Emperor Hui, he could recognize talent but wasn’t good at utilizing it. He knew which court officials were virtuous ministers and which were treacherous ones. But he just couldn’t use them properly, keeping the treacherous ministers in the capital while banishing those ambitious virtuous ministers to local posts, only to recall them after some time, repeating this cycle over and over.]
Virtuous ministers who had been banished: The Sky Screen speaks nothing but the truth! Alas, they suffered inwardly! His Majesty indeed wasn’t some tyrannical, incompetent ruler – he had some qualities of an enlightened monarch, but only some! Banishing them back and forth, returning to the capital for a year or two only to be banished again for five or six years – how could they realize their ideals and ambitions this way?
Although the places they were banished to weren’t particularly harsh, the essence of recognizing and properly utilizing talent is to provide a grand stage!
Emperor Hui, Emperor Hui didn’t think he had done anything wrong.
This was all for the balance of the court.
Those ministers were indeed capable, but the reform policies they proposed faced tremendous implementation pressure – they simply couldn’t be carried out!
【The appointment of Queen Wang was one of the few instances where he demonstrated discernment in recognizing talent and utilized it to its fullest potential. By enthroning Queen Wang, he not only forged the mother-daughter bond between Queen Wang and Princess Shuyang Zhu Xuanyi, but also enabled the educationally adept Queen Wang to nurture a confident, self-reliant, courageous, resilient, and pioneering—Zhaowen Sage Ruler!】
Excellent—confident and self-reliant, courageous and resilient, pioneering and enterprising—all are laudatory terms.
Silence.
Nothing but silence…
Who can tell me, did the Sky screen misspeak?
That Zhaowen Emperor who expanded territories, subdued the four barbarians, and created a peaceful golden age with countless small settlements and granaries filled to the brim—
Was actually Princess Shuyang Zhu Xuanyi?
“Husband, did I hear correctly? The Sky screen said, Zhaowen Emperor is, is…” Madam Wang was stunned.
Wang Zhan was also dumbfounded, but having weathered the storms of officialdom, he collected himself. “You heard right. The Sky screen said the highly accomplished Zhaowen Emperor is our granddaughter, Princess Shuyang!”
Duke Shen’s residence.
If Duke Shen, father of Empress Shen, had heard Wang Zhan’s words, he would have spat in his face and cursed him for being shameless.
Whose granddaughter?
He was the legitimate maternal grandfather of Princess Shuyang by blood, for heaven’s sake!
Prince Chen’s residence.
Even Prince Chen, who had a relatively good relationship with Shuyang, angrily smashed his cup on the ground, cursing, “A hen heralding the dawn!”
Marquis Wu’an’s residence.
Marquis Wu’an, Princess Shuyang’s father-in-law, who was recuperating at home from a recurring illness, nearly collapsed upon hearing this.
Heavens! Without even thinking, it was clear that as Princess Shuyang’s marital family, they must have contributed significantly to her ascension to the throne.
After all, the Yue family commanded regional troops!
Nanwo Mountain.
A soldier who had followed Yue Guantang to suppress bandits quietly asked his companion, “Is our general… is he Princess Shuyang’s consort?”
His companion nodded emphatically.
“Good heavens, our general is going to become the empress consort!”
Yue Guantang gazed at the Sky screen, lost in thought without uttering a word.
The officials and commoners of Dayin: Are we about to have an empress?
A woman can successfully ascend the throne and even create achievements praised by heaven?
There has never been a female ruler before—how is this supposed to work?