stjorthotic Chapter 465 Extra Chapter: Archaeology - Lin Guiyou
Chapter 465 Extra Chapter: Archaeology - Lin Guiyou
"Guiyou, why are you walking so fast! Ah, what's wrong with you? Why are you crying?"
Lin Guiyou stood under the cherry blossom tree, wiping away her tears. Looking up at the magnificent cherry blossoms, she wondered, "Have the peach blossoms not bloomed yet?"
Gu Yuening touched her forehead. "You don't have a fever. What nonsense are you talking about? The cherry blossoms are almost finished blooming, and you're still saying the peach blossoms haven't bloomed yet."
She looked at Lin Guiyou's red and swollen eyes and nose, "It's just a Changling exhibition, why are you crying?"
"I'm so touched!" Lin Guiyou thought to herself. If I told you that I was originally a concubine of Emperor Wen of Zhou, who was lying in Changling, would you be scared to death?
"Yes, it's truly touching! I was also deeply moved by the love between Emperor Wen of Zhou, Li Yuanke, and Consort Du..."
Lin Guiyou abruptly turned to look at her best friend, wondering if her friend had lost her mind. "What did you say? The Emperor and Lady Du... a love affair? Who gave you such a misconception?"
"Isn't that right?" Gu Yuening said to herself, "According to historical records, Li Yuanke didn't have many sexual relations with his concubines, and experts have also presented evidence that this emperor might not be able to have sex."
Indeed, he had many concubines, but very few actually bore him children. Moreover, the vast majority only served him two or three times. Even Empress Chenyuan Zhao only had two children, while Consort De was the only one who had three. Doesn't this speak volumes?
Lin Guiyou thought to herself, "Where did this Consort De come from? She later became Consort Du."
But we can't say that, because archaeological discoveries haven't reached that stage yet.
"Don't analyze things one-sidedly. When it comes to historical matters, you need to verify the facts before giving your opinion."
"I don't care, I'm on Consort De, Lady Du's side. It's a pity that the concubines favored by the emperors are not good at palace intrigue. It's really... I can only say that the emperor was blind."
"I don't know what's so good about that Empress Chenyuan Zhao. Li Yuanke must be bewitched to choose such a person as his empress!"
Lin Guiyou stormed off, thinking that she couldn't keep this best friend anymore and didn't want her anymore.
"Hey, Guiyou, wait for me! Why are you walking so fast?" Gu Yuening was really into this archaeological excavation. It wasn't just because history had a high opinion of Emperor Chengzu, but also because he was the only emperor in history to allow his imperial concubine to rule as regent.
Historians and archaeologists are eager to know what made an emperor dare to entrust his back to the Imperial Noble Consort, especially since she did not have any children when Emperor Wen went on his expedition.
What's the story behind this? Is it about interests or something else?
Since it involved imperial power, naturally no one believed it was because of love.
"Guiyou, you still haven't told me, among Emperor Wen's many concubines, who are you on your side?"
"Of course it's Empress Chen Yuanzhao!" Lin Guiyou said matter-of-factly. Speaking of this title, she wanted to cry again. Such a good person, why did she only live to be forty years old? She really didn't expect that Xixi would leave so early.
She was hoping that the Emperor would die first, so that she could visit Xixi every day, spend their later years together, and leave this world together.
Who knew that Xixi would be the first to leave!
She was almost crying her eyes out!
She never imagined that she would greet someone she had once lived with in this way.
"Are you stupid? The Emperor's favorite person is definitely the Empress. Otherwise, why would he make Lady Shen the Empress? And why would he give her an honorific title..."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Lin Guiyou was dumbfounded; it seemed she had said the wrong thing again.
"Ah, is Chen Yuanzhao an honorific title?" Gu Yuening asked incredulously. "When Emperor Chengzu Wen first ascended the throne, did he establish an empress? Was Empress Chen Yuanzhao the only empress from beginning to end?"
Based on the limited archaeological discoveries available so far, it seems that Emperor Yongxi of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Li Yuanke, only had one empress. However, Emperor Zhenyou of the Ming Dynasty had given the eldest daughter of the Shen family and the second daughter of the Pei family to Emperor Yongxi, who was then the crown prince.
From today's perspective, the fact that neither of the two women was named Crown Princess at the time was clearly an attempt to maintain balance.
After Emperor Yongxi ascended the throne, the Pei family was initially quite well-behaved, and even contributed a lot when Emperor Yongxi cracked down on his brothers. However, the Pei family eventually rebelled.
Lin Guiyou thought to herself, "The Emperor has only ever had one wife, and he has only ever acknowledged one Empress."
Although Lady Pei was once made empress, she did not offer sacrifices to her ancestors. Later, the name "Empress Pei" was not allowed to appear in the imperial court or the palace, so the emperor only had one empress.
The next day, Lin Guiyou returned to the archaeological site. As a reporter, she participated in the entire process and followed the progress.
The process went smoothly, and six months later, they finally entered the underground palace.
The archaeologists were very surprised to find that there was only one burial chamber in the underground palace. No wonder they had dug for so long without finding anything; it turned out that there were no two burial chambers at all.
"This is very intriguing!" said Qiu Xianping, the person in charge of the archaeological work. "Without a doubt, this is where Empress Chenyuan Zhao is buried. This Empress Shen passed away in the 29th year of Yongxi, when the Changling Mausoleum was almost completed."
This means that Emperor Yongxi never intended to be buried in a separate tomb from the Empress from the beginning. Did he foresee that Empress Shen would die before him?
Tears streamed down Lin Guiyou's face. She approached, looking at Empress Shen's lifelike face, and choked out, "Of course not. You have no idea how much the Emperor loves the Empress. He has never thought of separating from her..."
Qiu Xianping glanced at Lin Guiyou but didn't take it to heart, assuming it was just another person who had gone crazy over shipping a couple.
In the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Yongxi was undoubtedly the greatest emperor of all time, with the highest achievements in both civil administration and military affairs. The "Annals of Empress Chenyuan Zhao" also added a brilliant chapter to the Yongxi era.
The Annals say that Empress Chenyuan Zhao was born with knowledge of the future. Emperor Yongxi had no chance of succeeding to the throne, but because Empress Chenyuan Zhao helped the Shen family, he actually became emperor.
Despite the certainty stated in the Annals, later generations still held a skeptical attitude.
But one has no choice but to believe it, after all, Empress Chenyuan Zhao died first, followed by Emperor Yongxi. With the former gone, the latter basically stopped attending to state affairs. Later generations even suspected that Empress Chenyuan Zhao was comparable to Empress Lü, and that she might have poisoned Emperor Yongxi, causing his health to collapse instantly and making him unable to govern.
Therefore, all political affairs were handed over to the crown prince.
As the archaeological excavation continued, when the coffins were being cleaned, the emperor and empress were each holding a purse. Upon opening them, genetic analysis of the contents revealed that the emperor's and empress's hair was tangled together.
More than a thousand years later, they finally merged together and became indistinguishable.
It is safe to say that Emperor Yongxi and Empress Chenyuanzhao were a loving couple.
When Emperor Yongxi returned from his campaign, the official historical records stopped, meaning that Emperor Yongxi never favored his concubines again. At that time, Emperor Yongxi already had nine sons born out of wedlock.
In this way, Emperor Yongxi also gained a reputation for being a deeply affectionate person.
Lin Guiyou burst into tears. Gu Yuening called her to go for coffee, and she went. Seeing that Lin Guiyou's eyes were red from crying again, Gu Yuening found it amusing. "My God, you're even more emotional than me. Are Emperor Yongxi and Empress Chenyuan Zhao really worth crying over? But, sister, I still stand with Emperor Yongxi and Consort De."
Lin Guiyou said, "Stop standing there! Go take another look. That Consort De, Lady Du, was eventually demoted to a lowly concubine. The imperial concubine cemetery was excavated today, and the first one there was Lady Du. Go see how shabby her tomb is!"
She was also quite upset; before long, her own grave might be dug up!
Gu Yuening exclaimed in panic, "It must be Empress Chenyuan Zhao's doing! I knew it! This woman is something else! Li Yuanke is blind to have made such a woman his empress!"
Lin Guiyou no longer wants this best friend!
History is a damn mess!
(Sorry, this archaeology story is really poorly written. I'm not very good at writing, so this is the only chapter. Please bear with it. I'll continue with the extra chapters about Sister Shen Shiyan later.)