Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 563 The Empress
Yu Jin also knew that Beizhong City was difficult to attack, so he simply surrounded it without attacking, and sent people to persuade Yang Zhong to surrender.

Messengers were also sent from Chang'an City to convey the orders of the King of Tang and the emperor's edict.

The emperor forgave Yuan Ziyou's sins and asked him to immediately give up the title of false emperor and surrender to Chang'an. Taking into account that he was supported by the traitor Erzhu Rong, he could forgive his sins.

If Yuan Ziyou did not surrender, the tragedy of all the people in Luoyang in the future would be held against him, and there would be no chance of forgiveness.

This letter of surrender was quickly spread throughout Luoyang City through spies arranged by the Xuan Jingsi in Luoyang, and soon spread throughout the city.

Immediately afterwards, Yu Jin sent Gao Aocao's body to Beizhong City, and Yang Zhong immediately brought it to Yuan Ziyou.

Yuan Ziyou was panicked and he convened a meeting of ministers again.

As expected, all the ministers' opinion this time was to surrender.

Yuan Ziyou was unwilling, but he had no one around him to discuss things with. He sent Xi Yi to Henan to recruit soldiers and collect grain, Yang Zhong was garrisoning in Beizhong City, Gao Aocao was killed, and Yuan Ziyou asked all the ministers to disperse. He looked around and saw that only Su Shun, a palace maid, was left on the list.

Over the years, Su Shun can be said to be loyal to Yuan Ziyou.

The most rare thing about him is that he knows when to advance and when to retreat. Apart from serving Yuan Ziyou, he would not express his opinion on anything.

When Yuan Ziyou seized power, Su Shun also took the risk to connect with him.

However, after spending all these years together, Yuan Ziyou also realized that Su Shun was not without ideas, he was just good at hiding them.

Yuan Ziyou looked at Su Shun and asked:
"Do you have any idea?"

Su Shun immediately gave his usual answer:

"I am just a disabled person, how can I have any opinion on the government affairs?"

Yuan Ziyou sighed and said:
"It has come to this. I want to hear what you have to say."

Su Shun looked at Yuan Ziyou sitting on the throne. Even when he was imprisoned by Erzhu Rong, he had never been so depressed.

At that time, Yuan Ziyou still had faith and believed that the problem with the Wei Dynasty was that treacherous ministers were in power. As long as he took power himself, everything would be fine.

But after taking power, Yuan Ziyou discovered that there were many things that he really could not change.

Just controlling Luoyang and Henan, which are small areas, has caused a lot of trouble. For such a long time, he has not even been able to deal with internal problems.

Only then did Yuan Ziyou understand how difficult it was for Su Ze to govern Guanzhong so prosperously.

Su Shun lowered his head and said:
"Your Majesty, do you have any other options besides surrendering?"

Yuan Ziyou's expression darkened. Luoyang was already surrounded on all sides. If he didn't surrender, he really had no other way out.

But Yuan Ziyou also has his own persistence.

In troubled times, those who can come to the fore are those who have great perseverance and persistence.

All Yuan Ziyou wanted in his life was to revive the Northern Wei dynasty. To this end, he could endure humiliation under the command of Jiangyang King Yuan Yi, he could lie dormant when the evil queen was in power, or he could be content to be a puppet under the control of Erzhu Rong.

Now Su Ze was determined to replace Wei and establish himself as the emperor, which Yuan Ziyou could not accept in any way.

Su Shun knocked his head to the ground and said to Yuan Ziyou:
"Your Majesty, the Wei dynasty has long since perished."

When Yuan Ziyou heard this, he stood up in a rare loss of composure. His face flushed and he wanted to be angry, but he sat down dejectedly.

Yes, the Wei dynasty had long since perished, and his actions in Luoyang were nothing but a last-ditch struggle.

Su Shun added:
"Your Majesty, what you need to protect now is the Yuan Wei clan." Hearing this, Yuan Ziyu was horrified.

Although there were examples of treating the royal families of the previous dynasties well, during the turbulent times of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, not to mention the royal families of the previous dynasties, even the royal families of the current dynasty were treated bloody and cruelly, let alone the old people of the previous dynasty?
Although Su Ze has a reputation for being generous, who knows what will happen in the future.

Moreover, most of the royal family members of the Northern Wei Dynasty had a bad reputation. The only one who could be considered to be clear and bright was Prince Qinghe Yuan Yi.

Even if he couldn't save the entire Yuan clan, Yuan Ziyou wanted to save his own family line.

"I am the fish on the chopping board, how can I protect myself?"

Su Shun immediately said:

"The Demon Queen is still in Luoyang."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ziyou, who was good at political strategies, immediately understood.

Due to changes in the historical timeline, Empress Dowager Hu did not die in the Heyin Incident, but was imprisoned in the palace.

For Su Ze in Guanzhong, Empress Dowager Hu was a thorny problem.

The reason is very simple. Su Ze used the name of assisting the young emperor Yuan Xu to hold the emperor hostage to control the princes.

Empress Dowager Hu was Yuan Xu's mother and also the empress dowager who had once been in power. Most importantly, she had a long history of bad deeds and could be said to be a historical burden of the Northern Wei royal family.

If such a person is welcomed back to Guanzhong, if she causes any trouble, it will bring changes to the originally smooth transfer of power.

However, filial piety has been highly praised by all dynasties. Su Ze even used the "Book of Filial Piety" to select scholars in Chongwen Pavilion. He also killed Empress Dowager Hu, which dirtyed his hands and left a bad reputation in history.

Yuan Ziyou understood what Su Shun meant, and he said to Su Shun:

"Find a few trusted palace maids and ask the Queen Mother to go on the journey."

Su Shun quickly accepted Yuan Ziyou's order, but when he stood up, he saw Yuan Ziyou's dejected face, as if something bad was about to happen.

However, Su Shun was busy executing the order to kill Empress Dowager Hu, so he found a few trusted eunuchs and hurried to Jiafu Hall where Empress Dowager Hu was imprisoned.

There were some twists and turns when sending Empress Dowager Hu on her way. When facing Su Shun, Empress Dowager Hu yelled and even tried to attack the eunuchs to escape.

But how could she, an old woman who had been imprisoned for many years, be a match for the young eunuch? In the end, Su Shun strangled her to death with his own hands and then hung her from the beam with a white silk.

Just when Su Shun returned to Taiji Hall to report, he arrived at the door of the hall but there was no movement.

He asked for a meeting several more times, but still no response. Su Shun realized something was wrong and quickly pushed the door open.

Seeing Yuan Ziyou sitting motionless on the throne, Su Shun had a bad feeling and took a few steps forward. Only then did he realize that Yuan Ziyou had taken poison and committed suicide.

Su Shun also felt his nose sore. Although he was an insider arranged by Su Ze, he had never done anything to let Yuan Ziyou down except passing on messages over the years.

Yuan Ziyou saved his life as a palace maid, so he was quite nice to him.

Su Shun knelt three times and kowtowed nine times to Yuan Ziyou again, and only then did he discover the imperial seal, the abdication edict and the letter of surrender to Yang Zhong on the desk.

Su Shun suppressed his grief and walked out of the Taiji Hall holding the three things. He hurried to the Southern Courtyard and informed the ministers of the death of Yuan Ziyou and Empress Dowager Hu, and handed the abdication edict to the ministers.

With this opportunity, the officials in Luoyang suppressed their joy, turned sad for a moment, and then surrendered to Yu Jin.

Su Shun was again appointed as an envoy to go to Beizhong City to persuade Yang Zhong to surrender.

(End of this chapter)