Chapter 212: Rules of the Competition
The six palace maids retreated to one side, holding twelve imperial seals of varying shapes and slightly different colors. They resembled twelve miniature ancestral tablets of previous emperors, coldly supervising everything, waiting to see what new tricks the Han descendants would devise.
The fate seer Huangfu Yi, who claimed to have once used the name Chunyu Xiao, stood in the middle of the room. Others, whether consciously or unconsciously, formed a circle around him to listen to his words.
Huangfu Yi slowly turned in place to demonstrate his impartiality.
He said: “Having imperial heirs compete for the throne with ministers selecting the new emperor sounds quite unusual and unprecedented. However, please allow me to explain: In ancient times, the world was shared by all. During the times of Yao, Shun, and Yu, the throne was abdicated to the worthiest successor. While it appeared that the previous emperor designated the next, the true decision-makers were the ministers. Danzu, Yao’s eldest son, failed to gain the ministers’ support and lost the throne. Shun worked tirelessly for the people throughout his life, always accepting the ministers’ supervision…”
Huangfu Yi spoke at length. Han Ruzi glanced at Yang Feng – it was under this eunuch’s guidance that he had carefully studied the ancient historical records, which largely aligned with the fate seer’s words. However, while the histories attributed the abdications to the emperors’ noble character, under Huangfu Yi’s analysis, the ministers were the true power brokers – abdication only worked with their support.
Han Ruzi was shocked, even somewhat frightened, by how accurately Yang Feng understood the fate seer.
“However,” Huangfu Yi changed his tone, “abdication is an ancient practice long lost. For thousands of years since, the throne has passed from father to son, becoming an established norm. In the hundred-plus years since Great Chu’s founding, imperial succession remained unbroken. But since the Martial Emperor’s passing, the succession became chaotic, leaving officials and the people at a loss, with turmoil spreading across the realm, endangering Great Chu. I have some knowledge of the cosmic order, and fortunately received an audience with Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager. Observing the heavenly signs and earthly patterns, I believe there is a reason for this chaos…”
Huangfu Yi’s subsequent words were more obscure, filled with strange terms flowing endlessly. His main point was that the rules of succession needed changing – not completely, as the Chu empire was universally recognized as belonging to the Han imperial clan, so the emperor must still come from the imperial clan, but not necessarily through father-to-son succession. They could somewhat “return to antiquity” by having ministers select the emperor.
Thus, through Huangfu Yi’s explanation, the matter of imperial heirs competing for the throne with ministers selecting the emperor transformed from an innovation into a revival of ancient practices.