Chapter 12: Zhang Chun Wants to Be Empress Dowager

…

Night.

After seeing Zhang Chun, Ye Shi Yun, Ma Xiao Jiao, and Yuan Qing Cheng, Li Lin said to them: "I met Zhao Ji."

"How was he? Is there still hope for him?" Ye Shi Yun asked.

"Lived in luxury, frivolous and dissolute, folds under pressure—when the Empress Dowager said she wouldn't see him, he immediately slunk away, not a shred of backbone, nowhere near as good as Zhao Yu, no wonder he brought about the Jingkang Humiliation," Li Lin remarked without mercy, even a bit harshly.

"Let me reiterate—I absolutely refuse to let Zhao Ji become emperor!" Li Lin added.

Feeling this still didn't convey her firm stance, Li Lin cut it off completely: "I feel one of my missions here is to prevent Zhao Ji from becoming emperor and to stop the Jingkang Humiliation. If, unfortunately, Zhao Ji still becomes emperor, I'll flee south and join Fang La, help Fang La defeat Zhao Ji, then help Fang La defeat the Jurchens."

"Fang La's rebellion started in 1120—still over twenty years away. Are you sure you can wait that long?" Zhang Chun reminded her.

Learning Fang La's rebellion was still so far off, Li Lin looked disappointed and asked: "What about Song Jiang? Did he rebel during this period?"

"Song Jiang's rebellion began in 1119—just one year before Fang La's. Still, you'd have to wait twenty years," Zhang Chun said.

"What about others? Hasn't there been any rebellion in recent years?" Li Lin pressed, unwilling to give up.

"During the Northern and Southern Song periods, there were 433 peasant rebellions—averaging 1.5 per year. There must have been some recently, but their scale and impact were so negligible that the historical records didn't even bother to note them, proving they could never amount to anything," Zhang Chun said.

Hearing this, Li Lin gave up the idea of joining the rebels: "Then I'll support Zhao Yu. If he can replace Zhao Ji as emperor, that's best. If he can't, I'll help him rebel."

"Song princes hold no military power and can't participate in governance—they have zero possibility of rebellion. Besides, even if we wanted to help Zhao Yu rebel, Zhao Yu would have to have rebelled intentions first," Zhang Chun said.

"If Zhao Yu won't do it, I'll find my own way to start a rebellion or uprising—I absolutely will not let Zhao Ji become emperor," Li Lin said.

Ma Xiao Jiao also shouted: "Yes! We'd rather overthrow the Northern Song than let Zhao Ji become emperor. The Jingkang Humiliation is too shameful—if it happens, didn't we all waste our time traveling through?"

Ye Shi Yun and Yuan Qing Cheng also declared they wouldn't let Zhao Ji become emperor.

Originally, Zhang Chun had been considering whether to go with the flow, try accepting Zhao Ji, help him change the Jingkang Humiliation, even help him seize that rare historical opportunity to achieve true unification.

Li Lin and the other three women didn't know that Zhang Chun, who knew history well, was fully aware that although Zhao Ji had terrible flaws—luxurious excess, reliance on corrupt ministers, obstinacy, and grandiose ambitions—he wasn't nearly as bad as ordinary people imagined. At least, the Jingkang Humiliation couldn't be blamed entirely on him.

In Zhang Chun's view, the primary culprit behind the Jingkang Humiliation should be Emperor Qinzong Zhao Huan. Had he not been obstinate and foolish, cowardly and weak, skilled at internal strife but helpless against outsiders, indecisive between war and peace as the Jurchens advanced south, and selfishly barred royal family members from fleeing, the Jingkang Humiliation would never have happened.

And Emperor Gaozong Zhao Gou—when the Jingkang Humiliation occurred, he held hundreds of thousands of troops, yet watched helplessly as his father, mother, concubines, five daughters, and entire royal clan were captured by the Jurchens and brutally humiliated, while he focused solely on fleeing, thinking only of his own survival and pleasure, never planning rescue or revenge.

Precisely speaking, it was Zhao Ji, Zhao Huan, and Zhao Gou—the father-son trio—who together engineered the Jingkang Humiliation.

But politics is a process of compromise and unity.

Since Li Lin and the other three women all hated Zhao Ji and insisted on replacing him, and Zhao Ji was truly not worth saving, Zhang Chun made up her mind: "Yes! To prevent the Jingkang Humiliation, we must replace Zhao Ji, the original instigator."

After a pause, Zhang Chun added: "As for how to replace him, I'll decide after I meet Zhao Yu."

Then the five women began discussing how to meet Zhao Yu.

Li Lin said: "Just sweep the gate. That's where I got approached by Zhao Ji…"

…

In the following days, whichever of Li Lin and the other three women was assigned to sweep the gate of Cide Palace would switch with Zhang Chun.

Diligence rewards the persistent.

Only four days passed before Zhang Chun, lying in wait, finally spotted Zhao Yu.

When Zhao Yu was still some distance from Cide Palace, Zhang Chun heard a palace maid beside her say: "Look, Prince Shen is coming!"

Hearing this, Zhang Chun quickly turned to look at Zhao Yu.

He stood tall and straight, his posture like a pine, yet relaxed. His facial features were sharply defined, his eyebrows slanted sharply upward, his eyes deep as a abyss, dark and inscrutable, as if holding endless stories and wisdom. Beneath his high, straight nose, his thin lips were slightly pressed, occasionally curling into a faint, reassuring smile. His black hair was neatly tied, secured only by a single smooth white jade hairpin—simple, yet exuding elegance.

Zhao Yu's appearance made Zhang Chun exhale in relief.

Li Lin and the other three women didn't understand: in this feudal society, for a woman to achieve anything, she must rely on a powerful man—especially in the early stages.

Throughout history, powerful women like Fu Hao, Lü Zhi, Wu Zetian, Empress Dowager Dou, Deng Sui, Empress Dowager Qin, Empress Dowager Feng, Liu E, Gao Taotao, Xiao Chuo, the Great and Little Liang Empress Dowagers, Empress Zhang Xiaoxiao, and Cixi—all gained power by marrying emperors. None of them ever seized control until after their husbands died and their sons or grandsons became emperors, allowing them to rule as Empress Dowager.

So while Li Lin and the other three women wandered aimlessly, Zhang Chun had long had a crystal-clear goal.

That goal: she would marry the emperor.

Whether that emperor was Zhao Xu, Zhao Ji, or Zhao Yu—borrowing Liu Jia Ling's famous line from Let the Bullets Fly: "Frankly, I only want to be the county magistrate's wife. Who the magistrate is? I don't care."

Of course, because Zhao Ji was obstinate and because Zhang Chun needed Li Lin, Ye Shi Yun, Ma Xiao Jiao, and Yuan Qing Cheng's help to make her mark here, and since they hated Zhao Ji, Zhang Chun had no choice but to abandon Zhao Ji as a shortcut.

And Zhao Xu was about to die.

Thus, Zhao Yu was now the only viable option.

Zhang Chun naturally had to see for herself whether Zhao Yu was worth it.

Moreover, if Zhao Yu truly was worthy, Zhang Chun must seize this chance—make him see her value, ideally make him hopelessly in love with her.

Then, when Zhao Yu ascended the throne, she would become his Empress, bear him the Crown Prince, outlive Zhao Yu, and become the Empress Dowager she most desired—ruling with supreme power, and gradually realizing her grand ambitions.

Now that she had seen Zhao Yu's appearance, Zhang Chun thought: "He's my type."

Only one small problem remained.

In her past life, Zhang Chun had spent her school days buried in the library reading historical texts. After graduation, unable to find a suitable job, she spent her days at home recording history videos and livestreaming historical answers, and in her spare time read historical novels—a true homebody who had never dated a single person. So for a moment, she didn't know how to approach Zhao Yu…

…

(End of Chapter)