Empress Huo Chengjun - Marriage

Marriage

In 74 BC, Emperor Zhao died at age 20. Huo initially selected his nephew, Prince He of Changyi as the new emperor. However, after Prince He quickly showed his unsuitability to be an emperor, Huo removed him from the throne and selected a commoner, the great-grandson of Emperor Wu and grandnephew of Emperor Zhao, Liu Bingyi (劉病已), to be emperor, and he accepted the throne as Emperor Xuan.

Emperor Xuan was already married to Xu Pingjun when he accepted the throne, and he created Xu an imperial consort. When it came time to create an empress, the officials, knowing that it was Lady Xian's wishes, largely wanted Emperor Xuan to marry Huo Chengjun and create her empress. Emperor Xuan did not explicitly reject this proposal, but issued an order to seek out the sword that he owned as a commoner. Getting the hint, the officials recommended Consort Xu as empress, and she was created as such late in 74 BC.

Lady Xian would not be denied what she wanted—having her daughter as an empress. In 71 BC, Empress Xu was pregnant when Lady Xian came up with a plot. She bribed Empress Xu's female physician Chunyu Yan (淳于衍), under guise of giving Empress Xu medicine after she gave birth, to poison her. Chunyu did so, and Empress Xu died shortly after she gave birth. Her doctors were initially arrested to investigate whether they cared for the empress properly. Lady Xian, alarmed, informed Huo Guang what had actually happened, and Huo, not having the heart to turn in his wife, instead signed Chunyu's release.

In 70 BC, Emperor Xuan created Huo Chengjun empress. Accustomed to luxury living, her palace expenditures far exceeded the late Empress Xu. She tried to maintain a good relationship with her niece, Grand Empress Dowager Shangguan, but their relationship appeared to be not as cordial as Grand Empress Dowager Shangguan's relationship with the late Empress Xu, because Grand Empress Dowager Shangguan was intimidated by Empress Huo's status as her aunt.