Tragedy in Childhood
Empress Dou was not satisfied with the situation, however, and in 79, after another imperial consort, Consort Liang, gave birth to a son named Liu Zhao (劉肇), she adopted Prince Zhao and intended to make him crown prince instead. After Empress Dowager Ma died later that year, Consort Song was left without anyone to protect her, and Empress Dou began to plot her destruction.
In 82, an opportunity came for Empress Dou. Consort Song had become ill, and in her illness, she craved raw cuscuta, and she requested that her family bring them. Empress Dou seized the cuscuta and falsely accused Consort Song of using it for witchcraft. Emperor Zhang was enraged and expelled Crown Prince Qing from the palace. He had Consort Song and her sister, also an imperial consort, arrested and interrogated by the eunuch Cai Lun. Consort Song and her sister saw that they were in deep straits, and they committed suicide by poison. Crown Prince Qing was deposed and created the Prince of Qinghe instead; he was replaced by Prince Zhao as crown prince. Prince Zhao, however, was friendly to his brother, and they often spent time together.
In 88, Emperor Zhang died, and Crown Prince Zhao succeeded to the throne as Emperor He. The still-young Prince Qing remained in the capital Luoyang, and he and his emperor brother continued to spend great amounts of time together.
Read more about this topic: Liu Qing (prince)
Famous quotes containing the words tragedy and/or childhood:
“For a novel addressed by a man to men and women of full age; which attempts to deal unaffectedly with the fret and fever, derision and disaster, that may press in the wake of the strongest passion known to humanity; to tell, without a mincing of words, of a deadly war waged between flesh and spirit; and to point the tragedy of unfulfilled aims, I am not aware that there is anything in the handling to which exception can be taken.”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
“Having a child is the great divide between one’s own childhood and adulthood. All at once someone is totally dependent upon you. You are no longer the child of your mother but the mother of your child. Instead of being taken care of, you are responsible for taking care of someone else.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)