Empress Xu (Cheng) - As Empress

As Empress

In 33 BC, then-Consort Xu's father-in-law Emperor Yuan died, and her husband Crown Prince Ao succeeded to the throne as Emperor Cheng. In 31 BC, he created her empress. He favored her greatly, but also had another favorite, Consort Ban, who also was childless. Because both the empress and Consort Ban lacked children, Emperor Cheng's mother Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun became concerned, and she encouraged him to take on more and more concubines in the hopes of producing an imperial heir, but none would come.

Because of the relatively exclusive status that Empress Xu had with regard to Emperor Cheng's affection, the officials also began to become concerned about the lack of an imperial heir. In 28 BC, the Confucian scholar and astrologer Liu Gengsheng (劉更生, later named Liu Xiang 劉向) submitted a report that suggested that Empress Xu's power be reduced and that the emperor spread his affection to other concubines. In response, Emperor Cheng reduced the budget of the empress' palace. She filed a formal objection with her husband, to which he made a formal reply in the form of an edict upholding the reduction in expenditures. Nevertheless, it did not appear that their relationship was severely strained.

However, a decade later, Empress Xu would meet her downfall. Circa 19 BC, when Emperor Cheng was visiting Princess Yang'a (陽阿公主), he became enamored with her dancing girl Zhao Feiyan and her sister Zhao Hede and made them his concubines, and they became favored over Empress Xu and Consort Ban. In 18 BC, the Zhao sisters falsely accused Empress Xu and Consort Ban of witchcraft; Empress Xu was deposed and put under house arrest in a subsidiary palace. (Consort Ban was spared after successfully pleading her case, but she did not wish to return to the same environment and instead became a lady in waiting for Empress Dowager Wang.)