Brief Reign
Empress Dowager Yan's decision was supported by other powerful people trusted by Emperor An—his stepuncle Geng Bao (耿寶), the eunuchs Jiang Jing (江京) and Fan Feng (樊豐), and his wet nurse Wang Sheng (王聖). Soon, however, Empress Yan and her brother Yan Xian (閻顯) wanted to have full control of power, and they falsely accused Fan, Wang, and Gen of crimes. Fan was executed, while Wang and Gen, along with their families, were exiled. The Yan brothers became the most powerful officials in the capital Luoyang and ruled autocratically.
Late in the year, however, the young emperor grew gravely ill, and eunuchs loyal to Prince Bao, led by Sun Cheng (孫程), formed a conspiracy to overthrow the Yans. As soon as the emperor died, the eunuchs overthrew the Yans in a coup d'état and made Prince Bao emperor (as Emperor Shun). The Yans were slaughtered, except for Empress Dowager Yan, who was however rendered powerless.
Emperor Shun, recognizing that the former Marquess of Beixiang was young and not complicit in Empress Yan's plot, did not posthumously dishonor him or carry out reprisals against his family, but nor did he recognize his predecessor as a legitimate emperor. Later in the year, he had the former emperor buried with the honors of an imperial prince—in other words, higher than of his previous title of marquess but lower than that of an emperor. No official posthumous name was recorded for this young emperor.
Read more about this topic: Marquess Of Beixiang
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