When Wanyan Zongxian received the emperor's verbal summons ordering him to enter the palace for an audience, he harbored no suspicion. Over the past few days, the emperor had repeatedly hinted that he intended to depose Empress Peiman and install Lady of Peach Blossoms, the Ever Victorious King's wife, as the new empress.
To Wanyan Zongxian, this was of course greatly improper. Simply taking his younger brother's wife into the harem would have been shocking enough, but as long as it was done in secret, it would not have mattered much. Back then, Wanyan Zongxian had even made Empress Dowager Wei, Zhao Gou's birth mother, and Empress Xing, his wife, serve him together in bed. How could he possibly be some pedantic old scholar in such matters?
He opposed it because the emperor's killing of the Ever Victorious King had already stirred considerable criticism. If he publicly took the king's wife as empress as well, not only would the common people be in an uproar, even the nobles and aristocrats would likely find such a thing difficult to accept.
During this time, he had been pondering how to persuade the emperor to change his mind. He had just come up with a clever method and felt certain he could convince the emperor. He was planning to secretly seek out the emperor after tomorrow's morning court when he received the summons to enter the palace. How could he have suspected anything? He entered the palace completely unguarded.
The moment he entered, Wanyan Liang's men arrested and executed him. Even at his death, he did not know that a tremendous upheaval had taken place within the palace. He thought only that his remonstrance over replacing the empress had angered the emperor. Before dying, he told those around him, "If anyone can speak