Zheng En was Executed While I was Drunk
(Zui zhan Zheng En)Volumes 5 and 6 are not in the collection
Zhao Kuang Yin, first Emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty (A.D. 960-1127), successfully takes power with the help of his close friend and sworn brother, Zheng En. In Chinese culture, people can be sworn brothers following a ceremony in which they swear to share both hardship and glory. The famous oath in these ceremonies goes as follows: "We do not care if we were born at the same time or at the same place, but we do swear to live for the same reason and to die at the same moment." Onlookers would see them as brothers as well, since in most cases they acted like siblings. This practice was particularly popular among bandits and outlaws.
After Zhao Kuang Yin takes the throne, he declines into decadence. He indulges himself in alcohol and endless feasting, and spends all of his time chasing women instead of governing. He is infatuated with an imperial concubine named Han Su Mei and, in order to please her, he appoints her brother Han Long — who is little more than a street thug — to an important official post. One day, Han Long is bullying some merchants in the street as Zheng En is on his way to his office. Zheng En loses his temper and gives Han Long a severe beating. Han Long flees to the palace and complains to his sister. Han Su Mei immediately goes to the Emperor in tears and, together with her brother, makes many false accusations against Zheng En. The Emperor is drunk and believes their vicious words. He sentences Zheng En to death, and Zheng En is beheaded in public. Zheng En's wife, Tao Sanchun, later sends a punitive expedition for redress of her husband's case and demands that the Emperor execute Han Su Mei and her brother. Meanwhile, Tao Sanchun claims ownership of the royal gold sword, giving her the right to monitor the Emperor's conduct and to execute corrupt officials, based on an agreement made between the Emperor and his “sworn brothers” — one of whom was Zheng En himself — on the day the Emperor took the throne.
(For another version of this story, please see the entry for Lady Han Su Mei's Demand for a High Official Post.)