Even an Emperor Must Pay for His Misdeeds
 
Emperor Xuan (559 – 580 AD, ruling from 578 – 579 AD) of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (557 – 581 AD) was subject to very tough discipline from his father Emperor Wu (ruling from 560 – 578 AD) while he was the crown prince. Emperor Wu had a eunuch named Cheng Shen supervise the crown prince directly. He told Cheng Shen that he would have him executed if he should fail to report any mistake the prince made. Cheng Shen had no choice but to dutifully report each and every bad deed the prince committed. Because of this arrangement, Emperor Wu had the prince clubbed over a hundred times during the period of Cheng Shen's supervision.
 
Later, the crown prince succeeded the throne and became Emperor Xuan. One day when Emperor Xuan looked at the scars on his body, a feeling of rage and hatred overwhelmed him. He asked, "Where is Cheng Shen?" A courtier replied, "Cheng Shen has been sent to a post outside the capital city." Emperor Xuan had him arrested and brought back to the capital. Once Cheng Shen was sent back to the royal court, Emperor Xuan immediately sentenced him to death. Cheng Shen jumped up and exclaimed, "It was your father who ordered me to supervise your behavior. I didn't commit any crime. You are violating your father's wish and killing an innocent man. If ghosts really do exist, your father will definitely have you punished!"
 
Shortly after Cheng Shen was executed, a maid-in-waiting yawned and a teardrop fell from her eye. Someone accused her of having pity for Cheng Shen and reported her to Emperor Xuan. The emperor had her tortured. Just as soon as she was hit on the head, Emperor Xuan shrieked in agony from a severe headache. When the maid was hit on the head for a second time, Emperor Xuan felt another intense pain in his head. Emperor Xuan failed to realize it was karmic retribution and did not admit his fault in torturing the maid. Instead, he became all the more enraged and shouted, "She is my nemesis!" He had the maid’s lower back broken, and the maid died. As soon as she died, Emperor Xuan was in agony because of a sudden lower back pain.
 
That night, Emperor Xuan left the southern palace. His mysterious illness took a turn for the worse. On the following day, when he was returning to the southern palace, his lower back pain was so severe that he was unable to ride on horseback. He had no choice but to take the carriage instead. When the carriage passed by the location where the maid was killed, a dark shadow appeared on the ground resembling the shape of a person. At the time, the shadow was explained as a blood stain, so servants tried to wash it off with water. However, nothing could remove the dark shadow. They tried and tried, but nothing worked. Finally, they decided to remove the soil in that area and filled it with new soil. The next day, the dark shadow resembling the shape of a person reappeared!
 
About eight days later, Emperor Xuan died with his entire body festering and covered with pus. On the day of the funeral, the servants tried to carry out the emperor's body on his bed, but they couldn't lift the bed even when they used all their muscles and the legs of the bed started to curve. They tried other beds as well, but they couldn't lift any of the beds with Emperor Xuan on them. Finally, they used the bed of the executed maid because that was the only bed they were able to lift. In the end, Emperor Xuan's decomposed body was buried with the maid's bed. It was possibly the will of the spirits. Emperor Xuan died about twenty days after Cheng Shen was executed. This is noted in TaipingGuangJi, volume 129.
 
Judging from his behavior after he took the throne, Emperor Xuan was a depraved man since he was a teenager. His father Emperor Wu put him under strict discipline when he was the crown prince because Emperor Wu wanted to reform the prince and make him a good emperor once he took over the throne. Cheng Shen did not do anything wrong in reporting the crown prince's bad behavior as he was simply following orders. Emperor Wu had Cheng Shen transferred to a post outside the capital city probably to prevent Emperor Xuan's revenge. However, Emperor Xuan had Cheng Shen arrested and brought back in order to kill him. It was truly a most senseless act of killing an innocent life. By killing Cheng Shen, Emperor Xuan was venting his hatred against his own father and to take revenge. Cheng Shen was correct to call Emperor Xuan's act a violation of his father's wish.
 
Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou Dynasty only ruled for one year. He was known as an oppressive and dissolute ruler whose actions during his reign greatly weakened the Northern Zhou dynasty.
 
皇帝作恶，也遭现世报
 
北周时代的宣帝，在当太子时，他的父亲武帝，对他的训督十分严厉，专派宦官成慎，去监察太子。规定：如果太子有一点过失而不上奏，就把成慎处死。这样以来，成慎只好经常汇报太子的各种违法之事。武帝先后打过太子一百多棍子。
 
太子后来即位了，称为宣帝。宣帝有一天看了自己身上的疤痕，恶气涌上心头。问：「成慎在哪里？」身边的人回答：「成慎已经出朝，在外地任职。」宣帝便下令捕回。抓到朝廷后，宣帝就宣布对他「立即赐死」。成慎跳着厉声道：「那是你父亲下令，要我做的。我没有罪。你悖逆之余，刑及无辜，鬼如有知，是不会放过你的！」
 
成慎被「赐死」后，不久，有个宫女打哈欠时，流出了眼泪。就因为这事，宫女被告发，说她「有所思念」，皇帝下令拷打。刚刚打她的脑袋，宣帝就大叫自己头痛。再打宫女的脑袋，宣帝又觉头痛。宣帝不悟：自己不该乱打宫女。反而更加愤怒的讲：「她是我的冤家对头！」便令人「拉折其腰」而死。此刻，宣帝的腰，也痛起来。
 
这天夜里，宣帝离开南宫，病渐沉重。第二天回南宫时，腰部痛得无法骑马，只好乘车了。走到那位宫女被杀害的地方，有黑色的晕影，呈现出人形。当时有人说是血。就用水洗刷，但那个晕影，总是洗刷不掉。如此再三，依然如故。只好下令：挖除这里的旧土，填上新土。但一夜之后，那个酷似人形的黑色晕影，依然存在！
 
这样过了七八天，宣帝就满身溃烂而死。下葬时，宣帝的床和其它的床，床脚都弯曲了，并且无法搬动。只有那位被拉折其腰而死的宫女的床，床脚是正直的，而且这床能够搬动。于是，便用这张床，载着宣帝的满身溃烂的尸体，一起下葬。这也是鬼神的意图吧。宣帝之死，距离成慎的被杀害，只有二十来天。（事据《太平广记》第一百二十九卷）
 
从宣帝即位后的表现，可以推断出：他在青少年时代，确实并非善类。他的父亲对他严厉管束，也是希望他弃恶从善，将来当个比较好一点的皇帝。成慎的及时汇报，也是奉命行事，没有错误。武帝生前，就把成慎调到外边任职，可能就是为了避免他被宣帝报复。但是，这位宣帝，硬是把他从外地抓回来赐死，的确是不通情理，滥杀无辜。他这种行为，也包含有对他父亲的仇恨和报复心理。成慎说他「悖逆」，是有道理的。
 
北周宣帝在位仅一年 。这位暴君的所作所为导使北周国势日渐衰落。