Stories from Ancient China: Even an Emperor Must Pay for His Misdeeds

Emperor Xuan Di (578 - 579 A.D.) of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (557 - 581 A.D.) was a brat while he was the crown prince, so his father Emperor Wu Di (561 - 578 A.D.) subjected him to the toughest discipline. The emperor 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 Di had the prince clubbed over a hundred times during the period of Cheng Shen's supervision.

Later, the crown prince succeeded to the throne and became Emperor Xuan Di. One day when Emperor Xuan Di looked at the scars on his body, a feeling of rage and hatred overwhelmed him. He asked, "Where is Cheng Shen?" A subject replied, "Cheng Shen has been sent to a post outside the capital city." Emperor Xuan Di had him arrested immediately. Once Cheng Shen was sent back to the royal court, Emperor Xuan Di immediately sentenced him to death. Cheng Shen immediately rose to his feet whilst saying, "It was your father who ordered me to supervise your behaviour. 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 missing Cheng Shen and reported her to Emperor Xuan Di. The emperor had her tortured. Just as soon as she was hit on the head, Emperor Xuan Di shrieked in agony from a severe headache. When the maid-in-waiting was hit on the head for a second time, Emperor Xuan Di felt another intense pain in his head. Emperor Xuan Di failed to realise it was karmic retribution and did not admit his fault in torturing the maid-in-waiting. Instead, he became all the more enraged and shouted, "She is my nemesis!" He had the maid-in-waiting cut into two pieces at the waist. As soon as she died, Emperor Xuan Di was in agony because of a sudden stomach and lower back pain.

That night, Emperor Xuan Di 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 stomach and lower back pain was so severe that he was unable to ride horseback. He had no choice but to take the carriage instead. When the carriage passed by the location where the maid-in-waiting 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 Di 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 Di on them. Finally, they used the bed of the executed maid-in-waiting because that was the only bed they were able to lift. In the end, Emperor Xuan Di's decomposed body was buried with the maid-in-waiting's bed. It was possibly the will of Heaven. Emperor Xuan Di died about 20 days after Cheng Shen was executed.

Judging from his behaviour after he landed on the throne, Emperor Xuan Di was a depraved man since he was a teenager. His father Emperor Wu Di put him under strict discipline when he was the crown prince because he 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 behaviour. Emperor Wu Di had Cheng Shen transferred to a post outside the capital city probably to prevent Emperor Xuan Di's revenge. However, Emperor Xuan Di had Cheng Shen arrested and brought back to him in order to kill him. It was truly a most senseless act of killing an innocent life. By killing Cheng Shen, Emperor Xuan Di was trying to vent his hatred against his own father and to take revenge. Cheng Shen was correct to call Emperor Xuan Di's act a violation of his father's wish.

Even an emperor receives karmic retribution for his crimes. May this story be a warning to those people who have been following the evil Chinese Communist Party in its crimes against Falun Gong practitioners. Abandon all evil and follow your conscience!