Empress Xiang

In 1085, her stepson and adoptive son, Emperor Zhezong of Song, succeeded to the throne, until 1093 under the regency of her mother-in-law, Empress Dowager Gao.

[3] When the Emperor died in 1100, the succession was not clear, and Empress Xiang called upon the officials of state, and selected the next heir to the throne.

[4] When her younger adoptive son, Emperor Huizong of Song, succeeded his brother on the throne at the age of seventeen in 1100, he expressed a wish to the Council of State that his mother was to act as his regent.

[5] Because he was seventeen years old and therefore no longer regarded as a minor, his wish caused some debate among the ministers as to how this could be arranged, and to find a precedence case to legitimatize it.

[13] She reported suspicions to Zeng Bu that she suspected the biological mother of Emperor Zhezong, Consort Zhu, of at least two plots for placing her other son, Prince Si, on the throne.

[17] The affair, however, also resulted in concern in the Council of State that the influence of Xiang was in danger of becoming to great, and that a rivaling power fraction could form around her.