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Emperor Cheng was a ruler.
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Book of Han, Chapter 69Volume 59: Zhang Tang · 9 passages
鴻嘉中，上欲遵武帝故事，與近臣游宴，放以公主子開敏得幸。
During the Hongjia era Emperor Cheng wished to revive Emperor Wu's habit of informal outings and banquets with his inner circle. Zhang Fang, as the princess's son—quick-witted and polished—won exceptional favor.
放取皇后弟平恩侯許嘉女，上為放供張，賜甲第，充以乘輿服飾，號為天子取婦，皇后嫁女。
Zhang Fang married the daughter of Xu Jia, the Marquis of Ping'en and younger brother of the empress. The emperor staged the wedding himself, granted a mansion of the first rank, and filled it with wardrobe and ornaments from the imperial workshops, so that courtiers quipped it was as if the Son of Heaven had taken a bride and the empress had given her daughter away.
與上臥起，寵愛殊絕，常從為微行出遊，北至甘泉，南至長楊、五莋，鬥雞走馬長安中，積數年。
He attended the emperor waking and sleeping and stood alone in favor. He was the constant companion on disguised excursions—north to Ganquan, south to the hunting parks of Changyang and Wuzuo, cockfighting and racing horses through the streets of Chang'an—for years on end.
是時，上諸舅皆害其寵，白太后。
The emperor's uncles on his mother's side grew jealous of his influence and complained to the empress dowager.
太后以上春秋富，動作不節，甚以過放。
She rebuked Zhang Fang harshly, saying the emperor was still young and his conduct at court and abroad lacked restraint.
上不得已，左遷放為北地都尉。
The emperor, unable to refuse outright, relegated Zhang Fang to commandant of Beidi.
上雖愛放，然上迫太后，下用大臣，故常涕泣而遣之。
The emperor still loved Zhang Fang, but he could not withstand pressure from the empress dowager above and his ministers below, and more than once he dismissed him with tears in his eyes.
歲餘，丞相方進復奏放，上不得已，免放，賜錢五百萬，遣就國。
A year later Chancellor Zhu Fangjin renewed the attack. The emperor had no choice but to dismiss Zhang Fang, grant him five million cash, and order him to his fief.
數月，成帝崩，放思慕哭泣而死。
A few months later Emperor Cheng died. Zhang Fang grieved so deeply that he wept himself to death.