She was sold into the palace by her husband at the age of 15, and later became an empress, almost becoming the second female emperor of China
When it comes to female emperors, you will definitely think of Wu Zetian. There is indeed only one female emperor in Chinese history, but the woman introduced today has obviously successfully put on the Tianzi costume and finally ceded the throne to her adopted son.
Her name was Liu E, empress of the Song Dynasty Zhang Xianming. Maybe you haven't heard this person's name yet, but you must have heard the story of Bao Qingtian's cat for Tianzi, the heroine of this story is Liu E, a native of Sichuan, who married a silversmith at the age of 13 because her family was in a state of decline. After marriage, they came to the capital to open a silver shop to make a living.
The husband is very good at business and has some friendship with the housekeeper of the palace. Liu E also appeared frequently, attracting many people to buy their own goods, which is why Liu E quickly became famous in Beijing.
Zhao Huan, the King of Xiang, heard that the Shu women were both talented and beautiful, so he asked his men to go out and find one for himself. When the husband heard the news, he immediately called Liu E to be a cousin and then sent her to the palace. Of course, she also got a large sum of money.
After entering the Forbidden City, Liu E's appearance and talent deeply attracted Zhao Heng, and the two were even more affectionate. However, Liu E was expelled from the palace by her mother-in-law because of her life experience.
As a prince, Zhao Heng had many women around him, but he never forgot his first love, Liu E, and often went out to meet her privately, so Liu E lived outside the palace for 15 years.
After the death of Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Heng succeeded to the throne. At this time, he no longer had to sneak around, just send Liu E into the palace. Liu E was only a concubine at the time, but she was favored by the emperor.
In order to make Liu E an empress, Zhao Heng tried every means to make Liu E pregnant and give birth to a dragon child. Perhaps because of her age, Liu E's has not been able to get pregnant.
So Zhao Heng thought of a way to change the tanuki cat for a prince. He first claimed that Liu E was pregnant, and then gave her the son that someone else had just given birth to. After having a son, despite the opposition of the ministers, he directly made the 44-year-old Liu E an empress.
After Zhao Heng became seriously ill, he handed over the imperial power to Liu E, and because Liu E was a woman, many ministers were dissatisfied with her. In order to consolidate her power, Liu E began to devote herself wholeheartedly, including her ex-husband, who was given Liu E's surname and changed her name to Liu Mei.
Liu E's tactics are very clever. She not only pulled Liu Mei and let him stand on the boat with herself, so that he could rely on her in court, but also magnanimously sealed Liu Mei's mouth, so as not to publicize the scandal between the two after Liu Mei fell.
After Zhao Heng's death, Liu E bowed to the government and took sole control of the imperial court. She could have ascended the throne as emperor, but Liu E did not do it for song Jiangshan. Before dying, she took off the emperor's clothes and put on the queen's phoenix robe. She returned the throne to her adopted son Zhao Zhen of Song Renzong.