Among the many emperors in history, Song Renzong's life is relatively bumpy, he took the throne at the age of 12, before the death of Empress Liu E, he did not know who his birth mother was, and he always regarded Liu E as his birth mother. Liu E was also a strange woman, from an orphan daughter in Sichuan to an empress, and almost learned from Wu Zetianjun to the world, if she really did this, I am afraid that there is more than one female emperor in Chinese history.
Of course, Liu E did not do this. She knew very well how much pressure there was to be an empress, and she could become an empress because she succeeded by relying on the "son" of Zhao Zhen (Song Renzong). Liu E came to the capital with her husband Gong Mei, who was a silversmith, to make a living, and her husband could not go down to sell her in the street, and she was bought by the crown prince Zhao Heng (later Song Zhenzong, the father of Song Renzong) by virtue of her beauty, and from then on she ascended to heaven.
Even if she became a virtuous concubine and was favored, she was unstable without heirs. Although Song Zhenzong wanted her to be the empress, but the two points of not having a noble birth and not having a son were always her hard wounds - Song Zhenzong did not know what sins he had created, and all 5 princes in the palace died early, and he was anxious like ants on a hot pot, afraid that there would be no one to succeed him.
So the palace maid Li Shi solemnly appeared on the scene and helped Liu Defei perform a palace drama of "borrowing the belly to give birth to a child". Zhao Zhen, the 6th son of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, was born smoothly and became the crown prince, Liu Defei sat on the empress position as a birth mother, and Li Shi retreated to the second line and became an ordinary concubine in the deep palace. After the death of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Empress Liu asked her to go to Shouling, and in 1032, Li Shi became seriously ill and was given the title of Concubine Of Jin.
These stories are familiar to everyone, but they are different from many TV drama interpretations. Li Chenfei's status is precious, but she has never recognized her son before she died, and even the name of Concubine Chenfei is also dying and jinfeng, and soon, Li Chenfei, who has lived for 45 years, will go west, according to the custom, the news should be reported to the palace for the first time to know, at that time, the head of the Song Palace was Empress Liu E. Liu.
Although Empress Liu did not target Concubine Li Chen and promoted her mother's family, she actually took the son of the family. When she heard that Concubine Li Chen had died, she asked her men to be buried according to the ordinary standards. However, at this time, Prime Minister Lü Yijian jumped out: Empress Dowager Niangniang, Li Chenfei's funeral should be upgraded, not in accordance with the specifications of the ordinary empress dowager's death, you listen to me, it is right.
This Lü Yijian is not an ordinary person, he is a famous minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, and so is his uncle Lü Mengzheng. Lü Yijian paid homage to Empress Dowager Liu after Emperor Renzong of Song ascended the throne, and often advised Empress Liu to restrain her words and deeds, thinking that Fa'er would not only save the Zhao family and the country, but also save the face of the empress. This time, Empress Liu was very unhappy to hear his request: A palace concubine died, and you as the prime minister also have to take care of it? What about your family living by the sea? It's superfluous.
Lü Yijian did not hesitate to say a word: "The empress dowager will not think for the Liu family?" A sentence made Liu E wake up, she remembered the life of Song Renzong, ordered a thick burial of Li Chenfei, the funeral was according to the empress's specifications, and also listened to Lü Yijian's advice, and poured mercury in the coffin to ensure that Li Chenfei's body was not corrupted.
It turns out that Lü Yijian did have a far-sighted plan, because Song Renzong knew the truth after Liu E's death. The truth is that his mother is Li Chenfei, not Empress Liu, and some people even told him that Li Chenfei was killed by the empress. Enraged, Emperor Renzong of Song ordered people to surround Empress Liu's family mansion, and at the same time personally went to open the coffin of Concubine Li Chen to see if her birth mother had been abused and killed.
As a result, as soon as the coffin was opened, she saw That Princess Li Chenfei was wearing a gorgeous back dress, and her body was protected with mercury, and her face was like life, serene, and there were no suspicious traces. Only then did Emperor Renzong of Song know that Liu E had treated his birth mother kindly, so he spared the Liu clan, and posthumously honored Liu E as Empress Zhang Xianmingsu and buried the Tomb of Emperor Zhenzong of Song. Lü Yijian saved the reputation of the empress dowager and also saved the life of the empress's family.