Image of Emperor Kayasu
Empress Fang, the third empress of the Jiajing Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, a native of Jiangning (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu), was originally a palace maid, and later came to run and became an empress.
In October of the seventh year of Jiajing (1528 AD), the Jiajing Emperor and the pregnant empress Chen Shi sat together, and the maids Zhang Shi and Fang Shi entered the tea, and the Jiajing Emperor took the opportunity to touch Zhang Shi's hand to touch the same white and tender little hand, thinking that the slim jade hand was too wonderful.
Empress Chen was so angry that she smashed the teacup, and emperor Jiajing was furious and kicked at empress Chen's small belly, and empress Chen suffered a miscarriage and died of blood, and soon after, emperor Jiajing crowned Zhang shi as a concubine and made empress the following year.
In a certain year, Empress Zhang fell seriously ill, and the Jiajing Emperor ordered the imperial doctor to use the so-called millennium ganoderma lucidum, and the more Empress Zhang ate it, the more serious it became, she refused to take it, and frequently complained, saying that the thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum was too good to be true, why did the emperor not use it himself? Isn't that an ulterior motive? The Jiajing Emperor became angry and decided to depose the empress.
In the first month of the thirteenth year of Jiajing (1534), the Jiajing Emperor issued an edict deposing Empress Zhang as a Shuren and entering the Cold Palace, and three years later, Zhang died in loneliness and despair. The Jiajing Emperor did not feel the slightest guilt, and ordered him to be buried in the specifications of the deposed Wu clan.
Shortly after the deposing of Empress Zhang, the Jiajing Emperor made Concubine Fang empress, and at the same time made Shen Concubine and Yan Concubine Li.
In the twenty-first year of Jiajing (1542), in order to pursue immortality, the Jiajing Emperor ordered the palace women to go to the royal garden in the early morning to collect dew, resulting in many people getting sick or overworked and dying.
Yang Jinying and other palace ladies were dissatisfied with the cruelty of the Jiajing Emperor and tried to strangle the sleeping Jiajing Emperor with a rope, and in a panic, they formed a dead knot, resulting in the failure of the assassination, which is known in history as the "Change of the Palace of Nongyin".
Soon after the incident, zhang Jinlian, a palace maid who participated in the rebellion, found Empress Fang to inform because she was afraid, and Empress Fang rushed to the scene and untied the rope, and the emperor was finally rescued and retrieved a life, but due to excessive panic and unable to speak, she fell ill.
Empress Fang ordered the eunuch Zhang Zuo and others to immediately arrest all concubines and palace ladies involved in the rebellion. The palace maid Yang Jinying confessed that Xu Qiuhua and Deng Jinxiang were all accomplices, the main conspirator was Wang Ning concubine, and Cao Duanfei, although not involved, was an insider.
Soon, Empress Fang instigated the unspeakable Jiajing Emperor to order that all sixteen people, including Cao Duanfei, Wang Ning's concubine, and the palace maid Yang Jinying, who were involved in the rebellion, be executed, and the family members were sentenced to ten people, twenty were punished as slaves, and the family property was confiscated.
Empress Fang was not afraid of danger and went all out to rescue the emperor, and the Jiajing Emperor was greatly moved, and made the empress's father Fang Tai and uncle Fang Rui the marquis.
At first, Cao Duanfei was very favored by the emperor, and Wang Ningfei was extremely jealous, and at this time she knew that she would undoubtedly die, so she took the opportunity to frame Cao Duanfei for not reporting it.
Empress Fang also knew that Cao Duanfei had been wronged, but she was also jealous of Cao Duanfei's favor, so she did not expose Wang Ningfei's sinister intentions, and as a result, the unsuspecting Cao Duanfei was wrongfully killed.
After the Jiajing Emperor became conscious, he sent eunuchs to investigate in many ways, and finally confirmed that Cao Duanfei had indeed been wronged, and the Jiajing Emperor was deeply saddened and began to resent the other empress.
In the twenty-sixth year of Jiajing (1547), Empress Fang died, and the zhengshi records that the empress died of illness, and the historian He Qiaoyuan during the Wanli Dynasty recorded in the "History of the Thirteen Dynasties": Empress Fang died in a fire.
The Qing Dynasty scholar Mao Qiling compiled the "Records of the History of The Victorious Dynasty Tong" also has a similar record: "The supreme is slightly healed, and the doubtful concubine is wronged, that is: 'Duan Concubine, what I love, it is advisable not to have this heart.'" In November of the twenty-sixth year of Jiajing (1547), "the palace was on fire, and after the middle palace please rescued, the upper should not be, and then collapsed." ”
When a fire broke out in the Western Palace, the eunuch asked the emperor to rescue the empress, but the Jiajing Emperor did not agree, resulting in the empress being burned alive.
When mourning the empress, the Jiajing Emperor inexplicably said: "After saving me, and I can't save the queen." ”
The implication of this sentence is obvious, the wrongful killing of Cao Duanfei, Empress Fang is an unforgivable crime, and then the edict orders empress Fang to be buried in Yongling with the etiquette of empress Yuan.