Emperor Gaozong of Tang was not an emperor with many children. If you only talk about daughters, there are only four. But these four princesses are all earth-shattering and ghostly figures, and they all have an important impact on history. Today we talk about two of them: Princess Yiyang and Princess Xuancheng. With just a burst of tears, these two princesses changed the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty.
Princess Yiyang and Princess Xuancheng were siblings, and their mother was Emperor Gaozong of Tang's once favorite, Princess Xiao Shufei. Xiao Shufei's personality was spicy and dared to act boldly, which just made up for Tang Gaozong's cowardly character weakness. So since she entered the palace, Tang Gaozong had used all his heart on her. The two soon had three children, princesses of Yiyang and Xuancheng, and Li Sujie, the Prince of Xu.
Concubine Xiao Shu was favored, and the most uncomfortable person in her heart was Emperor Gaozong of Tang's empress Wang. Empress Wang was born into a famous family, and was married to her son by Emperor Taizong of Tang. However, Empress Wang is stereotypical and does not match Li Zhi's personality, so the relationship between husband and wife has always looked like a god. Princess Xiao Shufei gave birth to several princesses, and Empress Wang did not care, but the existence of Li Sujie, the king of Xu, made her feel deeply in danger. If she doesn't have a son herself, will Consort Xiao Shufei's mother take her son as precious and replace herself in the future? Empress Wang began to think.
Empress Wang knew that she could not defeat Xiao Shufei on her own, so she thought of introducing a competition mechanism to let another woman compete with Xiao Shufei for favors. Her eyes were aimed at Wu Zetian, who was practicing at the Ganye Temple.
Wu Zetian was originally a talented person of Tang Taizong, and because of his strong personality, he was not liked by Emperor Taizong. But Li Zhi, who is gentle and gentle, just likes people like her. The two came and went, and they actually had a private affair when Tang Taizong was ill. After Tang Taizong's death, Wu Zetian was sent to the Ganye Temple for practice according to the custom, and lived like a year. Fortunately, later Li Zhi remembered her and often came to the temple to meet her. Over time, everyone in the palace is well known.
Empress Wang felt that if Wu Zetian was taken back to the palace, she would definitely be grateful to Daide. Moreover, with Wu Zetian's personality and appearance, he could definitely share Xiao Shufei's favor. In this way, she was equivalent to having a strong reinforcement, and Xiao Shufei could not make waves. Therefore, Empress Wang asked Emperor Gaozong to welcome Wu Zetian into the palace.
This trick later proved to be an absolute stink. Wu Zetian had both Xiao Shufei's pungent personality and Xiao Shufei's lack of heart, and soon captured Tang Gaozong's heart. At this time, Wu Zetian revealed his true face and dealt indiscriminate blows to Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shufei. At this moment, the queen realized what a stupid thing she had done. However, the wood has become a boat, and it is difficult to change, and Empress Wang can only form a difficult friend with Concubine Xiao Shufei and weep every day.
Wu Zetian's goal was clear, she wanted to get the throne of the empress. After some hard work, her wish finally came true. In the sixth year of Tang Yonghui (655 AD), Wu Zetian was made empress dowager, while Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shufei were sent to the Cold Palace, and all their relatives were exiled. Later, in order to cut the grass and remove the roots, Wu Zetian tortured and killed the two behind Emperor Gaozong's back. Li Sujie, the Prince of Xu, was demoted from the capital, and the two princesses of Yiyang and Xuancheng were imprisoned. This level is 16 years.
In 671, Wu Zetian's eldest son, Li Hong, was wandering around the palace and inadvertently came to the seclusion of the two princesses and found the two sisters whom he had never met. At this time, the two princesses were disheveled and scruffy, without any royal dignity. And both of them are not young, and they still enjoy the human pleasures of the world. Li Hongzhai was kind and kind, so he went to intercede with his father, hoping to release the two princesses and let them marry. Emperor Gaozong of Tang had this intention, so he ordered that the two princesses be married, Princess Yiyang married The Guard of the Yi Army, Quan Yi, and Princess Xuancheng married the Yingzhou Assassin Wang Xun.
The two princesses found a home, but Wu Zetian was very unhappy. She was annoyed that her son was nosy and has since alienated Li Hong. Soon after, the rape of the crown princess who had not passed through the door occurred, and the perpetrator was Helan Minzhi, the nephew of Wu Zetian. The contradiction between mother and child is getting bigger and bigger.
In 675, Li Hong died suddenly and violently, and many people said that it was the hand of his mother Wu Zetianxia. The case is now unsolved and remains inconclusive. But Li Hong's death rewrote the history of the Tang Dynasty. If Li Hong can smoothly ascend the throne, with his strength and prestige, there will be no small resistance to whether Wu Zetian can come to the court. It is very likely that there will be no more female emperors in Chinese history.
After Li Hong's death, Wu Zetian originally did not intend to pursue the two princesses again, but the tree wanted to be quiet and the wind was not stopping, and some things could not be done by her. In 691, when Wu Zetian ascended the throne, the husbands of the two princesses of Yiyang and Xuancheng were not self-sufficient and plotted to participate in anti-military activities, and both were killed. The two princesses were also taken back to the palace and imprisoned because of their connection. After 20 years of going around, they have returned to their original fate. Shortly thereafter, Princess Yiyang hated Jiuquan, while Princess Xuancheng endured humiliation and survived strongly.
In 705, the chancellor Zhang Kamzhi and others launched the Shenlong Coup, Wu Zetian was forced to abdicate, and Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian took the throne. It is claimed that the princess also kept the clouds open to see the moon and walked out of the cold palace where she imprisoned herself! Li Xian was very kind to this half-sister, giving her the honorific title of "Eldest Princess", and giving her a thousand households a real seal, and allowing her to open a house. After Emperor Ruizong Li Dan ascended the throne, he added another thousand households to her and renamed her Princess Gao'an Chang. In the second year of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's reign (714 AD), Princess Gao'an died of illness at the age of 66.
The two princesses of Yiyang and Xuancheng were passers-by who followed the waves in that period of history. They cannot control their own destiny, and they have become victims of political struggle again and again. Although by coincidence, they changed the course of history, but they were still unable to resist the wheel of power. Princesses are still like this, not to mention other Chinese women.