As we all know, Xue Huaiyi is a face of Wu Zetian, his original name is Feng Xiaobao, just a small medicine seller in Luoyang City. Because he was a businessman, Feng Xiaobao could speak the Tao at a young age, and with a large body, he was soon favored by the maid of a mansion and became the maid's lover.
The maid often had secret meetings with Feng Xiaobao, only to be discovered by her master, who was Wu Zetian's Princess Anding. Princess Anding was not Wu Zetian's biological daughter, she was actually Li Yuan's daughter, and later defected to Wu Zetian, who adopted her as a righteous daughter, and was initially crowned Princess Qianjin, and later changed to Princess Anding.
Princess Anding was originally very angry when she saw the maid meeting with Feng Xiaobao, but when she saw that he was handsome and tall, she immediately calmed down. At that time, she was trying to find a way to please Wu Zetian, so she herself left Feng Xiaobao for a few days, and then dedicated it to Wu Zetian.
Wu Zetian was very satisfied with Feng Xiaobao and wanted to leave him in the palace, but ordinary men could not enter and leave the palace at will, so Wu Zetian let Feng Xiaobao pretend to be a monk and gave him the name Xue Huaiyi. In this way, he was of the same clan as Princess Taiping's husband, Xue Shao. From then on, Xue Huaiyi lived in the name of a high monk and recited the sutra in Ziwei City.
Wu Zetian called him Master Xue and allowed him to "come and go on imperial horses, and more than ten eunuchs should serve him, and all those who encountered the people would run away." Wu Zetian obeyed Xue Huaiyi's words, saying that he wanted to build the White Horse Monastery in Luoyang, and Wu Zetian also agreed to him, and ordered him to supervise the repair and make the White Horse Temple preside.
With the favor of Wu Zetian, Xue Huaiyi became blind and domineering in the palace. After Wu Zetian ascended the throne, Xue Huaiyi gradually grew tired of such a life, and he did not want to often enter the palace to serve Wu Zetian, so he moved to the White Horse Temple. During the day, instead of chanting in the temple, he rode his horse into the streets and rampaged through the city of Luoyang. If someone can't avoid it, he will be caught and beaten, and he never cares whether he is alive or dead.
Xue Huaiyi was dissatisfied with Wu Zetian's appointment to make him a monk, so he often arrested people on the street, and when he caught them, he forced others to cut their hair and become monks with him. The Right Tai Yushi Feng Sixun was not accustomed to what he had done, so he wrote to impeach him, only to be retaliated against by Xue Huaiyi and beaten half to death.
It was such a lawless person, but in the end he was picked up by the prime minister.
One day, Xue Huaiyi planned to enter the palace and met Su Liangsi, the prime minister, at the door. Logically, Wu Zetian gave him a concession, and all the civil and military officials who saw Xue Huaiyi should give him a way. Although the prime minister was very dissatisfied with Xue Huaiyi, he also had to get out of the car and salute him. Xue Huaiyi thought that he was favored, so he did not take Su Liangsi in his eyes and asked him to quickly give way.
Su Liangsi was an upright man and a famous loyal vassal of the Tang Dynasty, who was deeply valued during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang. At that time, his officials were not high, but they still dared to speak out, so after Wu Zetian ascended the throne, he made Su Liangsi, who was already over eighty years old, the prime minister.
Over the years, Su Liangsi's personality has not changed at all, and he is willing to pay tribute to Xue Huaiyi, completely on the face of Wu Zetian. Now that Xue Huaiyi had no one in sight, and did not even know how to return the salute, Su Liangsi was immediately enraged and scolded: "What kind of bald slave dares to be so arrogant?" ”
When Xue Huaiyi heard this, some people dared to scold themselves, so they immediately returned their mouths and quarreled with Su Liangsi on the spot. Xue Huaiyi was born in the city well, and he could speak the Tao, and Su Liangsi, who was born in a family of etiquette, was naturally not his opponent. In the end, Su Liangsi was scolded by the other party and was unable to fight back, and in a fit of anger, he ordered Xue Huaiyi to be grabbed left and right, and slapped him dozens of times in anger.
He was slapped by the officials, plus there were other people on the spot, Xue Huaiyi thought that he had been humiliated and humiliated, and covered his face and went to Wu Zetian to file a complaint. Xue Huaiyi was deeply favored by Wu Zetian, and now he was angrily slapped by the prime minister, how did Wu Zetian deal with it after he knew?
After Xue Huaiyi saw Wu Zetian, he deliberately said a lot of bad things about Su Liangsi, like a child who complained in front of his mother. When Wu Zetian saw him complaining, he also found it very funny, and when he finished speaking, Wu Zetian smiled and said, "Ah Shi should come and go at the North Gate, and the South Tooth Prime Minister should come and go, don't commit crimes." ”
The meaning of this sentence is: "If Master Xue wants to enter the palace, he should come in through the north gate, and the south is the place where the prime minister is in charge, so you should not go to clash with people." It can be seen that Wu Zetian connived at Xue Huaiyi, or was moderate, and not everything would be biased toward him. As an old courtier, Su Liangsi has made many contributions to Wu Zetian over the years, so Wu Zetian is well aware of his character and will not blame the prime minister for having a face.
Besides, at that time, Xue Huaiyi did not want to serve Wu Zetian, so he often did not enter the palace, and at this time, Wu Zetian had other people around him, and Xue Huaiyi became less important. After this incident, Xue Huaiyi was even more dissatisfied with Wu Zetian, so he simply stayed at the White Horse Temple and did something wrong with the little hooligans all day.
Later, Yushi Zhouju suspected that Xue Huaiyi was plotting against him, and Wu Zetian ordered him to dispose of the monks of the White Horse Temple, but he did not expect to be framed by Xue Huaiyi in the end, resulting in the dismissal of the official and imprisonment.
In 695, this day coincided with the Shangyuan Festival, and Xue Huaiyi made a special effort to curry favor with Wu Zetian. He had ordered people to bury a large Buddha in the ground and painted a Buddha statue with cow's blood. Under his careful arrangement, the Buddha statue was finally found along with the Big Buddha, and Xue Huaiyi told Wu Zetian that the Buddha statue was painted with his own blood after he cut his knees. After Wu Zetian knew, he only smiled slightly, and there was no other expression.
Dissatisfied with Wu Zetian's reaction, Xue Huaiyi set a fire in heaven in one breath. When Heaven was first established, it cost a lot of money, and now it has been burned by him with a single fire. Later, the fire in heaven spread and burned the Ming Hall as well, and this fire was reduced for a whole night, illuminating the entire city of Luoyang as if it were daylight.
Half a month after the heavens and the Ming Hall were burned, Xue Huaiyi was finally executed.
Xue Huaiyi's death was entirely his own fault, but this also reflected that the companion was like a companion tiger. How much Wu Zetian had loved him back then, how much he hated him now. After having a new person, Xue Huaiyi would be forgotten by Wu Zetian sooner or later, or even abandoned without mercy.
(References "New Book of Tang", "Old Book of Tang", "Zizhi Tongjian")