The harem women of the Ming Dynasty had a very obvious characteristic, that is, they were beautiful. The reason for this is that they are not from the families of high-ranking officials and ministers, but are produced by the court in a large-scale folk beauty pageant. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not do so solely because of greed for beauty, but learned the lessons of the past to avoid foreign relatives sitting on the throne and threatening the imperial power. The Han Dynasty is an example, the descendants of the meritorious elders, a steady stream of entry into the palace.
For example, Yin Lihua, the second empress of Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the family has become a climate, and the descendants often have women accompanying the emperor. In the Fourth Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Han Hedi, had just reached marriageable age, and another woman from the Yin family entered the court. This Yin clan, counted as the great-granddaughter of Yin Lihua's brother Yin Zhi, was naturally taken extraordinary care of and was immediately crowned as a nobleman.
According to Sima Biao's Book of Continuation of the Han Dynasty, Yin Guiren was "intelligent and talented", while Fan Ye added in the Book of later Han that she was "good at calligraphy". It is conceivable that a woman from such a famous family, Zhishu Dali, was of course favored by the emperor. Therefore, four years after the Yin nobles entered the palace, she was crowned empress.
This is what happened in the eighth year of Yongyuan, and any article that records this history has to mention an incident that happened in the same year. Empress Yin completed the canonization ceremony in the spring of that year, and a woman named Deng Sui entered the palace that winter. The reason why this is mentioned is the life of the Yin Queen, and it is from then on that there has been a reversal.
Like Empress Yin, Deng Sui's family lineage was also very prominent, and she was the granddaughter of Deng Yu. Deng Yu was the founding hero of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the head of the Twenty-Eight Generals of Yuntai, and it was he who presented the "Tu Tianxia Strategy" to the Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu, laying the foundation line for the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty in one fell swoop. In fact, Deng Sui and Empress Yin also had a relationship with each other. Her mother was also a member of the Yin clan and the daughter of Yin Lihua's cousin.
However, in the harem, in order to compete for favors, even relatives and sisters may turn against each other, not to mention the indifferent blood relationship? After Deng Sui entered the palace, because of his beautiful appearance and humility and prudence, he won the favor of The Han and The Emperor, and even made the court praise from top to bottom. The emperor's time and energy were always limited, and he became increasingly fond of Deng Sui, and naturally snubbed the empress.
At this time, the Yin Empress did not hide her patience like Yin Lihua did in those days, but bred jealousy. She did one thing, like Li Ji, the concubine of emperor Jingdi of Han. At that time, Li Ji's son Liu Rong was made crown prince because she was the eldest son, and she also had great hopes of becoming an empress. However, when Emperor Jingdi of Han was seriously ill, when he expressed his intention to her to be alone, she indignantly said that she would retaliate against the fox spirits who had taken away her husband's favor in the future.
This period of history is certainly clear to the Empress Yin, who is brilliant and proficient in literature and ink. When Han and Emperor were seriously ill, they also expressed almost similar thoughts to her. Although Empress Yin was not as stupid as Li Ji and directly exposed her original form in front of Han and the Emperor, she secretly swore to those close to her that after she took power, she would never let a Tang clan live in the world.
There was no impermeable wall in the world, and empress Yin's words reached Deng Sui's ears. She was afraid and hateful, worried that she would be like Lady Qi, who would be killed by the Yin Empress as an adult, and she was still clamoring to take poison and commit suicide. This matter was eventually dissuaded by the palace people, but it was boiling, and it must have been known to Han he and the emperor. After The Han and Emperor recovered, although they did not directly pursue the empress's words, this also laid the groundwork for empress Yin's later tragic fate.
Soon, someone informed Emperor Han and that Empress Yin's grandmother, Deng Zhu, often went to the harem, and together with the empress, cursed Deng Sui with witchcraft. In ancient times, especially in the Han Dynasty, it has always been a taboo for witchcraft. As long as there is such an act, no matter who it is, it is definitely a great sin of extermination. Because today you can curse Deng Sui, tomorrow you can curse the emperor, which is intolerable.
Emperor Han and Emperor were already very cold to Empress Yin, and coupled with the gossip he heard when he was seriously ill, he immediately became alert and sent someone to investigate the matter thoroughly. At that time, the officials were very fierce, and not only obtained a confession during the trial of the case, but also beat Empress Yin's three younger brothers Yin Feng, Yin Yi, and Yin Fu to death.
Not only did the emperor not blame the trial officials for their heavy hand, but he also deposed Empress Yin and ordered her to live in the Cold Palace. Empress Yin's father, Yin Jin, was forced to commit suicide, and although the Yin family was not exterminated, all the officials who served in the court were deposed, and most of them were exiled to inaccessible frontiers. The once-prominent Yin family basically bid farewell to the political stage of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
To say that this matter is unjust is not unjust, it is difficult for future generations to get it. Maybe empress yin really lost her mind and gradually blackened after Deng Sui entered the palace; maybe empress yin was blackened and yin. Judging from the various means by which Deng Sui later became empress and empress dowager, the imperial court was called up, and the long and young were abolished. It is entirely possible that this confession without a real hammer was forced. Even if it was the words of the Yin Empress before, what was not seen was what I said. However, future generations cannot peek into the truth of nearly 2,000 years, which may be an eternal mystery.