Ancient Chinese feudal dynasties have changed countless emperors, and the number of empresses is only a lot more than that of emperors. This is because the status of the ancient woman was very low, although the empress seemed to be above ten thousand people under one person, but her status was determined entirely by the likes and dislikes of the emperor. If it falls out of favor, the back seat is naturally not guaranteed.
Li Zhi's original empress dowager, Empress Wang, was deposed by Li Zhi because she was not liked by Li Zhi, and he replaced his beloved Wu Zetian after deposing Wang. Therefore, if a woman can sit firmly in the back seat, it is enough to prove that she has superiority. Wang Xijie is the longest reigning empress in history, reigning for a total of 42 years.
Wang Xijie was an absolute beauty, because she entered the harem of the Wanli Emperor through a beauty pageant. After the Wanli Emperor ascended the throne, the harem was empty, so a large-scale beauty pageant was conducted across the country. And the beauty pageant should not only look at the appearance, but also look at the posture and etiquette, and there are many places to pay attention to. It was in this beauty pageant that Wang Xijie won the laurel, so she was crowned empress by the Wanli Emperor.
When she married the Wanli Emperor, Wang Xijie was only 13 years old and still young. But she has a completely different mind than her age, and her mind is very mature. In the fourth year of her marriage to the Wanli Emperor, Wang Xijie finally became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter for the Wanli Emperor. For the empress, the heir is also very important, because the daughter who is born is not a son, and Wang Xijie was once very depressed.
At that time, the Wanli Emperor had a very good relationship with her, and he gently enlightened his wife, blossoming first and then bearing fruit, and his son would definitely have it. Unfortunately, because of this birth, Wang Xijie's body was in a condition, and later she became pregnant several times, but she miscarried for various reasons.
At this time, the Wanli Emperor had also transferred his affection and fell in love with Zheng Guifei, and Wang Xijie, the empress, was left behind by him. In the Ming Dynasty's "Tianwenge Collection", it is recorded that the reason why the Wanli Emperor empathized with each other. It is said that Wang Xijie has outstanding appearance and gentle personality, plus she and the Wanli Emperor are young couples, and they should not fall out of favor.
The main reason for her to really fall out of favor was actually the Ming Dynasty's concubine system. According to the "TianwenGe Collection", if the Wanli Emperor wanted to visit Empress Wang Xijie, he would first ask the empress dowager to agree. The empress dowager would resign first, and if the Wanli Emperor insisted on visiting the empress, the empress dowager would grant permission. Before the Wanli Emperor was lucky, Wang Xijie also had to be invited by the concubines of the harem to perform the ceremony, and wait until the concubines left before the Wanli Emperor could come.
After the emperor came to empress, he also needed to write a document to report to the empress dowager and go through many formalities. If it was an ordinary concubine, the emperor's internal servant only needed to record the specific time and place in detail. Therefore, every time the emperor came to the empress, he was alarmed by the six palaces, and the battle was particularly large. It was for this reason that the Wanli Emperor gradually alienated the empress.
Although she was not favored by her husband, Wang Xijie's back seat was difficult to shake. On the one hand, it is because she can be a person, a person who is just and upright, and she is very popular in the harem. On the other hand, Wang Xijie is generous. The Wanli Emperor favored Zheng Guifei, and the harem had quite a few words, but Wang Xijie never said bad things about Zheng Guifei, nor was it difficult for Zheng Guifei. Therefore, although the emperor no longer favored her, he still had great respect for her. Relying on the two words of generosity, Wang Xijie sat firmly in the back seat for 42 years.