Preface
Why did she kill her own son?—— Wu Zetian and Li Xian's fateful duel
Once upon a time, Wu Zetian was only a 14-year-old girl, and after being favored by the emperor, she entered the palace as a talent, how could she have thought that 18 years later, she would become the ruler of the world. And how did her son Li Xian fall from the position of prince and finally die under the persecution of his mother?
An inexplicable sibling dispute changed the trajectory of Li Xian's life
In the winter of 655 AD, Wu Zetian followed Emperor Li Zhi to pay homage to the Zhaoling Tomb of the first emperor Li Shimin, and the wind and snow were all the way. However, on the way back, Wu Zetian suddenly gave birth to Li Xian in a village house.
Li Xian's place and time of birth were quite strange, and Wu Zetian did not recuperate well after giving birth, so he hurriedly returned to the palace to report the news. This incident was later rumored as a good story by people with good intentions, thinking that Wu Zetian wanted to rush back to the palace to report the good news to the emperor, but in fact, this practice was contrary to common sense at the time.
A woman who has just given birth, if she is not in bed to recuperate, will only cause great harm to her body. At this time, Wu Zetian was not a queen, so why did she risk her life to rush around for a child whose identity was not yet known?
All this sense of disobedience laid the groundwork for the rumors that "Li Xian is not Wu Zetian's own birth" in the future. And Li Xian, who was only 7 years old at the time, would have guessed that this inconspicuous trip would change the fate of his entire life.
Lee Hyun was not noticeable at first, and he spent a peaceful teenage life. At the age of 12, Li Xian recruited a great talent, Wang Bo, to serve as a literary teacher. Wang Bo later left the palace due to a brotherly dispute, which was always a regret in Li Xian's heart.
At that time, Li Xian and his younger brother Li Xian gambled to see whose chicken was stronger, and Wang Bo wrote a "King Chicken of Yingying" for Li Xian to strengthen his courage, but he attracted severe rebuke from his father Li Zhi. Li Zhi thought that Wang Bo was sowing discord between brothers, so he drove Wang Bo out of the palace, and since then Wang Bo has been in a state of collapse and later drowned.
Unexpectedly, a joke about a brotherly competition indirectly took the life of a great talent, and also caused Li Xian to lose a favorite mentor. Wang Bo's death became the regret of Li Xian's life. At that time, Li Xian didn't know the trajectory of his life, and he was about to turn around due to an irresistible change.
The sudden death of his brother made Li Xian the crown prince
In 675 AD, Li Zhi's eldest son, Li Hong, the crown prince at the time, died suddenly at the age of 21. Li Hong was deeply loved by his father and Wu Zetian during his lifetime, and was believed to be able to inherit the unification smoothly, and his early death made the whole dynasty strangled and ill-fated.
After Li Hong's death, according to the primogeniture inheritance system, Li Xian was established as the new prince by Li Zhi as the second son. Finally, 20-year-old Li Xian ushered in the most important turning point in his life - the position of prince.
Li Xian has a stable personality, and with the assistance of civil and military officials, he quickly adapted to the identity of the prince. In order to familiarize Li Xian with the government as soon as possible, Li Zhi deliberately ordered him to govern the country when he was not in good health. Li Xian is also quite skillful in handling political affairs, and has won the appreciation of his father and the support of hundreds of civil and military officials.
Everything was already smooth and orderly, and Li Xian also worked hard to fulfill the responsibility of the prince, but he didn't expect that his mother Wu Zetian's jealousy of him had taken root in his heart.
In the first wrestling between mother and son, Lee Hyun lost
Wu Zetian was favored by Li Zhi and assisted him in handling political affairs for many years, and his yearning for power has become natural. Now that Li Xian has become the crown prince, she is forced to retreat behind the scenes, watching her son take charge, she is naturally dissatisfied.
So, Wu Zetian began to spread rumors about Li Xian in the palace. Her first blow was to question Li Xian's biological mother's identity, and it was rumored that Li Xian was born by her sister Mrs. Han. If confirmed, Li Xian's identity as the eldest son will be gone.
The truth of these rumors is probably not even determined by the person concerned, Li Xian himself. After all, the place and time of his birth are too strange, and it happened when Wu Zetian had just given birth to his daughter and should have been recuperating. This provided space for rumors that he was not biological, and for a while, Li Xian's prestige as the crown prince was lost.
Amid the rumors and suspicions, Li Xian began to feel panic and hesitation. He tried to get his mother to dispel these doubts, so he sent his henchman Xiao Huangmen to inquire about Wu Zetian's thoughts, but Wu Zetian saw through it, which aroused his mother's anger.
The angry Wu Zetian said to Li Xian: "I have a document in my hand, which is enough for you to never turn over!" It can be seen that Wu Zetian not only did not clarify the rumors, but acquiesced in the fact that Li Xian's background was doubtful.
In order to give Li Xian a warning, Wu Zetian successively gave him two books - "Shaoyang Zhengfan" and "The Biography of the Filial Son", the former taught the way of the prince, and the latter told the story of filial piety to his mother. Li Xian understood his mother's overtone, and she was scolding herself for not being a qualified prince or an obedient son.
In the first silent wrestling between mother and son, Li Xian was defeated and humiliated. He can no longer be sure of his background, and the legitimacy of the crown prince's position may be taken away by Wu Zetian at any time. Because of rumors and suspicions, Li Xian's heart was shaken.
In the first battle with real knives and guns, Li Xian failed and could not escape death
In the winter of 676 A.D., Ming Chongyan worshiped Taiji Zhenren, who was born as an official, won the trust of Li Zhi, and always guided the government with divine advice. This time, he said to Li Zhi in person that the crown prince Li Xian was useless, and the third prince Li Xian and the fourth prince Li Dan, who were very similar to Li Shimin, were the best candidates.
Ming Chongyan's words were astonishing, and denying the ability and qualifications of the crown prince Li Xian in person was tantamount to declaring war on Li Xian's inheritance. Li Xian was shocked by this, and he realized that his father's trust had been lost.
Perhaps Li Xian secretly held a grudge against Ming Chongyan, or was instigated by others, and the following year, Ming Chongyan was killed by thieves. The imperial court attached great importance to this, but the murderer was never found. Wu Zetian identified the murderer as Li Xian, which laid the groundwork for his persecution in the future.
In the winter of 677 AD, the first battle between Wu Zetian and Li Xian broke out between real swords and real guns. She secretly told Li Zhi that the evidence of the prince's rebellion was the hundreds of armors found in the East Palace. This can arm a force, which is enough to prove that Li Xian has secretly conspired forces.
The origin of the armor could have been traced, but no one cared about the truth in this power struggle. Faced with the questioning of his mother and father, Li Xian was speechless. Eventually, he was deposed as a concubine and exiled to Bazhou. The crown prince is gone forever.
In the first battle with his mother, the 27-year-old Li Xian failed, and he lost the crown prince and the opportunity to finally ascend to the throne. A year later, Li Zhi died, Li Xian succeeded to the throne, and Li Xian's fate ended silently.
Mother and son live and die against each other, the tragedy of fate
In 679 AD, Li Xian reigned for only 54 days and was deposed and succeeded by Li Dan. At this time, Wu Zetian, who was in power and in the opposition, began to purge dissidents. In order to teach Li Xian a lesson, she ordered her henchman Qiu Shen to imprison Li Xian and coerce him to take the initiative to end his life with death.
In this life-and-death confrontation with his mother, Li Xian did not resist after all. When he learned of his son's suicide in prison, Wu Zetian expressed his condolences for his son's death, but soon reused Qiu Shen. The truth has been revealed, this is a mother murdering her son.
In 671, Wu Zetian sent the daughter born to Li Xian to the palace, and the poor princess died soon after. Li Xian's short life is not so much a victim of a power struggle as a tragedy of fate.
He did not act harmfully in his life, but he died under the persecution of his mother. Li Xian's silent rebellion turned out to be the only rebellion in his life. Until the last moment of his life, he did not disobey his biological mother's wishes, just because his filial piety to Wu Zetian defeated his attachment to life.
epilogue
Wu Zetian's murder of his own son is a mystery, and the reason for this may never be known. However, regardless of her motives, this heinous tragedy fully demonstrates Wu Zetian's ruthlessness and cruelty for the sake of power.
The mother is the daughter's first inseparable confidant, and the son's first unreserved dependence. However, when Wu Zetian chose to abandon this role forever and chose to stand at the top of power and look down on the common people, she was no longer a mother, just a woman who was asking for power until she died.