Preface
The last queen of the Tang Dynasty, her life is a legend full of glory and tragedy. She pampered her husband like a mother, silently supporting and supporting the last vestiges of the empire.
However, fate was cruel to her and pushed her into the abyss of despair with unjust crimes. The charge of adultery wiped out her reputation and dignity, and in the end, she became the last queen of the Tang Dynasty.
She used to have a bright future and had the emperor's favor, but in the end she did not die well, and she did not even have a good home. What kind of circumstances created such a magnificent life for Empress Dowager He?
We might as well trace the story of Empress Dowager He, starting from her first entry into the Shouwang Mansion, step by step into this turbulent era, witnessing the last decades of the Tang Empire.
An unexpected encounter with an ordinary woman
He was born in an ordinary family in Santai County, Sichuan. I don't know when she started to enter the palace of Shouwang Li Ye and became a maid. She was supposed to be just a teenager at the time.
The Tang Dynasty was on the verge of extinction at this time, and everything was in ruins. Since the Anshi Rebellion, the power of the Central Dynasty has declined sharply, the local feudal towns have gradually been divided, and the eunuchs are also in charge within the imperial court, and the imperial power is sluggish. The palace where Shouwang Li Ye is located is not spared.
In such a turbulent environment, what happened to the little maid He Shi can be described as embarrassing. She went from an ordinary small woman to being favored by King Shou, becoming his concubine, and giving birth to two children for him. This unexpected encounter is destined to make the second half of He's life extraordinary.
The rise of Empress Ho
Five years later, with the support of the eunuchs, Li Ye, the king of Shou, finally ascended to the throne of the emperor and became Tang Zhaozong. As Li Ye's concubine, He naturally became the queen in one fell swoop, becoming the last queen of the Tang Dynasty. This is undoubtedly the realization of her dream for a woman from a humble background.
But her path to the throne was not without its challenges. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was already in turmoil, and there were constant party struggles within the imperial court. After Tang Zhaozong ascended the throne, the first one faced a threat from the feudal town of Li Keyong. In order to deal with this thorny problem, Tang Zhaozong had to personally negotiate many times, but he failed repeatedly, and the Shence army was even more defeated.
At a critical juncture, Empress He was naturally Tang Zhaozong's most loyal support. She accompanied her husband several times away from Chang'an, calmed his emotions in a difficult environment, and gave him endless support and encouragement. Empress He, how did an ordinary woman become the last dynasty guardian of the Tang Dynasty?
Just when people thought that Datang was about to move towards a revival, the situation took a sharp turn again. Tang Zhaozong was not willing to be held hostage by the feudal town, and decided to launch an attack on another great enemy, the eunuch group. He ordered people to encircle and suppress Yang Fugong, the eunuch boss, but the result was still a defeat of the Shence army, and he himself lost his imperial power again.
This time, Empress He became the spiritual pillar of Tang Zhaozong. She persuaded her husband again and again to adapt to the situation, compromised with the eunuchs, and finally persuaded Tang Zhaozong to hand over the jade seal and give way to the crown prince Li You. This undoubtedly made her feel extremely guilty, but she had to do so in order to protect the dynasty that was on the verge of collapse.
The helplessness and pain of a queen
After Tang Zhaozong was imprisoned, Empress He had to face a new test. At that time, the situation was turbulent, the feudal town and the eunuch group fought with each other, and the wars swept again and again made Empress He and Tang Zhaozong's family uneasy.
In the following years, Empress He was dealing with these forces, whether it was persuading her husband to give in or pandering to Zhu Wen in a low voice, she did her best to protect her husband and children. But fate gave her the most cruel blow: her husband was killed, and her son was also killed one after another.
As a woman, the pain and despair in Queen He's heart can be imagined. She has been through so much, but in the end she doesn't even have a peaceful home. She once vowed to support her husband for the rest of her life, but now she watched her husband being killed, and even she had to pay for it.
What's even more heart-wrenching is that her last child was also killed at the hands of Zhu Wen. As a mother, she once had high hopes for this young child, hoping to entrust him with the future of Datang. But now, that hope has been completely shattered. Queen He's life has all come to naught.
The so-called "love son is like life", Queen He's deep affection for her children may not even be felt by parents in the world. On the way to escape, she entrusted her young son to others, hoping that the child would escape. But in the end, she couldn't stop the child's fate.
Such a tragedy makes people sigh. A woman who should have lived a healthy and prosperous life has suffered so much torture and pain in such an environment. Her life is like a sad elegy, which is unbearable to listen to.
The final blow of fate
Just when people thought that the queen could no longer withstand such a blow, fate gave her the last blow. Under Zhu Wen's persecution, Empress He was forced to accept an ugly ending: she was accused of adultery with the eunuch Jiang Xuanhui, defiling the palace.
This is undoubtedly a complete unjust case, because Empress He was already fifty years old at the time, and Jiang Xuanhui was involved in the murder of her husband and son.
But Zhu Wen chose this excuse to get rid of Queen He. He not only forced Empress He to commit suicide, but even after her death, in the name of the emperor, he deposed her as a concubine in order to completely erase her status as empress.
At the last moment of her life, Empress He still had to endure such humiliation and injustice. The imperial power she had worked so hard to maintain could not prevent her own demise in the end. Her life, from beginning to end, was full of helplessness and pain, and until the last moment, she did not get the respect and kindness she deserved.
When Queen He struggled under the noose, what was her heart? Is it relief or regret? Will she be able to see her children and her deceased husband before she dies? Or could she just watch everything fall apart and have nothing to do?
These questions have not yet been satisfactorily answered. But one thing is certain, Empress He's life is undoubtedly magnificent, and the hardships she has experienced and the injustices she has encountered have made her the last guardian of the real Tang Dynasty.
Empress He's regret and torture
After decades of trials and hardships, Queen He still can't escape the arrangement of fate after all. She once tried her best to defend the Tang Dynasty, but finally witnessed its demise. She worked hard for her husband and son, but she could not change their tragic fate.
How much unspeakable pain and despair did she endure as a woman? As an ordinary woman who can become the last guardian of the Tang Dynasty, Queen He's life is undoubtedly magnificent.
She grew from a small maid to a queen, but suffered such an unfair fate at the last moment. She came from humble beginnings, but spent her life maintaining imperial power, trying to prevent the collapse of a dynasty from its demise.
Faced with the doom of her husband and son again and again, Queen He must have experienced endless pain and anxiety in her heart. As a woman, she must have longed to be able to give her family safety and happiness, but in the end she could not prevent their death. Such helplessness and despair must have made her look for the final meaning in despair.
As she struggles under the noose, will she be able to see her children and husband and the family finally reunited? Or can you just watch everything fall apart and you can't do anything about it? This kind of regret and regret must have tormented her before she died.
We can't help but ask, as an ordinary woman, how did Queen He become the last guardian of the Tang Dynasty? How did she endure such pain and despair and still hold on until the last moment? What new understanding does the legend of this humble woman give us to this turbulent era?
epilogue
The life of Empress He has undoubtedly become the most fascinating legend in the last decades of the Tang Dynasty. As a woman from a humble background, she has experienced the transformation from a little maid to a queen, and witnessed the whole process of the Tang Empire from glory to decline.
Although we cannot fully understand the entanglement and pain in Empress He's heart, her indomitable will and tenacity will will surely become an example for future generations to follow.
As a woman from an ordinary background, she eventually became the last guardian of Datang, which undoubtedly made her story a moving legend.