The emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong, can be described as a generation of empress madmen, with countless beauties in the harem, but the woman he loves most in his life is not the world-famous Yang Guifei, but someone else. This woman was not only Xuanzong's favorite in the first half of his life, but also Yang Guifei's mother-in-law, but what is puzzling is that after her death, Xuanzong forcibly robbed her daughter-in-law as a concubine. What is the reason for this? How did Xuanzong's love for her change from sincere to ruthless? And how will her son Li Xuan face the ruthless fact that his father took away his wife?
1. After Xuanzong ascended the throne, he encountered Concubine Wu Hui's turmoil
At the beginning of Xuanzong's accession to the throne, there was a affectionate, gentle and generous Wu girl in the harem who attracted his attention. This is the later Concubine Wu Hui, who was born in the Wu Dynasty and was the niece and granddaughter of Wu Zetian. After Wu Zetian's abdication and death, the young Wu family was still left in the palace until Xuanzong ascended the throne and was accepted as Jieyu.
At first, Xuanzong only appreciated Wu Jieyu's delicate appearance, and had no other ideas. But over time, Xuanzong's feelings for her deepened day by day, and he did everything he could. So when Prime Minister Song Jing asked about the canonization of the prince and princess, Xuanzong specially asked to prepare a unique name and title for his favorite son to show his favor.
Rumors are rife in the palace, speculating who this most favored son will be. Soon spread that Wu Jieyu had a son born to Xuanzong, named Li Yi, and Xuanzong intended to refer to him as a jun. This news was like a thunderbolt from the sky, the government and the opposition were shocked, and even Prime Minister Song Jing also sternly admonished after hearing about it, for fear of repeating Wu Zetian's mistakes.
In order to calm the turmoil in the government and the opposition, Xuanzong had to take a step back and change the title of Wu Jieyu to Concubine Hui. Although there is no official title of queen, Concubine Hui has been in charge of the harem since then, and her status is transcendent. The prince Li Yi she gave birth to was even more favored by Xuanzong, and was regarded as a concubine.
As she grew older, Concubine Hui's sons died one after another, and none of them had any surviving children except Li Yi. Xuanzong and Concubine Hui were very sad when they saw this, and secretly decided to secretly change Li Yi to Xuanzong's brother Ning Wang to raise him in order to save his life. In the following years, Concubine Hui finally gave birth to a son, Li Xuan, but strangely, Xuanzong was unwilling to accept him into the palace and insisted that Li Xuan grow up with King Ning.
It wasn't until Li Xuan was more than ten years old that Xuanzong returned to the palace, favored him, and was canonized as King Shou. At this time, Concubine Wu Hui had already become Xuanzong's favorite woman, and ordinary concubines were out of reach. It's just a thorn in the hearts of Xuanzong and Concubine Hui - Concubine Wu Hui has been unable to give birth to a definite eldest son.
Second, Concubine Wu Hui sought to seize the crown prince
During the reign of Xuanzong, there were two crown princes, namely Li Ying and Li Heng. However, Concubine Wu Hui did not take a fancy to these two, but her only eldest son, Shouwang Li Xuan. In order to allow her son to ascend the throne and inherit the unification, Concubine Wu Hui secretly laid out a lot of chess games.
Li Ying is the second son of Xuanzong, and her biological mother, Concubine Zhao Li, is a singer. When Xuanzong was young, he appreciated Zhao Life's dancing skills, accepted him as a concubine, and later gave birth to Li Ying. When he ascended the throne, Xuanzong saw that his eldest son Li Chongmu was unbearable, so he established Li Ying as the crown prince.
Although Concubine Wu Hui has a high status, she can't be compared with the main wife after all. In addition, she is too old to give birth to a definite son-in-law, and she is haunted in her heart. After Li Heng was born, she set her sights on the position of the crown prince and plotted against it.
Concubine Wu Hui first laid out manpower, she included her confidant Yang Wei as her son-in-law, and ordered him to break into the friends of the crown prince Li Ying to spy on the truth and reality. Later, she spared no expense to win over Prime Minister Li Linfu to build a canal and bridge for herself in the DPRK.
Time has passed, and Li Linfu, under the manipulation of Concubine Wu Hui, has gradually become the real power controller of the government and the opposition. So Concubine Wu Hui took the opportunity to slander Li Ying to Xuanzong for rebellion, and said that Li Ying colluded with her brother Li Yao, the king of Hubei, and Li Ju, the king of light, to plot against her.
Xuanzong suspected it several times, and finally ordered the deposition of the crown prince under the choked pleading of Concubine Wu Hui. Although Chief Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling strongly objected, Xuanzong ignored it this time. It wasn't until the ministers tried again and again that Xuanzong came to his senses and reserved the position of crown prince to Li Ying.
However, Concubine Wu Hui was never willing to give up, she changed her way and ordered Yang Wei to secretly win over her relatives and gather her cronies. At the same time, she personally sorted out Li Ying's past words and deeds, and tried her best to exaggerate Li Ying's suspicion of rebellion. It can be said that he tried his best and tried his best, but he was only determined to get rid of Li Ying and clear the obstacles to his son Li Jing's accession to the throne.
3. After Concubine Wu Hui passed away, Xuanzong's mood changed dramatically
Concubine Wu Hui's relationship with Xuanzong should have been immortal, who would have expected her life to be so short. In the twenty-ninth year of Kaiyuan, Concubine Wu Hui suddenly contracted an illness, and when she was seriously ill, she was tortured by a nightmare of a terrible ghost and was deeply disturbed.
At first, Concubine Wu Hui just felt a little weak and didn't pay much attention to it. But her condition deteriorated rapidly, and she was soon bedridden. The palace was full of anxiety for it, and Xuanzong personally asked the imperial doctor to regulate the pulse, and also ordered the Buddhist temples across the country to pray for her blessing.
But Concubine Wu Hui's condition became more and more serious, and she began to have nightmares, dreaming of a skull screaming at her, which was terrifying and abnormal. After waking up, it was even more soulless and painful. No matter what, he couldn't get a good night's sleep, and he was tortured all day and all night in extreme pain.
The palace invited countless wizards to cast various spells, but Concubine Wu Hui's nightmare still could not be stopped. Her body is getting worse day by day, and she is getting haggard day by day. Finally, on February 12, the thirtieth year of Kaiyuan, Concubine Wu Hui died and left the world.
Xuanzong was heartbroken by the death of Concubine Wu Hui and almost went crazy. First, he kept a vigil in the palace for 7749 days, and then wrote a eulogy in front of the coffin, crying bitterly. Then he ordered someone to renovate the mausoleum of Concubine Wu Hui and add heavy protection.
The most important thing is that Xuanzong also specially issued an edict to canonize Concubine Wu Hui as the "queen", so that she could become the orthodox queen from now on and enjoy the honorific title and sacrifice of the queen. It can be said that Xuanzong did his best to mourn the most favored woman in his heart.
Concubine Wu Hui's death made Xuanzong heartbroken, and the entire harem was like a festive song and dance drama. What makes Xuanzong even more sad is that Concubine Wu Hui's son Li Ying has been sceptered by the court, and now she has gone west, Xuanzong feels that there are not many relatives, and he is lonely.
However, the death of Concubine Wu Hui also made Xuanzong realize her ambition to usurp the crown prince. Therefore, during the reign of his son Li Heng, who succeeded to the throne, he decreed that Concubine Wu Hui's queen shrine would be cancelled and her original title would be restored.
Fourth, Xuanzong snatched Yang Yuhuan, the daughter-in-law of Concubine Wu Hui
After the death of Concubine Wu Hui, Xuanzong was sad and depressed for a time and lost all interest in the harem. But the good times didn't last long, and he soon regained his old flowery nature and began to find a new love. This time, his eyes fell on Yang Yuhuan, the wife of Concubine Wu Hui, who once favored her son Li Xuan the most.
Yang Yuhuan was originally a young lady from a powerful family in Beijing, gentle and virtuous, talented and beautiful. In the twenty-sixth year of Kaiyuan, she was married by her parents to Li Xuan, who was still the king of Shou at that time, as a wife. The two are newly married Yan'er, and they are quite affectionate.
But who would have expected that not long after Yang Yuhuan entered the cave room, Xuanzong would have a different idea of her. There are eunuchs who offer wolf ambitions, blowing Yang Yuhuan's stunning appearance into Xuanzong's ears. Xuanzong was overjoyed when he heard this, and decided to include it in the harem to serve.
So Xuanzong ordered someone to arrange a lie and deception, saying that Concubine Wu Hui's spiritual position was diluted and Yang Yuhuan was needed to surpass it. Yang Yuhuan was kind-hearted and agreed without doubt. Then a palace maid took her into the harem and prepared for the transcendence ceremony.
However, the transcendence ceremony was not held, and the eunuchs trapped Yang Yuhuan in the deep palace and did not allow her to return to Li Xuan's side. Yang Yuhuan came to his senses at this time, and it turned out that he had been trapped. But when she arrived in this field, she had no way out, so she had to stay in the harem.
When Xuanzong saw Yang Yuhuan's stunning face, he really praised it. So he decreed that she should be a senior palace maid of "Aiqing", and she could be by her side. Yang Yuhuan worked hard and only hoped to get out as soon as possible. But after all, she couldn't escape the arrangement of fate, and was soon accepted by Xuanzong as a concubine.
Yang Yuhuan originally planned to be reserved and self-controlled, but he couldn't withstand Xuanzong's thousands of fingers, and finally fell into his gentle township. For a while, the palace saw that Xuanzong was very fond of Aiqing Yang Yuhuan and took care of it. As for her husband Li Xuan, Xuanzong turned a deaf ear and ignored him.
Although Yang Yuhuan's status far exceeds that of the past and she is favored, she has never forgotten Li Xuan in her heart. She soon found out that she was pregnant, which gave her a glimmer of hope to survive. Unexpectedly, this move stimulated Xuanzong's jealousy even more, and he actually imprisoned Yang Yuhuan in the deep palace and did not allow her to give birth.
Fifth, Li Xuan begged bitterly and was killed without a way
Xuanzong's forced marriage to Yang Yuhuan naturally made Yang Yuhuan's husband Li Xuan very angry. As the grandson of Concubine Wu Hui, Li Jing has been favored since he was a child and has a high position. Now even his wife has been snatched away by his biological father, and his face and dignity have been completely lost.
Li Xuan was not only angry, but also understood that it was difficult for him to resist the tyranny of the imperial uncle alone. So he began to circulate texts everywhere, calling on Chinese and foreign soldiers to jointly crusade against Xuanzong's evil deeds. This was undoubtedly a recipe for trouble, and was soon discovered by the Praetorian Guard.
The Praetorian Guards immediately reported the matter to Xuanzong, who was furious and ordered Li Xuan to be imprisoned. Everyone in the palace sighed for Li Xuan's experience, and they wrote to Chen one after another. Even the former prime minister Zhang Jiuling asked Xuanzong to "marry a man's wife, which is a big dishonorable thing".
But Xuanzong was already a little confused, and he couldn't listen to any persuasion at all. He ordered Li Xuan to be imprisoned in the cold palace and strictly guarded. At the same time, he issued an edict to degrade Zhang Jiuling and other ministers of Chen, and control all the real power of the government in his own hands.
After Li Xuan was imprisoned, he repeatedly wrote to beg Xuanzong to return his wife Yang Yuhuan to him. But Xuanzong did not move these pleas and ignored them at all. On the contrary, the order increased the degree of imprisonment of Li Xuan, deprived Li Xuan of the opportunity to read poetry and books, and his life was extremely embarrassing.
It wasn't until Yang Yuhuan became pregnant that Li Xuan's expectations dawned slightly. He hoped that Xuanzong would remember the family affection and return Yang Yuhuan to himself. But instead of doing this, Xuanzong ordered Yang Yuhuan to be imprisoned and deprived of her right to have children. Since then, Li Xuan and Yang Yuhuan seem to be cut off from life, and they can't even see each other.
Under the long-term imprisonment, Li Xuan's spirit gradually declined. What's even more tragic is that Xuanzong actually spread rumors of Li Xuan's rebellion in the court, and finally ordered Li Heng to be killed in an edict to correct the dynasty.
In the fifth year of Yuanhe, Li Heng was unjustly killed in prison at the age of 34. His wife, Yang Yuhuan, was subsequently exiled to the wilderness, and her whereabouts are unknown. Poor Concubine Wu Hui's children suffered such misfortunes, and their tragedy is really suffocating.