Text/Qingping
In Chinese history, there is a well-known story - the tanuki cat for the prince. The story is about the mystery of the life of Song Renzong, the fourth emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Song Renzong's father, Song Zhenzong, had two wives, Concubine Liu and Concubine Li, and both women were pregnant at the same time. Since whoever had a son was likely to be made crown prince, after learning that Mr. Li Fei had a boy, Liu Fei ordered her eunuchs to tune a skinned bloody tanuki cat, framed Li Fei as a freak, and then killed the child born to Li Fei.
However, the eunuch Yu could not bear it, and gave the child born to Concubine Li to the eighth brother of Song Zhenzong to raise. Soon, Concubine Liu also gave birth to a son, who was naturally made crown prince. But it is exactly the same sentence - people are doing, heaven is watching. Princess Liu's evil deeds were punished, and her son died after being the crown prince for six years. In this way, Emperor Zhenzong of Song had no heirs, so he made the "son" of his eighth brother the crown prince.
At that time, because Concubine Li gave birth to a "freak", she was beaten into the cold palace. Later, Concubine Liu moved the killing machine, and Concubine Li fled to the people with the help of well-wishers and made a living begging.
Twenty-four years later, Princess Li became acquainted with her own son. Due to the East Window Incident, Consort Liu, who had become the empress dowager, eventually committed suicide after the plot was revealed. This is the story of the tanuki cat for the prince.
The story may be difficult to tell whether it is true or not, but in the historical records, Song Renzong was indeed not the son of Concubine Liu, but her maid Li Shi and Song Zhenzong. Princess Liu was named Liu E, a selfish person, she was originally the daughter of a low-ranking officer, due to the early death of her parents, she married a silversmith named Gong Mei at a very young age. At the age of 15, Liu E was discovered by Emperor Taizong of Song and became interested in Liu E because of her outstanding appearance. The silversmith Gong Mei pushed the boat along the water, falsely claiming that Liu E was his sister, and Liu E was also willing to be a princess, so she married into the palace.
Later, this prince of Emperor Taizong of Song was called emperor, that is, Emperor Zhenzong of Song, and Liu E was naturally qualified to become an imperial concubine. Gong Mei, who had done this, was summoned to the palace as the uncle of the state.
At that time, although Song Zhenzong had countless concubines in the harem, his five princes died one after another, and Liu E remained infertile, in this case, Liu E pushed her maid Li Shi onto the dragon bed of Song Zhenzong, and Li Shi became pregnant and gave birth to their son, later Song Renzong.
When Li Shi gave birth to a child, he was kicked aside by Liu E. Liu E took the child for herself. Since the first five princes of Emperor Zhenzong of Song died prematurely, although the child born to Li was the sixth, he was still considered the first heir. After the death of Song Zhenzong, this child, that is, Song Renzong, ascended the throne. At this time, Song Renzong was only 13 years old, and Liu E conducted a curtain hearing in the name of needing the assistance of the empress dowager, and she also became the famous Empress Liu in history. Liu E's power skills were no less than those of Lü Hou and Wu Zetian.
Because of the power of the empress dowager, no one dared to mention his true origins to emperor Song Renzong, but his true identity was known to everyone inside and outside the government and the public. In order to cover her ears and steal the bell, Empress Liu placed Song Renzong's birth mother Li Shiwai in the Yongding Tomb in present-day Gongyi, Henan, as the guardian of Song Zhenzong. At the same time, in order to appease Li Shi, Empress Liu ordered her uncle Gong Mei to give Li Shi's brother a minor official as a sign of comfort.
Probably because Empress Liu felt that Li shi did not pose a threat to her, she did not directly kill Li Shi. However, when Empress Liu was 65 years old, she may feel that she has little time and is not willing to die in front of Li Shi, so she decided to execute Li Shi.
However, just after Li Shi was buried as an ordinary palace person, the prime minister Lü Yijian said that Li Shi should be buried thickly. Empress Liu was afraid that this matter would be exposed in front of Song Renzong, so she sent Song Renzong away, and she summoned the chancellor Lü Yijian alone. Unexpectedly, Lü Yijian said that Empress Liu had reached her old age, and if after her death, Emperor Song Renzong knew the truth of the matter, he would definitely attack Empress Liu's ex-husband Gong Mei and others hiding in the palace, so for the sake of future generations, li's aftermath must be handled beautifully. After all, Empress Liu was a thief with a weak heart, so she listened to the advice of the old prime minister, buried Li Shi, and posthumously named Li Chenfei.com. When Lü Yijian zhang luo, he ordered the eunuch to say that Concubine Li Chen should be buried according to the empress's specifications and protect the body with mercury irrigation. Since Empress Liu had acquiesced, the eunuchs had no choice but to do so.
In fact, in history, Lü Yijian's reputation is not good, he is Fan Zhongyan's number one political enemy, but he is extremely beautiful in dealing with the matter of Li Shi.
Just the year after Li's death, Empress Liu also died. In view of the death of Empress Liu, who held real power, Song Renzong's adoptive father, the eighth brother of Song Zhenzong, told Song Renzong about his origins and pointed out that the strange death of Concubine Li Chen was most likely killed by Empress Liu.
After many verifications and confirmation of his origins, Song Renzong had an emotional breakdown, cried and cried, and could not go to the court for several days, he wept bitterly for his inability to recognize his biological mother for more than 20 years, and he was also indignant about Empress Liu's desperation.
Enraged, Emperor Renzong of Song sent someone to besiege the residence of Empress Liu's adulterous husband Gong Mei, and personally went to The Residence of Concubine Li Chen and made an unexpected decision - to open the coffin for autopsy.
Unexpectedly, after opening the coffin, Li Chenfei's jade color was like life, all because of the credit of Lü Yijian at that time. Song Renzong couldn't help but sigh: What others say is not necessarily credible, or it is necessary to see is to believe!
Afterwards, the Song Ren sect sent people to arrest Gong Mei, posthumously named his birth mother Li Shi "Empress Zhangyi", and together with Empress Liu, she was sacrificed at the Taimiao Temple. In order to make up for the shortcomings, he also gave preferential treatment to his real uncle and married his daughter to his uncle's son.