During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Northern Dynasty in the North, to be precise, was the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and there was a princess named Princess Pingyuan.
Princess Yuan Mingyue of Pingyuan (508–534), a native of Luoyang, Henan, was born into the imperial family, a princess of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the younger sister of Emperor Yuan Baoju of Western Wei (Northern Wei later split into Eastern Wei and Western Wei). Her father was the third son of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei, Yuanhong, the King of Jingzhao of Northern Wei, the King of Lintao, and the later Emperor Wenjing of Yuanyu, and her mother was Princess Lintao and later Empress Wenjing, Princess Yang Ao.
In 508, Yuan Mingyue's father, Yuan Yue, rebelled and became emperor for a short time, but was soon defeated. He hanged himself after his arrest, and her mother Yang Shi gave birth to her widowed son Yuan Mingyue for nearly a year and was also executed.
Their five children, including their elder brother Yuan Baoju and sister Yuan Mingyue, are imprisoned at Zongzheng Temple.
In the fourth year of Yanchang (515), Emperor Xuanwu of Northern Wei pardoned them, and soon the five were freed, annexed to the Northern Wei clan, and were able to rebury their fathers and their parents.
Yuan Mingyue's first marriage is not recorded in the history books. All I know is that when she was 14 years old, she married a man named Hou Min.
After yuan mingyue's husband died, there was an official Sun Teng who had pursued her, but Yuan Mingyue did not like Sun Teng, and liked another official, Feng Longzhi, and planned to remarry. However, his cousin Yuan Xiu took a fancy to her beauty, occupied her as one of her mistresses, and named her a princess.
Yuan Xiu, also known as Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei, was the last emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Yuan Xiu (510–535), courtesy name Xiaoze, was a native of Luoyang, Henan, of the Xianbei ethnic group. He was the last emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty and the grandson of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei, Yuan Hong.
Yuan Xiu was erudite and talented, fond of martial arts, calm and thick. At the beginning, he was given the title of Duke of Ruyang County, and he was worshipped as a horseman and a Zhongshu waiter.
Later, after Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei ascended the throne, he was crowned the Prince of Pingyang, and paid homage to ShiZhong, the general of Zhendong, the third division of Yi Tong, and the left servant.
In the second year of Zhongxing (532 AD), with the support of the general Gao Huan, Yuan Xiu ascended the throne as emperor with the era name Taichang.
At first, Gao Huan wanted to make Yuanyue, the son of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei and the king of Runan, emperor, but because he could not serve the people, he had to retire and choose Yuan Xiu.
The other ministers found Yuan Xiu from the place where Yuan Xiu lived in seclusion, and Gao Huan then personally came to pick him up. Yuan Xiufang entered Beijing. On April 25 (June 13), it was located outside Dongguo in Luoyang.
After Yuan Xiu ascended the throne, he married Gao Huan's eldest daughter, and the husband and wife had no feelings for each other. Yuan Xiu liked to live with his three cousins and made them all princesses. Among them, including his favorite princess Yuan Mingyue.
In the third year of Yongxi (534), Yuan Xiu, dissatisfied with the dictatorship of the powerful minister Gao Huan, fled to Chang'an with Yuan Mingyue and defected to his brother-in-law, Yuwen Tai, the Northern Wei chancellor. Yuwen Tai felt that Yuan Xiu's adultery with his sister had hurt the royal family, so he poisoned the two of them, Yuan Mingyue was only about 27 years old when he died, and Yuan Xiu was only 26 years old when he died.
Yuwen Tai then established the Northern Wei imperial family Yuan Baoju (Yuan Mingyue's brother) as emperor, and the regime he established was known as Western Wei; Gao Huan then established Yuan Shanjian, the son of Yuan Qi, the king of Qinghe, as emperor, and the regime he established was historically known as Eastern Wei.
The Northern Wei Dynasty was officially split into the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties.
Although Princess Yuan Mingyue of the Plains was born into the royal family, she was born in a "chaotic world", her life was full of ups and downs, and finally died a more tragic death.