How promiscuous was Wu Zetian in her later years She used the same man as her daughter

Hi, it’s time to meet everyone again. Today, the History Encyclopedia editor has brought an article about Wu Zetian’s later years. I hope you like it.
The evaluation of Wu Zetian in history has always been mixed, with different opinions. When Wu Zetian was still alive, she seemed to have anticipated this, so she erected a wordless monument in front of her tomb, willingly allowing future generations to evaluate her merits and demerits. From this perspective, she not only surpassed many emperors and ministers at the time, but also was an unparalleled presence in history.
In the feudal ethical system of ancient China, where men were revered and women were inferior, Wu Zetian was able to return to the court from her status as a talented person and nun who had already become a nun in the temple of Emperor Taizong of Tang, and eventually ascended to the throne, becoming the only female emperor in Chinese history. This is truly beyond the imagination of ordinary people. She not only has great talent in calligraphy and art, but also has made many achievements in governing the country, appointing talented individuals, and military affairs. In the era when she was in power, the country’s politics were clear and the social economy continued to develop, clearly playing a connecting role from the “Zhenguan Reign” to the “Kaiyuan Prosperous Era”. This is also why she was later praised by many historians as one of the most accomplished emperors in ancient times.
Of course, as a woman, Wu Zetian would inevitably adopt some extreme and ruthless measures to achieve political authority. So many literati in the folk, based on the Confucian orthodox “male superiority and female inferiority” ideology, wrote many novels and literary works about Wu Zetian’s violent and lascivious personality. In those works, Wu Zetian not only competed for power with Li Zhi when she was empress, but also turned against her son. She even planned to poison her own children, put the emperor under house arrest, and slaughtered many loyal and righteous people. The literati have described more about her private life, not only saying that she had an affair with a monk and shared a man with her daughter during her time as empress dowager, but also saying that after ascending to the throne, she raised countless male pets and indulged in debauchery in the palace all day long, without considering the country.
There are three most famous male pets of Empress Wu Zetian. One is Xue Huaiyi, who is said to have gained the favor of Empress Wu Zetian due to his strong physique and exceptional abilities. However, due to personality reasons, he always disobeyed Empress Wu Zetian’s wishes and was subsequently abandoned and killed by the female emperor. Later on, Wu Zetian brought two beautiful men, Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi, from Princess Taiping.
Those two brothers are not only beautiful, but also very good at pleasing Wu Zetian. They stick to Wu Zetian’s bed like cats and dogs every day, making the elderly Wu Zetian quite happy and satisfied. So, in order to express her gratitude to the Zhang brothers, she specially appointed them as high-ranking officials and made them her most trusted aides. It was not until later in the “Divine Dragon Coup” that two Zhang were killed by Zhang Jianzhi and others.
Although not all the legends about the Zhang brothers are necessarily true, Wu Zetian did experience corruption, extravagance, and debauchery in her later years. But none of this can deny her achievements in politics, economy, and employment. After all, she is just a mortal. So, let’s objectively evaluate her merits and demerits.