In ancient Chinese history, palace struggles were quite fierce. In addition to tragedies such as father son and sibling conflicts over the throne, the struggles within the harem were also intense. In the history of the Tang Dynasty, there was a rare tragedy where a mother-in-law did not like her in laws and starved her daughter-in-law to death. This poor daughter-in-law was Zhao Shi, the hair tied wife of Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian.
Zhao Shi (? -675 AD) was born into a noble family. Her mother was Princess Changle, the seventh daughter of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, and Zhao Shi was also Li Yuan’s granddaughter. Zhao’s grandfather was Zhao Chuo, who served as the Right Leading Guard General with military achievements in the early Tang Dynasty. His father Zhao Gui not only married Princess Changle and became a son-in-law, but also held the position of General of the Left Thousand Guards.
Zhao came from such a prestigious family, and her status can be described as quite prominent. She was also chosen by Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhiqin, to marry this relative, who chose Zhao as the wife of his seventh son, Prince Yingwang Li Xian.
Princess Changle was the aunt of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, so Zhao was his cousin of the same generation. Zhao was one generation older than Li Xian, and Zhao was also Li Xian’s cousin, although they were about the same age.
Zhao married the English king Li Xian and could have lived a very happy life. From Li Xian’s later restoration and posthumous title of “Empress Gong” to Zhao, it can be seen that Li Xian’s feelings for Zhao were still good.
However, Zhao encountered a nemesis, which was her mother-in-law, the first strong woman in China for thousands of years – Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian was a woman who didn’t even spare her own son, let alone Zhao who was just a daughter-in-law!
Due to Emperor Gaozong’s lavish treatment of his aunt and in laws’ mother, Princess Changle, Wu Zetian was displeased and became very dissatisfied with the marriage. So when Zhao married the English king Li Xian, Wu Zetian vented her resentment towards Princess Changle on her daughter-in-law just a few days after the English queen had a good life.
Not long after getting married, Wu Zetian ordered Zhao Shi to be imprisoned and locked up in a small black room in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, citing her lack of respect towards her. Not only was there no window, but even the food she was given was thrown from a small hole with some raw and cold things. How can someone from Zhao’s background withstand such torment?
In the first few days, Zhao still had the strength to cry and call for help in the room, but later on, she didn’t have the strength anymore. Until several days later, the guards couldn’t hear any cries for help and felt it was too quiet. When they opened the door, they saw that Zhao had already passed away and her body was beginning to decay.
Poor girl who comes from a noble background and marries the prince, who should have enjoyed the most beautiful years of life, but met a nemesis like Wu Zetian and ended her life so tragically early.
After receiving the report from the guards, Wu Zetian calmly examined the body of Zhao and instructed her subordinates to bury it in any place they wanted. Although Zhao was the Queen of England, no one dared to investigate this matter, which shows that Wu Zetian was already familiar with doing such things at that time.
Wu Zetian also exiled Zhao’s parents out of the capital. Later, when Empress Wu Zetian came to court, Zhao Gui, the father of the Zhao family, conspired with King Li Zhen of Yue to rebel. As a result, Li Zhen was defeated and committed suicide, and Princess Changle and her husband were also killed.
In the first year of the Shenlong era (705 AD), Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi launched the “Shenlong Coup”, forcing the seriously ill Empress Wu Zetian to return to the Tang Dynasty, and Li Xian was reinstated. Li Xian posthumously conferred the posthumous title of “Empress Gong” upon the Zhao family.
In the fourth year of Jinglong (710 AD), Li Xian passed away. A few days later, his second wife, Empress Wei, was executed and deposed as a commoner in the “Tang Long Coup”. The ministers believed that Empress Wei was not qualified to accompany Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, so Emperor Ruizong Li Dan posthumously honored Zhao as the “Empress of Hesi”. As Zhao was hastily buried at the beginning, 35 years had passed and her body could no longer be found. Therefore, according to the ritual of summoning souls and reburial, Zhao’s clothes were buried together with Emperor Zhongzong of Tang.
