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At that time, there were many senior officials in the court who were dissatisfied with Wu Zetian, especially Changsun Wuji. In the spring of the fourth year of Xianqing (659 AD), Wu Zetian instructed Xu Jingzong to fabricate a case of factionalism and led Changsun Wuji into it. Tang Gaozong had to exile Changsun Wuji to Qianzhou (now Pengshui, Sichuan), and was later forced by Xu Jingzong to commit suicide. The prime minister Yu Zhining, who was implicated in this, was dismissed from office. Liu Shuang and Han Yuan were soon killed, and Lai Ji was exiled to Xinjiang. Dozens of family members including Changsun, Han, Liu, and Yu were either killed, exiled, or demoted. The Changsun Wuji group, which opposed Wu Zetian, was completely destroyed. Correspondingly, Li Yifu, Xu Jingzong, and others who were loyal to Wu Zetian were promoted to prime ministers. Tang Gaozong was dissatisfied with Wu Zetian’s actions and conspired with Prime Minister Shangguan Yi to depose the empress dowager. Upon receiving this information, Wu Zetian resorted to both soft and hard tactics against Gaozong. Gaozong had no choice but to throw Shangguan Yi out, and Wu Zetian immediately instructed Xu Jingzong to falsely accuse Shangguan Yi of plotting against the deposed Crown Prince Li Zhong. Shangguan Yi and her son Shangguan Tingzhi were imprisoned and executed, and Shangguan Wan’er, who was still in her infancy as Shangguan Tingzhi’s daughter, also went into the palace as a maid with her mother. Shangguan Wan’er was naturally intelligent, but later became Wu Zetian’s trusted confidant.
After the collapse of the Changsun Group and Shangguan Yi, Emperor Gaozong became increasingly tired of political affairs. Wu Zetian assisted Emperor Gaozong in governing, forming a situation where “all the power in the world was returned to the central palace, and the emperor was only handed over”. Both inside and outside the court, the emperor and empress are referred to as the “Two Saints”.
But Wu Zetian was not satisfied with this and intensified her preparations to climb the throne. Firstly, someone was ordered to revise the “Surnames Record” and list the Wu surname as the first class, in order to change the unfavorable birth status caused by the non listing of the Wu surname in the “Clan Annals” during the reign of Emperor Taizong; Then, when Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty decided to seal Mount Taishan as a Buddhist temple, he won the honor of ascending the Buddhist altar to preside over Yaxian as a queen after the emperor, further elevating his identity and reputation. At the same time, literati and scholars who were summoned under the guise of compiling were allowed to enter the imperial examination and participate in court affairs through the Xuanwu Gate, also known as the “North Gate Scholars,” in order to divide the power of the prime minister. In the first year of the Shangyuan era (674 AD), when she was given the title of “Tianhou”, she also proposed “twelve matters”, all of which had the nature of political platforms and were implemented by imperial edicts.
But between the empress and the emperor, there is an almost insurmountable “railing” called the “crown prince”. Wu Zetian had four sons, namely Li Hong, Li Xian, Li Xian (also known as Zhe), and Li Dan (also known as Lun). Wu Zetian first instigated Emperor Gaozong to depose Crown Prince Li Zhong, who was not born to her, and appoint her eldest son Li Hong as Crown Prince. Later, she found that Li Hong was difficult to control and poisoned him to death. He also appointed his second son Li Xian as the crown prince. Li Xian had a high reputation for knowledge and talent, and was highly respected by the people. Emperor Gaozong of Tang even specially assigned him a capable team of prime ministers. Wu Zetian was afraid of losing power and tried to depose Li Xian as a commoner. After moving to Bazhou, she sent someone to kill Li Xian. At that time, people suspected that Li Xian was not the biological child of Empress Wu Zetian, but was born to her sister, Lady Han, and Emperor Gaozong, but it remains a mystery to this day. After the two princes were deposed, the third son Li Xian was appointed as the Crown Prince. During Li Xian’s tenure as Crown Prince, in the first year of the Hongdao era (683 AD), Emperor Gaozong of Tang, who was 56 years old, passed away and left a will for the Crown Prince to succeed him. Li Xian ascended to the throne with the title of Zhongzong, honored Empress Wu Zetian as the Empress Dowager, and appointed Pei Yan as the Prime Minister.
