Many people are not familiar with Wu Zetian’s killing of her sister. Let’s follow the history encyclopedia editor to appreciate it together.
Preface
In feudal society, although women had a lower social status and could even be considered as appendages to men, there were still women who were unwilling to be manipulated by fate.
For example, Hu Mulan, whom we are familiar with, joined the army for her father and was a female general who made numerous military achievements; There is also Mu Guiying, who, at the age of 53, can still take charge of the army and fight against enemies. They are women who are not inferior to men and women, and have become acclaimed female heroes by later generations.
Compared to Mulan and Mu Guiying, Wu Zetian was even more powerful. With her beauty and wisdom, she became the only female emperor in Chinese history and made great contributions to the development of the Tang Dynasty.
There are many stories about Empress Wu Zetian, but one of them is unexpected. She discovered a secret of Li Zhi and ended up killing her own sister. What exactly happened?
Married into the deep palace and experienced two generations of kings
Wu Zetian was born in the year of Wu De Ji Nian. She was intelligent and beautiful from a young age, and grew up to be graceful and elegant. Therefore, at the age of fourteen, she was selected to enter the palace and became a talented person of Emperor Taizong of Tang.
At that time, Wu Zetian was not favored in the palace, so her status was very low. In addition, Tang Taizong was already old, and Wu Zetian could hardly see her own way out.
In order to find a source of support for herself, Wu Zetian set her sights on Li Zhi, the son of Emperor Taizong of Tang. She meticulously approached Li Zhi and finally succeeded in making him fall under her spell.
After the death of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Wu Zetian, who had no children, was sent to Ganye Temple to have her hair shaved and become a nun according to the rules of the harem. Wu Zetian was not willing to accept it. She wanted to leave here, so she used her relationship with Li Zhi to ask him to take her back to the palace.
Under the arrangement of Li Zhi, Wu Zetian not only returned to the palace again, but also was conferred the title of Zhaoyi, enjoying endless scenery for a time. At this time, Wu Zetian was no longer the weak woman she used to be. Her thoughts had undergone significant changes. She knew that in order to live in the palace for a long time, she must have power and influence in order to stand invincible.
Although Wu Zetian had already become a Zhaoyi, she was not satisfied. She still wanted to be the empress and become the mother of the country, surpassing ten thousand people. Although Wu Zetian was intelligent and resourceful, her power was limited as a person. She needed a capable assistant to help her, and that person was her own sister Wu Shun.
Sisters finally fall in love and kill each other
Because her father died early and sisters grew up together, Wu Zetian and her sister Wu Shun had a very good relationship. Wu Shun was also a unfortunate person, and her husband passed away early. After becoming a widow, she had little hope for life, so she focused on helping her sister Wu Zetian with her work.
With the help of Wu Shun, Wu Zetian successfully ascended to the throne of the empress. Since then, Wu Zetian has increasingly trusted Wu Shun and allowed him to freely enter and exit the palace.
Since Wu Zetian became the empress, she not only considered more things, but also had more and more things to manage. In order to maintain her position and favor, Wu Zetian decided to reform the harem and grant official positions to her concubines. This way, they could not only help herself share small and large affairs, but also be easily controlled by herself.
Wu Zetian was busy with the affairs of the imperial harem all day long and had no time to spare. Therefore, she spent very little time with the emperor. At this time, someone took advantage of the situation and came to the emperor’s side. What surprised Wu Zetian the most was that this person was actually her sister Wu Shun.
When the servants told Wu Zetian about this, she didn’t even believe it was true. She trusted her sister so much that she couldn’t possibly get together with her husband.
Wu Zetian first calmed herself down. Regardless of whether this matter was true or false, she had to face it. So she came up with a solution, which was to give Wu Shun a sachet with a special scent. If she came into contact with the emperor, the emperor’s body would be contaminated with the scent of the sachet.
One day, Wu Zetian deliberately put aside the matter of the harem and invited the emperor to have a meal in her own palace. As she approached Li Zhi, she indeed smelled a special scent of sachets on him, and then she knew that her sister and husband were really together.
At this moment, although Wu Zetian appeared calm on the surface, her heart was already surging with waves. She hated her sister Wu Shun for betraying her and why she insisted on taking her husband. She was also very afraid, afraid of losing favor and afraid that Li Zhi would no longer love her. Then everything she had now would be lost.
Whether Li Zhi truly fell in love with her sister Wu Shun or was seeking temporary novelty, Wu Zetian could not tolerate this matter continuing. Her husband was the emperor, and she could not do anything about it. Therefore, she could only start from her sister. After much consideration, Wu Zetian realized that only by making her sister disappear from this world could she permanently eliminate her worries. Therefore, she decided to kill Wu Shun.
Wu Zetian first prepared a sumptuous table of dishes, and then sent someone to bring Wu Shun into the palace, saying that she wanted to have a good chat with her sister about daily life. Wu Shun didn’t mind too much, so she ate the delicious food in front of her with peace of mind. However, halfway through, she died of poisoning. In fact, even before Wu Shun entered the palace, Empress Wu Zetian had poisoned the dishes that Wu Shun liked to eat. As long as Wu Shun ate them, they would be poisoned to death.
After Wu Shun’s death, Wu Zetian publicly claimed that her sister accidentally ate toxic food, which caused her death from poisoning. After learning about this, Li Zhi felt very sad and also had a hint of doubt. Wu Shun died too suddenly, and he also died after meeting Wu Zetian. Could her death be related to Wu Zetian?
Although Li Zhi suspected it, he did not speak it out. After all, his relationship with Wu Shun was already shameful and he was betraying Wu Zetian. Therefore, he could only hide this matter, let alone pursue it. It can be seen from Wu Shun that no matter how good the feelings of sisters are, once they touch the bottom line of each other, they will also become enemies, and finally make the cost of life, which is really regrettable!
