ot only the nobles, generals, and ministers who excelled in literature, politics, and martial arts can make history famous, but also many beauties and troublemakers who caused trouble in the imperial harem. Among them, Yang Guifei was a guilty beauty who bore the burden of the decline of the Tang Dynasty. Yang Guifei was the favored concubine of Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji, and she began to enjoy her own life. Riding a red dust concubine laughed, and no one knew that lychee was a reflection of her luxurious life. This was just a small thing that Yang Guifei did. Because of Yang Guifei’s beauty and favor, Li Longji quickly became a criticized emperor. In the An Lushan Rebellion, Yang Guifei could only be executed, making this beauty bear the stigma of being a beauty and troublemaker. In history, there were other concubines who also did many things, such as Empress Wencheng of the Song Dynasty. She was also a beauty queen, but because she had a good husband, She didn’t have to bear the blame for her many mistakes.
Empress Wen Cheng was the third empress of Emperor Renzong of Song, Zhao Zhen. Emperor Renzong had three empresses in his lifetime, appearing to be a playboy. However, Emperor Renzong was deeply infatuated with Empress Wen Cheng, and no one else received his favor. Moreover, Empress Wen Cheng’s position was added by Emperor Renzong after her death. Even if the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty deemed it inappropriate, they were unable to stop Emperor Renzong. In other words, during his lifetime, Empress Wen Cheng was only a noble concubine, but she was favored like a queen.
Empress Wencheng, Zhang, entered the palace at the age of eight and was favored by Emperor Renzong at a palace banquet. She gave birth to multiple daughters, all of whom died early, but this did not affect Emperor Renzong’s favor. In just a few years, Zhang went from being the lowest ranking concubine to the highest ranking noblewoman, and she always longed for the position of empress. Emperor Renzong repeatedly wanted to depose the empress and establish Zhang as empress, but was opposed by the civil and military officials of the Manchu dynasty, so she had to give up and continue to be favored. Zhang, who did not become the empress, was in the imperial harem at that time, just like the empress. Zhang could be said to be arrogant and spoiled, but as a noble concubine, she wanted to have the empress’s support. Once, she and Empress Cao traveled with the empress’s honor guard, and the empress had no choice but to agree to her request. Being favored, she immediately showed off to Emperor Renzong, completely forgetting that her behavior was disrespectful and presumptuous. It was unclear whether the empress had specifically framed her or if Zhang was innocent and naive. The presumptuous incident happened like this. Emperor Renzong scolded her after hearing this, and the presumptuous incident was exposed without any punishment, indicating that Emperor Renzong favored her. In addition to presumptuous behavior, Zhang also intervened. The matter with the court.
After being favored, Zhang hoped that Emperor Renzong could appoint her uncle Zhang Yaozuo as the Grand Preceptor. She, who was highly favored, directly asked Emperor Renzong for an official position. Such a thing rarely happened in the 5000 year old harem. Emperor Renzong was not at all dissatisfied with such direct interference in the appointment of officials, and agreed to her unreasonable behavior. However, this was rejected by many officials for the first time, and after a period of time, Zhang requested Emperor Renzong to appoint her uncle as the Grand Preceptor. Emperor Renzong agreed with a smile. During the court session, Zhang did another disrespectful thing and specifically reminded Emperor Renzong not to forget the Grand Preceptor when Zhang sent him out. This blatant and direct interference was considered by Emperor Renzong to be a child’s nature, and he agreed with a smile. However, he encountered strong opposition from Bao Zheng and had to give up, Emperor Renzong, who returned to the court, did not have a good face towards Zhang and took the opportunity to reprimand her. This reprimand became the lightest punishment for concubines who interfered in court throughout history. Zhang is not a clever concubine in the imperial harem, and has no connection with scheming. She is just a foolish woman who forgets the lessons of history when she is favored. She has committed many acts of usurpation and interference. Fortunately, she has met a good husband, otherwise she would have become a curse of beauty. This also shows that there is no such thing as a curse of beauty in history, only useless emperors who shirk responsibility.
