Shangguan Wan’er said, “I believe my talent is naive, but I don’t believe my husband is better than a woman
In 664 AD, Li Zhi could not stand the increasing desire of Empress Wu Zetian, and plotted with Shangguanyi to abolish the title of Empress Wu Zetian. After Shangguanyi abolished the imperial edict, he did not know that walls had ears, but was known by Empress Wu’s eyeliner. In order to maintain her position as empress, Empress Wu Zetian forced Li Zhi to investigate the situation. Li Zhi was naturally afraid of his wife, and in order to prevent Wu Zetian from blaming him, he shifted all the responsibility onto Shangguan Yi alone. In a fit of anger, Empress Wu Zetian executed Shangguan Yi and his son.
In the year when Shangguan Yi died, his granddaughter Shangguan Wan’er was only one year old. Wu Zetian let her go, but treated her and her mother as slaves. Shangguan Wan’er is after all a noblewoman from a prestigious family. Although she was labeled as a servant since childhood, she still reads poetry and books well. Not only can she recite poetry, but she also understands the great truths of the world, unlike a servant at all.
At the age of 14, Shangguan Wan’er had already become a graceful and talented woman, and her name was known throughout the entire harem. Wu Zetian became interested in her and summoned her to the palace to personally write a poem. After listening to the question and thinking about it, Shangguan Wan’er could quickly write a poem. Wu Zetian praised her repeatedly and immediately relieved her of her servant status, appointing her as an “inner servant” by her side.
In 705, Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi launched the “Divine Dragon Coup”, forcing Wu Zetian to abdicate and supporting Emperor Tang Zhongzong Li Xian to succeed. Shangguan Wan’er saw that Wu Zetian could no longer protect her and immediately defected to Li Xian. However, at the same time, she had been by Wu Zetian’s side for a long time and had always believed that women were no worse than men and could emulate her as the second empress of the Tang Dynasty. She urged Li Xian’s wife, Empress Wei, to seize the throne.
Empress Wei watched her mother-in-law become an emperor with great dignity. She had long wanted to follow the old path of Empress Wu Zetian, so she hit it off with Shangguan Wan’er and brought Wu Zetian’s nephew Wu Sansi into the palace to suppress the children of the Li family.
In July 707 AD, Crown Prince Li Chongjun was afraid that the regime would fall into the hands of outsiders again, so he sent someone to kill Wu Sansi. On the way to kill Shangguan Wan’er, Shangguan Wan’er first ran to Li Xian’s side to complain, accusing Li Chongjun of wanting to kill him and seize the throne. Li Xian did not investigate and fled to Xuanwu Gate for refuge, ordering General Liu Jingren to lead more than 2000 people to deal with Li Chongjun. Li Chongjun did not have as many people as Liu Jingren, and was soon killed by Liu Jingren.
Shangguan Wan’er killed Li Chongjun, which caught the eye of Li Longji. Li Longji had a very bad impression of Shangguan Wan’er because of this incident. Li Chongjun was his cousin, and if Shangguan Wan’er didn’t die, his fate would be no different from Li Chongjun’s. Therefore, he has been looking for opportunities to get rid of Shangguan Wan’er.
In 710 AD, Li Xian was poisoned to death. The “New and Old Book of Tang” only mentioned that Li Xian “died in the Divine Dragon Palace when the emperor was poisoned”, but did not say who poisoned him. However, those who dared to poison the emperor were definitely not ordinary people. Many people suspected that Empress Wei and Princess Anle wanted to be empresses, and Empress Wei wanted to be empress dowager, while Princess Anle wanted to be empress dowager. Li Xian became a roadblock in the eyes of the two mothers and daughters, and together they killed him.
Empress Wei replicated Wu Zetian’s path of proclaiming herself emperor, first appointing 16-year-old Li Chongmao as the young emperor, and then forcing him to abdicate for herself when the time was ripe. She brought in Shangguan Wan’er and forged a will from Li Xian, which read, “Appoint Li Chongmao as Crown Prince, with Empress Wei in charge of politics and Li Dan involved in national affairs
Empress Wei had a great idea, but Li Longji and Princess Taiping would not easily let history repeat itself. Their aunt and nephew joined forces to launch a surprise attack on the imperial city and killed Empress Wei, Princess Anle, and a series of related people on July 21, 710.
In order to protect herself, Shangguan Wan’er took out a fake will before Li Longji killed her, which included the words’ Li Dan, Li Longji’s father, participated in national affairs’. Shangguan Wan’er showed loyalty to Li Longji with the will, and Princess Taiping also pleaded with Shangguan Wan’er. However, Li Longji questioned whether Shangguan Wan’er would be killed and asked her to continue accompanying Wu Zetian underground.
Li Longji had long seen through the herbaceous nature of Shangguan Wan’er’s wall, leaning towards Empress Wei and then towards the Li family. Once such an unprincipled person encounters a dispute over interests, she will hesitate without hesitation and choose the side of interests. If you were Li Longji, you would also kill her. Shangguan Wan’er grew up with Wu Zetian and was accustomed to power struggles. If she didn’t find a backing after Wu Zetian’s death, she would sooner or later be killed. However, her methods were not as ruthless as Wu Zetian’s. Not only did she not find a backing, but she also risked her life.
