Empress Wang, the former consort of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Li Zhi, was later deposed and executed. For those who are very interested in this, the History Encyclopedia editor brings detailed articles for your reference.
When it comes to Emperor Xuanzong’s harem, one may immediately think of Yang Guifei, who was highly favored by Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji. However, before Yang Guifei, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang had a very beloved woman who was also Yang Yuhuan’s mother-in-law, Wu Huifei.
This Empress Wu Huifei is also remarkable. She is the niece of Empress Wu Zetian and was once highly favored by Li Longji. Her son, Prince Shou Li Mao, once married Yang Yuhuan as his queen. Later, Empress Wu Huifei passed away, and Li Longji was deeply saddened. Although there were many beauties in the harem, there was no one he liked. Of course, it was also the death of Empress Wu Hui that led to Yang Yuhuan’s later favor.
However, whether Emperor Xuanzong had previously favored Empress Wu Huifei or later favored Yang Yuhuan, even though Queen Wang had already been deposed at that time,
But Tang Xuanzong never made them empresses, only conferred upon them the titles of Huifei and Guifei. Of course, when Empress Wu Huifei and Empress Yang Guifei were favored successively, although they did not have the title of empress, their status was equivalent to that of empress, which could be considered as having the status of empress.
Why did Emperor Xuanzong depose the Queen Wang?
Queen Wang is the daughter of Wang Renjiao. When Li Longji was still the King of Linzi, she married Wang as her consort. Later, Empress Wei rebelled and endangered the entire Tang Dynasty. Li Longji planned to eliminate the Wei Group, while Wang assisted Li Longji behind the scenes. Later, Li Longji succeeded to the throne, and Wang was naturally conferred the title of empress.
Queen Wang was once favored by Li Longji, but later Li Longji became even more fond of Empress Wu Hui. After Empress Wu Hui gained favor, she wanted to replace her with Queen Wang. This makes the Queen very worried.
In fact, the reason why Queen Wang was worried was mainly because although she had been married to Li Longji for many years, she had never had a son. In ancient royal families, it was very difficult for a queen without a prince to maintain her position as queen, and of course, she was also easily attacked and slandered by other concubines in the harem.
Empress Wang’s position was uncertain, so her brother Wang Shouyi contacted people from other walks of life to help her seek a son with Thunderbolt Wood. At that time, he invited monk Mingwu to worship the Big Dipper, brought Thunderbolt Wood, and wrote the name of Emperor Xuanzong in the heavenly and earthly texts. Then, he asked the Queen to wear it, hoping to conceive a child.
However, this matter was soon discovered by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, who designated this behavior as “disliking victory”. There are historical records that it was only after Empress Wu Huifei reported it that Li Longji became aware of it.
Throughout history, emperors have been deeply distressed by the art of disliking victory. As a result, it can be imagined that Empress Wang was deposed as a commoner, and soon after, she passed away due to depression.
