Chapter 18 Concubine Feng Xiaobao

Empress Wu's husband Gaozong has collapsed, the virtuous prince Honghe's father has passed away, Zhongzongzhe is imprisoned in Fangzhou, and emperor Ruizongdan is also imprisoned in the East Palace. The future is bright and the future is long.No one doubted her status, because she had belonged to the imprisoned emperor, and the emperor begged her to continue to rule. In July, a comet appeared in the west, brilliant in its brilliance, with a tail more than twenty feet long, and it took thirty-three days to disappear.Get up in the middle of the night, look up at the sky, and be in awe of the beauty of the comet's arrogance.There is such an awe-inspiring sight in the sky,

Empress Wu really couldn't have more extravagant wishes.God has spoken.So Empress Wu changed the year name to "Guangzhai".In that year, when the reign title was changed twice, she put two emperors on the throne, and pushed out the court gate. There have been many changes in the characteristics of the new regime, and the voice of a more domineering woman comes from the throne.More capricious, more frightening, no advice accepted, no opposition tolerated.When she was angry, she was creepy and easily violent.And the really scarier time is when she's nice and friendly to you.Everyone feels precarious.Today she is your friend, tomorrow she will issue an imperial decree to kill you.The Wu family now has absolute freedom. If you want to be with, you can be with, if you want to be abolished, you can be abolished. A thought changed in Queen Fang's mind.Whether in private life or in public ceremonies, Empress Wu's greed for power, love of showing off, and self-importance really reached the extreme.Empress Wu felt that her victory had to be celebrated, and she was free to use any method.She felt that if a poor person got rich, he had to be happy, drink happily, and make a lot of noise, otherwise, he would not be ostentatious or dignified enough.She even felt that instead of building a house, the roof should face the ground and the sky, and a pagoda should be built with the tower pointing to the sky, and she felt that it would be satisfying to celebrate that way.Empress Wu is now at the peak of excitement.

As the bright comet shines in the heavens, the world will change its name to express its splendor and glory.So Luoyang was renamed "God Capital".Empress Wu no longer needs to pretend to be modest.She adopted a new banner, gold and purple, pompous and ostentatious.Her Majesty issued a decree, and the names of the entire government agency were carefully checked and changed to express festive and colorful names.Let’s just talk about the names of the lofty imperial court: the Menxia Province on the left side of the Jinluan Palace was renamed "Luantai", the Zhongshu Province on the right was renamed "Fengge", the Imperial Study Room was renamed "Lin Pavilion", and the Shangshu Province was changed to "Wenchang Pavilion".Everything refers to the blessed land of the Queen Mother on the top of Kunlun Mountain.In order to make her position in the world match the organization of the universe, the six departments of the imperial court also changed their names. "Ministry of Officials" was changed to "Ministry of Heaven", "Department of Households" was changed to "Ministry of Earth", "Ministry of Rites", "Ministry of War", "Ministry of Punishment" and "Ministry of Industry" were changed to Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.In the splendid "Light House", in the center of this blessed place of the gods, sits the goddess.At this time she used a less appropriate title "Empress Dowager".In the year when she became the Empress Dowager, she was negligent, and the word "天" in "Tianhou" was omitted.Of course it should be remedied, who can say otherwise?

In the mood of celebrating the holiday, Empress Wu decided to relax and celebrate—in Empress Wu's unique way.Grandmother did seem to be happy, and one could even say that in the atmosphere of victory, she was too merry-go-round. Now that Empress Wu has become the lord of a country, she decides to enjoy the pleasures that an emperor should enjoy.Back then, she had limited the number and responsibilities of Gaozong's concubines to improve the moral atmosphere in the palace.Now that I am a king without a concubine, why should I spend my time?Why am I having fun?But how to set up concubines?Of course, a man is needed.So a monk is now going to rule the life of the palace.As a result, Empress Wu became notorious. In teahouses and wine shops, and in the mouths of storytellers and librettists, the scandal between Empress Wu and the monk was publicized, and everyone knew about it. and.

I am not a Taoist, and there are women in the lives of the lords of the Ming Dynasty.Why shouldn't the Queen have fun with her lover?Maybe Empress Wu wants to marry a male concubine to improve women's rights.However, in the sixtieth year of Empress Wu, taking the honor of a queen, she found a strong man in the downtown area of ​​Luoyang who made a living in wrestling and selling medicine as his lover.And that's what she did after celebrating her new position. The monk's name was Xue Huaiyi. It turned out that he was not a monk, nor was he called Xue Huaiyi, but a wrestler and drug seller in the downtown area of ​​Luoyang. He made money by selling pills and plasters, and attracted audiences by boxing and wrestling.The body is tall and big, and he is good at showing off his muscles and bones, boasting of the female thaumaturgy.When we were children, we saw him go in and out of the imperial palace. He was thick and muscular, and he strutted on airs, and he looked majestic and strong everywhere.His original surname was Feng, and his name was Xiaobao.Because of a court lady, he met a princess and was very close to that princess. The princess knew that Xiaobao was a great weapon and was recommended to Empress Wu.Xiaobao won the favor of Empress Wu. Empress Wu often called Xiaobao into the palace. At first, he came and went secretly, and Xiaobao didn't pay attention to his name.But calling Xiaobao a brawny man is not only vulgar, but also obscene.Empress Wu ordered Xiaobao to change her name to Xue Huaiyi, because Empress Wu's daughter Princess Taiping married Xue Shao, and Empress Wu ordered her son-in-law to call Xiaobao his uncle.Princess Taiping is not a virtuous daughter, and working with Xiaobao with her mother, Empress Wu, is like participating in a conspiracy in the palace.

Empress Wu seems to be fascinated by Xiaobao now, and can't live without Xiaobao, letting Xiaobao do whatever she wants.Although Empress Wu's maternal love was insufficient, now she deeply understands that she is a woman and forgets that she is a queen.His ruthlessness, his restraint, and his political sternness and decisiveness all melted away in his love for Xiaobao. Maybe Empress Wu felt that wealth and glory were necessary, and maybe she thought that gods must indulge in wine and meat in this way.Because Xue Huaiyi gradually convinced her that she was the reincarnation of the Tathagata, so she ordered to build a "heaven" behind the throne in the palace, three hundred feet high, with a spiritual light painted on the head of the god.She is confident that she is the reincarnation of the Tathagata, who came to the world to judge good and evil.She believed that converting to Buddhism would make her new court prosperous.

Because monks and Taoists have the privilege of entering and leaving the palace, especially the bedroom of Empress Wu, Empress Wu ordered Xiaobao to shave his head so that he could enter the palace frequently.Empress Wu made Xiaobao the abbot of the White Horse Temple, which was famous for Tang Xuanzang.Because the abbot recited scriptures for the late emperors of the Tang Dynasty, he could often go to the palace to play things to Empress Wu. Empress Wu seems to be willing to bestow favor on this street rogue, just like the emperor brought the daughter of a deserted village into the palace.Xiaobao firmly believes that he has captured Empress Wu, but his old habits of hooliganism in the city have not changed at all, and he has become a big hazard on the streets of Kyoto.He was riding on a horse, and the messengers in imperial palace uniforms opened the way ahead.On the streets of the city, let the horse walk slowly, or let the horse gallop.Those who were too late to give way, no matter who they were, had to be chained a few times. Once he beat a censor, he was impeached because of that censor.In the palace, he was treated like a son-in-law. If he didn't have a name, he had a real name.Empress Wu gave him horses from the imperial stables; the palace officials bowed to him as he passed by.Empress Wu's nephews Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi bowed their knees to him like petty officials, pulling his horse when he got off his horse, in order to please him.

Once, the great monk entered the palace from the front gate of the palace to the palace courtyard of Empress Wu, and swaggered through the hall under the gate.Su Liangsi, a provincial servant under the door, was a dignified elder, and he greeted him as a salute, but Xiaobao pretended not to see him and refused to return the salute.Su Liangsi was furious and reprimanded: "Baldy thief, how dare you be so rude, what are you doing here?" Xiaobao stroked his arms, rolled up his sleeves, and was about to show off his wrestling skills a little bit, and roared at the gate of the imperial court.But Master Su ordered the guards to subdue him and slapped him a dozen times.

Xiaobao hurried to the Yingxian Palace, the palace of Empress Wu, and complained about his grievances.Empress Wu laughed out loud. "Who told you to come in by the front door? You should have come in by the back door." Su Liangsi, the servant, is fine.Empress Wu is really smart and doesn't want to make trouble. Empress Wu was unwilling to let the abbot go out of sight, and she did not want him to spread scandals about the palace in the streets outside, so she assigned him to manage the palace and the imperial garden.Xiaobao told Empress Wu that he knew architecture, at least he could build a house.So it became an excuse to openly enter the backyard of the palace.

The residence of concubines in the palace has always been restricted to women.Now that a real man is allowed in, there is quite a bit of gossip.Censor Wang begged for courtesy and always fulfilled his duties. He wrote a book, and asked the great abbot Xue Huaiyi to be castrated and not allow him to enter or leave the palace where the women in the palace lived, so as to protect the "chaste of the court ladies". Empress Wu laughed out loud after reading the playbook.She felt that what she played was too absurd, but she still dealt with it with the utmost wisdom and ignored it.