Chapter 19 Who killed the little princess?

During the Yonghui period, this thrilling and shocking harem battle was initially started in the form of intelligence warfare. It is said that Empress Wang is a person who is not good at winning people's hearts. History books say that she is "simple and heavy in nature, and does not go up and down" ("New Book of Tang: Biography of Empress Zetianwu").Maybe it's because of her noble background and prominent status that created her haughty and haughty personality, or because her life path was too smooth and she lacked the necessary experience, which led to her relative lack of scheming, strategy and skills. Therefore, although she has been in the palace for many years, she has never He did not cultivate a force that truly belonged to him in the harem, nor did he place his own eyes and ears and cronies around the emperor.In this regard, her mother, Mrs. Liu of the State of Wei, and her uncle, Zhongshu Ling Liu Shi, seem to be exactly the same as the Queen Wang. Stay away.

In comparison, Wu Mei is much better than them. From the first day of entering the palace for the second time, Wu Mei knew that if she wanted to gain a firm foothold and stand out in this place, it was not enough to rely solely on the favor of the emperor, but also to have a solid and broad mass base.So after Wu Mei re-entered the palace, she has been sparing no effort to form good karma, regardless of the other party's status, as long as she thinks it is useful, she will deliberately flatter her and establish a good relationship with her.After she was established as Zhaoyi and the conflict with the queen gradually became public, Wu Mei stepped up the pace of winning people's hearts.Especially those who were despised and neglected by Wang Huang's family, Wu Mei devoted all her efforts to making friends.All the money and things that the emperor bestowed on her, she always gave to those people as soon as she changed hands, and she kept nothing for herself. ("New Book of Tang: The Biography of Empress Zetianwu": "Zhaoyi's service to the empress is weak, and it must be paid for. If it is bestowed, it will be bestowed.")

Wu Zhaoyi's approachability and generosity quickly won the hearts of all kinds of people in the palace, and her popularity index soared.Everyone who has dealt with her is deeply attracted by her personality charm, so they are willing to do her best for her.And among these people, there is no doubt that quite a few are the eunuchs and maids around Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu. In just a few years, Wu Mei successfully created a pervasive harem intelligence network.From then on, every word, deed and every move of Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu were under her eyes and under her control.Wu Mei firmly entrenched in the center of this net, listened to and collected the information delivered to her from various channels every day, and then screened them one by one, picked out the things that were not good for the Queen and Concubine Xiao Shu, and reported them to the emperor as soon as possible .

At the same time, Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu of course tried their best to find every possible opportunity to fight back against Wu Zhaoyi. However, the effect of this kind of gossip and rumor-based intelligence warfare seems to be unsatisfactory.Because the emperor Li Zhi didn't seem too interested in the idea of ​​women tripping each other behind their backs.He adopted the method of pretending to be deaf and dumb and indifferent. No matter how many bad things the two sides said about each other, he would not express his position, and let all the slanderous words come and go and fend for themselves.

Wu Mei soon realized that such a method was really ineffective. If she wanted to completely defeat her opponent, she should find another way and find a more effective method. At the beginning of the fifth year of Yonghui (654 A.D.), Wu Zhaoyi gave birth to a lively and lovely little princess for the emperor.The emperor Li Zhi loved this beautiful little princess very much, and would take time out of government affairs every day to come over to have a look and hug her. At that time, the conflict between Queen Wang and Wu Zhaoyi was a well-known fact, and everyone knew that the barren queen hated Wu Zhaoyi, who had two children in succession, and was so jealous that she was jealous of Concubine Xiao Shu. Same.However, as the lord of the harem, after learning that Wu Zhaoyi gave birth to another daughter, Queen Wang had to put on a gesture and would visit Wu Zhaoyi and the little princess every now and then to show her concern and condolences.

Every time she came to "consolate", out of necessary politeness and a woman's nature, Queen Wang would inevitably pick up the baby girl and tease her, and Wu Zhaoyi would of course forcefully accompany her with a smile on her face. Perhaps it was at this moment that a terrifying thought jumped into Wu Mei's mind unexpectedly. This idea is so bold and crazy that when it first appeared, even Wu Mei couldn't help but gasp. However, this idea is so strong and feasible that once it appears, Wu Mei has neither the power nor the intention to expel it from her mind. Finally, one morning, when Queen Wang came to visit the little princess as usual, and hugged and teased her as usual, Wu Mei subconsciously moved away from the left and right, hiding behind the gauze curtain and watching the scene coldly.When Queen Wang put down the baby girl and turned to leave, that terrible idea resurfaced again, hitting Wu Mei irresistibly like a black lightning, making her walk towards her daughter involuntarily.

The daughter in the cradle was sleeping soundly, and Wu Mei saw a sweet smile on the pink face in the swaddling baby in her sleep, which was undoubtedly the purest and most flawless smile in the world.But Wu Mei knew that after a while, this smile would disappear from the world, and from now on it could only be frozen in her heart, becoming the tenderest and cruelest memory in her life. Wu Mei saw her hand slowly stretched out, swimming towards her daughter's delicate neck slowly and firmly like a cold white snake, and then locked her throat all at once. The daughter's limbs were struggling and her body was twitching.

Wu Mei's soul was cracking and her heart was bleeding. At that moment, the whole world seemed to have been turned upside down, Wu Mei saw the things around her began to revolve around her rapidly... I don't know how long it took, maybe just an instant, everything returned to its original state. The daughter is still asleep, but can never wake up again. Wu Mei turned and left expressionlessly, as if nothing had happened. However, she clearly saw that a corner deep in her soul was dripping with blood.She knew that this might be a wound that she could never heal after exhausting her whole life.

There is no suspense in the second half of the story, and everything is staged scene by scene in a chronological and logical order, just like a script that has been written. The emperor specially came to see his little princess after the court was over, and Wu Zhaoyi greeted the emperor with a smile as usual.But when the emperor lifted the warm brocade quilt, what he hugged was a cold corpse.The emperor, who was extremely shocked, questioned the people around him furiously, while Wu Zhaoyi, the daughter's mother, suddenly let out a mournful cry. People saw her swaying and fainting. Who killed the little princess?

The concubines and maids who were in charge of serving the little princess were called to the emperor immediately.Their faces were pale, and their hands and feet were shaking. Under the stern questioning of the emperor, they all said in unison - only the queen came just now. Everything is understood. At that moment, the emperor roared like thunder: The queen killed my daughter, the queen killed my daughter! Wu Zhaoyi, on the other hand, kept decrying and accusing the Queen while she was in tears—as a kind and helpless mother, she uttered the most powerful condemnation and accusation against a sinister and cruel infanticide!

It is said that Queen Wang was stunned when she heard the terrible news. She never thought that she would become a murderer who strangled a baby girl. However, all the unfavorable testimonies and suspicious eyes were pointed at her at the same time, which made her unable to explain. , There is no self-explanation.Queen Wang, who was full of grievances, soon came to her senses. She was convinced that this was a trick that the cruel Wu Zhaoyi had used against her, but she had no way to prove it. And she knew that no one would believe her even if she said it. Because people would rather believe a poor mother who was hurt than a woman whose heart was burnt by the fire of jealousy. The sudden death of a baby girl in Yonghui five years remains an unsolved mystery until thousands of years later.According to relevant official history records, it is generally believed that Wu Zhaoyi strangled his daughter to death with his own hands, so as to put the blame on the queen.However, historians of later generations have continued to question it on the grounds that "a tiger's poison does not eat its children".Many people think that although Wu Zhao is indeed very cruel when dealing with political opponents, how could she, as a mother, do such a cruel thing to her own daughter? It should be said that it is not unreasonable for commentators to raise doubts from the perspective of universal human nature and human nature, but they have ignored the most basic fact, that is-Wu Zhao has never been a person who can be measured by secular norms, A character who can be inferred with common sense.If general moral norms can restrain Wu Zhao, then she will never become the unique female emperor in Chinese history; if common sense in the world can define Wu Zhao, then most of her actions in her life will become unreasonable By the way, what about infanticide? Leaving aside how many breakthroughs Wu Zhao made in her later life, just judging from her many words, deeds and experiences in her early years, it is not difficult for us to see her extraordinary personality traits, especially in her When encountering bottlenecks or difficulties in her life, her performance is even more different from ordinary people.When she left home to enter the palace at the age of fourteen, her mother, Yang, cried so bitterly, but she actually said that "it is not a blessing to see the emperor". How could her composure, optimism and self-confidence be comparable to that of her peers?In order to win Taizong's appreciation and favor, he pretended to be astonishing on the horse training ground, and "killed" Taizong's favorite lion Cong with imaginary iron whips, hammers and daggers. How extraordinary was his performance?On the side of Taizong's sick bed, he dared to burn passionately and bathe in love with the prince. How can ordinary people understand and imagine the courage and adventurous spirit that yearn to change the destiny? Therefore, when Wu Zhao encountered obstacles on the road to the throne of the queen, when she found that her daughter's sacrifice was enough to fulfill her ambition and dream of power, why couldn't she do it again and again, as she had done many times before? How about going beyond the barriers of human nature, subverting the moral norms of the world again, and resolutely strangling her daughter? In fact, for Wu Zhao at that moment, instead of saying that she was strangling her daughter's throat, it would be better to say that she was strangling the enemy's throat, the throat of fate! Of course, no matter how decisive and ruthless Wu Zhao is, the pain caused by this incident to her is still huge and far-reaching.Twelve years later, Wu Zhao also held an unusually grand burial ceremony for her daughter. The funeral specifications used the "prince's system" that was "advocated by the halogen book", which obviously exceeded the standard.In addition, she posthumously named the eldest daughter who died young as "Princess Anding" and her posthumous title was "Si".This posthumous title not only expresses her long mourning for her daughter, but also contains another deeper meaning. According to the posthumous posthumous law of the Tang Dynasty, "repent the past and think about it".Therefore, we have reason to ask such a question: After more than ten years of time and circumstances, what kind of "past past" is there that Wu Zhao, the mother of the world, can regret endlessly? The answer is self-explanatory. This is Wu Zhao's debt to his eldest daughter. This is a debt that she can't make up for in her whole life. Maybe the reason why Wu Zhao doted on the young daughter Princess Taiping in the future could be found some kind of secret and far-reaching reason—because Princess Taiping received double love. One was her own, and the other belonged to the elder sister who died in infancy—Princess Anding. In hindsight, the violent death of the baby girl was undoubtedly the most important turning point in the harem battle during the Yonghui period.Because Gaozong Lizhi had the intention of abolishing the queen from this time, his indifference to the queen turned into hatred, and his love and trust in Wu Zhaoyi increased day by day, surpassing any time before. ("New Book of Tang: The Biography of Empress Zetianwu": "There is no way to understand the queen, but the more the emperor believes in love, the more he has the intention of abolishing the queen.") In this way, the original evenly matched confrontation between Queen Wang and Wu Zhaoyi was completely broken.In the ebb and flow of the forces of both parties, Wu Zhaoyi saw that the throne of the mother's world was already waving to her, while the Queen and Concubine Xiao Shu could only see the god of doom making faces at them frequently in their midnight terrors. grinning. In the first half of the fifth year of Yonghui, that is, shortly after the violent death of a baby girl, two meaningful events occurred in the court.Interested people can easily find that the emergence of these two incidents is enough to prove the ebb and flow of power between Queen Wang and Wu Zhaoyi. The first thing was that in March of this year, the imperial court suddenly awarded a group of officials who had meritorious military virtues in the name of "rewarding meritorious officials".Among the thirteen posthumous list headed by Qu Tutong, Wu Zhaoyi's late father, the warrior Xun, can be seen. His posthumous official post is the governor of Bingzhou.All the ministers in the court knew that this matter was obviously planned by Wu Zhaoyi behind the scenes. She persuaded the emperor to posthumously present the deceased father, her purpose was nothing more than to improve her own status and status; There are twelve green leaves, just to complement the red flower of the warrior Xun.Of course, it is also a great honor to be such a green leaf. The second incident happened in June. Zhongshuling Liu Shi suddenly submitted his resignation to the emperor and asked to resign from the post of prime minister.The emperor quickly approved and demoted him to Minister of the Ministry of Officials.At first glance, this matter is a bit strange, because Liu Xun has always done his duty during his tenure as prime minister, and has never heard of any mistakes.But when people think about it again, they understand that after the violent death of the baby girl, Queen Wang has completely lost the trust of the emperor and may be deposed at any time.Out of the consideration that the lips are dead and the teeth are cold, Liu Xun, who is the queen's uncle, voluntarily leaves the phase, which is considered a wise move to retreat bravely. At the end of the fifth year of Yonghui, on a snowy afternoon, two incomparably distinguished guests were welcomed to the mansion of Taiwei Zhangsun Wuji. They are Jinshang Li Zhi and his favorite Wu Zhaoyi. People saw that Wu Zhaoyi next to the emperor was radiant and energetic. From the moment she stepped off the chariot, she always had a bright and charming smile on her face. Although the sudden visit of the emperor and Wu Zhaoyi surprised many people in the Taiwei's mansion, Changsun Wuji was very clear about the purpose of the emperor's visit - except for the abolition of the empress, there could be no other things. As the chief minister of Emperor Taizong's deathbed Tuogu, and as the uncle of the emperor Li Zhi and the actual helm of the Yonghui political situation, Changsun Wuji's attitude and position on this matter are undoubtedly crucial.Without his nod, the wishes of the Son of Heaven and Wu Zhaoyi would never have come true.But the problem now is that Changsun Wuji has already made up his mind, no matter what, he will not let the emperor abolish the Wang family chosen by Taizong himself, and set up another Wu Mei, who was once the emperor's concubine. Therefore, from the moment the emperor stepped into the mansion, Changsun Wuji secretly warned himself that no matter what method the emperor took today, he would never compromise on this matter! Changsun Wuji prepared a sumptuous banquet to entertain the emperor and his party. The banquet was filled with joy and laughter, and the atmosphere seemed very harmonious.When the wine was hot, the emperor, who was very excited, appointed officials on the spot, and appointed the three sons born to his eldest grandson Wuji's concubines as Chaosan doctors. The reward of silk and satin was given to Changsun Wuji, which made everyone in Taiwei's mansion flattered and thankful. As expected, the emperor really came to "bribe" today!Changsun Wuji sneered secretly, but his face remained calm.Apart from answering the salute normally and maintaining a reserved smile, the emperor and Wu Zhaoyi were still unable to find any opportunities from him.Later, the emperor finally couldn't bear it anymore, so he had to pretend to be careless and told his eldest grandson Wuji that the Queen had no children, which was a great pity both for herself and for the court. Among the concubines, find a talented and virtuous person to be the queen? After the emperor finished speaking, his eyes rested on Wu Zhaoyi, implying the eldest grandson Wuji. However, to the great disappointment of Li Zhi and Wu Mei, Changsun Wuji completely ignored this strong hint and kept talking about him.The faces of Li Zhi and Wu Mei coincidentally were covered with a thick layer of haze, while Changsun Wuji kept a nonchalant expression and frequently raised the wine cup to toast the emperor. He didn't even look at Wu Zhaoyi. There's really no point in drinking any more of this wine.The emperor and Wu Zhaoyi finally walked away with displeasure, and a seemingly happy banquet broke up unhappily. The eldest grandson Wuji led his family members to send off the emperor and his party in front of the gate of the mansion.Most of the family members looked at each other in blank dismay, not knowing why the emperor, who was laughing and laughing just now, left the meeting halfway and left angrily. The emperor's luanjia soon left, but Changsun Wuji still stood in the snow for a long time. When people saw the falling snowflakes, his beard and eyebrows were dyed white in an instant. However, no one noticed the trace of deep worry hidden in the brows of this imperial tycoon, and no one heard the sigh in his heart. It was an uneasy sigh. It was the sigh of an old man with great power and great uneasiness about the future.