Wu Zetian gave birth to four sons and two daughters, the eldest son Li Hong, born in the first month of the fourth year of Yonghui (653 AD), 21 years old this year; the second son, Li Xian, is eighteen years old this year; the third son, Li Xian, is 17 years old this year, and the fourth son, Li Dan, is 11 years old this year; The eldest daughter was younger than Li Hong and older than Li Xian, and died within a few months of birth, becoming the fuse for Li Zhi's abolition of the first queen Wang Wang, and the ladder for Wu Zetian to ascend to the queen's throne; The second daughter Li Lingyue, eight years old this year, is titled Princess Taiping, the youngest of Wu Zetian's children, and is deeply loved by Wu Zetian and Li Zhi.

Li Hong was made the crown prince at the age of four, and at the age of eleven, he participated in political affairs under the training of Li Zhi, and listened to the courtiers' writings and deliberations in the court. Li Hong was filial to his father and emperor, humble and courteous to the courtiers and the people of the prince's East Palace, and benevolent to the people, which won the favor of Li Zhi and was deeply supported by the ministers and the people.

Two years ago (the second year of Xianheng, 671 AD), Li Zhi went to live in the eastern capital Luoyang for a period of time, and let the prince supervise the country in Chang'an, Xijing. When the crown prince inspected the cold palace, Princess Xuancheng and Princess Yiyang told him about their grievances. The prince was shocked by two things,

The first thing is that he has two half-sisters who were beaten into the cold palace because of their mother's competition for favor with Wu Zetian, but their mother Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shufei have been dead for many years, and the two Tang princesses are still imprisoned in the cold palace, and no one dares to release them or report to the emperor, so that the two Tang princesses are nearly thirty years old and cannot marry, and their youth is wasted in the cold palace;

Second, his own queen mother, Wu Zetian, treated the enemy Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu cruelly, but they have been ancient for many years, and Wu Zetian also imprisoned the innocent daughter of the enemy who had no power to resist, her husband's biological daughter, and the princess of the Tang Dynasty in the cold palace.

The crown prince immediately reported the matter to his father, Emperor Li Zhi, and requested that the two sisters be released and that they should be married as sons-in-law. Li Zhi ordered Princess Xuancheng and Princess Yiyang to be released and let them live by his side to protect them from being harmed by Wu Zetian.

Li Zhi chose a concubine for Princess Xuancheng and Princess Yiyang, no matter who was nominated, Wu Zetian was against it, she could always find fault, Li Zhi had to let Wu Zetian nominate him. Wu Zetian nominated the two ordinary soldiers guarding the palace to be the concubines of the two princesses. Both princesses are over thirty years old, and women can marry at the age of fourteen or fifteen, and in the Tang Dynasty, where early marriage was prevalent, they could be mothers-in-law or grandmothers at any age.

Li Zhi was anxious to marry off his two daughters, and he couldn't fight with Wu Zetian anymore, when Li Zhi ordered the two daughters to be released from the cold palace, Wu Zetian did not object, even if she took a step back, Li Zhi also decided to take a step back, seeing the two concubines nominated by Wu Zetian, although they were from humble backgrounds and were just ordinary soldiers, they were handsome and upright, so they agreed to these two family affairs.

After Li Zhi found a piece of land for the two princesses outside the imperial city, and built two adjacent Xuancheng Princess Mansion and Yiyang Princess Mansion, because Wu Ze Angel was bad, delayed the construction period, and it took another year to build the Horse Mansion. The mother of Princess Xuancheng and Princess Yiyang was killed by Wu Zetian in the cold palace, they were imprisoned in the cold palace for fifteen years, and finally survived until they were released from the cold palace, and they were delayed by Wu Zetian for two years before they could get married.

After Princess Xuancheng and Princess Yiyang dedicated their noble and pure bodies to Xu Qing, they told Xu Qinghe about their misfortunes. Xu Qing was full of pity for the two suffering Tang princesses, and had a good impression of the crown prince Li Hong, should he take away the crown princess Yang Zhuangruo, who was about to be canonized by Li Zhi and Wu Zetian? Xu Qing pondered.

On the evening of Xu Qing's arrival in Chang'an, he summoned Yu Junsheng, who was in charge of intelligence work in Chang'an and the preparation for the establishment of the Chang'an Branch of the Longmen Dart Bureau. Previously, Xu Qing only knew that Li Hong was recorded in the history books by Wu Zetian's nephew, the famous evil young man He Lanmin's traitorous princess was surnamed Yang, and his father was a general, so he didn't know the name of Crown Princess Yang. So Xu Qing ordered Yu Junsheng to investigate dozens of generals of the Sixteenth Guards who defended Chang'an, as well as the generals who were idle at home, to see who was surnamed Yang, and there was a beautiful and unmarried daughter in the family.

Yu Junsheng fulfilled his duties and exceeded Xu Qing's expectations, and found out that there were four generals who had unmarried daughters who were as beautiful as fairies.

The first was the victorious general who conquered Goguryeo and Baekje, and the first Andong Protector Xue Rengui, according to the practice of the Tang Dynasty, the general's position was too high or the merit was too great, so that the emperor was worried that he would take a back seat, and he would be idle at home, and his treatment would not be reduced. Generals who are idle at home are generally difficult to reuse, unless there is serious civil strife in the country or there is an invasion by a strong enemy, and the emperor hears the drums of war and thinks of good generals. Xue Rengui is idle in Chang'an, and his daughter Xue Jinlian is twenty-two years old, beautiful as a fairy, strong in martial arts, proficient in the art of war, because her vision is too high, she still needs to be in the boudoir. A twenty-two-year-old girl is considered a little girl in our time, and in the Tang Dynasty, when she could marry at the age of fourteen or fifteen, she was considered an old girl, no less than thirty-two years old in our time;

Every two is Yang Sizhen, the general of the Left Armed Guards, and his daughter Yang Zhuangruo, eighteen years old, has the posture of sinking fish and falling geese, the appearance of a shy flower in the closed moon, and is good at riding and shooting, and her martial arts are extraordinary.

The third is Pei Judao, the general of the Right Guard, whose daughter Pei Zhonghui, is seventeen years old and as beautiful as a fairy.

The fourth is to lead 5,000 elite soldiers to destroy the Eastern * Turk * Turkic, Taizong Dynasty military department Shangshu, wrote the military book to become the basic textbook of the Tang army generals, Li Zhizhuo, the grandson of the military god Li Jing, 55 years old, retired from the high position of the general of the Left Guard, and was idle at home, his granddaughter Li Yingqi, 28 (16 years old) years old, beautiful as a fairy, strong in martial arts, both civil and military.

The prince got the tip, and his mother Wu Zetian sent thousands of cronies to the scene of Xuancheng and Princess Yiyang being kidnapped by the people in the Demon Gate, but they did not move until the head of the Longmen Dart Bureau, Xu Qing, the son-in-law of King Yan, took the two princesses away before he appeared to arrest the people in the Demon Gate, and suspected that Wu Zetian wanted to use the hand of the Demon Gate to get rid of Princess Xuancheng and Princess Yiyang, and felt very angry, and scolded his mother for not: "Queen Mother, did you already know that the remnants of the Demon Gate wanted to kidnap them on the way to get married to the two sisters of the sons and sons?" At the critical juncture, why did Wu Chengsi, Wu Sansi, and Yan Shuang stand still? Do you want to kill people with a knife and get rid of my two sisters by the hands of the Demon Gate? ”

Empress Wu is the real ruler of the Tang Dynasty, even the emperor of the dynasty, her husband Li Zhi did not dare to speak to her in such a tone, and couldn't help but be angry, and said: "Presumptuous! Prince, do you still have a queen mother in your eyes? Do you know who earned you where you are today? You have disappointed the Queen Mother so much! ”

The crown prince asked angrily: "Has the queen mother ever thought about the feelings of my father?" If you hurt your father's own daughter, it will make your father sad. Has the queen mother ever thought about her son's feelings? You know that Erchen is kind-hearted, even if ordinary people are innocently killed, Erchen can't tolerate it, let alone Erchen's own sister! ”

Since Wu Zetian became the queen, he had never been hit like this, and he was so angry that he couldn't speak for a while, "You-you've grown up, and your wings are stiff, aren't you?" Don't even pay attention to the queen mother? ”

The prince said: "It's not that the wings are hard or not, but that anyone who can't resist a word, the queen mother is the biological mother of the son, and the son is the biological son of the queen mother, the son doesn't want his mother to be so vicious, he was scolded when he was alive, and after his death, he went to eighteen layers of hell, suffered all kinds of torture, and he was never allowed to be reborn!" The son-in-law scolding the queen mother is not disrespectful to the queen mother, but wakes up the queen mother, you already have everything and enjoy a lot of power that only the father and emperor have, why don't you let go of the two weak women? As the saying goes, if you don't look at the face of the monk, you can see the face of the Buddha, Princess Xuancheng and Princess Yiyang are my sisters, the daughters of my father, they are no threat to you, why do you kill them all? Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu fought with you for their father back then, but the crime was not death, and it was enough to punish them by locking them in the cold palace, why should they be killed? ”

Wu Zetian's face sank, and he said, "Who told you that Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu were killed by the queen mother?" ”

The prince said: "The queen mother doesn't care who told Erchen, Erchen just wants to know if the rumors are true?" ”

Wu Zetian suddenly softened his face and said: "No, the queen mother assures you that the queen mother is not a vicious woman, Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu both died of illness, not the queen mother." They were sent to the cold palace, and there was no threat to the queen mother, who would not kill two people who had no power to fight back. ”

The crown prince is Wu Zetian's biological son in the end, and he hopes from the bottom of his heart that his mother is a kind woman, even if she is not kind, at least not a demonic bad woman. The prince came to question Wu Zetian, but he also held back in his heart for a long time, the two sisters were kidnapped, and the accident aroused the anger in his heart, so he mustered up the courage, he had prepared for the worst, and he was ready to fall out with his mother, but Wu Zetian's attitude suddenly softened, and he was angry and peaceful, and the prince couldn't help but be suspicious, and he didn't know if the rumors were true or false.

Seeing that the prince was silent, as if he was moved, Wu Zetian said: "The remnants of the Demon Gate are the biggest threat to the Tang Dynasty, and everyone in the Li family has the responsibility to kill the remnants of the Demon Gate." If you don't wipe out the remnants of the Demon Gate and let it develop and grow, sooner or later it will endanger the Li family. You are a member of the Li family, and you are the crown prince, so you should contribute to the elimination of the remnants of the Demon Gate. Yes, the queen mother has long received the information that the remnants of the demon gate are planning to kidnap your two sisters, and the reason why she didn't tell you and your father is that she is afraid that you will be worried and cancel the wedding, which will disrupt the deployment of the queen mother," paused, and continued: "The queen mother wants to use your two sisters as bait to lure the remnants of the demon gate to take the bait, so as to catch them all. What you said about borrowing a knife to kill people is really wronging the queen mother. ”

The prince was sad and angry, and said, "What is the difference between this and killing people with a knife!" Queen Mother, Erchen really didn't expect you to be such a ruthless person! ”

Wu Zetian was unusual, and he was not angry at the prince's confrontation, and said: "Of course, this is different from killing people with a knife, killing people with a knife is a murderous intention, and I have the idea of killing, and I just use your two sisters as bait, I don't want to kill them at all." ”

The prince said angrily: "You are quibbling!" ”

Wu Zetian sighed and said, "The queen mother really hurts you in vain!" Among your four brothers, you are the most painful for the queen mother, but you are the most disobedient and worry the queen the most! ”

Seeing that the prince was silent, Wu Zetian said: "Do you still refuse to admit your mistake?" ”

The prince said: "Erchen is not wrong, why should he admit his mistake?" ”

Wu Zetian said: "Is it wrong for you to be angry with the queen mother without asking?" ”

The prince said: "If the queen mother does the right thing, it is wrong for the son to be angry with the queen mother, if the queen mother does not do it right, it is not wrong for the son to be angry with the queen mother, but to persuade the queen mother to do good and accumulate virtue, and not to make and kill evil!" ”

Wu Zetian said: "You say I did something wrong? What am I doing wrong? I worked hard for the state affairs and worked hard to protect the country and society that my ancestors worked so hard for, is this also wrong? ”

The prince said: "Justice has its own heart, right is right, wrong is wrong, good is good, evil is evil, there is nothing to quibble!" ”

"Okay, worthy of being the son of this palace! Dare to think and dare to do, dare to do and dare to be, the things that are recognized will not change, it is very similar to when the queen mother was young! Listening to the literal meaning, Wu Zetian said words praising the prince, and listening to the tone of voice, he said angry words, "But the queen mother really wants to listen to your advice, what is wrong with the queen mother?" What is good and evil? What is right or wrong? ”

The prince said: "After pointing to the mother, the sons dare not be, since the queen mother has to listen, the sons and daughters will say bluntly, killing people indiscriminately, it is wrong to ignore people's lives, no matter what the starting point is, as long as the consequences of killing are caused, it is murder, and they should be punished." The queen mother can go through the laws of the Tang Dynasty to see if what her son is talking about is right or wrong. Although no one can cure the sins of the queen mother, a hundred years after the queen mother, the judges of the underworld can cure the sins of the queen mother. My father will definitely feel sad when he knows, on one side is his daughter, and on the other side is his wife, both of whom are relatives of my father, and my father hopes that you will all be safe and live in harmony. The father is not in good health, and the son hopes that the queen mother will not make his father angry. Think twice before you act. ”

Empress Wu is not afraid of Li Zhi, and she is not afraid of Li Zhi and the prince joining forces, but she doesn't want to fight meaninglessly, and she doesn't want to lose a bad reputation, so she wants to do bad things without leaving a name, so she has to pretend to be soft to the prince who has a full sense of justice and acts impulsively, and said: "What you said makes sense." The queen mother knew that she was wrong, and she thought twice about doing things in the future. Don't tell your father, your father is not in good health, don't let him worry about state affairs, but also about family affairs. ”

The prince thought that his mother had heard his words, and he was secretly happy in his heart, and said: "The son understands it, then the son will retire." ”

A family turmoil in the royal family passed like this, but the crown prince had left a very bad impression on Wu Zetian, and the mother and son were not used to each other, and the relationship became weak, so that they were later opposed.