First time entering the palace.
In 627 AD, a 14-year-old girl, Wu Zetian, was selected for the harem. She is intelligent, observant, and acts with a bit of scheming. Soon, she aroused Li Shimin's appreciation. However, there will always be new people in the harem who will replace the old ones. Wu Zetian realized that he had to work hard, otherwise he would be left out in the cold and forgotten. So when the crown prince Li Zhi began to frequent visits to the sick people, Wu Zetian's eyes lit up and he decided to fight hard for his position and future. At a palace banquet, Wu Zetian was fortunate to meet the crown prince. The two fell in love at first sight, and Wu Zetian was overjoyed. After Li Shimin's death, Li Zhi really ascended the throne, and Wu Zetian became the queen as he wished.
Make a way for me. 
As the heroine of the concubine, Wu Zetian knew that she had to gain a firm foothold in the court as soon as possible. So she began to purge the former ministers of the Li Shimin period, for fear that they would become a threat to her. Then Wu Zetian promoted his pro-confidants into the center and gradually controlled the real power. Among these henchmen, the most favored is the uncle Dong Xianzhong Pei Yan. Pei Yan is knowledgeable, honest and loyal, and his ideological strategy of governing the country is in line with Wu Zetian's intentions. In order to win him over, Wu Zetian thanked him for his kindness and entrusted him with the post of prime minister to assist in the governance of the government. With Pei Yan's strong help, Wu Zetian gradually strategized and leaned towards the government and the opposition. For a time, the new emperor of the harem, Li Zhi, was in vain, and Wu Zetian had become the de facto supreme ruler.
Help me to the throne. However, the good times did not last long, and Li Zhi died of illness after only ten years of reign. After the crown prince Li Xian succeeded to the throne, political affairs became increasingly chaotic and rampant. At this time, Wu Zetian had already risen in his heart the idea of being a regent or even becoming an emperor. After soliciting the opinions of the ministers, Pei Yan and others actively supported and responded. Pei Yan even proposed many governance strategies to help Wu Zetian after he ascended the throne. With the full support of these confidants, Wu Zetian soon deposed Li Xian and changed the name of the country to Zhou, ending the 400-year Tang Dynasty. He justifiably ascended to the throne. It can be said that it is with the assistance of Pei Yan and their concerted efforts that Wu Zetian, a woman born as a concubine, can so smoothly become the emperor and create her own new dynasty.
Nearing one’s end. However, once he gained power, Wu Zetian's temperament changed. She began to be extremely arbitrary in political affairs, enacting many harsh laws to protect the imperial power, and at the same time promoting her own nouveau riche to control the power, and the divine power was serious. This made many elders unwilling, and Pei Yan gave advice many times. And Wu Zetian not only did not appreciate it, but gradually became suspicious of Pei Yan. Finally, in a speech official election in the winter of 675, Pei Yan lost the election of Zuo Xiang, and he was extremely dissatisfied. He left Beijing in anger and left Wu Zetian, and even joined a rebel force that arose at that time. Wu Zetian didn't seem to take it to heart and let Pei Yan leave. She thought that with that man's strength, he would eventually die. You just need to handle political affairs safely.
The word prime minister is in trouble.
However, Zetian never expected that two years later, when she was reviewing the chapter, she accidentally saw a note with the word "green goose" written by Pei Yan himself. Her face changed suddenly, and she remembered that when she was plotting a coup d'état, she and Pei Yan used these two words to launch a mutiny. She concluded that this was Pei Yan sending some kind of signal to herself, and she must be planning some conspiracy!Had to be quickly suppressed. So Wu Zetian immediately ordered to search for Pei Yan who was outside. Soon, Pei Yan was arrested, and Wu Zetian personally interrogated the meaning of those two words overnight. But Pei Yan was silent about the "green goose", no matter how she pressed her, she just didn't give any information.
Wu Zetian: I will read it to you.
Seeing Pei Yan's flickering words to cover up, Wu Zetian was even more convinced that he must be planning some ulterior conspiracy. How can a faithful courtier have so many clues?Immediately, Wu Zetian ordered Pei Yan to be executed. The ministers were shocked when they heard this. They asked about the meaning of the word "green goose" and wanted to know what kind of mystery it contained. However, Wu Zetian just replied coldly: "You can understand these two words by taking them apart and reading them yourself." The ministers on the spot were speechless and did not dare to ask any more questions. And Wu Zetian's mood was a little lighter because of the removal of the big trouble in his heart.
The line between life and death of the powerful.
After speaking, Pei Yan was beheaded in the market and died in Huangquan. Strange to say, after his death, Wu Zetian began to miss the time he spent working with him. After all, having the help of a loyal assistant would indeed help her career a lot. It's only to blame Wu Zetian, who is jealous and sick, that it is always difficult to tolerate anyone's outstanding talents, and the suspicion is too heavy to cause such a tragedy. On the other hand, Pei Yan was too upright during his lifetime to tolerate Wu Zetian's various actions, and blindly admonished him, which eventually led to death. The fates of the two are intertwined, so there is this joys and sorrows of life and death.
The government and the opposition are discussing.
This incident soon caused an uproar in the government and the opposition. The ministers and the people were talking. Some people think that Wu Zetian's move is too ruthless, Pei Yan is loyal, but he was killed by his suspicion, which is really embarrassing;Some people also believe that Pei Yan was indeed too righteous and could not tolerate Wu Zetian's style, so he incurred the disaster of killing;Others believe that this can only show that the jealousy and hatred in the character of Wu Zetian, who leans towards the government and the opposition, are too heavy, and she would rather burn all the jade and stone than remove any potential threat to her status. In any case, the follow-up impact of this incident is far-reaching, and it became the beginning of Wu Zetian's ruthless execution of Zhongliang in the future, and it also made people see more clearly the ruling style and personality of this heroine.
Epilogue. The grievance between Wu Zetian and Pei Yan is full of twists and turns, which makes people feel emotional. Pei Yan contributed a lot to her during her lifetime, but she died unjustly and aggrieved. This undoubtedly shocked the entire government and the opposition at that time, and revealed the dark side of Wu Zetian's character. So, what does history say about this heroine and the relationship between her and her courtiers?What did her actions reflect about the political ecology at that time?These are all worthy of our continued consideration.