In ancient China, it was not common for women to head the family, such as Lü Pheasant in the Han Dynasty, Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty, and Cixi in the Qing Dynasty, but they all came to power after the death of their husbands.
However, during the Song Dynasty, there was a very powerful empress, Li Fengniang, who did not follow the usual path like others and was able to handle the affairs of her son, husband, and father-in-law on her own.
Her life almost drove these three emperors crazy, and she was known as the "Mighty Queen".
Li Fengniang, the daughter of the famous general Li Dao of the Southern Song Dynasty, was named Fengniang because of the flying black phoenix when she was born. The Southern Song Dynasty Taoist Emperor Fu saw his face frankly and predicted that he would be the mother of the world. In order to repay Emperor Futan for curing the Empress Dowager's eye disease, Song Gaozong married Feng Niang to his imperial grandson Zhao Dan.
After the death of the crown prince, Gaozong and Xiaozong discussed the appointment of Zhao Dian as the crown prince, and Feng Niang became the crown princess. After Xiaozong's abdication, Feng Niang naturally became the queen.
After Song Guangzong Zhao Dian ascended the throne, he canonized Li Fengniang as the queen, and as Huang Fu predicted, although Li Fengniang was born beautiful, she was good at forming gangs, was extremely jealous, and had a sinister and vicious heart.
According to historical records, when the emperor washed his hands in the palace, he was very satisfied with the white hands of the palace people. Soon after, the empress sent a food box to the emperor, who opened it and found that it contained the two hands of the palace people.
In addition, Concubine Huang was very favored, once the emperor personally went out of the palace to worship, and Concubine Huang also stayed in the palace, so the queen killed her and covered up the truth with a sudden death.
When Emperor Guangzong of Song was washing, he was attracted by the tender palm of the palace maid and praised him again and again. However, that night, the queen Li Fengniang sent someone to send a food box containing the palace maid's hands, which scared the palace maid into serious illness for several days.
In the harem, Song Guangzong's favorite imperial concubine was assassinated by Empress Li Fengniang, and claimed that she died of illness, but the audience knows the truth behind this.
When the news reached Song Guangzong's ears, his mental condition fluctuated for a while, and his mood became disorganized. Li Fengniang's actions caused deep dissatisfaction among Emperor Xiaozong and Empress Dowager Xie, and they approached him for a stern reprimand.
Especially after Guangzong succeeded to the throne, Li Fengniang proposed to Xiaozong to make his son Zhao Kuan the crown prince, but Xiaozong did not agree. As a result, Li Fengniang was resentful and often contradicted them, trying to provoke the father-son relationship between Xiaozong and Guangzong.
Guangzong's dissatisfaction with Xiaozong gradually deepened, and eventually the two no longer saw each other. Xiaozong died in depression, and Guangzong did not attend his funeral, causing an uproar in the government and the public.
The ministers believed that Guangzong's behavior was not in line with the way of a gentleman, so they united and forced him to abdicate in favor of the crown prince Zhao Kuo.
After Zhao Kuo ascended the throne, Guangzong was honored as the Emperor Taishang, and Li Fengniang retreated to the second line to become the Empress Taishang, and they moved to Tai'an Palace to participate in court politics. However, since then, Li Fengniang's personality has changed dramatically, and she began to sprinkle and stir up wildly, and even developed a strong interest in Buddhism.
Finally, in the sixth year of Qingyuan, she and her husband Guangzong died at the same time at the age of 56.
Among the concubines of the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, there is no shortage of people who can influence the government, but the queen like Li Fengniang, who conquered three generations of emperors with the power of a woman, is the only one in the history of the two Song Dynasty.
The supremacy of women's power during her reign almost drove Emperor Guangzong insane, and also reflected the weakness of the Song dynasty, which began to manifest itself in the family relations of the imperial family.