A princess of the Western Liang Dynasty, at the age of seven, caught the eye of the emperor. At eight, she was taken into the palace. Starting from marrying the Prince of Jin of the Sui Dynasty at thirteen years old, she went through six husbands: Yang Guang, Yuwen Huaji, Dou Jiande, Chuluo Khan of the Turks, Jiali Khan, and Li Shimin. By the time she met Li Shimin, he was only 33 while she was already 48. However, from the moment Li Shimin laid eyes on her, this elder woman had captivated him. Subsequently, Li Shimin held a grand banquet in her honor. The banquet was adorned with luxurious palace lanterns everywhere, and the tables were filled with delicacies. Emperor Taizong thought this scene was extravagant enough, so he specially asked the elderly lady beside him, "How does this scene compare to the Sui Palace?" In fact, this level of luxury was far from matching the extravagance of the Sui Palace! During the night banquets at the Sui Palace, no lamps were lit; instead, 120 night pearls several inches in diameter were hung under the corridors, and dozens of flame mountains were set up in front of the hall to burn sandalwood and spices, making the hall as bright as day and filling it with exotic fragrances, like entering a fairyland. Every night, more than 200 carts of sandalwood were burned. Regarding this, Empress Xiao did not say it directly but calmly replied, "Your Majesty is a king who establishes a new dynasty, why bother to compare with the fallen monarch?"
Can a woman's charm be immune to the passage of time? The answer is yes, and Empress Xiao, the wife of the great tyrant Yang Guang, was such a woman. From marrying the Prince of Jin of the Sui Dynasty at the age of thirteen, she experienced six husbands: Yang Guang, Yuwen Huaji, Dou Jiande, Chuluo Khan of the Turks, Jiali Khan, and Li Shimin. Although her labels changed from young girl, mature woman, auntie to grandma, her charm never diminished. She happily passed away in the Tang Palace at the age of sixty. During the era when Empress Xiao lived, even the relatively slow-changing national titles were replaced four times: Liang, Chen, Sui, and Tang. Yet, her identity as the spokesperson for charming women remained strong and enduring, almost unmatched throughout history.
Emperor Taizong was deeply impressed by her understanding and reasoning, and became even more respectful of her. Empress Xiao spent another eighteen years as empress in the Tang Palace before passing away at the age of sixty-seven.
A woman, having been pursued by six emperors for 60 years, can anyone provide another example?
Dear readers, who is this woman? Can a woman's charm be immune to time? The answer is certain: Empress Xiao, the wife of the great tyrant Yang Guang, was such a woman. From marrying the Prince of Jin of the Sui Dynasty at the age of thirteen, she went through Yang Guang, Yuwen Huaji, Dou Jiande, Chuluo Khan of the Turks, Jiali Khan, and Li Shimin as her six husbands. Although her labels changed from young girl, mature woman, auntie to grandma, her charm never diminished. She happily passed away in the Tang Palace at the age of sixty. During the era when Empress Xiao lived, even the relatively slow-changing national titles were replaced four times: Liang, Chen, Sui, and Tang. Yet, her identity as the spokesperson for charming women remained strong and enduring, almost unmatched throughout history.
Before becoming an empress, Empress Xiao's identity was a princess. Her father was Xiao Kui, the Emperor Xiaoming of the late Western Liang Dynasty during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Because she was born in February, according to local customs, children born in the second month were considered unlucky, so Xiao Kui gave her to his cousin Xiao Ji to raise. In fact, from later experiences, Empress Xiao was indeed a celestial star of misfortune, but she was destined to affect her own husbands rather than her father, indicating that feudal science occasionally could hit upon such an odd case. Returning to the main topic, after her adoptive father passed away, Empress Xiao was then raised by her uncle Zhang Ke, living a poor life early on. When she was eight years old, fate smiled upon her. At that time, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, launched a war against the Chen Dynasty, led by his second son, Prince of Jin, Yang Guang. The Chen ruler
Chen Shubao, adhering to the spirit of complete incompetence, ignored the mighty army of the Sui Dynasty and instead incited ministers to accompany him in decadence, resulting in his smooth destruction by Yang Guang. Thereafter, the Sui Dynasty achieved national unification. To commend Yang Guang, Yang Jian, besides promoting his son's rank, also issued an imperial decree across the land for all prestigious families to present the birth charts of their unmarried daughters to select a suitable match for Yang Guang, who was then twenty-one years old. However, after much deliberation, none of the age-appropriate girls matched well, until they found that the nine-year-old Empress Xiao's chart harmonized perfectly with Yang Guang's, thus selecting her. Due to her young age, she was brought into the palace but not immediately married. Empress Dugu took a liking to this adorable young daughter-in-law, raising her as if she were her own daughter, and hired many tutors to teach her reading, writing, painting, and playing the zither. With her remarkable intelligence, Xiao excelled in everything she learned, often grasping concepts with just a hint. After four or five years, she had blossomed into a beautiful and talented young woman.
Soon, in the thirteenth year of Kaihuang, Yang Guang, appointed to guard Yangzhou, returned to Chang'an to marry Empress Xiao. That year, Yang Guang was twenty-five years old, and although Empress Xiao was only thirteen, she had already reached the standard of beauty. Yang Guang, known for his insatiable lust, naturally adored his new wife immensely. What pleased him even more was that a fairly competent fortune-teller had once divined for Xiao: She would become the model for all women! Since Xiao would become the model for all women, then as her husband, wouldn't he become the emperor?
Although the crown prince at the time was his brother Yang Yong, it was natural for someone born into the imperial family to harbor aspirations of becoming emperor. Therefore, he regarded Xiao as his fated good star and cherished her greatly. Unfortunately, he only listened to half the prophecy. After the words 'model for all women,' the fortune-teller added 'destiny with peaches,' meaning Xiao would first become empress, followed by encountering some misfortunes, eventually causing harm to those who sought her.
After marriage, Yang Guang quickly conspired with Chancellor Yang Su and others to start a campaign for the crown. Coincidentally, Crown Prince Yang Yong was a born troublemaker, ignoring his parents' costly arranged marriage to Princess Yuan and focusing his affections on Concubine Yun Zhaoyi instead. As a result, Princess Yuan, unable to bear the humiliation, hanged herself. Emperor Wen and Empress Dugu, seeing their carefully saved dowry wasted, angrily decided to depose Yang Yong from his position as crown prince. Yang Guang seized the opportunity, deliberately pretending to be filial and upright in front of his mother, and intentionally distancing himself from Xiao while focusing on state affairs. Meanwhile, the intelligent and understanding Xiao also cooperated without complaint, frequently crying to Empress Dugu about Yang Guang neglecting her for state matters. Their coordinated efforts finally moved Empress Dugu, leading to the deposing of Yang Yong and the promotion of Yang Guang to crown prince. This was seven years after Yang Guang's marriage to Xiao, meaning this cunning young couple had performed a seven-year act of hardship in front of Empress Dugu. Afterwards, Yang Guang, after a series of intricate plots, eliminated several brothers
and his father, ascending the throne prematurely. As emperor, Yang Guang no longer needed to pretend to be a model husband. Driven by the psychology that home flowers are not as fragrant as wild flowers, he left Empress Xiao behind and went to great lengths to select new beauties for the palace. Other emperors had three palaces and six concubines, but he built sixteen courtyards in the West Garden: Jingming Courtyard, Yinghui Courtyard, Qiluan Courtyard, Chenxi Courtyard, Mingxia Courtyard, Cuibhua Courtyard, Wen'an Courtyard, Jizhen Courtyard, Yingwen Courtyard, Yifeng Courtyard, Renzhi Courtyard, Qingxiu Courtyard, Baolin Courtyard, Heming Courtyard, Qi'in Courtyard, and Jiangyang Courtyard. Then, from the beauties recruited nationwide, he selected sixteen with noble character and beauty, appointing them as fourth-rank ladies responsible for each courtyard, and separately trained 320 beauties in music and dance. Lesser ones were divided into groups of ten and assigned to various pavilions and terraces for service. Empress Xiao was a very resilient person, knowing that this licentious emperor husband would not easily conform like his father. She lacked the dictatorial power of Empress Dugu to monopolize the emperor's attention, and it was an ancient tradition for the emperor to have three palaces and numerous concubines. Therefore, she chose to be accommodating, turning a blind eye to his antics. In reality, Empress Xiao's actions were quite rational. A supreme emperor was beyond control anyway, and not provoking him actually safeguarded herself. Precisely because of Empress Xiao's tolerance and generosity, the indulgent Emperor Yang always treated her with great respect, ensuring she shared in his pleasures despite his debauchery.
Focusing on pleasure naturally leads to neglecting state affairs. During Yang Guang's reign of over a decade, though he conquered countless beauties, he failed to subdue several notable men like Li Yuan. On his third tour to Yangzhou, the empire was already in chaos. Li Yuan, Li Mi, Dou Jiande, and others rose in rebellion, leaving Yang Guang dispirited. He decided to relocate the capital to Nanjing and never return to the north. At this time, Yuwen Huaji, long coveting the throne and Empress Xiao, led the imperial guards in a rebellion, entering the palace. The fifty-year-old Emperor Yang was strangled in the west pavilion of his sleeping quarters. Yuwen Huaji, who had secretly admired Empress Xiao, immediately used the lives of her son to threaten her into becoming his concubine. At this time, Dou Jiande, who had risen in rebellion in the Central Plains, achieved successive victories and advanced straight to Jiangdu. Unable to resist, Yuwen Huaji retreated to Wei County, proclaiming himself Emperor Xu and renaming Empress Xiao as Consort Shu. Soon, Wei County fell, and they hastily retreated to Liaocheng. Dou Jiande led his troops in pursuit and finally captured Liaocheng, executing Yuwen Huaji. As the victor, Dou Jiande confiscated Yuwen Huaji's gold and silver treasures along with the still-charming Empress Xiao. Though she had become a widow twice and lost two husbands, her beauty and noble demeanor remained undiminished. Following the principle of 'don't waste what comes your way,' Dou Jiande transformed Consort Shu of Yuwen Huaji into his own concubine, indulging in pleasures in Lezhou, almost forgetting his original ambition to conquer Central China.
Fortunately, Dou Jiande had a highly jealous original wife, Lady Cao, who often interrupted their amorous encounters by suddenly appearing, creating scenes and ruining the mood. Around this time, the northern Turkic forces were rapidly expanding, posing a serious threat to Central China. Originally, Empress Yi Cheng, the sister of Emperor Yang and the younger aunt of Empress Xiao, who had married the Turkic Khan as part of a peace treaty, heard that Li Yuan had proclaimed himself emperor in Chang'an and discovered Empress Xiao's whereabouts. She sent envoys to Lezhou to welcome Empress Xiao. Afraid to confront the Turks directly, Dou Jiande reluctantly handed over Empress Xiao and her royal family to the envoys. After several twists and turns, Empress Xiao ended up immigrating to the Turks. Abroad, her charm remained an invincible weapon, captivating the hearts of two generations of Turkic leaders, Chuluo Khan and Jiali Khan.
However, Empress Xiao was not an ordinary femme fatale but a seasoned one. Ten years later, in the fourth year of the Zhenguan era of Emperor Taizong, Emperor Taizong dispatched General Li Jing to decisively defeat the Turks, and Jiali Khan, her fifth husband, lost his position but fortunately kept his head. Again, Empress Xiao was presented as a war trophy before the victorious Li Shimin. If there were a universal key to conquering men, I believe Empress Xiao would be it. At this point, she was already forty-eight years old, while Li Shimin was only thirty-three. From the moment Li Shimin saw her, with her towering cloud-like hair, willow-like waist, and face like a peony, this elder woman had captivated him. Subsequently, Li Shimin, who was still frugal at the time, held a grand banquet in her honor. The banquet was adorned with splendid palace lanterns everywhere, and the tables were laden with delicacies. Emperor Taizong thought this scene was extravagant enough, so he asked the elderly lady beside him, "Do you think this scene compares to the Sui Palace?" In fact, this level of luxury was far from matching the extravagance of the Sui Palace! During the night banquets at the Sui Palace, no lamps were lit; instead, 120 night pearls several inches in diameter were hung under the corridors, and dozens of flame mountains were set up in front of the hall to burn sandalwood and spices, making the hall as bright as day and filling it with exotic fragrances, like entering a fairyland. Every night, more than 200 carts of sandalwood were burned. Regarding this, Empress Xiao did not say it directly but calmly replied, "Your Majesty is a king who establishes a new dynasty, why bother to compare with the fallen monarch?"
Emperor Taizong immediately understood the meaning of her words, deeply impressed by her wisdom and appropriate speech, and became even more respectful and affectionate towards her. Empress Xiao spent eighteen peaceful years in the Tang Palace and suddenly passed away at the age of sixty-seven. Li Shimin subsequently buried Empress Xiao with full honors in Emperor Yang's tomb, bestowing upon her the posthumous title of Empress Min.
Nowadays, there's a saying: don't hang yourself on one tree, but try hanging on several trees around it. Empress Xiao changed from Yang Guang, Yuwen Huaji, Dou Jiande, all the way to Jiali Khan, and all these trees died, yet she never did. Just as the advertisement says, age to her was merely a number.