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The most miserable queen in Chinese history was Wei Zifu of the Han Dynasty.

The second empress of Emperor Wu of Han, a beautiful, virtuous and legendary woman.

She rose rapidly from an ordinary singing girl in the princess's mansion to become the queen who ruled the country.

A simple glance from Emperor Wu of Han changed the fate of her and her family.

She was the queen and enjoyed honor and favor throughout her life.

There is no record of any faults of hers in history books, so she can be said to be a famous virtuous queen.

But even such a virtuous queen, who was the mother of the country, had to watch helplessly as her son's family was slaughtered by her husband, and was eventually forced to commit suicide.

"Wei Zifu was born in a humble family. She was originally a singing girl in the mansion of Princess Pingyang, the elder sister of Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che."

"Because Princess Pingyang wanted to choose a beautiful woman to present to Emperor Wu of Han in order to consolidate her position."

"So he selected Wei Zifu, who was good at singing and dancing, and began to rehearse singing and dancing in his own mansion."

"In the third year of Jianyuan, Emperor Wu of Han came back from visiting the imperial mausoleum and stopped by Princess Pingyang's house."

"Princess Pingyang performed the music and dance that she had rehearsed in advance for Emperor Wu of Han. When Wei Zifu's graceful and swaying figure came into Emperor Wu of Han's sight, he was instantly fascinated."

"Wei Zifu had a pair of charming eyes, which could accurately convey that kind of delicate beauty to Emperor Wu of Han, making him feel like he was being melted and burned."

"Wei Zifu also has an ethereal voice, and the songs that come out of her mouth are chanted."

"It's like the sound of a spring after the ice and snow melt, or the melodious song of an oriole on a tree branch in spring."

"Sometimes she sang softly with her eyebrows lowered, sometimes she sang loudly with her husband, sometimes she sang like a mountain stream, sometimes she sang like a spring breeze, no matter which one, Emperor Wu of Han was moved."

"With a song and dance, Wei Zifu was noticed by Emperor Wu of Han, and from then on she began her legendary life from a singing girl to the supreme throne of empress."

"Although Wei Zifu caught the eye of Emperor Wu of Han, it was only a temporary novelty, and soon he forgot about her."

"Wei Zifu could only wait from sunrise to sunset like other concubines."

"I quietly waited for Emperor Wu of Han to remember me, and quietly waited for Emperor Wu of Han to call me."

"Days like these slowly eroded her heart, and her passionate heart that was there when she entered the palace slowly cooled down."

"Emperor Wu of Han wanted to cut down on palace expenses, so he decided to let a group of women who had never given birth or had never seen their faces leave the palace."

"Since entering the palace, Wei Zifu has never thought of leaving."

"But when she fell in love with Emperor Wu of Han, he threw her aside and ignored her."

"I can only stay in this small courtyard every day, and I am so far away from Emperor Wu of Han."

"For that freedom, she decided to ask the queen to let her leave the palace."

"The day to leave the palace finally arrived. Wei Zifu packed her bags and prepared to leave the palace, filled with love for Emperor Wu of Han and a desire for freedom."

"But when she said goodbye to Emperor Wu of Han, he kept her."

"This time Wei Zifu asked to leave the palace, but Emperor Wu of Han kept her."

"Only then did Wei Zifu truly gain a place in the heart of Emperor Wu of Han and began to be favored."

Wang Zhaojun: Wei Zifu's experience of going from a humble singing girl to becoming a queen is truly legendary.

During the Han Dynasty, relatives by marriage tried to win the favor of the emperor.

He would often select beautiful women from the public and keep them in his own mansion, and then teach them some singing and dancing skills.

If any of them could be favored by the emperor and brought into the palace, the emperor's relatives would also benefit from contributing such beauties and even rise to prominence.

Emperor Wu of Han's sister, Princess Pingyang, kept more than a dozen beautiful women who were good at singing and dancing in her mansion.

Emperor Wu of Han went to Bashang to worship his ancestors. On his way back to the palace, he passed by Princess Pingyang's house and went into the mansion to rest.

During the banquet, Emperor Wu was attracted by a woman with graceful dancing and melodious singing.

This woman with bright eyes and white teeth was Wei Zifu, and Emperor Wu fell in love with her at first sight.

After the banquet, Emperor Wu took Wei Zifu back to the palace.

Wei Zifu was looking forward to her beautiful new life, but after entering the palace she found that everything was completely different from what she had imagined.

At that time, Emperor Wu had just ascended the throne and all power was in the hands of Empress Dowager Dou.

Queen A Jiao relied on the favor of Empress Dowager Dou to become arrogant and domineering, and no one cared about Wei Zifu, a new singer of lowly status.

Wei Zifu was arranged to do hard labor in Yongxiang and never saw Emperor Wu again. She was completely forgotten by Emperor Wu like a useless prop.

However, a year later, Wei Zifu's fate took a turn for the worse.

The Han Dynasty's harem system stipulated that old, weak and useless palace maids should be expelled from the palace on a regular basis.

And these people had to be reviewed by the emperor himself, and the desperate Wei Zifu also applied to leave the palace.

When Emperor Wu was interrogating people who had left the palace, he met Wei Zifu again.

Wei Zifu told Emperor Wu about the longing, bitterness and grievances she had suffered over the past year. Emperor Wu suddenly felt reluctant to let her go and decided to keep her.

Emperor Wu rekindled his old love and visited Wei Zifu. Ten months later, Wei Zifu gave birth to his first child.

Although it was a girl, Emperor Wu was overjoyed.

A mother is honored by her son, so Wei Zifu was conferred the title of Madam, a status second only to that of the empress.

In the following years, Wei Zifu gave birth to two daughters and a son.

Wei Zifu was the most favored concubine in the harem, which made Empress Chen Ajiao extremely jealous.

Chen Ajiao tried to frame Wei Zifu with the help of witchcraft, but her plan was exposed.

After Queen Chen Ajiao was deposed, Wei Zifu ushered in her era.

"Wei Zifu began to live in Danjing Terrace and began her romantic life with Emperor Wu of Han."

"The days at Danjing Terrace were the happiest days in Wei Zifu's life."

"She was like a spoiled little daughter, loved and cared for by Emperor Wu of Han."

"It was also here that she gave birth to three princesses and Crown Prince Liu Ju."

"Someone is favored, and someone is left out."

"And when the person who was left out was Empress A Jiao, who was in charge of the harem, she hated Wei Zifu to the core."

"After Ah Jiao's wait was in vain again and again, she decided to find a witch to curse Wei Zifu."

"After the witchcraft case of cursing Wei Zifu was exposed, A Jiao was deposed as queen and imprisoned in Changmen Palace."

"From then on, there was no obstacle for Wei Zifu to become the queen."

"She only needs an opportunity to ascend to the supreme throne of queen."

"The opportunity came soon. Wei Zifu, who had already given birth to three princesses, finally gave birth to a prince."

"This was Liu Che's first prince when he was 29 years old. His joy can be imagined."

"Not only did he have his own flesh and blood, but the Han Dynasty also had a successor, so he named the newly born prince Liu Ju."

"Wei Zifu is favored and has now given birth to a prince. The position of queen has been vacant for a year."

"So it was natural that Wei Zifu was made empress by Liu Che and moved into the Pepper Palace to rule the country."

"At this point, Wei Zifu reached the pinnacle of her life."

"With Wei Zifu being made queen, Wei Zifu's brother Wei Qing married Princess Pingyang."

"Without the Queen Mother's opposition, the two finally got together after years of emotional torture."

"For Princess Pingyang, this is the first benefit she has gained from sending Wei Zifu into the palace."

"Princess Pingyang went to great lengths to send Wei Zifu to Emperor Wu of Han. She wanted more than just to be with Wei Qing."

"As Wei Qing was named general for his meritorious service in attacking the Xiongnu, he attracted great attention from the government and the public."

"Princess Pingyang's ambitions are growing. Her early investments are about to pay off."

"So Princess Pingyang asked Wei Zifu to ask Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, to obtain a title for her three sons."

"Wei Zifu rejected Princess Pingyang on the grounds that her three children were still young and had not made any significant contributions to the court."

"Princess Pingyang believed that Wei Zifu was an ungrateful villain and decided to take revenge on her."

"So she began to frequently appear before Emperor Wu of Han with the young and beautiful Lady Wang. Gradually, Emperor Wu of Han began to favor Lady Wang and neglect Wei Zifu. This was the beginning of Wei Zifu's fall from favor."

Cai Wenji: Chen Ajiao was better than Wei Zifu in all aspects, but in the end she lost to Wei Zifu.

From any perspective, Chen Ajiao has more advantages than Wei Zifu.

First, Chen Ajiao was born into a wealthy aristocratic family, while Wei Zifu was just a singer.

Chen Ajiao's mother was Liu Piao, who was the sister of Emperor Jing of Han and the aunt of Emperor Wu of Han.

This family background is quite prominent, and it is hard to find another one like it in the world today.

However, Wei Zifu was just a singer in Princess Pingyang's house and a slave.

The Han Dynasty attached great importance to status and identity, and it is difficult for Wei Zifu to compare with Chen Ajiao in this respect.

Second, Chen Ajiao was grateful to Emperor Wu of Han, but Wei Zifu was not.

Originally, the crown prince of Emperor Jing of Han was Liu Rong. With the help of Liu Piao, Emperor Jing of Han appointed Emperor Wu of Han as the crown prince.

It can be said that without Liu Piao and Chen Ajiao, Emperor Wu of Han would not have become the crown prince and later the emperor.

Third, Emperor Wu of Han was very fond of Chen Ajiao in the early days, but not as fond of Wei Zifu.

In order to obtain the position of crown prince, Emperor Wu of Han once vowed to his aunt Liu Piao that he would keep her in his golden house.

After Emperor Wu of Han became emperor, he treated Chen Ajiao very well and doted on her extremely.

On the contrary, when Emperor Wu of Han first met Wei Zifu, he visited her once.

However, since she was selected into the palace, he had ignored her for a whole year.

Later, Wei Zifu asked Emperor Wu of Han to release her from the palace. Emperor Wu of Han took pity on her and favored her again.

Compared with Chen Ajiao, Wei Zifu really has no advantage at all.

But in the end, Wei Zifu defeated Chen Ajiao and replaced her as queen.

Reason one is that there are different mothers.

After Chen Ajiao became the queen, her mother Liu Piao often took advantage of her own merits to constantly ask Emperor Wu of Han for money and property.

This incident caused Emperor Wu of Han to feel extremely conflicted.

If Liu Piao had not made any contribution to Emperor Wu of Han, but was just an ordinary aunt.

All she had to do was say some nice things and flatter Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Wu of Han would probably meet Liu Piao's requirements.

The problem was that she had made great contributions to Emperor Wu of Han and often mentioned this matter to him.

Therefore, Emperor Wu of Han felt quite resistant and felt that Liu Piao was blackmailing him.

Liu Piao's practice of asking for money and property was more likely to be regarded by Emperor Wu of Han as greedy.

Wei Zifu's mother was just a servant and did not dare to make any requests to Emperor Wu of Han.

Although Wei Zifu's original owner, Princess Pingyang, was the sister of Emperor Wu of Han, she did not ask for money and property from Emperor Wu directly.

Instead, he tried to please Emperor Wu of Han by presenting him with beautiful women.

Emperor Wu of Han therefore consciously rewarded her without any resistance in his heart.

Because the two had different mothers, they gave different impressions to Emperor Wu of Han.

The second reason is that they have different children. Although Chen Ajiao married Emperor Wu of Han very early, she had been childless for many years.

Although Chen Ajiao took a lot of infertility treatment drugs, she still couldn't have children.

But it was different for Wei Zifu. Although she was favored by Emperor Wu of Han at Princess Pingyang's house, she was not pregnant.

But the second time Emperor Wu of Han visited her, Wei Zifu became pregnant.

After that, Wei Zifu gave birth to one son and three daughters for Emperor Wu of Han.

The greatest contribution that women in the harem can make to the country is childbearing.

The more children you have, the greater your contribution to the country and the royal family.

If you don't give birth, then it's useless.

At the same time, whether a woman can give birth is more importantly related to her moral character.

If her moral character is good, she will have many children.

The number of children one has is the result of God's evaluation of a person's virtue.

Chen Ajiao was infertile, but Wei Zifu was very fertile.

Therefore, even though Chen Ajiao was a royal relative, she was no match for the fertile Wei Zifu.

The third reason is that there are different behaviors.

Because Wei Zifu was favored by Emperor Wu of Han, Chen Ajiao became very crazy.

Not only did Chen Ajiao try to kill Wei Zifu's brother Wei Qing, she also used witchcraft to try to kill Wei Zifu.

However, the result of doing so was that Wei Qing gained greater trust from Emperor Wu of Han, and Wei Zifu gained more favor and protection from Emperor Wu of Han.

In other words, what Chen Ajiao did.

Not only did he fail to get Wei Zifu away from Emperor Wu of Han, but he made Wei Zifu even more favored by Emperor Wu of Han.

However, Wei Zifu had never done anything to harm Chen Ajiao, which made Emperor Wu of Han respect her even more and thus love her even more.

In the end, Chen Ajiao lost her position as queen.

Wei Zifu successfully ascended to the throne and replaced Chen Ajiao.

"After that, Princess Pingyang used her status as a princess to constantly trouble Wei Zifu."

"Wei Zifu was a gentle and kind woman. She didn't want to cause unhappiness to Emperor Wu of Han and her sister, so she could only swallow the bitterness alone."

"After Lady Wang, Princess Pingyang found a stunning beauty in the music bureau, Li Yan, the younger sister of the musician Li Yannian."

"At the palace banquet, arranged by Princess Pingyang."

"Li Yannian's poem 'There is a Beauty in the North' made Emperor Wu of Han so intoxicated that he wanted to get that beauty desperately."

"Just when Emperor Wu of Han was thinking about that beautiful woman, Princess Pingyang planned to have sex with her on a snowy afternoon."

"When Emperor Wu of Han was walking on the official road and enjoying the snowy scenery, he heard a woman singing "There is a Beauty in the North" with a beautiful voice."

"The woman singing is Li Yan, who later became Madam Li."

"There are beauties in the north, peerless and independent."

"One glance can conquer a city, another glance can conquer a country."

"I would rather not know how to captivate a city or a country, as beauty is hard to come by."

"The appearance of Li Yan caused Emperor Wu of Han to basically leave Wei Zifu in the cold in the Pepper Palace."

"After Li Yan gave birth to the prince, Emperor Wu of Han focused all his attention on Li Yan and the child."

"Li Yan died of illness shortly after giving birth to the prince. Emperor Wu of Han missed Li Yan endlessly and began to pour all his thoughts about Li Yan into the prince."

"Emperor Wu of Han made all his princes kings and drove them all to their fiefdoms, leaving only Li Yan's prince by his side."

"This made the ministers have to think that Emperor Wu of Han was planning to change the crown prince, and this also made Li Yan's brother Li Guangli have some thoughts."

"After Lady Li died, Emperor Wu of Han met Lady Gouyi again during a hunting trip."

"This woman, with her fiery passion, beautiful face, and delicate skin, aroused the long-dormant heart of Emperor Wu of Han."

"Lady Gouyi gave birth to a son, Liu Fuling, because the child was born after a gestation period of fourteen months."

"And on the day of the birth, a strange light suddenly appeared in the east, and Liu Fuling was born in this strange light, so Emperor Wu of Han named this palace Yaomu Gate."

"A Liu Bo, who was favored by Emperor Wu of Han because his mother, Li Yan, was missed by him."

"Liu Fuling, who gained more fatherly love from Emperor Wu of Han because his mother Lady Gouyi was favored."

"These two children can be said to be the treasures of Emperor Wu of Han in his later years and were loved very much."

"On the other hand, Crown Prince Liu Ju is already thirty years old and has yet to participate in government affairs."

"When he occasionally participated in government affairs, he always disagreed with Emperor Wu of Han, and gradually lost his favor."

"And those who had other ideas gradually turned their attention to Liu Bo and Liu Fuling."

Ban Zhao: Wei Zifu's favor brought supreme honor to the Wei family.

After Emperor Wu of Han's eldest son Liu Ju was born, Emperor Wu wanted to make Wei Zifu the empress.

However, this was opposed by the ministers on the grounds that Wei Zifu, who was born a singing girl, was of low status.

Emperor Wu ignored the opposition and insisted on making Wei Zifu the empress, and later the eldest son Liu Ju was made the crown prince.

The Wei family dominated the world because of Wei Zifu, and the Wei family members did not let this honor down.

Wei Zifu's younger brother Wei Qing was brave and good at fighting. He repelled the invasion of the Huns in one fell swoop and was named Guannei Hou by Emperor Wu of Han.

Wei Qing fought against the Huns many times and made outstanding military achievements, which earned him great appreciation from Emperor Wu, who married Princess Pingyang to him.

Nephew Huo Qubing followed his uncle Wei Qing on many expeditions and successfully resisted the invasion of the Huns, so he was named Marquis of Guanjun by Emperor Wu of Han.

Huo Qubing's younger brother Huo Guang was reused by Emperor Wu of Han after Huo Qubing's death and was an important official in the court during Emperor Wu's reign.

Before his death, Emperor Wu entrusted the young Emperor Liu Fuling to the old ministers headed by Huo Guang, who presided over the government of the Western Han Dynasty for more than 20 years.

At this time, the wealth and glory of the Wei family had reached its peak, all of which was due to Wei Zifu's favor.

"Wei Zifu died when she was old and no longer favored by Emperor Wu of Han. Her nephew Huo Qubing died of illness and her brother Wei Qing passed away."

"With no one to rely on at home and no support from outside, and with his son's position as crown prince under threat."

"We can only be cautious, bear the humiliation and not make any mistakes."

"She also had to take the trouble to do some heartwarming things to remind Emperor Wu of the loving years they had shared, in order to secure his son's position as crown prince. These were the most difficult times for a woman."

"While Wei Zifu was trying hard to protect her son, many people had already regarded Liu Ju as a roadblock and were eager to move away."

"Li Guangli colluded with Prime Minister Liu Qumao to make Liu Bo the crown prince, while Su Wen, the chief steward of Gouyi Palace, and Imperial Censor Jiang Chong wanted to make Liu Fuling the crown prince."

"Jiang Chong and Su Wen colluded and launched a new round of witchcraft cases on the pretext that a witchcraft doll cursing Emperor Wu of Han was found on Sima Road."

"Jiang Chong took advantage of the fact that Emperor Wu of Han had appointed him to investigate the witchcraft case, and searched the Empress's Palace and the Crown Prince's Palace on a large scale, and used a puppet that he had prepared in advance to frame the Crown Prince."

"Crown Prince Liu Ju did not expect to find a puppet in his own palace, and he was eager to appeal to Emperor Wu of Han who was in Ganquan Palace at the time."

"Jiang Chong tried his best to stop it, because if the prince met Emperor Wu of Han, Jiang Chong's frame-up would be exposed."

"When he was threatened, Liu Ju drew his sword and killed Jiang Chong."

"Then find Prime Minister Liu Qumao and hope he can help you arrest Jiang Chong's accomplices."

"Liu Qumao thought this was a great opportunity to overthrow the crown prince, so he reported the crown prince's rebellion to Emperor Wu of Han."

"Emperor Wu of Han heard about the prince's rebellion in Ganquan Palace and was furious and issued two imperial edicts."

"One is to depose Wei Zifu from her position as queen, and the other is to arrest the crown prince."

"After receiving the imperial edict, Wei Zifu protected her son."

"She hoped that her death would awaken Emperor Wu's affection for her and thus spare her son's life, so she committed suicide in the Pepper Room."

"This beautiful woman rose from a humble singing girl to become a queen admired by all."

"And she served as queen for thirty-eight years, which is the longest time a queen has served in the position in history."

"With Wei Zifu's suicide in the Pepper Room, her legendary life came to an end."

Diao Chan: Wei Zifu was a virtuous woman, but ended up committing suicide.

Wei Zifu was the queen for decades, and as her appearance aged, Emperor Wu gradually lost interest in her.

Since Liu Ju was made the crown prince, Emperor Wu never appeared in the Queen's bedroom again, but he still trusted her very much.

However, Wei Zifu and the prince were framed and their families were destroyed, suffering a devastating disaster.

The cruel official Jiang Chong followed Emperor Wu to Ganquan. The prince's carriage was confiscated by Jiang Chong because it violated the rules and drove on the highway.

When Crown Prince Liu Ju learned about this, he sent someone to apologize to Jiang Chong.

However, Jiang Chong refused to accept the apology and reported the matter to Emperor Wu, who affirmed Jiang Chong's actions.

As a result, a conflict arose between the prince and Jiang Chong.

Jiang Chong was afraid that after Emperor Wu's death, the crown prince's succession to the throne would be disadvantageous to him.

So he planned to get rid of the prince and avoid future troubles.

Emperor Wu was recuperating in Ganquan Palace at the time, and Jiang Chong bewitched Emperor Wu into believing that his illness was caused by witchcraft.

Emperor Wu of Han was most wary of witchcraft, so he immediately asked Jiang Chong to investigate.

Jiang Chong dug out the wooden man that had been prepared in advance from the palaces of the crown prince and the queen, and prepared to report to Emperor Wu of Han in Ganquan Palace.

When he dug out the Paulownia wood man, Liu Ju knew that he could not escape this disaster.

Because the prince knew that Jiang Chong had deliberately framed him, but things like witchcraft were difficult to explain clearly.

The prince asked Jiang Chong to allow him to defend himself in person to Emperor Wu of Han, but Jiang Chong refused.

Helplessly, Crown Prince Liu Ju could only stop Jiang Chong from informing on the emperor, and then take the initiative to go to Ganquanguan to apologize to Emperor Wu of Han.

Due to the urgency of the matter, the prince had no time to mobilize the soldiers outside the palace and had to ask his mother Wei Zifu for help.

Empress Wei Zifu and Crown Prince Liu Ju mobilized soldiers from the Empress' palace and engaged in a fierce battle with Jiang Chong and others in Chang'an City.

Jiang Chong was killed, and the eunuch Su Wen took advantage of the chaos to escape from Chang'an City and ran to report to Emperor Wu of Han that the prince was plotting a rebellion.

Emperor Wu of Han did not believe that his son would rebel at first, so he sent someone to summon the prince to ask him about it in person.

Unexpectedly, the people sent there were afraid of death and dared not enter Chang'an City. After a circle, they came back and said that the prince had really rebelled.

Emperor Wu was furious and sent troops to attack the prince.

At this point, Wei Zifu realized that there was no way out and she could only fight to the death.

The two sides fought bloody battles in Chang'an City for several days, and finally Crown Prince Liu Ju was defeated.

Queen Wei Zifu was deposed and committed suicide.

In this witchcraft case, except for Liu Ju's grandson Liu Bingyi who managed to escape, Wei Zifu's three daughters and Crown Prince Liu Ju's family were all killed.

Afterwards, Emperor Wu of Han found out that the prince was framed, but it was too late.

So he built a palace to express his longing for his son.

But Emperor Wu of Han never mentioned Wei Zifu, as if this woman who had accompanied him for decades had never existed.

The reason why Emperor Wu of Han was ruthless was that the Wei family was too powerful at the time, and Emperor Wu of Han was worried that the loyal and honest Crown Prince Liu Ju would be controlled by his external relatives.

So they used this case to get rid of the Wei family and consolidate the imperial power of the Han Dynasty, but it was a pity for the crown prince Liu Ju. (End of this chapter)