Beauty and Political Intrigue: Wu Zetian, the Tang Dynasty's Empress

At fourteen, Wu Meiniang entered the palace and stunned Emperor Taizong with her iron whip, iron hammer, and dagger. But her sharp edge made her a target, and she was left neglected for twelve years. After three years in the convent at Ganye Temple, living by lamplight and prayer, she returned to the palace with her poem "Ruyi Niang." From Cairen to Zhaoyi, from empress to empress regnant, she plotted every step of the way and showed no mercy: she strangled her own daughter and framed the empress, poisoned her own son to eliminate a threat, and employed ruthless officials to spread terror.

When the characters "Qing E" became grounds for a death sentence, when her male favorite Xue Huaiyi ran rampant at court, and when Di Renjie became her last source of support, this woman spent fifty years rising from the inner palace to the imperial court, ultimately taking the throne and becoming the only female emperor in Chinese history.