Zhaoling is the joint tomb of Li Shimin and the empress dowager' eldest son, and there are also many tombs of large and small royal children around.
However, in the tombs of the children of the royal family around the Zhaoling Tomb, a "Queen Tomb" was found, and experts found that the funeral specifications inside were completely in line with the form of the Queen's Tomb. This makes experts wonder why they should be buried next to Li Shimin if they belong to the Empress of the Tang Dynasty and should be buried with the Emperor in another tomb group.
With the nearest excavation, it was finally determined that the owner of the tomb was Li Shimin's youngest daughter, Princess Xincheng.
If she is a princess, why is she buried as a queen?
In addition, there is a very puzzling place: on the frescoes in the tomb, the position of the heads of all the maids has been artificially scraped off. In other words, the maids on this mural are all headless.
Why are these two situations? The experts were interested, and after returning home, they consulted a large number of Tang Dynasty allusions and combined with the discoveries in the tomb, and finally unveiled the mystery: it contained such a royal scandal.
Princess Xincheng was the youngest daughter of Emperor Taizong of Tang and Empress Changsun, and was a half-brother and sister of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, and was very favored by her father and brother.
This princess is very emotionally unhappy. In 643, Li Shimin promised him to Wei Zheng's son Wei Shuyu, but later because of Hou Junji's rebellion, Li Shimin suspected that Wei Zheng and Hou Junji had formed a party, and in a fit of rage, cancelled the affair.
In 649, Emperor Taizong of Tang also gave Princess Xu of Xincheng to Sun Cao's son, Changsun Cao, who was the empress's uncle, and Changsun Cao's son, Changsun Yi, was supposed to be the uncle of Princess Xincheng in terms of generations. But it doesn't matter, the ancients didn't care much about this situation.
After marrying the eldest grandson, the life of the two is also very sweet and happy.
However, within a few years of happy days, the Changsun clan was overthrown by Emperor Gaozong of Tang in a political struggle. After changsun Yi was exiled to Weizhou, he was killed by Emperor Gaozong of Tang. Princess Xincheng, as the sister of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, naturally would not be harmed.
After losing her husband, princess Xincheng washed her face with tears all day, she also knew that this was the cruelty of politics, so she did not blame her brother, but every day she was muddy, did not like to dress up, Tang Gaozong saw that it hurt in her eyes, so she decided to find another family for her sister.
After a period of searching, Li Zhi decided to give his sister Xu to Wei Zhengju, the eighth son of Wei Qingsi, the Duke of Pengcheng County.
However, after marrying, Princess Xincheng was not happy, she had been missing her ex-husband, and her relationship with Wei Zhengzheng was not very good. And Wei Zhengju was also dissatisfied with such an attitude of princess Xincheng, so the two had quarrels from time to time, and even did "yueli" things.
The emotional unhappiness made the princess of Xincheng increasingly haggard, and finally died of incense at the age of thirty and died of illness.
For the sudden death of his beloved sister, an angry Tang Gaozong believed that it was the fault of The Horse Wei Zhengzheng. When asked why Princess Wei Zhengju died, Wei Zhengju was on his own two feet, and he couldn't say why he came for half a day.
Emperor Gaozong of Tang believed that Wei Zhengju's "domestic violence" had caused the death of Princess Xincheng, and in a fit of rage, he executed Wei Zhengjue, and even his entire family with Wei Zhengju was exiled!
The incident was a big deal at the time.
The princess fell ill and died, the horse was killed, and the whole family was exiled, who would dare to marry the princess in the future? For a time, this scandal of the royal family spread throughout the north and south of the river, and some folk songs were also specially circulated: "Marry a woman to get a princess, buy an official mansion on the flat land", "The new city died of illness, and the master was humiliated by it" was also circulated.
Tang Gaozong, who was angry, naturally would not take this into account.
For his sister's misfortune, Tang Gaozong felt very guilty, so he made a strange decision: "Funeral matters are to be followed by the ceremony."
So the edict reads:
Therefore, the mayor of the new city (Que Jiuzi) lives. Gentle and □ wind, young in the boudoir; gu fu is heavy, and is prepared for kindness. Shi Mei Ling (Que Cross) Fu Gui Sister's Honor. Fang Xiu SongJun, The Wind Candle. The phoenix chirped out, and the fish xuan drove. The sorrow of solid (que four characters) qi and affection (que four characters) will be in the number at the end of the twilight moon, especially beyond the Yi classic. His burial is a posthumous ritual.
For this practice of Tang Gaozong, many people are puzzled. In order to make up for her sister, there are many ways, why bury her sister with the queen ceremony? This can't help but make people wonder what kind of attitude Tang Gaozong had toward his sister.
In addition, Emperor Gaozong of Tang also ordered that all the maids who served the princess at that time be executed, and on the murals of the princess's tomb, the heads of the maids were also erased. In the eyes of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, they could not take good care of the princess before they died, and they were not qualified to serve the princess after death.
end:
After a series of inquiries, the mystery of the tomb of princess Xincheng was unveiled, and when the experts saw the mural of the headless maid in the tomb again, they were full of emotion and said:
All along, the outside world has evaluated Tang Gaozong Li Zhi as an image of "dignified and serene, generous and benevolent, and harmonious brothers", but in handling this matter, Tang Gaozong is really ruthless!