Hearing this, Shangguan Wan'er had to fetch the imperial decree, grind the ink, and hold the brush to serve.
Wu Meiniang said word by word, "After my demise, I shall be interred in the ancestral temple and entombed in the mausoleum, with my imperial title removed, to be known as Empress Zetian the Great Sage."
Shangguan Wan'er shuddered, almost thinking she had misheard.
Her Imperial Majesty the Empress had poured all her life's energy into this supreme position of ultimate authority, and had finally become emperor legitimately.
If her imperial title were removed after death, and she were to be known as Empress Zetian the Great Sage, would that not be undermining her own achievements?
Shangguan Wan'er looked up in alarm, her voice trembling, "Your Majesty, you... you are..."
Wu Meiniang sighed and smiled, "Does it seem strange?"
Shangguan Wan'er was stunned.
Wu Meiniang smiled gently, "You have been with me for so many years, how can you still not understand? When one dies, all worldly matters become empty. Whether one is an emperor or an empress, after death, one is merely an ancestral tablet worshipped by others. By removing my imperial title, I become the legal Empress consort of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, and the birth mother of the current emperor. A person can negate the previous emperor, but cannot disown their own birth mother. Only by removing my imperial title and returning to the identity of Emperor Gaozong's daughter-in-law can I enjoy the incense and offerings of my descendants."
Although the Li and Wu families maintained a relative harmony, once she passed away and her descendants also passed on, it was hard to guarantee that future emperors would not accuse the Wu family of usurpation when they thought of this matter.
The only way to prevent future emperors from settling accounts retrospectively was to remove the imperial title.
With the imperial title gone, the Wu family would not be descendants of a usurper who destroyed the previous dynasty, but relatives of the Tang Dynasty, the Empress's maternal family.
Shangguan Wan'er was both surprised and impressed, nodding and saying, "Your Majesty is wise!"
Wu Meiniang continued, "By removing the imperial title, I will be interred within the ancestral temple of the Li Tang imperial family as an Empress, and buried alongside my husband. Even if the Li Tang imperial family and its members change their evaluation of me in the future, and my descendants no longer acknowledge me, considering me a rebellious minister who usurped the throne, they would not dare to move me. This is because my coffin will be in the Qianling Mausoleum, beside Emperor Gaozong. If they dare to open Qianling, they would not be moving me, but their own father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, effectively digging up their own ancestral graves. No emperor would have the courage to do that!"
She had been rebellious her entire life, constantly opposing tradition, opposing Confucian rites, and opposing male supremacy.
Yet, in the end, she had to rely on traditional rites and laws to protect herself.
By being buried in Qianling as an Empress, those who had enmity with her, no matter how much they hated her, would not dare to disinter her body after her death.
Upon hearing this, Shangguan Wan'er was filled with utter admiration.
She never imagined that as the Empress's life force was about to extinguish, she could still be so thoughtful.
The audience watching on screen was stunned, their scalps tingling.
"Oh my god, I never knew the Empress's final decree contained such deep calculations!"
"When I studied this period in a university history elective, I learned that the Empress was buried with her husband, Emperor Gaozong, and I thought it was just following the traditional principle of a joint burial for husband and wife. I never realized that the arrangement in the Empress's final decree was to prevent future generations from settling scores with her!"
"Yes, I really didn't expect it, but upon closer thought, it's truly chilling. Imagine if the Empress had not removed her imperial title, and was buried as Empress Zetian the Great Sage of Wu Zhou. Then she could not have been buried with Li Zhi, because the joint burial of emperors from two dynasties violated ritual laws. A separate mausoleum would have had to be built!"