He paused and continued, "Precisely because literati demonized Wu Zetian so severely, Liu E feared being slandered for eternity, and thus had to abandon any thoughts of ascending the throne. She only wished to wear the dragon robe one last time before her death for a fleeting satisfaction. Even so, those literati used Song Renzong's lineage to label Liu E with the infamy of 'murdering the mother and usurping the son.' They even concocted a play, 'The Concubine Swaps the Prince,' to vilify her, portraying her as a narrow-minded, jealous, treacherous consort who persecuted loyal officials and even attempted to seize the throne of the Great Song Dynasty."
At this point, Hua Ruyi asked, "Do you think 'The Concubine Swaps the Prince' aligns with historical facts?"
Wang Qiang shook her head, "It does not!"
Having graduated from the Chinese department and being familiar with history, she naturally knew that 'The Concubine Swaps the Prince' was fabricated.
Hua Ruyi sneered, "It's more than just not aligning; it's a complete distortion and fabrication. Historically, Liu E did indeed raise Song Renzong, but it was not Liu E who concealed the identity of Song Renzong's birth mother, Consort Li. It was her husband, Emperor Zhenzong. Heaven did not grant Liu E a good son, but it did grant her a good husband."
"Emperor Zhenzong was determined to make her his Empress, but Liu E's humble origins and her status as a divorcee meant that the entire court opposed her becoming Empress. Emperor Zhenzong then took Consort Li's son to be raised by her, publicly announcing that this was Liu E's own son. This way, through her son, she gained status, and Renzong, being established as Crown Prince by Zhenzong, naturally allowed his mother to be ennobled as Empress."
"After Liu E's death, someone maliciously gossiped to Song Renzong, claiming that Empress Dowager Liu was not His Majesty's birth mother, but rather that Consort Li was his birth mother, and that Empress Dowager Liu had murdered the mother and usurped the son, killing His Majesty's own mother. Upon hearing this, Song Renzong immediately dispatched his personal guards to surround the residences of Liu's relatives, intending to investigate the truth and then avenge his tragically deceased birth mother, Consort Li."
"As a result, when they opened Consort Li's coffin, which had been buried for many years, they found her interred in magnificent attire, her face preserved as if alive by mercury. It was evident that she could not have been murdered. Song Renzong was filled with shame and remorse. He withdrew his guards and knelt before Liu E's spirit, confessing that he had wronged his mother. He then issued a decree to posthumously confer titles upon her: two characters for his birth mother, Consort Li, and four characters for Liu E, his adoptive and legitimate mother who raised him."
"From the posthumous titles conferred upon Liu E historically, it is clear that she did not murder the mother and usurp the son. Otherwise, Song Renzong would have reduced her to ashes, how could he have conferred upon her a posthumous title with two more characters than his own birth mother?"
This analysis was logical and well-supported, and Wang Qiang nodded repeatedly as she listened, "Indeed!"
Hua Ruyi then smiled and said, "Actually, what is most laughable in the 'Old Book of Tang' is not that Wu Zetian secretly strangled her own daughter, nor her patronage of male consorts and various unspeakable lewdness. It is her persecution of her rival, Empress Wang, which involved the gruesome punishment of 'human swine.' Miss Wang, do you know the historical origin of this 'human swine'?"
Wang Qiang replied with a smile, "Of course, I know. It was Empress Lü of the Han Dynasty. Full of hatred for her love rival, Lady Qi, after Liu Bang's death, she had Lady Qi's limbs amputated and her body thrown into a latrine, thus making Lü Zhi infamous as a vicious empress throughout history."
Hua Ruyi sighed, "Yes, to be made into a 'human swine' is truly ruthless!"
Wang Qiang teased, "If a woman is not ruthless, her position is not stable. Not to mention ancient times, even in modern times, the powerful families still engage in fierce struggles. There's the mistress forcing her way in, the legal wife going mad, and children dying in car accidents. Whenever interests are involved, it is always filled with schemes and bloodshed."