The Secret History of Wu Zetian

In 683 AD, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty died, and his son Li Xian (Wang Hao) (played by Yin Tao) succeeded to the throne, the Empress Dowager Wu (played by Yin Tao) established Li Dan (played by Tian Yupeng) as emperor the following year, and deposed Li Xian as King of Luling. From then on, the era of Wu Zetian's dictatorship began. In September of the first year of Sisheng, Xu Jingye (played by Dong Yanlin) launched a Yangzhou rebellion to oppose Wu Zetian's dictatorship. Wu sent an army to quickly quell the rebellion, and killed the opposition within the court such as Gu Ming Minister Pei Yan (played by Yang Hongwu), further consolidating his ruling position. After that, she designed to force the Li Tang clan to rebel, gradually eliminated dissidents, and killed anyone who was detrimental to her governance. In order to achieve the goal of becoming emperor, she relied on nepotism, abused cruel staff, and found allusions from ancient books about women taking charge of the world and spread them all over the world. She also built the Vientiane Shrine to create auspiciousness and create public opinion for her future as emperor. In the fifth year after Li Xian was deposed, that is, on May 18th in the fourth year of Chui Gong, Wu Jiazun "The Holy Mother God Emperor" took the first step towards the dream of being queen...