The most loving empress dowager in the history of feudal China, harming her own children to protect her mistress

Despite all moral standards, this woman, because she was infatuated with erotic pleasure, ruthlessly dealt with her child.

It is often said that tigers do not eat their cubs, however, there have been many thrilling stories to the point of being unethical around this issue that happened in the ancient Chinese forbidden place. And among them, the most famous is the case that Vo Tac Thien killed his son with his own hands, but if Empress Wu borrowed his son’s death to pave the way to power, the case of the Empress Dowager below killed her son, at the same time being the Emperor just to “comfortably” enjoy and protect his lover is rare, going against all moral standards of mankind.

The most loving empress dowager in the history of feudal China, harming her own children to protect her mistress
Ho Thi is a very beautiful, kind and intelligent girl. (Illustration).

That Empress Dowager was none other than Empress Dowager Hu in the Northern Wei Dynasty . According to historical records, Ho Thi’s childhood, birth year and mother are still very vague without reliable documents. Only know that Ho Thi had a father who was a Tu Tu mandarin who worked in the court, and on the day Ho Thi was born, a strange phenomenon happened that the four corners of the sky suddenly turned red, making the entire population very curious. Some generals said that Ho Thi has a great number and will soon become the mother of the world.

Growing up, Ho Thi was an extremely beautiful girl, kind and intelligent. So, not long after, news of the woman Ho Thi reached the ears of Emperor Xuanwu , who immediately called Ho Thi to enter the palace and made him Thua Hoa – a title for the Emperor’s concubine during the Northern Wei Dynasty. and soon received the favor of the Emperor.

The most loving empress dowager in the history of feudal China, harming her own children to protect her mistress
Ho Thi was called by Emperor Tuyen Vu to enter the palace, and was appointed as a redundant flower. (Illustration).

Not long after, Ho Thi gave birth to a son named Nguyen Hu and this son was soon ordained as Crown Prince, chosen to hold the right to inherit the throne after his father’s death. Before that, the Northern Wei Dynasty had a case where the Empress Dowager abused her power and upset the main court, so there was a law to kill the Crown Prince’s mother to avoid repeating this. But because she loved Ho Thi, also because she possessed intelligence and was kind, Emperor Tuyen Vu soon abandoned that rule to keep Ho Thi’s life.

After the chance to escape death, Ho Thi was immediately ordained by Emperor Tuyen Vu to one more level, from Thua Hoa to Sung Hoa. She lived happy days because her son was crowned Crown Prince, and she was favored by the Emperor, bestowed with many privileges as well as gold and silver treasures.

The most loving empress dowager in the history of feudal China, harming her own children to protect her mistress
After the chance to escape death, Ho Thi was immediately ordained as Sung Hoa by Emperor Tuyen Vu. (Illustration).

However, in 515, Northern Wei Emperor Tuyen Vu died, and Ho Thi’s son Nguyen Hu ascended the throne when he was only 6 years old, because she was not yet an empress, so she was only made Ho Thai consort. Later, the Empress Dowager, the wife of the first emperor, Cao Thi, intended to kill Ho Thi because she thought that if Ho Thi’s son ascended the throne while he was too young, the power would surely fall into the hands of Ho Thi. After many unsuccessful attempts to kill Ho Thi, Cao Thi was disgruntled and left the inner palace to become a monk. Ho Thi was immediately named Empress Dowager Ho.

All the fins against her seem to have fallen off, Ho Thi is like a fish in the water, so she quickly replaces her son to hold the supreme power and participates in the court meetings, the regency of the country. It can be said that Ho Thi’s life is not inferior to Vo Tac Thien’s. Initially, Ho Thi was called Her Royal Highness by the courtiers, then changed it to Her Majesty Queen Mother, and she also called herself Trấn (a personal name for the king).

The most loving empress dowager in the history of feudal China, harming her own children to protect her mistress
It can be said that Ho Thi’s life is not inferior to Vo Tac Thien’s. (Illustration).

Empress Dowager Ho is considered a smart person, capable of understanding things quickly, but she is too kind and tolerant of corruption, so accidentally during her time in power, Ho Thi made Northern Wei dynasty gradually weakened. People’s wages are miserable, crooked gods abuse and plunder without fear of guilt.

And yet, despite holding power in her hands with the title of Empress Dowager, Ho Thi is actually only 33 years old. Unable to bear the scene of the cold room, single blanket, pillow, Ho Thi tried her best to “collect” lovers to satisfy her tasteless life in the forbidden palace. Empress Dowager Ho was also “enthusiastic” to the extent that when she heard that there was a beautiful man anywhere, she immediately called someone to the palace to meet. And there were also many men who were summoned to the palace by the Empress Dowager but were too afraid to flee.

The most loving empress dowager in the history of feudal China, harming her own children to protect her mistress
Unable to bear the scene of the cold room, single blanket and pillow, Ho Thi tried her best to “collect” lovers. (Illustration).

Among the lovers of Empress Dowager Ho, the most famous one can be said to be Nguyen Dich , this is a young man who is smart, talented, and handsome. When she fell into the hands of Empress Dowager Hu, she quickly fell in love with this man by giving him so much power, that it almost covered the forbidden palace, overwhelming both of the great loyalists of the Northern Wei dynasty. This caused a lot of irritation to the military officials in the court.

In July 520, Nguyen Xa linked up with Luu Dang (two great officials in the court) to denounce Nguyen Dich for treason, usurping the throne and then using that pretext to conduct a coup against Empress Dowager Ho and Nguyen Dich, sending troops to Hien Duong Palace. Yuan Yi was killed and Empress Dowager Hu was placed under house arrest.

The most loving empress dowager in the history of feudal China, harming her own children to protect her mistress
After five years in prison, Empress Dowager Ho returned to power. (Illustration).

Empress Dowager Hu was imprisoned in the palace for 5 years (520 – 525). During this time, Nguyen Xa was in charge of regent power, Emperor Nguyen Hu was nothing more than a scarecrow. Then, because he was an adult, Nguyen Hu understood his situation and his mother, Empress Dowager Ho, so the mother and daughter joined together and plotted against Nguyen Xa. As a result, Nguyen Xa was arrested and executed. Empress Dowager Ho returned to power.

However, it was thought that the incident of being imprisoned for 5 years in the palace would awaken Empress Dowager Ho and know how to take power to serve the interests of the country. But no, the horse is used to the old way, even more formidable than before when she spends profligately, giving perks to her flanking officers blatantly. The profanity remained the same as before and she handed power over to another mistress named Trinh Nghiem .

The most loving empress dowager in the history of feudal China, harming her own children to protect her mistress
In order to protect her mistress, the empress dowager poisoned and killed Nguyen Hu Hieu Minh De – the son she gave birth to. (Artwork).

At this time, Emperor Hieu Minh had grown up and could not bear to be ordered by Empress Dowager Ho. Her mother’s acts of enjoyment and love, which took place too openly and increasingly depraved, made Emperor Hieu Minh unacceptable. Empress Dowager Ho saw the objection of Emperor Hieu Minh, and immediately sought to get rid of or kill those close to the king, so the mother-child relationship became worse and worse.

In 528, due to hatred of Trinh Nghiem, Emperor Hieu Minh requested the aid of a general in the suburbs to send troops to attack the court to kill Trinh Nghiem. However, before the reinforcements arrived at the palace, the matter reached the ears of Empress Dowager Ho, who poisoned and killed Nguyen Hu Hieu Minh De – the son she gave birth to, that year, Nguyen Hu had just turned 19-year-old.

The most loving empress dowager in the history of feudal China, harming her own children to protect her mistress
In the end, the empress dowager was drowned in the Yellow River until she died. (Illustration).

When the reinforcements heard about it, the country aggressively pulled troops into the court to ask about the death of the first emperor Nguyen Hu. Seeing the critical situation, Trinh Nghiem quickly ran away, leaving his lover, Empress Dowager Ho, helpless. She was so afraid that she had to cut her hair to become a monk to hide, but was still arrested. As a result, she was drowned in the Yellow River until she died. Ending the life of a woman with a lot of sex but little humanity, ruthlessly killing her own biological child just to protect her lover.