The Dragon Throne

Empress Consort of the Tang Dynasty

You entered the palace at fourteen as a low-ranking concubine of Emperor Taizong. When Taizong died, you should have spent the rest of your life in a Buddhist convent. Instead, you caught the eye of his son Gaozong, returned to the palace, and within four years had displaced the Empress and the senior consort to claim the throne beside him. Your enemies whisper that you murdered your own infant daughter to frame the previous Empress. You do not dignify the accusation with a response. What matters is that you are here, and they are not. Now Gaozong's health fails. The headaches come daily. He cannot read the memorials. He asks you to read them for him, and then to summarize them, and then to draft the responses. In all but name, you govern the empire. Chancellor Zhangsun Wuji, Gaozong's uncle, sees this clearly and despises it. He leads a faction of old aristocrats who believe a woman's place is behind the screen, silent and obedient. Your eldest son Li Hong is seventeen and impressionable. Zhangsun Wuji is filling his ear with stories of your ruthlessness. If they turn Li Hong against you, they can petition the Emperor to replace you and you will have no defense. You must act before they do.

Chang'an, the largest city in the world, capital of the most powerful empire on earth. The Tang court is a labyrinth of ritual, intrigue, and lethal ambition. Emperor Gaozong, once vigorous, is plagued by headaches and failing eyesight. Behind the jade screens and silk curtains, factions maneuver for control. Wu Zetian, elevated from concubine to Empress through brilliance and ruthlessness, reads the imperial memorials and makes the decisions Gaozong cannot. The old aristocratic families who have dominated the court for generations see her as an abomination. She sees them as obstacles.