After plucking off the heretic's head, which was still occasionally acting insane, and throwing it back into the Great Tang world, Xiao simultaneously learned everything about Wu Meiniang.
It turned out that when Xiao transmigrated, Wu Meiniang had already been sent into the palace by her father and brother, becoming one of Li Shimin's concubines.
She was just a weak woman with no power, and in the deep courtyards of the imperial harem, she could not escape and dared not easily run away.
Fortunately, Li Shimin's harem had three thousand beauties, many of whom had never received the Emperor's favor since entering the palace.
At first, Wu Meiniang always cautiously avoided Li Shimin so as not to attract his attention, but as the saying goes, "Gold will always shine."
What's more, she possessed a golden finger like Mechanical Memory.
After half a year in the deep palace, Wu Meiniang could no longer suppress her inner loneliness and began to stir up trouble in the harem.
Especially when the Great Tang harem had so many voluptuous and beautiful women, how could she resist not getting close to them?
In her leisure time, she began to sing and dance with the concubines and maids in the harem, relying on her memories from her previous life. She even taught many of them some lewd songs and verses to please Li Shimin.
After gaining the favor of the harem concubines, Wu Meiniang treated Li Shimin's harem as her own, often even spending the night there.
After all, since the death of Empress Changsun, Li Shimin's harem had lost its master. The four noble consorts were at odds with each other, leading to chaotic management of the harem, which gave Wu Meiniang many opportunities.
During that time, Wu Meiniang was like a fish in water, staying in a different palace almost every day.
Ostensibly, she was exchanging skills with other concubines, but in reality, she was comforting and relieving loneliness with these Great Tang beauties.
However, good times did not last long. Soon after, she was caught by Li Shimin, and then there was no "then"… After enduring several more beatings and giving birth to a child, Wu Meiniang became much more obedient.
Of course, although her body was obedient, her heart was not. As her status rose, she also gained more say.
Thus, Wu Meiniang began to use the resources of the entire Great Tang to conduct scientific research.
It must be said that her talent was truly too useful.
In just a few short years, she established a Steam-era Great Tang that governed thousands of miles of mountains and rivers!
Cannons, ships, trains, engines, electric lights, telegraphs, cameras, chemicals, and a series of other technological creations were all brought forth by her.
Even epoch-making weapons like steam airships and tanks had already been developed for two generations.
At this time, the Great Tang, under her leadership, had already entered the First Industrial Revolution, far ahead of other countries and regions.
It was a pity that he was an old husband and she was a young wife. Wu Meiniang was just over twenty, and it was now the nineteenth year of Zhenguan. Li Shimin's death was not far off.
Even though she deeply studied traditional Chinese medicine and continuously helped Li Shimin regulate his body, she could only let him live a few more years, but it was certain that he would absolutely not live past sixty.
One must know that Li Shimin had fought in all directions in his early years, and his body had already suffered hidden ailments.
After ascending the throne in his middle age, he worked day and night for state affairs to prove himself to Li Yuan, and his body was already overburdened.
In his later years, he even indulged in elixirs, wanting to live forever, and his body had already been riddled with damage from elixir toxins.
Therefore, no matter what, he could not live long.
Once Li Shimin died, her good days would pretty much come to an end.
Wu Meiniang deeply understood her situation. She knew that she would either reach the pinnacle or suffer a tragic end.
With her outstanding talent, she was recommended by the civil and military officials of the Great Tang to sit on the empress's throne.
However, this change in identity did not bring her peace; instead, it plunged her into a more complex situation.
Her son became the legitimate imperial prince with succession rights, a strong candidate in the struggle for the throne. However, he was still young, only a few years old, and completely unable to contend with the other imperial princes.
Once the Emperor passed away, no matter which imperial prince ascended the throne, they would not tolerate the existence of Wu Meiniang and her son, as they would become potential threats to the new Emperor's rule.
Whether it was dying from illness or being tragically poisoned, Wu Meiniang and her child could hardly escape a tragic fate.
In this cruel palace struggle, kinship had long since vanished.
Even when the Emperor was alive, the brothers superficially coexisted peacefully, but once the Emperor passed away, they would inevitably turn against each other to contend for the throne.
What's more, the Li Tang imperial family adopted the Xuanwu Gate succession system, where every generation of emperors needed to undergo a bloody struggle of fratricide to ascend to the throne.
In this environment full of power struggles, Wu Meiniang felt helpless, and it also made her understand what it meant to be in the world, unable to act on one's own will.
Although she yearned to stay away from these struggles, she had to participate in them to protect herself and her young child.
Therefore, she had been meticulously planning for the future, on one hand enhancing her prestige through various means, and on the other hand secretly training special forces for unforeseen needs.
She knew that to win this fierce power struggle, she had to take decisive action and seize imperial power at all costs.
She wanted to become the Great Tang's first female emperor after Li Shimin's death; she wanted to become Wu Zetian.
Only by becoming the eternal female emperor Wu Zetian would she be qualified to live with her child.
However, everything changed with the arrival of the Great Firmament Arena. There was nothing to fear anymore!
She held several methods of eternal life in her hands. She had ways to save Li Erfeng and even make him immortal.
She also didn't have to become a lonely person and be Wu Zetian.
From now on, she would usher in a truly immortal Tang Dynasty.
…
…
Great Tang, Chang'an, Taiji Palace, Lizheng Hall.
The sleeping Li Erfeng was awakened by a nightmare. In the dream, his beloved wife Wu Meiniang was killed by that man. After the two merged, they directly transformed into a mountain-like three-headed dragon.
The terrifying three-headed dragon released destructive golden lightning and thunder, and the overwhelming pressure, enough to tear heaven and earth apart, made Li Erfeng feel unprecedented fear and trembling.
"Was it a dream?"
Li Erfeng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looking around with a bewildered expression, and muttered to himself.
Li Shimin looked at the dimly lit sky outside, then turned to the person beside him who had woken due to his movement, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"It really was a dream?"
But just as he was halfway through his sigh of relief, there was a sudden urgent knocking at the door, accompanied by the anxious shouts of the eunuch:
"Your Majesty! Empress! Imperial Prince Li Hong has a high fever that won't subside, and golden scales are growing on his body!"
Upon hearing this news, Li Shimin's expression instantly changed.
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