This beauty’s name is Phung Nhuan, also known in history as Empress Phung, wife of Emperor Hieu Van of the Northern Wei Dynasty during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period.
Queen Feng of the Northern Wei Dynasty was one of the queens who caused many scandals in Chinese feudal history.
Win the throne with your sister
According to the website specializing in Chinese history Qulishi, Phung Nhuan was born in 469, before being brought into the palace as the granddaughter of Queen Mother Phung. Judging from her position in the family, Phung Nhuan can be called the emperor’s cousin.
However, Phung Nhuan was 2 years younger than Emperor Hieu Van, so in terms of age, it was still relatively suitable.
In 483, when she was just 14 years old, she and her half-sister entered the palace as the emperor’s concubines, becoming the top beauties in the harem. Phung Nhuan is described as an extraordinarily beautiful person, with a beauty that can “turn the tide on water”, and is especially intelligent and has interests in sync with the emperor’s.
Emperor Hieu Van also pampered Phung Nhuan very much and spent a lot of time with this concubine. But the barrier that prevented Phung Nhuan from becoming queen was because Queen Mother Phung chose Phung Thanh’s sister, not her.
After Queen Mother Phung passed away, Phung Thanh’s younger sister became queen. At that time, Phung Nhuan suffered from a strange illness, sometimes coughing up blood, so he had to leave the palace to recuperate.
Phung Nhuan usurped his sister’s throne and committed adultery with a servant, shocking Chinese history.
At home, Phung Nhuan relied on a magician named Cao, who claimed to be Bodhisattva, to cure him. The two gradually began to secretly interact with each other, having an above-normal relationship.
One year later, in 494, Phung Nhuan returned to the palace and was appointed to the position of chief minister, with a position second only to the queen. Cao Bodhisattva also followed into the palace as a servant, secretly getting close to him when Emperor Hieu Van was not paying attention.
Since returning to the palace, Phung Nhuan has been favored by the emperor far more than before, causing estrangement from other concubines, including the queen.
Phung Nhuan believes that she is the older sister and does not accept an inferior position, so she finds every way to compete with her sister for the position of queen. Two years later, in 496, Emperor Hieu Van issued an edict deposing Phung Thanh and forcing him to live in a temple as a nun for the rest of his life.
In 497, Emperor Hieu Van made Phung Nhuan empress, making her the most noble woman in the world.
Causing vibrations in forbidden palaces and tragic results
In front of the emperor, Empress Phung always appeared obedient, had polite behavior, and had a soft voice. But once the emperor left the palace, Queen Phung immediately changed her appearance.
Queen Phung is said to have poisoned to death Cao Beauty, the concubine who gave birth to crown prince Nguyen Khac, and adopted the prince.
In the fall of 497, Emperor Xiaowen personally led a large army to attack Southern Qi, focusing on Wancheng, now located in Nanyang (Henan province, China).
While Emperor Hieu Van was absent, Queen Phung publicly announced her relationship with Cao Bo Tat, a genius physician who was brought into the palace as a servant.
Queen Phung and Cao Bo Tat tried to build their own power in the palace, putting pressure on those who knew about the queen’s adultery not to dare say a word.
Everything continued like that until Queen Phung caused trouble with Princess Peng Thanh, Emperor Hieu Van’s younger sister.
Phung Nhuan’s biological younger brother, Phung Tuc, was very infatuated with Banh Thanh and was rejected many times. Queen Phung thought that she had the power to force this relationship.
The princess was terrified and told the story of Queen Phung’s adultery to Emperor Hieu Van. After hearing this, the Emperor was both stunned and angry, but thought that it was because his sister did not want to marry Phung Tuc that she thought of this.
Phung Nhuan in the last years of his life was kept in solitary confinement in the palace.
Queen Phung was informed that the emperor had become suspicious and went to see his mother to find a way to assassinate the emperor. The Phung mother and son invited a witch into the palace to find a way to cast a spell and curse Emperor Hieu Van.
The queen also prepared a sword to carry with her, thinking that when the opportunity arose she would strike. But unexpectedly, the emperor acted first.
One time, after unexpectedly returning to the capital Luoyang, Emperor Hieu Van ordered the arrest of Cao Bodhisattva and all of his trusted people. That night, the emperor interrogated him, forced Cao Bodhisattva to confess all his sexual affairs to the queen, and then ordered someone to kill him.
As for Queen Phung, the emperor respected that she was a member of the Phung family so he did not order her to be killed, but only kept her in solitary confinement in the palace.
According to the Book of Wei, a book recording the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Hieu Van said: “I respect you as a member of the Phung family but did not depose you, but only imprisoned you in the palace. If she had any integrity left, she would know to seek death. Don’t think that I still have any feelings for you.”
In 499, Emperor Hieu Van suddenly became seriously ill and died at the age of 32. Before his death, he ordered someone to force Queen Phung to drink poison to prevent future disasters, but allowed her to be buried according to queenly rituals.
According to Wei Shu, Queen Phung definitely refused to drink poison, forcing her subordinates to use strong measures to control her and pour poison into her mouth.
In the end, the queen who caused a lot of trouble in the Northern Wei Dynasty suffered a painful death.
