A grand wedding was held in the fall of 681, and it was said that there were so many torches used in the procession from the palace to Xuanyang District (宣陽坊), where the Xue clan lived, that many trees on the sides of the streets died due to the heat and smoke.
He also established her own luxurious palace, and she enjoyed five thousand households, so she became very much rich, therefore, her power skyrocketed and she found a say in court politics.
Later, Emperor Zhongzong specially sent a number of Imperial Army guards to be stationed at Princess Taiping's mansion.
As a result, Princess Taiping with Empress Wei and Li Guo'er were engaged in party battles to seize power and eliminate each other.
After Emperor Zhongzong ascended the throne, Empress Wei and Li Guo'er dominated his reign and their lifestyle was completely promiscuous and extravagant, both tried to imitate Wu Zetian: The Empress Wei successfully imitated Empress Wu position during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, who listened to politics with a curtain at court next to the emperor, and effectively participating in both military and civil decisions, and the Li Guo'er brought chaos to his father's administration with rampant lawlessness and corruption, and in an unsuccessful attempt she tried to convince Emperor Zhongzong to make her crown princess; Both sold government posts, enslaved common people, executed anyone who insulted them or disobeyed their orders, and committed adultery with different men in the palace.
Princess Taiping tried in vain to open Emperor Zhongzong's eyes to the activities of this mother and daughter, and her efforts were so unsuccessful that she rarely attended in the imperial palace for fear of their attack.
His great faithfulness in yielding the position is known throughout the realm, and this shows that Ran's accusations are false.Emperor Zhongzong stopped investigations against Princess Taiping and Li Dan.
As a result, she expand her power to compete with Empress Wei and Princess Anle and their faction, and sought to protect herself and her brother Li Dan.
Meanwhile, Empress Dowager Wei's clan members, along with Zong Chuke, Li Guo'er's husband Wu Yanxiu (武延秀), and other officials Zhao Lüwen (趙履溫) and Ye Jingneng (葉靜能) were advising her to take the throne, like Wu Zetian did, and they also advised her to eliminate Li Dan and Princess Taiping.
Princess Taiping grabbed Emperor Shang's collar at the replacement ceremony and lowered him while he was still sitting on the throne, reducing Li Chongmao back to the title of Prince of Wen, and she ordered his arrest.
Against this backdrop, the following edict was issued in the name of Ruizong to reward Princess Taiping with additional households of income: The persons who succeed in settling the Temple and the Altar greatly transcend their peers.
Princess Guardian of the Realm and of the Great Peace: [in her,] the illustrious blossom shares its luster; the luxuriant plum exudes its fragrance.
It is approved that she be supplemented with an additional thousand households, as an actual source of income.The edict, together with the reward, was a part of the complicated negotiation at the heart of the delicate alliance between Li Longji and Princess Taiping.
In other words, the edict publicly proclaimed a version of history that featured Princess Taiping as the agent who rescued the empire and pacified the realm.
He particularly and blindly trusted Princess Taiping and was completely favor to her, and she became honored like an empress inside the palace and court.
All the military and civil officials in the court, from the chancellors to the forbidden troops generals, promotion or dismissal, were all at her recommendation.
Also, Princess Taiping would sit behind a curtain beside Emperor Ruizong and give him advice during imperial meetings, and discussing affairs of dynasty and state with his councilors, who took orders from her while she sat behind a screen (as an imitation of her mother and sister-in-law, when they were both empress consort).
Her power had eclipsed that of the sovereign … and thus she was increasingly arrogant, [such that] her estates encompassed all fertile lands in the vicinity of the capital" (權移人主 … 公主由是滋驕，田園遍於近甸膏腴).
According to Song dynasty historians Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi, in the New Book of Tang: Emperor Ruizong ascended the throne, and the power of the master Princess shook the empire, and ten thousand households were granted to her, every time the emperor does business, he seeks the princess' opinion before making a final decision and obeys everything she says.
The Crown Prince had accomplished great things for the state, is kind and understanding, and is filially pious and loving to his brothers.
I hope that Your Imperial Majesty would not be misled by wrongful accusations.Emperor Ruizong was surprised and took no further action and only said: I understand, you do not need to repeat this.However, Princess Taiping Was behind a pearl screen behind Emperor Ruizong and heard this, and she spread rumors against Wei, hoping that he would be arrested and tried, but the chancellor Guo Yuanzhen stopped the investigations into Wei.
Why does Your Royal Highness suddenly have this thought?In 711, Song and another chancellor, Yao Yuanzhi, tried to persuade Emperor Ruizong to carry out a plan that they believed would end her plotting.
Emperor Ruizong initially agreed and made the orders as Song and Yao suggested, except that he believed that Luoyang was too far and therefore sent Princess Taiping and Wu Youji only to Pu Prefecture (蒲州, roughly modern Yuncheng, Shanxi).
After Princess Taiping found out that the plan was conceived by Song and Yao, however, she was incensed and let Li Longji know her anger.
In 712, Princess Taiping's husband Wu Youji died, and Emperor Ruizong posthumously created him the Prince of Ding, a title that he had formerly carried.
Five of the seven chancellors followed princess, and most of the civil and military ministers were accountable to the princess.Later in 712, Liu Youqiu and the general Zhang Wei (張暐), with approval from Emperor Xuanzong, planned to command the imperial guards to kill Princess Taiping's associates, but when Zhang discussed this with the censor Deng Guangbin (鄧光賓), Deng leaked the news.
On 29 July,[13] Emperor Xuanzong had Wang Maozhong take 300 soldiers to the imperial guard camp to behead Chang and Li Ci.
When Emperor Ruizong heard about this, he quickly ascended the tower at Chengtian Gate (承天門) to ascertain what was happening.
Emperor Xuanzong ordered her to commit suicide at home, and put to death her sons and associates, except for Xue Chongjian, who had often counseled Princess Taiping against retaining power and who had often been battered by her — Emperor Xuanzong bestowed on Xue Chongjian the imperial surname of Li and allowed him to retain his titles.
Princess Taiping's assets were confiscated, and it was said that there was so much treasure, livestock, and real estate that it took several years for the accounting to be complete.