After Emperor Taizong's death, all of his concubines who did not bear sons were housed at Ganye Temple (感業寺) to be Buddhist nuns.
In either 650 or 651,[4] when Emperor Gaozong was visiting Ganye Temple to offer incense to Buddha, when he saw Consort Wu.
Consort Wu was intelligent and full of machinations, and therefore, when she first returned to the palace, she acted humbly and flattered Empress Wang, who trusted her greatly and recommended her to Emperor Gaozong.
Emperor Gaozong deposed both Empress Wang and Consort Xiao, reducing them to commoner rank and imprisoning them inside the palace.
Both of these compilations are several hundred years away from Consort Xiao's and Wu Zetian's active period and contain the shocking and strange story in the following paragraph.
Notwithstanding, the Old Book of Tang also clearly states that Consort Xiao and Empress Wang were strangled to death,[5] other than different tortures human beings could bear under ancient medical conditions.
In recent years, more inconsistencies and contradictions have appeared when unearthed epitaphs are compared with relevant history compilations.
For instance and reference, some of the key content on the Epitaph of Shangguan Wan'er (上官婉兒墓志) go against relevant recordings.
Empress Wang wept and responded, "We have been found guilty and reduced to be maidservants.
When Empress Wu heard of Consort Xiao's curse, she forbade the palace personnel from keeping cats as pets, and even ordered the banning of cats as pets in the capital, Chang'an, but thereafter often dreamed of Empress Wang and Consort Xiao, with scattered hair and bleeding limbs, seeking to kill her.
Not until Empress Wu's oldest son, the crown prince Li Hong interceded, probably in 671, were they allowed to marry—and even then, Empress Wu simply found two imperial guards, Quan Yi (權毅) (for Princess Yiyang) and Wang Xu (王勗) (for Princess Gao'an) to marry them immediately.