Emperor Ruizong's second reign
After Emperor Ruizong returned to the throne, she was awarded the unprecedented title of Zhenguo Taiping Gongzhu Wanhou (鎮國太平公主万侯) — literally "the Princess Taiping who secured the state and has the obedience of all." 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. The deeds that exceed the scope of silk-and-bamboo [that is, historical] records forever shine upon their greatness.
Princess Guardian of the Realm and of the Great Peace: [in her,] the illustrious blossom shares its luster; the luxuriant plum exudes its fragrance. As offspring of the same blood, she enjoyed the love of the previous sovereigns." [She is] loyal and filial in how she conducts herself, and her benevolence and discernment surpass all others. There is nowhere to which her talents do not extend, and nothing that her mind does not grasp. Previously, she resolved the catastrophe afflicting the Realm; then, she supported Us as the emperor. Her supreme righteousness moves Heaven; her earnest sincerity binds her to the sun.
The turmoil has been settled; we hear only humble words [from her]. The land of her estates has not been augmented; We then receive her pleas, declining noble [rewards]. We, the emperor, envelop everything with extreme impartiality. How can We follow others in being constrained by the trivial norms? It is appropriate that We endow additional territory [to her]; let the land be hers until [the river lapses into] a belt and [the mountains shrink into] a whetstone. 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. On its surface, the throne was using this edict to reward Princess Taiping; in reality, Princess Taiping was one of the real powerholders behind the throne, and her agency permeated every part of the imperial decision making. Indeed, the edict acknowledged, in the emperor's voice, that Princess Taiping supported "Us" as the emperor. 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. She discussed and helped decide all military and state affairs: every time that an official made a proposal, report and petition, he directed the official to first discuss the matters with Princess Taiping and Li Longji (who was created crown prince), before he would rule on the matter himself. Thus, Princess Taiping has decision-making power on many events in the governmental and border matters. She can often decide the promotion or demotion of officials with a single sentence. According to Song dynasty historian Sīmǎ Guāng (司马光) in the Zizhi Tongjian:
She had the highest respect because she achieved great success over and over again, and emperor often plans to discuss major affairs with her, and when she enters the palace, she talks directly to the emperor about politics and shapes matters to her liking. Whenever the chancellors and officials discussed political affairs with him, the first sentence he asked was: "Have you ever discussed with Princess Taiping? "If the answer is yes, he will continue to ask: "Have you ever discussed with Li Longji?" If both people have clear opinions, he will make a decision based on this. Whatever the princess wants, the emperor will listen. 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. The rest of the officials who had been promoted to high-ranking positions through her word were even more so, is uncountable. The number of people who were attracted to her was numerous. Her wealth is like a mountain, her power is over everything and everyone, and her party members are like a city.
Her three sons were all created princes (in Xue Chongjian's case, the Prince of Lijie). She became extremely rich and lucrative, and she was known as a real force behind the throne, as a result of her power, and her mansion was like a palace, even more magnificent, and her palace, like the emperor's palace, was guarded by soldiers: her staff simulated the royal design without any reservations, and most chancellors, forbidden troops, officials and warlords were her associates. Therefore, the Princess Taiping was so powerful that she even surpassed Emperor Ruizong. 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).
The historian Liu Xu, in Old Book of Tang, was highly critical of the power Princess Taiping had wielded, it says: Whenever there is an important event to decide, the emperor sits with the princess and talks and listens to her. If she has an offer, whatever it is, the emperor will accept it. If there are more important issues and the princess is not in the palace, the chancellors will go to the she before meeting with emperor to discuss matters with her. 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. If something is offered by her, it will be accepted. If there are difficult or unresolved issues and the princess is not in the palace, the emperor sends ministers to her house to seek her opinion. Her party members hold important positions in every corner of the government.
Initially, Princess Taiping agreed to Li Longji's ascension as crown prince despite the fact that Li Longji was not Emperor Ruizong's oldest son and was not born of Emperor Ruizong's wife, the deceased Empress Liu (Li Chengqi was both — and therefore pursuant to Confucian principles of succession should have been crown prince, although Li Chengqi himself declined the title, reasoning that Li Longji's accomplishment was what allowed the empire to be secure), as she believed that Li Longji was young (25 at the time he was made crown prince) and would be easy to control and therefore maintain her power for the future (if one day he sits on the throne). However, once she began to see that Li Longji was strong-willed, and especially after she realized Li Longji was not receptive to her influence, she became apprehensive and often had officials close to her publicly opine that Li Longji was an improper crown prince. She further often paid Li Longji's staff members to spy on him to try to find faults with him. She associated with a group of officials, including the chancellors Dou Huaizhen, Xiao Zhizhong, and Cen Xi, intending to find some way to remove Li Longji, but was unable to get two other chancellors — Wei Anshi and Song Jing — to join her group. On one occasion, when Emperor Ruizong met with Wei Anshi alone, he told Wei, "I have heard that the officials are all loyal only to the Eastern Palace [(i.e., the Crown Prince, as the Eastern Palace was the residence for the crown prince)]. You should investigate this." Wei responded:
Where did Your Imperial Majesty hear this kind of empire-destroying words? This must be a plot by Princess Taiping. The Crown Prince had accomplished great things for the state, is kind and understanding, and is filially pious and loving to his brothers. Everyone knows this. 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. In another case, of course, this time directly by herself, When she hinted that Li Longi should be replaced at a meeting she had with the chancellors, the other chancellors all did not dare to speak, but chancellor Song directly responded:
The Eastern Palace had done great things for the realm, and he is truly the lord for the ancestral temples and worship. 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. They proposed that the two princes who arguably had superior claims on the throne than Li Longji — Li Chengqi and Li Shouli (whose father Li Xian (note different character than Emperor Zhongzong) was an older brother to both Emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong) — be sent out of the capital Chang'an to serve as prefectural prefects, while Princess Taiping and Wu Youji be sent to live in Luoyang. They also proposed that Li Longji be put in charge of most affairs of state. 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 fear, Li Longji submitted a petition accusing Song and Yao of alienating him from his brothers Li Chengqi and Li Shouli (who was actually a cousin but was raised with Emperor Ruizong's sons) and aunt Princess Taiping, asking that the two be put to death. Emperor Ruizong, in response, demoted Song and Yao and recalled Princess Taiping, Li Chengqi, and Li Shouli to the capital. After Song and Yao were removed, Princess Taiping further suggested that a major reform in the civil service system that they carried out — removing officials improperly commissioned during Emperor Zhongzong's reign — be reversed, and Emperor Ruizong agreed. That year, Princess Taiping persuaded Emperor Ruizong to decree, collect and compile Shangguan Wan'er works, and retain the works of this talented woman. Later that year, in order to please Wu Youji, Princess Taiping requested that the tombs of Wu Zetian's parents Wu Shihuo (武士彠) and Lady Yang be restored to imperial tomb status (they had been reduced to the status of tombs of nobles after Emperor Zhongzong's death), and Emperor Ruizong agreed. Also that year, when the officials Xue Qianguang (薛謙光) and Murong Xun (慕容珣) accused an associate of Princess Taiping's, the Buddhist monk Huifan (慧範), Princess Taiping pleaded on Huifan's behalf, and Emperor Ruizong, believing that Xue and Murong had only accused Huifan because they could do so during the time that Princess Taiping was out of the capital, demoted Xue and Murong.
In winter 711 Princess Taiping's has become more powerful, and because of her recommendations, Emperor Ruizong carried out a major reorganization of his administration, relieving the chancellors Wei, Guo Yuanzhen, Dou, Li Rizhi, and Zhang Shuo of their chancellor positions, instead commissioning a number of chancellors that she recommended — Liu Youqiu, Wei Zhigu, Cui Shi, and Lu Xiangxian. (Cui was a lover of Princess Taiping, and when she offered to recommend him as chancellor, because he admired Lu, he requested to be made chancellor along with Lu, even though Lu was not an associate of Princess Taiping. It was said that Emperor Ruizong, however, was initially unwilling to make Cui chancellor, but relented after Princess Taiping begged in tears, although the account may be somewhat discountable in that neither Liu nor Wei was an associate of Princess Taiping either, and both were close associates of Li Longji.) The governors general of the Imperial Guards, Chang Yuankai (常元楷), Li Ci (李慈), and Li Qin was also loyal to her.
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.
Later that year, Princess Taiping had astrologers warn Emperor Ruizong that the constellation that symbolized the imperial throne, Dizuo (帝座), showed that there would be a change in the emperor's position — believing that Emperor Ruizong would suspect Li Longji of plotting a coup and that she could remove Li Longji this way. She pointing out that history was repeating itself; Emperor Taizong (grandfather of Princess Taiping and Emperor Ruizong), overthrew his father Emperor Gaozu in a coup (Xuanwu Gate Incident). Instead, Emperor Ruizong, reasoning that the change in the emperor's position could be accounted by an orderly transition, offered to pass the throne to Li Longji. Princess Taiping fervently opposed it, and Li Longji initially declined, but at Emperor Ruizong's insistence finally accepted and took the throne (as Emperor Xuanzong). However, at Princess Taiping's suggestion, Emperor Ruizong retained more of the imperial power as Taishang Huang (retired emperor). She told him: "You take the empire's affairs seriously, and you want to address the pros and cons? Although you have relinquished the throne, how can you forget your court and country? Keep the minimum decision power for the fate of important matters." Therefore, his edicts continued to carry very much greater and valid force than Emperor Xuanzong's; Even the new emperor had to obey his rulings.
