Huaiyi - As Wu Zetian's Lover

As Wu Zetian's Lover

It was said that when Huaiyi entered and exited the palace, he would ride on an imperial steed and have some 10 eunuchs attend to him. Whenever people saw him, they avoided him -- because he was accustomed to batter those who came near him and toss them aside. He was particularly hateful of Taoist monks, and whenever he encountered them, he would batter them severely, sometimes cutting their hair off. Even the most honored governmental officials, including Empress Dowager Wu's powerful nephews Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi prostrated themselves before him. He gathered a group of young thugs and had them also undertake tonsure but serve as his followers. When these followers carried out unlawful deeds, few officials dared to speak about this. One exception was the assistant censor Feng Sixu (馮思勗), who punished them according to their deeds, and on one occasion, when Huaiyi encountered Feng Sixu on the road, he had Feng Sixu battered so severely that Feng Sixu nearly died. In or around 686, however, there was an incident when Huaiyi encountered the chancellor Su Liangsi. Huaiyi did not greet Su and displayed himself arrogantly. In anger, Su ordered his guards to seize Huaiyi and slap him. When Huaiyi complained to Empress Dowager Wu, she responded semi-jocularly, "Your Eminence should enter through the North Gate . The Southern Palace is where chancellors gather; do not violate it."

In 688, Empress Dowager Wu tore down Qianyuan Hall (乾元殿), and commissioned the construction of the imperial meeting hall (明堂, MIng Tang) over the same location. She commissioned Huaiyi to oversee the project and conscripted several tens of thousands of men to serve as construction workers. After the imperial meeting hall was completed later that year, for his contributions, she gave him a general title and created him the Duke of Liang.

In 689, Empress Dowager Wu commissioned Huaiyi to serve as the commander of an army against Eastern Tujue. He advanced to Zi River (紫河, a tributary of the Yellow River) but did not encounter Eastern Tujue forces. He erected a monument at Chanyu Tower (單于臺, in modern Hohhot, Inner Mongolia) before withdrawing.

In 690, Empress Dowager Wu changed Huaiyi's title to Duke of E. Later that year, she took the throne from Emperor Ruizong, establishing a new Zhou Dynasty with herself as "emperor."

In 694, Eastern Tujue's khan Ashina Mochuo attacked Ling Prefecture (靈州, roughly modern Yinchuan, Ningxia), and Wu Zetian commissioned Huaiyi, assisted by the chancellors Li Zhaode and Su Weidao, to defend against Ashina Mochuo's attack, but before the army could set out, Ashina Mochuo withdrew, and therefore Huaiyi's army never launched.