Consort Shen - During The Anshi Rebellion and Disappearance

During The Anshi Rebellion and Disappearance

In 755, the general An Lushan rebelled at Fanyang and soon attacked south and established a new state of Yan, with him as emperor and its capital at Luoyang (Tang's eastern capital). By summer 756, Yan forces were approaching the Tang capital Chang'an, forcing Emperor Xuanzong to flee to Chengdu. Li Heng did not follow Emperor Xuanzong to Chengdu; rather, he fled to Lingwu, where he was declared emperor (as Emperor Suzong). Li Chu followed his father to Lingwu as well. Consort Shen was left at Chang'an, and she was taken by Yan forces to Luoyang and detained in the palace there. In 757, after An Lushan's son An Qingxu had assassinated An Lushan and succeeded him as emperor, a joint Tang and Huige force, commanded by Li Chu, recaptured Chang'an and then Luoyang. Li Chu reunited with Consort Shen in Luoyang, but as at that time he was busy with planning a campaign against An Qingxu's remaining forces, he did not get the chance to have Consort Shen escorted back to Chang'an. In 758, Shi Siming, a former major general under An Lushan and An Qingxu who had briefly submitted to Tang, rebelled against Tang authority and advanced south. By 759, he had claimed Yan imperial title and recaptured Luoyang. That was the last that Li Chu saw Consort Shen, as she was nowhere to be found when Tang and Huige forces again recaptured Luoyang in 762 against Shi Siming's son and successor Shi Chaoyi (by which point Li Chu, whose name had been changed to Li Yu, was emperor (as Emperor Daizong)).