While Shangguan Wan Er, with her intelligence, maneuvered between Wu, Wei, Li and other political forces, and through this to grasp the power of the state, but she is after all just a small Zhaorong, not their own forces, the rise and fall of the court also let her tired to cope with.
After Wu Zetian's death, Shangguan Wan'er attached herself to Wei Hou's party and ostracized Li Tang's clansmen, triggering their strong resentment. Jinglong first year in July, Prince Li Chongjun sent troops to kill the Wei queen party Wu Sansi father and son. He also entered the palace to pursue Empress Wei, Princess An Le and Shangguan Wan Er. Failure, the Prince was killed.
Experiencing this bloody coup, although dodged a bullet, but on the Shangguan Waner still have a great touch. On the surface, she remained attached to Empress Wei, but secretly, she began to make friends with the Li Tang clan (Princess Taiping and Prince Xiang Wang Li Dan).
In 710 (June of the fourth year of Jinglong), Li Xian, the Tang Emperor, was poisoned to death by Empress Wei and Princess Anle. This caused Shangguan Wan'er to feel a crisis. As the emperor died in a hurry, there was no posthumous edict, and Empress Wei, intending to assume sole power, asked Wan'er to draft a posthumous edict that, firstly, would allow the sixteen-year-old Li Chongmao to take over as the emperor; and, secondly, would allow Empress Wei to assist in the government and, like Wu Zetian in those days, to adjudicate on military and state affairs.
But Wan Er didn't think Empress Wei was capable enough to take control of the situation; the Li Tang royal family was still quite powerful, and Li Chongjun's coup d'état had given her enough warning. So Wan Er contacted Princess Taiping, who by now was already a significant figure in the court, and she was happy to work with Wan Er, so the two of them drafted a good posthumous edict overnight. Article 1: to establish Wen Wang Chongmao as the Crown Prince; Article 2: Empress Wei knew the political affairs; Article 3: Xiang Wang Li Dan participated in the political affairs. However, Empress Wei was not satisfied, she was ready to follow the example of Wu Zetian as the emperor, the cabinet political positions, internal and external military power, as well as the central forbidden army and so on all arranged for their own party members and clansmen, and so forced to change the posthumous edict, change Li Dan as the crown prince. This undoubtedly made Li Tang royal family felt a huge crisis, Princess Taiping and Linzi King Li Longji decided to strike first.
So far, the Wei party and the Li Tang clan party struggle has become white-hot, another bloody court struggle is inevitable. Li Tang clan took the lead, July 21, 710 (King Long four years June 20), Li Dan's son Li Longji (that is, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty), sent the Feilin troops killed into the inner palace, claiming that "Wei's poisoned the death of the first emperor, seeking to jeopardize the gods of the earth and grain, this evening when **** to kill all Wei", the majority of the Feilin troops in the line of duty, the Wei's party could not react in time, all were killed, the history of the "Tang Long coup". "Tang Long coup". And the relationship with the Wei Queen Shangguan Waner is also in the list of executions, Li Longji into the palace, Shangguan Waner rate of all the palace women, with candles lined up to meet, and take out their own when they drafted with Princess Taiping, the "Shangguan version of the posthumous edict" (to prove that they are on the side of the Li Tang clan), so that Liu Youqiu to intercede for their own in the Li Longji there. But Li Longji knows that its sway, if let go at this time, will regret it, "this servant girl demon, blasphemy palace, how can be forgiven? Today is not put to death, no regrets". So beheaded Shangguan Waner in the flag.
In fact, Shangguan Wan Er in the coup was very well planned, she contacted Princess Taiping early. However, she didn't realize that the one who led the troops into the palace was the heroic and courageous Li Longji, who dealt with Empress Wei together with Princess Taiping, but the two of them actually had their own affairs in mind. In addition, Wan Er's time and again in the political struggle to the right and left, certainly shows that her mind clever, but also exposed the weakness of her political morality, she is a person without any political integrity and political stance. Therefore, in this coup Wan Er smart against being smart mistake, her hands of the posthumous edict instead of becoming a life-saving straw, on the contrary, became a sharp sword stabbed at her own.